Thank You for Attending Parent-Teacher Conferences

Staffing Matters

Farewell to Rachel Powell

At the end of this week, we will be farewelling Rachel Powell, who has accepted a new role at Canberra Grammar School as Associate Director of Academic Education – Literacy. Rachel has been a valued member of the St Matthew’s team for the past 15 years, serving as Curriculum Coordinator and Year 5 teacher. We thank her for her dedication and contribution to our school and wish her all the best in her new role.

Rachel’s position has been advertised and has attracted strong interest from experienced applicants. Interviews will take place shortly, and we expect to announce the successful candidate at the start of Term 3. The new teacher will meet with Rachel for a transition meeting and is expected to begin mid-term.

In the meantime, Mrs Dian Sari, Mrs Julie Jenkins, and Miss Sally Judd will be teaching 5 B. The teachers have completed a thorough handover with Rachel and will work closely with Miss Murdock. We are confident the transition will be smooth for students and families.

Thank you for your support during this time of change.

Farewell to Debbie Deighton and Welcome to Anna Marzano

At the end of this term, we will farewell Debbie Deighton, who is retiring after two and a half years as our Music teacher at St Matthew’s.

Debbie has led class music lessons and the school choir, helping students build strong music skills and confidence. She has prepared performances for events such as Grandparents Day, Christmas celebrations, and our school music concert. We thank Debbie for her contribution to our school and wish her all the best in retirement.

We’re also pleased to welcome Anna Marzano, who will be joining us as our new Music teacher from the start of Term 3. Anna has taught music in several Catholic schools across Canberra, most recently at our sister school, St Vincent’s. We look forward to having her join our team.

Welcome to Our New Classroom Support Assistant

We’re pleased to welcome a new Classroom Support Assistant, Margie Sciacca, to the St Matthew’s team, starting in a part-time capacity from the beginning of next term.

Our new team member brings valuable experience and great enthusiasm for supporting students and teachers in the classroom. We look forward to the positive contribution she will make to our school community.

Medications Reminder

Please ensure that all student medication is delivered by an adult to the front office for administration. For the safety and well-being of all students, no medication is to be sent in school bags or self-administered by students under any circumstances.

If your child requires medication during school hours, parents/carers must complete the attached Medication Authorisation Record. This form gives consent for school staff to administer prescribed medication in line with our Medical Welfare of Students Policy.

Please note the following important requirements:

• Medication must be in its original packaging with a dispensing label that includes the child’s name.
• Expired medication will not be administered.
• A separate form must be completed for each medication.
• Wherever possible, medication should be administered outside school hours and first given by the parent/carer with a 24-hour observation period before returning to school.
• Long-term medication must follow the child’s Medical Management Plan.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the safe administration of medication at school. If you have any questions, please contact the front office.

Medication Authorisation Form

Future of Education Equity Fund

I am pleased to share important information from the ACT Government regarding increased support for families through the Future of Education Equity Fund.

As part of the 2025–26 ACT Budget, the ACT Government has announced a $600,000 boost to the Equity Fund. This will enable an additional 1,000 eligible ACT students to receive financial assistance in the 2025 school year.

The Equity Fund is available to families of students enrolled in preschool to Year 12 in any ACT school—government or non-government—who are experiencing financial disadvantage. Support provided through the Fund assists with education-related expenses and aims to ensure that all children have an equal opportunity to fully participate in their learning.

Funding amounts for 2025 are as follows:

• $400 for preschool students
• $500 for primary school students
• $750 for high school and college students

Further information, including application details, is available on the ACT Education Directorate website.

Winter Uniform Reminder

As we settle into the cooler months, a reminder that all students should now be wearing the full winter school uniform.

School Winter Uniform (not sports) (Monday, Wednesday, Friday):

• Tracksuit pants are not part of the winter uniform
• Students should wear dress pants or the tunic
• Joggers are not permitted with the regular uniform — these are for sports days only

Outerwear & Accessories:

• All students should bring their fleece jacket and wear long sleeves
• If purchasing a coat, please ensure it is navy blue
• Gloves, scarves, and beanies may be navy blue or maroon

Uniform plays an important role in creating a sense of belonging and pride in our school. Thank you for your support in maintaining our high standards.

