Term 2 Week 1 - Thursday 2 May 2024

Principal's Message

Gospel: John 15: 9 -17

Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another."

SMART Watches and Phones

A reminder to parents that the primary mode of communication with their children whilst at school is via the front office. Smart watches and mobile phones should not be used during class time as they can distract and disrupt student learning, for all students in the class. At this school, children may check for messages at the start of lunch and recess, but phones are left in school bags. As a school, we want to be able to guide and support students in being able to solve problems with the support of peers and school staff whilst on the premises. If smart watches are receiving or sending messages, without approval by Mr Reed, students will be asked to place them in their school bags. Thank you for your assistance with this.

Upcoming events

Enrolment Period

As I have previously mentioned, enrolments across all schools are becoming more competitive. The continual development of schools within Molonglo, combined with aging populations in Duffy, Holder and Weston continues to present challenges. At the writing of this newsletter we have 408 students, which is a good number. Generally schools with student populations between 380 and 450 are ideal. Enrolments are already open, so if you have a child at ELC or know of someone who is looking to enrol, let them know they can start the process today by accessing the enrolment forms via our website. We have organised a letter box drop in our designated areas and will again put up the corflute signs, however, the greatest recommendation comes from word of mouth, so please talk to your friends. For the remainder of 2024 we will be accepting enrolments in Years K, 3 - 6 At this stage, we will be accepting enrolments in all year levels for 2025. If you have any queries, please contact the front office or email me directly. Our school Open Day will be early in May.

Kindergarten 2025 Interviews

These will begin next week, with our front office ladies reaching out to families who have submitted applications. Initially it will align with the CE preference guidelines of Catholic in area followed by sibling of current students. If you are yet to enrol your child, please do so as soon as possible as we can not guarantee places, ultimately CE decide how many classes we have.

Mother’s Day

Dads - We need your help!

We need Dads (and Grandads, Uncles etc) to volunteer for the Mother’s Day Stall and canteen duties to allow Mums to attend Mother’s Day celebrations.

The Mother’s Day stall will be held, Thursday 9 May, starting at 9:20 am. Children will be able to purchase a gift for mum. Prices will range from $2 to $10. If there are any Dads who can spare an hour or two to help at the stall, we would love to see you.

Also, many Mums assist with the canteen on Fridays. With the Mother’s Day celebrations and liturgy on Friday 10 May we don’t want them to miss out! So, any assistance in the canteen from 9-12 from Dads would be much appreciated.

If you could help, please let us know at Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

 School events

I understand and can appreciate that school events are often more complex than hoped. We have families who believe we don’t have enough, whilst others struggle with the challenges of working full time and attending. Scheduling is also an issue, in an environment where there are an enormous number of competing demands. As always, we try out best to work within what we know and what we are trying to achieve.

Staffing changes

In most industries, staffing changes occur on a regular basis. Historically, in Education, these are limited to end of year. However, recently we have had the following staff changes:

Tara Louli – returned to QLD, expecting her second child, Deanne Beroukas – Moving to another CE school in Canberra. We wish both Deanne are Tara all the best for the future. We have been extremely fortunate to have Mrs Jo Faichney join us to replace Tara and Ms Michelle Dempsey will join us when Deanne departs. In the current climate of teacher shortages, we have been very fortunate. Our reputation as a great place to work, with wonderful colleagues, students and parents has played a significant role in attaining high quality replacements.

Thank you for your ongoing support

Cameron Reed, Prinicpal

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

Mother’s Day Breakfast and Classroom Visits – Friday 10 May

We invite all Mothers, Step-Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunties and special friends to attend our Mother's Day Celebration.

On Friday 10 May 2024, we are holding a Mother’s Day Breakfast and celebrations beginning at 8.30am. Click the link to RSVP for the breakfast.

Guests are then welcome to visit your child/children’s classroom/s, from 9.00am – 10.20am. We have allocated 80mins for classroom visits to allow guests to split their time across several classrooms if need be. There is no requirement to stay for the whole time.

At 10.20am we will say goodbye to our guests as they depart the school. With year 2 students and their guests moving to the hall for their Liturgy.

For catering purposes RSVP is required by COB Tuesday 7 May. Click the link to RSVP for the breakfast.

