Term 1 Week 3 - Thursday 20 February 2025

Principal's Message

This week’s Gospel: 

Luke 6 : 27-38

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “But I say to you who hear Me : Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who treat you badly. To the one who strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek; from the one who takes your coat, do not keep back your shirt. Give to the one who asks, and if anyone has taken something from you, do not demand it back.”

“Do to others as you would have others do to you. If you love only those who love you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do favours to those who are good to you, what kind of grace is yours? Even sinners do the same. If you lend only when you expect to receive, what kind of grace is yours? For sinners also lend to sinners, expecting to receive something in return.

But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend when there is nothing to expect in return. Then will your reward be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High. For He is kind toward the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

“Do not be a judge of others and you will not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good measure, pressed down, full and running over. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive back.”

Parent / Teacher Meetings

It was wonderful to see all of our parents meet with their child’s teacher. We do a comprehensive hand over at the end of each year, however, there are always things that change and evolve as your child grows. Please don’t let this be the only time you talk to your child’s teacher as we need to continue to work in partnership.

Year 5/ 6 Camp 2026 – Save the date

We are currently finalising the date for 2026 camp, which again looks around 18 – 20 February. Please pencil those dates into your 2026 calendar.

Opportunities for each of you to be involved in school activities

We started to make a list, and then realised just how comprehensive it is. You can access the dates for many of these events, especially the ones in Term 1 through the Compass calendar. Here is our list, I’m sure there is something I might have left off, particularly events which are solely organised by the Community Council.

• Parent Information Evening
• Welcome picnic
• Leadership Assembly
• Parent Information Night
• Parent meet and greet meetings - Term 1
• Parent teacher Interviews – Term 2 and 4.
• School Fete
• Community Council Meetings
• Fortnightly Year level assemblies  
• Fortnightly Thursday morning Masses
• Easter Liturgies
• Father’s Day Breakfast
• Mother’s Day Breakfast
• Grandparents Day Breakfast
• St Jude’s Feast Day celebrations
• Annunciation Feast Day celebrations
• Walk / Ride to school
• Swimming carnival
• Cross country carnival
• Athletics Carnival  
• Book Week Activities     
• Dance Concert
• Christmas Picnic
• Walkathon
• Excursions
• Choir community performances
• Event specific celebrations/commemoration - Anzac Day, Remembrance Day etc Enrolment week & Open school

Its hard to believe, just how much has occurred in the first 3 weeks of the term:

• Staff PL days
• First day of school Kindergarten
• Leadership Assembly
• Start of school year Mass
• Parent Information Night
• Welcome Picnic
• Swimming carnival
• Water fun day
• Kinder assessment days
• School fete meetings
• 50^th Anniversary meetings
• Community Council AGM

Staff, students and parents are all looking forward to a ‘normal’ week next week. Staff and students have been working together to develop classroom expectations and positive relationships.

Thank you to all staff who assisted in Parent Information Night, Welcome BBQ, Community Council AGM, 50^th anniversary planning meeting, Parent Teacher Interviews. All of these things are outside of normal school hours and I appreciate the time and effort our school staff put into these events.  

Thank you for your continued support

Cameron

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

Josh de Smet Scholarship Recipient  - Isabelle S

During the Christmas Holidays,  2024 Josh de Smet Scholarship Recipient, Isabelle S, attended the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. Isabelle was able to put her skills to the test and came away from the prestigious school with many new skills and valuable learning experiences. She met other students who enjoy ballet almost as much as she does! 

Isabelle represented her family and St Jude's proudly. Congratulations Isabelle.

Judy

Judy, our Education Assistance Dog, has had a busy start to the year. Judy and Mrs Caceres, Judy's carer, have been teaching Science in Year 1 classes by helping students understand what living things need to survive. Judy has spent time in each Year 1 class and Mrs Caceres has been explaining what her needs are, include food, water, shelter, sleep, love and lots of cuddles! ❤️Students quickly understood that Judy's needs are very similar to the needs of many other living things. We are fortunate to have Judy at St. Jude's!

School Fees

School Fee Statements are being the week. BPay details can be found on the fee statement, you can set up regular payments on your banking app. If paying by installments please make sure school fees are all paid up by 5 December. 

RE News

What does Hope look like?

Hope is placing trust in God that something will be fulfilled. 

