St Canice's Primary School Newsletter

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

Parish Administrator Fr John McSweeney

 Presbytery Contact  Ph: 02 4782 2804

                                     Fax: 02 4782 6090

Website: marymackillopupperbluemountains.org.au

If you wish to come to come to a weekend Mass please use form below to book a Mass time. To avoid disappointment please book for the coming weekend before Friday 3pm.

https://forms.gle/LDSNjTP69UjtEJYs5

If you have trouble accessing the form or know others who would like to book but don't have computer access, please contact the parish office to book your preferred Mass time either by email bluemountains@parracatholic.org or phone 4782 2804.

Thank you for your understanding.

Weekday Mass times are no longer booked but are on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Looking forward to seeing more of your friendly faces at Mass!

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BlueMountainsCatholic

Monday 8.30am Friday 12.00pm Saturday 9.30am Sunday 10.00am

Monday 9.00am Friday 12.30pm Saturday 10.00am

Before Daily Mass each day Saturday Cenacle Rosary and Consecration following 10am Mass

1st Friday of month, 12.30pm

Fridays (Except 1st Friday) 12.30pm

1st Saturday of month – (following Mass)

Sundays 12.00pm to 1.00pm

4th Monday of month – 6pm

Dear Parents and Carers

Many thanks to the Class Liaisons who met Ms Emma and myself this morning. The purpose of our meeting was to catch up on each other and to get a sense of how our broader community of parents is travelling. In addition, we enlisted their help in encouraging you to attend our Parent Group Meeting next Tuesday, 24 Nov at 9am., via Zoom. 

We look forward to sharing our news with you, hearing yours and in particular sharing feedback with you from our Tell Them From Me Survey, that many of you completed last term. Are there matters you would like discussed at the meeting? If so, we encourage you to send those into the school in advance, using the stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au email address, so that we have ample time to discuss what you would like to raise. 

Your children have been working very hard on their comprehension skills over the past few weeks, under the guidance of their teachers and the leadership of Mr White. Our teacher educator for literacy returned to St Canice’s  last week and we all benefited from her expertise. We will continue the work in this area throughout Term 4  and into next year. Data we have collected will be very useful in making decisions that will impact on individual student growth in reading, the key to all learning.

Week 5 was NAIDOC Week and was a very busy week at St Canice’s. Many thanks to Ms Gillespie for the excellent learning she coordinated for all of our students. We raised our Torres Strait Islander flag for the first time on Monday 9 Nov and the students participated in a smoking ceremony, learning, as they watched and listened, of the significance of this ceremony to our indigenous family. They also enjoyed learning from Uncle Chris Tobin and Uncle Lex about the Aboriginal culture and the knowledge and beliefs held by our indigenous people about “country”.  Aunty Carol was our guest at our Music Assemblies on Thursday and was so delighted to be back among her friends at St Canice’s for the first time in many months.

Many thanks to Mr van der Walle for coordinating a beautiful Remembrance Day presentation on November 11th. The children remembered, on this occasion, the indigenous soldiers who have gone to war, many of whom have never been acknowledged. We stood in silence for one minute at 11:11am and the children were very respectful as The Last Post sounded. It was a very fitting, beautiful moment.

Mrs Wedesweiler’s Catholic Mission Crazy Sock Day wrapped up the week. My prize went to Mrs Ranson in the office- her very colourful socks came with unicorn wings and wow, did she look stylish! Thank you to all of those children who participated and who donated gold coins to our Catholic Aboriginal community in Broome.

Kindergarten Orientation is in full swing. Despite COVID restrictions, Mums and Dads have delivered our beautiful Kindy students for 2021 safely to school each Wednesday for the past few weeks. They are forming new friendships and learning lots about school. Last week, Mrs Clarke’s chicks were the big attraction. I wonder what it will be this week! Many thanks to our existing Mums with children in Kindy 2021 for reaching out the arm of friendship to our new parents. 

In the weeks ahead, our Year 5 students will commence preparing for leadership in earnest. Shortly, those students interested in a leadership position in 2021 will be asked to collect a leadership package from the office and to apply in the first instance. All of our Year 5 students are leaders, regardless of a leadership badge. Good luck to those students who do put themselves forward.

