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Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,
CEO Sleepout
Tomorrow night’s the big night of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. I’ve chosen my spot and have my sleeping bag and beanie packed. Last week’s Beanie Day raised $460 and, through donations from the wider community, a total of $1904 has so far been raised. I am humbled by and very grateful for your generous support of this appeal.
Archdiocesan Athletics Cancelled
Unfortunately, we have now received information that the Archdiocesan Athletics Carnival will not be going ahead. My sincere apologies to those families who submitted nomination forms. The good news is that we are still intending to hold a school-based Athletics Carnival when social restrictions are lifted.
Parent-Teacher Interviews/Reports
Formal Parent-Teacher Interviews conclude this evening. Thanks to parents for your participation; open communication and a positive relationship with your child’s teacher are a vital part of your child’s success at school. A very big thank you to all the teaching staff for the many hours spent outside of school time preparing for and holding interviews.
The Semester 1 Report will be sent home at the end of the term and covers work completed in both Term 1 and Term 2. Student achievement will be reported as an A-E grade for Year 1 to Year 6 in the three core areas of Religious Education, English and Mathematics (Kindergarten students do not receive A-E grades; their achievement is reported using a three-point scale of Competent, Developing and Experiencing Difficulty). Other subjects and strands may receive a grade if the teacher has sufficient evidence of learning, otherwise ‘Not assessed’ will be displayed. This is in recognition that, although learning throughout the semester has been rigorous, the circumstances of schooling mean that in some subjects or strands it may not be possible to make an overall judgement about a student’s achievement against specific curriculum outcomes.
A new section ‘Engagement with Learning’ has been developed to replace the ‘Personal and Social Capabilities’. The new statements are based on the Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities and target four key areas of learning engagement: Thinking, Communication, Responsibility and Collaboration. The inclusion of the ‘Engagement with Learning’ statements means that the General Comment section of the report is no longer required; the statements give detailed information on your child’s approach to learning.
This week’s winner of the House Spirit Challenge, for their outstanding participation in the Beanie Challenge, was Fielding House. And by coincidence, Fielding is the final House name to examine in my series on this aspect of our school’s history.
Fielding House is named for Sister Mary Paul Fielding, who was appointed Superioress (Mother) of Mt Carmel following its founding in 1876. Mother Fielding was one of four Sisters of Mercy who travelled by sailing ship from Ireland and, after a journey of 14 weeks at sea then overland by horse and carriage, arrived in Yass in December 29th 1875. Mother Fielding is remembered for her faith, courage adventurous spirit and tremendous apostolic work. The Fielding House colour, blue, reminds us of the vast journey across the blue ocean that Mother Paul Fielding travelled to get to Australia from Ireland.
Lost Property
Can I ask all families for your help in minimising lost property by, firstly, ensuring that all items of uniform are clearly labelled with your child's name and, secondly, regularly checking that the jackets and jumpers that your child brings home are their own. Any named lost property that is handed in at school is always returned to its owner; however, it is not uncommon for familes to have named uniform items go missing and the cause is almost always that another student has inadvertently taken someone else's jacket or jumper home.
Hours of Supervision
A reminder that supervision at school is provided between the hours of 8:30am and 3:40pm. For the sake of students' safety we ask that all families ensure children are not at school unsupervised before or after these hours.
May God’s peace be in your families,
GOSPEL: John 6:51-58
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.' Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
REFLECTION
This week Jesus tells his disciples: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.” However, he doesn’t stop there. Jesus continues: “The bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Each of these statements of Jesus must have been pretty outlandish to the people of his day. Today if an individual told us that they would live forever, most likely we would consider them a bit off their rocker!
Yet Jesus then expands this analogy of flesh and blood. He tells his listeners: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” He also promises them that if they eat his flesh and drink his blood, they will have eternal life. And they will be “raised up” on the last day. Imagine how they reacted to this statement! Yet, what a wondrous promise, far-fetched though it sounds.
When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ at Eucharist, are we truly aware of whom (Jesus) we are receiving? Or are we simply going through the motions? Jesus came to earth for us. Jesus gave his life for us. And Jesus gives himself to us every time we celebrate Eucharist and receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Do we appreciate this wondrous gift? Do we give thanks to Jesus for giving his life to save us?
The miracle is that Jesus is still in our midst! He walks on this earth and is present to us. However, we have to have open eyes and an expanded heart to “see” him. Be awake today! He is in your midst! (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)
MASS SERVICES
Mass services at St Augustine's Church have recommenced. The following information has been provided by the Presbytery.
A Vigil Mass will be held at 6pm and Sunday morning at 10:15am, both held in St. Augustine’s. These masses will be limited to all parishioners, so for further information, please check with the parish office. Weekday Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday 5:30pm, Thursday 7:30pm and Friday 12noon. Mass at Gunning will be at the usual time, 8:30am Sunday.
VINNIES CEO SLEEPOUT
Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. That’s why Vinnies is raising money to provide people experiencing homelessness and people at risk of homelessness with vital access to food and accommodation. They also provide education, counselling, employment and health services to help people overcome poverty in the long term.
To support this worthy cause, our own principal, Michael Green, will be participating by spending a night outdoors to raise funds for those more needy people in our community. Last week we all wore beanies in exchange for a donation and together raised $460 to support Mr Green. If you were unable to contribute last week and would still like to donate to the cause, you are able to use the following link. https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/michaelgreen/canberra
With temperatures set to drop to 3 degrees, we wish Mr Green the best!
God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
Religious Education Coordinator
Mt Carmel’s Message Stick for NAIDOC Week
This year to celebrate NAIDOC Week in our Archdiocese, each school has been asked to create a message stick which will form a central display in Canberra. Each message stick tells a story of the school it came from and its community. Our school is in the centre which is a meeting place for our community. The name Yass is believed to be derived from the Aboriginal word 'Yharr', meaning 'running water.' The Yass river runs into the school from both sides. The green dots are our grassy plains and the Bogong moth represents the totem symbol for our area.
House Spirit Handball Competition
This week, the students will be competing in the Handball House Spirit Challenge! Thank you to Mr Dunstan for organising this challenge. If you would like to view the video Mr Dunstan and the SRC put together, please click the link below.
https://safeYouTube.net/w/i1wL
The Mt Carmel School Uniform Shop is open each Tuesday afternoon between 2.30pm– 4.00pm during school terms.
Ordering Options - Uniform orders can be placed online via Qkr! or by order form, which can be collected and paid for from the front office.
All Qkr! orders placed before 2pm each Tuesday will be bundled up and sent home with your child on Wednesday afternoon.
Please note that if the incorrect size/item is ordered or the size selected does not fit correctly, please return the item along with a note regarding changes required and the correct size/item can be sent home.