Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,

Vinnies CEO Sleepout
It is now just one more night until I’ll be joining the Vinnies CEO Sleepout at Parliament House. It was lovely that so many Year 6 students came along to the School Sleepout last week to learn about the impacts of homelessness and help raise funds for our local Vinnies conference. I shared a story with them on the night about one of the reasons that I choose to support Vinnies with the CEO Sleepout: in 2003, I was made homeless by the Canberra bushfires, and the support that we received from Vinnies at a tremendously difficult time was simply amazing!

My personal goal is to raise $4000 for this important cause this year, and it’s not too late to contribute. If you are in a position to help, please consider going to https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/michaelgreen/act to make a donation.


NR Athletics Postponed
Last Friday’s Athletics Carnival was a great success and certainly worth the wait. Congratulations to Mr Dunstan and all the staff for their preparation and hard work on the day, and a special thanks to the many parents and Trinity Catholic College students whose assistance made the carnival possible. Place-getters, Age Champions and the overall winning House will be announced at Friday morning’s assembly. Congratulations to the many students who were selected to represent Mt Carmel School at the Northern Region Athletic Carnival in Goulburn – a list of all selections and events can be found in Mr Dunstan’s Sports Report. 

Unfortunately, this carnival, which was scheduled to be held this Friday, has been postponed until next Friday 28 June, due to a ground closure. Even more unfortunately, this clashes with the Year 6 camp. Fear not, though; Year 6 students who were selected for the Northern Region carnival will be automatically progressed to the Archdiocesan carnival if their times and/or distances as recorded at our own carnival would qualify them. Coincidentally, the same thing happened earlier this year when we had to postpone the Northern Regions Swimming Carnival to a date that clashed with the St Gregory's Year 6 Camp.

Community Council Trivia Night
If you haven’t put the date in your calendar yet, remember that the Trivia Night is happening on Saturday 3 August. We have a wonderful committee, who are working hard to organise great night to raise funds for a shade structure on the Infants Playground. Check out the flyer further in the newsletter for more information.


Year 6 Camp
Next week I will be joining the Year 6 teachers and students on their school camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation in Narrabeen. I’m very grateful for the dedication of Mrs Glover and Miss Rayner, who are giving up their family time so that our students can experience this wonderful opportunity.


Refugee Week Talk
At 1pm on Thursday 20 June, for Refugee Week, we will have a guest speaker visiting Mt Carmel to talk to Years 3 to 6 classes and share a personal story about the plight of refugees.

In a world marked by displacement and the search for refuge, this year’s Refugee Week theme “Finding Freedom” – with a focus on family – encapsulates the profound journey of resilience, strength, and unity that defines the refugee experience.

Parenting Resources
Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) has a range of excellent parenting articles, courses and resources on various topics, including a new program for families experiencing separation and divorce. Go to https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/triple-p/ for more information.

The Parenting Strategies website is an initiative from a combined team of researchers from Monash University and the University of Melbourne, which aims to provide practical guidelines on how parents can support their child’s wellbeing. Their newest resource is a package of evidence-based parenting guidelines for parents of primary and secondary school-aged children who are struggling with school attendance. These guidelines are intended for parents who are worried about their child’s engagement with school and those whose child is already experiencing school reluctance or refusal. To access this resource, go to https://www.parentingstrategies.net/.


Semester 1 Reports
Teachers are busy preparing Semester 1 Reports, which will be published to families on Friday of Week 10. We will be holding Open Classrooms between 3:30pm and 5:30pm on Wednesday 3 July (Week 10), so your child can show you through their classroom and share some of the work they have been doing this semester and provide some important context and insights into their report.

To help parents in understanding their child’s report, I’d like to share some information about what the grades represent, because there can be misunderstandings.

The common grade scales (A-E), which appear on our Year 1 to Year 6 reports, summarise the standard or quality of achievement associated with different grades or levels. The scales describe the knowledge, understanding and skills that students working at each grade typically demonstrate:

A – The student has an extensive knowledge and understanding of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.

B – The student has a thorough knowledge and understanding of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills to most situations.

C – The student has a sound knowledge and understanding of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.

D – The student has a basic knowledge and understanding of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.

