St Canice's Primary School Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

What beautiful Blue Mountains weather we are currently enjoying! The fresh, crisp Autumn skies remind us of the beauty of this area and the need to look after our world. God has blessed us with beauty on a daily basis and for this we are truly grateful. Our job is to look after it. I want to commend our students in Stage 3 for the work they do in caring for our environment. They are our “Bin Buddies”. They do their job daily, with a smile. More than that, two students in particular, Benny and Connor, got the message re composting out to all students earlier this week. They saw that the children were throwing all kinds of rubbish into our compost bins and sent a clear message to all students about the need to fix their behaviour and get this right. This is leadership in action. Well done, Boys!

We continue to pray for our seven students making their First Communion in June. The children are attending the sessions each Sunday and will receive their First Eucharist on Sunday, 6 June, marking the feast of Corpus Christi or the body of Christ. I recognise that not all within our community share Catholic practices such as regularly attending Mass and receiving the sacraments. We are a Catholic school for all, embracing difference. As a community, our Catholic values inform our behaviour. Our mission is to be inclusive, as Jesus was. We love selflessly, as Jesus does.  We live responsibly by caring for ourselves, our belongings and for others. We learn purposefully because we appreciate the gifts we have and the resources we are provided to be the best learners we can be. These Catholic values apply to us all, to our staff members just as much as to our students and the families who embrace us. These are the Catholic values that underpin our Positive Behaviours program at St Canice’s. We look forward to publicly  launching our Positive Behaviours program on Friday, 4 June. This date is no accident. It is closely aligned to the feast of Corpus Christi. We are all part of the body of Christ as we live out our Christian values:

• To love selflessly

• To live responsibly

• To learn purposefully

  2022 Enrolments

  Word of mouth is our most successful strategy in encouraging new families to come to St Canice’s. We encourage you to spread the great message about our

  • Beautiful school, built on Christian values

  • High quality learning

  • Small class sizes

  • Excellent teaching staff / pupil ratio, to ensure individualised learning

  • Wonderful opportunities to learn in all areas

  • Strong Sports program

  • Amazing Creative and Performing Arts programs in Music and Visual Arts

  • Technology- supported learning

  • Individualised care of the children

  …. I could go on forever! All of the above is made possible by you, your children and our staff, working together to be the best school we can be. I am very grateful to all.

  I wanted to say a very big thank you to a number of parents who have supported us recently.

  To the NAPLAN brekky Mums, a huge thank you! You added energy and enthusiasm to the NAPLAN challenge. . Thank you also to Malcolm for putting his hand up to be team manager at our Futsal Day last Friday. Thank you, Karissa, for accompanying the children to the Sydney Writers’ Festival and thank you to the Mums who helped at the Mothers’ Day stall.

  It takes a village to raise a child and you all help us to do that.

  God bless, 

  Miriam Meaney,

  Principal

Traditionally, at this time of year schools are preparing for Parent-Teacher meetings. This year, at St Canice’s, students and not teachers will lead the discussion with parents around their learning. The teachers will work with the students in identifying work samples and preparing conversations that

• Reflect where they have been in their learning

• Where they are at

• Where to next

  Why this format?

  Student-led conferences rightly place the student in the driver’s seat, articulating strengths and areas for improvement. They empower the child to talk about his / her learning. As the child prepares to present learning to parents and teachers in this forum, he / she learns how to be confident and how to use the language of learning to express himself / herself. Student-led conferences create a partnership between the teacher, student, and parents. They include the parent in the conversation around learning, allowing this conversation to continue beyond the walls of the classroom. 

  Student-led conferences do not replace other meetings between teachers and parents to discuss student wellbeing, learning or behaviour. 

  What are the roles of participants in student-led conferences?

  StudentsDevelop and reflect on their learning goals, strengths and learning challenges. They select appropriate work samples and rehearse what they will say about them. Students lead the conference with the support of the teacher.Parents

  During student-led conferences, parents focus the conversation on their children and reflect on their work with them. They look at samples and listen to their children’s explanations and reflections. Then, they ask how they can help and what the students need from them. We hope that, later on, conversations such as this can continue at home.

