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Dear Parents and Carers
COVID Update
As predicted, the number of students contracting COVID has jumped during the past week. Can I strongly urge you to inform our Front Office if you child has tested positive. Our Assistant Principal, Petra Cole will then contact you to outline a temporary learning program while your child is absent from school.
Please continue to keep your child away from school if they are displaying any symptoms. The wonderful cooperation of our parents, combined with the rigorous implementation of the COVID regulations by staff has enabled St Matthew’s to remain relatively low in case numbers in comparison to many schools. Let’s work together to keep it that way.
Anniversary Dinner
Thank you for the wonderful response to this celebration. On Friday afternoon our overall numbers were nearing 100 which is a fabulous result. The response is a great reward for our hardworking Committee who are currently seeking donations to hold a silent auction on the night. All indicators are that it will be a great night.
Finally, our committee is very keen to finalise numbers by this Friday, please approach our Front Office to make your payment.
We would like to hold another Pop Up (Used Clothing) uniform shop on the next Pupil Free day which will be held on Friday September 9th September. This will be an excellent opportunity to stock up on articles of summer uniform. More details to follow.
Late Arrivals
If your child arrives at school after Morning Assembly you will need to bring them to the Front Office to be signed in. The class teacher normally takes the roll during the first fifteen minutes of the school day. This means children arriving after this point may be categorised as absent unless they are signed in by their parent.
Please make every effort to have your child at school at, or before, Morning Assembly. Children become confused if they miss the first few minutes of the day when routines are outlined.
May God bless you and your families
Graham Pollard
Principal
Inquiry at St Matthew’s
This term, students are undertaking a range of scientific inquiries:
- Kindergarten students are finding out how we can preserve and protect creation by understanding how living things grow and change.
- Year 1 are applying their understanding of forces and energy to invent and create.
- Year 2 are discovering that earth’s resources are finite and need to be used responsibly and preserved for the future.
- Year 3 are using scientific understandings to explain everyday observations to make decisions.
- Year 4 are hypothesising, investigating and describing patterns and relationships.
- Year 5 are investigating how our understanding of the universe has been shaped by technological and scientific advancements.
- Year 6 are using their understanding of science to invent, create and innovate.
Students are challenged to find applications for--and act on--their scientific knowledge and understanding. They often find links to stewardship of God’s creation and our responsible use of resources. Our classroom displays provide excellent evidence of our teaching and learning. Congratulations to our teachers and students for your work on some remarkable units of inquiry!
Tell Them From Me Survey
118 students in Years 4, 5 and 6 completed the Tell Them From Me survey. We discovered that 90% of participating students have friends at school they can trust and who encourage them to make positive choices. 92% of participating students believe that schooling is useful in their everyday life and will have a strong bearing on their future. 84% said that they try hard to succeed in their learning.
The responses told us that students find classroom instruction relevant to their everyday lives. Students feel classroom instruction is well-organised, with a clear purpose, and with immediate feedback that helps them learn. Our students feel teachers are responsive to their needs and encourage independence with a democratic approach. School staff emphasise academic skills and hold high expectations for all students to succeed.
Areas that we continue to work on include developing positive homework behaviours, participation in extracurricular activities, and motivating students for learning.
An open-ended question was posed: Tell us something you really like about the school or something that would make it better. Here is a selection of responses:
- I like to play footy with my friends and sport, and right now I am really enjoying our maths work.
- The school is pretty great with teachers treating me well, and the infrastructure of this school is great, equipment is (usually) not a rare resource. Lessons with the school are often interesting. Maybe some things like school play equipment may need improvement, but all in all, it's a great school.
- I really like that our school comes up with cool ideas for learning.
- I would like to wear a summer uniform all year round and do school camp twice a year.
- I think the school would be great if we had a canteen.
- I’d really like it if we didn’t have to wait outside before the school gates open.
