St Monica's Primary North Parramatta Newsletter

Term 3 Week 8 2021

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Earlier this year, we asked you to complete the TTFM survey with a Tim Tam and a cuppa!  “What more could you wish for?”  93 parents responded which is an amazing response - THANK YOU!  Your feedback will help us identify the areas we are doing well in, and, of course, the areas in which we need to improve.

Some of the areas where you acknowledged our strengths included that you felt welcome when you visited the school, you were well informed about school activities and communication from the school was easy to understand.  You have found it easy to speak with your child’s teacher and the principal and your child/ren feel safe at school and know the expectations for school behaviour.

The image below shows your responses within the seven (7) domains compared to other schools.  At this time, we know you are supporting your child/ren’s learning at home but in the coming weeks and months, we will work on improving in the areas you have identified.

We look forward to celebrating all of our dads and father figures at our special liturgy on Monday at 2pm.  A reminder that we will have an Assessment and Reporting Parent Information Session on Monday at 3pm.  All welcome!

Stay safe ?


Lisa Crampton
Principal

TTFM Survey Feedback

Congratulations Fr Ephraim Lam!

The Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv has appointed Rev Ephraim (Shing Man) Lam as a Diocesan Priest in the Diocese of Parramatta.

Fr Ephraim has also been appointed as Parish Priest of St Monica's North Parramatta. 

We congratulate Fr Ephraim on this wonderful appointment and look forward to seeing him at St Monica's for many years to come. 

Reminder - Have you updated your contact details?

Dear Parents

On Monday 16 August you should have received an email or SMS (for those parents without email) from the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta (CEDP) asking you to review and, where necessary, update the key information they hold about your children currently enrolled in CEDP schools. 

The purpose of this review is to ensure that CEDP has the right details to correctly identify and support students, including contacting families in an emergency or to share important updates. 

Steps have been taken to ensure this process is as secure as possible to protect your information and your family’s privacy. Your information is only accessed by authorised staff when it is necessary and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

The process is open until Friday 3 September and I encourage you to complete the review/update as soon as possible to ensure that your family’s correct details are on file. This is particularly important as Greater Sydney remains in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

This short “how to” video may assist you with completing the process (use the closed caption icon to turn on subtitles). Please don’t hesitate to contact me the school office if you have any questions or concerns.

Only one person per family needs to complete the survey and it takes about 15 minutes to complete. If you have any questions or to seek help, please contact the CEDP Community Liaison Team on 9840 5796.

Jersey Day - tomorrow Friday 3 September

This year Jersey Day is being recognised tomorrow, Friday 3 September. St Monica's is very proud to support Jersey Day.

We encourage all students to wear their favourite sports jerseys OR colours of their favourite sports team to their class zoom meetings tomorrow to show support for the DONATE LIFE network and to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

We look forward to seeing everyone in their favourite jersey/team colours tomorrow.

Fathers' Day Liturgy- Monday 6 September

    We will be celebrating Fathers' Day this year with a Whole School Liturgy on Monday 6 September.

    As part of our Liturgy, we will be sharing a special slideshow presentation for the fathers and father figures in our school community.

    We would appreciate it if you could upload a photo of your child with their dad or father figure onto Google Classroom with a short sentence telling us what your child loves most about their dad.

    You can do this by adding it to the Assignment titled 'Fathers Day' that your child's teacher has posted. We will need to receive these photos no later than this Thursday, 2 September. 

    Please remember to upload your photo via Google Classroom, not through the School's email address, so Teachers can access your photos from this platform.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to email your child's classroom Teacher.

    Thank you for your support. 

    SMNP Staff

     

    St Monica's elibrary

    Did you know our school has an elibrary with links to many online reading resources such as audiobooks, SORA, The Premier’s Reading Challenge, Book Week events and much much more?!

    Discover it via this link: https://ceop.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_GB/1894

    Mrs Rita Davino
    Library Assistant 

    Book Week!

    Last week, the students celebrated Book Week by participating in many activities and events.

    We had State Library read alouds from authors, teacher read alouds of their favourite books, a reading spot challenge, shortlisted book videos, CBCA activities and a virtual event provided by DART LEARNING, where students were able to see and hear some of their favourite authors talking about their books. 

    Guest speakers included Matt Cosgrove, Nat Amoore, Deb Abela and Jacqueline Harvey to name a few!

    Mrs Rita Davino
    Library Assistant

    Celebrating Book Week in Term 4

    As a whole school community - we will be celebrating Book Week when we are all back together in Term 4 Week 7  (November 15th - 19th). 

    We have an author visit, a book character dress up parade, a live performance of an adapted book and lots of other exciting activities for our students to look forward to and enjoy!

    Happy Birthday!!


    Happy birthday to the following students who will celebrate birthdays in SEPTEMBER!

    Christos CHelen EOlivia H
    Marley A-DElyse POlivia C
    Jonathan HCaesar MJared D
    Pare NMatilda KHAPPY BIRTHDAY

    Merit Awards


    Congratulations to the following students who recently received Merit Awards!

