Dear Parents and Carers

Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mums for last Sunday. I hope that you all enjoyed a very good day and were treated accordingly. Last Friday morning, with some COVID restrictions still in place, we celebrated Mothers’ Day with donuts at carline. My thanks to Steph Burns for coordinating the morning and to all staff for their support.

Think U Know

A reminder that tonight we have members of the AFP presenting ‘Think U Know’, an information night for parents around children and online platforms and activity, and the potential risk that may come from the use of online sites. It is an important information session and I encourage all parents, if possible, to attend. The information night is at 6.30pm and will take place in the hall. My thanks to Paul Jenkins for coordinating the night and to Paul and Fron Garrett-Rumba for attending on behalf of the school. https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/

Enrolment Period

We are currently halfway through our enrolment period and have had very good interest in our school. On Monday night we held an Information Night and two of our Year 6 leaders, Edie and Reeves, spoke about their time at Sts Peter and Paul and what made it a special school for them. They spoke brilliantly and I would like to thank Edie and Reeves for their excellent contributions. Members of the Leadership Team, ably supported by Jessica Gowing, Melissa Neit and Sarah Kennelly, also spoke about the various opportunities and school features that exist at Sts Peter and Paul. We have another Open Day next Wednesday. All interested parents are very welcome.

NAPLAN

This week, our students in Years 3 and 5 are sitting NAPLAN tests. The children have entered the spirit of the tests in a very positive and engaged frame of mind. Children who miss some of the tests this week due to being away will have the opportunity to do make-up sessions next week. My thanks to Paul Jenkins for his IT support and to the Years 3 & 5 teachers for their support.

Year 6 Leadership Day

This Friday, our Year 6 students will be attending their second leadership day for the year, at https://bfirm.com.au/ B.Firm offers the children the opportunities to improve their teamwork, build resilience and generally use and develop skills to assist with their problem solving abilities, all the while having fun and being physically active. It is an excellent experience for the children and one that I am pleased they can enjoy. My thanks to our Year 6 teachers, Luke Gubler and Sarah Kennelly, for their great support of the program.

Report Writing & Grades

Last night, the Community Council met, and among other topics we discussed the fact that there is confusion and potential ambiguity around the use of the 5-point grade system for children in Years 1 – 6 (A – E grades), and the 4-point system used for Kindergarten students. Anna Williams shared an excellent analogy using a golf metaphor, to explain the application and meaning behind the assignment of A – E grades. We are looking at holding a broader information session for all parents in the school at a later point this term. My thanks to Anna for excellent work.

Have a wonderful week with your children.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal

This year at Sts Peter and Paul, we are all called to ‘Let Your Light Shine”

Confirmation – Year 6

As you would be aware from previous newsletters, the Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated in our Parish this Term. Children who have already celebrated their First Reconciliation and First Eucharist and are in Year 6 or above may be enrolled.

To enrol your child, please

1. Download the Qkr! App
2. Search for ‘Woden North Transfiguration Parish’
3. Click on ‘Parish Payments and Sacraments’
4. At the top, Click on ‘Sacrament’
5. Then select ‘Confirmation’
6. Fill out the Enrolment form and pay the $40 (This helps to defray the cost of a workbook, commemorative certificate, medal and administrative costs. If you have difficulty meeting the offering, please contact the parish office for a confidential discussion.)

The Enrolment Form asks for your child’s confirmation name and sponsor.  If your child has not yet decided on a confirmation name or sponsor, you should still return the form ASAP and provide this information when it becomes available.  (A confirmation name is the name of a saint who inspires the candidate to follow Jesus).  The sponsor assists the candidate to grow in their Catholic faith.  The sponsor must be a confirmed Catholic normally not less than 16 years of age, living a life of faith consistent with that role, having a good relationship with the candidate and being neither parent nor sibling of the candidate as they are sponsoring on behalf of the wider family of faith. 

