Dear parents,

I welcome all families back to MTS for the start of term three.  It is an anxious time in many cities and towns dealing with COVID cases. Fortunately, Canberra has been spared for over a year from any community transmission and from a teacher’s viewpoint we hope this continues to be the case.

Information regarding current COVID restrictions in place for ACT schools was sent to all families on Tuesday via Szapp.

Farewell

Today we held a farewell for Lucille Duvenhage who has been at MTS for the last nine years.  On behalf of the school, I thank Lucille for her contribution to so many aspects of life at Mother Teresa.  We wish her all the best in her new position and assure her she will be missed!

New ELC Director

We would like to welcome Amy Thomas as our new ELC Director.  Amy commenced on Tuesday and will be working three days a week until the beginning of week five when she will be here full-time.  Amy has a wealth of experience in the early childhood setting with her most recent role seeing her working with government pre-schools across the ACT assisting staff to support students with complex and challenging behaviours and also from EALD backgrounds.

St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal

Thank you to all students and families who supported pyjama day yesterday. Mrs Leet will provide more details in her report.

Wakakirri

We wish all the students participating in Wakakirri next Wednesday Night at the Canberra Theatre the best of luck.  After many months of rehearsals, it will be a special moment to perform in front of a large, live audience.  Thank you to all the staff and parents that have assisted in any way to enable the performance to take place.

Parent Satisfaction Survey

Each year we send home a survey to parents to gauge their satisfaction with various aspects of Mother Teresa School. Prior to this year parents were sent a link that enabled them to complete a survey designed by Survey My School whereas this year Catholic Education moved to a programme called ‘Tell Them From Me’.

This year our response from parents was very low with only 50 respondents which is a very small sample given we have over 710 students. Historically our response rate was much higher with 283 parent responses in 2019 and last year we had 249 respondents. This year the survey was open for three weeks.

Over the next four newsletters we will share the responses to the survey. The entire report has been placed on the school website. It can be found in reports and publications under the ‘Our School’ tab.

Monday Afternoon Chess Club

A reminder to all students that chess coaching commences next Monday after school.  The cost is $8.00 per week, payable by the term.  Fees for Term 3 are $72.00 payable to the front office by 14 August.  If your child would like to come along or you would like more information, please contact the front office.

Maths Problem

With the Olympic games starting in Tokyo next week,  Australia are sending their second biggest contingent of athletes to an overseas Olympics.  It has the highest number of First nations athletes ever with 16 and a record number of women with 254 in the team. There are over half all athletes that are female ( 53.5%).

The graph above shows the total number of athletes and the increase in participants over half a century.

You must tell me five thing you notice when looking at the graphs.

Entries must be to me by Wednesday morning and can be put in your note bag or emailed to me at peter.hughes@cg.catholic.edu.au.

God Bless

Peter Hughes 

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is:

‘We Are Bee-Attitude Keepers”

Our value this weeks is: Co-operation

At Mother Teresa School cooperation means:

• everyone helping to get something done
• working together toward a common goal
• working together with patience and affection.

Reconciliation & First Eucharist

Please pray for our Year 3 teachers and students who are currently preparing for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. This weekend the students will receive their Mass Booklet to follow along with the Mass. 

Please ensure to collect your Mass booklet from Mrs Leet or one of the Year 3 teacher’s from Mother Teresa School when you arrive at the church.

PYJAMA DAY

What a wonderful and fun filled day we had on Thursday.  We raised $1,683.70 for the Mini Vinnies Winter appeal.

Instead of ‘sleeping out’ we all wore our Pyjamas to show our support for those who are doing it.

Thank you to our amazing families who truly showed their commitment to those less fortunate by sending in an array of astonishing winter woolies like socks, gloves, beanies and coats.

The generosity of the students and families at Mother Teresa School is astounding.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

18 July 2021 - Year B

 “They were as sheep without a shepherd.”

Something to Think About

Our world is often a very noisy place! Can you think of some noisy, busy places in your life?  Sometimes we need a break and we need to find somewhere quiet.

Can you think of a place you like to go that is peaceful and quiet?

We all need time to rest and relax and renew our energy. It is not time wasted but time well spent.

Our bodies, minds and spirits need to take a break regularly. It's like cars needing fuel. Every now and again we need to top up our tank as well.

The Story

Wherever Jesus went, people crowded to see him, listen to him and ask for healing. Jesus needed

time to rest and relax and renew his energy. He often went away to a quiet place to pray and rest.

Dear Jesus, Thank you for showing us that it is important to be quiet and still. Help us to make time in our busy days to rest and pray. Amen.

Peace and best wishes

Anne Leet

Religious Education Coordinator 

Sports Shorts

3-4 Futsal

Our school had 4 teams participate in the 3-4 school Futsal titles late last term. Mr Hart and Mrs Hawes reported that they played really inspiring futsal and represented our school with great pride and determination.

Our girls’ team coached by former student Tiarna Ruberto ended up winning the whole competition. What an outstanding achievement, well done girls!

Thank you to all the staff and parents who came along to coach and assist on the day.

Rugby Union

Some of our students were selected the play for the ACT Brumbies junior sides that played in the Southern States Championships during the holidays. Great job boys!

Netball

During the holidays we had some of our girls play some representative netball for CNA. The U12's division two team went through the entire carnival undefeated. What an amazing effort! We sure do have some talented kids at our school. 

Dear Parents, 

Next Tuesday, 20th July, we have the opportunity to participate in a Q & A session regarding NDIS funding.

One of our UC Occupational Therapy students, Steve, previously worked for the NDIS and is happy to provide some guidance on questions you may have regarding the system.

The session will take place in the Kinder Space at 3:15pm. Our UC students have offered to supervise children to allow you to attend.

Could you please send through an RSVP to susan.mccluskey@cg.catholic.edu.au  if you will be attending.

Additionally, could you please send through any questions you have, so that Steve can be prepared to share the right information. We will require questions by 10am Friday 16th July and an RSVP by 3pm on Friday 16th July.

Thank you,

Karen Garrity
Diverse Learning Coordinator
Mother Teresa Primary School​