Dear Families,

Since the last newsletter we have welcomed some new students: Mahri in Reception, Gabrielle and Isabelle Year 2, Sofiah in Year 3, Claudia in Year 4, Tayler in Year 6 and a new staff member: Marilyn Kennedy. Both Tayler and Marilyn are returning to our school. Marilyn was a teacher here many years ago, and returns to us as a Co-Educator.  We hope your time with us is full of learning, friendships and fun!

Over the past couple of weeks our students undertook the Classroom Pulse Check In Survey. This is a Catholic Education SA survey that our students undertake each term at this time (Weeks 5 & 6). Thank you to all of our students who provide us valuable information about their wellbeing in this way. I helps us to understand, support and nurture the students in our care.

This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students have begun the annual NAPLAN tests. So far they have completed the Writing, Reading and Language Conventions. The students gave their best and were respectful at all times to others who were also completing tests. We wish our students well for the Numeracy test on Monday. 

Our staff are always concerned about safety of all children, especially around the school. Please remember that is you are driving past a school and there are children present, the speed limit is 25kph. We are amazed at how many people travel through our school crossing at higher speeds than this … even with the amber lights flashing. Please note that the speed limit is also 25kmh along Harvey Road and Murphy Street if children are present … it is not just where or when the lights are flashing. Unfortunately there was an accident at the crossing this week just prior to school starting. Fortunately no one was injured but it could have been much worse. Thank you to our senior students who undertook Road Monitor Training recently and are now helping out on the crossing. They take their role very seriously and offer great service to our school.

We would also like to remind students and families to be wary of approaches from strangers, especially when they are unaccompanied or travelling to and from school. If they are approached, students should not respond and should not accept offers of rides or gifts. Students should seek the assistance of other nearby adults if they feel unsafe and should report any events to a trusted adult (parent or school staff member) as soon as possible. SAPOL advises that taking out a mobile phone and calling police can deter an offender and they recommend the student making a formal report to their closest police station.

In the lead up to Easter we will have a couple of ‘re-enactments’ for Holy Week: Monday March 25 at 9:15am - Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday and Tuesday March 26 at 9:15am - Stations of the Cross. Easter Sunday and the Resurrection will be on Tuesday April 2nd at 10am. Parents are more than welcome to join us in the Yarning Place for these celebrations. 

Please remember that we have the following dates set aside as Pupil Free Days for the staff to undertake professional development, staff reflection, complete hand over activities, etc. There are still two more dates to be set for later in the year. Friday 23 August, Thursday 12 December and Friday 13 December. Please mark them in your diary and book in to OSHC if you require this service (spaces are limited).

Happy St Patrick’s Day to everyone for this coming Sunday (17th March).

Kind regards

Peter Mercer

Head of School

‘Shaping our Future Together’

CATHOLIC IDENTIY

LITURGICAL CALENDAR INFORMATION

A Liturgical Calendar shows the cycle of seasons in the Catholic Church. The Church year consists of six liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time after Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time after Pentecost. In each newsletter we aim to highlight different events in the Liturgical Calendar that we might be focusing on or celebrating in our school.

Special celebrations that we focus on during classroom and whole school prayer throughout term 1 and those that come up in our liturgical calendar include:

Week 7

17/3 Feast of St. Patrick

Week 8

19/3 Feast of St. Joseph

21/3 Harmony Day

Week 9

24/3 Palm Sunday

28/3 Holy Thursday

29/3 Good Friday

Week 10

Easter Sunday 31/3

ST PATRICKS DAY

On Sunday, March 17, we stop and take a few moments to think about St. Patrick. St Patrick was a faithful follower of Jesus. At an early age, St. Patrick chose to work in the service of God and to bring the message of God’s love to the people of Ireland.

ST JOSEPHS DAY

On Tuesday, March 19, we take time to think about St. Joseph. St Joseph was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. According to the earliest Christian traditions, he was a carpenter. The Gospel of Matthew calls St Joseph, “a righteous man,” meaning he was an observant Jew who obeyed God’s law.

HARMONY DAY

As a school community, we come together to celebrate Harmony Day every year. Created in 1999 to celebrate unity and diversity, Harmony Day was originally an Australian celebration but is now marked worldwide. Harmony Day is all about respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. The colour of Harmony Day is orange and the theme this year is EVERYONE BELONGS.

LENT

40 Items for 40 Days

Have you joined our ’40 items for 40 days’ collection this lent?

Please be aware that you can send these items to school up until April 5 as we have donation bins provided by St. Vincent De Paul Society. Please see your child’s classroom teacher for access to the bins.

HOLY WEEK

Join us as we celebrate Holy Week through ‘Story and Song’ in week 9. See flyer included in this newsletter.

SACRAMENT PROGRAM

For those families who have enrolled in the program, please be aware of the following dates:

Eucharist Workshop Session 1

Saturday March 23

9am – 11am

St. Thomas More Church – 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North.

Eucharist Workshop Session 2

Saturday April 13

9am – 11am

St. Thomas More Church – 19 Laverstock Rd, Elizabeth North.

Wow! What a start to 2024 it has been!

Ms Haylock’s Year 3 class have been busy preparing for NAPLAN this week.

We have also been focussing on being a good friend and discussing the importance of our words. Our words have the power to change someone’s day in a positive way, but our words can also hurt others. Once we put our words out into the world, we cannot take them back, so it is important to think before we speak. After reading “words to love by”, we paired up with another peer and made them a friendship bracelet. Each bead represented a different trait we believe our peer has. This was a really fun and positive activity to do as a class. We will continue to be working hard as the end of the term approaches!