Gospel – Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.

When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.

The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’

He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.

Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Assistant Principal

As you would be aware, Mr Dan Fulton has taken 12 months long service leave during 2023. By all accounts he is having a wonderful time, travelling the world and catching up with family and friends. Yesterday he tendered his resignation in relation to his leadership position at St Jude’s. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Dan. His professionalism and kindness have been integral in building both the education program and the community spirit we are renown for. Later in the year, we will create an opportunity for the students and community to farewell Dan. We will advertise in the coming weeks and look for the best possible candidate.

Pupil Free Day

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to have staff involved in professional development. Each week staff gather on Tuesday afternoons for Professional Learning, however to have a whole day dedicated enables us to go into greater depth and also make the most of our morning energy levels. K-2 teachers worked through the next stage of modules in The Writing Revolution. We have been using this as the basis for many of our writing opportunities and we are already seeing significant growth in both quality and quantity of work. Our 3 – 6 teachers have again had the pleasure of working with Mr Brian Parker (SHARP Reading). You may hear your children say 'I think that means….' Brian is also working with teachers in a one on one mentoring role throughout this week. There have been wonderful opportunities for teachers to be observed and given feedback from an expert in this area. Our literacy learning is going from strength to strength.

St Jude’s Facebook

As you would be aware, our staff take every opportunity to promote all the wonderful things we are doing. If you have a facebook account but have not yet followed our St Jude’s page, I would encourage you to do so.

Dance Spectacular

Tickets are selling fast. Students and staff have been working extremely hard and it is all starting to come together. Second round tickets will be available shortly.

NAPLAN 2023

As you would be aware, NAPLAN has had a significant change in 2023. Apart from sitting the exams earlier in the year, they have also moved to a different grading scale. I have looked at the results and they are pleasing. Parents should receive their child’s result shortly. An interesting article was written by the Grattan Institute. If you are interested, you can find the article via this link  https://grattan.edu.au/news/naplan-just-got-better/

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Cameron

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to Lachlan M and Oliver L

Welcome back to Term 3.  It is great to see so many ELC children coming so confidently into the ELC this week, which shows that they are making great progress in preparing for kindergarten.  The children who attended our holiday care program enjoyed a wide range of activities.  They explored nature, learnt about bugs and enjoyed lots of winter wonderland craft. They celebrated NAIDOC Week, went on a treasure hunt, read Possum Magic which led the children on a food journey. They learnt about life on a farm, were junior Masterchefs, and finished off the holiday with a relaxing pyjama day. Thank you to our wonderful educators who run such an engaging, fun filled program.

ELC Staffing

We have been very fortunate to welcome three new educators to the ELC. Hong Peng has joined the Turtles team full time, Jessica Boag is in the Turtle class at the end of the week and Kajsa Aquilina is the new educator in the Stingray class.

Dance Concert

The Lobsters and Turtles have been busy preparing for the dance concert next week.  The dress rehearsal is tomorrow, Friday 21 July so please ensure you have sent in costumes - black tops and black pants for the Turtles, and brown tops and black pants for the Lobsters.

Portfolios

We hope you have had a wonderful time looking through your child’s portfolio.  Please remember to return it to the ELC so we can continue to add to it in semester 2.

Mura Gadi

Next week we commence the Mura Gadi program. Mura Gadi is an Indigenous term meaning ‘pathways of learning’. Every Tuesday and Thursday the classes go offsite to explore different areas in Weston Creek and learn from the land. Each location has a learning focus and each session begins with an acknowledgment of country. Please make sure the children are dressed for the weather on these days.

Hiccup – Excursion

The Turtle and Lobster classes will be attending an excursion to the Canberra Theatre on Friday 28 July to watch Hiccup! It is a hilarious musical extravaganza about working together and finding friendship. Please ensure you have returned your permission form.

Thank you to the Community Council

Thanks to the St Jude’s Community Council, we have been able to purchase a light table which will be a wonderful resource for our ELC. 

Lids4Kids

At the end of last term we held a Lids4Kids incursion where we learnt about recycling plastic lids that will then be repurposed into loose part toys. We have set up a sorting net in our front foyer. Please consider collecting all of your plastic bottle tops and bringing them in to add to our collection.

