Friday 3 March 2017

ST AGNES’ PRIMARY SCHOO L AGGIES’ ARTICLES

St Agnes’ Primary Phone: 6583 7433 PO Box 5221 Fax: 6583 5884 PORT MACQUARIE 2444 Email: sapport@lism.catholic.edu.au

Web Page Address: www.pmacalism.catholic.edu.au http://moodle.pmacalism.catholic.edu.au

“TO BE WITNESSES OF CHRIST’S LOVE: IN FAITH, CULTURE, EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE”

Beginning School Mass Ash Wednesday

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT GINAYA YARNOLD

Dear Parents and Carers

This week was a lovely celebration of our school as a Catholic community. Our Beginning School Mass was well attended and was followed the next day with our Ash Wednesday liturgy. We would like to thank Fr Peter Wood, our School Chaplain, for leading us through these special celebrations.

CRUCIFIX SCHOOL DONATIONS: During the Beginning School Mass on Tuesday, Fr Peter Wood blessed the crucifixes that were donated by the following families: Bushe, Clapoudis, Gaza/Lusung, Gerathy, Hunt, Hunter, Minogue, Peklar, Pepper, Rohr, Ryan, Sirovica, Soerensen, Sprague, U’Brien, Wailes/Davis, Worner/Yates families. These will be placed in rooms around the school. We still have a small amount available if your family would like to be involved in this special opportunity, there is still a chance to donate a crucifix. Please contact the office for further details.

PARISH YOUTH AND FAMILY MASS: Thank you to the families that were able to join us for the Youth and Family Mass last Sunday at 5:00pm. A big thank you to the high school students (ex Aggies) who assisted with the singing. We would also like to thank the staff that attended and Mr Bushe, Mrs Burns and Mrs Mullin for coordinating the music. It is always lovely to see our school represented so well at these parish masses.

KINDERGARTEN PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT: It was great to see so many families attend our Kindergarten Parent Information session on Tuesday night. Over 70 parents received useful information to further support their child throughout the year. Thank you to the Kindergarten team for coordinating this important parent communication opportunity.

YEAR 4 BYOD INFORMATION WORKSHOP: This workshop was held on Monday afternoon and allowed a great opportunity for parents to work through many online processes with their child to assist with the implementation of BYOD into the Year 4 classrooms. Parents were able to ask questions and familiarise themselves with the Google suite of applications that the children will be accessing in class. Thank you to the Year 4 team for leading this important parent initiative.

WELCOME: We would like to welcome a new student, Ellie Nunn to 2S, we hope that you are settling in well at Aggies.

PBS WINNERS: Congratulations to our PBS winners for this week: Ava Sullivan (3U), Scarlet Brooke (2MB), Bailey Moore (5B) and Harry Attwells (KM)

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK: Catholic Schools Week (CSW) 2017 will be held from 5 to 11 March and will involve the communities of all Catholic primary and secondary schools across NSW and the ACT. The theme for 2017 is ‘Catholic Schools – Great Learning Great Communities’. First and foremost, Catholic Schools Week is about celebration. One of the major objectives of Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is to raise public awareness of the strengths of Catholic schools and highlight the significant contribution the Catholic education sector makes to our state and nation. CSW is an opportunity to share with the broader community the great things that take place in our schools every day.

St Agnes' Primary will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week with the following activities:

Monday: Cross Country Carnival from 9:00am Whole school community free Sausage Sizzle at 11:00am Sacrament of Penance Workshop 6:00pm - 7:00pm in the Hall Tuesday: School prayer presented by the Creative Arts team 9:00am Wednesday: St Agnes' Parish Catholic Care of the Aged residents and Year 4 celebration morning 10:30am – 1:30pm in the School Hall Penance Sacrament Workshop at St Peter's 3:30pm-4:30pm Thursday: Christian meditation at 8:30am Friday: Peer Support activities from 2:10pm

All parents are welcome to join us for any of these events during the week.

FREE SAUSAGE SIZZLE: Please note that all children/parents and visitors will be able to have a free sausage sizzle to help us celebrate Catholic Schools Week on Monday at 11:00am. This will mean that there will be no lunch orders on Monday. If your child will normally eat more than one sausage sizzle, please feel free to pack their normal lunch as well.

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL’S REPORT RICK GALVIN

FUN RUN: The Fun Run is just under three weeks away. Keep gathering those sponsors and make sure your Fun Run permission slip (attached to the bottom of the sponsorship form) is returned in full ASAP. Children without a form returned will not be permitted to attend. The form needs to be returned by Monday, 20 March. All returned forms will receive a ticket in the prize draw. A ticket is also given for every $5 returned.

