Dear Parents

As a Catholic learning community,

all at Mother Teresa School are called

to care, to dream, to innovate, to inspire!

Well done to everyone who joined the Ride2School initiative today, it was a great morning for the children to ride to school. Ride2School is a nationwide program delivered by Bicycle Network, designed to support schools to encourage, empower and enable more students to get physically active on their journey to school. Lots of house tokens were handed out as the children arrived at school. Congratulations to Jackman who was the winning house today!

Parent Teachers Interviews - Week 9

Teachers will be holding Parent Teacher Interviews/Conferences next week either before or after school.  Information was released earlier in the week, via Compass, for families to make a booking.  This is a great opportunity to discuss your child's current progress and set goals for Term 2.

As many Kinder parents have regular contact with their child's teacher, formal interviews are not required - except for Kinder Crimson. Our beautiful Mrs Sarah Campbell will be leaving Mother Teresa School at the end of the term.

So Much Talent - An Amazing Achievement 

Congratulations to Georgia R, from 5 Silver on her outstanding results last week at the Australian Teachers of Dance International Dance Competition in Thailand. Georgia competed against over 1600 other dancers from around the world. She achieved 10x 1^st place finishes and 1x 2^nd place finish. She was also named Overall Princess - Highest Achievement Award meaning she scored the highest score of the whole competition. Georgia also received a scholarship to return to compete next year. 

 Congratulations Georgia!

School Photos Timetable

Please note the day your child's class photo will be taken. As photos will take all day it is difficult to advise the exact times for the class photos. 

End of Term Awards

Next Friday 31 March, commencing at 12.40pm, the school will gather for our prayer assembly and the presentation of the end-of-term awards. Names will be published via Compass by Thursday so that parents can attend.

Swimming 

On Monday 3 April we have a squad of swimmers competing in the North/Gunghalin Regional Swimming Carnival 

Best of luck to the following children representing Mother Teresa at the carnival.

Easter Raffle

Our Easter raffle is underway. The Community Council have kindly provided 3 prizes and to help build the excitement, I am asking families to make a donation of an Easter egg, Easter rabbit, Bilby, a bag of baby Easter eggs etc to the value of $5.00. Year 6 students will collect donations each morning until Friday 31 March. Baskets will then be assembled for display. 

Tickets can be purchased via QKR! and will be written up in preparation for our big draw. QKR! is now open and will be closed at 5.00pm on Sunday 2 April for online purchases to allow time for tickets to be written. 

Any parents willing to help with selling tickets, prior to the morning bell school, or preparing the baskets should contact the Office. 

House Achievements  Week 8

The children are loving our token system with our 4 house groups working hard to earn tokens for displaying our 5Cs.

Urgent - Community Council - Position Vacant Treasurer 

The Mother Teresa School Community Council is urgently looking for a parent volunteer to manage the day to day financial activities of the Community Council accounts. This includes receipting money from fundraising activities including the uniform shop, parent community events and then arranging payments as required. A monthly Income and Expenditure report must be prepared for Council meetings and end of year documentation prepared for Catholic Education in December. 

Book keeping or accounting skills are required. A detailed handover will be arranged as our current Treasurer no longer has a child in the school.

If interested or for more information please email carmel.maguire@cg.catholic.edu.au as soon as possible.

Our uniform shop volunteers have advised that they will be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8.30am - 9:00am. Access to the uniform shop is from the side sliding door (car park side) of the Hall.

Earth Hour - What do you have planned?

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30p.m. on the last Saturday of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.

Have a wonderful weekend

Carmel Maguire

Principal

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is ‘Walking Together’ Every family would have received a beautiful prayer card supporting the theme. Please place it in a prominent place so it can be share with those in your family.

‘The MTS Way’:

We will show the value of Courtesy towards those we meet in our class and on the playground by: 

• Saying hello to our peers and teachers.
• Put up our hand in the classroom and listen to others when they are speaking.
• Remember to use our manners by saying please and thank you and look at people when they are speaking to others.
• Holding the door open for others and letting them go first.
• Showing kindness to others.

Confirmation 2023

Please pray for our Year 6 Confirmation Candidates, their teachers, and families as they embark on this important time in their faith journey. This weekend when you attend mass you will notice a display of all our Confirmation Candidates at Holy spirit Parish in the foyer. Don’t forget to bring your item of food for the ‘Food Pantry’.

 Year A | Sunday 25th March | purple

“I am the resurrection

and the life.”

