Dear Parents and Carers

“I want you to be honest: Would you rather have a friend who is always right or one who is in right relationship with you? I think I know the answer: We’d rather have someone who’s in right relationship with us.”

• Richard Rohr

As he does so often, Richard Rohr uses our lived experience of life as a way into thinking about God. Rohr writes, elsewhere, that many of us think that God wants us to be right – to be ‘perfect’ – which of course none of us ever can be. In fact, all God wants from us is to be in relationship with Him – and with each other. I am sure we have all had moments in our lives where we have felt out of relationship with someone we love, and if we are honest with ourselves, in those moments, we never ‘feel ourselves’. We feel out of balance. To be in relationship with God is to restore balance to our lives, and to the rest of our relationships, despite the inevitable trials and difficulties we all face.

First Communion Information Night

In the Catholic tradition, ‘Eucharist’ means ‘thanksgiving’. Another name for the sacrament is ‘communion’, as we are literally in communion with God, in relationship with him. Rohr’s reflection is, then, a good way into sharing the fact that on Tuesday night, parents of students in Year 4 who are making their First Eucharist had an Information night. Fr John Woods; our parish coordinator Catherine Grinsell-Jones; and the two RECs of Sts Peter and Paul and Holy Trinity, Steph Burns and Emily Capper, led us very well through the program. My thanks to Steph and our Year 3/4 teachers (Josh Geris, Paul Jenkins, Sarah Walsh) for their wonderful support of our students.

Pupil Free Days

A reminder that Catholic Education have given all Catholic schools in Canberra two pupil free days this term, on Friday August 5 and Friday September 9.

Chess Club

Sts. Peter and Paul has recently started a Chess club. On Mondays at recess, we hold a chess club for any interested students. Our first meeting was a great success with over 20 students attending, from Kindergarten to Year 6. Mr. Gereis and I will have difficult time competing against some of the children, if we are given the opportunity. Chess is an excellent game that exercises the mind and focuses concentration. If you have a son or daughter who enjoys playing Chess, please remind them that they are very welcome each Monday at recess. All playing levels are welcome.

Student Achievement

Congratulations to Ethan in Year 5, who is competing in A.C.T. Snow Sports Competition, and will be skiing for Sts Peter and Paul, within the competition. Well done, Ethan, a great achievement, and we are all very proud of you.

Year 6 Leadership Day

Fortunately, our Year 6 students are still able to complete their Leadership Day at BFirm today, as the day falls inside the period of grace allotted to schools. The days give our students an experience of leadership, collaboration and resilience, and are thoroughly enjoyed by our students.

Car Line Reminders

Just a request to parents to consider parking their car, and collecting their child from the waiting area, if their child restraint seat is on the right-hand side of the car. Child restraint seats on the right-hand aside of cars necessarily involve the student being exposed to the right hand lane, which is used for cars who have already parked and are moving out to Wisdom Street. Of course, I understand if this is not always possible. Thank you for your consideration.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

 Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal

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

The Value we ae focusing on at the moment is Kindness. Thank you to the Sts Peter and Paul Youth Ministry Team who prepared and shared the Values Assembly at yesterday’s assembly. Thank you also to our Youth Minister Maddie Greenwood for her work on this.

Transfiguration Feast Day

On Saturday the 6^th August it will be the Feast of the Transfiguration. This is the Feast Day of our Parish. We will celebrate as a school community on Thursday 4^th August due to Friday’s Pupil Free Day.

Normally, we would gather with our friends from Holy Trinity, share Mass and a meal, as well as some activities together. Unfortunately, due to restrictions related to COVID-19, we have had to amend our plans.

We will not be joining Holy Trinity School, however, we will be celebrating Mass at 10am with Fr John. Following Mass, Mrs R will provide the children with a Hot Dog lunch and a treat. (Vegetarian and GF available). If your child will not eat a hot dog, please provide them with lunch as you usually would.

