Dear Families,

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION

Last Thursday, we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Assumption has been celebrated in the East since about 600 AD, in the West since the end of the 7th century.  We see in Mary a woman of faith: she put her whole life on the line for God who asked her to be the mother of his Son.  She is also a woman who made a very strong choice for God in her life, whose vocation like ours was to bring Christ to the world.  She is the one who now lives with God as we one-day hope to, fully alive in the love and in the life of eternity.

Thank you to Ms Lisa Conroy for organising a very reverent liturgy.

FIRST EUCHARIST

Congratulations to our students who celebrated their First Eucharist last weekend. First Eucharist gives us, as adults, the opportunity to pause and once again reflect on what Communion really means in our lives, and how we should still stand in awe and reverence of the Eucharist. While First Eucharist is a milestone for children, frequent participation in the Eucharist is necessary for them to continue to grow in their relationship with Jesus. We pray for all the children who will receive their First Eucharist over the coming weeks.

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

What a beautiful day to have an Athletics Carnival! Encouraging chants from the houses and outstanding sportsmanship were certainly on display! Our students were fantastic - it was a great day and all students were enthusiastic and participated wholeheartedly in all races and activities. Thank you to Mrs Lauren Macdonald who coordinated our day and the ‘Athletics Carnival Team’ who assisted. It certainly was a well-organised carnival.  Thanks also to the many parents who assisted on the day - without parental assistance we cannot run days like this. Well done everyone!

BOOK WEEK

This week is Book Week! The theme this week is “Reading is my Secret Power”. Thank you to all our parents who went to such a big effort to help us celebrate Book Week with our Dress-Up Parade. Students looked fantastic dressed as their favourite book character. Last night I stayed back with many teachers including Mrs Cossettini for the Carnival Book Fair where the children were able to purchase much loved books for their home libraries. The school benefits from this Book fair with some of the profits being donated back to our school library. It is wonderful to see how much our students love reading and exploring the new literature that is being written. Big thanks to Mrs Cossettini for all her work in planning ‘Book Week’ – ably supported by Mrs Jolly in the library too.

SWIMMING PROGRAM

The 2019 Swimming program starts next week. All students in Kindergarten to Year 4 will attend lessons on a Tuesday which will run for Weeks 6 - 10 of Term 3 and Weeks 1 - 5 of Term 4. Please put a reminder on the fridge or in your phones. All students need to wear their swimmers to school and bring dry underwear and a towel each day. Swimming caps and goggles are optional.  Due to the nature of this program, all parents who are attending the pool (even just to watch their child’s lesson) will be required to hold a current WWVP (Working with Vulnerable People) card. We do require parent helpers to assist. If you are able to walk with your child’s class, please let your child’s teacher know.

FATHERS’ DAY BREAKFAST - FRIDAY 30 AUGUST

To celebrate Fathers’ Day, we are inviting all Dads to our Fathers’ Day breakfast at school on Friday 30 August commencing at 7.30am. Bacon and egg rolls are on the menu! This year we have introduced a token system. Orders and pre-payment are essential. This is to help reduce waste and ensure we are catering for the correct number of people. Come on! Put it in your diary now and tell the boss you will be a little late! It will be great to celebrate this special day with all Dads!

MEALS FOR THE COMMUNITY FREEZER

Our school community has some families doing it tough at the moment, who would appreciate a ready made meal to make life that bit easier.

If you are able to help by cooking and freezing a meal, you are welcome to collect a foil tray from the front office, and return it to school for those in need.

Thank you in advance for your support.

FUTURE OF ACT CATHOLIC SCHOOL SOCCER AND NETBALL CARNIVALS

Regretfully, this year is the final year for the ACT Catholic School Soccer and Netball Carnivals.

This decision was carefully considered and was made unanimously at the recent ACT Catholic Primary Principal’s Meeting.

Although these are great community days and have been going for many years, the huge workload on staff, increasing costs, complexity of indemnity and insurance and a lack of volunteers to assist has necessitated the decision to no longer host these events.

Schools are rostered on to coordinate, run and volunteer these events and are run, entirely, by the host school, irrespective of the school size. Parents volunteer on the day and staff work all weekend on these events. In the past few years, some executive staff have worked nearly full-time in the lead-up to pull off these carnivals, along with many staff who commit their time to support the planning and preparation, all of which is impacting on the teaching and learning agenda of the host school. 

ACT Principals acknowledge that there may be some parents and students disappointed by this decision, however, we have agreed that the future of hosting and leading an event such as this is untenable.

This year, Holy Rosary Watson will host the final ACT Catholic School’s Netball Carnival on Saturday 19 October.

Peace and Best Wishes

Kate Markcrow

Principal