St Monica's Primary North Parramatta Newsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Sunday was the ‘birthday’ of our Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday.  We are reminded of the integral connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness and the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus greeted his disciples with the gift of peace and then commissioned them to continue the work that he started: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  He breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and sent them to continue his work of reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins.  

On Saturday, fifteen St Monica’s students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.  When the disciples, on the first Pentecost day, received the Holy Spirit into their lives, they were changed forever and they in turn changed the lives of thousands of other people.  Likewise, our children, when they receive the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, will receive the potential for change.  

May God be with them, with the fullness of his presence, and with a love patient and everlasting.

Lisa Crampton
Principal

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.

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

On Monday 24 May we celebrated all of our Support Staff with a special morning tea.  World Support Staff Day was on Sunday May 16th. 

The Support Staff at St Monica's are a dedicated team who support everyone in our school community. 

We thank them all for their dedication, hard work and support which they provide for the staff, parents and students of St Monica's community.

Thank you!!

On Monday 24 May, representatives from all over the Diocese of Parramatta gathered at St Patrick's Cathedral to participate in Mass to celebrate the Bicentenary of Catholic Education, which began in a small school in Hunter Street, Parramatta 200 years ago.
The celebrations began with an acknowledgment & welcome to country and a smoking ceremony just outside the Cathedral. The Mass, led by Principal Celebrant Bishop Vincent Long, was a very beautiful liturgy that provided an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for the gift of Catholic Education over the past 200 years.  

Thank you to Taylor (Kindy) and L'lysse (Year 6) and their mums for representing St Monica's at the Mass.  Every school in the Diocese was presented with a special plaque to mark this significant milestone. 

Mrs Lisa Crampton
Principal

At our Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) Meeting this term the idea was raised about parents wanting to know more about what Mathematics lessons look like in our classrooms. In response to this request we have organised a date for a Numeracy Workshop for parents.

This will be held on Thursday 10th June at 9.15am in the Parish Hall.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please RSVP using this link.

https://forms.gle/DsHeEkPEuAbxothy6

Many thanks,

Mary-Anne Stenning
Assistant Principal

At our recent Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) Meeting, some parents expressed an interest in learning more about online safety at home.  

The eSafety Commissioner provides free webinars for parents and carers.  There are still some dates available this term!

• Tuesday 1 June 12.30 to 1.30pm
• Tuesday 8 June 12.30 to 1.30 pm
• Wednesday 16 June 7.30 to 8.30 pm

These live webinars explore the latest research and they are a great way to learn how you can help your child develop the skills to be safer online. 

All sessions are delivered by eSafety's expert education and training team.

Click here for more information and to register your attendance.

I would like to say thank you to all the families who purchased books through our Scholastic Book Club this term.

As a result of your continual support our school purchased $1196 worth of books and has received $250 from the rewards program, which will go towards purchasing new and exciting books for our library.

We appreciate and look forward to your continued support.

Mrs Kimberly Graham
Book Club Co-ordinator

Our Fun Food Day (Subway) will be held this Friday 28 May. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Fun Food Day and purchased Subway for lunch. 

Thank you to Mrs Jinwala and her helpers for co-ordinating this event. 

We will look forward to enjoying Subway for lunch on Friday. 

(Please note that if you did not order Subway you will need to bring your lunch to school on Friday - Orders are now CLOSED).

Dear Parents, 

Registration for the Sacrament of First Holy Communion will take place on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th May after 5pm and 9am Mass at St Monica's.

If you wish to enrol your child in the program (who has received their First Reconciliation at our Parish in 2020/2021), please register on one of these days.

There is a donation of $30 payable (cash only) at registration which goes toward various administrative fees (EFTPOS facility is not available).
If you are not able to attend the above registration dates you can register at the Parish Office on a Thursday or Friday 9 am to 12 noon only.

Registrations after the 29th/30th May will not be accepted. 

Program timetable will be available at the time of registration. Please note Parent Session with the Parish Priest is a MUST attend, for one parent from each family (preferably the parent accompanying the child to lessons each weekend). This will be held on a Tuesday night at 7 pm following registration.

There will be a limit of 6 children per group and each parent in the group will host a lesson during the 6 weeks in that particular group.

Lesson attendance is compulsory for all children at the Parish Hall on a Saturday 4pm or Sunday 8am. Please note attendance will be marked. If a child misses 2 lessons, eligibility of receiving the Sacrament will be at the discretion of the Parish Priest.

Any further enquiries, please email stmonicasacraments@gmail.com

Andrew Baker
Religious Education Coordinator

The following students will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this weekend at
St Monica's Church. 

We pray for the following children and their families:

Thank you to Mrs Laura Jilwan for co-ordinating the 2nd Hand Uniform Sale and to her helpers Mrs Victoria Elias and Mrs Jakeline Pateraki who assisted last Friday. 

The school community is grateful for your assistance. 

Thank you to Mrs Xiaoyu He (Ziyang, S2) for her generous donation of Hand Sanitisers to the school. 

The students and staff of St Monica's are grateful for your donation. 

Students do not attend school on this day.

