Lord make Me an instrument of Your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy

O divine Master, grant that I may
Not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved, as to love

For it's in giving that we receive
And it's in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it's in dying that we are born
To eternal life.

Amen.

We have had another wonderful week, with plenty of highlights. However, we also received some sad news, the passing of the founding Principal of St Jude’s, Sr Irmina. Sister was 91 years old and was very healthy until she contracted COVID 19 just before Christmas.

A reflection by her siblings:

Sister Irmina had a beautiful heart and a beautiful soul. She had a great trust in our Lord and what was promised to those who followed Him. Sister did the Lord’s work in many parts of the world, deeply touching many people old and young alike. She was always grateful for the friendships provided and she valued these friendships until the day she died.

While in hospital, in a recent phone conversation, Sister said “Rejoice with me, Rejoice with me always”. Sister Irmina was greatly loved and respected. She was our rock, although she is no longer with us, she will live forever in our hearts. Rest in Peace dear sister.

Norbert, Rita, Phyllis, Theresa

Sister Irmina always placed others first and would ask that we continue to keep in our prayers, all who are being affected by COVID 19.

Parent Information Night

Thank you to our teachers and Parents for making this a priority. There was a great deal of year level specific information spoken about. Electronic copies of this information was sent out via email yesterday. Teachers also circulated a timesheet from which you could choose a time to meet with the teacher to share any valuable information which you believe the teacher needs to know about your child. This is not compulsory; however, it is there if you need it.

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to Leanne Thomas for coordinating a very smooth event. A perfect balance between competition and participation. Thank you to House Captains and parent volunteers for also assisting with this event.

Beginning of Year Mass

Students gathered in the church to celebrate the beginning of the school year. Thank you to Brigitta van Deas for leading the community and creating a reverent and reflective celebration. As a growing school it was wonderful to have as many students as possible participate and sing with full voice.

Year 6 Leadership Induction

As a result of COVID 19, to ensure that Year 6 parents can attend, we have separated this from the Beginning of Year Mass. This will occur in the school hall from 2pm on Friday 12 February. As a result of COVID 19, a maximum of 2 adults per Year 6 family are invited. We look forward to welcoming our year 6 leaders, many of whom have already started their leadership roles.

Commissioning of School Staff

At the 9am Mass on Sunday 14 February, held at St John Vianney’s Church, all school staff will receive a formal blessing from Father Michael. We will also be joined by the staff of St John Vianney’s. We look forward to catching up with students and families who may also be attending.

A few other reminders:

Community Council AGM

A reminder that our Community Council AGM is coming up. We are looking for people to nominate for key positions. Charlotte and her team have done an amazing job and are looking forward to transitioning in a new team. More information to come.

Asthmatics

As you would be aware, we have begun our morning fitness on Wednesday and Friday mornings. If your child is an asthmatic, we ask that you make sure they have had their preventative before coming to school, if they require it, and take their Ventolin before the run. We always have Ventolin on the track and in the front office.

SMART watches and Phones

I would like to remind parents that smart watches are treated the same as phones at school if messages are sent to them. If text messages are sent to smart watches, then children are required to leave their smart watch in their school bag each day. At this school, children may check for messages at the start of lunch and recess, but smart watches and phones are left in school bags. Any messages for students can be received via the front office. We want to ensure that students are not being distracted from their learning. As a school, we also want to be able to guide and support students in being able to solve problems with the support of peers and school staff whilst on the premises.

Cameron Reed
Principal

H a p p y  B i r t h d a y  t o

Sophia H, Owen B, Esther S, Audrey P, Allegra J, Harry W, Rimmon B, Harrison D and Jake P.

Family Fee Statements

Fee statements will be emailed to families this week. If you do not receive your fee statement, please contact the front office. If you have any queries concerning your statement, please contact the front office: office.stjudes@cg.catholic.edu.au or 6288 7688.

Car Park

A reminder to please take your time and drive slowly and with caution when entering and exiting the school premises. Please slow down at the school crossing located near the hall entrance. Families and staff members use this crossing, so please be vigilant at all times.

School Communication

—SZApp

The school uses the SZApp app on mobile phones as one way of communicating with parents and carers. For those new to the school please download the app from your app store. See our website (https://stjudesps.act.edu.au/stjuszapp) or visit the school website, then the ‘For Parents’ tab, SZApp.

