Dear Parents,

I was fortunate to attend the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation by our Year 6 students on Wednesday evening.  Having been a principal for 20 years and an REC prior to that, I have attended many Confirmation ceremonies. I would have to rate the mass on Wednesday as one of the best I have been to.  The atmosphere in the church was relaxed yet reverent.  The main celebrant Fr Tony Percy was able to relax the children, engage everyone there and yet get the message and teaching of the Church on the sacraments across.  He was welcoming of all and at the end of the mass tried to meet as many as he could on the way out of the church.  We thank Father Tony, Fr Mark and Fr Jiss for the way the mass was celebrated.

The wonderful work of the priests was supported by many people on the night.  To the members of the MTS staff, parish workers and volunteers who helped in so many ways I thank you.  I especially thank the Year 6 teachers and Mrs Leet for all the hard work they did leading up to the night.  Finally, I thank and congratulate all the students and their families for the way you supported the Confirmation program this year.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and I hope all mothers enjoy a special day with the most important people in their lives, their families.  Thank you to those that attended the Mother Day Breakfast this morning.  I know your children enjoyed having you at school.

NAPLAN

Parents with children in Years Three and Five are reminded that NAPLAN testing will commence next Tuesday.  It is important that all children are present for these tests.  If you did not want your child to sit one or all of the tests you should have notified the school by now.  If you have not done so, can you please let your child’s teacher know on Monday.  A phone call will not suffice as the school needs it in writing as part of the accountability requirements associated with the program.

Year 3 will sit their tests of a morning on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week. Year 5 will sit theirs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings of next week plus Monday morning of the following week.

Parking

I am again reminding parents to show patience and an amount of consideration towards other parents when dropping your children off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon.  I know the majority of parents are courteous and understand the problems that occur when a large number of students all depart at the same time.  We have had several unsavoury incidents recently which has prompted this reminder.

Parking problems seem to go hand in hand with primary schools.  It is good to see a number of parents picking their children up a little later than immediately after school to avoid congestion. Duty in the morning starts at 8.15am and afternoon duty concludes at 3.30pm in the pick-up line.

Maths Problem

We did not receive any entries for last week’s problem so the prize this week jackpots to a $4 voucher to the canteen and a handball. The problem is:

Isabella likes toppings on her pancakes. She has 3 choices of pancakes: buttermilk, old-fashioned, or original and 3 choices of toppings: maple syrup, jam or whipped cream. How many different combinations of 1 type of pancake and 1 type of topping can Isabella make?  Draw a picture of the possible combinations.

Public Speaking Finalists

Congratulations to the following students who will be competing in the finals next Friday morning at 9:15am in the school hall.

Year 4

Matteo Johnson

Savannah Hawes

Year 5

Keira Larkham

Mikayla Nutt

Quinn Duvall

Year 6

Olivia Barber

Grace Barber

Lucas Johnson

School Counsellor

As mentioned in our newsletter last week, we have a new school counsellor Lisa Vithalis.  If you would like to utilise these services, please contact the classroom teacher in the first instance.

God Bless

Peter Hughes