Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,

Advent

God of hope, who brought love into this world,

be the love that dwells between us.

God of hope, who brought peace into this world,

be the peace that dwells between us.

God of hope, who brought joy into this world,

be the joy that dwells between us.

God of hope, the rock we stand upon,

be the centre, the focus of our lives

always, and particularly this Advent time.

Thank you to Mrs Hall and 1AH for leading us in a beautiful prayer assembly to mark our first Week of Advent, where we lit the candle representing Hope. Next Monday, at 9am, KAA and KJG will be hosting our second Advent prayer assembly, leading us as we pray for Peace. Parents are welcome to join us.


Uniform Shop Additional Opening Times
The Uniform Shop will be open from 10am to 3:00pm on Monday 11 December, in addition to the usual Tuesday 2:30-4pm. The Uniform Shop will also be open from 2:30pm to 4pm on Tuesday 30 January and from 10am to 3:00pm on Wednesday 31 January, before school commences on Thursday 1 February. Orders placed via Qkr through the holidays before 30 January will be processed and packed on that Tuesday and available for collection from the school Office from 2:30pm.


Term Dates 2024
At the beginning of next year, Catholic Education is holding a System Day for staff professional development on Tuesday 30 January, which will be followed by our own staff Faith Formation day on Wednesday 31 January. This means that all students, K-6 will commence Term 1 on Thursday 1 February. Term 1 will be an 11-week term, with the Easter break falling at the end of Week 9, and the term concluding on Friday 12 April.


Reports and Class Lists
End of Year Reports  will be accessible to families on Compass next Monday; please take the time to read your child’s report together with them and affirm their many achievements. It is important to note that if your child is finishing at Mt Carmel at the end of this year and moving to a school outside of our Archdiocese you will need to download all your child’s reports before Friday 15 December as you will no longer have access to their profile on Compass after their final day of enrolment. If your child is moving to another Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, whether Primary or Secondary, you will retain access to previous reports, as Compass is a system-wide Student Administration System and your child’s profile will be transferred to their new school. Access will be temporarily suspended after your child’s last day of enrolment at Mt Carmel (15 December), but will be reactivated on their first day of enrolment at their new school.

Families will also find out about their child(ren)'s class placement for 2024 on Monday. Considerable efforts are made each year to create balanced class lists, taking into account factors including gender balance, learning needs, social and wellbeing supports and friendship groupings. Parents were given the opportunity to contact the school earlier in the term to provide me with advice about their child’s needs. Please understand that this time has now passed, class lists have been finalised, and requests to change class will not be met.


Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to all students who completed the PRC this year. Certificates of participation will be distributed at our Friday morning assembly, after the Mt Carmel Awards, with the exception of Gold Certificates for students who have completed the challenge for four years, which will be presented at the Awards Assembly next Wednesday, and Platinum Certificates for students who have completed the challenge for seven years, which will be presented with the Year 6 Awards after the Graduation Mass next Thursday. See Mrs Broers' Lacey Library News for a full list of all PRC certificate recipients.


End of Year Events
At 12pm this Friday 8 December we will be holding our Christmas Concert. Classes have been practising and we are very excited to invite all families to attend and celebrate this special time of year in our school community. There will be some chairs available, but we suggest that attending parents bring their own folding chair to ensure that everyone gets a seat. The weather forecast is for a very hot day so, in addition to the large shadecloth, we will also set up our school marquees so there is as much shade available to parents as possible. We suggest bringing a sun hat and a water bottle, too.

At 9am on Wednesday 13 December, we will have a Year 3-5 awards assembly in the PAC to recognise the efforts and achievements of our Primary students. Parents will be informed by Compass notification on Friday if their child will be receiving an award, so they can make plans to attend. On Thursday 14 December, we will be holding our Graduation Mass at 9:30am in St Augustine’s Church, with Year 6 awards being presented in the church at the conclusion of Mass. After Recess, at 11:30am, we will hold our traditional Farewell Assembly to wish our School Leaders well for their journey to High School, finishing with a school-wide Guard of Honour to send them on their way. On Thursday evening, Year 6 students will return for their Farewell Party. A reminder from the organisers that some Year 6 students still have permission forms and payment outstanding for their Fun Day on Friday.

All of these events are listed on our school calendar, which can be found on our website at https://www.mtcarmel.nsw.edu.au/calendar.

Christmas Eve Mass at Mt Carmel
On Christmas Eve, Sunday 24 December at 7pm, the St Augustine's parish Family mass will be held on the Mt Carmel School playground, under the shadecloth. Further details will be provided in next week's Carmeletta.

May God’s peace be in your families, 

Michael Green
Principal

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to Week 9! Year 4 students have examined the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The seven sacraments are organised into three categories: 

Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist;

Sacraments of Healing - Penance and Anointing of the Sick;  

Sacraments of Service - Matrimony and Holy Orders.

Below are a few student responses to the question: What is the purpose of the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

4SS
Marlowe: It is asking God to forgive our sins.
Rory: To feel cleansed after a confession.
Phoebe: For God to forgive you and not to punish you.
Milton: Everyone sins and it is about asking for forgiveness.

