St Canice's Primary School Newsletter

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

Parish Priest Fr Carlos Walker         Assistant Priest Fr Omar Mazzega

 Presbytery Contact  Ph: 02 4782 2804

                                         Fax: 02 4782 6090

Website: marymackillopupperbluemountains.org.au

Mass Times

Friday: Katoomba 12 noon Mass

Saturday: Katoomba 9.30 am Mass Saturday Vigil: Leura 5pm Mass

Sunday: Wentworth Falls 8am Katoomba 10am Leura 5pm

Rosary: Monday Katoomba 8.30 am, Tuesday Leura 4.45pm,

Wednesday Wentworth Falls 9.30 am, Friday Katoomba 11.30 am.

Saturday Katoomba 9 am.

 All Church services will be discontinued until further notice.

 

Dear Parents, Carers and members of the St Canice’s Community,

Our newsletter this week reflects the great work that has been happening in your homes in the past 10 or so days. Make sure to share the work of our students  with your children so that they can see and talk about what their young friends are doing. We continue to welcome and care for those children who cannot learn anywhere else to school each day and they too are learning and happy. 

Parents, you may be concerned about how attendance is being recorded currently. If we know that your child is at home learning, we mark your child as present engaging in flexible learning from home on our system. Therefore, children at home are required to engage in the schoolwork planned by their teachers. We understand that children cannot engage in their work when sick. If your child is unwell, we ask that you call the school so that we can record him / her as absent from learning. 

You will agree that the teachers have provided exemplary learning resources for your child. We now need your help more than ever before in supporting your child as he / she develops a routine around learning at home. This week, the teachers are following up with students, providing feedback and contacting parents where we feel this is helpful. Please keep in touch with us if you feel you or your child needs help with learning. We are in a new learning paradigm and if the children are to grow as learners, learning must happen at home, with your assistance. We greatly appreciate your role as primary educators at this very demanding time. 

Easter ceremonies this year will be unable to take place. As a faith community, we see Easter as central to our Christian belief. Put simply, without Easter, we would not be Christian. We ask that you engage with your family in remembering the 40 days of Lent, the key events during Easter Week and the joy of the risen Christ on Easter Sunday. My thanks to Mrs Wedesweiler for providing a resource to support you with this, included in the newsletter.

Parents and Carers, I wish to also draw your attention to the item in this week’s newsletter, from our School Counsellor, Shane. Shane has provided some great advice to support you through this time along with a wealth of excellent resources.

As I have been writing to you all daily with our summaries of learning, Parents and Carers, I will sign off. On behalf of the St Canice’s staff, I wish you the best in the days and weeks ahead. We wish you peace and joy at Easter and pray that we can come together again as a community in the foreseeable future.

God bless,

Miriam Meaney

School Principal.

All notes have been distributed via skoolbag in relation to learning from home and COVID19 updates

As we undertake the health-conscious practices of hygiene, social distancing and restricted movement in our community, our experiences of ourselves, our relationships with each other and our immediate environment have been upended in ways we have not ever experienced before. 

Recognising and addressing the psychological and social impacts this will have on each of us will be important to help navigate what will be a prolonged period of intense discomfort. We will need  to monitor and address emerging emotional stresses for children over an extended timeframe whilst feeling the same pressures ourselves. The following ideas may be helpful to explore. 

If you have concerns about how your child is managing or you need support in helping them, please feel free to reach out to the school through their teacher.

Parenting Information

Australian Parenting Website: https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/coronavirus-covid-19-guide

Talking to Kids about COVID19:

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg: https://schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-coronavirus

Newspaper article: https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-s-all-the-toilet-paper-answering-kids-coronavirus-questions-20200319-p54bw9.html

Kids questions answered: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51861089

Macquarie University: https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/march/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-coronavirus-top-10-questions-answered

A story for little kids: Time to come in Bear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA_SsZFYw0w

A collection of resources: https://emergingminds.com.au/

Wellbeing and Mental Health

Anxiety: From APS : Tips for coping with coronavirus anxiety https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/38073179-4701-48bd-afd9-988c560ee2f9/20APS-IS-COVID-19-P1.pdf

