Dear Parents and Carers

“The Catholic intellectual tradition… [has a conviction]: that to be human is to desire to discover truth, and that the quest for truth is sparked by the expectation that the universe is intelligible.”

Boston College, The Catholic Intellectual Tradition

These inspiring words come from the document named above and speak to a long tradition within Catholicism. This Catholic intellectual tradition has animated the lives of many an individual and many a saint. It has led to profound discoveries and writings and has sustained the lives of countless people over the centuries, and in doing so, has contributed to much of what we enjoy now within our own culture. The desire for truth and the quest for an intelligible understanding of the universe is ingrained within us; we see it in our children as they struggle to make sense of the world around them. The late theologian Karl Rahner believed that all human beings are born with an inarticulate orientation towards God and the meaning that comes from being in relationship with God. Next week, the Leadership Team are meeting to begin formally planning for next year. Our new Assistant Principal, Anna Williams, will be joining us, as will Stephanie Burns, our Religious Education Coordinator, who has been on maternity leave this year. Our meeting will be informed by the larger current of which we are a part.

Term 4 Protocols: Face-to-face learning

The school is enacting some changes to our routines, as they relate to the return to face-to-face learning. None of these changes will have a direct impact on parents, but it is good for parents to be aware of the forthcoming changes. Teachers will inform their classes of the changes.

From Week 7 (next week), students who arrive between 8.30am and 8.45am will be supervised on the playground, in their grade cohorts. Students will be seated in their grade lines, as per the current practice at the end of lunch and recess. K – 2 students will line up in their class groups on the blacktop, and 3 – 6 students will line up on the blue top, in their respective grade and class groupings. At 8.45, students will enter the school and go to their classrooms. This change has been driven by the fact that teachers are necessarily doing much longer duties, during the school day. The extra 15 minutes in the morning (8.30 – 8.45) will give just a bit extra in terms of preparation time.

For a similar reason, should wet weather duty be needed between now and the end of the term, Grades 3/4 and 5/6 will take it in turns to be supervised in the hall, as cohorts, during lunch and recess. This will enable the Leadership Team to help support the teachers in the K – 2 sections of the school to have a break at recess and lunch. The measures will not compromise our efforts to ensure that grade cohorts will be kept separate and safe.

Kindergarten Orientation Day

Next Tuesday, we are holding our Kindergarten Orientation Day, with some changes to our original plan. Our 2022 Kindergarten cohort will spend an hour at our school, with one of the Kindergarten teachers, outside on the playground. This is to ensure maximum COVID safety routines can be followed. All new Kindergarten students from A – K will attend the school between 9am and 10am, and students with surnames beginning with L – Z will attend from 10 – 11am. The information night for parents will still go ahead at 6pm, in the school hall, with appropriate social distancing measures being implemented.

Reports and Class Lists

We are entering 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 one 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.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal

Gospel Reflection

Mk 13:34-42

The whole of Chapter 13 in the Gospel of Mark is devoted to a discourse about the future. In the section preceding this week’s passage, Jesus has foretold the destruction of the Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. He has also predicted war on a massive scale and the persecution of his followers. Now, in this passage, Jesus predicts the return of the Son of Man and the fulfilment of the kingdom of God.

Why does the gospel include such an extended description of the collapse of the world as it was? Because that’s exactly what was going on around the community of this gospel writer! This gospel is understood to have been written somewhere in the period 70-75 CE. In the year 70 CE the city of Jerusalem was besieged by Roman troops who stormed the city and destroyed it. As a sign of complete disdain for the people of Jerusalem and a mark of overwhelming victory, the Romans burnt and completely destroyed the Temple in the heart of Jerusalem. For the entire Jewish community, this was absolute devastation. The destruction of the Temple surely marked the coming of the end times – the day of judgment and completion of this world. The community gathered around this gospel writer were no less affected. On top of this, the Roman Emperors were reaching new heights (or depths) in their persecution of the followers of Jesus.

In the midst of this despair and fear, the followers of Jesus are challenged to remember the teachings of the one they follow. This passage is written for them as an encouragement to not give up in the face of what appears to be overwhelming odds. It is a call to hope. Although we can understand the context in which it was originally written, we are also challenged to apply its message of hope and perseverance to our own lives.

Adapted from Greg Sunter

Remembrance Day

We will have an online Remembrance Day Ceremony this Thursday at 10:40am. Please feel welcome to join us via the link below.

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NzI0YTZkNzYtYjA3ZS00MjViLWJmN2ItMTAxZTRmOTQ5NjU5%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%229ba8c2d6-be27-4583-a686-5c6f5c4a9e97%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8107d94-5b53-4f96-b038-fb143e45f6d9%22%7d

Catholic Mission Socktober

This Friday November 12th 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. 

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 14^th  November, 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://www.prayingwithchildren.org/l1f315unsu3.html

 Blessings,

Fron Garrett

Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to those students celebrating their birthday this week.

Irena J

Henry W

Zarrie F

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.

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. 

Thank you to all families who have returned books already! Some were 150-280 days overdue!!!! 

Book Club

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 be using the money made to purchase lots of new books for the Library, as well as prizes and awards for events during the year.

This week we were able to purchase over 70 new beautiful books for the Library using Scholastic Rewards!!

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

Keep reading and as always thank you for your support!

Mrs Basedow

If anyone has spare empty 4 litre icecream containers can you please send them into Mrs de Smet in Year 2. They will be used as compost bins.

Thank you

Hello everyone and welcome back to our kitchen and garden and an update on the curriculum!

Last week we had both Years 5 and 6 cooking up a storm and learning about healthy eating in the kitchen and classroom.

Our Year 5 and 6 students learnt about the Vegetable Group on the Healthy Eating Plate. Did you know that the more that your vegetables on your plate or in your lunch box look like a rainbow of colours - the more vitamins and minerals you are going to eat!

The children made vegetable spring rolls with a tomato sauce using our very own garden tomatoes. Feedback from our beautiful students was smiles all around.

They also learnt about serving sizes for their age group so they know how many vegetables they should be eating every day.

As always if you would like more information about the Garden Club/kitchen and curriculum please email Mrs Katie Birch at Katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au

The Garden Club

THE CANTEEN IS CASHLESS

Families are required to make all canteen payments via Qkr!

Due to current restrictions and limitations, the Canteen Menu will be reduced.

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

DATE SQUARES

Ingredients

1 egg

125 g butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup self raising flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup dessicated coconut

1 cup dates, chopped

400 g nuts, crushed

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and grease a slice tin.

Beat egg and add to melted butter.

Add all other ingredients to a bowl and pour the butter mixture over the top.

Mix well and press mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.

LEGO fans rejoice!

Canberra's first LEGO store opened last weekend in the Canberra Centre

Check it out!

https://lego.bricksmegastore.com/