Dear parents,

This week the school underwent a rigorous external review undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research. The two reviewers were from Melbourne and Perth and both had extensive experience as school principals. The reviewers spent three days in the school talking with staff, parents and students. Prior to the review they examined all of our documentation linked to our educational programs.

The staff were given very positive initial feedback yesterday which identified the substantial improvement made since our last review. We hope to have a final copy of the report in the first half of term two and the findings will be shared with staff and parents.

I thank those that made themselves available to talk with the review team.

Pupil Free Days

You may have noticed, when checking the school calendar, that there are two pupil free days scheduled this year – this means that staff attend but students do not. Both days have been added to the school holidays following Term 1 and Term 2.

The first falls on Monday 19 April and the second falls on Monday 12 July.  These days have been allocated by Catholic Education to allow staff to engage in professional learning corresponding to a new system wide initiative called Catalyst that will be rolled out over the next 3 years.  Catalyst empowers teachers with evidence-based professional learning in High Impact Teaching Practice, K-2 Literacy, quality curriculum resources and in-classroom coaching.  It is a framework for united understanding of and practice in teaching ‘what matters most’ and ‘what works best’ based on soundly researched evidence.  

Kidz Biz will be operating their vacation care program on that day.  Please see the Kids Biz flyer for more information and booking details.

School Banking

Parents may be aware that ACT Government schools ceased school banking programs at the commencement of the school year.  All catholic schools were supplied with a range of questions to consider from the Australian Investment and Securities Commission to see if it was justifiable to continue with school banking.  As a consequence, the decision was made to discontinue school banking from the end of this term. Currently we average fifteen students using the facility.

Maths Problem

Congratulations to Brody Press who was last week’s winner. This week’s problem is below.

Money Matters

Emma has five coins of each of these denominations, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, and $2.  List the coins Emma must use if she makes $12.95 with the least number of coins.

Keep Children Safe

Children are more at risk than adults around schools because they are smaller and less visible to motorists.  They are also less predictable and less experienced, which makes them more likely to make errors of judgement.

Failing to follow simple road rules increases the risk to children around schools. While schools can become congested during the peak times, illegal driving and parking behaviours are not acceptable as it increases the risk of injury for children.

Parking Operations regularly patrol school zones to support school communities to promote safe behaviours and keep children safe. Please do the right thing to create a safe environment around our school.

God bless

Peter Hughes

WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS

The Whole school focus theme for this year is:

‘We Are Bee-Attitude Keepers”

Our value for the next two weeks is: Courtesy

This is how we show courtesy at Mother Teresa School:

• We say hello to our peers and teachers.
• We put our hand up in the classroom and
  listen to others when they are speaking.
• We remember to use our manners by saying please and thank you and look at people when we speak to others.
• We hold the door open for others and let them go first.
• We show kindness to others.

FOCUS ASSEMBLY

Thank you to Mrs van der Sanden & Mrs Watt along with 4 Magenta and 4 Violet who presented a fabulous Focus Assembly on Courtesy.  They shared their thoughts on what it means to be courteous and role played how to show courtesy in the playground and Mother Teresa School.

Confirmation 2021

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 some of our Year 6 students as part of their confirmation  ministry will be doing a dramatic performance to the Passion at Holy Spirit Parish.

BOOKING FOR HOLY WEEK:

https://www.trybooking.com/BPLMV

Please ensure that you have made a booking if you are going to attend Holy Week Celebrations. Parents attending the Passion on Palm Sunday also have to book.

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 $2,047.72 Well done! Please encourage your child/ren to bring in their Project  Compassion envelops and mission boxes by Wednesday next week. This week the  money is going to:

PROJECT COMPASSION: AN AUSTRALIAN ICON

For over half a century, generations of Australians have participated in Project Compassion. The initiative has raised more than $500 million since it began in 1965 – making it one of the nation’s longest running charity campaigns.

For many, Project Compassion’s iconic collection boxes have become a nostalgic part of their lives – a reminder around home, school, church and the community that it’s time to support Caritas Australia’s annual appeal.

Margaret Moriarty can’t remember a time without a Project Compassion box in her house during Lent.

