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Gospel Reading: Mt 28:16-20
As for the Eleven disciples, they went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Jesus, they bowed before him, although some doubted. Then Jesus approached them and said, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to fulfill all that I have commanded you. I am with you always until the end of this world."
Mother’s Day Celebrations
It was wonderful to have many mum’s, aunties, grandma’s, and other significant ladies. There was great excitement from all students in both sharing some of their learning and doing something special. Thank you to all who helped make Mother’s Day celebrations special. Thank you also to the dads who helped out in the canteen and with the clean-up. I hope each of you shared a special Sunday.
Director’s Visit
Mr Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education visited St Jude’s this morning. He was impressed by our wonderfully polite students and the learning which is happening in all classrooms. The executive spent time elaborating on many of the wonderful things we are doing. We have been working really hard towards achieving the CE bold goals, in particular, Every child is a competent reader. Mr Fox also visited our youngest students at the ELC. Some of the topics for discussion were, Molonglo, enrolments, staffing, IT, resources, and CE strategic plan. This was a great opportunity to showcase all the wonderful learning which occurs at St Jude’s.
St Jude’s Enrolment Period
Kinder enrolments are coming in thick and fast. If you know of anyone thinking about enrolling, please advise them to submit their application asap. We currently have spaces in Years 2 – 6 for 2023 and all year levels in 2024. Since the beginning of this term, we have welcomed 5 new families, with 8 children. As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, I had a conversation with Matthew Hutchison about Marist enrolments, and he confirmed, Catholic boys, coming from St Jude’s would not miss out on a place at Marist in Year 7.
As our enrolment period continues, we will have opportunities for tours each Tuesday morning in May from 9:30 am until 11:00 am. We had 4 more families tour this week. Our Year 6 leaders were fantastic tour guides. The enrolment period ends on 31 May. I will begin Kinder interviews in a couple of weeks.
Mulleygrubs Café
You may recall the following message, circulated via Compass:
Dear Parents and Carers,
I am sure you will agree, that we are fortunate in having Katrina as our canteen manager.
We have also been fortunate in having a great group of parents and carers who have assisted.
One thing we have overlooked is a back up plan if Katrina is not able to work.
We are seeking expressions of interest from members of our community who may be able to cover the odd day or two, should we require it.
If you are able to help out, please email stjudes.scc@gmail.com
Unfortunately, we received no responses. As a result, the Canteen will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday (24 & 25 May) of week 5. The usual Canteen menu will be unavailable on Friday; however, a meal deal will be available to order for those families interested.
The meal deal will consist of a Sausage, Juice and Quelch Stick for $6.50. Vegetarian and an additional sausage are also available. Orders need to be placed through Qkr!, cash order forms are available at the front office.
Orders will close strictly by COB on Thursday 18 May. No late orders can be accepted.
Dance
Our students have been enormously enthusiastic in moving and grooving as their dance routines begin to take shape. We are enormously blessed to have Jan Simpson working with both our students and staff. If you missed this information in previous newsletters, our dance concert will be held early in Term 3. More information to come.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Cameron
Cameron Reed - Principal
Phone: 6288 7688
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO
Emily B, Alexander F, Owen S, Molly vdW, Hayden N, Aailyah B & Sankapla E
School Photos
The Primary School photo day will be on Thursday 1 June. Full winter uniform is to be worn.
School photo packs can now be ordered via the Compass App - please click on the MSP logo on your home page and log in using your Compass username and password – please have these handy.
You would have received an email this week from MSP Photography with a link to place your child's photo pack order.
Please see the following link with further information on how to order via your Compass home page -
https://www.compass.education/guide#photos
Sibling photo packs can also be ordered online using Compass. If your youngest child is at the ELC, please complete the hard copy order form and make note of the siblings at the Primary School. Further information on sibling photos to come!
You are able to contact MSP Photography for any queries/difficulties in ordering - 6255 9208.
ELC Photos - will be on Tuesday 30 May and Thursday 1 June.
School Lateness
A friendly reminder that the morning bell rings at 8.50am. At this time students move to their classroom for morning lessons. We have noticed an increasing number of students arriving after this bell. For some students this is quite distressing. They often feel embarrassed in front of their peers. Arriving at school 10-15 minutes before the bell rings, allows students to greet and play with their friends. This helps them to settle quickly into their learning. Teachers are on duty in the morning until 8.50am as their teaching day begins at this time. Parents will need to sign their child/ren in at the front office after 8.50am. Please do not drop your child/ren off in the car park and allow them to walk to their classroom on their own. Please find some tips below to help you and your child.
ELC NEWS
Happy Birthday to Olivia. T and Max. R
Mother's Day Breakfast and Open Classroom
On Friday 12 May, we invited mothers, grandmothers and special friends to our classrooms. Thank you to all those Mum’s who were able to join us, it was a lovely morning.
