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Dear Parents and Carers
50th Anniversary Celebrations
Anniversary Mass
Our preparations for the celebration of our Anniversary Mass on Sunday March 27th are proceeding well. Many former principals and staff members have indicated that they plan to attend. A joint parent-staff choir, including several musicians has also been formed.
Last week I sent out an invitation to our older children to assist with some of the duties on the day. All current St Matthew’s children are invited to attend this mass and will be included in a special hymn which the children have been practising in their music lessons. We simply ask that all children wear their full Summer Uniform and are accompanied by at least one parent.
Please keep this morning free, it promises to be a great celebration of our school’s short history. If you are able to attend, and your child is in Kindergarten, Year One or Year Two, would you mind letting our Front Office know in order that we keep within the COVID limit placed on such gatherings.
Building Refurbishments
We received word from the ACT Block Grant Authority that Stage Two of our refurbishment has been approved. Stage Two is essentially the Junior end of the building. This means that we now have funding to refurbish all classrooms including the corridor space during the next two years. As you can appreciate the Pandemic has caused significant delays in the starting time for Stage One. We remain hopeful however, that the refurbishment will commence mid-year and that the second stage will begin immediately after the completion of the first stage.
I would like to acknowledge the ACT Government which has generously provided one million dollars in funding for Stage Two of this project.
I will pass on further details the moment we have a starting date.
Principal’s Retreat
I will be spending Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week on Retreat with the principals of the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese. The Retreat will be led by Archbishop Christopher Prowse. The first day, a System Leaders day will focus on the most recent initiatives surrounding the roll out of the Catalyst Program which is now underway in all schools across our archdiocese.
Pupil Free day
The Catholic Education Office has stipulated that Tuesday April 26th is a Pupil Free Day to allow staff further opportunities to undertake Professional Learning regarding the catalyst Program.
Our Out of School Care Provider, OshClub has indicated that they will provide child care on this day.
May God bless you and your families
Graham Pollard
Principal
Once again, what a difference two weeks can make! Not only are the playgrounds and corridors ringing with polite and genuinely cheerful greetings, but also with the sound of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Congratulations, parents! Your hard work is most certainly paying off. We’re so proud of our students and their wonderful manners.
This week, I wonder if we could all work to help our students learn to apologise. An apology shows empathy and that you are taking responsibility for your actions. As our children get bigger, their physicality can get them into trouble. And as they get older, and make approximations towards being grownups, they’ll make many mistakes, or hurt themselves, or hurt someone else, or make a poor, thoughtless, silly or cruel choice. When they do, we need to react with compassion: listen, help them fix the problem, forgive them, and ask what choices they might make next time.
We can’t force an apology. So here is an approach to try from Dr. Siggie Cohen:
“Would you like to apologise? We apologise when we feel bad about something and we use the word ‘sorry’. This can sometimes make us and the other person feel better. Want to try?”
By using these words, you’re helping your child understand why we apologise, rather than just repeat the word ‘sorry’ because mum or dad said so. In other words, your child learns to apologise by acknowledging that they’ve done something wrong.
But what if your child decides that they would not like to apologise? This is common, says Dr. Siggie. In that case, the parenting expert recommends saying something like:
“Seems like you’re not ready. That’s OK… maybe because you’re still upset yourself. Take your time and if you feel like it, you can say sorry when you’re ready.” (Dellner, 2021)
Inquiry at St Matthew’s
All classes are beginning their second unit of inquiry for the year, with a focus on science and care for our planet. A unit of inquiry is only as strong as its conceptual understanding (sometimes known as the ‘central’ or ‘big’ idea). This is a single, rather complex statement that brings together the content and concepts to be covered in the unit. Here are the conceptual understandings that we are investigating this term:
- The earth’s natural cycles influence the activity of living things.
- Humans make choices that affect the survival of native animals.
- Understanding how living things change helps us to preserve and protect the natural environment.
- Knowledge about and connection to living things and their environment allows us to understand and care for them.
- Human activity has an impact on changing landscapes.
- Adaptations help living things to survive and thrive in their environment.
- Communities collaborate to manage challenges.
Our aim is that each unit is engaging, relevant, challenging, and significant. Can you also see that each statement invites students to consider how they will take action as people of hope?
We’re all very excited about the possibilities for inquiry this term. Stay tuned!