    ES1Naisha B, Taylor I, Bo-Hsiang H
    Year 1Sofia A, Keira F, Jonathan H
    Year 2Isabella A, Aryana E, Koey M, Amaira M, Christos C, Dariuz A
    Stage 2Olivia S, Juo C, Allegra J, Olivia C, Elijah E, Matilda K
    Stage 3Nina T, Ashton D, Sara Y, William P, Aimee Akiko L, Riana A

    Numeracy Week 2021

    Supporting your child with mathematics is a very rewarding yet challenging task. To help celebrate Numeracy Week this week, please see the attached article for an easy to read “Fact Sheet” which has some great ideas about how you can best support your child at home in mathematics during lockdown. 

    Some of the key messages and principles apply to mathematics learning in general, whether at school or at home. 

    They include:-

    • Do not convey the message that you are not good at mathematics or do not enjoy it

    • Display a positive attitude towards mathematics tasks with a ‘growth mindset’

    • Bring mathematics into your daily conversations

    • Look for opportunities outside of the home, within literature and games

    • Ask problem solving questions – ‘How do you know?’


    As always, please contact your child’s teacher if you require further support.


    Lauren Hartz
    Numeracy Coordinator

    WSU Fact Sheet Maths

    St Monica's Feast Day

    Last Friday, the 27th of August, we celebrated the feast of St Monica as a school community.

    We gathered for Mass led by Father Ephraim, competed in an online Trivia about our school, and spent some time creating artworks and performing actions in honour of St Monica.

    Congratulations to Gabriela and Isabella from the Clare house for winning the Trivia Grand Finale and thank you to each student who participated on the day. It sure was an enjoyable day. 

    Armani Barakat
    Teacher

    on behalf of the SMNP Staff

    Enjoying St Monica's Feast Day Online!

    SMNP Disco!


      Friday 10th September from 2pm - 3pm.  More details to follow!

      School Fee Support

      Dear Parents and Carers,

      CEDP is working hard to support the families in our communities who are struggling financially as a result of COVID -19.

      As always we encourage parents who are experiencing hardship to seek support.

      You are welcome to contact School Fees via email at mnic-nparfees@parra.catholic.edu.au

      Please also see the letter from the CEDP Director Capital Resourcing, Sarah Alder, outlining the system’s approach to school fee support which was sent to parents via Skoolbag.  

      School Fees Letter

      Munchbox Matters with Monica Mango

      Healthy fuel for the body!

      The brain uses more energy than any other organ in our body (more than 20% of our daily energy intake). Everything from learning, to memory and attentiveness, are affected by the foods we consume.

      Young children, whose brains are rapidly developing, need a nutrient-dense diet to help them as they process the world around them. With the right nutrients, children develop skills to maintain concentration, which becomes increasingly important as they get older.

      This week’s recipe makes a great lunchbox addition or dinner meat dish that can be prepared easily in bulk and frozen for cooking later.

       Homemade chicken nuggets

      ·         750 g Chicken Mince

      ·         1 Egg

      ·         1 Onion finely diced

      ·         1/4 cup Parsley Leaves finely chopped

      ·         1 tsp Italian Seasoning

      ·         1.5 tsp Garlic minced

      ·         1/3 cup Breadcrumbs

      ·         1/2 tsp Salt to taste

      ·         1/2 tsp Black Pepper to taste 

      Method

      1.    In a large bowl, mix the egg, onion, parsley, garlic, Italian seasoning and breadcrumbs. Combine but do not over-mix. Add the chicken mince and combine.

      2.    Shape chicken into small patties and place on a tray lined with cling film. Chill for 30 minutes, or until firm.

      3.    In a frying pan heat an oil of your choice. When hot, add the burgers and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes on each side, or until cooked through and browned on the outside. Cook as many at a time as you feel comfortable with.

      4.    Serve with dipping sauce, or solo

       Notes: can be cooked in bulk and frozen for later cooking

      Recipe credit: stayathomemum.com.au 

      Ms Kellee Bagnall
      Teacher

      Student Absences due to illness

      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.

      Enrolment Vacancies - in some grades

      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.

      How to access the school Google calendar

      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.

      Welcomeasy Menu

      Parents are advised that our Welcomeasy service has been postponed due to the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.   The service will resume once school returns. 

      Thank you for your understanding and please stay safe.

      The Welcomeasy Team

       Menu

      Please update your Qkr! app profiles

      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.

      Feedback and Complaints

      We always welcome feedback and ideas from the parent community.

      Please note that at any time that you would like to make a complaint/grievance in regards to any school matter, a form is available on our school website or you may request a copy from the school office. 

      All matters brought to our attention will be attended to under strict confidentiality.

      Please note: St Monica's North Parramatta follows the CEDP Complaints Handling Policy

      The SkoolBag app is the easiest way keep up with school events, last minute notices, newsletters and all school communications.

      Skoolbag - Have you downloaded the app?

      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.