Swimming Carnival
Last Friday’s Swimming Carnival was a wonderful day. Thank you to Mrs Esther Glover for her organisation of this event; it is always a monumental task! My sincere thanks also to the large number of parent volunteers without whom we could not run a carnival. We were also very fortunate to have the assistance of several students from Yass High School who helped with timekeeping, novelty events and as in-pool helpers for the 25m events. Thanks to Mrs Emma McEvoy for her delicious catering and to all of our teachers for their support and assistance on a long, hot day in the sun. Congratulations to the 35 students who have progressed to the Northern Region carnival in Queanbeyan this Friday; swim well, and good luck! Ribbons and age champion medalions will be presented on Monday morning, 17 February during morning assembly. 


Opening Mass
Our opening school Mass and induction of student leaders will be held at 9:45am tomorrow in St Augustine’s Church. All parents and families are warmly invited to share this celebration with us. There will be a morning tea for our new student leaders and their families in the Staff Room after Mass. 

Welcome BBQ and Open Classrooms
Next Wednesday 19 February we have our welcome BBQ and Open Classroom Night. You are all warmly invited to join us for a family BBQ at 5pm to meet and mingle with other families and Mt Carmel staff. I will lead a brief address in the PAC at 5:45pm, followed by Open Classrooms throughout the school from 6 to 7pm. There are no scheduled times for particular classes and teachers, please feel free to visit your child’s classroom with them at your convenience. It will be an opportunity for your child to show you the work they have been doing so far this year and for you to meet your child’s teacher, if you haven’t already, and find out about routines and information specific to each class. Please note, though, that this is not an occasion for individual parent-teacher meetings. To assist with planning, I ask that you RSVP for the BBQ by this Friday via the SZapp App. 

Mt Carmel Playgroup
Katrina Hodges will be running our Mt Carmel Playgroup again this year, starting next Thursday 20 February, in the Playgroup Room off the Dutton Street entrance to the Performing Arts Centre from 9-11am. Cost is $3 for the first child, then $1 for any additional children and includes morning tea. All welcome! 


Kindergarten Rest Days and Assessment
A reminder to all our new Kindergarten families that Rest Days will continue on Wednesdays until Week 6. The final rest day will be on March 4, with full weeks commencing in Week 7. If you have not yet made an appointment time with your child’s teacher for the Best Start Kindergarten Assessment, please contact the school office as soon as possible – bookings are filling fast!

Pancake Breakfast
Ash Wednesday this year falls on 26 February, Week 5, marking the start of Lent, the period of preparation leading up to Easter, and we will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday with our traditional Pancake Breakfast. Pancakes will be served from 7:30am in the school kitchen; all are welcome and gluten-free and dairy-free pancakes will be available. A big thanks, in advance, to the teachers and SRC members who come in early to cook and serve. During Lent, our school canteen will not be serving meat on Fridays; fish cocktails and fish burgers will be available to order on Fridays instead. 

Uniform
A friendly reminder to all families of the importance of wearing correct school uniform, including socks, hats and jackets/jumpers. If you have any difficulties obtaining correct uniform, please feel free to contact me directly.

Phones
Many families provide a mobile telephone for their child for safety reasons, especially when travelling to and from school independently. Mobile telephones are not to be used during the school day, and we ask that students leave them for safekeeping at the school office, to be collected at 3:10pm. Developments in technology have seen a variety of phone-enabled watches now available on the market; if families choose to provide one of these for their child the same policy applies: telephones are not to be used during the school day and we ask that they be left at the office for safekeeping or set to school-mode (telephone disabled) during school hours. Telephones used during school hours, including watches, will be confiscated.

May God’s peace be in your families, 

Michael Green
Principal