St Monica's Primary North Parramatta Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

St Augustine’s insight into life was this: “When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from the light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.”

This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, where we are invited to prepare for the commemoration of God’s coming by taking time to have a closer look inside ourselves away from the busy outside.  The word Advent is Old English, from the Latin adventus ‘arrival’, originally from advenire, from ad- ‘to’ + venire ‘come’.

As we wait for the arrival of Christ, and as we look inside, we are reminded that it is not about remorse or regret, nor about listing ways life over the past year could have been different; it’s not about wishing we were better people.  It’s about forward movement, getting new bearings, relying more on God for directions.  It’s about a fresh start, getting closer to the “fire” and the “light” that are God’s love and compassion.  Advent is a time to “Rejoice, let your gentleness be known to everyone.  The Lord is nigh.” St Paul Phil 4:4,5

Lisa Crampton
Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

As St Monica's is now a cashless school, we have introduced the new "St Monica's Cash Card" for purchasing Zooper Doopers and Icy Poles at lunch time.

Each cash card is worth $5.00 (10 x 50c) and will be available for purchase via the Qkr! App. 

When purchasing your card:

• Please purchase a separate card for each child.  
• Ensure your child's profile details are correct  - especially their Homeroom Group. 

Once payment is received, a cash card will be created for your child and stored securely to prevent loss or theft.

Your child will then be able to use their cash card to purchase 50c Zooper Doopers (Mon-Thur) and $1.00 Icy Poles (Fri).  

Please be advised that Zooper Doopers and Icy Poles will not be sold at lunchtimes when students are indoors due to wet weather. 

Please note that no cash will be accepted.

SMNP Staff

The following students will be receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week: 

Alessia LM, Liam F, Aiden F, Ivy T, Elijah E, Jessica K, Amelia B,
Lana S, Mia F, Victoria Y, Sarah T, Skylar N, 

Mr Andrew Baker
Religious Education Coordinator 

As part of our community outreach this year, we will be participating in the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper Appeal. Throughout our Religious Education lessons this year, students have been taught the importance of helping those who are vulnerable in our community. 

To ensure we have a variety of items donated, please use the following suggestions of what to bring based on which grade your child is in: 

(Please note: The items listed above are only suggestions for each grade. If you would like to donate a different item from the list we will gladly accept it and appreciate your generosity). 

We are not currently accepting donations due to COVID restrictions - we are trying to limit the number of volunteers coming onsite to collect donations - please send in donations in Week 10 only. 

We have organised for the St Vincent de Paul team to collect our donations on Monday 13th December at our End of Year Assembly. The volunteers will then sort all of the items (along with Parish donations) into Christmas Hampers that will be donated to those who are most in need this Christmas. We are blessed to be able to teach our children such a valuable lesson of giving to others. 

As we have limited space to store items, we ask that families please bring in any donations during Week 10 of this term (Monday 6th - Friday 10th December). Please ensure all donated items will not go ‘out of date’ before Christmas. 

Many thanks in advance for your generosity,

Mr Andrew Baker
Religious Education Coordinator

Thank you to Mr Chandra & Ms Williams (Joshua S2B) for printing our 2022 Parent Handbooks and Merit Awards. 

Our school community is very grateful for your generosity. 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Just a reminder that as mentioned in the last newsletter,  Term 4 school fee statements were due to be finalised by Thursday 18th November. Thank you to all the families who have finalised their fees.

If you are experiencing hardship & need support, please contact School Fees via email at mnic-parfees@parra.catholic.edu.au or contact the school on 02 8832 4100.

Lata Rebello
Senior Finance Officer

A reminder that supervision at St Monica's commences from 8:20am.  There is no supervision for students prior to this time.  Thank you to everyone who has ensured their children have not been at school early!

We fortunately have Before and After School Care available onsite at St Monica's, through Ambrose School Age Care, previously known as St Monica's Catholic Out of School Hours Care (COSHC).  If you require care for your children before 8:20am please contact them on 0429 990 179 or stmparramatta@cdpsl.org.au

Thank you for wearing a mask at drop off and pick up!

