Through this process, a person is reconciled and continues to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Reconciliation is officially called the Sacrament of Penance. In the past, it was also called Confession. These titles are all aspects of the meaning of the Sacrament.

The Sacrament of Penance is a celebration of God’s love and mercy. It celebrates the call to repentance after a process of conversion of heart.

This includes confessing our sins and receiving the forgiveness of God through the ministry of the priest. Through this process, a person is reconciled with the Church and continues to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED THIS SACRAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME YESTERDAY AFTERNOON.

Dear Parents and Carers

The following reflection on the Bishop Manning lecture delivered by Vicar General, Fr Tony Percy is being reproduced with the kind permission of the Catholic Weekly.

The clergy sexual abuse crisis has been a “hell of a mess” and the answer lies in moving forward with faith, transparency and creativity, according to Father Tony Percy.

The academic, author and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn used his speech at the annual Bishop Manning Lecture on 21 March to make a call for the Church to “find its voice” at the national and local levels—which must include men’s and women’s voices.

During his speech at the Kirribilli Club in North Sydney, which was hosted by the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations, Father Percy addressed the topic ‘The Catholic Community in the 21st Century’, and responded to the questions ‘Where have we been?’ ‘Where are we now?’ ‘Where are we going?’ and ‘Who’s going with us?’.

He said that the current crisis may have brought the Church to its “darkest hour”, while society is also experiencing chaos. But Father Percy said that this is not a time for the Church to retreat in shame.

He drew upon the work of “the most truly modern pope” Pope Leo XIII, Scripture, Census data and insights from prominent Catholics, including Hildegard of Bingen and Pope Francis, to suggest ways the Australian Church could make use of three pillars research, showing the church could be renewed through community, teaching and preaching and music.

But first it must be acknowledged that the Church has lost people’s trust and that “trust is everything”, he said.

“The rebuild will take grace and courage. The abuse of children, youth, and the vulnerable by clergy is ‘everything we don’t believe in’. Precisely because we believe human sexuality to be symbolic of love and life we sense the ‘gravity of the depravity’.

“The price exacted has been enormous. Victims and survivors have very, very deep wounds – wounds that perhaps only our Divine Physician can heal. The fallout has been immense for our community.”

The roots of the problem lie in narcissism, an entitlement mentality and clericalism, he believes, including an “overplay of the clergy” and an “underplay of the laity”.

To read the complete transcript, see the school website / Communication / Notes

Peter Galvin
Principal

SchoolTV – see link

The Christchurch massacre is one of the most extreme acts of terrorism the world has seen in recent times. For New Zealand, it was a loss of innocence. SchoolTV was actually filming in Auckland when news broke of the harrowing events unfolding in Christchurch.

Unfortunately, this will impact on many kids throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is important to put this event into context for children of all ages. Although we cannot control what happens in our world, we can choose the way we respond. The distressing nature of this event will never be forgotten, but at the same time we should not allow it to permanently disturb or destroy our future generations.

In this Special Report, parents and care givers will be provided with practical strategies on how to talk to their children in a reassuring manner.

Here is the link to your special report
https://stjudesps.act.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/christchurc

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data – NCCD

In the first half of 2018 all teachers at St Jude’s had support provided to better record the adjustments – both great and small – they made to their teaching programmes to cater for the learning needs of their students. All of this data was collected and collated by Ms Weston. The result of this painstaking work resulted in a large increase in funding to support our students’ needs. As a result of this increased funding (as well as some regular staffing) I am delighted that our Classroom Support Unit (Butterfly Room) has the following staffing: 10 teacher days per week and 110 hours of classroom assistant time each week. Of course we could always use more but this 2019 resourcing is considerably higher than we received at the start of 2018. I am so pleased we are able to increase our support of children, no matter what their need is. Again this year our teachers will receive support in documenting just how they adjust the curriculum to meet student needs.

SZapp

St Jude's is now using SZapp as our main messaging service to families. Information on downloading the app is available on the school website homepage under the ‘For Parents’ tab. 

The SkoolBag App is no longer being used by St Jude's. Please ensure you down load SZapp.

Qkr! App

A reminder to update your child's class on Qkr!

Readers and Greeters

Are needed for the three Sunday Parish Masses. If you would like to be involved in these ministries, please contact the Parish Office during business hours on 83317611. It will be necessary for all new readers to attend an information evening and practice.

