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Dear Parents, Teachers and Students,
World Teachers’ Day
Australia celebrates World Teachers’ Day this Friday 30 October. I am conscious of the cliché, but teaching truly is a noble profession and I am grateful every day for the generosity, talent, patience, commitment and, above all, love that our wonderful teachers bring to their work. I encourage every student at Mt Carmel to take the time to personally thank their teacher on Friday.
Socktober
And just so the day’s not all about the teachers, this Friday, students are invited to bring a gold coin donation and wear crazy socks and their favourite sports jersey to help Catholic Mission “Sock it to Poverty”.
https://www.socktober.org.au
Book Week
We had a very exciting week last week and it was wonderful that so many families joined the live stream of our virtual Book Week Parade. If you haven’t yet had the chance to check it out, you can still see the parade via the following link:
https://cgcatholic.zoom.us/rec/share/oMKzOIIeVnFklVQr9i6Y0-als4S14LYPulIGHBPJhdkEL9cI4llvmcf0-xl7xw6Z.DQdy52eOdStynLEJ
A tremendous thank you to Mrs Turner and Mrs Patmore for the love that goes into transforming the Library for Book Week each year. Thanks also to Mat Broers, Dennis Garland, Tanya McPherson and Cassie Streatfield for their help with the BBQ.
All Saints Day Prayer Assembly
Next Monday 3EG will be hosting our All Saints Day prayer service. A link will be provided via SZapp and email for families who would like to join us in prayer.
Kindergarten Orientation
Next Wednesday will be our first Kinder Orientation session and we are very excited to be welcoming next year’s Kinder to Mt Carmel. Staggered start times for drop-off have been emailed to all families; please contact the school office if you need to confirm your time. The Uniform Shop will be holding special Kinder Fittings from 12:00pm to 1:00pm in the PAC on the second and third weeks of orientation.
Class Placements 2021
Parents are invited to email me with regard to any considerations you may have for your child’s class placement for 2021. These considerations should be important for the education and wellbeing of your child. Requests for a particular teacher, gender of a teacher, multiple friends etc, are usually not appropriate nor a priority. It is very important for parents to understand that creating classes is detailed and exacting work completed by the teachers to ensure that your child is placed in an appropriate class group each year. When considering class groupings, teachers will look specifically at your child’s educational and social needs and place them with a teacher and peers that will support their development. Requests are to be emailed to me at: michael.green@cg.catholic.edu.au by Friday 6 November 2020. Please be aware that each request will be considered separately and by no means are all requests met. Requests from previous years are not kept on file or considered, as situations change each year. If you would like a previous request to be considered again, you are asked to send in a new request for 2021.
Departing Students
Schools are required to record destination schools for all departing students. I ask that all families of Year 6 students inform us as soon as possible of the high school your child will be attending. In the Forms & Documents tab on the school website and app is a Year 6 2021 Destination eForm. I also request that any K-5 families moving from Mt Carmel at the end of this year send me an email (michael.green@cg.catholic.edu.au) as soon as possible indicating your intentions along with your destination. Much of this term is spent preparing for next year and our student numbers need to be accurate. Thank you for assisting us with this information gathering.
May God’s peace be in your families,
Welcome to Week 3! Year 5 and Year 6 students have started their Religious Education unit of work by watching ‘The Letters’ exploring the life of Mother Teresa. This provocation was used to generate interest in the characteristics of a Saint. Provocations encourage students to think independently by encouraging their interests and the exploration of those interests.
What do you think is going on?
What does it make you wonder?
Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to put him to the test, one of them put a further question, 'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?' Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too (Michael Fallon, 2020).
Jesusʼ reply to the Pharisee lawyer expresses traditional wisdom. The first commandment, called the Shemaʻ after its first word in Hebrew, is found in Deuteronomy, where it is followed by the injunction:
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:6-9
It was a pious practice to wear a small container with this text inside. It was worn on the forehead as a reminder to keep the command always before oneʼs eyes. It was worn on the arm as a reminder to act always in accordance with it. A mezuzah which contained the text of the Shemaʻ was also hung at the entrance to the home (Michael Fallon, 2020).
