Dear parents,

Today we were blessed with perfect conditions for our athletics carnival. It was wonderful to see everyone participating and enjoying themselves even though it did not look like it at the end of the 800 metre races.  The tug-of-war competitions seemed to be a favourite among many students.  Thank you to Mr Roweth and his team for running another successful carnival and thank you also to our parent volunteers who assisted on the day.

Last Friday we held a highly successful and well attended Wine and Cheese Night. As a sZapp notice has already been sent to parents regarding the event I will not elaborate on the evening. I will however thank all of the parents that came together to make the evening so wonderful. I especially thank Tanya Bolton and Michelle Scott for all of the preparation before the event as well as hosting on the night.

While the school’s official enrollment dates are from the 3^rd to the 28^th May, we have begun processing enrollment applications for the 2022 school year.  Parents that wish to enroll their child at MTS next year are more than welcome to submit their forms prior to the official enrollment dates.  All applications will be considered at the conclusion of the official enrollment period.

As you can imagine, the annual enrollment period is an extremely busy time for the office staff and we are hoping that by taking applications earlier we can spread the demands over a longer time frame.  Please advise families from outside our school that may be interested in submitting an application to please do so via the online enrolment link on our website.

Birthday Celebrations

While we celebrate the birthdays of students, we do not allow parents to send in cakes, lollies, ice blocks or treats to be shared with classmates.  This is due to the high number of students in our school that have allergies, some of which can be life threatening. We ask you save your party food for celebrations at home.

We also ask parents not to send in gifts to be distributed at school. Children see one child distributing gifts and it leads to other children wishing to do the same.  This in turn puts pressure on families, some of whom are not in a position to do so.

We appreciate the positive motivations behind these acts and thank you for your generosity, however, we ask you to display this outside the school setting.

Math’s Problem

Congratulations to Nikos Vassiliotis who was last week’s winner.  Nikos is a first-time winner so please keep entering! This week’s problem is below.

Bracelets

At last week’s senior disco each child was given a fluorescent bracelet when entering. Each bracelet measured 16cm in length.  If we joined each bracelet together and made one enormous bracelet, what would its total length be in metres?  There were 240 children at the disco.

God Bless

Peter Hughes

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is:

‘We Are Bee-Attitude Keepers”

At Mother Teresa we are going to be courageous towards those we meet in our class and on the playground by:

• Showing confidence
• Thinking creatively
• Being a positive risk taker
• Having a healthy self-esteem
• Standing up for what’s right
• Having a sense of achievement
• Thinking and acting independently
• Getting involved in service initiatives

Leadership & Focus Assembly 

Thank you to our Year 6 teachers and students who presented a fabulous Leadership and focus assembly on being courageous. The students did an amazing job at presenting what courage looks like at MTS and how they are going to lead the school by living our motto ‘Do Small things With Great Love’.

Confirmation 2021

Year 1 Grade Mass 

This coming Tuesday 2rd March at 12:00pm in the Hall, Year 1 will be celebrating their first Grade Mass for the year.  Family are invited to attend but must adhere to the Covid restrictions and practice social distancing. Please sign in at the hall using the Check In CBR app and sanitise your hands.

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.  Please encourage your child/ren to bring in their Project Compassion envelops and donations this week.  Each class has a Project Compassion box available for the children’s donations.  So far we have raised close to $367.00  Great start everyone!

The students have been looking at the case studies of where there money is going the following two stories are what they have heard about.

WEEK 1-JAMILA FROM BANGLADESH

Twenty-two-year-old, Jamila, is a single mother, living in the world’s largest refugee camp in in Bangladesh.  A Rohingya woman, she fled the armed conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to save herself, her elderly mother and eight-month-old baby daughter.  Having been abandoned by her husband, she faced life in the camp on her own.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people, have crossed into Bangladesh since August 2017.  Over 1.3 million people remain in the densely populated camps, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

Thanks to the generosity of Caritas Australia’s supporters and through our partnership with Caritas Bangladesh, Jamila had access to emergency food and shelter. Then, as her stay in the camp stretched on, Jamila joined the Women Friendly Spaces project where she received counselling and emotional support. She learnt about health and hygiene, participated in a parenting program and learnt sewing skills, to help her to earn an income.

Jamila now has a sense of community around her and feels less alone and more supported - and she is able to ‘Be More’ to her family.

“I want to offer my thankful greetings to those who are kindly thinking of us from overseas”, Jamila says. “Thank you, and thanks Caritas Australia.”

WEEK 2- MARGRET FROM SOLOMON ISLANDS

Margret, 39, is a teacher at a vocational school for deaf students in the Solomon Islands.  She was born deaf, so she knows the challenges it poses to education and employment.

The school faced water shortages for about half the year.  Staff and students would walk for up to half an hour to collect water for drinking, cooking, washing and growing vegetables. Then in April 2020, amidst the threat of COVID-19, Tropical Cyclone Harold struck, damaging school buildings and its vegetable garden.

With Caritas Australia’s support, Margret’s school installed eight large water tanks and provided cyclone-proof materials to repair the damage. It also helped the school to implement COVID-19 prevention measures, providing fabric for students to make face masks.

Margret’s school now has enough safe water to supply the school’s population of 150 and has the capacity to cater for more students. It plans to boost food security, by increasing its agricultural production. This will improve nutrition and boost the school’s income, while building resilience to future disasters.

Margret hopes that the school can aspire to ‘Be More’.

“I am proud that our school community works together with Caritas Australia as our partner in ensuring that we live in a healthier environment,”  Margret says.    

Peace and best wishes
Anne Leet REC

• A reminder that school fees are overdue.  If you have not already done so could you please contact the office to make arrangements for payment.
• Term 1 Chess Club fees of $56.00 are now overdue.  If you have not already done so could you please contact the front office to pay.

Remember to STOP for our supervisor

A school crossing supervisor is supporting our school each morning and afternoon to increase safety for children. Please support this initiative by driving safely near the school and encouraging children to use the supervised crossing.

Our crossing supervisor is responsible for controlling a busy environment, which includes managing the flow of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists during peak times. It is important for motorists to drive at a speed which allows them to safely stop when the supervisor enters the road. Please be patient and allow the crossing supervisor and other pedestrians to safely clear the road prior to proceeding.

The school community is encouraged to familiarise themselves with the basic crossing supervisor procedures:

• The supervisor will ask pedestrians to wait in a safe location by the side of the road
• When it is safe, the supervisor will stop traffic
• The supervisor will blow their whistle twice to indicate it is safe to cross.

The School Crossing Supervisor program is delivered by Transport Canberra and City Services’ School Safety Program. If you have any feedback about the program, please contact TCCS.  

Please be patient, polite and respectful to our supervisor, they are committed to keeping our students safe.

K-2 Mini Literacy Mornings 

During Term 1 and 2, we are offering some literacy workshops for parents of Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 parents. These workshops will focus on some practical ideas and activities that will help boost your child's engagement and interest in literacy. Please see the attached flyers for dates and information for each of the grade levels. Places are limited so please email kelly.boyton@cg.catholic.edu.au to register your interest. 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Kelly Boyton

(Literacy Coordinator)