Address: 158 Katoomba Street Katoomba
Phone: 4780 6800
Email: stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au
Website: stcaniceskatoomba.catholic.edu.au
Facebook: St Canice’s School Katoomba
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to Term 4 2022. My thanks to you all for enabling us to plan learning on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th October. I know of the challenges pupil-free days can create for working parents.
A new curriculum in English and in Maths is being introduced in 2023. Our work on Monday 10th enabled us to work with Our Lady of the Nativity, Lawson (OLN), in getting ready for that. It was a great opportunity for us at St Canice’s to work in a different school and to learn with our peers. We will continue this great work into Term 4.
I was privileged to attend a stunning Indigenous Education conference at The Fairmont in Leura last week. Six of our students were involved in the opening of the conference, performing a dragonfly dance that they worked on throughout Term 3, along with other children from the Catholic schools in the mountains. They brought the house down and got a standing ovation at the end of the performance. My thanks to Mrs Sztelma for supporting the students throughout the preparation and the performance. They will be able to show their parents their dance at some point in November. The conference helped Ms Gillespie, Ms Morley and myself to consider the richness of our indigenous land and culture here in the Blue Mountains. We look forward to continuing to bring that richness to our educational agenda in 2023. My thanks to our wonderful elder, Aunty Carol Cooper, who attended the conference with us.
I am very pleased to advise that our attendance rates have been very high so far this term. It is wonderful for your child and for the teaching teams to be at school every day to learn and to socialise. Long may the children remain healthy and keep up the great work. Thank you also for setting high expectations around school uniform. Keep that one also on the agenda this term.
We continue to pray for the Wedesweiler family and for Alan at St Canice’s. The children are praying daily and adding a prayer bead to a jar each time they pray so that they can see those jars fill and they can appreciate the cumulative effect of prayer. Parents, we ask for your prayers also at this very difficult time for Angela and her children. When you pray at home with your family, your child can also add beads to the jar on the next day at school to reflect these prayers.
Sadly, another past member of staff, Carolyn Armstrong ( Kenna), passed away recently following a long battle with lung cancer. Those who knew Carolyn speak so highly of the joy she brought to all and of the great work she did to care for and raise awareness and support for others. She worked particularly hard to raise awareness of lung cancer and to garner government support in funding research. May she rest in peace.
You will receive a letter next week from your stage team advising you of what is on the learning agenda for this term and also of other activities you will need to know about. Look out for that letter. In addition, our calendar document for Weeks 2-6 will go home before the end of this week.
All the best for a great Term 4. As always, the door at St Canice’s is an open and welcoming one, should you need to contact us about any matters related to your child’s wellbeing and learning.
God bless,
Ms Miriam