We continue to keep Mark Geerligs in our prayers. His treatment continues and he is at home this week ahead of more treatment in the weeks ahead. Many thanks to Mrs MacPherson for putting together a beautiful book of  the stunning entries in this year’ s photo exhibition for Mark, which she will deliver to him later this week. 

On the subject of the photo exhibition, the corridor from the front office to my office is now resplendent with the many entries we received. We look forward to putting them on display at the school entrance in Katoomba St. in Term 1 next year, for the Katoomba community to enjoy. 

Many thanks, Parents and Carers, for all that you do to support us at St Canice’s. My final request is that you tune into our Zoom parent meeting on Tuesday next at 9am. I would love to see you there! I have added the details below.

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:

    https://parracatholic.zoom.us/j/98241845525?pwd=bzcxMTQrZzNnKzY4bHRkazlJYWJCUT09

    Password: 400372

Join from SIP/H.323 room system:

    SIP: 98241845525@zmau.us

    H.323: 202.177.207.158 (meeting ID: 982 4184 5525)

    Password: 400372

Join from Skype for Business (Lync):

    https://parracatholic.zoom.us/skype/98241845525

God bless,

Miriam Meaney

School Principal

Parents, we are delighted to inform you that we have planned a Summer Splash at Katoomba Aquatic Centre on Monday, 14 December- Week 10. The day will focus on fun aqua activities but we will include those competitive swimming events that students participate in for regional selection at CEDP level. Doing that will give us the opportunity to collect the data we need and select our swimmers for the next level of competition. Many thanks to Mrs Kondek for organising this event for us.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the School Colour Fun Run last week.

An amazing effort from everyone and especially the children and their families as they raised a staggering $8634. The raised funds will go towards the Outdoor Community Gathering Space and Indigenous Garden.

The children enjoyed a variety of activities during the afternoon including a photo booth, hand printing, staff smasher, chalk pavement drawing, obstacle course and a bubbles dance party and an iceblock to finish off the day.   

Congratulations to William Frazer-Mills who raise $551.76 making him the highest fundraiser for our school. 

All students' prizes that have been ordered online should be arriving at school soon. 

Thank you to Adam Moseley from Adam's Shed in Hartley for your hay bale donations, these have now been donated to some very happy animals.

Thank you to all the Staff for supporting and assisting during the run and the activities. The event would not have happened if not for your dedication and help.

Can You Help St Vincent de Paul Katoomba spread Christmas cheer around?

We all know 2020 has been a difficult year

As a community we have the opportunity to help others that have suffered more than us this year Children are asked to bring in items for the Christmas hampers that St. Canice’s organises each year.

We require these items to be at school by Friday 4th December 2020

If possible, so that there is a variety of items to fill the hampers, could the children bring in items as per the list below.

Kinder - Tins of fruit, christmas cakes, puddings or other dessert items.

Year 1 - Tins of vegetables, pasta, gravox, rice, biscuits.

Year 2 - Custard, cream, milk (all long life), jellies, jam, honey, Vegemite.

Stage 2 - Soft drink, fruit juice, cordial , coffee, tea, sugar, hot chocolate

                 (No glass bottles please)

Stage 3 -Tins of shoulder ham, salmon, tuna, stews, lollies, chips.

As well you might like to include Christmas Bon Bons, decorations or napkins to make Christmas a little more special for needy families in our community .

Thanking you for your continued support Mini Vinnies

We were welcomed back to school this term by a chorus (very loud chorus ) of cicadas. 

Stage 3 showed off their drawing skills and produced some amazing scientific drawings of these loud playground inhabitants.

During our  Science lessons we have been learning about force. We built some rockets to help us understand how astronauts battle force and make it into space. Our launch was successful.

Year 6 Graduation ceremony will be held on Tuesday 15th December.

The Year 6 graduation ceremony is being planned by the Stage 3 team presently. We are very happy that we can have a Year 6 Mass, with two adults per student present in the church on the big day.  

Summer Splash Monday December 14th 2020

Year 6 Graduation Mass Tuesday December 15th 2020

The last day for students 2020 will be Wednesday 16th December.

Students in Years 1 - 6 will return Thursday 28th January 2021.

Kindergarten 2021 students will begin on Monday 1st of February 202.

Parents and Carers, a date for your diaries.......

We will be holding the Term 4 Parent Group Meeting via Zoom on Tuesday Nov 24, 2020 9am – 9:30am

We encourage you to participate if possible.