Occasionally we send information which targets a specific grade. Please open the SZApp and select Manage, and select the grade for each of your children. Make sure that you unselect the grades that you do not want to receive specific information. With each grade unselected results in you receiving messages relating to all grades.

If you no longer want to receive messages via the SZApp, please open the SZApp on your device, select Manage, scroll to the bottom of that page and select Unsubscribe.

—Qkr! App

The Qkr! app is a convenient and quick way for parents to pay for canteen lunch orders, uniform clothing items and special event purchases. Instructions for downloading Qkr! are here: https://stjudesps.act.edu.au/qkr

Scholastic Book Club Issue 1 2021

Scholastic Book Club catalogues have been distributed to students. If you did not receive a catalogue, please visit the following link to view the catalogue and submit your online orders:
https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/

NO CASH will be accepted. All orders are processed online only. Please refer to instructions below for ordering online.  All orders are due by 21 February.

Today we celebrated the beginning of our year with our Opening School Mass. This also celebrated our whole school focus on Psalm 105:119 ‘Your word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path’. Over the week students have been creating artistic representations of our passage. You can view some wonderful creations in the hallway of the school.

Tomorrow we welcome Year 6 parents to the Hall at 2pm for our Leadership Ceremony. We congratulate all of our year 6 students and look forward to watching them grow in faith and love this year, as they fulfill their responsibilities as school leaders. 

The Season of Lent

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Season of Lent. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This means it is a time where we pray, act kindly, show mercy and give to others, as we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Easter.

For forty days, we accompany Jesus on his passionate journey to Calvary and we see the mercy he shows, despite his suffering. Like Jesus, we try to show mercy to others and we work to renew our relationship with God. During these forty days, Lenten reflections will be provided for you, weekly.

Project Compassion Sunday

This Sunday 14 February is Project Compassion Sunday. Please take home a Project Compassion box and/or a set of donation envelopes and support Caritas Australia this Lenten season, which inspires us to “Be More”. You will be helping empower our world’s most vulnerable communities to grow stronger and share their strengths with their communities to lift themselves out of poverty. Each week we will share a story of someone who is working to be more for their community and transform lives.

“Aspire not to have more, but to be more.” Saint Oscar Romero

https://lent.caritas.org.au/ 

Sacramental Preparation

Next Thursday 18 February, 6.00pm to 7.00pm at St John Vianney’s Church we have our Sacrament Information Night. This is for ALL PARENTS of ALL SACRAMENTS. The night will provide important information about the key dates, expectations and formation for both you and your child. We look forward to seeing you there.

God bless

This week the afternoon Seahorses celebrated International Pizza Day and made their own pizzas. This activity led to a conversation about their favourite foods. If you have a well liked recipe that you would like to share with the Seahorses, please send it along with your child or email a copy to the ELC office. If your family enjoys celebrating a special day/occasion, please let us know, as we would love to incorporate celebrations into our programs.

Entertainment Book

If you are looking for a gift that will keep giving for a year, have a look at the Entertainment Book for Mother’s Day or birthday gifts, or for everyday savings for your family. To purchase a digital book, scan the QR code and follow the prompts. 20 % of sales will go towards the ELC. We thank you for your support and hope that you enjoy the many offers and discounts the Entertainment Book provides.

ELC Accounts

A friendly reminder that ELC accounts for weeks 3 and 4 are due tomorrow, Friday 12 February. If you did not receive your account, please contact the ELC as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding fees, please do not hesitate to contact the ELC office.

Community Council Meeting

The CC meeting is on Tuesday 16 February in the school Library, starting at 6pm. All welcome!

Family Information Night

Thank you to those of you who attended our Family Information Night on Tuesday evening. For families who were not able to attend, please refer to our ELC information book on the St Jude’s website.

Family/Teacher Sharing Meetings

Teachers are looking forward to meeting with you in the next two weeks during Family/ Teacher Sharing meetings. If you have not yet selected a time, please add your name to your child’s class roster. Contact your child’s teacher if you require further information about where to/ how to book.

SZApp

Our school uses the SZApp as one of our main forms of communication with parents and caregivers. You can also subscribe to receive our weekly school Newsletter (each Thursday). Parents and caregivers are encouraged to download the app from the Apple iTunes store or the Google Play Store. For further instructions please click on the 'For Parents’ tab on the school website.

