Dear Parents

As a Catholic learning community,

all at Mother Teresa School are called

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

A beautiful thought 

Let's Decode Workshop

On Thursday and Friday Lorraine Hammond, from the Edith Cowan University in Perth, worked with our staff and presented an engaging workshop to a group of Kinder and Year 1 parents. Lorraine was extremely complimentary of the skill and expertise of our teachers. Great work team! 

Regional Swimming Carnival 

Good luck to our swimmers who are competing on Monday 3 April in the North/Gunghalin Regional Swimming Carnival at the AIS.  We look forward to hearing how your races have gone. 

Easter Raffle - It's huge!

Our Monster Easter raffle is looking fantastic. We have over 30 prizes which will all be drawn on Wednesday 5th April. Online Tickets will be available to purchase until Sunday 2nd April via QKR! - cash sales may be available before or after school early next week.

Thank you to everyone for your generous donations and for the parent helpers who came in to assist with making the baskets. No more donations are required as all the prizes have now been prepared.

Congratulations students from Alcott (Red House) - the winner for the house tokens in Term 1!

Today at our Assembly, we announced the winner of the house tokens for Term 1.  Students from Alcott (Red) managed to narrowly take the win with a very close run for second and third place by Irwin and Jackman.  Students from Alcott will be treated to an end of term celebration on Thursday with a sausage sizzle, jumping castle and an extra surprise! 

Well done everyone, its great to see the students working hard and applying our 5C's every day to earn tokens for your house. 

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.

Carmel Maguire
Principal

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is ‘Walking Together’.

‘The Mother Teresa School Way’:

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

• Including others
• Listening attentively
• Showing good sportsmanship
• Treating others equitably

PRAYER FOCUS

Thank you to Mrs Brown, Mrs Young, Ms O’Leary, 2 Jade and 2 Lime students who presented a fabulous Prayer Focus on Consideration. The students did an amazing job at presenting what consideration looks like at MTS and how they are going to live our motto ‘Do Small things With Great Love’ by being considerate. They retold the story the story of the Good Samaritan using echo mime and welcomed the Gospel with a beautiful song, ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart’. This was truly a wonderful way to explain consideration to all students.

Year A | Sunday 2^nd April | red

"​Blessed is the one who

comes in the name of the Lord​."

The Story

Jesus sends his disciples to find a donkey and her colt. The disciples place clothes on the animals’ backs, and then Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the donkey. The people throw their cloaks on the ground and wave branches and shout Hosanna, which means 'save us'. There is great excitement as the people welcome Jesus and praise God.

Video https://youtu.be/z-39h0xYqdE

Palm Sunday

This weekend our Parish will celebrate Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday begins Holy Week and commemorates Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

This Sunday, 2nd April at the 9.30am Parish mass, some of our Year 6 Confirmation students will be dramatizing the Gospel. Our ELC and Kindergarten students are invited to come along and participate in the Palm Sunday celebration by entering the church with Fr. Troy waving palms as the opening hymn is sung.

We would love to see many of our families come along and celebrate with the entire Holy Spirit Parish.

Confirmation 2023

Please pray for our Year 6 Confirmation Candidates, their teachers, and families as they prepare this important sacrament. An email has been sent to all MTS Confirmation students confirming whether the details are correct and important information that needs be completed by 31 March. Please contact me if you have not received the email. anne.leet@cg.catholic.edu.au

Thank you to all our Year 6 students who are showing their commitment towards their Ministry Masses. Don’t forget to bring your item of food for the ‘Food Pantry’.

HOLY WEEK & EASTER LITURGUES

Our Holy Week and Easter Liturgy will be held on Wednesday 5^th April. The students and teachers will be dressing up in Jesus Day Clothes Please see the attached flyer. Don’t forget your gold coin!

 

LENT & PROJECT COMPASSION  

A very big thank you to everyone for your generous donations to Project Compassion this year.  Once again Mother Teresa School families have come to the fore to help others. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of the children and their families. So far, we have raised a total of $2,092:35 Well done! Please encourage your child/ren to bring in their Project Compassion envelops and mission boxes by Wednesday 5^th April next week. Please don’t forget your gold coin on Wednesday. This week we raised $145:15 Thank you for your generosity!

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. 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.

Peace and Best Wishes.

Anne Leet (Religious Education Co-ordinator)

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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

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.