“What God asks of us in these forty days is that, as much as we can manage, we try to muse a bit on who we are, what we amount to, where we are going, and how we may grow well.”

• Peter Steele SJ, ‘Six Oases in the Desert’

The late Jesuit priest Peter Steele has written an excellent piece on Lent, from which comes the quote above. Lent began last week, with Ash Wednesday, and Steele suggests that this period of time is best spent on the above – asking ourselves ‘how things stand with us’, and in such a way that there is a recognition of our need for God. He writes of Lent issuing a challenge: ‘…challenge to identity, challenge to integrity, challenge to readiness to be oneself’, by which means a fuller, generous, loving and compassionate self. This challenge culminates of course with Easter, when all the challenges in our lives find their way to fullness of life.

Years 3 – 6 Leadership Opportunities

Next Monday, Luke Gubler and I will be presenting, to interested parents, an overview of leadership and learning opportunities for students in Years 3 – 6. Luke is our Coordinator of Middle and Senior Student Leadership. The information night starts at 6pm in the hall, and we hope to detail all of the excellent opportunities that are available to all students as they progress through to high school. Some of the opportunities have a particular focus on high school readiness. All of them have great value in the immediate present. All parents are welcome to attend.

Year 6 Retreat Day

We welcome to Sts Peter and Paul Olivia Brown, our new Youth Minister Coordinator. Next week, our Year 6 students are participating in a ½ day retreat, at school, run by Olivia. The retreat has a Lenten edge and focuses as well on the students’ leadership capacities.

Year 6 Camp

Still on Year 6, our school leaders are going on camp next week to Borambola, outside of Wagga, for 3 days, Wednesday – Friday. I look forward to joining our Year 6 leaders on their camp, together with Bridget Pigram and Katie McGregor. My thanks to Katie for coordinating our camp.

Week 6 Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parents are invited to book a Parent Teacher Interview with their child's classroom teacher on Monday 4^th March, Tuesday 5^th of March or Wednesday 6^th of March to discuss Interim reports. Bookings will open this Friday the 23^rd of February and will close on Friday 1^st of March. An email will be sent out on Friday morning which will give further instructions on how to book an interview. Interim reports will be given out at these meetings. My thanks to Sam Mance for organising the interviews, and to all teachers for their support of students and parents.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes 

Cameron Johns

Principal

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Thank you to our Year 3 parents who attended the Reconciliation Parent Sacramental Learning Opportunity last night. It was a great session and we look forward to the Home Groups starting soon.  Any further enquiries can be directed to the Parish Office ( 6281 3999/  wodennorth@cg.org.au )

Upcoming dates to remember: 

• PRESENTATION MASSES: Each family to attend one of the following: Holy Trinity Church, Curtin 6.00pm Saturday 2nd March 2024 OR Holy Trinity Church, Curtin 9.30am Sunday 3rd March 2024

• RETREAT AND PRACTICE FOR CHILDREN: Holy Trinity School Hall 9.15am–2.15pm Friday 22nd March, 18 Theodore Street, Curtin

• SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION: Holy Trinity Church, Curtin 6pm Tuesday, 7th May

Please give generously to Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help vulnerable people around the world, now and for all future generations.

With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to assist communities around the world through income generation, water and sanitation, food security, education and disaster risk reduction programs.

Project Compassion 2024 reminds us that the good we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow.

TAPITAS- This year our school will be focusing on raising money for drinking water. We have a whole school display, where each class will receive a ‘water drop’ for every $5 raised. The children will be learning more about Project Compassion in class during Friday Prayer and at morning assemblies. 

Each class has a Project Compassion Box on their Prayer table for donations and we thank you in advance for supporting such a worthy cause. 

Caritas Project Compassion Prayer

We pray for all who are trying to rise from the ashes in their lives. May our support for Project Compassion remind us that now is the time to turn to the Lord with all our hearts and embrace the needs of God’s whole family.

Amen

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B

Mark 1:12-15- He was tempted by Satan, and the angels looked after him.

