Dear Families,

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) has informed me of the school fees for 2024.

We are very conscious of the current cost of living pressures and CECG assures me they have worked hard to keep fees to a minimum. However, we are not immune from rising costs and unfortunately need to pass on some of these costs in the form of increases in school fees.

School fees for 2024 are shown in the table below. The single school fee in 2024 will include the tuition fee and all school-based levies. CECG has also reviewed and updated the arrangements for family discounts, which are included in the table below.

Your school fees are used to support the delivery of high-quality education and maintain and improve facilities, including the funding of all staff and the maintenance and improvement of facilities at the school. Voluntary contributions to the Canberra Catholic Schools Build Fund (CCSBF) will be $210 per term for those families that opt-in to make a contribution to the CCSBF.

Our students continue to benefit from a high-quality educational experience and a wide range of learning and co-curricular opportunities. We continue to see improvement in academic achievements of students, particularly in literacy and numeracy. This commitment to learning combined with knowing each child continues to nurture the growth and development of every child.

We are very mindful of the impact that any fee increase can have on families.  If you have any concerns that fees in 2024 may cause hardship for you and your family, I encourage you to contact me for a confidential discussion on the assistance available to support your child.

We value your partnership, and we sincerely thank you for your continued support of our school. If you have any questions about school fees or require assistance on any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me, or our Finance Officer, Jo McCarthy, at the school.

Families are welcome to set up scheduled payments either termly, monthly, fortnightly or weekly. (Fortnightly payments for a single child should equate to approximately $151, assuming no payments are made in January.)

A New (Church) Year

Happy New Year! The new Church year commences this weekend with the first Sunday of Advent.

Advent is a season of waiting; we wait with hope, desire and expectation. One of our Advent companions is Mary, and during these weeks we remember her as she waited for the birth of her child. We know what waiting is like, as many of us wait with anticipation for the holidays.

Advent is also a season to prepare for Christmas. We know that the first coming of Jesus at Bethlehem will not happen again, so during Advent, we prepare and long for a new coming of Jesus into our lives. We take this time every year to practise how to receive Jesus every day of our lives. We remember the call of Jesus to us to make our world a peaceful and loving place, and so, during Advent, we make special efforts to be signs that God is with us. This is what the word ‘Emmanuel’ means – God-with-us.

Advent is a season with its own special mood, colours, sounds, words and joys. Sometimes it can be swamped by Christmas, and we can be tempted to celebrate Christmas too early. This Advent, may we all try to wait, as the world waited long ago for the coming of Jesus, the “Light of the World”.

Fete Sponsors

The following sponsors helped make our Fete a success. Please consider supporting them in return. Thank you to our:

PLATINUM SPONSORS

• Woolworths Conder
• Outset Carpentry
• McIntyre Property
• The Lazy Grazer
• Aquatic Achievers Swim School

 BRONZE SPONSORS

• Domino's
• Wokitup
• Better Trailers Canberra
• Flour & Frost

PRIZE DONATIONS

• Impress'd Jewellery
• Mad On Hair
• Poetry In Flowers
• Honeycomb Lane
• Canberra Cupcake Bouquet
• BZ Burgers
• M&K Meats
• Zambreros
• Star Buffet
• Hotel Queanbeyan
• Alpaca Magic
• Questacon
• Taronga Zoo Dubbo
• iPlay Belconnen
• Garden and Property Maintenance
• Bunnings
• Plus Fitness
• Big Barbers
• Lanyon Hair and Beauty
• Lanyon Nail Spa

Community Council

Following our last meeting of the year, I wish to publicly thank the Community Council for the work they have done for our school, and their support of all that we do. It has been another busy year at SCA, and our Council, chaired by Kristy Everding, has been actively involved in so many ways. Thank you to each of the members: Kristy Everding, Damien Webb, Melinda Reeson, Fay Holden, Trudie Hargrave, Sam Graham, Jo Reed, Cheyenne Symons and Brooke Coles.

Next Friday

Please join us at Holy Family Church, Gowrie, on Friday 8^th December at 9.30am as we celebrate Mass to give thanks for all the blessings this year has brought.

Semester Two Reports

Your child’s teacher is in the process of preparing Semester Two reports. There is a great deal of work and energy that goes into the writing of these documents, and I thank the teachers for their efforts. Reports will be made available via Compass on Friday the 8^th of December.

School Fees

A reminder that school fees are now overdue, for those who have not set up a regular payment through BPAY I ask that you settle your account with us by next week so that we are able to meet our budgetary commitments.

Leaving Early

If you are heading off on holidays before the end of the school year, please let the Front Office and classroom teacher know.

Library

Mrs Katherine Austin has begun the process of stocktaking books in the library. Please ensure your children have returned all books to the library as soon as possible.

End of Year Events

• End of Year Thanksgiving Mass – Friday 8 December at 9.30am
• Semester Two Awards Assembly – Tuesday 12 December at 9.00am
• Kinder Christmas Concert – Monday 11 December at 12.10pm
• Year 6 Graduation – Wednesday 13 December at 5.00pm
• Term Four Ends – Thursday 14 December (at 3.00pmJ)

It was once said…

“Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.”

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Blessings to you and your family.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal

matthewer@cg.catholic.edu.au