Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,


Reports and Open Classrooms
Semester 1 Reports will be published to families tomorrow and I would like to thank all teaching staff for the many hours of work outside of school hours that are required to prepare them.  Please 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. Although we are not holding formal parent-teacher interviews at this time, as they were held at the end of Term One, 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.


SVDP CEO Sleepout
Congratulations to Mr Green who received an award in recognition of 5 Years of Championing Change for Homelessness for the 5th time at Old Parliament House on Thursday 19th June. Mr Green raised $4844 and was part of the team that was the second highest fundraisers at the event. Also, thank you to the Mt Carmel families and wider community who supported Mr Green in making a difference to the vulnerable in our community through direct donations and by supporting the Wild West Disco that was hosted by the SRC.

NAIDOC Mass
NAIDOC Week is celebrated during the July school holidays, but in recognition of this important national celebration, Mt Carmel will hold a prayer service led by 3GREEN and Mrs Shoring on Friday 25 July at 9am.


E-Safety
Cyber-bullying can happen on a social media site, game, app or any other online or electronic service or platform. It can include posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, livestreams, memes, images, videos and emails. It may involve sending hurtful messages to or about someone, sharing embarrassing photos or videos of them, spreading gossip or passing on rumours, leaving them out of group chats or intentionally letting them know that there is another group they are not included in. The links below have some useful resources and interesting reading, if you would like to find out more about this issue. As always, if you have any concerns or personal experiences that the school needs to know about, please contact your child’s teacher or a member of the school leadership team as soon as possible.

htps://www.esafety.gov.au/kids/i-want-help-with

htttps://blog.smilingmind.com.au/youth-social-media-ban

https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/


Sport uniform next term
Just a reminder that when we next term we will return to wearing the sports uniform on both Tuesdays and Fridays. Thank you for being accommodating over the last few weeks to enable us to run the Gecko Sports sessions.


Happy Holidays
Please note that students return to school on Tuesday, 22 July. Thank you to everyone for their wonderful work this term. Staff, students and parents have worked incredibly hard and these efforts are very much appreciated. I trust that everyone will have a restful and enjoyable mid-year break. Travel safely, if you are going away, stay warm, and I look forward to seeing everyone at the start of Term 3. 

May God’s peace be in your families

Jan Harvey
Assistant Principal

Religious Education in the Classroom
Welcome to the last week of Term 2, a wonderful term full of exciting learning experiences. I have enjoyed interacting with students during their Religion lessons and joining classes during Friday Parish Mass.

Year 1’s Religious Education unit examines how faith communities of the past help to understand their connection to faith communities of today. 1 Green started the unit with using praying beads to focus on talking to God and 1 Red focused on comparing their lives to Jesus’ life. 

I asked a few students the question, Why do you use praying beads? 

Acacia: I use each bead for each prayer.
Amelia: It helps me to pray better.
Seb: I pray to Mary.
Peter: It helps me to pray and talk to God.

Illuminate Retreat
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Mt Carmel’s Youth Ministry had the opportunity to gather and celebrate their place within the communal life and mission of the Church. We are looking forward to their ministry in Semester 2, as they serve through intentional moments of encounter, discipleship and mission. 

Students were invited to provide feedback on their involvement with the Youth Ministry program and below are a few responses:

• I learned more about other schools and what they do.
• One thing that I learnt from yesterday was that you can pray by singing.
• I learnt that Jesus is with us in everything.
• I learnt that connecting with other people is really important.
• What stood out to me was when we were singing the song 'Yes, Lord' it made me think about the Lord coming to me.
• Always help others and never judge a book by its cover.
• Music can be God's love and he loves all.
• Vinnies has a bigger impact than everyone thinks.

Religious Life of Mt Carmel School

Mt Carmel’s Mini Vinnies News
Vinnies Winter Appeal
Thank you to all the families who have donated towards the Vinnies Winter Appeal. We have had so many donations! 

Vinnies Winter Appeal - Thanks to Mt Carmel!
On behalf of the members of the St Augustine’s Conference of St Vincent de Paul, I would like to extend my most heart-felt gratitude to the Mount Carmel school community for their very generous contributions to the Vinnies Winter Appeal.

We were just blown away by the number of donations: 16 full laundry baskets and another 9 grocery bags! The donations took three of us two hours to sort and pack onto the shelves. We could also tell that a lot of thought had gone into the donations, which covered a wide range of everyday needs. 

These thoughtful donations of food and other non-perishable goods will go a long way towards assisting us to support those in need in our community in a very practical way. The money raised from your “Wear a Beanie” fundraiser will also aid us in helping out individuals and families who have fallen on hard times and for whom this time of the year poses extra challenges.

We particularly appreciate your thoughtful and generous contributions, given the current economic climate. We extend our deepest thanks to Mrs Karakotas and the Mini Vinnies members, the student body, parents, teachers and other members of your school community. They have really contributed to our mission of giving a “hand up” to people in need.

Debbie Valencic
President, St Augustine’s Conference of SVDP Yass

Wear a Beanie 2025
Mt Carmel School students have raised $370 to support our local St Augustine’s Conference. 