World of the Text (What is the text saying? What does it mean?)
In this sacred text, the Pharisees decide to test Jesus. They had heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. They gathered around Jesus, and one of the scholars of the law asked Jesus: “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” Naturally, Jesus replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.” Jesus affirmed that this commandment was the first and the greatest of all the commandments. Jesus then continued and said: “The second commandment is similar: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments ” (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau, 2015).
World in front of the Text (What does this text mean today?)
Jesus calls us to love each and every person we encounter: the ones we like as well as the individuals we prefer to keep our distance from.
How can I strive to keep Jesus’ call in my mind and heart?
How can I strive to love each and every person I encounter?
A Spirituality for our Times: Practising Care and Tenderness
A reflective afternoon for women inspired Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.
Hosted by the Archdiocesan Women’s Taskforce
Facilitators: Clare Condon SGS and Andrea Dean
Offered via Zoom Saturday 7 November from 3 pm to 4.30 pm
Register here https://bit.ly/CareTenderness
May peace be with you,
Eva Karakotas
Religious Education Coordinator (Acting)
Lacey Library News - Book Week 2020
Wow! We did get to celebrate Children’s Book Week at Mt Carmel School in a different way this year! The CBCA theme for this year is “Curious Creatures Wild Minds”.
The Library centred around the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
The class displays which were based around their CBCA shortlist book and they were amazing. If you would like to take a virtual tour of the class displays, click here.
Thank you staff and children for your creations and Mr Green for creating a virtual tour of the displays.
The Year 5 library monitors performed “The Monster Shuffle” then taught the whole school the dance. Well done Year 5 Library Monitors!
The Book Week parade had a different atmosphere, but it was wonderful that we could get to see close ups of the children’s book character costume, which looked fabulous! Please click here to view the virtual parade.
The staff were very curious characters with wild minds. A special thank you to Tanya McPherson, Cassie Streatfield for organising the BBQ boxes and Mat Broers and Dennis Garland for cooking the BBQ so as the students could have a warm sausage sandwich after their special parade.
A sincere thank you to Mrs Lynne Patmore for her creativity and extra help.
Book Week is a special time for our students and it allows the library to change for two weeks and show how your children celebrate literature through their class displays guided by their creative teachers.
Access to the vitual parade and class displays can be access via the Parents tab on the school website. If you would like to view either, please click here.
Ev Turner
Teacher/Librarian
Canberra Goulburn/Wollongong AFL Trial Information 2021
Date: Tuesday 16th February
Time: 9am – 2:00pm
Venue: South Thomas Dalton Park Fairy Meadow (South Fields)
Uniform: Football attire- mouthguards compulsory. A numbered AFL Jersey
Registration: Please complete the Expression of Interest Form on our Website. https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/nominations
This will be considered by your Sports Coordinator and the CEO Sports Coordinator. The Expression of Interest will either be accepted or not accepted due to a variety of reasons. Your Sports Coordinator will inform you if your Expression of Interest has been approved or not.
Cost: $5.00. This is to cover administration and hire costs - Please pay cash on the day
Canteen: Students should bring their own lunch, drinks and snacks.
Selection: The purpose of the trial is to select a team of up to 22 players to represent the combined Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn and Wollongong at the MacKillop AFL Selection trials. CONVENOR: Benjamin Woods
Enquiries: Sherree Bush (CEO) Ph: 0409 305 296 Sherree.bush@cg.catholic.edu.au
Please Note: These trials are open to boys and girls.
Esther Glover
Year 3 Class Teacher/ Sport Coordinator
Sushi not available this Friday
Unfortunatelty this Friday, 30 October, the canteen will be not be offering sushi on the lunch menu. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Next Friday, 6 November will be the last week sushi will be available.
Dietary Requirments
The Banana muffins sold as a snack item are both gluten free and lactose free.
The butter (Nuttelex) and mayonnaise (Colway) used in the canteen are both gluten and lactose free.