Dear parents,

I know that term one was only nine weeks however the time has simply flown by. It was a busy and hectic term and it has been wonderful to see all the children, especially our kindergarten students, settle in to school life.

Please enjoy the Easter break with family and friends but keep in mind the significance of the season of Easter for all Christians.  Yesterday, our Holy Week celebrations reminded our students of what the real meaning of Easter is. A simple prayer at home may allow the children to see the link between what we teach at school in Religious Education and what happens at home.

For those that are travelling, please do so safely and we look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday 20^th April.

Staffing

1 Coral - As previously advised Mrs Gemma Francis will be taking on Mrs Boyton's co-ordinator role while she is on leave.  Miss Kristina Hudina will be taking 1 Coral on a Thursday and Friday for Term 2.

EALD - Mrs Sophie Dash will be filling the role of the EALD teacher vacated by Mrs Haydon.  She will commence at the beginning of Term 2.

Mr Daniel McCreath (Groundsman) and Mr Kag Ratlhagane (Student Welfare Officer) have both resigned from their positions at MTS.  These positions will be advertised over the holidays.  I thank both gentlemen for their contribution to life at MTS.

Award Winners

Congratulations to our Term 1 Academic Excellence and Academic Effort Award winners (list of recipients below) and Mother Teresa Award Winners Anthony Dowling (Year 6) and Stella Tanchevski (Year 2).  

Uniforms

Term two sees all students wearing their winter uniforms.  Parents and students are reminded that last year we changed our policy of wearing hats to reflect to guidelines issued by the Cancer Council.  We ask children to wear hats from the start of August until the end of May every year. The Cancer Council website states:

Over-exposure to UV during childhood and adolescence is a major contributing factor of skin cancer, including melanoma, later in life. Cancer Council recommends a combination of sun protection behaviour when UV levels reach three (3) or above. In Canberra average UV levels are 3 and above for part or most of each day from August to May. During the daylight saving/summer period it is important to take extra care between 11am – 3pm as this is when annual UV levels reach their peak.

Chess

The Monday afternoon chess club will start up again in Week 3, Monday 3rd May.  Fees for Chess Club for Term 2 will be $48.00 (we have only 6 Mondays at school in Term 2).  If your child is interested in Chess and would like to join Chess Club please contact the front office for more information.

Maths Problem

This week’s winner is Raeland Loney.

This week’s problem follows on from last week’s problem and has two parts. Entries can be handed in week one or emailed to me over the holidays.

Money Matters

Emma has five coins of each of these denominations, 5 c, 10 c, 20 c, 50 c, $1, and $2.

1. Emma could have used 12 coins to make $12.95. List all the ways she could do this.
2. Emma spent $15 and had eight coins left, including one or more of each denomination did she have left?

Have a very happy and safe Easter and school holiday break.

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.

Please keep our Year 6 students and their families in your prayers as they prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Palm Sunday

Thank you to some of our Year 6 students who had the honour of being involved in the dramatization of  the Passion. They did a marvelous job celebrating this important mass  at Holy Spirit Church. All our Confirmation candidates are truly embracing  their ministries and getting involved in the Parish. Well done!  

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 and Easter Celebrations at Holy Spirti Church.

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, during Lent we raised $2,623.10 Well done and congratulations everyone.

Holy Week and Easter Liturgies

What a fabulous and joyous occasion we had on Wednesday as part of our Holy Week liturgies. A big thank you to all the children who sang so beautifully and participated so reverently during the liturgy and to the fabulous . The dramatization and re-enactment of the events helped everyone to remember the journey and struggle for Jesus and the joyous event of Easter where He rose to new life. Most importantly to our fabulous staff at Mother Teresa School who as always rose to the occasion to  provide memorable teaching and learning experiences for the students. Thank you!

Prayer For Holy Week

Jesus my Lord,

let me strengthen my courage by taking on the courage of all those people who have been "centurions" for me.

Many have faced disasters and hard times with great constancy.

The upper hand of evil never turned them against you. They kept going.

Let me be like them, Lord. No matter what the cross, let me never stop
declaring you to be "truly the Son of God, the source of my hope, the reason why I will never quit on life.