SMNP Staff

Dear Parents,

Parramatta Diocesan Primary students enrolled in Year 5 and 6 in 2022 are invited to participate in the Parramatta Diocesan Team Sport Trials during Term One & Two in 2022.

Students in Year 4 in 2022  may nominate for the sports of Basketball, Hockey, Softball, Tennis & Touch Football only. 

It is important to note that these trials are generally for those students that MUST demonstrate an ABOVE AVERAGE ability, HIGH LEVEL OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT or in particular sports demonstrate REPRESENTATIVE playing experience in their nominated sport.

In most sports, students should have experience playing regular competition outside of school. 

To facilitate this, Parramatta Diocesan trials will be held in some sports and others are through CSNSW Sport at MacKillop level and nominations will be available through the CSNSW Sport portal in 2022.

ELIGIBILITY - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) NOMINATION FORM OPEN 23rd November

To be eligible for selection for these trials the 2022 CEDP Primary Sport TEAM Registration Form must be completed. Please visit the Parramatta Diocesan Primary Sport website or Facebook for the link and information.

This online form is an EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) for the 2022 Parramatta Diocesan Primary Sport Team trials. Parents may complete this form to attend a selection trial. One form is to be completed per child, per individual sport. Each sport has its own criteria therefore, it is imperative that the correct form is completed.

Please note that your online registration is an EXPRESSION OF INTEREST ONLY and MUST be approved by the child's school. For the child to attend the nominated trial or event, the school approves students based on playing history and selection criteria. All fields and especially “Representative Experience” if applicable to the sport MUST be completed. Under no circumstances will a child be eligible to trial if the 2022 CEDP Primary Sport TEAM Registration Form has not been completed and approved by the school by the closing date.

More detailed information can be located in the 2022 CEDP Parra Primary Sport Rep Team Trials Info for Parents COVID19 information sheet.

Access the information using any of the links below:

Registration (Expression of Interest) link 

2022 CEDP Primary Sport TEAM Registration Form (Expression of Interest) - Sport Trials

Primary Sport Parramatta WEBSITE link

www.primarysportparra.catholic.edu.au

FACEBOOK link

Primary Sport Parramatta Diocese

More detailed information can be located in the 2022 CEDP Parra Primary Sport Rep Team Trials Info for Parents COVID19 information sheet.

Please click on the link below for more information:

2022 Parramatta Diocese Team Sport Trials Expression of Interest registration window open

Students enjoyed some great events to celebrate Book Week as a whole school last week.

A big THANK YOU to all the families who supported our  Scholastic Book Fair on Monday,Tuesday & Wednesday. It was a great success! Students loved choosing from the great books on display.  We raised $803 this Book Fair and thank everyone for their support.

All money raised directly benefits the school and allows the purchase of literacy resources for our students.  

Students and staff had a great day celebrating with a Book Character Parade on Wednesday 17th November, live streamed via zoom to all families.

The theme this year was “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds” .

The teachers were inspired by the Other World of Outer Space with a group costume featuring the sun, the moon, a comet, stars, aliens, a rocketship, astronauts and all the planets.

Students loved seeing each other’s creative costumes during the parade.

We had characters from fairy tales, minecraft, Roald Dahl, Anh Do, Aaron Blabey and Harry Potter. There were even some witches, pirates, superheroes and unicorns and lots, lots more!

Mrs Rita Davino
Library Assistant

A big THANK YOU to Mr Andrew Levins (Archie in Year 2’s dad) who visited on Monday 15th to talk about his “NELSON” book series, published through Penguin Random House.

He entertained the students by reading out funny parts from his books, gave them some hints about how he gets his book ideas and took some questions from some of our budding authors.

Thank you Andrew for taking the time to visit our students once again - it was very appreciated!

A big THANK YOU to Mrs Rita Davino, who worked incredibly hard to coordinate Book Week, the Book Fair and our staff costume!

We are very grateful for your time and efforts making these events such a success and so enjoyable for us all!

SMNP Staff

We look forward to welcoming our 2022 Kindergarten children to the first of our Orientation Days tomorrow!

