Term 4 Week 3 - Thursday 31 October 2024

Principal's Message

This week’s Gospel:

Mark 12: 28b-34

And there came one of the scribes that had heard them reasoning together, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him which was the first commandment of all. And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to him: Well, Master, thou hast said in truth, that there is one God, and there is no other besides him. And that he should be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole understanding, and with the whole soul, and with the whole strength; and to love one’s neighbour as one’s self, is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices. And Jesus seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him: Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

St Jude’s Feast Day

We had an enormous crowd join us for both our Feast day and Grandparents day last Friday. We began with Mass to celebrate our Feast Day. The church was bursting at the seams. After Mass our Grandparents had the pleasure of spending time in classrooms involved in a number of different activities. Forty five minutes, allowed our grandparents enough time to get around all their Grand Children's classrooms. We even had the pleasure of several Great-Grandparents attending. It was then time for lunch, and a wonderful picnic was had by all. After lunch, the students were then involved in a rotation of sporting activities, organised by our wonderful Year 6 teachers and students. We were blessed with awesome weather and it was fantastic to see the old and the young spend quality time together. Thank you to all our staff for their organisation as well as to our Grand parents, for making this day a priority.

St Jude was an apostle and cousin of Jesus. Jude bears the name “Thaddeus” which means amiable and loving. St Jude is usually represented wearing a picture of our Lord on his breast. This custom stems from the miraculous cure of Abagaro, King of Edessa, a leper. In Edessa, by his eloquent presentation of the truths of the Gospel, Jude converted many to Christ. Tradition states that he was beaten to death with clubs and a broadaxe. His body was brought to Rome and is now honoured in St Peter’s Basilica.

Jude is the author of one of the Letters in the New Testament. In his letter he warns listeners of false teachers and emphasises the importance of faith as the foundation of life. Jude is also the patron saint of hopeless and desperate cases. He has obtained many graces for his clients in grave necessities.

Parent requests for 2025 classes

Next week, we will begin allocating students into their class groupings for 2025. This is quite a complicated process which involves ensuring that they have a friend in their new class as well as making sure that academic and social needs are evenly spread across the year level. If you have a request, please forward it to me cameron.reed@cg.catholic.edu.au as soon as possible, preferably by Monday November 18. Only requests in writing to myself will be considered. There is plenty of movement of staff across the system, as a result, staffing will probably not be finalised until just before One Up Day, so please do not put in a request for a particular teacher.

2025 School Fete

Planning has started for the 2025 school fete. Please see the below letter for more information. 

50th Anniversary Planning Meeting

Last Tuesday night a keen group of current, future and ex parents gathered both in person and online to discuss and begin planning for the 50th Anniversary of St Jude’s school, which occurs in 2025. The group decided upon 4 key focus areas:

• Celebration Mass – to be held around the date of the opening of the school.
• Open School Event – A celebration which would include a family picnic, guest speakers, school tours by current students and much much more. Tentative date is around November 8
• 50th Anniversary Year Book – We will begin collecting photos, stories etc. More information to come in relation to where we would like that to be sent
• 50th Anniversary Memorabilia – Exploration of appropriate options is currently underway and will be available for purchase by all.

Once dates have been finalised, we will communicate these through both a dedicated Facebook page, school and parish newsletter, school electronic sign, messages to all other Catholic Schools in our Archdiocese. We would love to have a huge crowd gather for our Open School Event, so feel free to spread the word.

Trivia Night

Thank you to Peter Lilley and the executive of the Community Council for your hard work organising the Trivia Night. At this stage we have 8 or 9 tables, including a staff table. If you are still interested in attending, please check out the Community Council section of the Newsletter.

SJV School Fete

Our sister school, St John Vianney’s is holding their fete on November 2, from 10am until 2pm. It is always a wonderful event and an opportunity to pick up some plants (I’ve heard there are hundreds), a great sausage and lots of other treats. You may even find a Christmas bargain.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support

Cameron

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

School Photos

Friday 1 November, Catchup Portrait Session, Sibling Photos (8:30am - 9am), Preschool Day 2 (Lobster and Turtle Classes) and Year 6 Graduation photo.

Remembrance Day Liturgy

Mini Missions Fete - Tuesday 12 November
In Week 5, Year 6 will hold our annual Mini Missions Fete which will raise funds for the Mwamba Academy in Kenya to help build classrooms, supply clean water and schooling necessities. This year the Mini Missions fete will be cashless. Students will use a 'helping hand' to purchase items from the stalls, which need to be purchased through Qkr! before 12 noon on Monday 11 November. The fingers can then be ripped off and used at each stall. There is no limit to the number of ‘Helping Hands’ purchased for each child. There will be no refunds provided on helping hands at the end of the Missions Fete. We are looking forward to the wonderful stalls that Year 6 have planned!

Musical: Show In Tents

The video of the musical “Show In Tents” will be ready from Week 5. Families wishing to own a copy of the musical should provide a USB with a 32GB capacity or larger. Please place the USB into a plastic zip lock bag with your child’s name and class clearly marked. Please ensure the USB is empty as all contents of the USB will be erased. The video is very large, approximately 18 GB in size. The video will not be available for download. The USB with the video will be returned via your child as soon as possible from Week 5. Please look for it in their schoolbag. Thank you.