4TD
Alice: It is a chance to say sorry and feel better afterwards.
Ben: Saying sorry for something that I have done wrong, making mistakes and asking for forgiveness.
Magnus: It means being forgiven by God for your sins.
Poppy: It is about asking for forgiveness and then trying to make right choices.

Religious Life of Mt Carmel School
Advent

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and this week is the first week of Advent. 1AH led a beautiful Advent Prayer Service on Monday morning. Advent means ‘coming’ and it is a time of preparation, waiting and praying for the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Kindergarten will lead our Week 2 Advent Prayer Service next Monday morning at 9 am in the PAC. Parents and families are welcome to attend. 

Vinnes Christmas Appeal
Thank you to all the families who have provided donations for the Vinnies Christmas Appeal. It is great to see so many baskets filled with donations! Tomorrow Mt Carmel’s Mini Vinnies team will be delivering the baskets to St Augustine’s Conference.

We are seeking your support to help those less fortunate in our community through generous donations of non-perishable food items. Your generosity and support is most appreciated. St Augustine’s Conference has requested the following items:

Gospel and Reflection

Mark 13:33-37 
“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” 

The key message of this passage is to ‘Watch’ and to welcome Christ into our life during Advent. He is here already but he wants to come closer. 

How can I keep in touch with God and others?

How can I prepare for the coming of the Lord?


St Augustine’s Parish News

The next one is this Sunday 10 December. All children are invited to be part of the activities centred around the particular weekend’s Gospel. 

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

Swimming Carnival 2024
Mt Carmel Swimming Carnival - Friday 16 February (Week 3). 
Back up Date: Tuesday 20 February (Week 4). 
Yass Memorial Swimming Pool

Northern Region Swimming Carnival - Thursday 22 February (Week 4).
Yass Memorial Swimming Pool

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

Library Books Due
Thank you to the many students and families who have already returned their books. 

As the end of the school year approaches it is time for all library books to be returned. Reminder notices have been given to students who still have books on loan. Please encourage your child to return these books to the library this week.

If there are books on your child’s list that you are unable to find or if you think they have already been returned, please indicate this on the slip and return it to the library.


Christmas Movie Week
This week students have been enjoying Christmas movies and activities during lunchtime.

Shrek the Halls!

Reter Rabbit's Christmas Tale

The Gold Awards will be presented to students during the Year 3-5 award ceremony next Wednesday morning at 9am. Congratulations to: Madeline Caldow, Alia Campbell, Atticus Gilchrist and Aria Hodgson.

The Platinum Awards will be given to students during the Year 6 award ceremony next Thursday, at the conclusion of Graduation Mass. Congratulations to Emma Barker, Landon Glover, Max Harding, Mackenna Leahy and Abby McEvoy.

Congratulations to all of the students who completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year. I look forward to seeing you participate again, in 2024.

Nat Broers
Teacher Librarian

Congratulations to the recipients of last week's Mt Carmel Awards.
 Awards are handed out at morning lines each Friday.

KAA Felix Inglis Eliza Henshall	KJG Isla Wood Gigi Aniversario Feliks Burzynski
1AH Elisabeth Morris Anna Gunthorpe Hayden Spring	1KG Sasha Ramadan Benedicta Barker Nate Verma
2LS Delilah Inglis Ashton Dorris Lachlan Black	2SS Hannah Maher William Walsh George Pidgeon
3ER Lucy Pearce Esther Payne Jasper Jones Benjamin O'Reilly George Douglas	3ML Jessica Hardy Cooper Moses Vincent Da Deppo Joshua Salzke Samuel Quarrell Richard Jol Jake MacDonald
4SS Jaxon Field Louis Arnold Marlowe Clark	4TD Lily Butt Amelie Nagle Kalon Vu Lachlan Inkster
5AH Lily Cassidy Jessica Davis Lucy Miller Adam Holman Lucas Marchei Lewis Matthews	5KG Zoe Seselja Charlie Field Sophie Connell-Hewlett Jackson Shelton
6EG Oscar Walsh Joseph Goodall	6JR Amelia Shannon Emily Foran Hayden Vu

5KG practising their Reader's Theatre ready to present this week!

Congratulations to our CWA Poster and Postcard Competition Award recipients! We hope you enjoyed the morning tea you attended last Thursday. 

Pop into the office from Monday, Week 10, and for a gold coin donation, you can select a pot of seedlings.

You wont know what seedlings you have until they grow!! 

There are some tubs of dried rosemary still available to purchase from the office also. 

The canteens last day of operation for this year will be this Friday, 8 December.
The canteen will open again in Term 1, Week 2 on Thursday 8 February, 2024 and will operate both Thursday and Friday each week. 

Year 5 & Year 6 2024 Camp Dates 

Year 5 Camp - Warrambui 
Term 1 - Week 7 - 13-15 March

 Year 6 Camp - Narrabeen
Term 2 - Week 9 - 26-28 June

Yass Valley Triathlon Club is running another free women’s beginner triathlon early next year thanks to a grant from NSW office for sport.
If you would like more information, please see the below flyers. 

ACT Region - https://www.holidayhappenings.com.au/online-booklet