Dear parents,

Welcome back to term four!  It is hard to imagine that we have only nine weeks until the end of the school year.

Term four is always a busy term but like the majority of this year, many events will be impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.   This week there has been an easing of restrictions that will allow us to hold most events even though they may be in a modified fashion.  All events run by the school must have a COVID plan which has to be submitted to Catholic Education prior to the event and all events must adhere to public health protocols.

Both our Year 6 camp to Camp Cooba in week four and our Year 5 camp to Sydney in week 6 have been given permission to proceed.  This information has been received with great enthusiasm by the students.  Year six parents would have received communication about their camp earlier this week while the year five note & information will go home today.  Local excursions for other classes are already taking place.

The following Covid-19 restrictions are still in place until further notice:

• Drop Off and Pick up procedures remain the same as Term 3.  Parents are asked to only enter the grounds if necessary, maintain physical distancing and not enter classroom buildings.
• All adults on the school premises for longer than drop off/pick up must be signed in via the Front Office.  This is to ensure we have accurate records, for possible contact tracing, should they be required.  Please do not enter the school grounds if you are unwell.
• Please note physical distancing and hand sanitiser are essential for all visitors to school grounds. 
• If any student or staff member has any kind of illness, even if it is simply light cold or flu-like symptoms, they must not attend school.  If a student is showing any signs of illness, their parents/carers will be called and asked to collect their child.
• The attendance of parents at school is still limited by social distancing rules. While indoors we must still adhere to the 4 sq metre rule for adults and outdoor events are now 2 sq metres.
• As with term three weekly assemblies will not be held.

Math’s Problem

Well done to both Selina Li and Emma Liew who both attempted the holiday problem ‘youcubed my heart’! Both students received prizes for their efforts today.

This week’s problem is below.

Teddy has 144 small cubes that are 1cm on each side. He also has a box that is 7cm long, 6cm wide, and 4cm high. How many more small cubes does Teddy need to fill the box completely?

Swimming Kindergartent to Year 2

Our annual swimming lessons for all Kindergarten to Year 2 students will be going ahead in weeks 6 and 7.  Notes regarding this will be coming home next week.

Sun Smart

A reminder that it is heating up and we need to be sun-smart.  Remember to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide!  Hats are compulsory.  Please ensure all uniform items have names so if they get misplaced we can attempt to find the owners.

God Bless

Peter Hughes

On Friday Fr Mark brought Fr Thonn to the school to introduce him to the students. During the holidays Fr Jiss was transferred to Young as the Parish Priest. We wish him all the very best and welcome Fr Thonn to Holy Spirit Parish. Fr Mark lead all the students in the ‘Viking clap’ in support of the Raider’s who we hope will do well tonight.

We were blessed to have the Archbishop visit our parish on Thursday, leading us in prayer with the Angelus and Rosary.  The Archbishop shared reflections of his recent parish visits with us, particularly about those parishes who are still facing challenges with drought and bushfire recovery.  Read more about the visit in our bulletin.

The Whole school focus theme for this year is: Be Just Like Jesus

To be like Jesus is to be a person willing to put others before yourself, to seek wisdom, and to care about how you interact with all people you come across in life.

Invitation For New Altar Servers

All children who are in year 3 and above and who have received the Sacrament of First Eucharist are invited to join us as Altar Servers.  The Parish will be hosting an introductory training session at the Church on Sunday 24 October at 2:00pm.  If your child would like to attend, even if they aren't sure but would like to see what it involves, please complete the form in the Church foyer and drop it in the red box, or complete this online form https://forms.gle/PF6bvjjsgwz7nZiB9.

Booking to attend Mass

To attend Mass in person, please follow this link to make a booking.  We are very happy that the ACT Government has eased restrictions again.  From Friday 9 October 2020 churches will be allowed to have up to 200 people at each Mass providing we can adhere to the 4sqm social distancing guidelines.  Using our church and hall spaces we will be able to have 154 people at each Mass so we encourage you to all come back to Mass if it is safe for you to do so.  We look forward to seeing you!  

Parish Newsletter

This weekend’s newsletter is now available online.  Click on the link here to access it: https://www.holyspiritgungahlin.org.au/17-18-october-2020-29th-sunday-ordinary-time/ 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN

​ORDINARY TIME

 ​"Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar
and to God the things that are God's."

Something to Think About

There are people in the world who promise to do something, but never get around to it.

Then there are those who seem reluctant to get involved but later decide to join in fully!

Can you think of some examples in your own life?

The Story

In today’s story, the religious leaders are trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would make him unpopular. They ask Jesus whether the people should pay taxes to the Emperor, as the law told them to.

If Jesus answered 'No', he would have been reported for treason and probably arrested right away.

If he were to answer 'Yes' then he would have been criticised by the people who believed that God was their only king and that paying taxes to an earthly king was like insulting God.

Jesus demands a coin and asks whose image is engraved on it.

In those days the coins contained the image of the king and were considered to be his property.

Jesus says, 'Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.'

​We live in the world and have responsibilities in the world. We also live in relationship with God and that brings responsibility too.

The Scriptures

A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew     22:15-21

Give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that are God's.

The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong.

They sent some of their followersand some of Herod's followers to say to him,

"Teacher, we know that you are honest.

You teach the truth about what God wants people to do.

And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are.

Tell us what you think!

Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?"

Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said,

"Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs!

Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes."

They brought him a silver coin, and he asked,

"Whose picture and name are on it?"

"The Emperor's," they answered.

Then Jesus told them,

"Give the Emperor what belongs to him

and give God what belongs to God."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Family Discussion

Invite each person to talk about their relationship with God.

How much time do you give to God?

​How much time do you give to prayer, to reading the bible, to reading stories about saints and other special people?

Are you involved in your parish? Is there some way you could be more involved?

How much time do you give to helping others?

Peace and Best Wishes,

Anne Leet

Religious Education Co-ordinator

Stay RailSAFE – Pay Attention & Take Responsibility

As term 4 begins Canberra Metro Operations (CMET) would like to take this opportunity to provide some information and support to schools to promote rail safety to students. Our frontline staff are seeing escalating unsafe behaviours, particularly around key school stops of an afternoon, when large numbers of students are travelling together. Safety of all customers is our priority, and we are focussed on ensuring that all customers, particularly school students, keep off the tracks and remain behind the yellow line at all times.

There has recently been an increase of unsafe behaviour witnessed around the light rail, such as jumping on the tracks in front of light rail vehicles (LRVs), as well as walking and riding along the tracks. Every LRV weighs 4 tonnes and can take up to 90m to come to a complete stop. We remind students to keep off the tracks and remain behind the yellow line at all times.