  Teachers

  In preparing for student-led conferences, teachers work with students to develop and reflect on learning goals, identify strengths and challenges, select appropriate work samples and prepare students for presenting their work.

  During student-led conferences, teachers take on the role of facilitator, rather than that of leader. They may also act as advocates for their students.

  Details:

  We look forward to welcoming you into the school during the week commencing Monday June 7th. In fact, it is an expectation that all students get this opportunity to share their learning with a parent / carer and with their teacher. Student-led conferences can be booked up to and including Thursday, 10 June. We will be in touch shortly with information as to how to book your session. 

We have a number of children preparing for their First Communion, which will take place on Sunday, 6 June at St Canice’s Church. The Parish sacramental program for First Communion commences this Sunday, 2 May and will continue for 5 weeks. Should you have any enquiries about First Eucharist for your child, please contact Mrs Wedesweiler

Gold Award This Friday 21st May 2021.

Afternoon tea in the Hall at 1:45pm. Assembly starts at 2:15pm - 2:45pm

The Stage Two students have been learning about 2D shapes in Maths and have explored where different 2D shapes can be found in the school environment.

As hands on learning in Maths is very important, the students have been creating various shapes using paddle pop stocks and MAB tens blocks. Demonstrating to other students what various shapes look like using their hands has also been very effective in teaching each other about shapes.

The Stage Two students have been conducting a number of experiments in Science to learn about how heat can be transferred through various objects.

In Week 4 the students observed how small blobs of butter on a wooden, plastic and metal spoon in a mug of hot water slowly melt and slide into the water. With the use of a timer, the students explored which material transferred the heat faster and the students also learnt about how variables can influence the outcome of an experiment!!

More experiments will follow in the coming weeks.

This year, we are hosting a Biggest Morning Tea to help Cancer Council raise vital funds for Cancer Council in recognition of Mr Geerligs and those in our community who have been impacted by cancer. – and we would love for you to join us for this great cause!

Wednesday 26th May

9am

In the St Canice’s Hall 

Entry: Please make a donation to our fundraising page

https://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/stcanices/nsw 

Raffle: We will be holding a major raffle with ample amazing prizes that have been kindly donated by organisations from around our Blue Mountains Community.                                               

Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5.

Prizes include: 

$250 gift card to Pins on Lurline 

2 course dinner in the Jamison View Restaurant at the Mountain Heritage, 

High Tea at Bygone Beauties 

A variety of Gift Vouchers from Madame Lash Lift and Tint, Cattlefish, Blue Mountains Food Co-Op, Bras Kada Bras, Katoomba Music Store, Katoomba Work Gear, Megalong Books, Mitre 10, Sage Nails and Beauties, The Source Bulk Foods & Wilde Ivy

$150 Gift pack from Chris Wolfe Hair 

$189 Dermatonics Gift Pack 

A variety of DIY kits from Bunnings, including a raised garden bed, hanging planters, ceramic kit and mosaic kits.

If you would like to purchase a ticket, please send in correct money to the office and your ticket will be sent home with your child, or you can pop in to the office and purchase directly 

(EFTPOS Unavailable).

We can’t wait to get together and share some tasty treats, all while helping create a cancer free future.

If you can’t make it, you can still help make a difference by donating to our fundraising page or purchasing tickets for the raffle.    

Every dollar helps!

 St Canice's will have a Staff Development Day will be on Friday, 11 June.The teaching staff will spend Friday, 11 June working on our positive behaviours program. Your children may talk to you about receiving lyrebird tokens for good behaviour. You may hear them talk of our three pillars at St Canice’s:

• To love selflessly

• To live responsibly

• To learn purposefully

On our Staff Development Day on 11 June, we will be working on embedding the positive behaviours associated with the pillars above into our curriculum and our daily routines. 

All Parents and Carers are invited to the Term 2 Parent Meeting.

The meeting will be held in the hall at 1:30pm

Wednesday 2nd June.

 Please RSVP via  4780 6800.