- I think the school is really accepting of all cultures and religions. I find that good because you are easily accepted by teachers and students. I also like how teachers will always help you no matter what - you just have to ask. I feel like if the school had a canteen, it would be really good because If you forget your lunch you can always go to the canteen or if you don't have enough time in the morning to make your lunch and recess you just bring $5 and you can buy lunch.
- I really like that the teachers let you work with others, but they also make you work alone enough to work yourself up to be independent and strong. I like this school a lot and I feel like everyone that came here would be accepted!
Petra Cole
Assistant Principal
Gospel Reading
Luke 12:49-53
Jesus has come not only to bring peace but also division.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Having reminded the apostles and the crowd that facing the coming judgment takes patience, Jesus now goes on to speak of how difficult it will be to wait. He tells them that he has come to set the earth on fire. The fire Jesus speaks of here is the distress caused by the coming judgment. It is also the fire of the Spirit that Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, will describe descending on the disciples on Pentecost. That fire will strengthen them to go out to the whole world to preach the good news of Jesus' Resurrection.
Jesus will be the first to experience the distress of the coming judgment. His baptism will be the conflict into which he will be immersed as he approaches Jerusalem and his death on the cross. Peace is the ultimate end of the Kingdom of God, but peace has a price. Jesus is warning the crowd that wherever the Word of God is heard and acted upon, division occurs. Fathers will be divided against sons and mothers against daughters.
The coming judgment forces us to look at the implications of our commitments. As Jesus warned in last Sunday's Gospel, a commitment of faith requires us to change our attitude toward material possessions and to take even more seriously our moral responsibilities. A commitment to Jesus forces us to change the way we live our lives, and this can put strains on relationships.
We don't expect to hear such difficult words from Jesus in the Gospel. But it is good to be reminded once in a while that the decision to do the right thing, the good thing, is not always easy and without conflict. Jesus himself did not make easy decisions and avoid conflict. In today's reading, he reminds his followers to be prepared for difficult decisions and conflict as well.
Family Connection
Families strive for unity and togetherness. Nobody enjoys occasions when divisions in family life become all too evident. Yet, in this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus says that he has come to bring division and that members of households will be divided.
Talk as a family about the things that you do together to bring about family unity (togetherness), such as sharing meals, going to church together, celebrating special occasions, or sharing family traditions. Explain that all of these things are important and that Jesus wants families to show this kind of love for one another. Point out that this Sunday's Gospel sounds as though Jesus is saying something very different. Tell your children to listen closely as you read aloud Luke 12:49-53.
Explain that sometimes as parents, you have to make decisions that are unpopular with your children. You don't do it to divide the family but because it is the right thing to do. In the short run, such decisions may “divide” children from their parents. In the long run, however, doing the right thing will bring about a deeper unity. Talk to your children about decisions that they have to make that might be unpopular with their friends and how these decisions may divide them from others. Encourage them to pray to the Holy Spirit for the gift of courage (fortitude) so that they may do the right thing even if unpopular.
First Holy Communion
Some of our Year Four students are about to begin preparing to receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion. This is a special time where they join the Church in celebrating Eucharist as a Church. Please keep these students in your prayers over the coming weeks.
St Mary of the Cross Mackillop
Prayer to St Mary of the Cross
Ever-generous God,
You inspired St Mary MacKillop
to live her life faithful
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope
and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely, or needy.
We ask that our faith and hope
be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so that we too,
like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage,
trust, and openness.
Ever-generous God, hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Dear Parents
On Friday August 26, we invite all students to come dressed as a book character, either fictional or real, or as something relating to the Book Week theme ‘Dreaming with eyes open’. We will begin our day with a short assembly and then progress into a day full of Book Week related activities. If possible, could your child also bring along the book or a picture of the book cover to let others know the book their character is from.
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 Isaac W, Elsie G, Olivia T, Dylan R, Zachary M, Devansh P, Hamish R, Veer L, Ivy C, Lucinda C and Harry C, who recently celebrated birthdays.