Our first fundraising event for 2021 will be a Mufti Day on Friday 25 June (the last day of term 2).  The theme will be HAWAII HOLIDAY FRIDAY!

Donations can be made from Monday 21 June (Week 10), using QKR!

Our second fundraising event will be a DISCO on Friday 23 July (Term 3)

from 5:30 - 7:00pm for Years K-6.  More information to come!

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.

Congratulations to the following students who have recently received Merit Awards

A reminder that the 2nd School fee instalment was due and payable on Wednesday 26 May 2021.

Unless you have a previous arrangement with the school, kindly arrange payment of the fees.  

Families who are experiencing financial difficulty are requested to contact the school office immediately so that a confidential appointment can be arranged with Mrs Crampton or Mrs Rebello.

Thank you, 
Mrs Lata Rebello
School Finance Officer

'Give Me Some Space!' by Philip Bunting

On Wednesday 19th May, the students at St Monica's participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime - an annual event where an Australian picture book is read simultanously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country to promote literacy and reading. 

This year over 1 million children participated in the event to view the book 'Give Me Some Space!' being read by an astronaut from the International Space Station. 

What a great event to be part of!

Mrs Rita Davino

 “We are SAFE, RESPECTFUL LEARNERS”

CLASS JARS
Students are continuing to work hard in class to earn "bees" from teachers acknowledging when they are safe, respectful learners.

Students encourage each other to contribute to the class jar so they can enjoy a reward as soon as it is filled.

Bees are given out frequently so students can contribute to and enjoy a whole class reward often.

Bees can also be earned in the library when borrowing & returning books and even when students visit the office and display respectful behaviour.

Congratulations to the following classes who earned rewards last week:

• Early Stage One - celebrated with a FUN GAMES AFTERNOON! 
• Year 2 - celebrated with a DANCE PARTY!

PLAYGROUND CASES

Safe, respectful playground behaviour is also acknowledged with a white “bee” given out by teachers. 

Students place these bees into the class boxes in the playground.

There is great competitive fun to see who the next winner will be and what fun activity they will get to enjoy.

Mrs Rita Davino on behalf of the PBS4L Committee

Healthy eating is yummy!!

Monica Mango enjoys finding and trying new recipes, hopefully you are enjoying the recipes each newsletter and you’ve been inspired to try some of them. Remember to share any photos of recipes you try!

Most Australians, including children, eat more salt than we should. Some salt in our diets is essential for good health, but the amount we need is very small. The average Australian adult consumes 1.6 teaspoons (9g) of salt per day but only needs around 1g, with children requiring even less.

Stage 3 students have been exploring good and bad habits related to our health and were looking at the Healthy Kids website, a number of the students were excited to stumble across the recipe page (https://healthy-kids.com.au/canteen-recipes/), check out some of great recipes! The website in general has lots of great tips.

This week’s recipe is a chocolate muffin without the guilt!

Healthy Chocolate Muffins

3 cups wholemeal flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup maple syrup or honey

3/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid

1/2 cup plain Greek Yoghurt

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Optional extras – chocolate chips, 1 cup of grated zucchini (see notes)

Method

1.    Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Lightly oil muffin pans or line with paper liners.

2.    Use a whisk to combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3.    Use whisk to combine all wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl and whisk until ingredients emulsify and become uniform. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well.

4.    Spoon batter into muffin pan until cups are 2/3 of the way full. If using chocolate chips, drop a couple on top of the muffin batter.

5.    Cook muffins for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the centre cleanly.

Notes: A cup of grated zucchini could be added (cook for 7mins longer). Freeze separately, then thaw in fridge.

Recipe credit: mynourishedhome.com 

PLEASE ensure that every child has their water bottle EVERY DAY. 

Many students are still attending the school office requesting cups of water each day.  

As the bubblers are not in use, it is most important that students bring at least one bottle of water each day so that they are not dehydrated.

NO glass bottles please.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. 

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. 

Parents are reminded that morning supervision commences at 8:20am. 
Students ARE NOT supervised before this time.
If you need your child/ren supervised before this time, please contact COSHC.  (Details below)

Phone: 0429 990 179
Email:  COSHCStMonicasParra@parra.catholic.edu.au  
Morning 6:45am to 8:45am            Afternoon 3:00pm to 6:30pm

We remind students that there is NO SHARING OF FOOD at St Monica's. 
Parents are requested to please send only healthy food options for your children to eat at recess and lunch. 

Chocolates, lollies and lollipops are treats for home and should not be sent to school.

Thank you for your support. 

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.

Please ensure that every item of your child's clothing, lunch boxes, drink bottles and mobile phones (if applicable)  have a CLEARLY MARKED NAMED LABEL. 

It is easy to return items that are clearly marked with a child’s name. 

We thank you in advance for your support. 

Dear Parents/Carers 

All Contractors / Volunteers who visit St Monica's School must have a BCSC number before they will be allowed to enter the school grounds.

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

• You must provide your BCSC number to the school prior to assisting at an event. (Please forward the automated email to the school email address stmonicasnparra@parra.catholic.edu.au or provide a hard copy)
• No Contractor / Volunteers (parents included) will be granted permission to assist with a school event without a valid BCSC number.