Download the updated Term Three calendar here

Where in the World is Mrs Lowe?

Last week, Sarah Lowe attended the Australian Catholic Education Conference in North Queensland. This week, she is in Brisbane for the Australian Primary Principals Association Conference. Both events provide valuable opportunities for school leaders to connect with colleagues, keep up to date with current trends in education, and build knowledge and skills through workshops and presentations. The APPA conference also encourages principals to support one another, share ideas, and celebrate the joys and challenges of leading in primary education. Sarah is looking forward to bringing back insights and new learning to share with us on her return.

Book Week 2025

Last Friday, we celebrated Book Week Dress Up Day and it was amazing! Our Book Week Dress Up days are always a highlight—for both students and teachers! Thank you to parents, carers and students for supporting Book Week,  and for joining in the celebrations with such enthusiasm. We’re also very grateful to our teachers for creating engaging lessons that inspire a love of literature. A special thanks goes to our librarian, Sally Judd, for her wonderful organisation of the day, as well as the delicious morning tea and lunch which she baked and provided to staff. Her passion for books and reading shines through in everything she does, and we are so lucky to have her leading the way.

Child Safeguarding Corner

The Child Safe Standards provide us with tangible guidance about how to create cultures, adopt strategies and act to put the interests of children first, to keep them safe from harm. Each fortnight, I present one of the standards, and ask you to reflect on how you think we’re addressing the recommendations. We welcome ideas and feedback from our families and community! This week, we’re looking at Standard 8: Physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse or other kinds of harm to occur. 

The aim of this standard is to identify and minimise risks to children in physical and online environments at school.  This standard is important because safe physical environments play a significant role in reducing opportunities for abuse to occur. 

Our aim is to prioritise this standard for child safety in what we say and do:

• Leaders set expectations about behavioural standards for staff interacting with children in physical and online environments. Our Code of Conduct sets clear behavioural expectations about adult interactions with children. 
• Risk assessment and management plans identify risks to child safety in physical and online environments, and how these will be managed.
• Physical environments are considered. We increase natural lines of sight while respecting a child’s right to privacy. 
• Children are provided with information about online safety and regularly encouraged to tell staff about negative experiences. 
• Staff and parents are provided with information about risks in the online environment. 

Indicators of success for this standard include: 

• Opportunities to harm children are reduced or removed.
• Children engage in creative and safe activities.
• Children speak up about risks in the online environment.
• Children’s privacy is balanced with the need to keep them safe. 

If we are addressing this standard successfully, we would expect our children to say: 

• I know there are some areas in the school that I am not allowed to enter. 
• I can talk to someone I trust about anything I have seen or done online.

We now have a page on our school website dedicated to Child Safeguarding and we encourage you to view it. 

If you have any questions or feedback about how we are addressing this particular Standard, or about our new Child Safeguarding page, please email me (petra.cole@cg.catholic.edu.au). 

Friendology

St Matthew’s is proud to be a URSTRONG school. URSTRONG provides a friendship skills curriculum, Friendology 101, that helps our students to establish and maintain healthy relationships, manage conflict with kindness, and increase their overall resilience. One of the first foundational concepts in the friendship skills curriculum teaches our students about the 4 Friendship Facts.

When we know what to expect in our friendships, it’s much easier to understand and accept the ups and downs.

The 4 Friendship Facts were developed because it was noticed that children weren’t sure what was “normal” or common in their friendships. These 4 Friendship Facts are the foundation of a healthy, respectful friendship and apply to relationships throughout life:

1. No friendship (relationship) is perfect.
2. Every friendship is different.
3. Trust and respect are the two most important qualities of a friendship. 
4. Friendships change…and that’s ok. 

Do you often find yourself at a loss for advice when your children come to you with their friendship issues? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. You can join URSTRONG for free and support our school by sharing the same messages and teaching the same skills that we teach here at St Matthew’s. URSTRONG offers simple yet meaningful language and skills to facilitate open dialogue with your children. You can join URSTRONG for free: https://urstrong.com/

School Fees

Goodwill and Respectful Communication at School

At our school, we know that the way we speak and listen to one another shapes the kind of community our children experience. Goodwill means approaching others with kindness and generosity of spirit, even when we see things differently. Respectful and caring communication helps ensure that every interaction builds trust and strengthens relationships.