2026 Dates

Thank You and Wishing You a Safe Winter Break

As we come to the end of Term 2, I’d like to thank all our staff, students, and families for their hard work throughout the term.

It’s been a busy and productive few months, and I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved together. 

I wish everyone a safe, restful, and enjoyable winter break. I look forward to welcoming students back to school on Tuesday, 22 July, for the start of Term 3.

Yours in Truth and Love,

Mrs Sarah Lowe

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!

Child Safe Standard 5: People working with children are suitable and supported

The aim of this standard is for our school to attract, recruit, supervise and support staff to keep our students safe. This standard is important because it assists our staff in following policies that reduce the risk of harm to children. 

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

• All staff receive an appropriate induction and are aware of their child safety responsibilities. 
• All relevant staff have relevant checks, such as Working With Vulnerable People registration. 
• Catholic Education recruitment process, including advertising, emphasises child safety. 
• Messages to students about behaviour and safety are consistent. 

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

• I feel safe with the adults here.
• Adults show concern for me.  
• I trust adults here and can talk to them about things that upset me. 
• All the adults tell me the same things about how we should behave and how they should behave. 

We’re very proud to 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 Standard, or about our new Child Safeguarding page, please email me (petra.cole@cg.catholic.edu.au). 

Books Worth Reading on the Parenting Journey

It’s natural to feel anxious at times as parents — we all want the best for our children. In an age of constant advice and information, it can be hard to know where to turn. That’s why we’ve asked staff to recommend a few trusted, thoughtful books that support parents in raising resilient, confident and emotionally healthy children. These resources offer practical strategies and reassuring insights for navigating the ups and downs of parenting. You might like to read them during the holidays!

The Optimistic Child by Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology, presents proven techniques to help children develop a more hopeful and resilient mindset. The Optimistic Child provides tools to combat negative thinking and build emotional strength, laying the foundation for lifelong well-being.

The Bonsai Child by Judith Locke
In The Bonsai Child, clinical psychologist Judith Locke explores how well-intentioned parenting can sometimes limit a child’s growth by being overly protective or involved. She offers practical strategies to help parents raise capable, resilient children who thrive with confidence and independence.

Petra Cole

Assistant Principal

Vinnies Winter Appeal – Making a Difference

A big thank you to our school community for your incredible support of the Vinnies Winter Appeal. Our recent Pyjama Day was a huge success, raising $564.20 through gold coin donations. This money will go directly to supporting individuals and families doing it tough this winter.

We are also so grateful for the many generous donations of warm winter items. Your kindness is truly appreciated. It’s a powerful reminder of how our small acts of kindness can have a big impact.

Illuminate Youth Ministry Gathering

Last Thursday, our Year 6 Youth Ministry students took part in the Illuminate Gathering at John Paul II College, joining students from 16 Catholic schools across Canberra. Thank you to Stella for her well-written speech about our school and why she loves Youth Ministry. This speech was presented to a large audience that included the new Executive Director of Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn, Mr David de Carvalho. It was a special day filled with music, reflection, drama, and small group activities, all focused on deepening their faith and understanding of their relationship with God.

Our students represented our school beautifully and were fully engaged in every aspect of the day. A special mention to Phoebe, Stella, Summer and Zara who demonstrated particularly thoughtful and meaningful reflections on the gathering – their words showed a deep connection to the theme and purpose of the day.

Sophie Murdock

Religious Education Coordinator

Welcome to another edition of Sports Talk with Mr. Payne.