Fitness Run

On Wednesday and Friday mornings we will be continuing our fitness run in our local community. If your child is unable to participate in this physical activity, could you please provide a written note to their classroom teacher.

Swimming Carnival

We had a fabulous day at the swimming carnival! More news to come next week. In the meantime a huge thank you to those people who offer their valuable time and assisted us at the carnival. 

And the Sports Award goes to Dixon! Congratulations Dixon!!

Lunch Time Sports

On a Friday during lunch, our sports captains will be running a new sport each week. If you would like to be involved, please go and ask them on Friday, to include you in play. This week, our wonderful Hindmarsh team will be guiding us in a soccer game.

Tennis Open Day

Weston Creek Tennis club will be holding an open day on Saturday 13 February for parents, friends, and students. Please see our website for more information if you are interested in joining in

Saints Netball Club

Registrations are now open to join Saints Netball Club. The links to register can be found on their website http://anasaintsnc.act.netball.com.au/

Players from Year 2 are welcome. If players are in Year 1 and would like to play they should contact us at anasaintsnetball@gmail.com

Orienteering SC-ORE

On Thursday 11 March at 8am, Orienteering ACT will be holding a schools orienteering competition at St Jude’s and Montessori Schools. Teams are made up of four students (2 girls and 2 boys) from Year 3, 4, 5, and 6. If you think your child would be interested could you please either email leanne.thomas@cg.catholic.edu.au or check out the invitation on our website.

AFL with the Weston Creek Molonglo Wildcats are looking for players. Their home ground Stirling 101.

• AUSKICK ROOKIES (4 to 6 girls & boys) https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/e26a8d
• AUSKICK PRO (7 to 8 girls & boys) https://www.playhq.com/afl/register/772dad
• U9’s - U17’s Girls & Boys https://membership.sportstg.com/regoform.cgi?aID=4117&pKey=5d97e3e7fdaef9a6f392430b04af1ae8&cID=1396&formID=36056

Next week, our Year 3 students will be treated to a Bagpiping performance from Ken Fraser. Thank you Ken for sharing your skills and explaining the bagpipes to our students here at St Jude’s.

Our Year 4, 5 and 6 classes will continue to practice their African Drumming, Djembe skills, for our school fete.

Our junior students have been learning about songs and dances which are all around us. This week we have learnt the Haka and a Sea Shanty by John Kanaka with a cup accompaniment.

Welcoming New Choristers!

Woden Valley Youth Choir is an exciting and dynamic choir for young people aged 8 to 25. We are proud to offer so many positive benefits to our members: learning to sing with confidence, enhanced self esteem, improved performance skills, and a solid music education. As a WVYC Chorister, we don’t just sing, we become musicians.

Woden Valley Youth Choir has six groups which form the choir:

• Nova Voices – Lower Primary Choir
• Borealis Voices – Upper Primary/ Lower Secondary choir
• Australis Voices – Secondary/Tertiary Treble Choir
• Centauri Voices – Secondary choir for young men with changing or changed voices
• Aurora Vocal Ensemble – extension a cappella group for selected members of Borealis Voices
• Spectra Vocal Ensemble – extension a cappella group for selected members of Australis Voices and Centauri Voices 

Rehearsals are held at Charles Weston School in Coombs on Tuesday afternoon/evening during school terms. For more information, including about our music staff and fees, please see https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.wvyc.org.au__;!!Ax-PnKpllFIIgPxB!2BnPJZNBPiNCsba03oVxS3THB5ymbJtAcvRR23Tpu5Dz7XyNQ8GR5NgO1FOhzgYyUvCm85wBfAW_5Q$

Open Day is Tuesday 23 February 2021. Would you like to experience the choir before committing? Our next intake for new members will be March 2021. 

An open rehearsal will be held on Tuesday 23 February at Building 6, Charles Weston School Coombs, 80 Woodberry Avenue, Coombs. 

• Primary school children: 4.30pm – 5.30pm
• Secondary school/tertiary aged: 6.00pm – 7.00pm

Auditions to join WVYC will be held on Saturday 27 February, or at a mutually arranged time. Please register your interest by emailing wvyc.director@gmail.com

For more information about the choir and to download an application form go to wvyc.org.au https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://wvyc.org.au/__;!!Ax-PnKpllFIIgPxB!2BnPJZNBPiNCsba03oVxS3THB5ymbJtAcvRR23Tpu5Dz7XyNQ8GR5NgO1FOhzgYyUvCm85xynneuzw$

If you have further questions, please call 1300 599 655.