RE News

Vinnie's Winter Appeal

This Term we will be fundraising for St Vincent de Paul with the Vinnie's Winter Appeal. This is an annual fundraiser that helps the homeless and less fortunate in our local area. Classes will be assigned specific items to bring in. More news on this to come within the coming weeks. 

Mother's Day liturgy

Our Year 2 Mother's Day liturgy is starting at 10.20am next Friday the 10 of May. Only Year 2 Mother's are invited to this event due to the limited capacity. Kinder to Year 2 students will attend. If you have a Kinder, Year 1 or Year 2 student, please visit their classroom first during activity time.  

Sacramental update

Is your child eligible for a sacrament? In the Parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation sacraments are completed in Years 3, 4 and 6. Eucharist reflection nights have begun, the next reflection night is next week, Tuesday 21 May. Click this link to find out more.  

May your light shine.

Jessican Betterton

REC

Preschool News

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to all of our April birthdays: Mitchell H, Vaimoana L, Jake J, Nicholas C and Remi R and to Ava S and Chloe B for this week.

Welcome back to Term 2.  A big thankyou to our wonderful ELC educators who ran such an engaging holiday program. The children enjoyed fun-filled days including incursions from Make a Bear, Giggly Wiggly balloons and Bunnings as well as making cupcakes, Wombat Stew, rainbow art and Autumn craft.

This week we are very excited to begin our gymnastics program conducted by qualified instructors at Woden Valley Gymnastics Club.  Throughout the program the children develop gross motor skills, balance, spatial awareness, and confidence, and have a lot of fun.  We are very lucky to have such a great facility so close to our school.

Staffing

A big congratulations to Ms Aquilina (Kasia) on the safe arrival of baby Hudson during the holidays. Welcome to Ms Neda who will be working as an additional educator in our Stingray room.  Neda has worked with us previously and it is great to have her back on board.  Mrs Putt (Jacinta) is in the final year of her Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and is currently doing her 4 week practicum in the Turtles room. Ms Fatima and Ms Stapleton will be covering Jacinta’s normal shifts.

ELC Days - Term 2

A reminder that the Lobsters Wednesdays are in odd weeks and the Stingrays Wednesdays are in Even Weeks for the remainder of the year. 

Week 2 (beginning 6 May)

• Stingrays attend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
• Lobsters attend Thursday and Friday

Enrolment period

Enrolments are now open for 2025 preschool and primary school. Go to the school websites for more details and the application link. Current ELC families need to submit an application for kindergarten. Applications must be submitted by the end of May in order to be considered in the first round.

St Jude Open Days

The ELC and St Jude’s primary school will have an Open Day on Wednesday 8 May, 9:15am to 11am and 4pm to 6pm. We will also hold tours on Wednesday 15, 22 and 29 May from 9:30am to 11am. Bookings are required for the Wednesday tours. If you know of any local families with children approaching preschool/school age, encourage them to come along and have a look.

St John Vianney Open Days

SJV Open Days are Wednesday 1 May from 9:30am to 5pm and Saturday 4 May from 10am to 12noon. SJV welcomes all families to have a tour of the school every Wednesday in the month of May between 10:30am and 5:00pm.

Facebook

St Jude’s ELC now has a Facebook page which we encourage you to follow. We will post updates, reminders and images of all the fabulous things we get up to.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557194577229

The Resilience Project

This year the ELC have signed up to join The Resilience Project. TRP mission is to teach positive mental health strategies to inspire happiness and change lives. We will explore the concepts of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness and easy ways to practise these in everyday life. We also incorporate Emotional Literacy, Connection and Physical Health education and activities as they are foundational contributors to positive mental health.

You can access more information through the Parent Hub

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-early-years-parent-carer-hub/

Mothers Day

We invite all mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers, aunties and special friends to attend our Mother's Day celebration on Friday 10 May. We are holding a Mother’s Day Breakfast beginning at 8.30am. Please click this link to RSVP for the breakfast. Guests are then welcome to visit your children’s classrooms from 9.00am – 10.20am. We have allocated 80mins for classroom visits to allow guests to split their time across several classrooms if need be. There is no requirement to stay for the whole time. For Stingray families, we will be hold an open classroom on Monday 13 May from 9am – 9:40am.

