Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,


Parking and Courtesy to Neighbours
Some of the school's neighbours have come forward with concerns that parents are parking illegally on Dutton Street and that rubbish and recycling bins are being moved from the roadside, presumably so that passenger doors can be opened, meaning that they are not in position for collection the following morning.

Traffic at pickup time is always congested, which can be frustrating, but it is important – both for the sake of safety and for the school’s good reputation – that all members of our community exercise safe and respectful behaviours and show courtesy to our neighbours. When parking, please take note of all parking signs and road markings; do not interfere with any neighbours’ property or block access to their driveways; if parking opposite the school do not call your children to cross the road by themselves – please come to the school gate and cross the road together, and do not cross the road in the bus zone.

NAPLAN
The annual National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) commenced today with the Writing task – Year 3 with pencil and paper and Year 5 online. All remaining tests for both Year 3 and Year 5 will be completed online: Reading on Thursday, Conventions of Language (Spelling and Grammar) next Monday, and Numeracy next Tuesday. We treat participation in NAPLAN as just another day at school, so please don’t feel the need to do anything at home to prepare you child for any of the tests; a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast are the best assistance you can provide to help your child perform at their best.

There will be an opportunity for students who have been away to sit catch-up tests; please email jan.harvey@cg.catholic.edu.au if your child is absent and you would still like them to complete NAPLAN.

St Patrick’s Day
This Friday is St Patrick’s Day and we’re going green! Mt Carmel School has a long tradition of celebrating St Patrick’s Day, dating back to our school’s foundation by the Irish Sisters of Mercy in the 1870s. The day will begin with a Prayer Assembly in the PAC, hosted by 3ML. All students are invited to dress up in green and bring a gold coin donation for Caritas’ Project Compassion. We are also going to host a St Patrick’s Day Disco for all our students so we look forward to dancing to some Irish jigs and Irish bands. The K-2 Disco will be held in the PAC at Recess, and the 3-6 Disco will be at Lunch. Thank you to our SRC for organising this event for our students. There will be food and drinks for purchase at the disco; again, all funds raised will be going towards Project Compassion.


May God’s peace be in your families, 

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to Week 7! 4SS students started their unit of work about The Holy Trinity with the provocation: How does water, ice and steam represent the Holy Trinity?

Some interesting insights from a few students describing the Holy Trinity in their own words:

Milton: Our bones are like God because they help our body stay upright. Our skin is like Jesus because it keeps everything together. Our blood is like the Holy Spirit because it flows through our body. 

David: The Holy Trinity is like a thermometer. God is the liquid, Jesus is the writing and the glass is the Holy Spirit that holds everything together. 

Abby: Our mind is like God, our heart is like the Holy Spirit and our skin is like Jesus.

Friday Parish Mass Attendance
Year 4, 1KG and 5KG students attended Mass last week and Fr Peter spoke to the students about Lent.

Thank you for your support and donations for this great cause. 

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.

Please remember to send in your donations for Project Compassion and help make the world a fairer place for all. Let us be more! 

Mt Carmel’s Youth Ministry team will be leading prayer every Thursday for the Yr 6 students. Emma and Charlotte were the first faith leaders to lead this special prayer in Mt Carmel’s Mercy Chapel. 

Luke 9:28-36

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%209%3A28-36&version=NIV 

Reflection 
Our aim, as modern day disciples, is to share our encounters with all whom we meet. The evangelised becomes the evangeliser and the mission of the Church continues. We want to recognise our moments of encounter, hear God speak to us and be able to pray “Master, it is good for us to be here” and then go out and share it with the world (Luke Maher, Religious Education and CSYMA Officer ‑ Canberra and Goulburn).

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

Cross Country
The Mt Carmel cross country carnival will be held Friday 31st March at Walker Park. Years 3-6 will head to Walker Park shortly after morning assembly. 8, 9 and 10 year olds will complete two laps of the 1km track. 11 and 12 year olds will complete three laps of the 1km track. 8 year old students in Year 2 who wish to participate at Walker Park need to notify their teacher so arrangements can be made for them to walk with a Year 3 class. Students will be back at school by recess so will only need to take a drink bottle with them to the track. K-2 students will run their own modified cross country at school from 12:30pm - 1:30pm, cheered on by the rest of the school and parents.


Canberra Goulburn Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to Preston Sargent and Xavier Doyle who have made it through to the NSWCPS (MacKillop) Swimming Championships to be held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Thursday 30th March. Good luck Preston and Xavier!

Please check the C & G website and the Facebook page for information about upcoming events https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/calendar.


Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

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

The Scholastic Book Fair has now been finalised. Amazingly over $10,000 worth of books were sold, which will allow for over $3,000 worth of books to be purchased for the Lacey Library collection. Thank you for making the Book Fair so successful!

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

There was a flutter of excitement in Kindergarten today as our butterflies have made their grand entrance into the world!

Year Three have enjoyed searching the First Fleet Database for their family name and to create a character profile.

Congratulations to Fielding who won the Bin Ball Challenge last week. 

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.

Would you like to be actively involved in Parish life? Can you volunteer a few hours spare per week?
If so, St. Augustine’s Parish is looking to fill three positions on the Parish Pastoral Council.

The vacant positions are
1. Social Justice Member
2. Parish Social Activities Member
3. Welfare Member

For more information please contact the Yass Parish Office on 02 6226 1086 or yass@cg.org.au. 

A wonderful opportunity for prospective families to see the College in action, meet our students and attend the Principal’s Address, Year 7 and 11 Information Evenings and lots more.

 We are enrolling now for 2024 and beyond!

 Please visit www.merici.college for all dates and information for our Open Day, Be a Merici Girl Days and Talk and Tours. Register online now!