Principal message

Dear community of St Monica's,

Last week we had a great attendance at our Christmas carols-   Thank you Bree, Louise Matthews and classroom teachers for preparing the students who all knew their songs well. Thank you to everyone who attended and made it a great community event.

Thank you to the Hawking family for organising the donations from Harvey Norman and Bron, Kim and Kylie for preparing the raffle. The money raised will go towards the oval project.

We farewell Kylie Sharkey who will be leaving us this year. We thank her for all her work with our students and in the library and wish her well.

Welcome Rebecca Wildman (5/6 teacher), Amy Ashton and Leah Hargreaves (LSOs)

You will have received a fridge calendar for 2023. As we all know dates can change but the dates on the magnet are those that we know of today. They're designed to place on your fridge as an easy reference. I hope that you find them useful.

On Tuesday night we celebrated the year 6 graduation. Thank you to the year 6 teachers who prepared the night and to Cassie for the preparation of the mass celebrated by Fr Brian Boyle. We bade farewell to our school families who will be leaving us some after many years as part of our community and thanked them for their contribution.

Congratulations to the following students who received awards

Mercy award- Sophie L and Namar J

Marist award- Hartaj T and Evie L

Ymens Club award -Fletcher W and Elaena S

Kangaroo Flat Sports Club award- Grace L and Bevan S

As part of the night I shared the following with the departing students-

As you come to the end of your primary school years and move on to secondary school there are a number of things I hope that you will take away with you. Our graduate outcomes state that we wish to develop students 

-who follow Christ in their care and respect for self, others and the environment

-Are able to develop and sustain relationships with a sense of justice and empathy for others

-Have the academic confidence to develop the skills and strategies to succeed in an ever-changing society

-Follow their ideals with confidence and resilience.

Above all as you move on, we hope that you will always carry the charism of Mercy with you, the hospitality and welcome to others.

Our school expectations are Be safe, Be friendly and Be a learner. 

Be friendly

We wish for you to be people who put time and energy into reflecting on the sort of person that you want to be. To be a person who looks after yourself so that you can be strong for others, look after yourself so that they can be courageous and stand up when they see someone else being mistreated, look after yourself so that you know that you deserve to be surrounded by those who will treat you well, to have the courage to move away and disassociate from people who are not kind to you. You all deserve kindness and by being kind you will receive kindness in return. The golden rule is to treat others as you wish to be treated. Be kind to all. Be kind even when it’s easier to join in when others are unkind. 

Everyone has a story and your kindness one day may just be the one bit of kindness that a person meets on that day. You can make a difference in small ways by being kind.

Be safe- for your protection and for those around you.

Do what you know is right and if you are not sure if it is right - don’t do it. Whether that be related to your environment, to your own safety and or the safety of others.

Be a learner

Be open to new learning, be curious, don’t be afraid to ask questions. All questions are welcome when asked respectfully. Do you know why you are being asked to do something? if not ask, do you know what you’re being asked to do?, if not ask, do you know what is expected of you?, if not ask, and if you are not comfortable with the answer, keep on asking. Learning doesn’t ever stop and every time something is hard that means it’s an opportunity to learn something new, that you haven’t learned it yet. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help in the quest for learning. If you make a mistake, pick yourself up and have another go.

As you make a new start at secondary school this is an opportunity for you to start again and be the secondary school you, rather than the primary school you. I wonder what you will discard and I wonder what you will keep. This is your choice.

On behalf of the St Monica’s community I wish you well and believe that you have everything you need in your backpack to take with you on the next part of your learning journey. God bless you all.

At the end of year mass on Thursday we announced the captains for 2023.

Year 5 students have completed their Leadership program and the following students have been elected as student leaders. 

2023 Student leadership

House captains voted by their House- Popular vote

 School captains nominated by teachers and decided by Principal

Remi D                                               Zander A

Congratulations to you all. I look forward to seeing you develop as leaders of St Monica's.

As we finish up for the year I thank you all for your support of our school. I thank all our staff for their dedication to our students and the commitment they have shown to education.

Thank you to Max and Belinda for their support of me over my first year at St Monica's. I'm very excited about the directions we will be taking St Monica's over the next few years.

Thank you to Fr Brian and Fr DJ for their ongoing support, the SAC and members of the P&F for their tireless work and to Bron and Kirsten who keep the school engine running.

I wish you and your families a very Happy Christmas and look forward to seeing our returning families in the new year.  (Tuesday 31st January).

Sacred Heart bulletin

Masses: Saturdays at 6.00pm, 

Sundays at 9.00am. 

Warm Regards,

Ms Fiona Dearn

Principal