The Story

In today’s story, Jesus cries because his friend has died. What are some things that make you cry? Jesus gets a message that his friend Lazarus is sick. By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has died. Jesus says a prayer aloud to God and Lazarus walks out of the tomb – alive!

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FT04jjh3Q8

LENT & PROJECT COMPASSION  

At Mother Teresa School, we are trying to reach out to others and bring hope to those who are less fortunate than ourselves during this time of Lent by raising money for Project Compassion.  We encourage you to talk to your child about the importance of giving to those in need and to give generously.  Each class has a Project Compassion box available for the children’s donations. 

We invite all families to contribute by sending in the envelops each week.  Let us remember though that it is not how much we give, but the compassion that accompanies our giving. This week we raised $235.75 a total of $1,947.20. Thank you for your generosity!

What an amazing Day! Thank you to all those enthusiastic students who came dressed in orange and brought a gold coin. We raised $521.65 for Excellence Academy, our Global School Partner. Fr Eden was there in our midst as the students sang a great song: Down Under in Australia. Hopefully, some resources for Excellence Academy can be purchased.

SEASONS FOR GROWTH

Dear Parents and Carers,

Loss and grief are issues which affect all of us at some stage in our lives. Learning to deal effectively with these issues is central to personal wellbeing and happiness.  Unresolved grief can also affect a student’s learning. ‘Seasons for Growth’ is an Australian education program which supports participants who have experienced change in their family because of a death, separation or divorce.  This program explores issues such as change, loss, managing feelings, coping strategies and support networks. ‘Seasons’ is an eight session program which concludes with an additional celebration session.
Later in the year each group will have the opportunity to meet on two further occasions to discuss issues arising from the program.  We are now seeking am. The program is available to students in years 1, 2, 3,4, 5 & 6. Please contact anne.leet@cg.catholic.edu.au   if your child has not enrolled and you still wish them to participate in the program ‘Seasons’ will commence in Term Two.

HOLY WEEK & EASTER LITURGUES

Our Holy Week and Easter Liturgies will be held on Wednesday 5th April @ 10am. The students and teachers will be dressing up in Jesus Day Clothes and bring in a gold coin to support the Caritas ’Project Compassion’ We hope that you can join us. Please see some ideas on how your child can dress with out any expense.

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund 2023.

Apply now for the Future of Education Equity Fund for the 2023 school year.

Eligible low-income ACT families can receive one-off payments for financial assistance to help cover the costs of their children’s educational expenses such as sport equipment and activities, music lessons, school uniforms and excursions.

The Fund is open to eligible students enrolled in preschools (attached to a school)
through to Year 12 in the ACT.

Further information and the online application form is available here.

Supporting Children with Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety is the fear of being separated from a parent or carer, and is sometimes accompanied by stranger anxiety, or wariness and distress around unfamiliar people.   These anxieties are a normal part of your child’s early development.

By the time children reach preschool and school age, they will generally be comfortable leaving their parent or carer, particularly in situations with familiar environments and people, although new situations may still cause some initial anxiety.

If your child is still experiencing regular and significant anxiety upon separating from you, they may need some extra support. 

Below are some helpful ideas to support your child to cope with separation anxiety:

• Ask yourself if you are anxious about leaving your child. Children are very quick to pick up on anxiety from caregivers, and your anxiety may be sending a message to your child that it is not safe if you leave them.
• Teach yourself and your child some breathing exercises to help you relax.
• Practice saying goodbye – eg. Have your child stay with your partner or a friend for 5 minutes at a time while you go outside to hang out washing, put out the bins etc. Say goodbye to your child each time, and don’t allow your child’s distress to delay your leaving.  Let them know that they are safe, and that you will be back. 
• Introduce your child to new environments and people in advance whenever possible.
• Always say goodbye – tempting as it is to sneak out when your child is occupied, this could result in an increase in your child’s anxiety.
• Keep goodbyes brief - it could be helpful to talk to your child’s teacher and have a plan in place to distract your child with a fun or comforting activity while they settle after you have left.
• Consider using the ‘stepladder approach’ to managing anxiety (see “Raising Children Network” in the online resources list below)
• If the anxiety is causing regular distress, or interfering with daily life, it may require some specialist support. Consider visiting your GP to discuss your concerns or contact your School Counsellors, Bron and Ryoko. 

Helpful online resources for separation anxiety:

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/anxiety_stepladder_approach.html

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/separation_anxiety.html/context/734

http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/feelings/worrying.html