We are very much looking forward to celebrating our Parish as a school community.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

Who is eligible?

Children in Year 4 or above who celebrated their First Reconciliation may be enrolled in the Parish’s Family-Based Sacramental Program for First Eucharist. 

The enrolment form and associated fee must be received ASAP. Enrolment can be done online using Qkr! App

To enrol online:

Access or download the Qkr! app. 

Tap on ‘North Woden Transfiguration Parish’

Tap Sacrament of First Eucharist (second option)

Complete the form and make your online payment.

The requested offering per family is $40. This helps to defray the cost of a workbook, commemorative certificate, memorial gift and administrative costs.  If you have difficulty meeting the offering, please contact Fr John for a confidential discussion.

Hosting a Family Group

The program is dependent on the generosity of some parents to host or to co-host a family group. A ‘Host Nomination’ form is enclosed for your consideration. The role of a host is not difficult, with session notes provided. 

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.  Further information as to how to apply for a WWVP card is found on the ‘Host Nomination’ form. 

What does the program involve?

The program includes:

• Four family group meetings for parents and children following the Introduction Night.
• Presentation Mass. Each family to attend one of the following:  Saturday 27 August 6pm or Sunday 28 August 9.30am at Holy Trinity Church, Curtin.

This is the link to the homegroups sheet. Please add your child to a group once you have registered. If there is no group that suits your family, please consider hosting a group.

Celebration of First Eucharist

You will need to nominate a weekend Mass (Sat. 6pm, Sun. 9.30am or Sun. 5.30pm) on the weekend of 17-18 September for the celebration.  There will be a limited number of seats available for candidates, their families and guests, mindful of the need to accommodate other parishioners at each of these Masses.

What next?

If you would like your child to celebrate First Eucharist this year, you must register via the Qkr! App ASAP.  Meanwhile, enquiries can be directed to the Parish Office (6281 3999 / wodennorth@cg.org.au ).

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

One of the themes running through the gospels is that wealth can be an obstacle to entering fully into relationship with God. It is not wealth in itself that is problematic but rather valuing material riches above everything else and the constant desire to accumulate more and more. We have the story of the rich young man who asks Jesus what he must do to inherit the kingdom and Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and give away the proceeds. The young man goes away sad because he thought that with his great accumulation of wealth he’d be able to buy anything that he needed to gain the kingdom. We also have the saying of Jesus that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

The parable in today’s gospel depicts a man who has so much grain that he decides to build bigger barns to store it all. The parable follows Jesus’ teaching that ‘a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’ The point is about having more than we need. What good is served by one person having more than they need while others do not have enough to meet their needs? The rich man who had the abundant harvest could have stored up all that he needed and still been able to share the abundance with others.

Liberation theology introduced the catch phrase, ‘live simply so that others may simply live’. The call was for those in wealthier countries to simplify their wasteful and indulgent lifestyles so that others may be able to meet their most basic of needs.

(Reflection by Greg Sunter)

Have a blessed week,

Stephanie Burns

Religious Education Coordinator

Due to technical difficulties, the birthdays will be published in next week's newsletter.

Noah B (6M) is raising money for cancer research through Variety and has made the decision to make a difference by cutting and donating his hair to be made into a wig for someone who has lost their hair due to cancer. He was inspired to raise money after recently losing someone in his family to cancer. The haircut is booked for Thursday, 8 September!!

If you would like to support Noah and donate to this worthy cause, please follow the link:

https://hairwithheart.variety.org.au/fundraisers/noahbutler/hair-with-heart

Stayed tuned ....... our newsletter and Facebook page will bring you updates!

Library Lessons for Term 3 & 4 have changed! Please remember Library Bags!

Book Club Orders close Monday 1st August. It will then take up to two weeks for the books to arrive at school and be handed out. 

All orders are placed online via the LOOP app- please note we do not accept cash or orders at school as all orders are placed online. Click here to access an online version: https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/ 

Apologies to Year 1 Parents- Scholastic did not send the Book Club catalogues for the classes- so please look at the brochure online. 

