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- Principal's Message Term 2 Week 5 - 2022
- Religious Education - Term 2 Week 5 - 2022
- Rostrum Public Speaking Competition
- MTS Sports Shorts
- Maths Challenge Term 2 Week 5 - 2022
- ACT School Sport News
- Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability
- 2022 Annual Survey - Student involvement
- Defence News
- MTS Community Council Book Club # 4
- Community Council Entertainment Book
- Community Service Announcements
Following consultation with the other Catholic Primary Schools in the Gungahlin area, we have nominated the following dates for our additional Pupil Free days granted to schools by the CE Director.
- Tuesday 31 May & Friday 24 June
During these days the teachers will be engaged in additional PL to support our Catalyst program and provide time for class preparation and student assessment. KidsBiz will be open on these days.
Staff Farewell
Next Tuesday 31 May will be Claire Dekuyer's last day. We look forward to the arrival of Baby Dekuyer in the coming weeks. I would like to thank Claire for her professionalism and commitment since she arrived this year. I had hoped to be able to advise families of a replacement for Claire, but unfortunately, with the critical teacher shortage we are experiencing across Canberra, we have not yet filled the position. We have continued to advertise for a suitable replacement and have interim plans in place for the next few weeks. We will advise everyone as soon as we are able to.
As advised last week we have rescheduled the Athletic carnival to Thursday 2 June. The original permission note you returned will remain valid to cover this new date. Any parent volunteer who is now not able to assist on Thursday should email justine.henshaw@cg.catholic.edu.au and advise that you need to withdraw your offer to assist. All volunteers must hold a current WWVP card and provide the school with a copy of the card.
Kinder and Year 1 will have games at school
Years 2 - 6 will be transported to Amaroo Oval, as per the original permission note. The children will leave school at 9.15am and will return by 2.30pm.
All children are to wear their SPORT uniform.
ALL children to bring a packed lunch, afternoon tea and a supply of water.
There are no canteen facilities at school or at the oval.
Working With Vulnerable People Cards
A reminder that any visitor or volunteer must carry a valid ACT Working With Vulnerable People Card to assist around the school. This is available from Access Canberra and is free for all volunteers. It is also a reminder for those who have a card to check the expiry date and action a renewal if needed. A copy of the card must be maintained at the front office. Both sides of the card must be provided.
Annual Improvement Plan
Each year schools prepare an Annual Improvement Plan to direct their focus to improving various aspects of the school including students learning and growth. This year Mother Teresa School has three key goals
- High Impact Teaching Practice is visible in every classroom
- Daily Review in Literacy and Numeracy developed by a Catalyst coach employed by CE
- Achieve growth in all aspects of Learning
- Development of Professional Learning Team Action plans with a focus on English, Maths, Religious Education and General Capabilities
- Equitable outcomes for all students
- Critical and Creative thinking
- Effective feedback to improve learning
Refer to the attached document for specific details on how the goals will be actioned throughout the year.
Considering Enrolment for 2023
COVID Reminders
Families still need to advise the school should a child be at home with COVID via our specific email address, covid.motherteresa@cg.catholic.edu.au then followed up with a Compass absentee notification through the Compass Parent Portal.
RAT kits are still available from the office should you require kits for regular testing, particularly if your child is a close contact.
We are considering a return to the original morning tea and lunch timetable from Week 6 with some level of cohorting to restrict the transmission of infections. This change will depend on the number of cases reported across the school in the next few weeks. For our new families, I will communicate what the "old normal" will look like when we are ready to change over. Like you, I am still to find out.
(Closed Thursday)
As advised, our canteen provider will only be open on Wednesday to Friday for online lunch orders. All lunches will now be ready for collection at 11am.
God Bless
Carmel Maguire
WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS
The Whole school focus theme for this year is ‘Do small Things with Great Love’ and the Bible reference that supports our theme for Term 2 is Ephesians 5:8, in which St Paul says:
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light,
For the effects of light are seen in complete goodness
and right living and truth.”
FIRST EUCHARIST / RECONCILIATION
(children in Year 3 or older)
Please note if there are any students in grades 4, 5 or 6 who are new to our school, are Catholic and have not received the sacraments of Reconciliation or First Eucharist please email me so that they can receive an invitation letter. Email: anne.leet@cg.catholic.edu.au
Thank you to those parents who have already done so.