2024 ELC enrolment acceptance due now

Letters of offer have now been sent and acceptances are due this Friday 21 July. If you have not received any correspondence from us, please check your spam/junk folder or contact the ELC office.

Child Care Subsidy Changes

From 10 July, changes to CCS will make childcare more affordable for most families. For more information about how these changes will affect you, go to Family eligibility and entitlement - Department of Education, Australian Government or visit StartingBlocks.gov.au I Early Childhood Education & Care for a CCS calculator.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Families should have received an email from Fr Michael this week regarding the start of Confirmation and important details. If you did not receive anything, you may not have registered yet on the Parish Qkr!. Otherwise please contact the parish office.

Important Dates for the Term 

Classes will also attend Liturgies and morning Masses over the term which are supported by our wonderful year 6 Prayer and Service peer group. Parents are always welcome to join the us.

Tues 25 July, ELC-2 Liturgy, 2pm Church

Thurs 3 August, 3-4 Mass, 9.30am Church

Thurs 10 August 5-6 Mass, 9.30am Church

Thurs 24 August, ELC-2 Liturgy, 2pm Church

Thurs 31 August, 3-4 Mass, 9.30am Church

Thurs 7 Sept, 5-6 Mass, 9.30am Church

Term 3  Week 1

Welcome to an exciting term in Library – Book Week happens this term! This year we will find out the winners and celebrate Book Week in Week 6. However we will explore all the shortlisted books (on display in the Library) and enjoy lots of creative responses to them throughout the term. The theme for 2023 is “Read Grow Inspire”

*Wanted for craft this term ~ round clear plastic lids     (like on Chinese food containers or margarine lids)

Reading Challenge - Winners Congratulations!

KB – Eli P       

KF – Everly P

1B – Noah B           

1LC – Jesse S

2E – Owen W and Ariella B   

2S – Wlliam B and Annabel S     

2T – William C

3M - Callum N and Scarlett O         

3R - Willow Mc                               

3S - Aurora R

4C – Abby M       

4HK – Eve L

Year 5 and 6 winners are pending final results - should be known tomorrow.

The other winners will receive their prizes tomorrow (Friday).

Happy reading! Verna Comley

South Weston Athletics Carnival

The South Weston Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 17 August at Woden Park Phillip. Permission notes and information will be sent home with students who have qualified to compete early next week. Parents will be responsible for transporting their child/ren to and from Woden Park. The carnival will commence at 8.30am Sharp and will conclude by 2.30pm. There is a $10 participation fee which needs to be sent to St Jude's office. This is sent to School Sport ACT to cover the cost of the officials, equipment and hire of the facility.  

PLEASE NOTE: The first 2 placegetters from the school carnival are elibible to compete in the relevant events at the South Weston Carnival. Students turning 8 or 9 years old this year can only compete in 70m and 100m events. There are no other events for this age group. This decision was made by SSACT at the beginning of 2023.

Ribbon Assembly for Athletics Carnival will be held Friday 4 August at 2.30pm in the school hall. Parents are very welcome to come along. 

Canteen Volunteers – Week 2

Wednesday 26 July – S. Auhl and one more volunteer please

Thursday 27 July – R. Arnold, K. Lees & R. Buckley

Friday 21 June – S. Monges and more volunteers needed please  

If you would like to volunteer in the Canteen in Term 3 please email Katrina.howden@cg.catholic.edu.au

Welcome back to Term 3!

Just a reminder to all families and friends - the uniform shop is run by volunteers. As such, the shop is not always manned and orders are packed as able - not every day. The volunteers do their best around work commitments and their own families, to pack orders as quickly as possible - and in almost all cases, this is within a couple of days and definitely within the week. 

As always, for any and all uniform needs, orders can be placed via the Uniform Shop tab on Qkr!, or via email to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com for any second hand items. **Please do not make payment for secondhand items, until we reply to your request confirming stock is available. 

If there is ever an issue with an order, please email the uniform shop and we will endeavour to fix it as soon as possible.