Preparation for this Sacrament will be done through a Family-Based Program

The Parish Family-Based program affirms the direct participation of parents in their child’s faith journey with the prayerful support of the Parish community.  The program compliments but does not replace the religious instruction given at Catholic schools or through a School of Religion.  Parents have found the program to be a graced time with their child and that in turn has made the celebration of the sacrament all the more meaningful.

Home Groups and Host Nominations:

All hosts must have, or have applied for, a Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) card. There is no cost involved in applying for a WWVP card for volunteers.

You can nominate yourself as a host at the following link, and you can also use this link to place your child into a Home Group.

Please note, homegroups will only go ahead if they have a  hosts, so ensure your group has a nominated host. Thank you.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i8-3PGSXoMyacLuK5KGt9ITdj015z-g9WhX5eY4xV_g/edit?usp=sharing

The Sacrament of Confirmation:

The Sacrament will be celebrated in the Parish of the Transfiguration, North Woden, on Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 6pm and Wednesday 22 June at 6pm. 

What does the program involve?

The program includes:

• Four Family Group Meetings for parents and children.
• Presentation Mass. Each family must attend either of the Saturday 4 June 6pm, Sunday 5 June 9.30am or 5:30pm Mass, at Holy Trinity Church, Curtin.
• Parent and Child Stole Night, June 9th in the Holy Trinity School Hall, 18-20 Theodore Street, Curtin.
• Pending COVID-19 restrictions, a children’s Retreat Day and practice, Friday 17 June, 9.15am-2.15pm, in the Holy Trinity School Hall.

If you would like your child to celebrate Confirmation this year, you must complete enrolment and payment to the Parish Office ASAP. Enquiries can be made to the Parish Office (9am – 3.30pm Mon, Wed and Fri, 6281 3999, or email to wodennorth@cg.org.au)

MacKillop House & CatholicCare Call for Assistance

CatholicCare are seeking financial assistance with their Canberra based ministry, MacKillop House. Mackillop House in Lyneham nightly accommodates some 20-22 women of all ages, as well as many mothers and their children in need. The ACT government has agreed to provide some funding towards the upgrading of the bedrooms and common lounge areas at MacKillop house, however more funding is needed to complete the project.

To read more about the lifechanging work that CatholicCare do through MacKillop House, click here

If you are in a position to make a small donation to CatholicCare and MacKillop House, please go to Qkr! - school payments section and follow the links to ‘MacKillop House & CatholicCare’.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C   John 13:31-35

The passage from the Gospel of John actually comes from the Last Supper account, as is indicated by the opening line: ‘When Judas had gone’. However, the passage is being used during the post-resurrection Easter season. The passage about being glorified can be read in this context as referring to the crucifixion that was, rather than the crucifixion that is still to come in the original setting. The reference that Jesus will not be with the disciples much longer can also be read as an indicator towards the Ascension. It is a clever liturgical use of a gospel passage out of its intended context.

The second half of the gospel passage is perhaps the more familiar section. It is a common text for marriage ceremonies. However, sometimes its selection is purely based on the use of the term ‘love’. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important. He replied that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart and that you must love your neighbour as yourself. (Mt 22) The ‘new’ commandment that He issues at the Last Supper is not so much a new commandment as a variation on a theme. The newness highlights the changes that are occurring in the small group of friends. His language conveys an imperative: you must love one another, ‘just as I have loved you’. He tells the disciples – and us – that the way they behave towards one another must be with the same love that Jesus treated them. And the love that Jesus gave was the love of God for all the world. So the love that Jesus commands the disciples (us) to show one another is nothing less than the powerful love of God.

