Term 1 Week 7 2025

I hope that you have all managed the heat of the last week or so. I give thanks and bless the clever people who designed air conditioners. I grew up in a time when there were no air conditioners in classrooms and parents weren’t allowed to come and collect us – at least mine didn’t. How did I survive???

This week NAPLAN has been held again for our students in Years 3 and 5. We try to maintain our normal routine and approach to our days and these tests are just a part of it. The teachers work closely with the children to build their confidence and capabilities to manage through the four tests that are undertaken. The data that is gained from these tests does give us important information about how a child, and how we as a school, are tracking according to comparisons to other students and schools across Australia in Literacy and Numeracy. What it doesn’t give us are the passions and interests of a child – the qualitative data that is also so important. We use all the data sources that we gather from our formative and summative assessments, our wellbeing check ins, our attendance data and formal assessments to help develop our learning plans for each child. Results from NAPLAN are sent to the families and the school during Term 2.

On Sunday 2 March, we had an amazing turn out for our annual family picnic. We were at a new venue this year and the Parents and Friends Committee did a marvellous job of organising the event. The sausages were delicious, the drinks and gelati refreshingly cool and the fun of the having entertainment provided by Bumbles the Clown and an amazingly creative face painter. I loved having the chance to connect with families and watch the children enjoy just having fun together. The images included in this newsletter of the family picnic were taken by one of our very talented parents, Tuan Tran. I am sure you will agree that they beautifully capture the day. Thank you, Tuan, for your support and creativity.

In Week 10 of this term, Parent Teacher conversations will be held for each class except for 1/2G who have been having them this week as Mrs Gentile leaves for 4 weeks of long service leave next week. The letter explaining the process and details for booking a meeting with your child’s teacher will come home on Monday. Please check with your child (or in your child’s bag) for this important note.

One of the best days of the year to acknowledge and celebrate our diversity and cultural stories is Harmony Day, Friday March 21. As a community, one way that we can celebrate this day is to wear orange clothing which signifies Harmony Day. I would also like to invite those children who have traditional clothing from their culture to wear that on the day. What an amazing colourful community we will be on Friday 21 March.

God’s blessings to you all,

Emily Sayer

Shrove Tuesday

What a wonderful effort from our families who volunteered goods and time to help our community in serving up the pancakes. We are very fortunate to have many people help before and on the day, so thank you to St Monica's community for this.

Ash Wednesday Mass

Last Wednesday we marked the beginning of Lent with a with a Mass led by Father Matthew Newman. Thank you to Fr Matthew for bringing to life the meaning of the Word of God: what it means to fast, pray and give and how to do it well.

Caritas have a Lenten Catholic Social Teaching program that we use in schools and parishes called Project Compassion. It gives us the chance to hear about people all over the world who are doing it tough and encourages us to think about our potential positive impact that we can have on their lives. All the money raised from the selling of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday is being donated to Project Compassion. A Money Box came home last week with the eldest in each family encouraging families to participate in giving, if you wish. These money boxes can be returned to school in week 11.

Staff Retreat day

Last Friday our staff participated in whole school retreat that was held at the Mary MacKillop Precinct. We were fortunate to have Sister Mary Ryan RSJ and Deacon Andrew lead some of our day. The day was focused on storytelling: Saint Monica's, Mary MacKillop’s (the founder of the Josephites) and our own stories and how we as a staff can continue to be the heart and hands of the Josephite tradition in our school community.

Rice Bowl Day

At St Monica’s our actions show ‘in all things love’. Our upcoming Rice Bowl Day is a meaningful opportunity to put our values into practice – a chance to empathise and stand in solidarity with those who have less. We are inviting all students and staff to donate $1.00 at lunchtime on Wednesday 26 March (Week 9) and receive a bowl of plain rice to eat. The purpose of this is so that we can understand what it's like for others all around the world who regularly only have a simple meal to eat. Please bring along a reusable bowl or mug and spoon.

I kindly ask that if you able to offer an hour of your time to help cook and distribute the rice on Wednesday 26th March from 12-1pm, please email me at nbampton@stmonica.catholic.edu.au. You must be a registered volunteer for this activity (current Working with Children Check and updated Responding to Risk, Harm and Neglect in Education and Care certificate). Thank you.

Giving of Easter eggs

The resurrection of Jesus is celebrated on Easter Sunday (20 April) and this year it falls in the middle of the school holidays. Before the school holidays we are still in Lent- preparing for Easter to come. The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. It is the greatest of the miracles, for it proves that Jesus is God. Therefore, to respect the importance of the Christian celebration- the great celebration of Jesus’ victory over death- let’s wait until the first week back of term 2 to give Easter eggs.