Mindfulness exercise: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNkoO5jlJK3jBSV-jSQQk9Q2a-zPGftuc

Safety online: eSafety Commissioner: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/covid-19-online-safety-kit-parents-and-carers

Activities for down times or for the family

Free childrens’ books as audiobooks: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

LifeHack: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/30-fun-things-home.html

Family eGuide: https://familyeguide.com/boredom-busters-110-fun-at-home-activities-for-families-kids-2/

Helplines

Kids Helpline: 1800551800

Parent Line NSW 1300 130 052, 9 am-9 pm Monday to Friday, 4 pm-9 pm weekends

The National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800RESPECT, or 1800 737 732, available 24/7.

Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/    1300 22 4636 

• Chat online 

• Email us 

• Online forums

Shane Cooper

School Counsellor

Holy Week is the most important time of the year for our Church and community. It will be an unusual time as none of us can come together to remember the events of Holy Week and then celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. 

 The Parramatta Diocese have partnered with Andrew Chinn to provide a resource to support a prayerful experience. “We Remember” draws on material that you may be familiar with from Andrew’s engagement in this school. It is presented in PowerPoint form and simply clicks through a prayerful reflection which includes video and music which plays throughout. The text for scripture and prayer appears on the screen for users to read during the presentation. There is a K-2 version and a 3-6 version. Both are accessible here on Google Drive. This requires your children to login via their account. It is an opportunity for families to come together for a prayerful reflection.

“We Remember” intentionally ends with Easter Sunday immediately following Holy Week. We thought it would be fitting in this time to end with a sense of hope. St Canice’s wishes all the families a hopeful Easter Season.

Congratulations to Mrs Sarah Nicol and her husband Geoff on the safe arrival of their twin boys.

Blake James Nicol and Jack Gordon Nicol were born on Thursday 19th March, they join excited big sisters Ally and Ashleigh.

Grandmother Mrs MacPherson now has 8 beautiful grandchildren to spoil and adore.

Miss Emma (Aunty Em) is very excited to share our news and we pray that these tiny little bundles grow healthy & strong.

There will be no Gold Award Assembly this Friday, we will postpone until we are all together again.

The commencement of Term 2 2020 is scheduled to begin for students on Tuesday 28th of April. If this changes, notification will be confirmed via a skoolbag announcement.

A reminder that enrolment applications for Year 7, 2021 at St Columba's Catholic College are now due. For further information contact the Enrolment Secretary, Sandra O'Brien, on 4754 8900 or 4754 8907.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Student Banking will be cancelled for the remainder of term 1.

Banking will resume on Tuesdays in Term 2  - so please encourage your children to continue their saving.

All messages and notifications from the school are sent through the "Skoolbag" app.

Please make sure you have this app on your devices for all current and up to date school alerts.

Download skoolbag from the app store

Select St Canice's Catholic Primary Katoomba

 

Preschooler’s reading group will be suspended until further notice.

Log in to https://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/About-Us/Building-Child-Safe-Communities

Scroll to Volunteer Training        

Step 1 – Complete either Volunteer

Step 2 – Complete Training Module

You will receive a confirmation email once the forms have been submitted.

Parents and close relatives of a child who volunteer do not require a WWCC.

A WWCC is required if

• A volunteer is part of a formal mentoring program.

• Where volunteering involves intimate personal care of children with a disability.

• Volunteers are not parents or close relatives.

Positions Vacant

• Volunteers – Mamre Creche - CatholicCare

More details at: parracatholic.org/employment

Catholic Care Blacktown Neighbour Aid Volunteers Needed

Blacktown Neighbour Aid, a program with CatholicCare, is looking for volunteers to support our senior clients in the Blacktown area to remain living independently in their own home. If you feel you would like to make a positive difference to other’s lives in this way, please contact the Manager, Deb Woolacott on 0418 114 055 or email deb.woolacott@ccss.org.au.

Upper Blue Mountains Parish Adoration Chapel

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish in the Upper Blue Mountains has opened an Adoration Chapel at St Canice’s Church, Katoomba. If you would like further information or would like to sign up for a weekly hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, please call the parish office on (02) 4782 2804.