E – The student has an elementary knowledge and understanding in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

Grades are not allocated on individual test scores or assessment pieces, but are on-balance professional judgements based on the ‘Big Picture’ of each student’s work across the semester, including observations, ongoing anecdotal records, and other contextual information known by the teacher. An important part of this judgement is dialogue that occurs between teachers across Year and Stage levels, to enhance the level of consistency in our student reporting. Teachers are not limited to set numbers of each grade within their class and the full range of grades can be used at any point in time in relation to what has been taught. Therefore it’s possible for every student in a class to receive a grade of A for any given subject (or an E, for that matter), as long as they each demonstrated skills and understandings that met the appropriate criteria, as described above.

It is a common misconception that a B or an A means that a student is working a year (or two) above their year level, or the opposite for a D or an E; this is NOT the case. So a Year 3 student who achieves a D grade in Mathematics, for example, is not deemed to be working at a Year 2 level of achievement; rather, they have been assessed as demonstrating a basic knowledge and understanding of the Year 3 content covered in that semester.

Likewise, it is also not the case that a change from, for example, a B to a C from one semester to the next means that a student is going backwards in their learning, because they are not assessed on the same content from one semester to the next.

As always, whatever your child’s report looks like, take the opportunity to take time with your child to sit and talk about the learning they have undertaken so far this year. Celebrate their successes and help them work out strategies for the areas that may need further development. And although we are not holding formal parent-teacher interviews at this time, as they were held at the start of the term, please remember that parents are always welcome to make an appointment to speak with their child’s teacher whenever there is a need to discuss issues around learning, wellbeing, or any other aspect of school life.

May God’s peace be in your families, 

Michael Green
Principal

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to Week 8! Year 3’s Religious Education unit of work examines Jesus the Messiah. Students communicate ideas about the  life and teaching of Jesus. They locate and use information about the cultural contexts in which the Gospels were written, and  the text types used by the human authors of the New Testament to communicate their ideas including the Christian belief that Jesus  is the Messiah.

Religious Life of Mt Carmel School

Mt Carmel’s Mini Vinnies News
Vinnies Winter Appeal
Thank you to all families who have donated over the last few weeks. Next week is the last week for donations.

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:

Wear a Beanie and Year 6 Sleep Out Fundraiser 2024
Mt Carmel School students raised $446 to support our local St Augustine’s Conference. 

Prayer and Reflection 

Let us be still and ask the Holy Spirit to be with us.

Dear Father,

Be with us as we pray.

Open our ears to hear your Word in the Gospel.

Unite us in faith, hope and love as we pray together.

Send your Holy Spirit to inspire and sustain us in our mission.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I invite you to participate in a 3 minute prayer reflecting a Scripture passage 

https://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer/  

St Augustine’s Parish News

The next one is on Sunday 23 June 2024. 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

Hail Mary, full of Grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Luke 1:26-28

Mt Carmel Athletics Carnival
A big thank you to everyone who helped make our carnival a success. It was a great day and a fantastic opportunity to see everyone participating. Ribbons and medallions for the carnival will be given out after awards on Friday morning.


Cross Country Ribbons
With all the excitement about the upcoming holidays at the end of last term, the fact that we hadn’t handed out ribbons for cross country had completely escaped my attention. They will also be given out after awards on Friday morning.


Northern Region Athletics Carnival
As the Northern Region carnival has been moved to next Friday, Our Year 6 students will not be able to compete because they will be at camp. Sherree Bush has agreed to compare our school carnival results against Northern Region results to determine who will progress to the Canberra Goulburn carnival. The complete Northern Region Squad is below, information and payment details will be sent to competitors via Compass in the coming days. Congratulations to all those students participating. 


Mt Carmel Northern Region Athletics Squad 2024

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

Book Donation

Thank you to the Caldow family for a donation of books to the library. Your donation is greatly appreciated.



Mid-Week Movies
Every Wednesday, at lunchtime in the Library, students are invited to enjoy a movie. Last week, we watched The Snail and the Whale. Today, students watched The Smeds and The Smoos. Both movies are adaptations of Julia Donaldson books.

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to the following students who have recently completed the 2024 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Logan Hodgson
Ryan Tome
Scott Tome
Mabel Adie

The 2024 challenge will conclude on Friday 23 August 2024.

