Our Parish Priest

Chocolate Donations

24 Feb 2020

We are seeking donations from families for our chocolate trailer at the fete, which will be held Saturday 2 May.

• Chocolates need to be standard sized bars
• No bars containing nuts please
• Used by date must be after 2 May 2020

Please send in your donations in a paper bag/envelope/snaplock bag labelled with your child’s name and class by Friday 6 March.

Every child who donates at least one chocolate bar will go in the draw to win a FREE SHOWBAG on fete day!

Thank you for your support.

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

24 Feb 2020

On Wednesday this week, we begin the season of Lent. All parents and carers are invited to join us at 10am on Wednesday the 26th of February for our Ash Wednesday liturgy to mark the beginning of this special time.

St Anthony's Sunday Grade Mass

24 Feb 2020

The families of St Anthony's are always warmly invited to attend mass at the St Anthony of Padua Church. This year, however, we are celebrating a number of Sunday masses that will have a focus on our children. At each mass, there will be a number of liturgical roles fulfilled by students from St Anthony's. Each mass is allocated to a specific grade to fulfil the majority of these roles including offertory, collecting and welcoming.  Mrs Ephraums is also working with a school choir that will sing at these masses.

The first of these masses is on Sunday the 1st of March at 9:00am. While Year Three will be playing a significant role in the mass, all students and their families are invited to attend.

St Anthony’s Parents and Friends Association

21 Feb 2020

Dear Parents, Carers and St Anthony’s School Community,

The St Anthony’s Parents and Friends Association has been in operation since the school’s inception, some forty years ago. It has provided a significant voice in shaping our school and school community.  The P & F has represented our dedicated volunteers who have helped the school in so many different ways including: in-class Reading, Discos, Gardening, School Board Roles, Committee Roles, Fundraising events, School Carnivals, Canteen or even just attending the P&F meetings. 

 In recent years the number of P & F volunteers has gradually declined. This has occurred for a number of reasons: economy, families returning to work, time constraints and availability just to name a few, and so we find ourselves in a predicament.

As the established voice of the families within the school, low engagement means that the P&F is doing a disservice to the school community by not really representing the views of all the families within the school. We appreciate and thank those parents and friends who currently attend P & F meetings.  A lot of good items for discussion are raised, however the discussion, ideas and indeed the work done could be far richer with a wider representation of parents. The old adage: ‘Many hands make light work’ is certainly true in regards to our P & F.

As an association we cannot hold our meetings and function efficiently without better attendance. We have tried video conferencing and our numbers have continued to remain low.  The P&F constitution requires us to have a certain number of people present to meet a quorum each meeting.  We have had trouble meeting the quorum for a while now and so we find ourselves at a crossroads.  We either continue with two separate bodies – the Parents Friends Association and the School Board or we merge and move to a Community Council model.

 Of the 56 schools in our Archdiocese we are only one of about 7 that still operates as a Parents and Friends Association and School Board. Many other schools who have found themselves in a similar predicament as we are currently, have moved to a community council.

There are many benefits to community councils such as less admin and operational time required, a more cohesive approach to school operations rather than segregated ways of working, families not being inundated and overwhelmed with requests for help from two bodies, volunteers work in a more holistic way instead of in isolation in pockets of work and the entire school community has a much clearer look at the overall work and plans for our school. Within a community council there are also dedicated family council positions to ensure our valuable parent/carer voice is not diluted.

Please be assured no decisions have been made yet. We simply want to make our school community aware of our current situation and get feedback about how people feel about the idea.  If there are any barriers that families are finding in attending current P&F meetings that we can possibly help with; please let us know via email stanthonyspandf1@gmail.com

This has been a topic of discussion for the past few meetings as it is a major concern as a few of our dedicated P&F and School Board reps will be graduating from us as their children leave the school. At present we have 2-3 positions to fill on our school board and 2-3 Executive positions on the P&F Committee as members have stepped down.

Next Wednesday 26^th February 2020 will be the AGM for the P&F in which all positions become vacant and open for nominations. We do hope you can make the time to come and support the P&F to make the quorum, and maybe even consider joining our great team of dedicated committee members or even just come and have dinner and a chat.

Yours truly,

Selina Walker                                                              Greg Walker

P&F President                                                             School Principal

OOSCA's Phone Line down

20 Feb 2020

Unfortunately the OOSCA phone line is not working. If you need to contact OOSCA please call 0499 161 456.   We will let you know once this problem has been rectified.

Thank you,

Necta Gianakis

Successful Learner Awards

20 Feb 2020

Congratulations to the following students who have been identified as being a Successful Learner. Certificates will be presented during Friday morning assembly.

Isaac W Kinder Assisi Bonnie J Kinder Padua Andrea S Kinder Lisbon Kai W 1 Assisi Halle C 1 Padua Ella K 1 Lisbon Angus D 2 Assisi Suella B 2 Padua Serena -R 2 Lisbon Sahib A 3 Assisi Chloe E 3/4 Lisbon Jessie H 4 Assisi Leon B 4 Padua Manny C & Alina F 5 Assisi Alina F 5 Padua Liam O'K 6 Assisi Leo S 6 Padua Olivia C 6 Lisbon

Netball Registration

20 Feb 2020

NETBALL REGISTRATIONS OPEN

Register for St Anthonys Netball teams from years 2-6 by 11 March 2020. Information is attached. Come and Try sessions will be held next week - Year 2 (Monday 24 Feb at lunch), Year 3 (Tuesday 25 Feb at recess), Year 4 (Tuesday 25 Feb at lunch).

Netball Registration and Information

Canteen Roster

20 Feb 2020

Canteen Volunteers

20 Feb 2020

Please see attached request for volunteers.

https://sappswanniassa.schoolzineplus.com/form/10

Thank you,

Maree Alchin

Canteen Manager

Successful Learner Awards

19 Feb 2020

Congratulations to the following students who have been identified as being a Successful Learner. Certificates will be presented during Friday morning assembly.

Isaac W Kinder Assisi Bonnie J Kinder Padua Andrea S Kinder Lisbon Kai W 1 Assisi Halle C 1 Padua Ella K 1 Lisbon Angus D 2 Assisi Suella B 2 Padua Serena -R 2 Lisbon Chloe E 3/4 Lisbon Jessie H 4 Assisi Leon B 4 Padua Manny C & Alina F 5 Assisi Alina F 5 Padua Leo S 6 Padua Olivia C 6 Lisbon