ELC News

ELC NEWS

School Photos – This Friday

Lobsters and Turtles school photos will be on Friday 1 November (week 3). Sibling photos will be available between 8:30am and 9am.

St John Vianney Fete – This Saturday!

The SJV Fete is always a great day out. It’s on this Saturday, 2 November from 10am-2pm. See you there!

Grandparents Day - Stingrays  - Monday 4 November

To celebrate the wonderful grandparents in our lives, the Stingrays would like to invite all grandparents and special loved ones to our open classroom on Monday November 4 from 9-10am. We understand that not all children have grandparents in Canberra so all special family members are invited to attend for the morning. 

2025 ELC and Kinder Orientation – Thursday 7 November

St Jude’s Orientation morning for children enrolled in ELC or Kinder for 2025 will be held on Thursday 7 November.

• Lobsters and Turtles: Please drop your child to us by 9am as usual then walk over to the hall for the parent information session. We will walk the children over to their orientation and collect them afterwards. In the past we have found this helps the children with nerves as it feels like just another trip to the big school.  If your child is not going to St Jude’s, they will go to the park for a fabulous morning with the educators. 

Please note: this will not be their Kinder teacher or 2024 class grouping. We will announce this information in Week 10 for the one up day session.

• Stingrays: This is not a Stingray day, however the ELC will still help with organising the morning. It is suggested that your child wear their ELC uniform as this help with their feelings confidence and belonging. Please drop your child at the ELC at 9am with a drink bottle, a hat and a piece of fruit and the ELC staff will take them to their Kinder room for the morning. There is no need to sign your child in as they are not actually attending the ELC that day. You can then walk over to the parent information session in the school hall. At the end of the orientation session, your child will be taken to the hall to tell you all about their morning.

Mini Missions Fete - Tuesday 12 November
In Week 5, Year 6 will hold our annual Mini Missions Fete which will raise funds for the Mwamba Academy in Kenya to help build classrooms, supply clean water and schooling necessities. This year the Mini Missions fete will be cashless. Students will use a 'helping hand' to purchase items from the stalls, which need to be purchased through Qkr! before 12 noon on Monday 11 November. The fingers can then be ripped off and used at each stall. There is no limit to the number of ‘Helping Hands’ purchased for each child. There will be no refunds provided on helping hands at the end of the Missions Fete. We are looking forward to the wonderful stalls that Year 6 have planned!

St Jude’s Kinder uniforms

Please order 2025 uniforms now via Qkr! for collection at the Kinder Orientation. This allows volunteers time to pack all the orders. Alternatively, the uniform shop will be open on Orientation Day for you to order. There are samples hanging in the ELC entrance and more information on Qkr! Primary school children require a school uniform (three days a week) and a sports uniform (two days a week)

Last Day of School

The last day of school is on Monday 16 December. If you do not attend the ELC on you last booked day/s then you will not be eligible for CCS for those days. Please contact the ELC office as soon as possible if you do plan to attend the ELC on the last day.

RE News

Thank you to all who joined us for Grandparents day. It was a fantastic celebration. We hope you felt welcomed and valued. 

There is an ELC-Year 1 Liturgy on Tuesday at 2pm in the Church. All are welcome. 

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. Reconiliation registration is now open! Click this link to find out more including 2025 dates.

 May your light shine. 

Library News

Our Readers’ Cup experience was a lot of fun!

One of our teams did quite well, making it into 10^th place in a field of 41 schools competing.                                     Well done to team 2.!  The other two teams placed in 30^th & 35^th place. There’s always next year!

Thank you also to Mr Kaltner and parent helpers, who assisted with transporting children to and from the venue as well.

*The Readers’ Cup teams 1, 2 & 3 are hosting a Mini Readers’ Cup Challenge at school today for the other Book Clubbers who were not able to attend . Questions relate to the CBCA shortlisted books from this year.

Sports News

Raiders League Tag Gala day 

70 of our students attended the Raiders League Tag Gala day today full report will be in next weeks newsletter. 

Thank you to Mrs Rice, Mrs Gibson, Mr Palisi and all our parent coaches and managers for a fantastic day.  

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

Uniform shop will be open 2:45pm- 3:15pm Friday 1 November 

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 4

Community Council

Trivia Night – Friday 1 November

We are very excited for our trivia night tomorrow. If you haven’t already, please purchase your $5 ticket on Qkr!                  Make sure you have your costumes, table decorations and table prize pool contribution ready!

Any questions, please email stjudes.scc@gmail.com. Last minute additions welcome!

Community Council Meeting - Tuesday 29 October

Thank you to all that attended the Community Council meeting focused on the 50^th birthday of the school next year. We will circulate outcomes in the near future, however 2025 is looking like a very exciting year!

Teacher Appreciation Day

Friday 25 October was teacher appreciation day. Given we already had Grandparents day and St Jude’s feast day events on the same day, celebrations were moved to Wednesday 30 October. The Community Council provided some catering for a teacher appreciation lunch. Thank you to all our wonderful teachers at St Judes. We are so fortunate to have such passionate and talented teachers for our children. 

Many thanks,

Gemma Cabot

Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

Camp Australia