Athletics Carnival 

St Matthew’s held their annual Athletics Carnival last Thursday at the AIS Track and Field Centre. Firstly, well done to all of the students who participated on the day. Despite the cold start, the track was running hot with all of the races on the day. Secondly, a massive thank you to all of our parent helpers! Thank you to Kristy Marks, Quyen Pindral, Andrew Murray, Francine Larobina, Simon Wallis, Cheryl Toussaint, Ana Sofia Brunicardi, Brookelyn Selems, Tim Black, Laura Pritchard, Ben Wynn, Nigel Griffiths, Jaimi Pigram, Olivia Narayanan, Mandeep Kaur and Megan Dunn.

And a big thank you to all the staff, parents, and friends of St Matthew's who supported us on the day!

Champion of Champions 2025 FUTSAL Competition 

Congratulations to the students who participated in the ACT FUTSAL Gala Day held back in April. Students who participated in the Years 3-4 Gala Day have been offered the opportunity to head up to Brisbane for the Australasian Champion of Champions Competition later this year. More to come surrounding this event later this year!

School Holiday Athletics Training

Please see information below regarding holiday clinics with Capital Athletics:

We are reaching out to schools that we have partnered with, or will be partnering with, for upcoming school carnivals, to ask for your support in sharing information with your students and their families about our upcoming three-day school holiday athletics clinic, running from 15th – 17th July.

Please find below the registration links for the individual clinic groups, which we kindly ask you to share with families:

• Registration for Ages 6–10

• Registration for Ages 11 and Over

These clinics are hosted by Capital Athletics and led by our team of national-level athletes, all of whom hold coaching qualifications. Each coach specialises in their event areas—track, throws, and jumps—and many have won medals at national or international competitions. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their skills under expert guidance and perhaps become the next generation of outstanding athletes.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sam at sam.roestbakken@capitalathletics.au or the Participation email participation@capitalathletics.au

Sports Coordinator 2026

As of Term 3, 2025, I will be slowly transitioning out of the sports coordinator position. Another teacher will be taking on the role as of 2026, as I will be completing a handover of the role.

I would just like to say a big thank you to all of the parents for their support, time and patience with me during my time as sports coordinator. A lot of it has been trial, error and a lot of learning. I have enjoyed this role as I have found joy in organising events for the students to enjoy. 

Yours in Sports,

Dillon Payne 

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is when someone is mean to a child or young person under 18 online, so they feel bad or upset. It can happen on a social media site, game, app, or any other online or electronic service or platform. It can include: posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, livestreams, memes, images, videos and emails.

These are some examples of ways the internet can be used to make someone feel bad or upset:

• Sending hurtful messages about them or to them.
• Sharing embarrassing photos or videos of them, including sexual content.
• Recording and sharing physical abuse, violence or harassment.
• Spreading nasty online gossip about them.
• Leaving them out online. 
• Creating fake accounts in their name.
• Tricking them into believing you are someone else. 

For most children and young people, online life is a key part of their identity and how they communicate, so cyberbullying can be very harmful. It can cause a range of emotions including fear, anxiety, anger and despair. They may suffer trauma and ongoing depression.

If the child or young person is in immediate danger, it’s important to get help fast. For criminal activity such as physical violence or stalking, it’s best to report it to the police.

Cyberbullying and other negative behaviour can also be reported to the service or platform that was used to send, post or share it. 

If the behaviour goes against the platform guidelines, they will review and may take action, including removing the post. Most online platforms don't let users know the results of their report. 

Ask your child if they need support to check if the post is no longer there.

I think my child is being bullied.

Your child may not tell you if they are experiencing bullying behaviour online because of a fear that it might make things worse for them, or that they may lose access to their devices and the internet. They may also feel ashamed, especially if they have also been involved in bullying others online.

Signs to watch for:

• Being upset after using the internet or their devices, such as mobile phones
• Changes in personality, such as becoming more withdrawn, anxious, sad or angry
• Appearing lonelier or more distressed 
• Unexpected changes in friendship groups 
• A slide in their school results 
• Changes in their sleep patterns 
• Avoiding school or clubs 
• A decline in their physical health 
• Becoming secretive about their online activities and device use.

If you are concerned about changes in your child’s behaviour, it’s a good idea to take action. You can speak with your GP or contact Kids Helpline for support.