Gospel Reflection

The First Reading, from Genesis, and the Gospel this week need to be looked at together. In the Genesis reading, God has just wiped clean the earth and is ready to re-establish the relationship with humanity through Noah and his family. In the short gospel passage, Jesus enters the wilderness as a time of preparation and renewal, ready to embark on his mission of re-establishing the relationship between God and humanity. In both readings there is a sense of a fresh start – a clean slate – for humankind. It is a clear indication of God’s commitment to humanity, even when we have totally distanced ourselves from God and forgotten about keeping up our part of the relationship, God is willing to make a clean start of it all again. Both readings offer a reminder of God’s constant desire for us to be in right relationship with God and with the world. The presence of Jesus in the world was as clear a signal as the rainbow in the sky that God was willing to give us another go – give us a chance to again see God with new eyes and new understanding.

In the gospel passage, we have a picture of Jesus preparing himself for his public ministry. He takes himself out into the wilderness, away from all that he has known until this time, to reflect on his life so far and this next vital stage that he is about to enter. In the wilderness, Jesus is tempted. He has to face his own doubts and demons before he sets off on the road of his public ministry. When he leaves the desert wilderness and enters back into Galilee he immediately begins to preach and, in the first words accredited to him in this gospel, Jesus announces that the kingdom of God is at hand and it’s time to repent and believe. It’s a call to open your eyes and get with the program!

Have you thought? Temptation?

When we adopt a view of Jesus as the Son of God, it is hard to imagine him even facing temptation, let alone the possibility of him giving in to it. However, when we see Jesus as also being fully human, we realise that he was just as likely to face temptation as we are. But what might have tempted Jesus? Was he tempted to simply go back to his life in Joseph’s carpentry business and not respond to God’s call? Was he tempted to display his power in flashy demonstrations for all to see? Was he tempted to despair at what lay ahead of him?

Living the Gospel – Change of heart

Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God is a call to live out God’s transformative dream of right relationship with one another and with our world. To accept this call requires a change of heart and mind (a metanoia) and the adoption of a new orientation, a new worldview based on living the kingdom of God. This is a challenge to be counter-cultural – to go ‘against the flow’ of the majority attitudes at times. It is certainly not an ‘easy option’ that we are called to live. Jesus’ call to ‘repent and believe’ is a very appropriate call to begin the Lenten season.

Adapted by Greg Sunter

Blessings for the week ahead,

Amanda Basedow

Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)

 School-Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPB)

Last year our School-wide Positive Behaviour project was launched. The project involved students from Kinder to Year 6 and a group of teachers, who worked together to re-vision and re-write our school rules. Both the students and teachers wanted our expectations for behaviour to be positively phrased and fair for all. 

At Sts Peter and Paul, we are all SainTS - Succeeding Together Safely.

Succeeding 

Succeeding means trying your best, having courage, and embracing challenges.

Together

Together means welcoming, supporting, and valuing everyone.

Safely

Safely means responding with respect.

These three expectations underpin everything we do here at Sts Peter and Paul Primary School.

This term, in class, as part of our School Wide Positive Behaviour Program students have been learning about succeeding and which positive behaviours demonstrate this expectation. Tomorrow at our Assembly we will explain our token reward students to our Kindergarten students and other students who have recently joined our community. 

The school community council held its first meeting for 2024 last Tuesday night. We warmly welcome our newest parent members, Douglas, Talena and Evan, and staff representatives Samantha Mance and Sarah Walsh. We have already begun to lay the foundations for a fabulous and productive year ahead. The social calendar is beginning to take shape in all its glory with Katherine Jones at the helm again this year (A link to the school calendar can be found here: https://stpandp.act.edu.au/calendar where important dates will be updated when confirmed). And there are some grand plans in place to begin to upgrade some needed sporting equipment and have the best looking school marquee at Boorowa this year!

We also extend a very warm welcome to our new families at Sts P&P. We hope that you find this beautiful community a place of warmth, inclusiveness and receive as much joy as being part of this school as our children do.