Petra Cole
Assistant Principal
Family Connection
In Sunday's Gospel, the voice from heaven speaks to the disciples saying, “Listen to him.” The Transfiguration was a focused moment for the disciples when they heard God speaking to them and experienced Jesus in glory. They most certainly left this focused moment with a new appreciation for the importance of Jesus' words even if they did not yet understand everything that he had taught them. During Lent, we are invited to consider our attentiveness to Jesus and to one another. In the pace and noise that often characterises family life, how well do we listen to one another? What opportunities do we have for quiet prayer?
As you gather with your family, count the number of pieces of equipment in your home that produce sound: televisions, radios, CD players, computers, video games, etc. Observe if sometimes more than one piece of equipment is playing simultaneously and how this might affect communication. Discuss the question: What is it like to try to talk with one another when this equipment is on?
Read aloud, Luke 9:28-36. Consider whether the noise and pace of your family life allows family members opportunities for quiet prayer. During Lent, it may be appropriate for your family to choose a time for quiet in the household by turning off televisions, radios, and CD players. Consider whether your family would like to establish such a time during this Season of Lent and suggest that it might allow you the opportunity to listen more attentively to one another and to find time for quiet prayer. Spend a few such moments as a family, asking God to help you listen well to one another and to Jesus.
Conceptual Inquiry: Prayer
The students and teachers have been wrapping up their prayer inquiry units with lots of classes producing creative work pieces that demonstrate a deeper understanding of the form and ritual of different prayer types and the importance of prayer in our lives.
Below are a handful of inquiry wall displays relating to our Prayer unit.
Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism, and the successful integration of migrants into our community. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it. The message of Harmony Week is ‘Everyone belongs’. It is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.
We are inviting students to wear casual clothes with something orange on Tuesday, 22nd March, to celebrate Harmony Day. This might sound simple, but did you know that orange is the chosen colour to represent Harmony Day and it signifies social communication and meaningful conversations and relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect?
Students are also asked to bring a gold coin donation in on this day. All donations will go to Caritas Project Compassion, as they work to bring peace and harmony to the world.
Daniel Hunt
Acting Religous Education Co-ordinator
Have you ever read a story and been able to connect on a personal level with a character or storyline? Do you notice that it is easier to read and comprehend something that you have background knowledge of? This is because readers bring information from what they already know or what they have previously read about a topic and connect it with what they are reading. This increases their understanding of the text and helps them remember what they have read. Using prior knowledge can help students connect their own experiences with the text to better understand and make sense of what they are reading.
How can you help your child with this strategy at home?
- When reading with your child, pause before and during the reading of the text to relate what is being read in the story to what is already known.
- Model for your child how you activate prior knowledge before you begin reading.
Use some of the following questions to get started:
- What experiences have you had that might be similar to what this book cover is telling you?
- What do you already know about this content, genre, or author?
While reading:
- Does this part of the story remind you of anything you have done before or read before that will help you understand this section of the story better?
- Using what you already knew about the topic, did that information help you understand this selection?
- Remind your child that a reader can connect text to many different experiences.
They can make a “text to self” connection (connecting to personal experiences), a “text to world” connection (what they know about the world that will help them better understand the story), or a “text to text” connection (the current book reminds them of a previous book read). When your child makes a connection, see if he/she can identify what kind of connection was made.
Thank you for your continued support at home!
Written by: Allison Behne © www.thedailycafe.com
Ideas and strategies are taken from: The CAFE Book, written by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser
Dear Parents
It’s no secret that regular reading has stacks of benefits for your child’s growing mind: development of literacy, imagination, focus, social and communication skills just to name a few. Your child will be carrying books home constantly – that’s where a great kids’ library bag comes in.
A dedicated library bag or satchel keeps your child’s borrowed reads safe and separate from their other belongings whilst travelling to and from school – it’s an important item in their school bag! A library bag needs to be hard-wearing, so seek out something well made with strong materials, as well as one that is waterproof. This helps to keep books protected from drink bottles and food items in school bags.
If your child does not already own a library bag, please purchase one asap. Waterproof library bags can be purchased from shops such as Officeworks (see here), Best & Less (see here), or Kmart (see here). You can also order personalised ones from various online stores.
Thank you for helping to ensure your child has their named library bag ready for each library lesson!
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Sally Judd
Teacher Librarian
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. 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.
Happy birthday wishes to Pasquale A, Mia P, Isaac R, Aaron H, Serchen P, Xander M, Juniper W, Mikko T, Jaina H, Celeste B and Elinor R, who recently celebrated birthdays.
