Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,

Ash Wednesday
Today is Ash Wednesday, the day that marks the start of the season of Lent – a time of prayer, almsgiving and fasting in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the forehead. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. We began our school day today with a prayer assembly, led by 6JR, and students have received ashes on their foreheads as a symbol of humility and penance.

Project Compassion, Caritas Australia’s annual Lenten appeal has begun and we encourage each family to contribute to this appeal via the Project Compassion Box that your child will be bringing home today. Many will be familiar with the idea of giving something up for Lent; however, this is also a time of reflection of where we can listen to God’s word and follow his call through our loving actions. Lent is the perfect time to commit ourselves to a positive action for the good of others, especially in light of a school theme this year, Love One Another.

An old tradition of the Catholic Church, linked to Lenten fasting, is to not eat meat on Fridays during Lent. Consequently, our school canteen has a modified menu for the rest of Term 1, with fish cocktails and fish burgers available on Fridays in place of meat products.

Yesterday’s Pancake Breakfast was a great success, and I thank all the teachers and student leaders who came to school early to help prepare and serve breakfast. The Pancake Race was proudly run by our Student Representative Council after Recess, with the winners being McAuley House – Congratulations!


Canteen Volunteers Needed
We are seeking volunteers who are able to assist in our school canteen on Fridays between 11am and 2pm. At this stage, we are only seeking volunteers for the remainder of Term 1, commencing in Week 5. We are hoping to be able to arrange a roster, so any offers of help will be gratefully received, even if you can only commit to the occasional day. Please use the link below to volunteer and Emma will be contact.

https://mtcarmelsyass.schoolzineplus.com/form/16


Bus Safety Week
This week Transport for NSW is promoting Bus Safety Week. A large number of Mt Carmel students regularly catch the bus to and from school, so it is an apt time for some important reminders.

School-aged children might seem independent, but they still need a hand.
Remember:

• Always meet your child AT school or the bus stop. NEVER wait on the opposite side of the road and call them across.
• Always supervise your child and hold their hand when walking to and from the bus stop or interchange and when crossing the road until they are at least 10
• Wait until the bus has gone then use a safe place to cross the road
• Encourage your child to take a seat quickly when they get on the bus and to buckle up if the bus has seatbelts.

Talk to your children about Stop! Look! Listen! Think! every time they cross the road:

• Stop one step back from the kerb
• Look continuously both ways
• Listen for the sounds of approaching traffic
• Think whether it is safe to cross and keep checking until safely across.

A bus safety brochure from Transport for NSW is attached to this newsletter, for your information.


Northern Region Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to the 36 students who will be competing at the Northern Region Swimming Carnival tomorrow. Best of luck and swim well, everyone! 

The Northern Region Swimming Carnival selects competitors to represent our region (Yass, Goulburn, Crookwell, Queanbeyan and Braidwood) in the Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival, which will be held on Tuesday 7 March in Queanbeyan.


Book Fair and Grandparents’ Morning Tea
A reminder that this Friday 24 February, we will be holding the Scholastic Book Fair and Grandparents' Morning Tea. It’s the first time we’ve been able to hold our Grandparents’ Morning Tea for a number of years, so it will be wonderful to welcome our students’ grandparents back into Mt Carmel School for this special event. My grateful thanks to the many parent volunteers who have been helping with the Book Fair each afternoon this week.


Trinity Catholic College Information Evening
Tonight at the Yass Golf Club, at 5:30pm, there will be an information evening for families considering enrolment for their child into Year 7 in 2024. Please register your attendance at this event by clicking the following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiCHmLD3fNNdILFX2xV19i1maDvXes3I4DVfKbAeLMwM0ORA/viewform.

May God’s peace be in your families, 

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to Week 4! Year 2’s Religious Education unit of work focuses on how Sacred texts influence relationships. Students have started to examine the Bible through the Worlds of the Texts. Their first task was to think of what they wanted to learn about the Bible.

Shrove Tuesday
Yesterday we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a delicious pancake breakfast and our annual pancake race. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who made this event possible and also congratulate McAuley who were our pancake race champions for 2023!

Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and it is a time for spiritual growth and change as Christians make a special effort to be the kind of people God wants them to be. During Lent, Christians give up luxuries to remember when Jesus went into the desert for forty days to fast and pray. 

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. Traditionally, the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, and says: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." https://www.catholic.org/lent/ashwed.php

Today 6JR led our school in a beautiful Ash Wednesday Prayer Service to mark the start of Lent. Teachers placed ashes, in the form of a cross, on their students’ foreheads using these words: Turn away from sin and love one another. 

Every year, countless people turn Lent into a demonstration of faith, love and generosity. You can be a part of this incredible community, who believe that there are simple actions we can all take to “be more” for our world.