If you would like to add an item to the agenda, please email stcanices@parra.catholic.edu.au

 Parents are invited to gather and chat in Sister Colleen’s Room before Assemblies. If you would like to book the room, please contact the office. 

All visitors will be required to sign in at the office for both the CEDP Visitors Register and the NSW Health QR code.

Extended leave is considered to be 5 or more days during the school termfor the purpose of a family holiday, family business,bereavement or other reasons.

Parents/Carer must complete and submit the Application for Extended Leaveprior to commencing leave OR apply for extended leave in writing to the principal directly.

Application for Extended Leave forms are available through the office.

When the extended leave application is approved, you will be provided with a certificate for extended leave.

School attendance is a legal requirement. As we approach Winter, punctuality and attendance get harder for some. Please work with us in getting your child to school on time each day and for ensuring he / she is at school for a full day of learning.

Please consider others when parking your car in the morning and afternoon. If Studleigh Place is full, why not get your child into the habit of walking with you from the extensive parking area adjacent to KMart / Woollies etc.

Families who wish to engage therapists to work with children on site should contact the school to arrange an appointment with Ms Meaney.

Thank you to those parents who have already been in contact.

School attendance is compulsory for children over the age of 6 years until the minimum school leaving age of 17 years (students may leave earlier only to attend TAFE or work in full time employment). The Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta has a set standard for all schools that every student be present at school for at least 90% of the time. 

To achieve this student absences need to be minimised. While we understand the impact of COVID and the need to keep children who are sick at home we need to balance this with the impacts on student learning.

Additionally students who have been ill due to COVID related symptoms have provided the school information and certificates that explains this illness and this will be acknowledged. 

It is a requirement of all schools to acknowledge, inform and follow up student attendance patterns and absences. 

This week letters will be mailed to families if students have had patterns of absences forming. This information may be confronting for some families, we ask that you work with us to understand student absences and develop strategies to improve attendance if required.

For students  arriving late to school, we ask that students  are walked to the office by their parent/carer so they can receive a late note. It is unsafe to let your child wander down the driveway unaccompanied by a parent.  We are currently having a large number of students arriving late, thank you for your patience while we are entering late arrivals into the computer.

I want to thank all parents for their continued support in this area and for maximising student attendance in what has been a challenging time.

Parents of school-age children are reminded to register for their Active Kids and Creative Kids vouchers. The NSW Government’s Active Kids program provides  vouchers for parents, guardians and carers of school-enrolled children to use towards sport and active recreation costs each year and also vouchers that can be redeemed for creative activities  such as drama & visual arts. Creative Kids vouchers are also available to be redeemed for creative activities and craft supplies.To find out more information on how to apply please visit www.service.nsw.gov.au

Diocesan Cross Country Carnival

Congratulations to the below 19 students for their amazing efforts in representing St Canices at Eastern Creek Raceway on the 4th May 2021. Our school community is extremely proud of these students for their determination and competitive nature on the day. Also a  huge thank you goes out to the parents and carers that also assisted in transporting the students and helped out with marshalling at the carnival.

Rolling your way Presentation

On Tuesday 11th May, All St Canices students attended a Wheelchair Sports and NSW Road safety presentation run by Stephan. Not only did Stephan deliver important messages about road safety he also spoke of his first hand experience about living with a disability and life in a wheelchair. After the presentation, All classes had the chance to split into two teams and played a fun filled game of wheelchair basketball.

Stage 2 Futsal 

Congratulations to our two Stage 2 teams for representing St Canices at the Futsal Gala day held at Katoomba Sports and Aquatic centre last Friday. Our girls team placed 6th and the boys were runners up. Many thanks to Mrs Gillespie, Mrs Micallef and Mr Clines for organising our teams during the day. 

Diocesan Gala Days 

CEDP has been working hard to ensure that Diocesan gala days can go ahead in 2021. Back in February this year we spoke with Stage 2 & Stage 3 students to gather interest in which gala days students would like to attend. The most popular choice was soccer. These soccer gala days will be held at Jamison Park Penrith. We are asking if parents could transport their child to and from the events on these days. We understand that this may not be possible for all families and in that case, we can arrange transport for the other students so they can attend.  