Library News

This term I will be on LSL so Mrs Donna Gordon will be in the Library, ably supported by Mrs Sharrie Manera. Donna is familiar with the Library and its operation, as well as being a very experienced teacher so all will be well.

This term all classes will be a sticker for participating in a Reading Olympics Challenge as a lead up to the Olympic Games, beginning in Term 3.

K-2 have sticker charts that will be kept in the Library. Children will receive a sticker for every book that they borrow, potentially earning 2 each week and up to 20 for the term, if they remember to bring their books. As they reach Bronze (16) Silver (18) and Gold (20) levels they will receive small prizes to reward their efforts.

Years 3-6 will have an Olympics themed activity sheet with events that they can participate in any order that they like. eg Equestrian = any book about a horse or pony. This could be Fiction or Non-Fiction as the child chooses. They will need to record their reading and have it signed off by a parent, class teacher or Librarian. Students will be responsible for their own sheets and will need to hand them in at the end of term in order to receive their prizes – Gold, Silver or Bronze – according to the amount of events completed. I encourage parents to get involved

Verna Comley

Librarian

Sports News

St Jude’s Primary School Cross Country Run

Friday 3 May 2024, 9.10-11.00am

Our school’s CROSS COUNTRY RUN is scheduled to take place here at St Jude’s this coming Friday 3 May.

Students in Kindergarten through to Year 6 will participate in the run on Friday. Our ELC students will also join us for a fast and furious lap of the oval. Approx running times are below.

All students are to wear their sports uniform with the option of wearing a t-shirt in their house colour.

Streeton - RED

Hindmarsh - YELLOW

Dixon - BLUE

Mulley - GREEN

The weather at this time of the year can be changeable so please send your child to school with clothing for all seasons plus a water bottle and hat. Please make sure your child has any medication they may need on the day at school with them, particularly asthma medication.

Thank you to parents who have indicated their help on the day. We still require some parent help at checkpoints. Please email Brendan.mitchell@cg.catholic.edu.au or call the front office if you can help.

From our school cross country run, students will be selected to represent St Jude’s at the South Weston Cross Country, which will be held at Stromlo on Tuesday 4th June.

With thanks

Kerrin Henderson and Brendan Mitchell

Sports Coordinators

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

Jackets, beanies and tights back in stock! After a busy open during the school holidays, all winter stock is available and ready to order. 

A quick reminder that Qkr! Orders will be packed bi-weekly and sent to the classrooms, please allow a few days for the order to be packed and sent before emailing to follow up. 

For any and all uniform needs, orders can be placed via the Uniform Shop tab on Qkr!, or via email to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com for any second hand items. **Please do not make payment for secondhand items, until we reply to your request confirming stock is available

Alyce, Kate and Ashleigh

Mulleygrubs Cafe News

We are needing volunteers for week 2. Please contact the office on 6288 7688 if you can volunteer.  

If you would like to volunteer in the Canteen in Term 2 please email office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au

Camp Australia

Taekwondo

Menslink

For 20 plus years, Menslink have provided free counselling to young guys throughout Canberra and the surrounding region.

If your young guy is having a hard time and could really use someone to talk to, get in touch with Menslink. Now conveniently located in Holder (with some sessions also available at Kippax & Lanyon), our wait times are currently low so we’re ready to help when he needs it.

We provide a welcoming and supportive environment for young guys to share their concerns and worries with a male counsellor who will hear them out, work alongside them and provide tips and strategies to get them through those tough times.

Our Counselling sessions are completely confidential and are available to any male aged 10-25. There are no fees or charges or limits to the number of sessions. You don’t need a mental health plan and we are available during school terms and school holidays. The only prerequisite is that he is willing to give it a try.

If you think your young guy will benefit from chatting to one of our counsellors, have a chat with them and head to www.menslink.org.au, hit the ‘Get Help’ button, fill in the form and we’ll get back to you, generally the same or next business day.

If you need more info on how to have that chat with them, just email admin@menslink.org.au or call 6287 2226 and we will send you some information

Catholic School Parents