NAPLAN

In weeks 7 and 8, our Year 3 and 5 students participate in the NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy), partaking in reading, writing, conventions of language, and numeracy tests. This can be an anxious time for our students, especially the Year 3s.  We reassure all students (and parents) that NAPLAN is really a ‘little piece of the puzzle’ and gives us some more data about how our students are progressing as individuals, but also in Year level cohorts.  Teachers use this data, along with many other data sets, to guide our planning, professional development, intervention and enrichment. 

Allied Health (Service Providers) on site

Catholic Education and St Monica's greatly value and encourage allied health providers (OT, Speech, Psychology etc) to work on-site to support our students.

At a system level there are some important changes that you need to be aware of, and action by the end of the term.  This applies to ALL service providers who work with your child ONSITE at St Monica's . 

1. Complete the Parent/Guardian Request Form and return to the office
2. Principal/Assistant Principal to approve then send:
3. Privately Engaged Service Provision in Schools: Agreement form to be completed by parent/allied health provider and returned to school.

As of Term 2, if this process and the forms have not been completed, service providers can't continue on-site service.  A separate form needs to be filled out for each service ie. if your child sees a Speech Pathologist and an OT at St Monica's, 2 forms need to be completed. Parents have been sent a hard copy and message via SEQTA.

PPLs

A number of our students have a Personalised Plan for Learning (PPL).  These plans can be for a variety of purposes including students with a disability, EALD learners, ATSI learners and gifted learners.  Teachers have spent many hours writing and updating the PPLs and look forward to sharing these with parents at the Parent/Teacher interviews in Week 10.

Enrichment

For the past 3 years, we have facilitated Enrichment groups for students in years 3-6.  We have been fortunate to have Ken Daunt, a retired engineer work with us.  We have a strong focus on STEM based tasks and over the last few weeks have been learning about, designing and constructing our own truss bridges.  The 5/6s are now getting ready to compete in the Da Vinci decathlon.  They will be studying 10 different disciplines ready to compete in the Da Vinci Decathlon in May.

Library News – Book Week 16th-23rd August – ‘Book an Adventure

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Student Recording Booklets will be sent home next week – there is a new Reading Record this year in the form of a booklet (see attached).

What is the Challenge?

The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program that was introduced by the Premier in 2004 to:

      Encourage students to read more books and enjoy reading.
      Improve literacy levels.

The Challenge requires students to read 12 books between the beginning of the school year and early September.

How to complete the Challenge?

To complete the Premier’s Reading Challenge students need to read 12 books between week 1, term 1 and week 7 term 3.

Every student will need a Student Reading Record. This is available from the school’s Premier’s Reading Challenge coordinator.
Read 12 books. Eligible books include e-books, audio books, class/shared reading, prescribed books for school, non-fiction books, books read as research for assignments or books in another language.
* Reception to year 6 must read 8 books from the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist and 4 personal choice books.
Complete the Student Reading Record with the title and author for each book. A parent, caregiver, teacher or librarian must sign off on each book to verify it has been read. 

https://premiersreadingchallenge.sa.edu.au/app/uploads/2025/01/2025-School-Reading-Record-NEW.pdf

Return the completed Student Reading Record to the Library when completed.
Awards will be received in November.

Dates to remember -

Simultaneous Storytime – Wednesday 21st May

Book Week 16th-23rd August -This year’s theme is ‘Book an Adventure’.

Premier’s Reading Challenge – runs until 7th September.

Premier’s be-active Challenge – runs until 26th September.

More information about these exciting activities will be in future newsletters

The parent community has established a private group on Facebook that facilitates the trading of second-hand uniform items.

Please visit www.facebook.com/groups/stmonicasbuyswapsell and request to join the group if you are interested.

The page is ideal for selling items in good condition that your child has outgrown, or to sell items if your child is moving on. Simply post images and your contact details. Alternatively, you can join the group to take advantage of the pre-loved items that become available.

For those of you who are not on Facebook, please contact the P&F pandf.stmonicas@gmail.com and they will assist you with the sale of items.

Please note the sale of old-style uniform items is not allowed. St Monica's Parish School does not manage this page and takes no responsibility for any private sales.

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the land upon which St Monica’s learn, work and play.

May we walk gently on this land acknowledging the Kaurna people's deep spiritual connection with their country.

We pay our respects to Kaurna elders past and present and commit to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation.