St Anthony's Primary School Girraween

Term 4 - Week 7 - 2020

STAFF FAREWELLS, CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOMES

Each year, the movement of teachers and leaders between schools is a natural career progression. Some years we do not have many people to say goodbye to but at the end of this year we have quite a few. I know all our students, parents, staff and parish community will join in thanking and farewelling the following staff over the next few weeks.

We sadly farewell the following staff. We also congratulate and wish them all the very best for the next step of their journey, they will be missed greatly at St Anthony's but their new school communities are very lucky to have these wonderful people leading and teaching them:

Tania Geracitano has been permanently appointed Assistant Principal at St Thomas Aquinas Primary, Springwood

Penny Martin has been permanently appointed as a Classroom Teacher at ASPECT Macarthur School, Cobbitty

Jenny Khazen has been appointed as a Classroom Teacher at St Andrew's Primary, Marayong

Excitedly, we also have a few mothers-to-be in 2021!! A huge congratulations to Amanda Smith, Catherine McGuirk and Kathleen Mitchell who are all expecting a baby between March to May next year. Miss McGuirk and Mrs Mitchell are finishing at the end of 2020 and Mrs Smith will still be with us for term 1, 2021.

In 2021, we will welcome some new teachers to St Anthony's, these include classroom teachers Mrs Jessica Camilleri, Miss Nikita Hubbard and Miss Vanessa Robinson who are all very much looking forward to joining our school community. We are currently still recruiting for a Coordinator and will advise once this process is finalised.

A full list of the 2021 Staffing and Classroom Teacher allocation for next year will be communicated in the next newsletter in week 9. Students will have the opportunity to meet their new teachers on the morning of Monday 14 December.

St Anthony of Padua Award

At St Anthony’s, we live by our school motto, Word and Deed, and the example of St Anthony of Padua.  St Anthony modelled himself on Jesus Christ, who came that we might have life in its fullness, and taught people to “let their words teach and their actions speak”.  We believe it is important to acknowledge students who are exemplars of this in our school community.  One way that we do this is through the annual presentation of the St Anthony of Padua award.

About the St Anthony of Padua Award

  • The award is presented to one student in each class, at the end of each academic year, following our Mass of Thanksgiving for the School Year

  • It is awarded to a student who, through their words and deeds, models and gives witness to the example set through the lives of St Anthony of Padua and Jesus Christ, and whose growth and transformation during the year is worthy of recognition.  This is demonstrated through their outstanding and consistent display of the following qualities:

    • Integrity - honesty and trustworthiness

    • Self awareness - humility and gratitude

    • Relational - love, empathy and inclusion

    • Responsibility - loyalty and reliability

    • Commitment - engagement and perseverance

    • Leadership - motivation and initiative

      The 2020 award ceremony will be held on Wednesday 16 December at 9:30am. Only parents of award recipients will be notified and invited to attend.

      ** This award was formerly known as the St Anthony's Christian Living Award and has undergone a renaming and revision

School Captains 2021

Year 5 students have been involved in a number of leadership development activities throughout this term. On Monday, ten nominated students delivered a speech as part of our student leader election process. Congratulations to Ekene, Pranav, Jayden, Marcus, Sammer, Valencia, Olivia, Manuela, Shalini and Rosie.

The elected Year 6 student leaders for 2021 are:

SCHOOL CAPTAINS: Olivia Atkinson and Ekene Okoye

VICE CAPTAINS: Marcus Heuston and Manuela Serwaa

School Community Group AGM - All Welcome

Inviting all new and current parents, come along to the 2020 Annual General Meeting of our parent body, the SCG (School Community Group).

Come along and share your ideas, volunteer for a one off event or join the team. How much or how little is up to you! We'd love to see you there.

All SCG Executive positions will be declared vacant including:

President, Vice President, Social Coordinator, Treasurer, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. 

Date: WEDNESDAY 9 DECEMBER

Time: 7:00-8:00pm

Place: Staff Study

2020 may have put a pause on all our great ideas, so let's make 2021 a year of community fun and fundraising for the benefit of our students and our school. 

Catholic Faith and Life

Advent

The Season of Advent in the Catholic Church begins on Sunday.  It is seen as the beginning of a new year in the Church.  Like new year celebrations in our different cultures, Advent is marked by feelings of hope, joy and expectation.  In celebrating Advent, we joyfully await the Season of Christmas.  We also wait for when it is believed that Jesus will return at the end of time, drawing us all - once and for all - into his mercy and love.

The Season of Advent, therefore, challenges us to be people of hope, sharing the mercy and love of Jesus with others.

Classes will mark the weeks of Advent with prayer in their classrooms each Monday.  Aspects of learning about Advent are also incorporated into the learning cycles taught in Religious Education.

Mini Vinnies

Thank you to everyone who has already generously supported this appeal.  Every grade has a target they are striving towards, as there are 50 households in our local community that need a hamper this year.  Mini Vinnies will be putting the hampers together soon, so please bring any remaining items in now.

School News

Christmas Mufti, Games, Movies and Disco - Fri 4 Dec

We finally met all our 2021 Kinders!

It was an exciting day on Tuesday as we gathered our 2021 Kinder students all together for the first time. There were so many smiles, playing, singing, stories and making friends. We look forward to seeing them all again next Tuesday 1 December from 9:15-10:45am.

Zone Swimming Carnival 2021 - student nomination forms

Please note: Due to the restrictions that have occurred due to COVID-19 we have decided to cancel the swimming carnival for 2020.  Thank you for your ongoing understanding around the cancellation of sporting events during 2020.

2021 Zone Swimming Carnival - time qualifications and nominations

Please find in this document linked, information regarding our selection process for identifying the team of students who will represent St Anthony's at the Zone Swimming Carnival which will be held at the beginning of 2021.

In lieu of the annual school swimming carnival, we are running a time qualifier nomination process for competitive swimmers who may be eligible to compete in the 2021 zone swimming carnival. The note linked allows students to submit verified swim/race times. Download and print here or paper copies of the note are available for children to collect from the office.

Download

Uniform Price Increase

Due to increased costs from our uniform supplier, we unfortunately have had to increase our prices on certain uniform items. It has been a number of years since any price changes and we have endeavoured to minimise these where possible. Please take note this is effective from 16th November 2020. The Uniform Price list is available on the school website or from the school office.  

St Anthony's Uniform Shop

St Anthony's uniform shop opening hours in Term 4, 2020 are by BOOKED APPOINTMENT ONLY:

TUESDAYS 8:30-9:15am            WEDNESDAYS 2:15-3:00pm

Please note: KINDERGARTEN 2021 Uniform Fittings are scheduled for Tues 8 and Wed 9 December. The uniform shop will not be open for other bookings on these days.

Outside of these times, orders and payments can be placed in person through the front office if the size of the item is known.

See our school website for uniform requirements and price list.

All students commence Term 1, 2020 in their summer uniform.

Parish News

Our Lady Queen of Peace Greystanes Parish Office

Position Available: Sacramental Coordinator A position has opened at Our Lady Queen of Peace Greystanes for a Sacramental Coordinator. The position is casual – approximately 25 hours per week. Some weekend and after-hours work will be required. Applications close: Thursday 10th December 2020.For more information please contact Our Lady Queen of Peace's Parish Office on 9631 8135 or email: parishoffice@olqp.org.au

Community News

Patrician Brothers Blacktown

Mel's Tasty Bites - Canteen Update

MENUS - check out the St Anthony's menus at melstastybites.com/menu

CANTEEN ACCOUNTS - consider opening a canteen account to minimise cash handling, see information on our website

BIRTHDAYS - Canteen options are available for a child to celebrate their birthday with their classmates. 

* Animal Pops Bucket - $1 each ice block

* Cupcakes with frosting - $2 each cupcake (72 hours notice required)