Term 2 Week 2 - Thursday 8 May 2025

Principal's Message

Pope Francis

Pope Francis reminded us — again and again — that our faith must be lived at the edges: in compassion for the poor, in care for the planet, in welcoming the stranger, and in upholding the dignity of all people. In many ways, his leadership mirrored the light we strive to shine here at St Judes. 

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit from Argentina, he became the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church in 2013, choosing the name Francis after St Francis of Assisi — a bold signal of the papacy he would lead:

• a papacy rooted in simplicity, compassion, and care for the marginalised
• a Pope who washed the feet of prisoners, welcomed refugees, and reminded us that “the Church is a field hospital after battle”
• a call to mercy over judgement, encounter over exclusion
• a commitment to interfaith dialogue, especially with our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters
• a prophetic voice for the environment, through Laudato Si’, urging us to care for our common home
• a deep concern for the poor, the displaced, and the suffering — those Francis called “the flesh of Christ”

He was not afraid to challenge comfort or complacency, reminding us always that Christianity is a movement, not a monument.

A Prayer for Pope Francis

Loving God, We give you thanks for the life and leadership of Pope Francis — for his humility, his courage, and his heart for the poor. For the way he called us back to the Gospel — to mercy, to justice, and to joy.

Bless his soul with eternal peace and rest in your loving presence. Strengthen your Church, O Lord, to continue walking in the light he helped us see. Raise up shepherds after your own heart, That our Church may be ever faithful, ever hopeful, and ever loving.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Professional Reading

The older I get, the more I am moving away from the reading of physical books into the listening to audio books. Both have their challenges, I tend to fall asleep reading a physical book as it is often last thing at night and I often have to listen to audion books more than once as my mind drifts. I was, however, listening to a podcast which struck a chord with me as both a parent and a Principal. It was Craig Groeschel interviewing a Harvard professor Arthur Brooks who is a renowned author. One of his areas of focus is happiness. Below I have included a quote which relates parenting with empathy and compassion, which I think is worth reflecting on.

“The best parents are not empathetic, but they are compassionate. If you want to have successful teenagers, don’t feel their pain, do what needs to be done, even when they don’t like you. Do it in love because you love them. Empathy is soft, compassion is as hard as rock.”

Mother’s Day Stall

Thank you to Gemma Cabot and her wonderful children who spent time in the holidays sourcing and organising Mother’s Day presents. There will be plenty of smiling faces as a result of your willingness to give freely of your time. Thank you also to the band of dads who assisted all of the children with choosing appropriate gifts, we could not have done it without you.

Mother’s Day Activities

Wow, another enormous gathering and a great social event. I trust that you enjoyed your brekky and found time to connect with other parents. I know that there were a variety of activities for you to do in the classroom, I hope that the teachers allowed enough time for you to stretch properly for any physical challenges. Thankyou to our awesome Year 2 team who led a beautifully reflective liturgy. We are very blessed to have wonderful teachers and students.

Thank you to our parent volunteers and staff who made this event happen.

Election BBQ

Considering over 5 million Australians had pre voted, we were expecting small numbers on the day. We began at 6am with set up and sold our last sausage, packing up by 3:30pm. It was a very well supported event, considering that a great deal of children’s sport had begun. Up until midday Friday, we were still considering cancelling it as we had minimal assistance. However, as is generally the case, our ever reliables led, ably supported by lots of new faces. As a result, we believe that we raised somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand dollars. Well done team St Jude’s.

Enrolments for 2026

Enrolments in all year levels continue to come in. If you are looking at bringing your child to St Jude’s Primary school in Kinder, then please make sure you complete the enrolment documentation asap. We will again have numbers in Kinder, somewhere between 2 and 3 classes.

Wishing all our Mother’s a very happy, and spoilt Sunday.

Cameron

Important Dates

Birthdays

School News

Congratulations to Mrs Michelle Staff and her husband Allan, on the safe arrival of baby Walter. We look forward to meeting him.  

