This week’s Gospel: Mark 1:12-15

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

How often is your child online?

Many of us have a function on of our devices which tells us on a weekly basis whether our screen time is up or down. Access to online for our children is quickly becoming one of the greatest risks they will face. Experts say, it may even be greater than alcohol and drugs. Throughout this year I will share the research, as well as useful resources that might assist and inform you in your decision making. At school, we have very strict guidelines in relation to purpose, access, supervision and balance. A really simple starting point for parents is to keep a tally over the next seven days of how much time your child spends online. This includes apple watches, phones, ipads, computers or any other device where they could access the internet. Please also take into account if they have devices in their bedroom.

Parent and Carer, Teacher meetings

The teachers have commented on how wonderful it has been to meet with parents and add to the picture they have of each of the children in their care. The information you share, add to the already extensive folder of handover notes, previous interactions, academic reporting as well as classroom observations up until today.

Change of Assembly structure

Thank you to our wonderful Year 6 parents who patiently waited for all the students to settle before entering the hall. I had several children come up to me afterwards and say that it was much better. As a result, we will continue this practice. We will send a reminder out to parents before each assembly. I also had parents say it was great to have a bit of social time outside before assembly.

Leadership Assembly and Camp

All in attendance at the leadership assembly witnessed a collection of very mature and responsible leaders. Thank you to all who were able to make this a priority. Thank you also to our staff who have just returned from Camp. I had the pleasure of joining them on Tuesday, spending the day Kayaking with 2 different groups. We are fortunate to have committed and generous staff who give freely of their time. Overnight camps can be exhausting, especially for staff who are on duty 24 hours. I’m sure the next few days in Year 5 and 6 will be very quite.

School Fees

CE are currently finalising school fee accounts. We are expecting that they will be available to you early next week. In contrast to communication from last year, school fees will be based on a termly basis, rather than the whole year at once. There will be further communication via Compass next week.

COVID

I understand that there are no legal requirements in relation to notification. However, if your child has symptoms, or is unwell, please keep them at home. I am also comfortable with you sending me an email, so that I can monitor any evolving situations. Fortunately, our absentee numbers are usually very low and this has again been the pattern for the start of the year.

Thank you for your continued support

Cameron

Congratulations Miss Griffiths!!

Well done on completing your masters degree. 

Congratulations to our Year 6 Leaders who recieved their badges at last weeks assembly.

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of the Lenten season in the church. This is a time of sacrifice and greater prayer in the lead up to Easter. This year St Jude's will once again be taking part in Caritas Australia's Project Compassion. We believe that parent participation is instrumental in fostering a spirit of compassion and unity within our school community, and so we invite you to get actively involved this year with Project Compassion. This year classes will be 'walking for water'. To build an understanding of how far many children in our world have to walk to access clean drinking water, each class will participate in daily water walks. We will record the results in our classroom charts and the main RE display in the corridor. 

If you are interested in donating to our cause please scan the QR code to find out more. We do not have donation boxes for each family this year. They will be in the classrooms and available on request. Please let me know if your family would like to donate in this way. Thank you for your support.  

ELC NEWS

Happy Birthday Harvey K

ELC Arrivals

Our front door will be closed at 8:50am each morning to allow the Seahorse program (Preschool Plus) to finish up. It will be opened again at 9am for our Preschool Only children to enter.  Please note that staff prayer for the whole school occurs at the ELC on Monday mornings so if you see a large number of teachers gathered in your child’s classroom, please drop your bags in the other classroom and educators will help your child unpack it after prayer.

Parent Sharing Meetings

Thank you to those families who have come along to a family sharing meeting to share information about your child and talk about goals for semester one. If you have not yet had a meeting, please contact the teacher directly to arrange a suitable time.  Please remember to complete your Parent Sharing Information sheet prior to your meeting.

Confirmation of Childcare Agreement

Please return your Confirmation of Childcare Agreement to the front office as soon as possible. These are a requirement for CCS.

ELC Fee Statements

ELC Fee statements are sent fortnightly on Tuesdays and direct debits occur on the following Thursday.  Please check the ‘Due Now’ amount at the top of your statement and ensure there are sufficient funds available in your account in order to avoid extra charges from Debit Success. Our statements are backdated so that you have a record of the payments made, and CCS received in the last fortnight.

Newsletter Week 3

• While not many of our spare Library bags have actually come back yet, there have been several donations of bags that we can use so THANK YOU to those families who offered them. We are very appreciative of your thinking of us.
• Chess Club is about to begin – starting next Tuesday at lunchtime in the Library! Years 2 – 6
• Year 5/6 Book Club is also starting up for the year, meeting on Fridays in the Library!
• All the ELC classes have now been to the Library and borrowed books to take home and share with their families so that is a great start too!
• Year 6 started the year with a Book Café where the focus is on sampling some different genres. Here are some pics from that day.

Happy reading!

Verna Comley

Teacher Librarian

LOST PROPERTY

Has anyone lost a fold up chair in a green bag (perhaps from the picnic)?

Also – Size 8 red Tshirt

1 pale yellow lightweight towel

1 purple and green kite

These items are at the Lost Property area near the Library, just waiting to be collected…..

Swimming Carnival

The St Jude's Swimming Carnival last Monday was a wonderful event that showcased the aquatic skills and sportsmanship of our talented young swimmers. The carnival brought together students, parents, and teachers in a celebration of skill, teamwork, and great school spirit.

Each house exhibited its unique cheers, chants, and banners, turning the venue into a sea of colour and happy noise. The friendly rivalry among the houses added an extra layer of excitement to the competitions, with students vying for the coveted House Championship trophy. The winning House will be announced at an assembly very soon. 

Special thanks to Mr Mitchell for his wonderful organisation of the day.

Canteen Volunteers – Week 4

Wednesday 21 February – J. Waterman & one more volunteer please.

Thursday 22 February –  J. Long & S. Maiyo.

Friday 11 August – G. Cabot, J. Kercher & S. Davenport & one more volunteer please.

If you would like to volunteer in the Canteen in Term 1 please email office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au

*Shop Open Friday 23rd of February after assembly 2.45-3.30*

For any and all uniform needs, orders can be placed via the Uniform Shop tab on Qkr!, or via email to: uniform.stjudes@gmail.com for any second hand items. **Please do not make payment for secondhand items, until we reply to your request confirming stock is available. 

Moving through Term 1, our volunteers will pack Qkr! orders throughout the week and deliver to students classrooms. 

AGM – Tuesday 20 February 6pm

Hope to see you there.

Gemma Cabot

Stjudes.scc@gmail.com

Can you believe it is only ONE MONTH until our annual school fete! If this hasn't been on your radar now's the time to put it in your calendar 

Saturday 16 March 10am until 2pm.

There will be loads to keep you and your family entertained, from performances and demonstrations, a myriad of food vendors, to plant stalls, trash and treasure, a book fair and rides galore!! Come one, come all.

This fete is not just for St Jude's families so spread the word and share the love - invite your friends and neighbours to partake in St Jude's community spirit ✨ Are you interested in helping out- please reach out to stjudespsfete@gmail.com or our Fete Coordinator Sarah 0414533117.