Principal's Message

Dear Families,

As we approach the Easter holiday, I wanted to take a moment to wish you and your families a very happy and safe break. This is a special time of the year when we come together to celebrate new beginnings and the hope that comes with them.

I hope that you will have the opportunity to enjoy some quality time with your loved ones, whether that be through Easter egg hunts, family meals, attending Easter Mass, or simply taking a break from the busyness of everyday life.

As always, I encourage you to take the necessary precautions to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe during this holiday. Whether that be through safe driving practices, staying hydrated and healthy, or simply being aware of your surroundings, we want to ensure that everyone has a happy and memorable break.

I am grateful to be part of such a supportive and loving community here at St Finbar's, and I look forward to seeing you all when we return from the Easter break.

Wishing you all the best for a joyful and restful Easter holiday.

As we draw to the end of a very busy Term 1, I would like to thank the community for an excellent term. There have been many events this term that deserve recognition:

Parent Information Night
Dendy Swimming Carnival
Year 6 Canberra Camp
Meet the Teacher Meetings
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Breakfast
Ash Wednesday Mass
Year 3 Sacrament of Reconciliation
Staff Conference
NAPLAN Testing for Year 3 & 5 Students
Harmony Day Celebrations
P & F Casino Night
School Photos
Whole School Athletics Carnival
Holy Week performances - Prep and Year 5 Students
P & F Colour Run Walkathon

Staffing Updates

I would like to update the community on our staffing schedule for Term 2. We welcome back Mrs. Jemima Christie from maternity leave who will be Teaching in Year 1N on Mondays to release Mrs. Amanda Norton for her eLearning Leadership Duties. Mrs. Peggy McDonald who was working in Year 1N during Term 1 will now be assisting other classes during this time.

Holy Week Celebrations

My thanks to Mr. Steele Anderson and the Year 5 and Prep Classes and teachers for presenting the Holy Week Stories to our community this week. The Prep Students presented a special Assembly on Monday where the Holy Week story was told to the community. The Year 5 Students presented the Passion of the Cross on Tuesday Afternoon which was a solemn reminder to our community of the sacrifices made to us by Jesus.

P&F Walk-a-thon Fundraiser

Today we held our Annual Walkathon at Dendy Park. This year we have changed the Walkathon to a Colour Run fundraiser. My sincere thanks to the Prep P & F Reps, Kate Blake our P&F President and to all those involved for an incredible event. We have raised over $15 ,000 profit to come back to school to go into school projects. As a reward to the students and families for doing so well in the fundraising efforts, some staff (Mr. Anderson, Miss Zeeng and myself) have agreed to being slimed. As I write this newsletter, I have not been slimed yet, but I am sure I have enjoyed the warm shower this afternoon once it is all finished. :)

The Walkathon is one of our main fundraising events for 2023 and to assist with this we encourage you to seek assistance from sponsors outside of our school families. eg: neighbours, cousins, grandparents, friends. Money raised through this event will go towards upgrading our school facilities.

School Winter Uniforms

At the commencement of Term 2, students may wear either the FULL summer uniform or FULL winter uniform (please do not mix and match the uniforms) until Week 3. From Monday 8th May, ALL student must be in FULL WINTER UNIFORM. This date will be reviewed closer to the time in case the weather is unseasonably warm. I would like to thanks Mrs. Cath Davies-Gray for her amazing work in the uniform shop.

Easter and Holy Week

The Parish Mass times for this week are:

Reconciliation 4th April - 7:00pm

Holy Thursday 6th April - 7:00pm - Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper

Good Friday 7th April - 10:30am - Stations of the Cross

Good Friday 7th April - 3:00pm - The Passion

Easter Saturday 8th April - 7:00pm - Holy Saturday Vigil

Easter Sunday 9th April - 9am & 11am - Easter Sunday Mass

Baby News!

Congratulations to Shane and James Gwilt on the safe arrival of Baby Rosie, a day early!

Ella and Oliver are very excited to welcome their new baby sister to the family. Mum is also doing well.

Staff Morning Tea

Thanks to our amazing P & F for providing a very generous morning tea for the St. Finbar's Staff. We are very appreciative of the kind gesture from the parent community.

Prep Enrolments for 2024

We have offered our first round of Prep enrolment offers (30 Places) on Monday 3rd April to our new families who have applied so far. We have had considerable interest in places for our 2024 cohort. Our sibling families (22 places) have been offered, and have accepted their places earlier this term. We are expecting to fill all 52 places (2 classes x 26 students) by very early Term 2. This is wonderful news for our community having such stable enrolments for our future.

Welcome to New Students in Term 2

At the start of Term 2 we have the following new students starting at St. Finbar's School:

Kadir G - Prep
Adina B - Year 2
Layan M - Year 3
Nadir G - Year 3
Samuel P-N - Year 4
Scarlett H - Year 5

We welcome you all to St. Finbar's School community and we hope your time with us is enjoyable as well as educational.

Upcoming Events

Thursday 6th April - P & F Walkathon and End of Term 1:50pm Dismissal.

Monday 24th April - First day of Term 2

Tuesday 25th April - ANZAC Day Holiday

Wednesday 26th April - Year 3-6 House Cross Country Championships

Friday 28th April - Start of term Mass - 9:30am

Friday 28th April - Round 1 of Year 5 & 6 Inter-school sport begins

God Bless,

Pat Berlingeri

Principal

Parish Bulletin

Sunday 9th April