We had our first incursion this week, Ryka is from Yidinji country and he shared some dress items, tools and instruments from his culture and taught us some new songs and dances. We also participated in a smoking ceremony and body painted symbols. The children were painted with ochre in the designs of ‘Javan’ freshwater eel and ‘Kabul’ salt water crocodile.
Early Childhood Conference
This week two of our teachers attended a conference for early childhood teachers about changes that have been made for the learning framework. I wanted to share a paragraph with you from the framework about the importance of play. At St Jude’s ELC we use a play based approach to learning and at times people don’t fully understand how crucial play is for developing brains. This paragraph explains it so well.
Play-based learning capitalises on children’s natural inclination to be curious, explore and learn. Children actively construct their own understandings that contribute to their own learning. In play experiences children integrate their emotions, thinking and motivation that assists to strengthen brain functioning. They exercise their agency, intentionality, capacity to initiate and lead learning, and their right to participate in decisions that affect them, including about their learning.
Play-based learning:
- allows for the expression of personality and uniqueness
- offers opportunities for multimodal play
- enhances thinking skills and lifelong learning dispositions such as curiosity, persistence and creativity
- enables children to make connections between prior experiences and new learning and to transfer learning from one experience to another
- assists children to develop and build relationships and friendships
- develops knowledge acquisition and concepts in authentic contexts
- builds a sense of identity
- strengthens self-regulation, and physical and mental wellbeing.
Open Days and Tours
We had another successful Open morning on Tuesday and received very positive feedback from the families who visited. Families are welcome to drop in for a tour on Tuesday 23 May between 9:30 and 11am.
2024 Online Enrolments
Online enrolments are now open for Catholic schools and ELCs via the relevant school websites. A reminder to all ELC families that you need to submit an enrolment form for Kindergarten in 2024. Please note, if you are considering a second year of preschool, please contact your class teacher as soon as possible.
Primary School Enrolment Zones
Enrolments are now open for our primary schools (St Jude’s and St John Vianney’s) for 2024.
- If your residential address is Stirling, Fisher, Waramanga, Chapman or Rivett you are zoned for St John Vianney’s for primary school.
- If your residential address is Holder or Duffy you are zoned for St Jude’s.
- Weston and Molonglo are shared zones and families can choose which school to apply for. Please note this does not guarantee you a place at that school.
Enrolments are based on a priority system.
Karen Leighton - ELC Director
Phone: 6288 7520
Email: karen.leighton@cg.catholic.edu.au
This Sunday is Ascension of the Lord Sunday where Jesus ascended into Heaven. This is one of the major feast days in the Church and marks the end of the Easter Season. Next Sunday will be Pentecost Sunday.
The Ascension is where, after Jesus rose, he spent 40 days visiting his friends and family and then left to return to his Father. But he left his friends with a message that while he was physically leaving them, the Holy Spirit will be sent to be with them always. And with this, they will continue his mission of Love.
In class, we consider the Ascension through images. Over the centuries, artists have tried to depict how the Ascension would have looked, or tried to represent what it means to them. The majority have Jesus floating up surrounded by cloud - but this is one representation that has infiltrated culture, and not necessarily a clear representation of what happened. The Gospel, was written to conveying an almighty, benevolent experience. Truth is, we don't know how it looked or exactly what happened, but images can help.
Youth Ministry
Our Youth ministry team is hard at work. You will hear a lot from them this term as they become more present within the student community. They have begun organising a prayer assembly, preparing for St Vincent de Paul collections and leading prayer in classes.
Thank you to our year 2 students who led us in a beautiful Mother's day Liturgy last Friday.
Brigitta van Deas - Religious Education Coordinator
Email: brigitta.vanreesch@cg.catholic.edu.au
*All books from the last holidays should be returned to the Library by now.
Everyone in K-2 is encouraged to borrow every week, especially now as the Reading Challenge is happening. Years 3 – 6 should be mindful of regular borrowing and building up their reading stamina.
*Next week is National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) and this year the book is The Speedy Sloth by Rebecca Young. Children in the lower grades will be listening to this story in their Library time, enjoying an activity and recording it in their Reading Challenges as well.
Year 5/6 Book Club is hosting a Book Swap in Week 6
Who: Years 1-6
What: Bring 1 or 2 books from home that your parents have agreed to let you swap for others at school.
Where: Library at lunchtime, 11.15am – 11.45am
When: Bring your books in Monday (Week 6)
Swap on Wednesday (Years 1,2,3) and Thursday (Years 4,5,6) at lunchtime.
Conditions: Books must be in good condition & will be checked by Librarian. No colouring books, no Golden books. They must be books that both your child and other children (of the same age group) would want to read. We also have extra books for lots of choices! Should be fun!
Happy Reading! Verna Comley
Friday of Week 4 will be Walk Safely to School Day. It is an initiative supported by the government to encourage both students and their parents to be more active and healthy in their daily commute to school and work.
St Jude’s will be participating with a whole school walk to school morning. We will have teachers stationed from 8:10am at the locations marked on the map. They will wait and meet students and parents and depart those locations by 8:25am to walk along the marked routes to school.