Happy Birthday Freya W

ELC Staffing

A very warm welcome to Therese Bondoc and Hyi-Syim Tee who have recently joined the ELC team as educators in the classrooms and after school care.  We bid a fond farewell to Vivi Slatter who has been at the ELC in various roles over the last few years. We wish Vivi all the best in her new position. We are also saddened to be saying goodbye to Ms Brodee Reynolds (Lobster teacher) at the end of this term. Brodee is moving to Newcastle to be closer to family. We wish Brodee all the best on her adventures and will miss her cheeky and fun nature around the ELC.

3pm Pickup

As you are aware, we have made some slight changes to routines at the end of the Preschool day to help children in After School Care transition. All ELC children going home at 3pm will be in one classroom, and children attending After School Care will be in another. We will all be participating in singing at 2:45 and would love for parents to come in and join us so we can show off our new skills and songs to you. Thank you to those families who have managed to come in and join us this week. We are already seeing a positve change with this new afternoon routine.

Egg Cartons

The ELC would appreciate donations of egg cartons for a craft activity.  Please drop your unwanted cartons to the ELC office.

ELC Open Day

The ELC Open Day will be held on Wednesday 8 May between 9:30-11:30am and 4:00-6:00pm. If you know any families with children approaching preschool age, invite them along to have a look at the ELC!

Primary School Open Days

St Jude’s Primary School Open Day is on Wednesday 8 May between 9am–11am and 4pm-6pm.  St John Vianney’s Primary School will also be having an Open Day on Wednesday 8 May.

Parent Representatives

Your Parent Representatives this year are:

• Tanya Jackson (Eric in Turtle room)
• Sonia Rankin (William in Stingray room)
• Beth Dawn (Max in Lobster room)

If you have any questions or concerns you would like taken to the Community Council, these are your go to people. Their email addresses will be provided in your next class email.

Athletics Carnival

The Turtle and the Lobster classes will be participting in the St Jude’s Athletics Carnival Week 10, Friday 5 April. Parents and Carers are welcome to come and cheer us along. We will be playing some games and participating in a 50m running race at approximately 1:30pm.

Working Bee

Please join us for a working bee on Sunday 5 May from 10am to 12noon. It will be a social morning of gardening and tidying up our outdoor areas followed by a sausage sizzle at the primary school. The children always enjoy helping out and playing with their friends. We would love to see you there!

Holiday Care

We are now taking bookings for the ELC holiday program which begins on Monday 15 April. The ELC has holiday care available from 8am to 5:30pm for the two weeks (minus Good Friday 19 April, Easter Monday 22 April and Anzac Day Thursday 25 April).  Booking forms have been emailed and are available at the ELC office.

Entertainment Book

Due to its popularity last year, the ELC is now selling the 2019/20 Entertainment Book. View the book online at www.online.flippingbook.com/view/1048499/ or order at www.entbook.com.au/94h4738

Donation

Last year Rebecca Ford (Nicholas in KF and Emma in the Turtles) nominated St Jude’s ELC in her staff charity and community organisation Christmas lottery, and our centre was awarded a $1,000 donation. The ELC have purchased new bookshelves for the classrooms, a reading corner and some musical instruments. Thank you to Rebecca and Cordelta Management Technology for their support and generous donation.

Karen Leighton
Acting ELC Director

A special sacrament

Last night, a large number of our Year 3 students made the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. As human beings, we are all in need of forgiveness and reconciliation. None of us are prefect. From time to time we hurt one another through unkind words and selfish and mean behaviour. The Sacrament of Reconciliation focusses on the need to be reconciled with God and others. This is a very important human dimension of our lives.

Repentance is an important part of the sacrament of reconciliation. We cannot be forgiven unless we are genuinely sorry for our sins.

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’  Matthew 4:17

To repent means that we are sorry for our sins. It is an act of contrition. We turn our hearts back to God. We turn away from selfishness and resolve to live the way Jesus taught us.

Dates to remember

Friday 29 March – Eucharist Retreat Day

Saturday 6 April – St Jude’s Church, Sacrament of First Holy Communion, 5pm

Sunday 7 April – St John Vianney’s Church, Sacrament of First Holy Communion, 9am

Thursday 11 April – Palm Sunday Liturgy, 9.30am

Friday 12 April – Holy Thursday and Good Friday Liturgies from 10am

God bless
Susan Chant
RE Coordinator

Matt Giteau
On Friday 22 March, we had two very competitive St Jude’s teams participate in the Matt Giteau Cup. All students were fabulous representatives for our school. A special mention to our Best and Fairest for Year 3/4 Noah F and Year 5/6 was Ollie C and to
Connor R who played very well. All players were such great sports, respectful to everyone and just smiled all day! A black and green head gear was left behind. If it belongs to you, could you please see Mrs Gibson. A huge thank you to our team manager and coaches for the day.