A helpful mindset for us all is to assume positive intent—to remember that teachers, staff, and parents are working together with the same purpose: the wellbeing and education of our students. When we begin conversations with this shared goal in mind, it allows us to listen more openly, respond more thoughtfully, and resolve challenges in ways that benefit our children.

Some ways that all adults in our community can model goodwill and respect in everyday school life include:

• Greeting each other warmly.
• Pausing to listen before responding if a concern arises.
• Asking questions kindly, with the assumption that we are all acting in students’ best interests.
• Using calm, positive language—even when discussing something difficult.

By nurturing goodwill and respectful communication, we create a school environment where students feel supported, families feel heard, and staff are able to do their best work. Together, we are building the kind of caring community we want our young people to grow up in.

Thank you

Thank you for the many congratulations and kind wishes I’ve received following the announcement of my appointment as Principal of Rosary Primary School, Watson, from 2026. While I am very excited to begin this new adventure, I am so proud and deeply grateful to have been part of the St Matthew’s Primary School story—it has truly been a privilege.

God bless our community. 

Mrs Petra Cole

Assistant Principal 

Sacramental Program

We have officially begun preparations for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. Recently, our students participated in their first Commitment Masses. These special celebrations gather families and students to show their dedication to this important step in their faith journey.

Fr John led these meaningful masses, offering students, families, and parishioners the opportunity to express their commitment to nurturing faith and supporting one another throughout this sacramental journey.

As a Catholic community, we continue to pray for our students and sincerely thank the wider community for their ongoing support. The next Commitment Masses will be held on the 6th and 7th of September, followed by the celebration of the Sacrament of First Eucharist during Weekend Masses on the 13th and 14th of September.

We warmly invite all members of our school community to join us at our parish. Weekend Mass times are:

Saturday 6:00pm – St Matthew’s Church

Sunday 8:30am – St Matthew’s Church

Sunday 10:00am – St Vincent’s Church

Make Jesus Real (MJR) & Faith in Action

In Week 4, we held our first Make Jesus Real (MJR) session for the term, led by our dedicated Youth Ministers. Through prayer and reflection, students explored the scripture Hebrews 10:23–25:

“Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.

Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.

Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more.”

This powerful passage reminded us of the importance of community, encouragement, and service within our faith journey. After prayer, students engaged in a creative activity using leaves to brainstorm practical ways they can serve and support others in our school community. This will soon be displayed as a Tree of Service to remind the students of our purpose and mission in our community.

Later in Week 5, our Year 2 students explored the themes of faith and mission. As part of their learning, they interviewed our Youth Ministers to gain insight into their roles and what inspires them to be part of the Ministry program. The students were deeply engaged, and it was heartwarming to see our younger learners connect with the message and purpose of the program.

Warm regards,

Sophie Murdock

Religious Education Coordinator

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Welcome to The Sports Stop with Miss Beissner! 

Last week on Tuesday, Mr Payne and I, along with 45 students, attended the Belconnen Region Athletics Carnival. We had beautiful weather, and each student gave it their all in each event, whilst representing St Matthew’s with pride. Congratulations to you all! 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will receive the results and find out if any students have qualified for the ACT Athletics Carnival. 

If your child has a sporting achievement or good news story to share, feel free to send me an email with a photo and a short blurb to feature in the next newsletter.

In sporting spirit, 

Hannah Beissner

hannah.beissner@cg.catholic.edu.au

Book Week - August 17-23

Thank you for helping to make our Book Week such a success last week! The costumes were fabulous and we loved seeing so many creative homemade costumes this year. Thank you for the donations as well - we've been able to raise just over $300 to help World Literacy Foundation.

Congratulations to Alfie, Rubie, Celeste and Lola for their winning entries for the Paper Plate Competition. There were so many amazing entries and it was very hard for the judges to select the winners.

Sally Judd

Teacher Librarian

Thanks, Parents and Carers!

Please join us for our Donuts with Dad, Muffins with Mum (or vice versa) parent and carer thank you breakfast - Friday, 5 September. 

Free Parent Workshops and Webinars

Yawarj Mara Youth Group

Daramalan Basketball Training Camp

Karinya House Walk for Hope - Gather your team!