Please read important information below:
Week 6 - Friday 3 June - Personalised invitation letters to be sent home with Catholic students
Week 9
- Information Session - Tuesday 21 June 1:00pm and 6:00pm at the Church
- Enrolment weekend - Saturday 25 June and Sunday 26 June
Term 3
Week 6 - First Reconciliation
Tuesday 23 August 1:00pm and 6:00pm
Wednesday 24 August 1:00pm and 6:00pm
Thursday 25 August 1:00pm and 6:00pm
Week 9
Jesus Day Retreat - Wednesday 14 September at the Church
First Eucharist Masses
Saturday 17 September 3:30pm and 5:00pm - Mother Teresa School
Year 5 Mass
Thank you to our Year 5 teachers and students who celebrated a beautiful Mass on Tuesday 24th May. The Feast of our Lady Help of Christians. It was wonderful to hear their amazing singing and they participated in the various processions and responses reverently.
29 May 2022 - Year C
“Jesus blessed them, withdrew from them,
and was carried to heaven.”
Preparing to Hear God's Word
Have you seen the movie, The Grand Adventures of Pooh Bear? It starts with Christopher Robin telling his very best friend, Pooh Bear, that from now on he will not be able to be with him in the same way because he has to go to school for the first time in his life! Until this time, Pooh and Christopher have always been together. The dialogue goes something like this:
Christopher: Pooh, what if there came a tomorrow when we could not be together - when we would be apart?
Pooh: Well as long as we are apart together, it shall certainly be fine!
Christopher: Yes! Yes of course.
The message of the Ascension is the same – Jesus has left us ‘apart together.’
The Story
In today’s gospel, Jesus blesses his disciples and is then taken up into heaven.
The disciples went back to Jerusalem and spent their days in the temple giving praise and thanks to God. They knew that Jesus was still with them, and that he would send the Holy Spirit to help them tell everyone in the whole world about him!
The Scriptures
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke 24:50-53
Jesus blessed them, withdrew from them, and was carried to heaven.
Jesus led his disciples out to Bethany,
where he raised his hands and blessed them.
As he was doing this,
he left and was taken up to heaven.
After his disciples had worshiped him,
they returned to Jerusalem and were very happy.
They spent their time in the temple, praising God.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Video
Something to Think About
Jesus is still with us! And there is still work to be done. We are braver than we believe and stronger than we seem and smarter than we think! And Jesus will always, always, always be with us.
Jesus told us that 'the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power.'
What do you think you could ask the Holy Spirit to help you with?
Peace and Best Wishes.
Anne Leet (Religious Education Co-ordinator)
Earlier this week we held the finals for our annual Rostrum Public Speaking Competition at MTS. Ten students in total from Years 4 to 6 displayed great confidence and composure to deliver some outstanding speeches.
The runner up for the event this Year is Lachlan Hawes, who described the potential use of drones in society, while our eventual champion Nikos Vassiliotis gave an entertaining and captivating recount of his "least favourite things".
Nikos will now represent our school in the ACT Rostrum Competition.
A huge thanks to Mrs Shelley for coordinating the event and to Ms Watt for her expert adjudication.
Congratulations Raeland from Year 4 on his performance at the ACT School Sport Swimming Championships on 4 May. Raeland brought home two third place ribbons in the Boys 10 & under 50m Breaststroke and Boys 10 & under 50m Butterfly. Well done!
Last week’s problem involved a bit of working out to calculate the area of several different coloured part of a patchwork quilt. Congratulations to Selina in 5 Silver who submitted a very thorough answer!
This week the challenge is for our Kindergarten students.
Button Up
My coat has 3 different buttons. Sometimes, I do them up starting with the top button. Sometimes, I start somewhere else. How many ways can you find to do up my coat? How will you remember them?
Send your entries via email to Mrs Blackwell catherine.blackwell@cg.catholic.edu.au or complete them on paper and put it in your notebag to send to the office by Thursday morning of Week 6. The winner will be drawn on Friday.
Please see the list of State Teams that are currently open for selection trial registrations open to interested students.
Points to note;
- Please promote the SSACT Scholarship Fund ($500) open to all travelling teams, information and application form within Resources on the website.