If you have any questions about the Premier’s Reading Challenge please email me at natalie.broers@cg.catholic.edu.au

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

Congratulations to the recipients of the Week 6 Mt Carmel Awards.
These awards were handed out on Thursday 13th June, at morning assembly.

K Blue Heeya Chaudhary Logan Bennett	K Gold Ruby Kim Charlotte Aksenov
1 Green Mila Boyton Lola Sanford Jayden Regan	1 Red Billie Taylor Evelyn Harris
2 Blue Jonathan Kaveney Hennessey Rankin	2 Gold Elisabeth Morris Theodore Ward
3 Green Amalia Corcoran Roy Mitchell	3 Red Archie Gooley Barney Rainger
4 Blue Neva Welsh Charley Shoring	4 Gold Aria Hodgson Evelyn Morris Sophie Donoghue
5 Green Poppy Smith Amelia Hooper Dylan O'Reilly	5 Red James Roe Paul Coady Riley Pholi
6 Blue Grace Deer Olivia Scanlon Evangelique Aviersario Bob O'Brien Jackson Shelton	6 Gold Ekaterina Mulcair Ellie Carroll Rory Welsh Henry Gooley

Congratulations to the recipients of the Week 7 Mt Carmel Awards.
These awards will be handed out this Friday 21 June, at morning assembly.

K Blue Ari Driver Lillian Dryburgh	K Gold Mia Smith Scarlett Hamilton
1 Green Ally Wren Claire Kundolam William Gillies	1 Red Frankie Aniversario Brock Flynn Willem Kunneke
2 Blue Keziah Mathews Benedicta Barker	2 Gold Sasha Ramadan Charlie Butt
3 Green Maddie McGurk Jax Cassidy	3 Red Violet Richardson Hudson Mackay George Pidgeon
4 Blue Isabelle Davis Richard Jol	4 Gold Zoey Mitchell Charles Jervis
5 Green Macy Camilleri Lachlan Inkster	5 Red Mikayla Black Louis Arnold
6 Blue Alicia Hardy Martha Whitehead Jordan Mackay	6 Gold Sofia Da Deppo Isabelle Pidgeon Jack Butt

Unfortunately the Uniform Shop will be closed tomorrow, Thursday 20 June for counter sales. All orders placed via Qkr in the usual process, will be bundled up and sent home on Friday. 

Unfortunately, the canteen will be closed for both lunch and recess tomorrow, Thursday 20 June, and also for recess on Friday 21 June. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Any orders already placed for either day will be automatically moved to the the following week. 

To finish the term with a splash of colour, the SRC will be hosting Colour My World daytime discos on Friday 5 July – K-2 at Recess and 3-6 at Lunch. 

Students are invited to wear colourful clothes, bring a gold-coin donation for entry and some extra change if they would like to buy some treats.

Tomorrow, Thursday 20 June, Gross Motor Play will be held in the in the PAC from 9am. 

Playgroup will not be held in Week 10, Thursday 27 June. 

The facilitation of the Sacramental Program has been conscientiously carried out by Parishioners who devote their time to help teach the children of our Parish the importance, relevance, and reasoning for the Sacraments of Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation. The Yass Sacramental team is needing some more ‘hands on deck’. It is a rewarding, enjoyable and flexible role (We can work with your personal skills and availability). Possible duties include attendance and shepherding of children through commitment masses (approx 3 per year), preparation liturgies (approx 6 per year), as well as the preparation,  coordination and celebration of the sacraments. You are not required to be available for every event and there are jobs for both up front and background work. A Working With Children’s Check (WWCC) will need to be completed for this role.

If you feel the call to give some time, please contact the Yass sacramental team for more information via email sacramentalteamyass@gmail.com or call Anne Mattappallil on 0427500429.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Children of Catholic Faith in Year 6 and above, who have not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation, are invited to do so on Thursday 22 September 2024.

The sacrament timetable and Registration details can be found on the parish website http://staug-yass.org.au – information to be found under the Sacraments tab. Please read through all dates and information noting that registrations close on Friday 5 July 2024. There are a number of other compulsory dates during the preparation, make note of them in your calendar.

We look forward to meeting with you and helping to prepare your child for this beautiful sacrament. If you have any further queries please email the team at sacramentalteamyass@gmail.com.

Regards,
The Yass Sacramental Team
Anne Mattappallil, Amber Maher, Mandy Leahy & Linda Swadling