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“Jesus feels great joy in his heart because, in Simon, he recognises the hand of the Father, the work of the Holy Spirit. He recognises that God the Father has given “steadfast” faith on which He, Jesus, can build his Church, meaning his community, that is, all of us.” - Pope Francis.
Together with Fr Tony Percy, I have had the privilege of leading the St Anthony’s community as Principal in steadfast faith for the past term. During this time I have been so grateful to the community for their support and the wonderful work of our teachers, staff and students.
This week, we are celebrating Holy Week at school. Whilst it is a week early, as a Catholic School it is the holiest of times in the calendar of the Church. As the stories that are remembered and commemorated form the basis for our existence. We are here to educate our students, providing the best opportunities for learning based on the Catholic Tradition.
As we approach our final days of term, may I take this opportunity to thank our St Anthony’s staff and teachers who have worked hard to navigate through the challenges we have faced this term whilst continuing to deliver a rigorous and meaningful learning program. Our magnificent students are just as deserving and we are incredibly proud of each of them. Whilst we have been faced with challenges this term, there is still so much we can celebrate.
Our community spirit has been very evident, including our Year 6 Leadership ceremony, Ash Wednesday Liturgy and St Anthony’s Project Compassion campaign-- 'We are better together than we are alone.' t-shirt fundraiser. We are very much looking forward to being able to reconnect with our community through fundraising events and celebrations in the coming months.
Next term, we warmly welcome Mr Josh McGrath to our new PE Teacher role across K-6. Josh joins St Anthony’s with experience across primary and secondary education and a passion for Physical Education. Welcome Josh.
I appreciate the importance of evaluating our platforms and current practices across the school. To enable our school to respond to the needs of our community, one avenue is through our feedback and discussion from our School Board and P & F. Our School Board and P & F have met over the past weeks and together have provided some valuable feedback for consideration. Some suggestions included:
- A consistent and simplified form of communication on one platform for families.
- Suggestions for a plan ahead for fundraisers for remainder of year
- Information for parents to support their child/ren and use technology
- An opportunity to explore options for Language teacher
In response to these suggestions, St Anthony’s are looking forward to:
- Developing Compass as a unified communication platform across the school for families (instead of current multiple platforms).
- Providing a plan for fundraisers and distributing this information to families in Term 2, week 2 newsletter.
- Facilitating “Think U Know” information evening for families along with ongoing resources to support families and their child/ren with cybersafety.
- Sourcing the facilitation and availability of language curriculum.
School awards will be re-introduced next term and extra curricular activities and achievements will be celebrated via our newsletter and at morning assemblies.
More information will be shared with the community at the beginning of Term 2.
Please note that the Clothing Pool is open this Saturday, 9th April from 11.00am-1.00pm . Uniform requirements and expectations are listed in this week's newsletter.
COVID update
The ACT Government is making some changes to the way rapid antigen tests (RATs) are distributed to ACT school communities for the remainder of Term 1. RATs will continue to be available through our school but will be provided to staff and students on an as-needed basis - or in response to increased cases as necessary.
Designated play areas for students will continue under the current cohorting guidelines and directives.
I am excited to announce that we will have outside whole school morning assemblies from next term. At this stage, Parents are still not permitted onsite. I am very conscious of the need and importance of parents and carers presence at school and am currently working with Catholic Education who will advise as soon as this is possible to do so.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding. Information on morning drop offs and afternoon pick up arrangements for students and gate entry points will be confirmed at the beginning of Term 2.
Behaviour and Expectations
St Anthony’s is blessed with dynamic, professional and caring staff who remain at the forefront of current educational practice. Together with the support of our families, staff are passionate and skilled educators who encourage the ongoing development of each individual to prepare them to be lifelong learners in the 21st century. We value the partnership between staff, parents and the Parish, we are an inclusive school embracing Catholic values and faith. We build respectful relationships through understanding and challenge contemporary learners to seek excellence. To meet these expectations the way that our students treat themselves, each other and members of our school community is one of our highest priorities. St Anthony’s behaviour guidance practices are guided by the expectations and procedures for Catholic Education to support and respond to students exhibiting challenging behaviours. Differentiating how we respond to behaviour is a part of treating each child with dignity and respect. Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of all students in our care is paramount and appropriate consequences are in place if students are not making good choices.