At school, the groups will be met with some great tunes pumping, a fruit station and a raffle ticket to go in the draw for some prizes at the end of the day.
It’s going to be a great morning and we look forward to seeing as many people as possible getting involved in the action.
![wss_map.jpg](https://prod005-au.sz-cdn.net/stjudesps/media/3345/230510104401824/600x473/wss_map.jpg)
Cross Country 2023 Champions
Kinder Girls Kinder Boys
1st - Rubi Jean B 1st - Lucas W
2nd - Aisling B 2nd - Hamish H
3rd - Madeleine K 3rd - Eli P
7 Years Girls 7 Years Boys
1st - Jemima W 1st - Henry M
2nd - Madeleine O 2nd - Tudno W
3rd - Margot S 3rd - Sam S
8 Years Girls 8 Years Boys
1st - Zara L F 1st - Archie R
2nd - Georgia D 2nd - Connor H
3rd - Annabel S 3rd - Michael F
4th - Molly vdW 4th - Patrick C
5th - Ava S 5th - Charlie C
9 Years Girls 9 Years Boys
1st - Anica K 1st - Flynn W
2nd - Maddie G 2nd - Eric J
3rd - Hallie O 3rd - James R
4th - Delilah P 4th - Sonny C
5th - Alice B 5th - Max D
10 Years Girls 10 Years Boys
1st - Kate H 1st - Darcy K
2nd - Zara B 2nd - Evan R
3rd - Georgia M 3rd - Winstyn B
4th - Laksmi S 4th - Rafiki A
5th - Lexie B 5th - Sebastian C
11 Years Girls 11 Years Boys
1st - Evie M 1st - John C
2nd - Audrey P 2nd - Jack V
3rd - Maya H 3rd - Baxter R
4th - Maddie K 4th - Frank C
5th - Poppy K 5th - Flynn V
12 Years Girls 12 Years Boys
1st - Amalia S 1st - Noah M
2nd - Alexis M 2nd - Hugh R
3rd - Abigail R 3rd - Brody C
4th - Mary S 4th - Benjamin W
5th - Katherine R 5th - Finnley C
The first 5 place getters in 8 years and above age groups have qualified to represent St Jude's at the South Weston Cross Country on Tuesday 6 June at Stromlo Forest Park. Well done to all students who competed, it was an amazing effort by everyone. Ribbons will be presented to the first 3 place getters in each age group at this Friday's Year 4 Assembly. Assembly will commence at 2.00pm, with ribbons presented at approximately 2.30pm.
Matt Giteau Cup
We had a combined Year 3/4 team enjoy the Matt Giteau Cup (Rugby Union) Gala Day at Campese Oval Queanbeyan today.
Many students were trying this sport for the very first time! We look forward to hearing about their day on their return. A huge thank you to Ben Cabot and Tim Watkins for being the team's coach and manager and to Mrs Rice for supervising the team. A special mention to Royals Junior Rugby Club who provided training for the team. This was very much appreciated.
ACT School Sports Football (soccer)
Trials are open for the 12&U Girls and Boys Football (Soccer) ACT Teams to compete in the Football Championship in Thornbury, Victoria between 15 - 20 October 2023. Please log on to ACT School Sport and register your child if interested ASAP. You will need to create a profile for your child before registering. There is a $10 entry fee. The trial dates for the girls team are 6 and 20 June and for the boys team 28 May and 4 June. Registrations will close prior to the trials.
Kerrin Henderson
Email: kerrin.henderson@cg.catholic.edu.au
Canteen Next Week
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter the Canteen will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday (24 & 25 May) next week. The usual Canteen menu will be unavailable on Friday; however, a meal deal will be available to order for those families interested.
The meal deal will consist of a Sausage, Juice and Quelch Stick for $6.50. Vegetarian and an additional sausage are also available. Orders need to be placed through Qkr!, cash order forms are available at the front office.
Orders will close strictly by COB TODAY, Thursday 18 May.
No late orders can be accepted.
Canteen Volunteers – Week 5
Wednesday 24 May – Canteen Closed
Thursday 25 May – Canteen Closed
Friday 26 May – G. Cabot, E. Eyles, S. Monges, S. Devonport & E. Susic
I am still in need of some volunteers this term, if you are available to assist on either a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday please email katrina.howden@cg.catholic.edu.au
Katrina Howden - Canteen Manager
Email: katrina.howden@cg.catholic.edu.au
Orders for uniforms can be placed on Qkr! or via email (for secondhand items) to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com
If any item displays as 'OUT OF STOCK' please email the uniform shop and we will follow it up/order in the stock for you.
The long sleeve sports polos have been very popular!! Orders for these may be placed via Qkr! **Size 8 long sleeve polos have arrived and anyone who was waiting should have received theirs yesterday**.
This sports polo IS NOT COMPULSORY. It is an optional extra for the winter months, for children who feel the cold.
Sara Kate Alyce Ashleigh - Mulleyduds Uniform Shop
Email: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com