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:    https://parracatholic.zoom.us/j/98241845525?pwd=bzcxMTQrZzNnKzY4bHRkazlJYWJCUT09    Password: 400372

Join from SIP/H.323 room system:    SIP: 98241845525@zmau.us    H.323: 202.177.207.158 (meeting ID: 982 4184 5525)    Password: 400372

Join from Skype for Business (Lync):    https://parracatholic.zoom.us/skype/98241845525

You may remember that our student leaders coordinated a leadership workshop for our Year 5 students at the end of Term 3. Following on from that, Susan Templeman came to speak to all of Stage 3 last Monday to share her insights into leadership and to offer advice to our upcoming leaders in Year 5 and to our Year 6 students, about to transition into Year 7. We look forward to getting the leadership process in place for our Year 5 students in the upcoming weeks.

ANZACS  

By Sofia Rana, Year 4

St Canice’s, Katoomba.

Squish! Slop! Heavy motion brushing past.

The men rushing to battle.

Poppies growing by the corpses.

ANZACS rushing against the enemy.

Tears of relatives, wives, children.

Screaming, last hugs goodbye.

People, our soldiers in combat on the slimy, blood-stained mud.

Guns releasing bullets, aimed for the hearts or lungs of innocent men.

Lives at risk.

Risk of death.

Lest we forget.

Maths is used every day in almost everything we do. Parents and carers can support their child's mathematical skills and understanding with these fun, practical and creative activities.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/campaigns/mathematics

The role of our Class Liaisons are to facilitate communication.

This year has been challenging in so many ways and we thank you for all your assistance ensuring that we work together to continue to strengthen the St Canice's culture of community.

The Class Liaisons for 2020 are

Kindergarten - Lisa Altavilla

Year 1               - Natalie Tolhurst

                          - Patrick McCarthy

Year 2               - Rochelle Barnes

                          - Kathleen Linehan

                          - Karissa Rana

Stage 2             - Aysun Lynch

                          - Kristin O'Connell

Stage 3             - Louise Moseley

                         - Belinda Zammit

The Class Liaisons meet once a term to discuss a variety of topics relating to strengthening the sense of community within St Canice's.

If you would like to add a topic for the agenda, either contact your Class Liaison or email the office at stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au

Dear Families,

An exciting development has been bubbling behind the scenes this year at St Canice's.  A new program to positively support the behaviour and choices that the children make has been developed and is now ready to be trialled.  It is called the St Canice's Calling.  We have chosen this name to recognise that we are a Catholic school and Jesus calls us to be the best people we can be, every day.  The three pillars of the program are:-* At St Canice's we love selflessly* At St Canice's we live responsibly* At St Canice's we learn purposefully. The children have begun lessons to unpack the language and ideas contained in these pillars.  A key component of the program is consistency from Kindergarten to Year 6.  It is also crucial that this is a positive program so that the children are recognised for the times when they DO make good choices and act in a way that is outlined in the pillars.  We have chosen a Lyrebird as our mascot for the program.  The Lyrebird has connections to our Totem- the Three Sisters and is also, in Darug language,  a "bird of peace".  Later on this term we will have some fun and engaging sessions where the children can draw / paint / create some images of the Lyrebird and we hope to use their original artwork as our symbol for our motto. Once COVID restrictions ease we hope to have some information sessions for the community and a launch day.  We are hopeful that we will be able to do this early next year.

Watch this space for more information to come!

Kellie Clarke

Congratulations to students who have been responsible with their rubbish on the playground. There have been many Lyrebird tokens distributed.

Just a reminder to students that at St Canice's we are trying to reduce our waste, so if children have any plastic in their lunch box please remind them to keep it to recycle.

Food scraps are also collected daily and Mrs MacPherson takes these home to feed to her goats and chickens.

We all know the importance of reading and how a great book can spark imagination and creativity too.  

These summer holidays, The Summer Reading Challenge will commence and  all students are encouraged to read, read, read! 

Students can read anything they like to enter the challenge, whether it’s a comic, play, a piece of poetry, book, e-book or animated novel. 

Taking part in the Executive Director’s Summer Reading Challenge is easy! Students just need to read something they enjoy and tell us in 50 words or less why they loved it. The more a student reads, the more times they can enter the reading challenge and the more chances they have of winning one of two Chromebooks or one of 30 runner-up gift vouchers to the value of $30. Students can enter online by visiting the CEDP website.