Peace and best wishes
Anne Leet REC

Regional Swimming

Congratulations to all of our Regional Swimming Carnival participants! Many of our swimmers advance to the ACT carnival coming up next term! Well done super fish! Thanks to Miss Ceccato for taking swimming team.  A huge thanks to Nadine Sadler and Lee Revell who were our schools volunteers on the day! See detailed results below.

Tennis

Our 5-6 tennis squad has been selected for the inaugural Wally Masur Cup which we are hosting at Mother Teresa School.  Some of our Year 6 Sport Leaders will be assisting with scoring and umpiring on the day.  Keep an eye out for the 3-4 Hotshots tennis trials later this year.

Matt Giteau Cup

Rugby notes were due back this week. I’ll accept notes on the first day back of Term 2 but will reject further notes as teams will be registered after this day.

'Creating a Mathsmosphere* in your Classroom and School'

Saturday February 20th 2021

A professional learning event presented by Mother Teresa School in partnership with The Canberra Mathematical Association.

Staff at Mother Teresa School are always on the lookout for professional learning opportunities, regularly travelling interstate to attend courses and conferences. This year, in partnership with The Canberra Mathematical Association, Mother Teresa School decided to hold our own numeracy conference. This program, named 'Creating a Mathsmosphere* in your classroom and school' was open to Numeracy Leaders and teachers across the ACT.

Members of the Canberra Mathematical Association worked closely with our Numeracy Team to consider the needs of Primary School Mathematics teachers in the ACT. We collaborated to design and prepare a 3 hour mini-conference that was successfully accredited by the Teacher Quality Institute.

We proudly presented one of Australia's leading Maths educators, Michelle Tregoning, who delivered our keynote address. Michelle is currently employed by NSW Education as the leader for Mathematics professional learning. Following Michelle’s 90 minute workshop, attendees chose two shorter workshops presented by six local ACT Primary Numeracy Leaders.

We were thrilled to have 67 cross-sectoral participants, 26 of whom were keen mathematics teachers from Mother Teresa School. It was wonderful to see so many teachers interested in enlivening mathematics to improve student outcomes. Participants were able to build their knowledge of the Australian Mathematics Curriculum and explore practical ways to connect concepts with processes. Teachers were able to deepen their understanding of the importance of inquiry dialogue, task choice and flexible student grouping.

We have been pleased with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from participants. According to the program evaluations, many participants were inspired by the presenters’ ‘practical and powerful’ ideas and have already made high impact changes to their classroom practice. When asked how the program could be improved, most participants indicated they wanted to stay longer to hear all of the presenters, several saying it was the best professional learning they’ve been to in a long time. Many new collegial connections have been made, with teachers from outside of the Catholic system reaching out to us, wanting to learn more about Mathematics at Mother Teresa School.

*Mathsmosphere is a cheeky term used to define an inspiring mathematics environment where all learners are engaged in Puzzling, Predicting, Playing and Proving their Maths. An essential element of a Mathsmosphere is an enthusiastic teacher.

TQI program evaluation

As many Canberrans are aware, the Royal Australian Air Force celebrated their centenary this week, on Wednesday 31Mar21.  From their modest beginnings in 1921, the RAAF has  developed into a powerful, world-class Air Force which our nation depends on during times of both conflict and peace.  The men and women who proudly serve the RAAF show great diversity and their excellence and passion has been a primary driver behind the success and achievements of the Service throughout it’s one hundred year history.  More than 350,000 Australians have served in the Royal Australian Air Force since 1921 and 11,191 have died in service during that time — we will always remember their service and sacrifice.

Our MTS Defence Family proudly boasts twenty-one families with at least one currently serving RAAF member.  We would like to take this chance to thank them all for their service and for continuing to uphold the proud traditions of the RAAF.

To recognise this special anniversary, MTS had an RAAF display in the Yr 1 /2 breakout space for the last week. We would like to thank the Dowling family for generously loaning several  items that helped make this display  special.  Many of you might also have had the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular flypast over Lake Burley Griffin—it was certainly a ‘once in a lifetime’ event.  Happy birthday Air Force!

• 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.

Congratulations to Satine Kruger from our ELC Red Jellyfish class who won the first prize in the Easter Raffle.  We hope you enjoy your big chocolate basket!