Term 3 Week 2 - Thursday 1 August 2024

Principal's Message

Principal Report, Community Council Week 3, Term 3, 2024

Sacrament of Confirmation

A large group of Year 6 students and their families have been busy preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation which will occur later this term. Preparation for any Sacrament is a family commitment which is hopefully beneficial for all involved. I look forward to joining the Candidates and their families for the receiving of the Sacrament.

Holiday Works

The school fence is just about complete. The addition of gates is due to be scheduled for August 12. At this stage, all single gates will be opened at 8:15am, then closed on the morning bell. They will then be re-opened at 2:30pm and closed again at 3:30pm. During recess and lunch students will still be able to access the closed off car park area. However, during school hours, entry to the school will be through the front office doors, this is to assist with security. After 3:30pm, the main gate near the shelter shed will remain open until it is locked at the completion of Camp Australia after school care. Outside of these hours, access will only be given to facility hirers as this aligns with our insurance coverage.

Gemma Cabot (Community Council Chair) and I will be meeting with the company that will be facilitating the oval restoration early next week. I will share more information on this through the newsletter as it comes closer.

2025 Enrolments

Our 2025 enrolment numbers are looking similar to our 2024 numbers. At this stage we have close to 65 Kindergarten enrolments. The number of students heading to Marist is much less than in previous years, so at this stage we are aiming to maintain 3 Year 4 classes in 2025. At this stage, our current Year 1 and 2 classes are full, however, there may be families who have postings to other states or countries. To assist with staffing, I would ask that any families who already know that their children won’t be at St Judes in 2025 to complete the from that has been circulated on Compass and in the newsletter . This will remain confidential; it just assists with our planning.

Musical

The school Musical is a highlight of our Biannual calendar. The students in Years 2 – 6 have been very busy preparing. The dates were circulated in last week’s newsletter and further information will be circulated as we get closer. Thank you for your ongoing assistance with this.

Challenges with Staffing

As you are aware, there are significant teacher shortages across Australia. We have been fortunate that this has not impacted us significantly. However, with flu season comes illness. Over the past 6 months we have had to shuffle some of our executive and specialist teachers into home room classes. There have also been days where classes have needed to be split, this generally occurs across classes in the same year level. All of this leads to increased work load to staff as well as implications to teaching schedules. If your child comes home and says, we didn’t have Library, Music or Italian today, then generally it is because the teacher has been asked to cover another class. I understand this also impacts family routines e.g. changing of library books. As an executive we always consider the impact of our decisions, so please understand that none of them are taken lightly. At other times, we will review the effectiveness of our teaching program and timetable and modify things. An example of this was the changes made to the Kinder specialist timetable, we needed to move the days because the students were not coping with having 3 specialists in a row. We will always try to communicate changes ahead of time, however, occasionally we forget. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

St Jude’s Pastoral Care Policy

We are in the process of updating this policy. It outlines how we support students when they make both good and inappropriate choices. Once this is finalised, we will share it with you. It will then be readily available on the school website.

Young Engineers Club

This started last Monday, with 23 students from K – 6 attending. I watched on and saw some very engaged learning occurring. At this stage, we will be offering it again in Term 4, however, because it was significantly over subscribed, we will need to work out what that looks like. We will share more information later in the term.

Walkathon

We are currently finalising the collection of funds. There are still a number of forms outstanding. It would be great if we could finalise this as soon as possible.

ICAS

ICAS is an assessment tool created by the University of Sydney. They are extremely challenging and usually not suited to every child. At my previous schools we have given extension students the opportunity to be involved. The cost is borne by the parents, however, the assessment can be completed at school. They usually offer assessments in English, Mathematics, Science, Digital Technologies, Writing and a Spelling. I believe the closing dates for some of the assessments have already occurred, however, if you have a child in Years 4 – 6 and are interested in finding out more, please email Mrs Henderson with your questions. This needs to be done before close of business next Monday. We will look at having access to all of these assessments for any student in Years 4 – 6 in 2025.

School Photos 2024

Save the date, week 1 of Term 4. After listening to feedback, we have changed our photography company. The new company has worked closely with Karen, Kerrin, Katrina and I. Once you have saved the date, please place a calendar reminder for haircuts.

Tell them From Me

The annual parent survey will be available in the next week or so. This survey has been designed by CE and is generally the same in every school. As such, there may be questions that are not relevant to our community. There are also sections for you to let us know if there are this we are doing well, things we need to work on, or even some lateral ideas. The survey is anonymous, however, it would be great if we could follow the lead of our messaging to students … don’t put something in writing that you wouldn’t say in person. This gives us valuable information. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your ongoing support

Cameron

Principal

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

Students not returning 2025

Any students who will not be returning to St Jude's in 2025 (excluding current year 6 students) please follow the link
https://stjudesps.schoolzineplus.com/form/14

RE News

Feast of the Assumption 

All are welcome to the Feast of the Assumption Mass on the 15 of August (Thursday of Week 4) to celebrate Mary's ascension into Heaven, body and soul. ELC (Turtles and Lobsters) to Year 6 attending. 