The Orientation Dates are below and attendance at all three sessions is required:  

• Thursday 25 November
• Thursday 2 December
• Thursday 9 December

As advised, parents will bring their children to the Parish Hall gate entrance where they will be met by St Monica's staff members. 

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, parents will be unable to remain onsite. 

This term in Health, Stage 2 and Stage 3 have been learning about water safety.
Students in Stage 2 and 3 will be celebrating National Water Safety Day on Wednesday, December 1 (Week 9). To raise awareness for water safety, students are to come to school dressed in red and/or yellow and may bring in beach/pool accessories to dress to the theme. It is important that students still come to school wearing closed in shoes. They will spend the afternoon raising awareness by engaging in games, live streams and discussing strategies to be safe around water.
Please find more details attached.  

Kind regards,
Armani Barakat 
Stage 3 Classroom Teacher and Sports Coordinator

Monday 13 December 2021
Thanksgiving Mass and Year 6 Graduation (including Year 6 Awards Ceremony)

As advised:

• Two (2) guests per Year 6 student are invited to attend (must be fully vaccinated).
• Please RSVP by Friday 26 November 2021 using this link.   Only registered people can attend. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevey0TFIuGksRezdFYQcNUb2oNVSSGCVvSdUHPiTsdE7xgJQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

• St Monica’s Church at 9:00 am (please note the change of time)
• Students are to wear full school uniform.
• Masks must be worn at all times (optional for students).
• This event will be live streamed. The link will be available on the Google Calendar.

As this is a school event, guests must be fully vaccinated and show evidence of their vaccination status when checking in to the venue before Mass.

Yours sincerely,

Stage 3 Team

Due to the restrictions in place until the end of Term 4, we are not permitted to sing in school.

This means we have had to put our plans on hold for a concert with Andrew Chinn that was previously scheduled for Friday 10 December.

Our creative teachers are working with students on an interesting way of presenting the Christmas story in a visual presentation that adheres to COVID-19 restrictions for schools.

We look forward to sharing this with you throughout Week 10.

Each grade/stage will present something which will be distributed to families via the normal communication channels. 

Mr Andrew Baker
Religious Education Co-ordinator

In an effort to keep everyone safe, we are trying to limit the number of people who are attending the office.

A table has been placed outside the office door with Partial Absence Notes, hand sanitiser and pens for you to use. 

LATE ARRIVALS

If your child is arriving late we request that you follow the instructions below.

After checking in using the QR Code on the gate:   

• Please wear a mask. 
• Use the Hand Sanitiser provided. 
• Complete a Partial Absence Note for each child (please ensure you complete all sections of the form - including your child's name/stage, reason, your name/signature and date).
• Your child may hand the Partial Absence Note to the office staff. 
• Parents do not need to enter the office.  

EARLY PICK UP

If you need to collect your child early for any other reason (illness, appointment), please follow the instructions below.

After checking in using the QR Code on the gate, we request that you:  

• Please wear a mask. 
• Use the Hand Sanitiser provided. 
• Complete a Partial Absence Note for each child (please ensure you complete all sections of the form - including your child's name/stage, reason, your name/signature and date).   Please leave your note in the Early Dismissal Box on the table and the office staff will collect it.
• Parents are requested to please wait outside the office and your child will be sent out to you.

If parents need to enter the office for any other matter, we request that only one family enters at a time.   Please ensure you are wearing a mask.

Thank you for your assistance and for keeping the staff and students of St Monica's safe. 

SMNP Staff

Staff

As per advice from the NSW Government and Catholic Schools NSW, all staff must wear a face mask or covering at all times when indoors.  

Students

• Masks are strongly recommended for primary students when indoors and outdoors (unless eating or exercising). 
• We are not able to enforce this, but we strongly recommend that all students wear masks. 
• Masks are not provided by the school.

Parents  

• If parents enter the school foyer, they must wear a mask. 
• Parents are also asked to wear a mask during Kiss ‘n’ Ride and at the gate when dropping off and picking up children.

