Principal's Message

World Teachers' Day

On Friday, 25 October, we joined together to celebrate World Teachers’ Day. This special day is dedicated to showing our heartfelt appreciation for the incredible work our teachers do every day. This year’s theme, “Hats off to teachers,” perfectly captures the spirit of gratitude and recognition we feel for their dedication and hard work.

Curriculum and School Community Activities in Term 4 – what’s coming up!

As we look forward into this term, there are a range of important and enjoyable learning opportunities and school community events coming up.

In Week 7 of Term 4 will be providing a 4 day Swimming Program for all students in Year K to Year 4 at the University of NSW Pool (either “learn to swim” or “stroke improvement” groups). The swimming carnival will take place at Des Renford on Tuesday 3 December. 

As we missed the Colour Run during St Anthony’s Feast Day, it has been rescheduled to Friday, 6 December. We hope to see you there!

Years 5 & 6 will be participating in "Let's go Surfing" at Bondi Beach. The program will cover surf education and safety procedures. Lessons cover warmup, paddling and catching waves. Beach games, body surfing sand sculpture, building model rips and surf safety rules on rips, tides, sandbars and waves.  

Later in the term we will be farewelling our Year 6 students as they complete their Primary School Education at St Anthony's and we wish them all the best as they progress to their secondary education pathways.

As we journey through the Advent and Christmas seasons, we invite you to join us for a special Christmas Liturgy titled ‘Christmas Star.’ This celebration will take place on Monday, 9 December, at 6pm in St Anthony’s Church. Everyone is welcome!

Languages @ St Anthony's 2025

Learning a language has many benefits for children. It can improve literacy, maths, and science skills, enhance social skills and empathy, and foster an appreciation of cultural diversity. Additionally, learning a language provides students with real-world connections, nurturing their development as Global Citizens and establishing a lifelong appreciation of another language and culture.

We are gauging interest to continue Spanish in 2025. Unfortunately, Sydney Catholic Schools will no longer fund the cost of Spanish lessons through the current program MEG Languages. A way forward would be to pay for a qualified Spanish teacher at St Anthony's on site. The cost of a specialist Spanish teacher would be approximately $100 for the year ($25 per term) which would be added to the school fees.

Another option to learning a language (Mandarin) would include before school, after school, depending on numbers. This will be taught face to face. This would be at a parents cost. 

Please complete this survey by Monday 11 November. 

Join Our Parents and Friends Team in 2025!

We are excited to announce that positions are now open for the Parents and Friends for the upcoming year! This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved in our school community, make a difference, and help shape the experiences of our students.

Who Can Apply?

We welcome all parents who are passionate about contributing to our school community. Whether you have a lot of time to give or just a little, your participation is valuable.

Be a part of something special. Together, we can create a vibrant and supportive community for our children.

We look forward to welcoming you to the team!

Parent WhatsApp and Facebook groups can be a great tool for parents to keep each other informed about school, class and other local information. 

We are aware that sometimes conflicts between parents or comments about particular students, staff or other parents can appear in these groups and cause distress. We ask that everyone using these groups should read and follow the code of conduct. If you have concerns about particular comments, please report these to the social media entity or group admins.

ThinkUKnow Presentation for Parents 

Our school will be hosting a ThinkUKnow presentation tonight Wednesday 6 November at 6:30pm in the school library and all parents and carers are encouraged to attend.

ThinkUKnow Australia is an evidence based education program delivered nationally to prevent online child sexual exploitation.

ThinkUKnow Australia is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

The presentation will be delivered by a local law enforcement member and an industry volunteer. The presentation is pro-technology and addresses topics including self-generated child abuse material, online grooming, sexual extortion, and importantly encourages help seeking behaviour.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology.

For more information, you can visit www.thinkuknow.org.au

Week 2 & 3 Assembly - Congratulations to the award recipients!

Yours in Partnership

Anna Novak

Principal