Yours in raising tinies, kiddos and pre teens…

Tegan Ingold

Please find below some dates for the diary. We will send out more information on each event closer to the time.

Term 1:

• Week 9: Easter egg guessing and colouring in competition
  • Thursday 28^th March (wk 9): Easter Hat parade + competition prizes announced
• Friday 5^th April: school disco

Term 2:

• Mothers Day Breakfast + Stall: Friday 10^th May
• Working Bee: Sunday 26^th May

Term 3:

• Father's Day Breakfast + Stall: Friday 30^th August
• Trivia Night: TBC

Term 4:

• Working Bee: Sunday 3^rd November
• Christmas function/carols: Wednesday 11^th Dec (TBC)

Katherine Jones

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to those students who are celebrating their birthday this week

Summer M

Sean O

James M

Caomh R

Daniya A

Matthew R

Agnes R

Alexandra B

Aaliyah B

And a very special happy birthday to our very own Mr Johns

NAPLAN testing will occur in our school between 13 and 25 March 2024 for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive), which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

Today we walked to Malkara and met some amazing people. They were so sweet and kind. Now every Wednesday we get to see these lovely Malkara kids and go on walks with them. We are so excited we get this opportunity. Everyone has a bubbly personality and we loved seeing their amazing artworks hanging all over the school. They welcomed us with such a beautiful smile on their faces.

We got our leadership shirts! We were not expecting this wonderful surprise today. We were told that we were going to get them next term but we got them today. All of the Year Six Leaders look so good in them and we promise to be the best leaders we can be. The designs on the shirts are amazing and we love that they represent the school.

Next week will be so fun. We have camp and a retreat day! It will be a great week!

By Annika.T, Eliana.B and Indie.G

Fundamental Motor Skills

We are very excited to let everybody know that we have started a Fundamental Motor Skills program for K-2 children. This occurs twice a week and involves a comprehensive program of movement to help our children develop their motor skills.

The children are learning balance, catching and throwing, walking foot to foot (which can be tricky) among many other skills. The children are progressing through the program for Term 1 and are using some fabulous equipment such as gym mats and balance beams.

If you have any questions, please email katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au

Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge

Every year, tens of thousands of students across the ACT participate in the Chief Minister’ Reading Challenge. The Challenge aspires to allow every young person in the ACT to discover the joy reading can bring. 

Sts Peter and Paul Primary is proud to have every child registered in the Challenge again this year! To complete the challenge, students need to read 30 books within the timeframe. The 30 books can be from class reading and individual reading. Fiction or non-fiction, poetry, EBooks (including on SORA), audio books, graphic books, home books and of course library books. As long as the books are age appropriate! Students can read the books themselves, listen to an adult or older sibling read to them, listen to an audio book or read a book online. 

The challenge runs from Monday 12 February until Friday 5 July 2024

Winning schools will be invited to the National Library of Australia to receive their School Awards. Students who successfully complete the CMRC will receive an individual award as well. When the challenge has finished I will hand out raffle tickets to those that have participated and prizes are given to each grade level from our book club funds. There will also be class prizes for the classes who have everyone participate!  The Challenge is also grateful for the support of the event sponsor, Paperchain Bookstore-Manuka.  

https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/additional-programs/chief_ministers_reading_challenge/winners-of-the-challenge

Scholastic Book Club Rewards

Thank you to the families who purchased books in Issue 1 of book club. Please allow a week for book club orders to arrive at school. Orders will be given to students once they are sent to the school.

Lunchtimes in the Library

The Library is open at Lunchtimes (after eating time) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for children to come and read, draw or play quietly.  

Happy reading!

Amanda Basedow 

Teacher Librarian

amanda.basedow@cg.catholic.edu.au

FUTSAL

The ACT Futsal season is about to begin. If you would like to nominate a team for the comp, contact Luke Gubler luke.gubler@cg.catholic.edu.au.

There is already interest in forming Year 3/4 U10 girls.

