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Dear Parents and Carers
50th Anniversary Celebrations
This year our school celebrates its 50th anniversary. A small committee began planning last year to celebrate this occasion in significant ways which will involve our students, parents and staff.
The first occasion will be an Anniversary Mass which will be held on Sunday March 27th at 10.00am. at St Matthew’s Church. Past Principals have already been invited, along with members of our school community who can play an instrument or who feel confident to sing in a liturgical setting. Following Mass, the school will be open for visitors to tour the school and Morning Tea will be available. Clearly all plans will be dependent on the COVID regulations.
Could you reserve the date in your diary and if you would like to join our parent choir as either a singer or musician, please let me know. Our children will also have some involvement in the mass and the Open Day.
We also have plans to construct an engraved brick wall with the names of any past or current families. We plan to forward home information about this initiative in the next few weeks.
Later in the year we have planned a Dinner at Pialligo Estate for all members of our community. We will provide more details as the year progresses, but you might like to reserve Friday evening, September 2nd in your diary.
Finally, we have plans for a Back to the 70s day especially for the children, including 70s games and dressed in 70s clothing. Once again, there will be many more details to follow.
I that know our parent community is so young, I thought you might need some time to borrow the clothing your parents may have worn when they were a child in the 1970s!!!!
Rapid Antigen Tests
I am anticipating that the next batch of Tests will arrive during the next few days. We have been given permission from Catholic Education to distribute these tests via the children.
We will, therefore let you know which day the tests are being forwarded home before giving each child their tests to be transported home in their bag.
Meet the Teacher
Hopefully by now you have received notification from the school to make a booking for your Meet the Teacher session with your child’s classroom teacher. These sessions are being held next Monday and Tuesday (14/15 February) either by phone or video. Please let our Front Office staff know if you have not received a notification via Compass.
May God bless you and your families
Graham Pollard
Principal
Welcome back to another school year! And a special welcome to our new families!
As the year begins, I am one of the many teachers available all around the school, helping students transition to their morning play areas. Nothing makes me prouder than when I greet a student and hear this response: ‘Good morning, Mrs Cole. I’m very well, thank you, and how are you?’.
This response doesn’t come easily to all students. Our children might be shy, or anxious, or unsure. However, teaching your child how to greet an adult is a life skill that pays dividends! Every child deserves to learn good manners, and everyone loves to feel confident in social situations. Greeting others politely can help to ‘grease the wheels of society’, shows you care, and can brighten someone’s day.
To help our children develop the habits that will make them charming adolescents and adults, it's essential that we give them the tools for success. Explain that standing up straight, smiling and saying hello shows respect and is polite. A first introduction to greetings is to teach children to make eye contact and simply say, 'Hello ‘or ‘Good morning.’ If your child runs to the shy end of the extrovert spectrum, lend a hand and model the greeting. Help your child practise greeting people at home. Encourage them to have their dolls and teddy bears greet each other when they are playing with them. Teach your child to look at a person directly when greeting others if they are able. If not, suggest they look at the person’s ears, eyebrows, or neck, or to just lift their head slightly.
Because social norms are new to many children, it's important to praise them for all the steps they're taking. Remember that this new skill might take a long time to learn. Some children will pick up this skill easily, while others may need more practice until they get it right.
Be patient but be sure to share your appreciation and pride. Reinforce great behaviour with ‘You have such good manners!’ or ‘I’m very well. That’s kind of you to ask.’
Soon enough, your children will have the polite greeting down pat.
Petra Cole
Assistant Principal
Dear School Community,
Welcome to the 2022 school year!
I’m excited to be the Acting Religious Education Coordinator for Term 1 in a year where we celebrate 50 years of education at St Matthew’s.
This year, our scriptural theme is ‘Love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 13:34-35
We will develop our understanding and experience of Christian Meditation as a form of intentional contemplative prayer, which will enable us to lead the students in our ancient faith tradition of stillness, silence and simplicity.
This term, year levels will once again be able to attend Friday Mass with Father Simon. We will also prepare our Year 3 students for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
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Sacrament |
Event: Date and Time |
Location |
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Reconciliation |
Parent Information Evening Thursday 24 Feb: 6pm
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St Matthew’s Church |
|
Commitment Masses: (You only need to attend one) Saturday 26 Feb: 6pm Sunday 27 Feb: 8.30am Saturday 5 March: 6pm Sunday 6 March: 8.30am |
St Matthew’s Church |
|
|
Retreat: During school hours |
St Matthew’ Primary School |
|
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Sacrament of Reconciliation: Tuesday 29 March: 6.30pm Wednesday 30 March: 5.30pm |
St Matthew’s Church |
Maddie Greenwood will continue her role with us as Youth Minister and will work closely with our Year 6 students and classes preparing to receive their sacraments this year.