This week year 3 have been learning about the Beatitudes. As we look at them more closely, we recognise that these are statements of hope. Blessed are those who mourn - knowing that while we mourn the loss of something or someone, God is there to help us through. We place our mourning in God, knowing that we will be ok. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit -  teaches us that those who are humble, understand that their blessings do not come from them alone, but from God. A trust that God will fulfill our lives in the way that we need.

Year 1, 3 and 6 have been busy creating their own images that represent their understanding of Hope. 

Here are a few, you can view the rest of them hanging in our corridor. Next week some student will be recreating them on canvas' for us to use during our liturgies and Masses. 

Reminders

A reminder that registration for the Sacrament of Reconciliation closes Friday 28 Feb, First Eucharist closes 15 May and Confirmation closes 1 July. Please register through QKR! Parish of the Annunciation

ELC News

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to Billy S, Finn K, Tiarnan M

The ELC children shared in an exciting St Jude’s milestone today as they joined the school to make a giant 50 on the oval as part of St Jude’s 50^th anniversary celebrations. We can’t wait to see how the photos turn out.

Fruit shop - Wednesdays

This Wednesday our ELC ‘Fruit Shop’ opened for business which means you will no longer need to pack a fruit snack on Wednesdays. Children will learn about different fruits and vegetables and they will be encouraged to taste things they may not have tried before. Each week we will focus on a mystery fruit, vegetable or herb and learn some interesting facts. If you have fruits or vegetables growing in your garden at home that you would like to share, please let us know.

This week our Mystery Fruit were strawberries. Did you know strawberries are the only fruit that has seeds on the outside? We have a strawberry garden on our ELC yard that children help to harvest from.

Matteo also bought in some fresh figs from his grandma’s garden at home.

Where there is a shop, there is a shop keeper! We all have a coin (not real) that we need to pay for the fruit we choose to purchase for fruit break.

St Jude’s Fete – Saturday 15 March

Our school fete is a great family day out and a wonderful opportunity to connect with the school community. We are currently seeking donations for the Plant Stall and Trash and Treasure, as well as sponsors and volunteers. See the Fete section of this newsletter for more information. 

Calling Volunteers!

Many hands make light work and a great community.  To volunteer an hour or so of your time, please go to https://volunteersignup.org/FLHJM and go the ELC Hairspray stall (or any other stall you would like to volunteer for).

Mufti Day 

Mufti Day (non-uniform day) will be held Tuesday 25 February for the Stingray group and Friday 28February for Turtle and Lobster groups.  The aim is to collect supplies and donations for our fete stall.  Children are invited to wear plain clothes and we ask that you donate a can of coloured hairspray and a gold coin.

ELC Class Parent Reps

We are seeking a class representative for the Turtle and Stingray class. The parent rep will organise a class catch up/get together, help organise end of year teacher gift and send any reminders out if required.

Thank you to Archer’s mum, Lynda from the Lobster class for volunteering already.

Sports News

St Jude's Swimming Carnival 

Last Thursday a wonderful day was had by all at the annual St Jude's Swimming Carnival. A huge thankyou to parents for assisting with jobs on the day. This helped the day to run smoothly. We were fortunate enough to have students from MacKillop College who also assisted on the day. These students were exceptional and an absolute credit to their school.

St Jude's students were amazing with their behaviour and level of participation on the day. We had 20 more races this year than last! The cheering and sportsmanship was second to none!

Special thanks to Mr Mitchell for his organisation and to Mr Kaltner for being an outstanding MC. Thank you to all St Jude's staff who worked tirelessly throughout the day. 

Ribbons will be presented at an upcoming morning assembly to students who came 1st, 2^nd and 3^rd OVERALL in the 50m events.  25m event ribbons were handed out on the day. 

The South Weston Swimming Carnival will be held at the Australian Institute of Sport on Friday 4^th April. Students who are selected to represent St Jude's at this carnival MUST wear a swimming cap to participate. (AIS ruling). This information will come home in the next couple of weeks.

Orienteering Opportunity

Please see information below re an orientation opportunity. The school is not organising this, it will need to be done by parents directly to the orientation group. 

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

Uniform shop will be next open on Friday 28 February from 2:30pm-3:30pm.

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.

Mulleygrub Cafe News

Canteen Volunteers week 4

Wednesday 26 February - Renee, & two more volunteers please

Fete News

Volunteers

Opportunities for "St Jude's Fete 2025" are now open. We encourage each family to register to help out for at least one 1 hour session to share the load. Click here to register.  

Camp Australia