Parents are reminded of our School Uniform requirements and guidelines regarding hairstyles at St Monica's as per our Parent Handbook. 

Hairstyles    -   Hair is to be clean and neatly cut.

Girls

• Shoulder length or longer hair must be tied back.
• Ribbons or scrunchies in school colours only must be worn.
• Hair colouring is not permitted.  This includes streaks, colour, dyes or excessive gel. 
• Decorative headbands are not permitted.

Boys

• Neat and simple haircuts.
• No undercuts, shaved heads, number ones, mullets, rat’s tails or ponytails.
• Hair colouring is not permitted.  This includes streaks, colour, dyes or excessive gel. 

As Per Public Health Orders

Oz Fashions is open to the fully vaccinated from 9am-5:30pm weekdays and 9am-4pm on Saturdays. 

When you visit our store we ask for only one parent or guardian to be present during their child’s uniform fitting and that you observe the NSW Public Health Orders:

• check-in with the QR code; 
• be fully vaccinated & show staff your Covid-19 digital certificate;
• wear a face mask;
• hand sanitise as you enter.

If you have any symptoms we ask that you not attend our store, stay home and go and get tested.  

You can still do business with us online, by phone and email. Purchases are also encouraged to be made prior to the new year to avoid lengthy queues in January. 
Purchases through Oz Fashions can also be made via the St Monica’s Primary School Qkr! app until Friday 17 December 2021.

Best regards

OZ Fashions Team

We wish to advise that there are vacancies available in some grades. 

Enrolment applications may be downloaded from our school website

You may contact the school office on 8832 4100  or by email stmonicasnparra@parra.catholic.edu.au for more information.

PLEASE READ

Dear Parents and Carers,

Please see NSW Health and CEDP guidelines below for students returning to school after an illness (NB: these guidelines have not changed):

• Students must not attend school if they are unwell.  This includes even minor flu symptoms.
• Students must return a negative COVID-19 test result and be symptom free before returning to school.
• Schools must sight the negative COVID-19 test result prior to allowing students to return to school.

If you are unwilling to allow your child to undertake a COVID-19 test or provide the school with a negative COVID-19 test result, the student is to be excluded from school for a 10-day period.  Additionally, the student must by symptom free for at least 3 days before returning to school.

SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19 (as per the Government Health Guidelines)

Symptoms of COVID-19 can range from mild illness to pneumonia. Some people will recover easily, and others may get very sick very quickly.
People with coronavirus may experience symptoms such as:

• fever
• respiratory symptoms
  • coughing
  • sore throat
  • shortness of breath.

Other symptoms can include:
runny nose, acute blocked nose (congestion), headache, muscle or joint pains, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of sense of smell, altered sense of taste, loss of appetite and fatigue.

To stop the spread of COVID-19 people with even mild symptoms of respiratory infection should get tested. 

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the safety of all students and staff at St Monica's.

To keep informed of upcoming events, parents may subscribe to the School Google calendar.  The Google calendar will be the primary source of information about school dates in the future.

Go to our School Website and scroll to the bottom of the calendar.

Click  “subscribe" near Parent Calendar.

Thank you to those parents who have downloaded the Qkr! app.  

To ensure payments are processed correctly, we request that you please update your child's profile.  A profile needs to be created for each child. 

Please check that you have correctly entered your CHILD'S NAME and CLASS.  If you are unsure what class your child is in, please contact the office.

There are a number of payment options available on the app.

• Enrolment Deposit - only to be used for NEW students to the school.
• Library Book Replacement Cost - only for parents who receive a letter from Mrs Davino requesting payment for library books.

Please do not use these two payment options unless you have been requested to. 

Instructions to download the Qkr! app can be found here.

Thank you.

Skoolbag is the school’s primary avenue for immediate communication with parents.

Skoolbag is a communication app which all parents are strongly advised to install on their smartphones, ipads etc. 

Please ensure you have this app downloaded so that you do not miss any important messages.   

Remember to subscribe to your child's class group! 

Once you open the St Monica's Skoolbag app - Select Groups - then add your child's class.      You may add/remove class groups as required.