Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,

Parent-Teacher Interviews
Following on from the Interim Reports, we will hold parent-teacher interviews throughout the day on Friday 11 April; if you have not yet made a booking, all teachers still have time-slots available. 

Teachers always like to meet parents face-to-face, but we understand that it may be more convenient to attend this meeting via Teams. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to indicate a mode of preference in the bookings functions on Compass, so all parents will be sent a notification from their child's teacher on Thursday, with an invitation to a Teams meeting on Friday. To attend via Teams, please sign in a minute-or-so before your booked time and you will be admitted from the Lobby at your booked time. If you would prefer to attend your interview face-to-face, please just come to your child's classroom at the appropriate time, but to assist with planning, can you please email your child’s teacher so they know to expect you at school.


Stations of the Cross
Tomorrow, we will be having an early recess break, at 10am, so that we have enough time before our planned afternoon activities to hold our Stations of the Cross pilgrimage, which will commence at 11am in the Library Courtyard. As a whole school, we will journey across our grounds in a memorial pilgrimage of Jesus’ final week before his crucifixion. Parents are welcome to join us for this solemn memorial.


Colour Run Day
Lunch tomorrow will be held at 12:30pm, and all students will be provided with a sausage sandwich and an ice-block for lunch; all dietary needs will be catered for. The canteen will also be open for lunch orders, but with a limited menu. After lunch we will hold a series of fun (and colourfully messy) rotation activities. Students can wear mufti, preferably light colours, and certainly clothes that you are happy for them to get dirty. As all colour activities are being held outside in the afternoon, hats must also be worn. During some activities, colourfully dyed powders will be thrown over students. The powders are low-allergy, cornstarch-based, non-staining and made to be safe for contact. A material safety data sheet can be found later in the newsletter. Students who are catching a bus home in the afternoon will need to bring a change of clothes and a plastic bag to put their dirty clothes in. 

I told the students on Monday morning that if we reached a fundraising goal of $15000, the colour-run activities would culminate in Mr Green getting ‘Slimed’, and thanks to everyone’s fundraising efforts, it’s looking very much like I may need to be hosed-off before being allowed back into the office. The final fundraising tally will be announced after lunch tomorrow… fingers crossed!

Thank you for your continued support of Mt Carmel and we look forward to sharing this wonderful event with the students to celebrate the end of the term.


Holy Week and Easter
Holy Week commences this weekend with Palm Sunday. For those families interested in attending, Palm Sunday Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Christopher Prowse in the Vigil Mass at the Catholic Church Hall in Murrumbateman at 6pm on Saturday and on Sunday at St Augustine’s Church at 10:15am. 

See the following timetable for all of the Holy Week Masses:
Monday Mass of the Chrism – 5.00 pm St Christopher’s Cathedral
Wednesday Mass – 5.30 pm St. Augustine’s Church; 6.00 pm 2nd Rite of Reconciliation
Holy Thursday (Mass of the Lord’s Supper) – 7.00 pm St Augustine’s Church, Yass (Replaces the 7.30 am Mass)
Good Friday (Stations of the Cross) – 10.30 am Murrumbateman
(Commemoration of the Passion) – 3.00 pm St Augustine’s Church, Yass
EASTER VIGIL MASS – 7.00 pm St Augustine’s Church, Yass
Easter Sunday (20th April) MASS – 10.15 am Catholic Church Hall, Murrumbateman.


Term Dates
The last day of Term 1 for students will be tomorrow, Thursday 10 April. Term 2 commences for students on Tuesday 29 April, following a pupil-free day for staff professional development and administration on Monday 28 April. 


School Uniform
The start of Term 2 means a change to the winter school uniform. Any online orders that have been placed since last week will be collated tomorrow morning to be sent home with students in the afternoon. Orders placed through the holidays will be collated on Monday 28 April and be available for collection from the office between 2pm-4pm. 

A reminder that our Uniform Policy has been updated to reflect current advice that the minimum standard of sun-protection measures, including the wearing of a broad-brimmed, bucket or legionnaire hat, should be applied from August through May (all year except June-July). Given that these are minimum standards, to avoid confusion and promote sun-safe habits, we will be enforcing the ‘No Hat, Play in the Shade’ rule all year.


Anzac Day Parade - Save the Date
As always, Mt Carmel School will be marching in the ANZAC Day parade on 25 April, in the second week of the school holidays, and I encourage as many students as possible to attend. The march commences at 10:45am, so Mt Carmel students (in winter uniform) need to assemble outside the Liberty Theatre in Lead Street at 10.30am. The ANZAC ceremony will conclude outside the Yass Memorial Hall at approximately 11:45am.


Happy Holidays
And finally, I would like to thank all students and teachers for their hard work this term and wish everyone the best for the coming school holidays — may you all have a safe, restful and joy-filled break. Take care, and I look forward to seeing everyone back at school next term.

