Term 3 Week 5

What a week it has been! This week we have celebrated so much as a school community together. How blessed have we been to have these opportunities?

This week you may have noticed lots of posters on bus stops, on the back of buses and billboards advertising Catholic Schools Open Week. This week provides a chance for all Catholic Schools to welcome visitors to their community to share in the amazing learning programs that occur and learn more about each community.

We started with Book Week on Monday with a fabulous parade of all the students in their costumes of characters in the morning followed by classroom activities and finishing the day with a performance from Perform Education based on three of the nominated books of the years – The Concrete Garden, Timeless and Country Towns. Thank you to all the students and staff for getting involved in the fun of the day by dressing up. Book Week has been a part of the Australian children’s reading landscape since 1946 when the first awards were given to books judged to be the best by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. I know over the many years of my teaching career I have loved being creative and finding a costume to match with the theme. I am excited to hear what the theme for 2025 will be in a few weeks.

One of our biggest community events this week was our SALA exhibition, “Head Heart and Hands”. SALA stands for South Australia Living Artists, and this is exactly what our amazing students at St Monica’s are. I know that everyone who attend was so impressed by the creativity of the students and loved having the opportunity to visit and spend some time reconnecting with other families and staff. Some highlights for me included welcoming back the previous three principals to St Monica’s. It was like a lovely family reunion. Mel Jones, Mayor of Walkerville, was another special guest, and she was very impressed by the brightness and colourful work of the artists. We also welcomed two Josephite sisters, Sr Bridgette and Sr Mary to our community. Two old scholars, Paddy McEvoy (Principal of SAC) and Sonia Nelson (Principal of Mary MacKillop College) spent a lovely afternoon reminiscing about their time at St Monica’s whilst viewing the artwork. Our student leaders proudly shared with all our visitors our new school mural  which is displayed in the breezeway near the Mary MacKillop Resource Centre and is inspired by the life and work of Mary MacKillop. Thank you to all the families who were able to come to our exhibition and to those who donated items for the delicious afternoon tea. I am truly grateful for all your support at these gatherings.

Next week we begin our Student Led Learning Conversations. These are not parent teacher meetings but rather a chance for the students to lead a conversation with their families about their learning goals and what they have achieved and what their future growth points are. These conversations are a great example of how we incorporate Student Agency into our communications about student learning. Students identify learning goals for themselves at the start of each semester and then evidence how they have been able to achieve these goals. These conversations help develop their agency and voice in their own learning and their confidence in sharing this with their parents.

Thank you to all those who contributed to the 2024 Living Learning Leading survey. As a simple gift to say thank you, you were invited to send through a screen shot of your final page of the survey to us. The winner of the $100 Hoyts movie voucher is Vincent Chen, Ally’s dad.

God’s blessings,

Emily Sayer

Next term we move back into our summer dress uniform and there is a new item for the girls. Feedback about the shorts that are designed to be unisex is that they were not a comfortable fit for our older girls. We have worked with our uniform providers to produce a skort option that can be worn with the button up shirt or sports uniform during Term 1 and 4. The formal dress is still a part of the uniform; this is not a replacement to this option. The cost is $36.50 and is now available at the Vinnies shop, The Parade, Norwood. There is a sample for your viewing in the front office.

A reminder to all families that on our Sports Day (Friday 27 September) that before and after school care will not be available due to restricted number of staff available. Families are asked to find their own arrangements for this day. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Assumption of Mary

On the 15 August we celebrated the Assumption of Mary with a Liturgy. The Assumption is when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken up to heaven. This is a very significant celebration in the Catholic Church and one of two Holy Days of Obligation.

So why is Mary so important to us?

Mary showed such amazing trust and love to God. Without hesitation she happily said ‘Yes’ when God sent the angel Gabriel to ask her to be the mother of Jesus. As any mother, Mary raised Jesus, loved him and taught him how to live in this world. When Jesus was arrested, tortured and nailed to the cross where he died, Mary despite the hurt and sorrow she felt still loved and believed in God. Nothing de-railed Mary from her faith in God and living a life of salvation and commitment to God.

The belief in the Assumption of Mary has been part of Christian tradition for many centuries. It was declared a dogma of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1950.  A dogma is like a special rule or belief that a group of people agree is very important and always true. It’s something that everyone in that group follows without questioning or changing it. For example, if a family has a rule that says, "We always tell the truth”, that could be considered their dogma. It’s a belief they all share and stick to, no matter what. For Catholics, the Assumption of Mary is a dogma declared by Pope Pius XII in

Dear Mary,

Mother of God,

help us to follow your example of faith and love. May we always trust in God’s plan for us.

Amen.

Sacramental Program

We have two more students to celebrate their First Eucharist this Saturday night and the Sacrament Program 2023/2024 will be complete.

Below is information regarding the 2024/2025 Sacrament Program. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this. An important note is that all sessions are compulsory and cannot be missed. Please ensure you can commit to the entire program.

Upcoming Dates – St Monica’s Parish School

Saturday                   24 August                  6:00pm          First Eucharist Celebration          

Friday                        30 August                 8:15am          Father’s Day Breakfast

                                                                   9.00am          Liturgy

Saturday                   31 August                 6:00pm          St Monica’s Church – Sacrament                                                                                                 Celebration Mass & Family Mass

Sunday                     1 September            9:30am          St Martin’s Church – Sacrament                                                                                                   Celebration Mass & Family Mass

Book Week

What a wonderful magical week it has been. On Monday there was the Book Week costume parade with many of our favourite book characters coming to life, then the visit by Lucy Hood MP who read Gymnastica Fantastica!  by Briony Stewart to the Receptions and Years 1 and 2. Lucy also donated the book Can you teach a fish to climb a tree? by Jane Godwin to the Library.   This was followed by teachers reading their favourite book to different classes and then activities relating to the Early Childhood and the Picture Books of the year. After lunch they were treated to a wonderful Book Week production.

2024 Book of the Year Award Winners

Below are the Book of the Year Award Winners. We have copies of these for loan in the library.

Book of the Year: Younger Readers - Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Book of the Year: Early Childhood -  Gymnastica Fantastica! by Briony Stewart

Picture Book of the Year -Timeless by Kelly Canby

Eve Pownall Award - Country Town by Isolde Martyn and Robyn Rideway, illustrated by Louise Hogan

The Shadow Judging Awards are voted for by students from all over Australia who have read and discussed the books over many months.  The Winners they chose for 2024 are -

Young Readers: Scar Town by Tristan Bancks

Early Childhood: The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham

Picture Book of the Year: Every Night at Midnight by Peter Cheong

Eve Pownall: Australia: County of Colour by Jess Rackyleft

Some of our Reception and older year level classes read the Early Childhood Books and voted for which one they thought would win.  The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham was the outright winner with both our younger and older students.

‘Something very magical happens when you read a good book’. J.K. Rowling

Congratulations to the Ghuman family,( big brother Saanch)  as they welcomed twin girls, Sehar & Shireen on 6 August 2024. 
Best wishes to them all. 
 

“Learned how to walk with correct posture”

“This course was fun, and I made loads of friends who were my age. I had fun trying new things whilst doing things that were useful. Somethings take longer but Rachel and her crew made it fun.” Grace  11 yrs July 2024

“Really fun meeting everyone and making instant friends”

“Super fun and I learnt lots!” Dinae 14yrs July 2024

“Learned how to motivate yourself”

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.