Sacramental Update 

Is your child eligible for a sacrament? In the Parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation sacraments are completed in Years 3, 4 and 6. Reflection evenings for Confirmation have started. The next reflection evening is Tuesday the 6 of August at 5.30pm. Click this link to find out more.

Mary MacKillop Liturgy 

Year 5 will host the liturgy for Mary MacKillop at 2pm on Thursday the 8^ of August in the church. All welcome. 

May your light shine.

Jessica Betterton

ELC News

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday Isaac B

Invitation to 'A Bluey Perspective'

A free family event with ‘Bluey’ creator Joe Brumm will be held at Merici College on Wednesday 11 September. Presented by Catholic School Parents Canberra and Goulburn with the support of Catholic Education, the event aims to bring families from across the Archdiocese together, to listen to Joe talk about why he thinks Bluey has been such a success and the important role parents play in their child’s learning and development. Numbers are limited so please register via the link below.

https://events.humanitix.com/a-bluey-perspective

SJV Science excursion

On Wednesday of week 4 the Stingray class will be catching a bus to St John Vianney’s Primary school for an afternoon of science experiments and fun. There will be an option to order a special lunch order on the day. Look out for the permission note in your notes pockets next week. 

St Jude’s Walkathon

Please make sure you have returned your walkathon sponsorship form and money. Deposits can be made via Qkr! Students will receive a raffle ticket for every $10 raised and prized will be drawn next week.

Portfolios

We hope you have had a wonderful time looking through your child’s portfolio.  Please remember to return it to the ELC so we can continue to add to it in semester 2.

Library News

Term 3 Week 2

*All books borrowed for the holidays should be returned by now to school and new ones selected.

*Two main timetable changes for this term involve Kinders and Year 4.

KF ~ Tuesdays and KT & KV ~ Fridays so please note these days so children come along with their Library books and bags. Year 4 are on Mondays unless there is an event happening, when they will come on Friday instead.

Here are some of the CBCA shortlisted books for 2024

More to come next week!                                                

Happy reading!   Verna Comley

Sports News

Year 5/6 Futsal day

Please see Compass event which was sent to all year 5/6 boys yesterday for more information. Consent and payment due Monday if interested.  

Walkathon - due tomorrow 

For every $10 raised students receive a raffle ticket. Raffle tickets will be drawn at the assembly. The class who raised the most money pro rata will also be announced. This class will receive a fun afternoon activity. The money raised from the walkathon will be used for the upgrade of the school oval surface and to build specialist play areas for the students.

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop open Friday 16 August 2:30-3:15pm.

For second hand requests please email to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com. Please include your child’s name and classroom for us to deliver to. **Please do not make payment for secondhand items, until we reply to your request confirming stock is available.

Mulleygrubs Cafe News

Canteen Volunteers - Week 3

Wednesday 7 August - Annette, & two more volunteers please

Thursday 8 August - Julie & two more volunteer please

Friday 9 August -  Gemma, Sandra & Sarah 

We are in need for more volunteers for the Canteen please email office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au

Community Council

Community Council Meeting - Tuesday 6 August 6pm

The next Community Council meeting will be held Tuesday 6 August 6pm in the school library and online. If you have any items that you would like discussed please send these through via email.

Father’s Day Stall – Thursday 29 August

The Father’s Day stall will be held on Thursday 29 August from 9-11am. If you are able to assist on the day, please reach out via email.

Australian Primary Principals Day – Friday 2 August

This Friday is Australian Primary Principals Day. The Community Council would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our amazing Principal, Cameron Reed. We wanted to extend our heartfelt thanks for your exceptional leadership and dedication to St Jude’s.

Your tireless efforts in creating a positive and enriching environment for students and staff have not gone unnoticed. The positive impact you have made on our school community is deeply appreciated, and we are grateful for your unwavering commitment to fostering an atmosphere of growth and learning.

Thank you once again for all that you do. Your hard work and dedication are truly valued.

Many thanks,

Gemma Cabot

Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

Student Achievements

On Sunday 28 July 2024 Eddie A was in the Canberra Fair fashion parade modelling clothing from St Vincent de Paul for Danielle Cleary Events. Well done Eddie A!

ACT Hockey Championships

Owen recently participated in the U12's Hockey York Cup in Tamworth NSW. The long trek was definitely worth it as he scored a cracking goal. A very exciting moment for Owen made all the more special by having big brother Brayden on the field right next to him. Both Owen and Brayden had an outstanding  tournament. Future Kookaburras in the making!