Term 2 Week 2 - Thursday 9 May 2024

Principal News

Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20

And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.

In Preparation for next week’s Community Council Meeting, here is my Principal Report:

School Fees

You should have recently received your Term 2 school fees notice. Hopefully, on your end, the transition to the new platform has been relatively smooth. It is important that you make regular attempts to pay down your outstanding balance. Schools are like all other businesses, in that we rely on a steady stream of income to cover regular, ongoing costs. Thank you for your assistance with this. You may be aware that the Building Fund has become an opt in voluntary contribution. This fund covers insurance, repairs, maintenance, as well as significant contributions to largish projects such as our new portable classrooms and even a school fence. Without these funds, as a system, we will struggle to maintain buildings etc. If you are able to contribute, then please do so.

Enrolment Period

We have hit the ground with a bang, already taking in over 40 Kindergarten applications for 2025. I have already begun to meet with families who have siblings and will then work towards Catholics in area. If you intend to send your child to St Jude’s in Kindergarten in 2025 and are yet to apply, then I would encourage you to do so asap. Ultimately CE will decide whether we have 2 or 3 Kinder classes in 2025. Our Open Day was a huge success with nearly 40 families attending tours led by our wonderfully articulate Year 6 students. Many who attended were not current ELC families and some were investigating Year levels other than Kindergarten. Offers for Kindergarten will occur in late June, in line with CE guidelines.

Year 7 Enrolments

Secondary schools are in the middle of their enrolment period. I am often ask who we feed to. The majority head to MacKillop, outside of that we have students going to SFX, Daramalan, St Clare’s, St Edmunds, Merici, Marist, Stromlo as well as other schools. Many of our Year 5 parents have been attending the Open evenings to continue to gain important information in relation to which school is the best fit for their child. I have again been assured by Matthew Hutchison (Marist Principal) for those parents of boys in Years 3 and below, that Catholic boys coming from a Catholic school into Year 7 will be guaranteed a place. As always, I’m happy to meet with any parents who would like to discuss this further.

Mother’s Day

Thank you to our wonderful dads, Peter L, Michael T and Nick F who made time to either assist with the Mother’s Day stall or the canteen on Friday. Your assistance is always greatly appreciated and invaluable.

As per request from 2023, we have moved the Mother’s day brekkie outside. If the rain comes, we do have the option of utilising the hall, however, I would ask that we all take extra care with hot drinks around small children. This is always a wonderful celebration.

Breakfast starts at 8:30am 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.

Community Council Calendar of events

Now that we have a date for the ACT Election, we will add this to the events. All events are voluntary, with the majority of them having a focus of community building, rather than fundraising.

Next year, we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of St Jude’s School. We will seek interest from our community in relation to forming a committee to facilitate the celebration events. Come along to the meeting if you have any ideas and are happy to help facilitate.

Fence

I was hopeful that work on this project would have commenced during the recent school holidays. I am seeking further clarification and will share any new news once I receive it. Community council identified the oval and outdoor spaces as the fundraising priority, however, until the fence is completed, we wont be starting on the oval upgrade. I will, however, begin the process of seeking tenders for the oval project.

Syro Malabar Community

Fr Binesh has moved into the Parish Centre and the SMC have begun using the Church and school hall on Sundays. You will notice a significant increase in the number of cars in the car park. CE have facilitated a long hire agreement between the Parish, school and SMC which will assist in ensuring that our facilities are well maintained.

Car park changes

You will notice that we have had some additional disable parking spaces created. This will assist with smoother access to our facilities for those who require it.

Taekwondo

Last Monday, a collection of 19 students were involved in lessons during their lunch time. The class size is a maximum of 25 students. If your child is interested, please contact the front office for further details. The majority of children involved, were attending outside of school hours, I know they are appreciative of the opportunity for students to do this during their lunch times.

Road Safety

There has been no update on the approved works in relation to an additional crossing and signage, we are continuing to liaise with our local government departments to ensure that they ensure our students can safely cross our roads.

School Board and Community Council Finances Review

There was some talk about the restructuring of finances in relation to the Canteen and the Uniform Shop. Ultimately, the school are accountable. Any changes to our structure will generally be back room modifications to align financial accountability. The operation of our Canteen and Uniform Shop are extremely efficient and effective and as such, we are not looking at changing this.

School Musical

Auditions are about to begin and regular rehearsals will also start to occur. Thank you to all staff involved in this significant project. It requires countless out of school hours by staff and for this, the community is extremely grateful.

Thank you for your ongoing support

Cameron

Principal

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

Mothers Day Stall

Thank you to Peter L, Michael T and Nick F for facilitating the Mothers Day Stall. 

School Fees

School fee statments have been sent out. If you have not recieved your fee statement please contact the office. 

Preschool News

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to Traiikhoon

Thank you to all the families who attended our Open Day. We had many excited families looking to join our community. We wish all our mums, grandmothers and special women in our lives a very happy Mother’s Day this weekend.

Mother’s Day

We invite all mothers, stepmothers, 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 under the primary school shelter shed. Guests are then welcome to visit the 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.

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 hold tours on Wednesday 15, 22 and 29 May from 9:30am to 11am. Please contact the office to book a tour.

St John Vianney Open Days

SJV welcomes all families to have a tour of the school every Wednesday in 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 joined 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/

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. Please have a look at what your child's year group has been asked to contribute. The food collection will be on the 7 June (Friday Week 6). A St Vincent de Paul representative will attend parish mass with Years 5 and 6 on the 6 June to express their thanks for our contributions. Please give what you can, donations will be accepted from today onwards. Thank you in advance for your generosity. 

Mother's Day liturgy

Our Year 2 Mother's Day liturgy is starting at 10.20am this Friday the 10 of May. Only Year 2 Mother's are invited to this event due to the limited capacity of the church. 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 Tuesday 21 May. Click this link to find out more.  

May your light shine.

Jessica Betterton 

REC

Library News

Thank you to all students for being motivated readers! We’re off to a flying start in the Reading Olympics, 2024. There is much excitement about the activities, and I wish every reader all the best in reading fun when completing their tasks.

Thank you to Emmett P and Max P for the donation of many preloved books in excellent condition. These will be enjoyed by other readers. Thank you, boys!

A special thank you goes out to Year 5 students Ashley T, Kelsey A, and Angelina V for being very helpful in the library in their free time this week. Thank you, girls!

Have a great week of reading everyone.

Donna Gordon

Acting Librian

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

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 second hand requests please email to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com. Please include your child’s name and classroom for us to deliver to. **Please do not make payment for secondhand items, until we reply to your request confirming stock is available.

Mulleygrubs Cafe News

Canteen Volunteers - Week 3

Wednesday 15 May - Judy

Thursday 16 May - Annette & one more volunteer please

Friday 17 May - Sarah D, Gemma & Emily

We are in need for more volunteers for the Canteen.

If you would like to volunteer in the Canteen in Term 1 please email office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au

Community Council News

Community Council Meeting - Tuesday 14 May 6pm

The next Community Council meeting will be held Tuesday 14 May 6pm in the school library and online. If you have any items that you would like discussed please send these through via email.

Mother’s Day Stall

The Mother’s Day stall was held today. Thank you to all the volunteers to assisted to run the stall.

Many thanks,

Gemma Cabot

Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

Camp Australia