If your child brings home a permission slip for the Gala Day, we ask if you can encourage them to participate on the day as team numbers have already been set for the day and without full team numbers St Canices will not be able to attend. Any questions please feel free to contact me.

Kind Regards,

Kylie Ranson 

Stage 3 Girls Soccer Gala - Jamison Park, Penrith

Wednesday, 9th June  

Stage 3 Boys Soccer Gala - Jamison Park, Penrith - TBC

Wednesday, 14th July 

Friday 21st May - Gold Award Assembly 2:15pm

Wednesday 26th May - Diocesan Soccer Gala Day - Girls

Wednesday 26th May - Australia's Biggest Morning Tea 9am - 11am

Friday 28th MAY - Kinder and Year 1 leading Whole School Assembly 2:15pm

Friday 4th June - Positive Behaviours Launch

Dear parents and carers, This year Ms Frazer has a tiny school choir. At this stage we have no year 6s, two year 5s, five stage 2s and two stage 1s. It will be almost impossible to create a strong, solid sound and confident harmony with such a small number of students. If you know your child loves to sing, or wants to sing, can you please encourage them to join choir? Ms Frazer would love to see them there on Wednesday (even weeks) at recess in the conservatorium.Thanks so much!

Choir is on Wednesday every even week at recess in the conservatorium. Students need to bring their recess and their voices.

For those students participating in private lessons, please ensure your child brings their instrument to school on the following days

Ensemble - Wednesday Morning 8.20am - 9am with Bonita Silva

Violin Lessons & Strings Program - Wednesday with Ms Frazer & Ms Silva

Cello - Friday with Paul Smith

We are now taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2022, if you know of people looking for a school for their child (even if it is for the other grades), please let them know about St Canice’s. The power of your words of recommendation has an enormous effect on our enrolments. Let’s keep working together to make St Canice’s that great school that has been in operation for the past 120 years.

Building Child Safe Communities - Volunteer Undertaking

Dear Parents/Carers 

All Volunteers have until 30th September 2020 to submit a new Undertaking in the new system.

In Catholic Education Diocese Parramatta (CEDP), we see parents and carers as partners in your child's learning journey. Parents and carers are encouraged to become involved in our schools in many important ways such as supporting classroom learning, being part of advisory groups, mentoring programs, coaching sporting teams and supporting other extra-curricular activities and other kinds of help.

A range of checks and undertakings are required for people who work for or provide services to CEDP. These checks reduce potential risk and form part of our strategy to build child safe communities.

CEDP has launched a new Building Child Safe Communities form and online training module that all volunteers are required to complete. 

The purpose of this training is to inform you of the standards of behaviour and other requirements that must be adhered to when volunteering for CEDP.

The undertaking should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and the training module approximately 10 minutes. Once the form and training modules are submitted, an automated email will be sent to you within two business days to confirm the status of your submission.

The undertaking form will expire within two years or when your Working With Children Check expires (if applicable), whichever is sooner. At that time you will need to complete the undertaking form and training module again. You will receive an automatic reminder email when this occurs. 

Further information on the new online form and training module can be found at www.parra.catholic.edu.au and clicking on about us/building child safe communities. Within the form you will also find help sheets and a video tutorial to assist you. 

Thank you in advance for your support.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish

Parish Administrator Fr John McSweeney

 Presbytery Contact  Ph: 02 4782 2804

                                     Fax: 02 4782 6090

Website: marymackillopupperbluemountains.org.au

Monday 8.30am Friday 12.00pm Saturday 9.00am Sunday 10.00am

Saturday 9.30am Confession outside this time is available on request

Saturday Cenacle Rosary and Consecration following benediction after 9am Mass

1st Friday of month, 12.30pm

Fridays (Except 1st Friday) 12.30pm

Benediction Saturdays following 9am Mass

Sundays 12.00pm to 1.00pm

4th Monday of month - 6pm