GOD MOMENTS: The STEM Lab and the School Office have been the “Hot Spot” areas for God Moments this week. Mrs Cameron would like to say a huge thank you to Tom Watson from Year 4 for looking after all the technology in the STEM Lab this year. Since the beginning of the year, Tom has been diligently going up to the lab when he arrives at school to make sure everything is plugged in and charged. He has also been going beyond expectations by cleaning computers and work areas, as well as, ensuring that the whole area is neat and tidy. Also, the Office Ladies would like to thank Kiara Dalton for supporting an injured friend last Friday. Kiara displayed great kindness and compassion when her friend needed medical attention.

SHAVE FOR A CURE – WORLD’S GREATEST SHAVE: We have been receiving some enquiries from students who would like to involve the school in their Shave for a Cure fundraising this year. Could we please ask the parents of these students to contact the school either by email/phone/letter to confirm your child’s registration in the fundraiser and to receive further information about the school process around this fundraiser.

LEADER OF RELIGION NEWS CATH U’BRIEN & MATT BUSHE

Lent Explained The reason Lent lasts 40 days is that 40 is the traditional number of judgement and spiritual testing in the Bible (Gn 7:4, Ex 24:18, 34:28, Nm 13:25, 14:33, Jon 3:4). Lent bears particular relationship to the 40 days Christ spent fasting in the desert before entering into his public ministry (Mt 4:1-11). Catholics imitate Christ by spending 40 days in spiritual discipline before the celebration of Christ's triumph over Sin and death. Fasting is a biblical discipline that can be defended from both the Old and the New Testament. Christ expected his disciples to fast (Mt 9:14-15) and issued instructions for how they should do so (Mt 6:16-18). Catholics follow this pattern by holding a partial fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstinence from certain foods is also a biblical discipline. In Daniel 10:2-3 we read, "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks." Catholics use a practice similar to Daniel's when, as a way of commemorating Christ's Crucifixion on a Friday, they abstain from eating meat on that day of the week during Lent. The only kind of flesh they eat on Friday is fish, which is a symbol of Christ. Even the Ash Wednesday practice of having one's forehead signed with ashes has a biblical parallel. Putting ashes on one's head was a common biblical expression of mourning (1 Sm 13:19, Est 4:1, Is 61:3; see also Est 4:3, Jer 6:26, Ez 27:30, Dn 9:3, Mt 11:21, Lk 10:13). By having the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads, Catholics mourn Christ's suffering on the cross and their own sins, which made that suffering necessary.

Learn more about The Liturgical Seasons and their colours here.

LEADERS OF CURRICULUM/DIGITAL PEDAGOGIES CHRISTY ISMAY & CYNTHIA NOSWORTHY

ICAS SCHOOL COMPETITIONS: The ICAS competitions are an assessment offered by the University of New South Wales every year. These competitions are a fantastic enrichment opportunity for our students. All students from Years 2 - 6 are eligible to take part in the English, Mathematics, Science and Spelling competitions, whilst Years 3 - 6 are also offered the Writing and Digital Technologies assessments. If your child would like to take part, please fill out the slip attached to the ICAS note and send it back to school, along with payment. If you have misplaced this note, more are available in the office.

WRITERS WANTED: Write4fun are offering the opportunity for all students, from Kindergarten to Year 12, to submit a short story or poem on any topic. Prizes range from technology to writing gift packs. Mrs Nosworthy or Mrs Ismay are available to provide more information to anyone who is interested, or you can find competition details online at http://www.write4fun.net/. Entries must be received by Friday 31 March, so get creative and start writing.

SPORT NEWS - CLAIRE MICHELL

CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL: This year, our school Cross Country Carnival will take place Monday, 6 March for all students. All classes from Years 2 – 6 will assemble on the oval straight after morning assembly, where morning organisation will need to occur (roll, office notes, etc). Kinder and Year 1 will remain with their teachers who will bring them down to the oval to watch their class buddies compete and again after Lunch 1 for their cross country run.

The timetable for the day was sent home on Monday. Children 8 years and over are able to participate in either championship (2km or 3km depending on age) or non-championship (1 lap of the oval) events, depending on their age and ability. Please discuss with your child which event they wish to nominate for.