“Donating to poorer counties was very important to my mother and father. My children have grown up with the same iconic boxes in our home and my grandchildren are continuing the tradition,” Margaret says.

Throughout five decades of natural disasters, conflicts and crises, Caritas Australia has worked alongside vulnerable communities with the generous support of Australians. Project Compassion has also helped with access to education, health services, agricultural training and through programs that reduce maternal and infant mortality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, local partnerships have helped Caritas Australia to respond quickly to minimise the spread of the coronavirus. This year, Caritas Australia has presented five stories from people striving to ‘Be More’ – just a few stories amongst the millions of people who have been helped through Project Compassion. We would like to thank generations of our supporters nationwide for their ongoing generosity, which allows us to move forward with lifesaving strategies to tackle new challenges.

HOLY WEEK & EASTER LITURGUES

Our Holy Week and Easter Liturgies will be held on Wednesday 31st March. The students and teachers will be dressing up in Jesus Day Clothes Please see the attached flyer.

Palm Sunday

This Sunday 28th March some of our Year 6 Confirmation students and Kinder students will be involved by leading the Palm Sunday procession at Holy Spirit Church at 9:30am. If you  are able to come please ensure you have made a booking. It would be great to see some families from Mother Teresa School there to support the Parish in this important celebration.

Peace and best wishes
Anne Leet REC

MTS Sports 

Year 5-6 Netball Gala Day 18/03/2021

We had 5 teams attend the 5/6 Netball Gala Day last Thursday. Thanks to Miss Ceccato and Mrs Shelley for attending on the day. I would also like to thank our coaches and umpires Nadine Sadler, Wayne Budd, Kate Watson, Danielle Salloum, Amelia Chalker, Ruby Budd and Jack Quantrill for all their help on the day. Without the support of our wonderful volunteers, we simply cannot send the volume of teams that we do.  We are truly blessed at our school, thank you!

The carnival was very competitive and all of the teams represented our school with great pride and determination. One of our teams will advance to the finals stage of the competition on May 7.

Year 3-4 Netball Gala Day 24/03/2021

We sent four teams the years 3 and 4 Netball Gala Day on Wednesday.  A huge thankyou to our coaches Kelly Sheehan, Emma Gahan, Pamela Jenkins, Emily Patterson and Adam Gresham for giving up their time so our students could have a very enjoyable day.

The weather was kind to us after a poor start to the week and we managed to sneak in the day with no delays.  Our students played some great netball and the standard of skill and teamwork improved dramatically throughout the day.  Many of our students already play netball with the MTS club on weekends however we had some first starters who had a blast and look like they will be taking up netball in the future.

I would also like the thank our umpires, Eva Huetter, Maddi Partridge, Hayley Cremin and Luci Polegubic, from 6 Charcoal who reluctantly had the day off school to officiate.

Regional Swimming Carnival

On Monday 29^th March we have a number of students competing in the North Canberra/Gungahlin Regional swimming carnival.  Good luck to our competitors and thankyou to Nadine Sadler and Lee Revell for being our schools volunteers on deck and Wendy Ceccato for taking the team.

MTS Swimming Team: Ryley Power, Joel Gahan, Evan Konig, Owen McIntosh, Ethan Ciceran, Karl Niesen, William Ciceran, Quinn Truong, Milana Sadler-Pather, Charlotte Power, Lily Martin, Eva Huetter, Isabelle Shipley, Sophie Martin, Mikaela Budd, Madison Dawes, Isabella Dawes and Maddie Partridge.  Good luck everyone.

Cross Country Carnival

We ran our Cross Country running carnival last Friday. The event was a great success thanks to Mr Hughes and Mr Hart who ran the carnival seamlessly in Mr Roweth’s absence.  Mr Hughes got into school extra early to measure out the course with a trundle wheel (surely there is an app for measuring distances these days). Congratulations to all the winners. The school team to represent our school at the regional carnival will be announced next term.

Upcoming Events

Matt Gituea Cup (Rugby Union) 5^th May, Southwell Park, Lyneham

North Canberra Wally Masur Cup (Tennis) Tuesday 4^th May at Mother Teresa School

Keep an ear out for try outs and notes during line up announcements and keep an eye on the school app for permission notes!

Brendan Roweth

• 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.