(Reflection by Greg Sunter)

Blessings for the week ahead,

Stephanie Burns

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to those students who are celebrating their birthday this week

Amelia Q

Sophie G

James B

Isaac K

Mitchelle C

Principal's Award: Daniel B, 5M

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): 

Tara W, 5M; Matthew S, 2W; George W, 2W; Christiano K, 3/4M

Dear Parents,

With covid-19 restrictions easing, schedules are starting to get very busy again and it’s a lot on us as parents, and it’s even more on our kids. Take this article as permission to rest! Monitor how your kids are going and if you are observing that post-school restraint collapse happening more than just occasionally, it is time to scale things back.

Here’s some tips to help make late afternoons more peaceful when your child is exhausted from school:

Expect kids to fall apart – Your child might hold it all together and be on their best behaviour at school and then the minute they get home they go off the rails. This is NORMAL behaviour. Your child works so hard to follow all the rules and have so many social interactions that they need to let it out at some point.

Plan for downtime – School days are draining and your child needs to rest. When you notice a pattern of after-school meltdowns, clear their afternoon/evening schedule for the week where possible. Postpone the playdates, skip the supermarket visit on the way home, and go straight home and let your child unwind.

Have a healthy snack ready – Your child might not eat enough at school. Drinking and eating are social in nature, and children just tend to snack until they are comfortable. Be prepared for their HANGRY side to come out and be ready with a nutrient dense snack.

Don’t take it personally – You’re probably so excited to see your child/ren at the end of the day to give them a hug and find all about what they got up to at school. Then you pick them up and they are tired and limited in what they want to share, making you feel disappointed or rejected. It’s not about you, give them space, time, rest and food.

Sensory play – Draw a bath with lots of bubbles and their favourite baths toys. Or put on some calm music and let them relax with kinetic sand play. They will love it, it will help them decompress.

A favourite book in my house (for those in junior primary school) at the moment is by Author Jane Godwin and illustrater Anna Walker. They have created a delightful picture book all about families’ busy lives. It’s called ‘Today We Have No Plans’ - a busy week, a slower day brings time to dream and time to play. Also available for loan at Libraries ACT.

 

Laura Lamerton

(Sts P&P Student and Family Counsellor)

The Da Vinci Decathlon Competition

At the end of last term two teams competed in The Da Vinci Decathlon virtually. Both teams completed 10 challenges including maths, science, english, engineering and art and poetry.

Both teams did very well and worked in groups and individually to complete each challenge. Everyone had lots of fun problem solving throughout the day.

If you would like any information please contact Mrs Katie Birch Katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Have you seen the Active Streets map on the school gate? It highlights safe travel routes for our local area. Our Year 4-6 students, (an age when students may start considering independent travel), have also received an Active Streets pack that includes support materials for use at home.

We encourage the students of St Peter and Paul who live locally to walk or ride safely to school where practicable. Walking or riding to school is a great way for all of us to be physically active each morning and afternoon while helping to reduce congestion around the school and limiting our environmental impact.

We’d especially love to see lots of students walking or riding next Friday, May 20th, to participate in National Walk Safely to School Day.

To support this event, at 8:15 am next Friday 20th May, teachers will station themselves at locations in Garran and Hughes as indicated on the attached map. They will depart their location at 8:30 am, walking safely to school following the journey suggested on the Active Streets safe journey map. There is no need to register. We are looking forward to meeting many active students and families along the way.

The Active Streets for Schools program helps to make school environments safer by improving infrastructure and educating school communities about the benefits of active travel.

The program aims to create ‘active streets’, because well populated streets help to make motorists more aware of our school environment and encourages them to slow down.

You may have seen the Active Streets logos around schools. They highlight walking and riding paths to school that have minimal road crossings and will be provided near our school as part of the program.

Active travel is a fun, safe and healthy way to get to school and is encouraged within our school community.

OUR BOOK FAIR IS ON NEXT WEEK! 

Our book fair is on before (8:15am-9:00am) and after school (3:15-5:00pm) Tuesday 17th May, Wednesday 18th May and Thursday 19th May (Week 4). 

Eftpos and cash facilities will be available. *Please note paying by card at the Book Fair is the preferred payment method.