Students are reminded of these expectations at school and below are some of the key points outlined in the CECG Behaviour Support Policy:
- CECG fosters a teaching and learning environment where there is good order and purposeful learning.
- Enrolment in a school involves mutual rights and responsibilities of the Principal and staff, the parents/carers and the student, and all members are entitled to a safe environment conducive to quality teaching and learning.
- To support these mutual rights and responsibilities, this policy provides behavioural support approaches that reflects Gospel values and respects the dignity of students. If necessary, schools may also develop additional procedures to support individual students or school-specific needs.
- If a student exhibits challenging behaviours that interfere with the good order of the school or the safety and dignity of students and staff, behavioural support may be required. More serious or continuing disruptive behaviour may require increased support, restorative measures, or corrective responses.
- Challenging behaviours that interfere with the good order of schools or the safety and dignity of students and staff include:
- behaviour disruptive to the student's own learning and/or to other student’s learning, including consistent and wilful non-compliance
- aggressive, dangerous or violent behaviour
- possession of a weapon at school
- drug-related behaviour including use, supply, or possession of alcohol, tobacco, or a suspected illegal or restricted substance • sexualised behaviour and sexual harassment of other students or staff
- other behaviours believed to warrant action
- acute or extreme anti-social behaviour such as harassment, offensive language, or acts of extremism.
- Schools’ duty of care authorises and requires them to respond to challenging behaviour of students at school, on the way to and from school, and while away from the school site on school endorsed activities.
- Duty of care also authorises schools to respond to challenging behaviour outside of school hours and off school premises where there is a clear and close connection between the school and the conduct of students. These include the use by a student of social networking sites, mobile phones and/or other technology to threaten, bully or harass another student or a staff member.
I thank Parents and Carers for your continued support to provide the best possible learning environment for each of our students and encourage you to speak with your child/ren around our school’s expectations.
As we approach the two weeks break from school, may we be reminded of all that we have to be grateful for. I hope each of you are able to enjoy some sunshine with your families and a well deserved break from washing school uniforms, packing lunch boxes and navigating through homework. Thank you for all that you do to support our students.
With blessings for a peaceful Easter with your family.
Erin Marmont
Principal
Just a reminder that Term 2 starts on Wednesday 27th of April. OOSCA will not be operational on Tuesday 26th of April.
OOSCA Parents - Afternoon Pick Up
When collecting your children from after school care, please do not park in the lane closest to the school. Buses still use this lane until at least 4pm. Thank you
On Thursday 5th of May, Year 5 and 6 students will be hosting a Market Day. All students including ELC will have an opportunity to make purchases on the day.
On the day, available to purchase will be foods (cupcakes, brownies, toffee etc, drinks, art and craft, handmade items and dog treats, just to name a few.
All Year 5 and 6 students are involved in putting together over 30 stalls. We are very proud of their dedication in making this day a wonderful event for the whole school.
All families are invited to pre- purchase their spending voucher through Qkr. This will be available until Tuesday 3rd of May.
All money raised will be donated to valuable charities.
Kind regards,
Stage 3 teachers
Parents. How much time have you set aside to enhance your marriage/relationship?
“The Marriage Course” is being hosted by St Anthony’s Parish to benefit all couples – married or not, whether you have been married for 10 years or together for 20 years!!! It is an international, professionally-produced series of videos from Alpha International, designed to strengthen your couple relationship. The course is held via Zoom to facilitate private and honest discussion.
STARTS: Tues 14 May for 7 weeks, 7.30- 9 pm. If you miss a session you can catch up at another time.
REGISTER by 10 May. Contact for more info: Chris Rule - 0404274409/ carule@iprimus.com.au.