Dear Parents and Carers

Book Week Parade

Due to the sudden plunge last term into lockdown and remote learning, we postponed Book Week and our Book Week parade until this term. Happily, we held our Book Week parade today and it was a great success. Using appropriate COVID-safe practices, the students paraded through the hall and onto the stage, one class at a time, and then returned to their classrooms. The students were videoed and the images have been shared with the parent community. K – 2 and 3 – 6 students also watched a literacy performance in class, on screen. My thanks to Mrs. Amanda Basedow for coordinating the day and to Mr. Paul Jenkins, for being the MC for the students for their Book Week parade.

Socktober

This Friday November 5th we will be holding a Socktober shootout to raise money for Catholic Mission. Each year Catholic Mission raises money for the needs of others around the world. This year Catholic Mission is focusing on the needs of children in Thailand. On Friday, students will participate in a soccer goal shoot-out competition with their class and will get to use a Sockball (a ball made from plastic bags), so they can experience how children around the world play soccer. Students are asked to donate money to participate in the shootout, which will raise money for the Good Shepherd Sisters Kindergarten which provides free quality early childhood education. 

Donations can be made via the Qkr App. We thank you so much, for your generosity to this cause. 

Steps to make a donation:

• Open the Qkr app
• Select Sts Peter and Paul
• Scroll down to ‘school payments’ and select
• Click on ‘payments’
• Select Socktober Shootout

-Select the amount to donate

Reports and Class Lists

We are soon to enter the second half of the term, and necessarily the thoughts of the school and the teachers turn to the tasks that are essential for a smooth transition to the following year. The teachers are currently preparing class lists for 2022. Like this year, we will have 13 classes in 2022, with two classes for each grade and three classes for Grade 3/4. The teachers will prepare the class lists keeping many factors in mind, ensuring the classes are as balanced as possible. Importantly, as part of this process, students will be consulted and asked to name three friends with whom they would like to be placed, for 2022. The school guarantees one of the friends. More friends than 1 may be included. If you have any concerns over friendship dynamics, please email me, or your child’s teacher/s. Requests for individual teachers will be unable to be met.

Teachers are also in the process of gathering assessment and beginning the report writing process. Reports will again be delivered online via Compass, as they were last Semester. Due to COVID and Remote Learning, there has been a disruption to the normal amount of assessment that can be managed. Teachers will report on Maths, English and Religious Education, with one other subject included. Spanish and The Arts will also receive a grade. There will be no comments this semester. In place of comments, there will be Parent/Teacher interviews in Week 10, on Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. Reports will be made available on Compass in week 11.

Kindergarten Orientation Day and Information Night

A reminder that Kindergarten Orientation, for all new 2022 Kindergarten Students, is taking place on Tuesday, November 16. Parents will bring their children to the foyer. From there, the students will be escorted to one of the Kindergarten classrooms and spend a ½ day with one of the 2022 Kindergarten teachers. At 6pm on the same day, in the hall, the school will be hosting an Information Night for all parents of 2022 Kindergarten students.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal

Gospel Reflection

Mk  12:38-44

We would normally hear or read the second half of this week’s Gospel as a stand alone example of generosity and faith – often without the section that immediately precedes it. Whilst the actions of the widow are certainly worthy of comment, when we read it in the context of the condemnation that immediately precedes it, the widow’s offering is placed in a different light. Jesus condemns the scribes who parade their wealth and seek trappings of earthly power and glory: being recognised and greeted as they walk the streets; taking the front seats in synagogue; and expecting to be seated in the place of honour at banquets. Whilst parading their wealth and feasting at banquets, they are also swallowing up the property of widows – taking advantage of those in need. We often hear widows and orphans named in the scriptures as those in need. Widows and orphans (and strangers in the land) are marked out for special attention in the Torah. They are named as deserving of special care – the lost and broken of society. So despite holding a special place in Jewish Law and tradition, the widows are being taken advantage of by the scribes, who are taking over their property for their own gain. One of the duties of the scribes was to administer the proper payment of Temple taxes. The treasury referred to in the passage is the Temple treasury. Rather than a great act of generosity, we can now see the widow’s payment of Temple tax as a burdensome, heart-wrenching obligation to pay the very last coins she had to a corrupt, uncaring system. We usually read praise into Jesus’ comments about the widow’s offering, but it can also be read as moral outrage at the system that demands this woman pay all that she possesses to the Temple.

Adapted from Greg Sunter

Catholic Mission Socktober

On Friday November 5^th we will be holding a Socktober shootout to raise money for Catholic Mission. Students will participate in a soccer goal shoot-out competition with their class and will get to use a sock ball - a ball made from plastic bags, similar to the balls used by many children around the world. 

Of, course, we will sanitise all sporting equipment used and ensure this activity is appropriately socially distanced to keep our students safe. Students will be asked to donate money to participate in the shootout, which will raise money for early childhood education for children in Thailand. Donations can be made via the Qkr App. We thank you so much, for donating to this cause.

Steps to make a donation:

• Open the Qrk app
• Select Sts Peter and Paul
• Scroll down to ‘school payments’ and select
• Click on ‘payments’
• Select Socktober Shootout

Is a weekly online child-friendly reflection of the coming Sunday’s Gospel.

Sunday  7^th November 32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://www.prayingwithchildren.org/g0pl3k3m3w1.html

Blessings,

Fron Garrett

Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)

Socktober Shoot Out 5/11/21 - Donate on Qkr!

The Socktober Shoot Out will be held this Friday, 5th November to raise money for Catholic Mission.  As this event is cashless, please make your child's donation on the Qkr! App under the School Payments section / Payment / Socktober Shoot Out / Select amount. 