Follow this link to RSVP for the event - Monday 12 May 6.30pm 

Single Event Confirmation - The Resilience Project

RE News

Mothers Day 

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ELC News

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday to Jordan M and Zac M

We had a wonderful Mother’s Day celebration this morning. Thank you to all those mothers, grandmothers, aunties and special friends who were able to join us for breakfast and spend some time in our ELC classrooms. We wish all the mums in our community a very happy day on Sunday.

Our Wednesday fruit shop is always a wonderful learning opportunity. As well as celebrating our ‘Mystery Fruit’ each week, we learn about how things grow, colours, shapes, tastes and textures. We practice counting and we work out what weighs more, or how many syllables are in the name of each fruit.  Earlier this week, some of the children were talking about seeing mushrooms growing in the wild, so we took the opportunity to look at lots of different types of mushrooms and to talk about only eating safe mushrooms that we get from the shop and to never eat any that we find growing.

2026 ELC Enrolment Tours

Thank you to the many families who attended our Open Day last week. We will also hold tours on Tuesdays in May from 9:30 – 11am. Please contact the ELC if you would like to book a tour. If you know any families with children approaching preschool age, invite them along to have a look at our amazing ELC. Online enrolments are open via the ELC page of the school website.

St John Vianney’s Open Days

St John Vianney’s will have an Open Day every Wednesday in May from 10:30am to 5pm.

SJV Athletics Carnival

The ELC will be joining St John Vianney’s for their athletics carnival on Friday 16 May at Chapman Oval. Thank you to SJV for providing a bus so that our ELC children can join in the fun. Please check your notes pocket for permission notes. Please ensure the children are wearing appropriate running shoes with their ELC uniforms on that day. The ELC will provide a fruit snack for each child during the carnival.

Library News

Borrowing

When we miss a Monday borrowing day due to a public holiday, we will catch up on borrowing during class times.

FYI - Library lesson days:

Scholastic Book Club

Book Club will close on 14 May. Many thanks for your support of the library.

Happy reading

From Mrs Hind

Sports News

ACT Swimming Championships

We are extremely proud of our amazing St Jude's swimmers who competed at the ACT Swimming Championships on Tuesday at the Australian Institute of Sport.  For most of the students a new personal best was swum on the day. These days are not necessarily about winning. It is just as important to strive for personal improvement. What little champions we have! Congratulations! 

Walk and Ride to school day- Friday 16 May 

On Friday we will have teachers and some of our Yr6 St Jude’s Sport Leaders stationed at several locations to ride or walk into school in groups. (see the map attached)

We will be meeting from 8:10am onwards and we will start riding to school from 8:20am. Organise with parents and friends on which location you’ll meet at and all head in together - the more the merrier!

When students arrive there will be fresh fruit provided and some party tunes to welcome us to school. All participating students will go in the draw to win some cool prizes that day.

Mulleyduds Uniform Shop

Uniform shop will be next open, Friday 9 May from 2:45-3:15pm.

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.

Mulleygrub Cafe News

Canteen Volunteers week 

Wednesday 14 May - Carlie & two more volunteers 

Community Council

Thank You to Our Wonderful Volunteers – Plus Upcoming Community Council News!

A huge thank you to everyone who baked, grilled, served, or supported our Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall! Thanks to your generosity and hard work, the event was a tremendous success and far exceeded our expectations. We couldn’t have done it without you!

We’d also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the amazing dads who helped out at the Mother’s Day Stall. From helping the kids choose the perfect gift to packing up, your support made it a special experience for everyone. We hope all our mums enjoy their lovely presents and feel truly appreciated!

Looking ahead, our next Community Council Meeting will be held on Thursday 15th May. This meeting will include both our regular agenda and discussions around planning for the school’s upcoming 50th Anniversary celebration. If you have any items or ideas you’d like raised, please send them through by COB Monday 12th May.

Thank you again for being such a supportive school community!

Many thanks,

Gemma Cabot

Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

Fete News

Camp Australia