Entries open on 23 November 2020 and close at 5:00pm on 1 February 2021. Terms and Conditions can be found here.

Many thanks to Ms Rose Gillespie who coordinated excellent NAIDOC week celebrations , from Monday 9-Friday 13 Nov. The theme this year was Always Was, Always Will Be. This celebration is an opportunity for all Australians and all of our students to come together to celebrate the rich history, diverse cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the oldest continuing culture on the planet. 

This special event featured a smoking ceremony, traditional song, new flag raising ceremony, face painting and special workshops on the Lyrebird - the school's new positive behaviour mascot.

Read how St Canice's and other schools are celebratied NAIDOC week: https://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/2020NAIDOCWeek

Just a gentle reminder bubblers are not currently in use due to Covid19

Please ensure your child brings both a drink bottle and hat to school daily, clearly labelled with their name. 

Children who forget to bring their school hat will be asked to sit in the shade during recess and lunch time in order to protect them from the sun. 

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is an education. Coming to school everyday ensures continuity of learning. Students forge great friendships by coming to school everyday.

Missing school means missing out on play, laughter and the social bonds that help children to feel fulfilled in their school life.

You can help your child be the best that they can be by getting them to school and on time every day.

Please let us know if you require assistance with getting your child to school on time, we are here to help.

• assist educators to engage families in the early learning of their children; 
• assist families and educators reflect on how children learn at home and at school;
• provide practical, evidence-based activities to support literacy and numeracy skills/development aligned to the NSW Syllabus and the Early Years Learning Framework; and
• reinforce Catholic schools’ commitment to work in partnership with all families to support children’s learning and wellbeing.

This project has benefited greatly from the expertise and wisdom of the early years consultants and teachers across our Catholic schools. We are also grateful to those educators, families and children who let us observe and film them while they were busy at work and play. 

CSNSW is also grateful to the Australian Government for the provision of funds under the Non-Government Reform Support Fund (NGRSF) which has made this project possible. 

• • Family School Partnership Framework (2008, Australia)
  • Through Growth To Achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, March 2018
  • Lifting Our Game Report: Report of the Reivew to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools Through Early Childhood Interventions
  • Early Years Learning Framework
  • NESA English Syllabus
  • NESA Mathematics Syllabus
  • National Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.orci. Etiam volutpat lectus nec risus tincidunt, nec iaculis ligula ullamcorper. Praesent bibendum dictum turpis, non fringilla nisl tincidunt non. Donec rhoncus odio ut libero dictum, et ullamcorper nisl condimentum.

https://earlyyears.csnsw.catholic.edu.au/

In the event of a bushfire during school hours the following procedures must be followed.

When there is a bushfire throughout the Mountains, the emergency personnel (Police and SES) provide advice to the school in respect of road conditions and closures and evacuation notice.

Should a decision be made for the school to evacuate, the school will take the following measures according to Police and SES advice:-

If it is safe to evacuate the students to their residence:

• Students who normally catch buses will be assembled ready for the buses.

• Students who live close to the school and normally walk will be given permission to do so unless otherwise advised by parents. 

• The school will attempt to contact parents where children are unsure if anyone is home and if they live a long distance from a bus stop.

• Students who do not catch buses or walk will remain at school until parents collect them.

or

If it is unsafe to evacuate the students to their residence:

•  the school staff will care for the students in a safe location according to the advice from the Police or SES.

It is impossible to telephone every family as the time frame for this operation is short. However, every avenue to contact parents will be sought. Communication will also be placed on Facebook and an alert sent via Skoolbag. 

The school will remain open and therefore parents of bus travellers and walkers who require their child to stay at school can make that choice. 

At all times the children’s best interests will be paramount.

Parents are asked to discuss arrangements they require with their children so that students know what is expected of them.

We continue to have good interest by prospective parents in our school and this often results in new enrolments. The children are always excited to welcome new children to St Canice’s and we too are always eager to expand our community by welcoming new families.  Parents who visit tell us that it is word of mouth that encourages them to have a closer look. Parents and Carers, thank you  for speaking highly of this great school in the community. I hear praise of our teachers and of our beautiful students from prospective parents time and again. I want to encourage you to keep up this great work. It has been proven beyond doubt that the single greatest advertisement for a school is the good word that is passed on. 