You also have the option of paying online at www.scholastic.com.au/payment *you need to choose Book Fairs Payment (not Book Club).

Students will be viewing the books and items available in Week 3 and will bring home a ‘wish list’ (please note- you do not have to purchase all or any of the items on the list). 

This week, the students will be bringing home their wish lists which they created in the Library- a special thank you to Year 6 who helped their Kinder buddies write theirs! 

This is our major school Library fundraiser and we would love as many children as possible to participate! Every sale helps us raise money for our school Library and purchase lovely new books for the children to borrow. 

National Simultaneous storytime is happening on Wednesday 25th May at 11am. National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 22nd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

A special thanks to Stuart Baines (Father of Grace in Year 1) who has organised a special visit to the National Library for the NSS event for some Sts Peter and Paul’s Students! We are incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity and more details will be sent via compass for the classes involved in the visit! 

The rest of the classes remaining at school will be watching the live streamed event altogether in the Hall! 

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

Keep reading! Mrs Basedow

Athletics Carnival

Sts Peter and Paul’s Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 9^th June, 2022 (Term Two, Week 7) at Woden Park Athletics Track, Cnr Yamba Drive and Kitchener Street, Phillip ACT.

A note outlining details for the day and a request for parent helpers will be sent out via compass, over the next week.

ACT Swimming Championships

We would like to pass on a very big congratulations to Ava T, Zoe T, Stella H, Lucas S and Will S, who represented Sts Peter and Paul in the ACT Swimming Championships. All of the children had PB’s in their races, which is very impressive! Additionally, Lucas Sloan placed first in the 11 Year boys 50m Backstroke and Will placed First in the 8 Year Boys 50m Freestyle. The parents noted how wonderful the children’s sportsmanship was, which was the cherry on top of a wonderful day!
 

Thank you,

Sarah Kennelly

 

Year 2 Netball

The Year 2 Twinkle Stars are looking for 2 or 3 more players. Games are played at 9am at the SCNA courts at Deakin using modified rules. Registration is $218.37. All children are welcome to play. Please contact Lucy Webb at stpandpnetball@gmail.com for more information.

Kinder and Year 1 had lots of fun in the kitchen baking up a storm for Mother’s Day. They made cinnamon scrolls with hot pink icing.

They all got to decorate the scrolls and bags to take home to their special ladies for Mother’s Day.

The garden is growing beautifully with our helpers watering and keeping the weeds away.

If you would like any information please contact Mrs Katie Birch Katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au.

The Garden Club

THE CANTEEN IS CASHLESS

Families are required to make all canteen payments via Qkr!

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

 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.

CANTEEN VOLUNTEER ROSTER

Thank you helpers; your assistance is very much appreciated

Please contact me if you are unable to help out on your day.

 

 Are you able to help out in the canteen in TERM2?

If you have any spare time and would like to help out in the canteen, PLEASE feel free to contact me through email at lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

Term 2 canteen roster available now

Click on the link below to add your selected time to the roster.

https://stpandp.schoolzineplus.com/canteenrosterterm2.

 All volunteers must have a WWVP card and show proof of vaccination.

 

Lauretta Raccosta,

Canteen

Lauretta.Raccosta@cg.catholic.au

Special Lunch Day

Wednesday 18 May

 WEDNESDAY 18 May the school will be holding its next special lunch day for the Term! 

 Children will be able to order sushi roll, drink and a treat for $7.00.

 Orders available on Qkr! Now

 Download the app on your mobile phone to place your order.

ORDERS CLOSE 9AM FRIDAY 13 MAY!

PLEASE NOTE:

DUE TO NUMBERS THAT NEED TO BE GIVEN TO MR SUSHI, NO LATE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Gulten Free & Vegetarian options are available.

No other lunch orders will be available on that day.

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 available via Qkr!

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

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

Lauretta Raccosta

Uniform Shop

Lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au