Children are to wear their sport uniforms and may compete in a house - coloured t-shirt if desired. All runners will receive points for their house teams. Only those who compete in championship events are eligible for age champion. The first six place-getters in each championship event will be, selected to compete at the Zone Cross Country Carnival on 3 May at Bowraville. Students should wear appropriate footwear for running. If conditions look wet and muddy, they may need a spare pair of shoes to change into after their race. A change of clothes may also be a good idea. BLUE GREEN FLINDERS KENNEDY YELLOW RED BORONIA CLARENCE

ATTENTION: 2017 NSWCPS Diving Team Nominations NOW OPEN: Please log into www.csss.nsw.edu.au then go to NSWCPS - Diving - Register. Register your Expression of Interest. Divers selected for the Polding or MacKillop team will attend the 2017 NSW PSSA Diving Championships on 5 April @ Sydney Olympic Park. Cost will be $47 levy plus $16 team t-shirt.

GOOD LUCK: Best wishes to our Zone Swimming team who are competing in Lismore today. Good luck, Shaun Baillon, Cooper Burns, Liam Cameron, Makennah Collins, Hunter Croft and Jared McKinnon. CANTEEN NEWS

BEC RISSEL

MON CINDY CASSAR TUES WED RACHEL ELFORD THURS HELP PLEASE FRI AMANDA GOSLING LEANNE HATHERLY

As mentioned in the Principal’s report, on Monday due to the Catholic Schools Week Sausage Sizzle there will be no lunch orders taken, the canteen will be open for normal purchases at Lunch 1. If any parents are available to assist with the cooking

of sausages on Monday, please contact me in the canteen or leave your details with the office. Cooking will start at 9:00am.

GENERAL NEWS

Garden Club is officially up and running for 2017 and we have been very busy tidying, mulching and planting out our space. Students from Kinder to Year 6 have built a small greenhouse to add to our space. This will be used to propagate new seeds and seedlings. The summer crops that we planted before Christmas have flourished and we have had a great crop of Sweet Potato, Choko and Pumpkin. Our herbs are also starting to take off. The children enjoyed pumpkin scones today created from their produce.

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CALENDAR: WEEK 7, TERM 1 2017

Catholic Schools Week

SUNDAY MAR 05 * 1st Sunday of Lent MONDAY MAR 06 * No School Prayer * Cross Country - Sports Uniform for all students, coloured house shirt may be worn * Whole School Sausage Sizzle 11:00am TUESDAY MAR 07 * Sports Uniform - Students in K, 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 * Gross Motor - Kindergarten * School Prayer - CAPA Teachers hosting - All welcome * Incitare - Select Year 6 students - Youth Hub WEDNESDAY MAR 08 * Sports Uniform - Students in Year 2 * No Gross Motor - Year 2 * Year 4 Catholic Care of the Aged visit in the hall * Penance Workshop at St Peter’s 3:30pm – 4:30pm THURSDAY MAR 09 * Sports Uniform - Students in K, 1, 4 and 5 * Gross Motor - Year 1 * 8:00am - Band * Christian Meditation - 8:30am FRIDAY MAR 10 * Sports Uniform - Students in 2, 3 and 6 * Staff Meeting - 8:20am- Office closed until 8:55am * Peer Support - 2:10pm

ADVANCE DATES

MAR 06 * Penance Workshop (Parent/Child) - St Agnes’ Primary School Hall 6:00pm - 7:00pm MAR 17 * Diocesan Winter Sports - Grafton MAR 13 * Year 3 History Excursion MAR 20 * Year 6 Leadership Development Day - Youth Hub

P & F AGM - Staffroom 5:45PM MAR 21 * Year 4 Penance Reflection Day - Youth Hub MAR 23 * Fun Run - Town Beach

Under 10’s/11’s girls Football development

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All girls born 2006, 2007 and 2008 are invited to come to a trial for the 2017 girls under 10’s/11’s Hastings development centre team. Monday 6th March 5.45pm till 7pm at Wayne Richards Park, field 2 The program: Training 1 night per week for 10-12 weeks in a girls only environment Play against other development centre teams from Taree/Forster Girls still play club football Matches played from March till June Aims to develop advanced football skills Girls can progress into the 2018 12’s development program and WPL after this Fees: $200 includes coaching, matches, training shirt and playing strip If you are keen to be considered and not able to make this trial then other arrangements may be possible. To register your interest or any concerns contact Larry Budgen: larry@footballmidnorthcoast.com Girls to come with drink bottle, boots and shin-pads

Erth - Visual & Physical Inc. present

Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium

GLASSHOUSE PORT MACQUARIE

© Introspective Bear, 2002, from Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley.Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia.