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- Principal's Message Term 3 Week 4 - 2022
- Religious Education - Term 3 Week 4 - 2022
- St Teresa of Calcutta - School Feast Day Monday 5 September - Save the Date!
- MTS Class Awards - Week 4
- Science Week @ MTS
- Qkr! - New Payment Option - MTS
- Book Week 2022 - Save the Date!
- Tech Talk with Mrs Macarthur
- Colgate Community Garden Challenge 2022
- Community Council Entertainment Book
- Community Service Announcements
Dear Parents
On Wednesday, Year 1 were finally blessed with lovely weather for their walk up to Gubur Dhaura. The children enjoyed looking at some of the symbols that they had been learning about that First Nations people use to tell their stories. The children then had a symbol painted onto their hands with ochre. The teachers took the opportunity to read a Dreamtime story, written by a Ngunnawal elder before heading back to school. The children loved making the connections to 'telling stories' and finding out about this special place in our community. Thank you to Mrs Francis for coordinating this wonderful experience with the Year 1 team.
Community Council
This week the Community Council Executive met to discuss several key issues. I thank them for their sharing and commitment to developing our school and the opportunities for learning across Mother Teresa School.
- Uniform Code - We continue to finalise our uniform policy and plan to provide photos of individual pieces to clarify items for parents when purchasing in the future.
- BYOD plans for 2023 - Council endorsed the decision to move to Chromebooks from Year 4 as our preferred device from 2023. More information will follow in the coming weeks regarding the reasons for the change and specifications.
- Social events - We continue to look for ways to bring the community together despite continued restrictions for schools.
- School Board and Community Council Review Issues Paper - The Council Executive are preparing a submission outlining the MTS views.
- Annual Survey Overviews - The issue of our car park and school access to meet teachers was highlighted, a reflection of ongoing COVID restrictions.
- Building Project - While we have moved into our new office and music room our covered walkway has been delayed by about 3 weeks. This was due to an issue with the coating sprayed on the metal. With all the rain lately, we really do need a covered walkway near our basketball car park. Hopefully, all should be completed in the next two weeks.
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.
Important COVID Information and Protocols
- Household Contacts – Staff and students are required to follow the Public Health (Diagnosed People and Household Contacts) Emergency Direction 2022 when they are deemed a household contact. It is strongly recommended that a household contact works or studies from home where it is practical to do so. A household contact must wear a face mask in any indoor setting that is not their own home, if they are aged 12 years and over. Only students in Years 7 to 12 will be required to wear a mask when attending school. Mask wearing for students in primary schools is at the discretion of the student and their parents/carers, and is not recommended for children in Pre School to Year 2. Where a student attends school they must undertake a COVID test in the 24 hours prior to returning to school and then every 48 hours if ongoing attendance is required and may only attend a school if they have no symptoms.
- Physical distancing - Physical distancing should be maintained on school sites where possible.
- Staying home when sick and hygiene requirements - Staff, students and visitors must not attend school or ELC sites if they are unwell and will be sent home if they have any symptoms of COVID-19. All staff, visitors and students should at all times maintain appropriate hand and respiratory hygiene.
Large Tables - Free!
We have 2 large tables in good condition 1.5m x 1.5m which are available for free. If you are interested please contact the front office on 62415604.
I hope families are all having fun designing their balloon cars. Our grand race-off is to occur with class finalists next Friday.
God Bless
Carmel Maguire
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 3 is John 15:12
"This is my commandment, that you love one another,
even as I have loved you.”
Kinder grade mass
It was wonderful to have Fr Mark celebrate a beautiful Liturgy all about St Mary Mackillop of the Cross on Tuesday. The students sang a special song to honour Australia’s first saint and did an amazing job at answering the many questions Fr Mark asked. Lucy Silva said, “If Mary saw a need she did something about it. If we see a need we should do something as well!”
FIRST EUCHARIST / RECONCILIATION
Thank you to those families who came along to the Precious Memories Mass last weekend. If you were unable to attend come along this weekend and add it to the display.
Mass Book - Don’t forget to bring along your Mass book at the weekend to follow along during the Mass. There are still some Mass Booklets waiting to be collected. They are available in the foyer of the Church.
- Fr Mark Question of the week – Please bring along your answer to Fr Mark’s question of the week. Answers should be placed in the tin in the foyer upon arrival. Winners will be drawn after communion. If you missed the question during the service, it is printed in the Bulletin. Please head to our website: holyspiritgungahlin.org.au and download the PocketParish App.
- Remember to bring along Food donations for the Vinnies Pantry. These donations help feed the most vulnerable and needy in our local area. Suggestions of what to bring can be found in the back of your handbook.
14 August 2022 - Year C
“I have come not to give peace,
but discord.”
Fire changes things!
Have you ever seen pictures of Australian bushfires and how they change the landscape?
The Story
Jesus tells the people that things need to change. He makes it clear that disciples of Jesus have choices to make, and that following Jesus won’t always be easy. Jesus is calling the people to help the poor and suffering, to love their enemies, to choose Jesus even over their own family members.
The Scriptures
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
"I came to set fire to the earth,
and I surely wish it were already on fire!
"I am going to be put to a hard test.
And I will have to suffer a lot of pain until it is over.
"Do you think that I came to bring peace to earth?
No indeed!
I came to make people choose sides.
A family of five will be divided,
with two of them against the other three.
Fathers and sons will turn against one another,
and mothers and daughters will do the same.
Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law
will also turn against each other."
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Something to Think About
Being a follower of Jesus is a choice we all have to make.
Ask children to make simple statements like: I choose to follow Jesus because….
Jesus challenges us to change the world.
What things in our world today need changing? What can you do to change things in your part of the world today?
Peace and Best Wishes.
Anne Leet
(Religious Education Co-ordinator)
St Teresa of Calcutta
School Feast Day - Monday 5 September
Fun filled day full of activities
Liturgy @ 9:15am hosted by 4 Violet & 4 Indigo
Guest Speaker Simon Carol - Global Schools Partners
Classroom Activities focussing on St Teresa of Calcutta
Sausage sizzle lunch
11:40-1:40 Mini Mission Fete Art and Drawing Competition
The children will be encouraged to buy a $5 golden ticket that gives them the opportunity to engage in a range of fun activities on offer during the day. This $5 ticket cost will be a donation to support Global School Partners and Catholic Missions.
Golden Tickets to be distributed on the day.
Students please wear sports uniform for photo.
Students can purchase more than 1 ‘Golden Ticket’.
The more tickets purchased the more chances to win a lucky draw prize of $50 Visa card.
Tickets will be available for purchase via QKR! ONLY from next week (do not send cash). We will advise when ticket sales will be available through Compass.
Congratulations to the following children who have received
a class award from their teacher this week.
Each year at Mother Teresa School we celebrate Science Week with a friendly competition. This was originally bottle rockets, followed by boats and an egg drop challenge last year. In 2022 we are once again encouraging our students to wow us with their skills and ingenuity to make balloon powered cars. Year levels will hold their heats at some stage during Week 5 with the cars that roll the furthest being entered in our final’s day on Friday August 19.
Attached is the poster, promoting the event that was sent out earlier this week.
We look forward to seeing some incredible designs!
To make it easier for payments to be made at Mother Teresa School, we have introduced the use of Qkr! by Mastercard, a secure and easy way to order and pay for school items from your phone at a time and place that suits you.
Please refer to the attached document for instructions on how to download the app to your phone. I have also included several screenshots from my phone so you will know what it looks like once registered.
This will become our preferred option for many school payments in the future. Additional payment options will be added as required eg, sporting events.
TerraCycle has partnered with Colgate® and Chemist Warehouse to give seven schools the chance to win a community garden kit for their school grounds. Between 24 February - 31 October, Australian schools are invited to join the Terracycle recycling program for oral care waste. Each unit of oral care waste (toothpaste tubes and caps, manual plastic toothbrushes, electric toothbrush heads, toothbrush plastic packaging, floss containers) equals 10 garden points, the more units of oral care waste recycled the better chance of winning. There are seven grand prizes to be won and each is valued at $4780.
The grand prize pack contains:
* Two garden beds made from TerraCycle recycled materials
* Bench with planter boxes made from TerraCycle recycled materials
* Bug Hotel
* $100 Bunnings Warehouse gift voucher
* $100 Australian Seeds Voucher
* Plantastic! A to Z of Australian Plants Book
A collection point for parents has been placed out the front of the hall which has already collected over 200 pieces of oral care waste. Children are also encouraged to bring their waste to school as a collection point will be located near the student reception desk. Toothpaste tubes don't need to be empty but please ensure everything is dry.
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
