Principal message
Dear community of St Monica’s,
Staffing
We welcome Amy Ellis and Amy Ashton who will be working as Learning Support Officers at our school.
Communication
Communication from the school is our biggest challenge at the moment. We have oversubscribed to a number of communication channels which causes confusion not to mention that dates have changed and not been updated on the newsletter.
This term the leadership team will work on centralising our communication with SIMON Everywhere. The intention is to reduce the number of communication channels so that you can find everything in one place.
In the meantime unit leaders will be sending out a 'what's on for the week' that relates to their unit. This will be sent via class dojo.
Parent engagement-
Thank you to those who have signed their volunteer induction forms that relate to child safety. Any parents who wish to help in classrooms or support excursions will need to have been inducted and sign the volunteer forms. If you have missed the sessions that were offered this week please contact Max Lamb- mlamb@smkangarooflat.catholic.edu.au
Mercy Day
Last Friday the Mercy captains prepared activities for the students in Mercy House to do at lunchtime. They also shared some basic knowledge about why their house is called Mercy House.
Catherine McAuley was a woman in Ireland who founded the Sisters of Mercy.
The Mercy sisters started working at St Monica's in 1920 until 2003.
The Sisters of Mercy are well known for their hospitality.
Mercy House at St Monica's is red.
We are proud to be captains of Mercy House
Mercy House Captains
Hello my name is Raff and my name is Scarlett. We are the captains of Mercy House.
Hi my name is Scarlett, I am one of the two Mercy house captains. Here's a few things to know about me:
I have 5 brothers
I enjoy playing Netball for St Monica's
My favourite colour is purple
I am happy to help with any problems around the school
I am really excited to be in this leadership position in Grade 6 and hope I can make a difference in my final year at St Monica's. Thanks, Scarlett
Cybersafety workshop
On the Student wellbeing page you will also find an invitation for year 5/6 students and their parents to attend a cybersafety workshop. With social media changing all the time I encourage you to attend, to support you in navigating this challenging area of parenting.
Canteen
Thank you to families who have provided feedback regarding the change to the canteen menu. I made this decision in order to lessen the workload and to provide a healthy lunch to students to keep in line with our health lessons at school. I have been made aware that one day a week can be a special lunch for our students. I am aware that these decisions were made with no consultation and would like to address this by giving you the
opportunity to have your say. At this stage we have had 54 responses. To be truly representative of the school it would be great to have more families respond to the survey.
https://forms.gle/cAMqDbULuHN1BcHS8
Sports equipment-
It was identified last year that our distribution and supply of sports equipment was not meeting the needs of our students. Sports leader Mr Epps and I met to discuss an alternative system. To encourage students to take responsibility for their equipment Mr Epps has colour coded equipment to the unit's new sports bin colour. The bins will stay near the classrooms and students from that unit will be responsible for the care and return of their equipment. Equipment will be reviewed and replaced if necessary at the beginning of each term.
Catholic Identity Surveys
Another area where we ask for feedback is the Catholic identity surveys. Staff and Year 5/6 students will be completing these surveys and you are invited to provide your feedback.
You can access the survey here https://www.ecsi.site/au/
Click on assess tab
To access the site Klm321
Click new user
Survey access code c3j5y8
To take the survey password Ghj654
You will get a unique user id and password that is unique to you so please write it down in case you need to interrupt your session. Surveys are open until the end of term.
As we continue on our Lenten Journey our students are preparing to retell the story of Holy Week. Each year level will prepare a reflection on the events leading up to Easter Sunday. Prep students will recall Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem. The 1-2 unit will re-enact The Last Supper. The 3-4 students will share Holy Thursday which includes Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus' arrest. The 5-6 unit will share Good Friday - Jesus' crucifiction and the resurrection.
The Easter Triduum is the most important time of our Christian calendar.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we learn of God's great love for us. By bringing Jesus back to life God has shown that we should be a hope filled people. His love is there for all to share.
Ms Fiona Dearn
Principal