Saints Peter and Paul Swimming Carnival Friday 8th March at the Tuggeranong Pool, at the corner of Anketell Street and Athllon Drive in Greenway

We are very excited to have our Swimming Carnival this term for Years 2-6! Yesterday on Compass, parents with children in Years 2-6 received a link to a GoogleForm to nominate your child/children for races or to elect them as a non-swimmer. If your child is a non-swimmer, they will participate in Novelty Events. We ask that you please fill this form out at your earliest convenience.

Race Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/gFeXxSK8gqL5j8e5A

Parent Volunteers

Our carnivals would not be possible without our volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering on the day, please email Luke Gubler (see email below) with an image of the front and back of your valid WWVP card. Thank you in advance!

Luke Gubler

Sports Coordinator

luke.gubler@cg.catholic.edu.au

Do you have any unwanted flattened cereal, biscuit, cookie etc boxes?

Please send them in to Mrs de Jongh.

The cardboard is great for craft activities.

Kitchen Garden Program

This week Years 3 and 4 continued preparing for the Canberra Show. They used fresh lemons to make lemon curd. Many skills were needed to make this such as cutting, squeezing, and mixing. Working as a team is also critical in cooking. Fingers crossed for team Sts Peter and Paul!

In the garden we watered, trimmed, and made sure all newly planted vegetables are growing. Our basil is almost ready and will be planted this week in garden club.

The children are continuing to learn about healthy eating in the classroom and are learning why each food group is important.

If you have any questions, please email katherine.birch@cg.catholic.edu.au

The Garden Club

AWARD WINNING STRAWBERRY JAM

This jam has consistently won prizes for our school at the Canberra Show

Ingredients

3 kg strawberries, hulled and halved

3 kg white sugar

1/2 lemon, juiced

Method

Wash and sterilze 6 x 330g jam jars and lids.

Place strawberries in a large saucepan and stir in the sugar.

Leave for 1-2 hours off heat while the sugar softens the fruit.

Add the lemon juice and place saucepan on the stove top over a medium heat. Stir constantly until the fruit is soft.

Remove 1/3 of the fruit and set aside, then cook the remaining fruit until fruit is mostly dissolved and jam coats the back of a spoon.

Divide the reserved fruit between jars then fill each with the jam mixture from your saucepan.

Allow to cool to room temperature then seal with lids.

THE CANTEEN IS CASHLESS FOR ALL LUNCH ORDERS

 Families are required to place ALL lunch orders via Qkr! before 8.45am

 Please purchase over-the-counter sale items (snacks & treats) for your child in a lunch order.

 Ice creams are the only counter sales at lunch time in Term 1.

Purchase a “daily counter sales voucher” via Qkr! for your child to go to the canteen to collect an ice cream at lunchtime.

CANTEEN VOLUNTEER ROSTER

Thank you, helpers; your assistance is very much appreciated!

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

TERM 1 CANTEEN ROSTER

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

or click on the link below to slot a time in.

 https://stpandp.schoolzineplus.com/Term1Roster

All volunteers must have a WWVP card.

 Qkr! TIP

 Is your child sick and not going to school, and you have placed a lunch order on Qkr!?

 You have till 8.45am that morning to cancel the lunch order - instructions on how to cancel lunch orders are below.

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.

It is usual practice for most schools to offer second-hand clothing at the uniform shop to families at a discounted price. Quality second-hand clothing can only be purchased during uniform hours.  We do understand that this may not be convenient for some families so please feel free to send me an email if you are unable to get to the uniform shop during opening hours and I will do my best to attend your needs.

Lauretta Raccosta

Uniform Shop

Lauretta.raccosta@cg.catholic.edu.au

It's show time again! The Royal Canberra Show is on this weekend, Friday 23 Feb - Sunday 25 Feb at Exhibition Park. There is so much to do and see!

Our school has several entries again this year, jam and fruit sculptures for example. We consistenly win prizes but, more importantly, have so much fun preparing the entries and working together.

Click on the link below for more information about the show.

https://www.canberrashow.org.au/