Daniel Hunt

ICT Coordinator

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data of Students with Disability

Non-government Schools Census Collection Notice

The Australian Government Department of Education (the department) would like to advise all staff, parents, guardians and students (where applicable) that it will collect certain information about our school, its staff and student body as part of the non-government schools census collection (the census).

How and what information is collected for the census?
Census information is provided to the department by your school legal entity (the approved authority) via the SchoolsHUB website.

The census provides information about our school, including the number and characteristics of our staff and student body, during a specific reference period.

Information and characteristics collected through the census include:
• teaching and non-teaching staff
• students’ year level and workload
• students’ gender and age (as on 1 July 2025)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students
• students with disability
• students receiving distance education
• day, boarding and overseas students.

The names of students and staff are not collected, apart from the name, position and contact details of the staff member nominated as the primary contact for the census.

Please see the flyer below for more details

Non-Government Schools Census Collection Notice

Book Week - August 17-23

Each year, many schools and public libraries across Australia spend a week in August celebrating books and Australian authors and illustrators. This term, we have some wonderful opportunities for our students to participate in to celebrate Book Week. 

Author visit

In Week 4 (Tuesday, August 12), we are very lucky to have a visit from Katrina Nannestad for our Year 3-6 students. She is the author of The Travelling Bookshop series, The Girl, the Dog and the Writer series, Silver Linings, and several historical fiction novels, including We Are Wolves, Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief, All the Beautiful Things, and Waiting for Storks.

There will also be an opportunity to purchase signed copies of Katrina’s books.

Book Week Dress Up and Activity Day

As our aim is to bring students and books together, we invite all students to come dressed as a book character, either fictional or real, or as something relating to the Book Week theme ‘Book an adventure’ on Friday, August 22.  We will begin our day with a short assembly and then progress into Book Week-related activities. Could your child also bring along the book or a picture of the book cover (attached to a lanyard or pinned to their costume) to let others know the book their character is from? This year, we will be asking students to bring along a gold coin donation as part of our dress-up day. All money collected will be going to the World Literacy Foundation, which is partnering with Reading out of Poverty. This year, they are supporting early literacy in disadvantaged communities across Australia.

If any students choose not to dress as a book character, they will wear their normal school uniform. Please note that the costume does not need to be elaborate or expensive.  We would encourage parents to use dress-up clothes from home for the event. There are also many simple DIY ideas on the Internet.

As a Christian community, we are asking parents to assist us in selecting appropriate characters that complement our values and beliefs.  We would ask that characters who are violent or scary (i.e., ghosts, vampires, or those involving weapons) be avoided.  If you are unsure and would like to clarify this further, please speak to your child’s teacher.

The teachers and I look forward to seeing our students come dressed as their book character of choice.

Book Week Competition

This year, we are holding a Book Week competition. Students, if they choose, can decorate a paper plate to represent their favourite book – it could be a scene from the book, a character, or the cover of the book. There are some ideas below. If you need a paper plate, please collect one from Miss Judd. Students will need to write their name and class on the back of their paper plate. This activity will need to be completed at home. Entries need to be given to Miss Judd by Monday, August 18th, and winners will be announced at our Book Week dress-up day.

 

Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who came to visit our Book Fair over the past week. It was lovely to see you all! With your support, we’ve been able to raise over $800 to spend on new books for our library - thank you so much! 

Upcoming Book and Author Events

If you are looking for some things to do with your children, please check out these upcoming events at The Book Cow (https://www.bookcow.com.au/events). Also, remember to check out what’s available at your local public library.

Sally Judd

Teacher Librarian

Team Kids Holiday Program

Squash Try Day

Squash ACT will be holding a kids come and try day on Saturday 12 July 2025 at Woden and Dickson Squash Courts. 

Primary School (Ages 6–12): 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM 

High School/College (Ages 13–18): 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Further details can be found in the flyer below.

Squash ACT Kids Come and Try Day Flyer0