Thank you for your generosity with this fundraiser.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to those students celebrating their birthday this week.

Anna S

Takumi L A

Daniel B

Henry B

Ayman B

Noah B

Jhanvi M

William F

Max E

Principal's Awards: Charlotte M, 5M; Elke S, 5M; Amelie S, 5W; Lexie S, 5W; Sophie G, 5W

Learning Support Awards: (please note that LS awards are given to any child in the school that the Classroom Support Assistants have noticed doing something wonderful):

Cooper L, 3/4M; Hamish S, 3/4M; Gabriel M, 3/4M

Book Week 

Wow what a fabulous day we have had at school! A massive thank you to the students, parents, carers and staff for such a wonderful Book Week Parade! It was lovely to see so many wonderful costumes and see everyone excited! The Meerkat Performances were also fun to watch. 

Library Book Returns 

Could I ask that you please have a very good look around your homes for any Library books you might have (from our school). Overdue reminders have been sent out- please note there are no overdue fees owed, but it is important that all books be returned in time for stocktake. 

Book Club

This week the Scholastic book club brochures were sent home. Orders close Thursday  Week 7 18th November. All orders are placed online. Please place orders through the LOOP App. 

Please remember that 20% of all sales go to our school Library. I will using the money made to purchase lots of new books for the Library, as well as prizes and awards for events during the year.

Please contact amanda.basedow@cg.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions regarding the Library or borrowing.

Keep reading! Mrs Basedow

South/Weston Regional and ACT Athletics

With the unfortunate cancellation of the 2021 School Sport ACT Track and Field Regional and State Program due to the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions, School Sport ACT (SSACT) and their delivery partner, Athletics ACT (AACT), are inviting member schools to participate in a Virtual Track and Field initiative in Term 4.

We will be submitting the times and distances of our students who were selected to represent our school at the South/Weston Regional Athletics Carnival to this virtual Track and Field event next week. If your child was selected to represent our school at the regional carnival and you WOULD NOT like their time/distance to be submitted as it may mean that their first initial, surname, age and school are shared on the SSACT website, please send me an email by Monday 8^th November so that I can remove them from the submission. Thank you so much for your assistance with this.

The information that we provide will be collated into a merged Meet Manager results document and all results will be compared to determine the top 10 finishers in each event.

If you ever have any questions about anything related to Sport, please don’t hesitate to get in touch mary.desmet@cg.catholic.edu.au Hopefully I’ll be able to help you out!

THE CANTEEN IS CASHLESS

Families are required to make all canteen payments via Qkr!

We apologise for this but hopefully the full canteen menu will be up and running again in no time!

 All over-the-counter sale items (snacks & treats) must be ordered in your child’s lunch order via Qkr! which will be delivered to them at lunch time.

There will be no over-the-counter sales at lunch time at this stage.

Thank you

Lauretta Raccosta,

Canteen

Lauretta.Raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

Healthy Kids, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Canteens

OPEN TUESDAY MORNINGS

8.30 – 9.30AM

 The Uniform Shop is a service for the parents and children.

 We sell New & Quality Second-hand school clothing, and all money raised goes back to the school to provide resources for the children.

 The Uniform Shop is ONLY available for summer uniform purchases via Qkr!

On Tuesdays - Fridays, orders will be delivered to your child’s classroom. Orders need to be placed before 8.45 am. 

Due to current Covid restrictions, the Uniform Shop is not open for counter sales. If you require a fitting, please email me at lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au directly to discuss sizing options.

Please visit the schools website for the Summer Uniform price list.

Lauretta Raccosta

Uniform Shop

Lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

We are back in the kitchen! 

Last week Year 6 hit the kitchen to learn about the fruit group. They made apple tarts which were very yummy!

They also learnt that apples are healthy and full of vitamins and minerals. Fun fact - did you know that lots of nutrients are in the skin?

In class, Year 6 watched a sustainability video to find out why apples are wasted and what they can do to stop this from happening. Apples that fall from the tree or look a bit funny a perfect for juice and pies!

As always if you have any questions about the kitchen and garden in our curriculum email Mrs Katie Birch at Katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Happy gardening and cooking. 

COCONUT COOKIES

Ingredients

700-800 g sago flour

10-12 fresh pandan leaves (purchased from Asian grocers)

300 g pure icing sugar (no added cornstarch)

240 g coconut cream (pure, no added thickening)

3 egg yolks

Method

Wash pandan leaves and wipe dry, then cut into roughly 5cm pieces.

Fry sago flour in a wok or pan over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add the pandan leaves and continue to stir fry for another 15 minutes until the flour lightens and the leaves are dried and crinkled.

Cool mixture overnight, then remove pandan leaves.

Beat coconut cream and half the sugar with electric beaters until thick.

Beat egg yolks and the other half of the sugar in a separate bowl until creamy.

Combine the two mixtures and stir in the sago flour (leaving 1/2 cup aside).

Dust table surface with remaining sago flour and lightly roll dough.

Cut out small cookie shapes with a cookie cutter. The  mixture will be rather sticky and hard to handle but the flour dusting should help.

Bake at 130 degrees celsius for 30 minutes or until cookies are very light beige in colour. Set aside to cool and stir in an airtight container.

This is a traditional Malaysian/Indonesian creamy cookie, made at most of the festivals of these countries. They are dairy and gluten free, have the fragrance of pandan and melt in your mouth. This recipe was donated to our 50th Anniversary Cookbook by Carmelline T.

Grab some chalk, find a spare bit of ground (driveway, sidewalk, school playground etc) and let your inner artist come out. Of course, if drawing is not your thing, you could practice writing, spelling, sight words, math etc or write nice messages to your neighbours......