South Western Swimming
South Western Regional Swimming carnival will be held on Thursday 4 April. If your child did qualify for the south western regional carnival, could you please return your note to Mrs Thomas as soon as possible.

Catholic Schools Soccer Carnival
St Jude’s United were caught preparing for the upcoming Catholic Schools Soccer Carnival. If you or your child are involved in the carnival, please check the Catholic Schools Soccer Carnival 2019 Facebook page for information such as the draw, competitions and the variety of foods and activities available on the day. Thank you in anticipation to all our coaches and manager for our four teams.

Holiday happenings booklet

Autumn edition – has lots of book related activities to do during the holidays so maybe take a look. This was sent home this week with students.

Story Time

*Story Time –‘Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge’ at National Portrait Gallery – Wednesday 17 April, $7 child.

*Story Time – stories of brave animals and people at Australian War memorial – Fridays 10.30am, free.

*Story time – at National Library – Wednesday 24 April, 11.30am, $2 child.

There are many other opportunities to try different activities as well!

Happy reading!
Verna Comley

Mulleyduds will be open:

Friday 29 March, 3.00pm to 3.30pm

Friday 5 April, 3.00pm to 3.30pm

We are currently ordering winter school uniform. We ask that you be patient as we wait for the uniform order to arrive.

Winter and summer uniform can be ordered via Qkr! or email: uniformstjudesps@gmail.com  Please contact the front office if you are waiting on a uniform order.

We have received quite a lot of second hand uniiform donations. Thank you for your generousity. Just a reminder that we are happy to receive second hand St Jude's uniforms only but no other second hand items.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who are helping in the uniform shop. Your time is very much appreciated.

Susana Lloyd

MASTERCHEF

This week’s Masterchef is 'The Illustrious Ivers Family' and they are making 'Chocolate Fudge'. The ingredients are: chocolate and condensed milk. We will be selling them for 50 cents.

VOLUNTEER ROSTER

Friday 29 March
Belinda M
Charlotte D

Wednesday 3 April
Connie S
Geraldine C

Thursday 4 April
Wendy D
HELP NEEDED x 2

Canteen Kim

Students of the Week

~ Week 7 Awards ~

KF—Patrick F, Isaac S

KT—Mayar A, Max C

KH—Ellie T, Darcy K

1S—Dylan W, Zara K

1T—Henri S, Holly W

2D—Hamish F, Sophie P

2BF — Gabby N, Jett T

2J—Jaylon Y, Abi-Rose T

3M—Millie T, Isaac V

4KR — Amelie M, Tomislav P

4LR — Jasmine M, Joseph R

5L—Jasmin H, Chloe C

5H—Jasmyn V, Jed B

6S—Ana P

6CG—Sarah M, Noah H

What a great start to Year 6 we have had! There have been so many opportunities for the students to show their leadership qualities in the 7 weeks since school started. We have been on camp, participated in a Journey with Jesus Retreat, had the swimming carnival and also an excursion to Parliament House. Amongst all that, we are building robots, looking at how we use energy at St Jude’s, learning about government and keeping our minds and bodies healthy! Here are a few samples of what has been the highlight of the year so far from some of the students:

Camp was a lot of fun. We got to do activities like bubble soccer, the Big Swing, Leap of Faith and an assault course. The best thing was the swing and the assault course. The assault course was a course with lots of fun obstacles like a tyre climb and crawling in the mud! Amelia N

Camp was really fun. I think that a lot of people faced their fears on the Big Swing and the Leap of Faith. Tara F

I liked everything about camp at Cooba, especially the Big Swing. It helped me face my fear of heights. We also learnt how to work together and be a team. My least favourite part was probably the bus trip as I get bus sick. Sophie F

On Monday 25^th March Year 6 went on an excursion to Parliament House. We learnt all about the places and things you probably wouldn’t learn about if you didn’t do a tour. We learnt about the history of Parliament House and got to do a role play. I can’t wait to learn more about Federation. Georgia K

Parliament House was very interesting. We got to see the two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. We also got to act out a bill and I was the PM!  Gemma C

Susan Chant, Anna Stincic and Nicole Gibson
Year 6 Teachers

If you are experiencing difficulty with reading, then change your position!

Instead of reading at the kitchen bench lie on the lounge room floor or take the reader to the park and read on the swings.

The change of location will allow for a change of enthusiasm.

Our school assembly is every Friday at 2.15pm.

School Banking is every Friday morning.