All children in ELC have been to visit the Library now and borrowed books. If any parents would like their children to change their books more often, they are very welcome to drop into the Library before or after school to do so.

We have been talking about the “Goldilocks” rule for choosing “Just Right” books to borrow. Is your book too hard? Too easy? Or just right?

Happy reading!

The Mulleyduds Uniform Shop will be open on
Thursday 11 February 3.00pm to 3.30pm
for new and second hand school uniform. 

To all families who have ordered green school jumpers, the jumpers have  now arrived. All back orders are being processed and will be delivered to students this week.

Please note that the maroon and green jumpers in sizes 6, 8 and 10 are currently not available on Qkr! but will be reinstated once the new stock arrives.

We thank you for your continued patience with the slow arrival of school uniform stock, due to the current COVID-19 situation.

Uniform orders can be paid for via Qkr! or with cash. All uniform orders, enquires, etc, should be directed to the uniform shop at uniform.stjudes@gmail.com

Download the Qkr! app to order online.

St Jude's would like to thank our wonderful volunteers for giving us their time to run the Mulleyduds Uniform Shop. We would be lost without you!

Community Council Needs You!

The Community Council AGM and regular meeting will be held at 6pm on Tuesday 16 February 2021 in the school Library. All parents and members of the school community are invited to attend. At the AGM, the following positions will be open for election:

Chair: responsible for running the Community Council meetings, liaising with the school and school community and representing the parent body in occasional meetings or staff selection panels. Approximate time commitment of (on average) 1 hour per week.

Vice Chair: responsible for supporting the Chair, running meetings when the Chair is absent, Chairperson of the Fundraising Committee. Approximate time commitment of (on average) 0.5 hours per week.

Secretary: responsible for generating and distributing minutes and agendas for Community Council meetings. Approximate time commitment of 4 hours per term.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at the email below. You can also register your interest in nominating for one of these positions by emailing me at the address below, as well as Cameron Reed at cameron.reed@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Fete 2021

As school kicks off for the year, so do the preparations for the 2021 ‘Spirit’ fete. COVID 19 has raised some challenges for us, but our committee is working hard with Catholic Education to ensure our fete is able to go ahead within the appropriate COVID 19 guidelines. We will be holding two mufti-days this term for donations. Keep your eyes open for more information, but in the meantime, you can start collecting items for Trash or Treasure and Tombola.

We are still seeking coordinators for a number of stalls. Please consider whether one of these might suit you, as we will shortly assign remaining stalls to classes if we do not have volunteer coordinators. The following stalls still require coordinators:

• Nachos
• BBQ
• Chip on a Stick
• Drinks Stand
• Ticket Sales
• Fairy Floss
• Gelato
• Lolly Stall
• Raffles

Please email me at the address below if you would like to coordinate one of these stalls.

Trash or Treasure

Please check the flyer in the newsletter for details.

Weekend Mass Times in the Parish

Saturday 5.00pm
Sunday 5.00pm
St Jude's Church, 55 Mulley Street Holder

Sunday 9.00am
St John Vianney Church, 87 Namatjira Drive Waramanga

Hi, my name is Maria Corson and I am the new CSYMA Youth Minister working at St Jude’s Primary School and our Parish of the Annunciation for the year. I will be working at St Jude's Primary School on Mondays. As a Youth Minister, my aim in 2021 is to help students to strengthen their spiritual and faith lives. My hope for this year is that we may all grow in a deeper, more personal relationship with God. I am very excited to start this position and would love to have a chat, feel free to catch me anytime. Below are some of the Youth Ministry events happening at St Jude’s Primary and in the Parish for term one. Watch this space for future updates.

Parish Youth Ministry Program 2021 - Term 1

Sunday Youth Group Details

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @westoncreekyouthministry for the social updates.

The St Jude's Trash and Treasure Shed will be open on:

Sunday 14 February, 10.00am to 11.00am.

Tuesday 16 February, 2.45pm to 3.30pm.

Tuesday 23 February, 2.45pm to 3.30pm.

School Banking is every Friday morning, unless advised otherwise.

 If your child is interested in participating in our school banking program, please pick up an information brochure from the front office.​