St Augustine’s Parish News

Congratulations to all the children who received their First Holy Communion last Sunday! A big thank you to the Sacramental Team for preparing this special event and the parents guiding their children through their faith journey. An extended thank you to Mt Carmel School’s teachers and music ministry.

Wishing you all a blessed holiday with your family and friends.

Eva Karakotas
Religious Education Coordinator

Northern Region Athletics Carnival
Mt Carmel were crowned champion school at this year’s Northern Region athletics carnival, a fantastic result! Congratulations to:  Spencer Crocker (Runner-up Senior Boys age champion), Allan McRae (Runner up Junior Boys age champion), Esther Payne (Runner-up 11 Yr Girls age champion) and Zoe Mitchell (Junior Girls age champion)

Canberra Goulburn Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to the following students who will represent Northern Region at the Canberra Goulburn athletics carnival at the AIS on August 21: Mabel Adie, Abby Hillman, Esther Payne, Neva Welsh, Spencer Crocker, Jack Maher, Allan McRae, Zoe Mitchell, Logan Johnson, Macy Camilleri, Madeline Caldow, Alice Miller. Good luck everyone, can’t wait to hear how you go.

Ted Dunstan
Sports Coordinator

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025
Congratulations to Svetlana Mulcair who has recently completed the 2025 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

The 2025 PRC has been extended to allow additional time for challenge completion.
It now closes to students on Friday 19 September 2025 (Week 9, Term 3)

Thank you
Thank you to Maree Miller for covering a large amount of new resources for the library this term. Your help is greatly appreciated and the students are enjoying reading the new books.

Holiday borrowing
Students are allowed to borrow up to 4 books to enjoy over the holidays.

Overdue books
Reminders have been sent home with students who have overdue items. Please encourage students to return any overdue books to the library before the end of term. 

Kind regards,
Natalie Broers
Teacher Librarian

Congratulations to the recipients of the Week 8 Mt Carmel Awards.
These awards were handed out last Friday, 27 June, at morning assembly.

K Blue Emilia Goulding Prudence McMullen Charlie McLucas	K Gold Oren Barker Nate Mattappallil
1 Green Avari Driver Samuel Walker	1 Red Ruby Holt Harper Vukojevic
2 Blue Ava O'Mara Abel Rogin Felix Inglis	2 Gold Evelyn Harris Sophie Aksenov Brax Carter
3 Green Anna Gunthorpe Samuel Logue	3 Red Charlie Jol Max Hanns
4 Blue Elsa Baptiste Eleena Mattappallil Roy Mitchell	4 Gold Makaila Hooper Alan McRae Jax Cassidy Harvey Matthews
5 Green Billy Field Evelyn Morris	5 Red Ben O'Reilly Cooper Moses
6 Blue Alice Miller Rory Doyle	6 Gold Isla Townsend James Roe Magnus Felizardo

Congratulations to the recipients of the Week 9 Mt Carmel Awards.
These awards will be handed out this Thursday, 3 July, at morning assembly.

K Blue Jasmin Worboys Cody O'Mara	K Gold Londyn Newman Milton McDonald
1 Green Olivia Logue Isabella Hayden Sebastian Sadlowski	1 Red Lucia Reid Conor Mulholland-Brown
2 Blue Mia Brown Phoebe Mitchell Oliver Ryan	2 Gold Kaylahn Carroll Josephine Mattappallil Oliver Ryan
3 Green Dane Hewett Theodore Ward Nicholas DaDeppo	3 Red Keziah Mathew Cooper Sadlowski
4 Blue Ivy Worboys Chenuth Silva	4 Gold Mikayla Clements Jax Cassidy William Walsh
5 Green Madeline Caldow Vincent Da Deppo	5 Red Jake McDonald Rowan Kelly-Clark
6 Blue Rory Doyle	6 Gold Mabel Adie Ruby Laughton

Goyza Recipe - https://www.recipetineats.com/gyoza-japanese-dumplings-potstickers/#recipe

Gluten Free Dumpling Wrappers - https://elavegan.com/gluten-free-dumpling-wrappers/#recipe

3 Green built a series of 3D objects then tested their strength by applying a load. How many books do you think each one could hold?

Year 4 have been creating healthy food pyramids & working out how many portions of vegetables they should be eating a day!

Unfortunately, Playgroup will not be held tomorrow, Thursday 3 July. 

We look forward to seeing you all back in Term 3! 

Expression of interest: Drum Corps Training & Performance Group for students at Mt Carmel.

Mr Noonan is proposing a return to the school having a Drum Corps Group at Mt Carmel School for Mt Carmel students to learn & perform at events such as The Christmas Street Parade & school concerts/events.

When: Mondays 1:40pm-2:05pm (2nd break after eating)

What: Students will learn traditional stick drumming on snare drum plus other styles such as French & Swiss Basel.

* Drums, stands, sticks, practice pads will be supplied.

Who: Years 2-6 at Mt Carmel School

Cost: $55 per term per student which includes above use of supplies and training by Mr Noonan who is an experienced tutor in snare drum drill & routines including entry into the National Drumline Competition in 2019 & leads the RBCC Drumline Troupe.

Contact: 0408 622 819