Get excited for Book Week! 

Due to COVID restrictions we will have to alter some Book Week plans but we will still have our Character Parade on Thursday 25th August (please note the day as it is different to what was on some term overviews). Students are asked to dress up as their favourite book character and to bring their favourite book (or a copy of the front cover). We will have our parade first thing in the morning, but unfortunately due to restrictions, we are unable to have parents. I am hoping we can stream it online- similar to last year. It is one of the most exciting weeks of the year and I know the students are very excited!

Classes will then be completing a range of activities based on the CBCA Shortlisted 2022 books. 

In Week 7 we are excited to welcome Meerkat Productions, who will be performing 2 shows based on 2 of the shortlisted books. These will be 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

An exciting week in the Kitchen Garden Program.

This week we welcomed, into our ever growing family of trees, more trees for our orchard. Thanks to an amazing grant of $1000 we have some lime trees and feijoas. Our plum trees will be happy to have some company.

Our garden club will enjoy looking after them as well as harvesting the produce we receive.

Years 3 and 4 continue their journey in the kitchen this week and our garden club will have their first gardening session today. Stay tuned for those photos next week.

For more information email 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 TERM 3?

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 3 canteen roster available now

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

https://stpandp.schoolzineplus.com/Canteenrosterterm3

 All volunteers must have a WWVP card.

Lauretta Raccosta,

Canteen

Lauretta.Raccosta@cg.catholic.au

Thursday 4 August

NO LUNCH ORDERS

On Thursday 4 August the school will be celebrating the Feast Day of our Parish, the Transfiguration of the Lord.

 Unfortunately this year we are not gathering with our friends at Holy Trinity Curtin to celebrate and share a meal together.  However the school will be providing all children with a hotdog lunch and a treat.

 The canteen will not be open for lunch orders. 

If your child will not eat a hot dog, they are encouraged to bring their lunch.  Gluten free and vegetarian options will be available for students.

 We are sure the children will enjoy the celebrations of the 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 School Uniform is available via Qkr!
Tuesdays - Fridays, orders will be delivered to your child’s classroom. Orders need to be placed before 8.45 am. 

The Uniform shop is stocked up with second hand uniform, please visit on a Tuesday morning to purchase second hand uniform.

The uniform shop is limited with space, so if you wish to donate pre-loved items, PLEASE ONLY DONATE CLOTHES

that are washed and in perfect resalable order.

Please DO NOT DONATE old white sports tops.  Thank you

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

Lauretta Raccosta

Uniform Shop

Lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

Canberra Youth Theatre Ensemble Workshops

Canberra Youth Theatre offers weekly after-school workshops in line with school terms for School Years 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12, in Braddon, Belconnen, Gungahlin and Queanbeyan.

Our workshops provide an inclusive space for young people to discover and express their creative selves. We create opportunities for young people to collaborate, develop their artistic skills and create pathways to the professional arts sector.

Enrolments will be open for the first three weeks of term, so we would be very grateful if you can spread the word among your students. Attached below is some further information and an image that could be circulated among students and parents, or put up on a class noticeboard. More information and enrolment is available via canberrayouththeatre.com.au/ensembles

Girls Day Out in STEM – FREE online event!

Join Girls Day Out in STEM this National Science Week “Glass: More than meets the eye” for a BETTER happy ever after: Cinderella come into the 21st century and recycle those glass slippers.

Glass is moving from a passive role in bygone eras to a functional role now. This is the Age of Glass!

Are your kids interested in how technology and sustainability can be combined? Meet Courtney and Sophia, Software Engineers at Google, to learn about AI/ML and using it to sort your rubbish!

After all that fun with sorting, kids can be modern scientists and simulate glass recycling with a stained-glass cookie experiment!

The online event runs from August 13-21. Your kids can register now for a chance to win great Google prizes!