Welcome to week 10.

“May the light of the Resurrection illuminate our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected, and loved. A happy Easter to all!”. - Pope Francis.

We pray for all on staff, their families and our STA community. May this week be an opportunity to deeply reflect on our own lives, the lives of others and how we can be renewed and nourished in Christ.

How lovely it was to see many of our families attend Mass over the weekend. Over the past week we have celebrated Holy week. As a Catholic School it is the holiest of times in the calendar of the Church. As the stories that are remembered and commemorated form the basis for our existence. We are here to educate our students, providing the best opportunities for learning based on the Catholic Tradition.

Father Tom delivers a powerful message in his Homily each week at Mass. I take away so much from his succinct words each week and hear such wonderful feedback about our Parish priest from our community. I encourage all members of our community to join us in celebrating Mass with Father Tom. Masses times are:

WEEKEND MASS

Saturday- 5pm (from 13th April).

Sunday- 9am

Together with Fr Tom, I have had the privilege of leading the St Anthony’s community as Principal in steadfast faith this term. During this time, I have been so grateful to the community for their continued support and the wonderful work of our teachers, staff and students.

As we approach our final weeks of term, may I take this opportunity to thank our St Anthony’s staff and teachers who have worked hard to deliver a rigorous and meaningful learning program. Our magnificent students are just as deserving, and we are incredibly proud of each of them.

Our community spirit has been very evident, including our Year 6 Leadership ceremony, assemblies, liturgies, Stations of the Cross, St Anthony’s Project Compassion campaign, our community garden improvements, our STA kitchen garden, our portfolio leader activities, open day, school disco, NAPLAN, swimming carnival, athletics carnival and of course our upcoming fete "May the fourth be with you” next term. We are very much looking forward to finishing the term as well as we started.

I thank Parents and Carers for your continued support of our school. We truly value you. As we approach the two-week break from school, may we be reminded of all that we have to be grateful for. I hope each of you can enjoy some sunshine with your families and a well-deserved break from washing school uniforms, packing lunch boxes and navigating through homework. Thank you for all that you do to support our students.

Pupil Free Day

Next Term, students in all Catholic Schools will not return to school until Tuesday, the 30th of April, due to a Pupil Free day on Monday, the 29th of April. Our staff will participate in a Staff Development Day on the designated Pupil Free Day.

Thank you

My thanks to our fabulous Year 6 Teachers and students for their time, preparation and deeply moving Stations of the Cross on Tuesday.

A big thank you to Simon and our wonderful staff and parent community for their efforts and support in our athletics carnival. We had beautiful weather and an excellent day. Thank you all for making this happen.

There was a wonderful response from families attending P/T interviews this term. My thanks to teachers for creating this additional time in your week. It was greatly appreciated.

Semester one reports and a second opportunity for P/T interviews will occur at the end of term 2.

School Fete

Planning and preparation for our school fete on May 4th is in top gear. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up for the fete as a volunteer. If you would like to volunteer you can sign up here Volunteering Link

Morning Supervision of students

A reminder that supervision begins at 8.30am each morning.

Please note that there is no supervision for students at the front of school before this time. Duty of care and supervision is something our school takes very seriously. Please refrain from dropping children out the front gates of school at 8am. Please contact OOSCA if you are needing care for children before school.

Reminder – school photos

Our school photos will take place on Thursday 11 April. Students need to wear their full summer uniform. Families can access purchasing photo packs via a link on the Compass dashboard.

Please remind your child that they are having their photos taken, if they are having a sibling photo, all siblings will need to be ready for their photos between 8am and 9am. Siblings from the ELC can join these photos too. Orders for sibling photos need to be submitted before the photo day. MSP will not be accepting sibling photo orders on or after our photo day.

A reminder as we approach our final weeks of term. Next term our students return to school in their winter uniform.

School uniform for Term 2

All students are required to wear full winter uniform from Week 1, Term 2.

This includes:

Clothing Shop

The school uniform shop is open on Saturday 6 April from 9.30-11.00am.

Important dates:

Week 10

· Thursday 4 April - Year 4 Excursion to Questacon

· Thursday 4 April – ACT girls chess championship

· Friday 5 April – 2L prayer focus assembly at 12pm in the school hall

· Saturday 6 April – Clothing Pool open 9.30am-11am

Week 11

· Tuesday 9 April Sacrament of Confirmation parent information evening 5.30pm in the church

· Thursday 11 April – school photos. Students wear regular summer uniform

· Friday 12 April – Year 5 grade assembly

· Friday 12 April - Plain clothes day for students (students bring in a chocolate donation for the school fete)

· Friday 12 April – last day of Term 1

Term 2

Week 1

· Tuesday 30 April – students return for Term 2

· Saturday 4 May – School fete 10am-3pm

Parent TV resource

As a parent there is nothing scarier than feeling distant, like the communication lines are down from your kid … particularly when we know they are struggling and nothing we seem to do will help them open up.

I don’t know about you but sometimes my mind can run wild with worst-case scenario stories about what might be happening and that can often make it worse. I begin to approach my kids with stress and anxiety, trying to force them to open up.

I have learned over the years that there are some great ideas out there to help our kids open up a bit more easily outside of just dinner table conversation starters. You can check out this video from Dr Justin Coulson where he talks about: Ways to really listen so your child shares more.

Did you also know that fun and humour is another one of the things that makes us feel super connected to each other? When our children have incredible fun with us it anchors deep memories in their brain which they carry with them throughout the rest of their life.

You can find out all about how this works in this video from Maggie Dent: How you can have more fun with your kids - why we all need to lighten up

And if you are wondering how you rate as a parent when it comes to connection check out this other short video with a quick assessment around: Is there more correction, connection or direction in your parenting right now?

Have a lovely week,

Erin

Dear Parents and Carers,

If you require casual care please make sure that you call OOSCA to confirm availability.  OOSCA is currently running at near or on capacity most afternoons but especially on a Tuesday.  If we are over ratio we will have to call parents to collect their children as we are unable to have more children than we are licensed for.

All accounts must be settled before the start of Term 2 or bookings will be suspended. If you required Vacation Care, Term 1 fees will need to be settled before attending.

Thank you,

OOSCA Team