Michael Green
Principal

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to Week 10! Year 3’s Religious Education unit focuses on God’s images, in particular:

• How do the authors of the Old Testament portray God
• What can each of these stories help us to understand about God?
• What do I imagine that God is like?
• What images of God could I use to communicate what I understand about God?

3 Green viewed images of hope and created their own hope inspired artworks.

3 Red chose an image of God that spoke to them.

Religious Life of Mt Carmel School

Every Thursday, our Year 6 Youth Ministry team gathers in the school’s Mercy Chapel to pray before starting their Youth Ministry session. The prayer is led by different Year 6 students.

Project Compassion
Thank you to all the students, staff, and families who have supported Caritas’ Project Compassion fundraising. Mt Carmel School has raised the total of $520.

Palm Sunday, Last Supper and Stations of the Cross: Thursday 10 April, 11:00
This year, Mt Carmel School will pray the Stations of the Cross on a pilgrimage walk to remember Jesus’ journey to Calvary. Each class will dramatise a station and at the end of the journey, Fr Peter will lead us in a whole-school prayer. Parents are welcome to join us.  

St Augustine’s Parish News
Congratulations to the children for celebrating their first Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Children's Liturgy

Children are invited to attend Children’s Liturgy every second and fourth Sunday of the month. 

Wishing you a blessed Easter with your family and friends, and a restful break.

Eva Karakotas
Religious Education Coordinator

Canberra Goulburn Rugby League
Congratulations to Lachlan Inkster, Jack Maher and Logan Johnson for making it into the U11 Canberra Goulburn Rugby League team. Congratulations also to Spencer Crocker and Beau Jones who made it into the U12 Canberra Goulburn Rugby League team. Both teams will now play at the MacKillop Trials in Canberra on Friday 9th May.


Canberra Goulburn Natball
Congratulations to Mabel Adie, Zara McEvoy and Alayla Dorris who made it into the Canberra Goulburn netball team. The girls will now play at the MacKillop Trials in Canberra on Friday 9th May.

Cross Country
Thank you to parents, teachers and students for helping to make it a great event last Friday morning. The following squad will head to Braidwood on Friday 2nd May 2025 (Week 1, Term 2)

1st, 2nd and 3rd ribbons and information regarding the Northern Region carnival at Braidwood will be handed out at assembly on Thursday.

Sports Trials
If you have children in Year 5 or 6 who are interested in trialling for Canberra Goulburn sporting teams, please check the following website regularly for upcoming events:

https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/calendar

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025
Congratulations to the following students who have completed the 2025 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Gigi Heckendorf
Elyse Carter
Rosalind Clark
Evelyn Morris

Overdue books
Reminders have been sent home with students who have overdue items. Please encourage them to return these books to the library.

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

Congratulations to the recipients of the Week 8 Mt Carmel Awards.
These awards were handed out last Friday, 4 April, at morning assembly.

K Blue Maria Candido Pinheiro Austin Baker Charlie McLucas	K Gold Jessica Di Sisto James Jol Natanael Mattappallil
1 Green Mia Smith Peter Gorman	1 Red Ruby Holt Charlotte Aksenov
2 Blue Gigi Aniversario Felix Inglis Oliver Drake Abel Mathew Rogin	2 Gold Ally Wren Poppy Sargent Liam Coster
3 Green Rafaela Tapia-Jeffrey Archer Jones Hennessey Rankin	3 Red 3 Red Class
4 Blue Delilah Inglis Amalia Corcoran Lachlan Miller Chenuth Silva Hudson Mackay Dominic Rowland	4 Gold Adalyn Harvey Makaila Hooper Alan McRae Jax Cassidy Harvey Matthews
5 Green Evelyn Morris Mnqobi Nyathi Vincent Da Deppo	5 Red Richard Jol Logan Johnson Rowan Kelly-Clark
6 Blue Alice Miller Abby Hillman Jaxon Field	6 Gold Zoe Leahy Isla Townsend Lachlan Walker Spencer Crocker

Have you met Mikayla?
My name is Mikayla Black and this year I am the Year 6 SRC on the Student Representative Council for 2025.

Some of the things I enjoy are:
*NETBALL
*SWIMMING

My favourite animal is a cat
My favourite sport and/or team is Netball and the Melbourne Vixens Netball team
My favourite song is Bad Child by Tones and I
One day I hope to travel to Paris
When I grow up I hope to be a Forensic officer 

URStrong Friendology Founder, Dana Kerford, was interviewed in 2018 on the topic of bullying for the Sydney Morning Herald. Here is the interview with journalist and author, Kasey Edwards:

Australian schools have the dubious honour of having one of the highest reported rates of bullying in the world. By some estimates, one in four students experience regular bullying.

Governments have implemented anti-bullying programs, schools write policies, and parents are vigilant, yet we appear unable to solve the bullying problem. “Bullying” has taken on a life of its own.