Family Connection
This week's Gospel offers a contrast to many of the messages we hear in our society today. If we were to accept uncritically the “get ahead” messages of our culture, we would think that happiness means having money, being successful, and having many possessions. In this way, we are not unlike the people who heard Jesus teach on the day that he taught the Beatitudes. They too associated happiness with possessions and success. The report of the Beatitudes in Luke's Gospel, however, takes things one step further. Not only will we not find happiness through the “get ahead” messages of the world, but relying upon these messages will cause us harm. The warnings spoken are particularly challenging because they suggest that our way of life must change if we are to gain the lasting happiness of eternal life.
Talk together as a family about what society tells us makes a person successful. Make a list of the traits that you associate with a successful person. Then read together today's Gospel, Luke 6:17, 20-26. Reflect on Jesus' description of blessedness in the Kingdom of God. Then consider the warnings. Why are these surprising and challenging? What, then, is the measure of success in the Kingdom of God? Together, write prayers of petition based on your discussion. Pray these prayers together, asking God to help your family seek the blessings of the Kingdom of God.
Daniel Hunt
Religious Education Coordinator (acting)
Dear Parents
At St Matthew’s, we love the opportunity to celebrate children’s birthdays – listening to their excited descriptions of their parties and presents and sharing in a birthday treat.
This year, due to COVID restrictions, we are asking parents to refrain from sending in birthday treats and cakes to share with classes. Instead, have you considered donating a new book to our library in honour of your child’s birthday?
Books that are donated in honour of a child’s birthday will have a special bookplate added to the front of the book, with the child’s name, to recognise their birthday. You could donate a book that your child enjoys or one from their favourite author. It could be a new non-fiction book or picture book or novel to add to our collection.
Please deliver your donated books to the library, including a note with the name of the student and how old they are turning.
If you need any recommendations on what kind of book is needed in our library or just want to check we don’t already have the book in our library, please feel free to contact me (sally.judd@cg.catholic.edu.au).
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Sally Judd
Teacher Librarian
Happy birthday wishes to , Kael B, Grace D, Willow C, Alexie K, Ava L and Mikayla A, who recently celebrated birthdays.
Happy birthday wishes to Zachary L, Nayan B, Lucy C, Charlotte N, Hugo S, Audry Z, Chayan M, Zachary F, Matilda K, Ryan W, Taika T, Anuva I, Hector S, Kassia S, Josephine P, Andrew S, Imogen C, Alessandro M, Lola M, Lachlan L, Allegra W, Jemima S, who also celebrated their birthdays in the school holidays.
About 6 months ago Rosie said to her mum, “I want to shave my head for cancer”.
Her mum asked her why she wanted to do it in which Rosie responded by saying that she was feeling bad for people that have cancer and wanted to make difference.
What an incredible young and very brave girl. As a school community let's support Rosie to raise awareness and much needed funds for this worthy cause.
Please find her link below.
Rosie-
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?RegistrationID=847401__;!!Ax-PnKpllFIIgPxB!wzrSuY8UzOmHBS3cEWeB5vp2zjMzq_x99ZiFbkpi8NzIFnytLOUow7XHYj8WWaGTDyh9kNZG4w$
The date of the shave is the 18th March.
MEDICATION
Please ensure any changes to medication have been advised to front office staff and that current in-date medication and consent forms have been provided to the front office.
ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION
A reminder that all medication (including inhalers, creams and tablets) must be handed into the Front Office to ensure both their safe administration and the safety of all children. Consent forms, which are available on our website or from the Front Office, should accompany the medication. Similarly, any updated Asthma or Anaphylaxis Action Plans should also be handed into the Front Office so that they can be added to the Student Files.
Qkr! Reminder
Parents can update each child's Student Profile on Qkr! by changing the child's year level to reflect their 2022 class. This will ensure all payments are correctly processed for each child.
Kindergarten Healthchecks
An envelope was sent home to parents via the notebags for kindergarten students with a questionnaire that must be returned by Friday 25 February at the latest.
The School Health Registered Nurses will visit St Matthew’s primary school during 2022.
Cyber Safety
Our school commences each year by asking our students to commit to the safe use of online resources.
Last Tuesday was Safer Internet Day. To mark the occasion one of our parents forwarded the following link which is a free resource from the eSafety Commissioner. I recommend it you for your information.
All families have received their log in details via email for our new Compass Parent Portal. The Compass Parent Portal is an online portal that allows you to interact with the school and access up-to-date information. The Skoolbag app will be discontinued at the end of this year. Once you have your log-in credentials and download the app, you’ll be able to:
- Enter absence notes for your child
- Give consent for excursions
- View school reports
- Communicate with your child’s teacher
- Book parent-teacher interviews
- Receive communication from staff
If you didn’t receive log in details, please contact our Front Office (office.stmatts@cg.catholic.edu.au) or check your “junk” mailbox.
Click here to install Compass on Apple devices
Click here to install Compass on Android devices
When prompted: Search “St Matthew’s P” and then you’ll see “St Matthew’s Primary School – Page” as a drop down.