- ACT School Sport currently have 29 teams open – please check in with your School Approver regularly to ensure your students can move through the selection process. The School Approver email notification of a student registering is our school administration email.
Sports Open
16&U Boys Football (Soccer)
18&U Girls Football (Soccer - this opened last week)
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/football-soccer/
18&U Girls Basketball
18&U Boys Basketball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/basketball/
15&U Girls Volleyball
15&U Boys Volleyball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/volleyball/
17&U Girls Softball (12&U Team information to come shortly)
17&U Boys Softball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/softball/
12&U Girls Hockey
12&U Boys Hockey
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/hockey/
Sports closing very soon
12&U Boys Australian Football
12&U Girls Australian Football - brand new team for 2022
15&U Boys Australian Football
15&U Girls Australian Football
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/australian-football/
18&U Baseball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/baseball/
18&U Girls Football
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/football-soccer/
16&U Girls Hockey
16&U Boys Hockey
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/hockey/
15&U Netball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/netball/
12&U Rugby League
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/rugby-league/
12&U Girls Basketball
12&U Boys Basketball
https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/basketball/
12&U Boys Touch Football (15&U Boys info to come shortly)
12&U Girls Tough Football
15&U Girls Touch Football
As part of our focus on school effectiveness, Mother Teresa School will be participating in an online survey for students From Me ® (TTFM ® ’ s school Tell Them ). The survey will provide us with valuable feedback on what our students think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Schools in Australia and around the world have used the Tell Them From Me survey to help them improve.
From next week all students will be given the opportunity and time to participate in this survey during regular school hours. Students who agree to complete the survey will be given a random username and password to access and complete the survey online. Students’ names cannot be linked to their responses which allows it to be completely anonymous. Results will show all student scores combined together - it is not possible to single out individual students in the results.
The survey takes approximately 15 - 20 minutes to complete. The survey measures include such topics as emotional and social well-being, physical health, and behaviours and attitudes linked to student success. The survey also allows students to give their thoughts and feedback in open-ended question responses.
Participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. Your child will not take part if either you or your child do not wish to. If during the survey, your child is uncomfortable answering any question, he/she should leave it blank and move on to the next one. Your child can stop the survey at any time.
If you do not want your child to take part in the survey, please contact me via email carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au by Tuesday 24 May.
Scholastic Book Club
Orders from issue 3 have arrived and will be available for collection from the school hall side door via the second hand uniform store:
Wednesday 1st June and Friday 3rd June, from 8.30 - 9.00am.
Please wait outside the door to be served as current Covid restrictions do not allow parents to enter the hall. Students in years 5 and 6 may pick up orders themselves on the way into school, all other orders must be collected by parents – please do not send younger children to collect books, as they will not be able to. Please be patient with volunteers as they will also be operating the second hand uniform store.
New catalogues will be sent home with students, and parents can order online via the LOOP parent portal on the Scholastic website. No orders or cash will be accepted by the school, all orders must be made online. Late orders or orders from the previous catalogue are charged a flat rate for home postage.
The order cut-off date for issue 4 is Wednesday 15th June.
While school Covid restrictions remain in place, orders will be available for pick up from the school second hand uniform shop when they arrive. Dates will be advised. Students in years 5 and 6 may pick up orders themselves on the way into school, however all other orders must be collected by parents. Please only order if you are able to collect at the second hand uniform shop Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 8.30-9.00am. If you are unable to do so, please order direct to your home after the catalogue has closed for school orders.
A reminder that missing or damaged orders can be reported to Scholastic using their online contact information, and that out of stock items already paid for are usually credited to the LOOP account. Parents concerned about missing, misplaced or damaged orders are advised to wait until the catalogue is closed and use the home postage option. MTS Community Council parent volunteers will be running the Book Club, so please ensure any inquiries are directed to them via the office email or to Scholastic, rather than to school staff, teachers or librarians. We will be doing our best to make the trial run smoothly, and look forward to using school reward points earned to purchase additional books for classroom readers.
Support Mother Teresa School in ACT and purchase your Entertainment Membership from us today!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Mother Teresa School in ACT
Adelle DeZilva
mtscommunitycouncil@mail.com