In accordance with advice from NSW Health, parents and carers are reminded NOT to send children to school if they are unwell, even if they have the mildest flu-like symptoms.

NSW Health have requested that anyone who is unwell or has even mild flu-like symptoms, to arrange to be tested through their local medical practitioner or one of the COVID-19 clinics.

Students  with flu-like symptoms will need to provide a copy of a negative COVID-19 test result before being permitted to return to school.

Additional safety measures for school activities have been put in place to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools.

As of Wednesday 19th August 2020

* Only providers that are essential to the delivery of curriculum can continue to provide services and programs until further notice. 

* Parents/carers and other non-essential visitors are not allowed on the school site. If you need to speak with your child's Teacher, please call the office on 4780 6800 or email the school at stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au to arrange a phone appointment.

To minimise risk to staff and in an effort to minimise disruption to students learning we request that if you must deliver items ( including food / drink)  to a student within school hours, we ask that this only be done during recess or lunch. Your child will then be called to collect items directly from you. 

Recess is at 10:40am - 11:10am

Lunch is at 1:10pm - 1:50pm

Please be mindful to maintain social distancing when coming to the Administration Office.

For those students participating in private lessons, please ensure your child brings their instrument to school on the following days.

Violin Lessons - Wednesday with Bonita

Cello Lessons - Thursday with Paul 

Ensemble - Thursday 3 - 4pm

Payment for Term 4 is Overdue - please organise payment by this Friday 6th November.

The Office is now unable to process cash payments.

Payment of School Fees can be made via BPay or direct debit, details can be found on your Statement.  If you have not received a statement and have a query about your school fees please call the office on 4780 6800. 

EFTPOS is available for any other payments. 

We are still taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2021, if you know of people looking for a school for their child (even if it is for the other grades), please let them know about St Canice’s. The power of your words of recommendation has an enormous effect on our enrolments. Let’s keep working together to make St Canice’s that great school that has been in operation for the past 119 years.

The Parent Calendar can be found at the St Canice's website - please subscribe

https://www.stcaniceskatoomba.catholic.edu.au/In-the-Loop/Calendar-and-Term-Dates

The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people remains our highest priority. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, the School Banking program will remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with any updates including how we will be managing Dollarmite tokens for students. 

In the meantime, here are some handy online resources for parents who wish to maintain momentum with their child’s financial education: 

• Start Smart: these resources have been created to improve children’s money management skills, and is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer Financial Literacy Framework. 
• The Beanstalk: offers videos and fun activities for children to learn about money.

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

If you have any difficulty accessing the app, please contact the school so that we can ensure everyone is receiving information sent out.

Building Child Safe Communities - Volunteer Undertaking

Dear Parents/Carers 

All Volunteers have until 30th September 2020 to submit a new Undertaking in the new system.

In Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta (CEDP), we see parents and carers as partners in your child's learning journey. Parents and carers are encouraged to become involved in our schools in many important ways such as supporting classroom learning, being part of advisory groups, mentoring programs, coaching sporting teams and supporting other extra-curricular activities and other kinds of help.

A range of checks and undertakings are required for people who work for or provide services to CEDP. These checks reduce potential risk and form part of our strategy to build child safe communities.

CEDP has launched a new Building Child Safe Communities form and online training module that all volunteers are required to complete. 

The purpose of this training is to inform you of the standards of behaviour and other requirements that must be adhered to when volunteering for CEDP.

The undertaking should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and the training module approximately 10 minutes. Once the form and training modules are submitted, an automated email will be sent to you within two business days to confirm the status of your submission.

The undertaking form will expire within two years or when your Working With Children Check expires (if applicable), whichever is sooner. At that time you will need to complete the undertaking form and training module again. You will receive an automatic reminder email when this occurs. 

Further information on the new online form and training module can be found at www.parra.catholic.edu.au and clicking on about us/building child safe communities. Within the form you will also find help sheets and a video tutorial to assist you. 

Thank you in advance for your support.

The Diocese of Parramatta’s Office for Safeguarding and Professional Standards (OSPS) has launched a new website, strengthening their ability to deliver advice and support to parishes, agencies and ministries to ensure the Diocese is safe for all people. Visit the website at www.safeguarding.org.au