Today every class received a Project Compassion Box to raise funds for those in need. Each student has also received a family box so that we can all support Caritas in the great work that they do. We invite our Mt Carmel community to donate any loose change and return your box at the end of the term. 

Help make the world a fairer place for all. Let us be more!

Gospel and Reflection
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Set aside some quiet time today to allow Jesus’ message to resonate in your own heart.

 What do your words and actions reflect about your life?
 What fruits does Jesus want to cultivate in your heart?
 How are you being called to walk in the light during Lent?

Parish Mass

Click on this link for further details http://staug-yass.org.au/wp/sacraments/ 

Enjoy your week!
Eva Karakotas
Religious Education Coordinator

Love One Another

“This is my commandment,that you love one another as I have loved you” John 15:12

Gecko Sports
This term, grades 4 - 6 will be participating in softball clinics run by Gecko Sports. The clinics will run from Week 2 - 5 every Thursday. To accommodate this, Sports days for Years 4 - 6 from Weeks 2 -5 will be Tuesdays and Thursdays . From Week 6 onwards, sports days will revert to the normal Tuesdays and Fridays. If that makes no sense, below is a table that might clear things up for you:

Swimming Carnival
Age Champion medallions and winning house shield will be announced next Thursday


Northern Region Swimming Carnival
Good luck to all those students representing Mt Carmel tomorrow at the Northern Region carnival. The team is as follows:

Mt Carmel Northern Region Swimming Squad 2023

Meninga/Daley Legends Day North Canberra 2023 
The NRL are holding their annual Meninga/Daley Legends Day this year. The details are below

• Date: Tuesday 28th February 2023
• Location:  NSWRL HQ (2 Eade Street, Bruce) 
• Time: Teachers Meeting – 9.30am; First Games Kick Off – 10.00am; Day Concludes – 2.10pm

There will be 3/4 and 5/6 Male and Female competitions. If you wish to participate, please fill out the Google form using the attached link. Our participation in this event will be dependent on numbers and parental assistance. This event has now been made a completely mixed event. It is a 7 aside tournament and we currently have 6 players for 3/4 and 5 players for 5/6. If we don’t receive more interest, we may have to withdraw from the event.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1m3ZfbrIvFE8gOYjZ7Uy6yDyrS1cP0ZBcLGW0rHEdPh8/edit

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

Congratulations to the recipients of last week's Coordinator Awards. Awards are handed out at morning lines each Thursday.

We have had a successful start to the Book Fair with both of the selling afternoons proving popular for families to browse and purchase books. Thank you to those families who visited. Your support is appreciated.

Scholastic Book Fair and Grandparents and Older Friends Morning Tea

When: Friday 24 February

Where:  Lacey Library

Book Fair: 9.00am - 3.45pm

Morning Tea: 10.00am - 11.30 am

The Scholastic Book Fair and Grandparents and Older Friends Morning Tea is this Friday in the Lacey Library. Students will be able to purchase books from the great range which Scholastic have provided. The more books sold, the more free books can be bought for the Lacey Library!

Parents, you are most welcome to visit the Book Fair on Friday with your children. If you can’t make it, we will visit the classrooms and collect any students who want to make a purchase and take them to the Book Fair. Alternatively, If you are unable to attend the Book Fair and you would like to purchase the book/s your children have chosen on their Book Fair Wish List you may do so online, using the steps outlined below.

If particular books are popular and need to be reordered, this will be done at the conclusion of Friday. 

We would like students to invite their grandparents and older friends to the Book Fair and to have morning tea at Mt Carmel. If you can provide food for our morning tea that would be fantastic. Please drop off any morning tea donations to the front office on Friday morning. Remember to label any reusable containers with your name so they can be returned to you promptly.

We ask that any visitors attending the Book Fair sign in to the school via the Front Office. Library monitors will be in the Front Office to assist you and collect students from classrooms.

We look forward to seeing you at the Book Fair!

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

Dear _______________________________________

You are invited to the Scholastic Book Fair and Grandparents and Older Friends Morning Tea at Mt Carmel School.

When: Friday 24 February

Where:  Lacey Library

Book Fair: 9.00am - 3.45pm

Morning Tea: 10.00am - 11.30 am

From _______________________________________

The parish will offer the sacraments of First Reconciliation (Year 3), First Eucharist (Year 4) and Confirmation (Year 6) in 2023.

For details including timetables please click here, or contact the Sacramental Team via email on sacramentalteamyass@gmail.com.

Have you ever thought about playing guitar?
Spaces are now avalable for 2023. Fill in the below form and drop back to the office to secure your place with Den.

Has your child ever thought about learning piano?
Margaret Hanson teaches lessons from the school Monday to Friday during school terms.
Please contact Margaret on 0407 285 420 if you have any questions or would like to secure a space for your child this year.