Perhaps it’s time for a re-think. According to Canadian friendship skills expert and founder of URSTRONG Dana Kerford, Australia’s approach to bullying is wrong. For starters, we need to lose the term “bullying”. “The word ‘bullying’ is so misused and misunderstood, even among parents and teachers. The word has taken on a life of its own, and it’s confusing for children,” says Kerford who is currently on an extended stay in Australia, working with teachers, parents and students.

For behaviour to be “bullying” it must be intentional, repetitive and potentially harmful. Accidently hurting someone is not bullying. Not liking your friend’s new haircut is not bullying. Having a disagreement, or not wanting to play with someone aren’t bullying. But this level of nuance can be difficult for children to understand.

To help kids identify bullying, Kerford suggests calling it “mean-on-purpose behaviour”. Anyone can understand what that means and can easily spot it. The other problem with the term “bullying” is that it’s stigmatising.

“I absolutely do not believe that a little kid who’s learning these skills should be labelled a ‘bully’. They just haven’t learned to manage those really big feelings and emotions that they have inside in a healthy way yet.”

Kerford says that she’s seeing a reactionary and punitive response to bullying in Australia, such as tougher consequences for bullies and “say no to bullying” days. “Having somebody come into a school and tell the story about how they’ve been bullied in their lives, and how they rose above it is inspirational, but that doesn’t give children anything they can use,” says Kerford. “Instead we should focus on teaching kids practical skills-based strategies for how to manage and stand up to mean-on-purpose behaviour.”

Kerford says when kids start standing up to such behaviour they are not only learning to treat themselves with respect but they also deter the kids who are being mean-on-purpose from doing it again. “Self-governance starts to happen in schools when children can effectively resolve their own conflicts, make good choices around who they’re playing with, and stand up to mean-on-purpose behaviour. We get this culture of harmony and kindness and respect and teachers can have their lunches and recesses back”.

The early signs of this new approach are promising. In 2012, Perth College implemented URSTRONG’s skills-based approach to empower students to deal with their own friendship issues. The school has subsequently seen improvement in the resilience in the students. Staff are also reporting that they now spend less time dealing with conflicts between students as the girls deal with conflict themselves.

“The girls consistently report low bullying scores across the year groups we assess (Year 3 to Year 12),” says Deb Perich, director of the program at Perth College. “This approach works because the girls have a toolkit to use when they are faced with a challenge, whether it be normal conflict or a “mean on purpose” incident. They have simple skills to perform in these situations and they have practised their technique,” Perich says.

Although, not all teachers are comfortable with the approach, specifically the lesson that children should always stand up to mean-on-purpose behaviour. Because bullying is often a sign of low self-esteem and other trauma, some people believe that these kids should be treated with more understanding and compassion.

“Teachers have said to me that they try to teach the kids that things are a little harder for him [the kid who was mean-on-purpose], and that they should show some understanding. And I get very nervous when I hear that,” Kerford say. “I think empathy obviously, is a great thing. We want to empathise. But there’s a tipping point when empathy becomes enabling.”

Excusing bullying behaviour because the kid is suffering, isn’t good for the child, since they can feel justified. And what happens when they grow into an adult, when such behaviours may land them in trouble with the law?

It’s also a terrible lesson for the victims. Do we want little girls thinking it’s okay for little boys to push them down the stairs because he has a rough home life and he’s feeling sad and angry? Add ten years and we’re potentially grooming young women to accept and excuse male violence or abuse as normal and justified. Instead, we need to teach kids — all kids — that it’s never okay to be mean-on-purpose and that they should never have to tolerate it.

Of course, bullying is complicated, but given our poor performance in addressing the issues, Kerford’s approach, based on sound relationship principles, is worth trying.

Congratulations to Oren Barker who won the $500 bonus to his Colour Run Profile.
Congratulations also to the three winners of the $10 canteen voucher - Charlie McLucas, Anna Gunthorpe and Cooper Moses.  

Year 4 created a Beach Scene for the Yass Show inspired by the amazing works of artist Ken Done. They were delighted to discover that Ken loved their artistic efforts so much that he sent a limited edition print he has created for all of the Mt Carmel community to enjoy! Thank you, Ken, and congratulations Year 4!

Batter
1 cup plain flour
¼ tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¾ cup dashi or vegetable stock
4 eggs
1 cup cabbage approx (mix to correct consistency)
3 slices bacon

Okonomiyaki Sauce
¼ cup oyster sauce
3 Tbsp sugar
½ cup tomato sauce
7 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

The Clothing Pool will be open tomorrow, Thursday, 10 April from the end of the Colour Run until 3.30pm. 

Term Opening Hours
Opening Hours: 2.30pm-3.30pm. 
Location: in the Music Room, next to the Uniform Shop.

Any profit made from the clothing pool will be directly donated to the Vinnies Food appeal generally held twice a year.

If you have any questions, please contact Liz on lizdadeppo@gmail.com.

Clink on the following link to book your spot to the Daramalan Open Evening and Try Dara Day - https://events.humanitix.com/daramalan-college-try-dara-day-2025. Registrations are now open.