Dear SCA Families,

Tonight, many of our Year 4 students celebrate the Sacrament of Penance, or Reconciliation, for the first time. For many of us, this sacrament is challenging, as it is perceived to focus on guilt and shame. The good news though, is that it is quite the opposite.

The Sacrament of Penance is about repairing a relationship.

We all know the harm we can do to a friendship when we have wronged a person, and then fail to admit and apologise. In the case of this sacrament, we are repairing our relationship with God.

God loves us as we are. God’s mercy is boundless. It is hard for us to believe this. We do not earn God’s love. It is not offered because we are worthy. God just loves us. Intrinsic to this boundless love is God’s equally boundless mercy and forgiveness. All we have to do is ask, and it is given. And we begin again, re-directed and renewed in our commitment to Jesus as our way, our truth and our life. And so the Catholic Church has a Rite of Penance.

My prayer for all our children, particularly those celebrating tonight is taken from the Rite of Penance itself:

May the Lord guide your hearts in the way of his love and fill you with Christ-like patience. Amen.

Remembrance Day

Tomorrow is a time to stop and give thanks. Our freedom has been bought by others sacrificing their lives. Let us give thanks to God for them and pray for their souls. In gratitude, we are reminded about what allows us to live in peace and not take our freedom for granted.

Lest we forget.

COVID Safe Measures

In the ACT we have seen a lessening of restrictions over the last few weeks, with more to come on Friday. However, schools are still expected to operate under tighter restrictions than other “businesses”.

All adults will continue to wear masks while inside, and parents are, unfortunately, not allowed inside the school at this stage.

Year 6 Graduation

Please note that we are delaying final plans for the Year 6 graduation to allow time for easing of restrictions. (I hope this isn’t a case of my eternal optimism!)

As soon as we can finalise arrangements, which we hope will allow participation of as many family members as possible, we will let you know.

Uniform

Most children are coming to school every day wearing the correct school uniform. There is, though, an increasing number of children wearing non-uniform school shoes. Please remember that our policy is for black leather school shoes to be worn with the school uniform.

Keeping All Children Safe

Please do NOT send any nuts or foods made of nut products to school. We have numerous children and staff whose lives are threatened by exposure to nuts.

It was once said…

“We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” – William Gladstow

Blessings to you and your family. Be the light.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal

Reconciliation 

Please keep the following students and families in your prayers as they celebrate First Reconciliation tonight at Holy Family Church Gowrie.

Isabella B	Mariella C
Shelby C	Scarlet C
Tahlia D	Olivia D
Paige H	William H
Ava H	Isla H
Lara H	Evie H
Alex J L	Ania K
Hazel L	Noah McC
Logan McK	Emily M
Alana M	Ava M
Samuel M	Grace P
Hayden P	Lucas P
Myles  R	Hayden  R
Hayden S	Joshua S
Nathaniel  S	Lilly T
Alexander W	Ella W
Alison W	Emily W

Eucharist 

Our Year 5 students will be celebrating their First Eucharist on Friday 26 November at a special Mass at 7:30pm. Families should receive correspondence from the parish this week. If you have any queries, please direct them to the parish office via email or phone.

Ph:62916688

email: 

tuggeranongsouth@cg.org.au

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

It is time to start collecting items for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. Please refer to the suggested items below and bring in some items each week up until Friday of Week 9 to help those in need in our community.

Kinder Packet of jelly, lollies and chips 

Year 1 Fruit mince pies and sweet biscuits

Year 2 Tinned ham, salmon or tuna

Year 3 Christmas pudding and Christmas cakes

Year 4 Tinned corn, beetroot, pineapple or veg

Year 5 Tinned Fruit and long life custard

Year 6 Bottles of soft drink and fruit juice

If you wish to give other than these suggestions such as decorations, Christmas crackers or toys, please feel free to do so.  All donations will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your continued support.

Congratulations to the children who will be awarded white cards this week.

We are excited to announce that this event is back on!

Save the date for Week 9, Thursday 2nd of December. It will still be taking place on our SCA oval. 

Our colour day this term is also being combined with our annual 'Purple Happy Day'. 

We are busy finalising plans for this eventful day and cannot wait to share it with our SCA community. We thank you for supporting this day, especially in the fundraising. We are blown away by these efforts - well done everyone! 

We will be using our previous permission slips for this event. If you are new to SCA, you will receive a note shortly. Please note, if circumstances have changed since you last signed the permsission note for your child/ren, and you wish for them to not participate in the colour course, please contact Miss Swain or Miss Barron to update these as soon as possible.

Jordana.Swain@cg.catholic.edu.au     Holly.Barron@cg.catholic.edu.au

11am on Thursday 11 November marks the anniversary of the Armistice in 1918 that saw an end to the devastation of WWI. On this day we pause to remember and give thanks to all who have served in all conflicts, and especially those who gave their lives for our nation.

This year we will commemorate Remembrance Day with a virtual prayer liturgy hosted by Year 1.

We have many families here at SCA with one or both parents currently serving, or who have previously served, in the Australian Defence Force.

Our Defence students often cope with extended parental absence due to deployments, both to overseas conflicts & peacekeeping missions; as well as within Australia, providing vital disaster support during floods, bushfires and during the ongoing COVID pandemic.

Reunions with loved ones have often been cancelled or delayed due to border closures and travel restrictions, and many Defence families live far away from family support networks, which are so important during these challenging times.

In my Defence Mentor role it has been a privilege to see the courage, positivity and resilience shown by our SCA Defence kids and their families, particularly during the past few months.

We thank our SCA Defence families and students for their service.

Kate Blenkin

SCA Defence Mentor

A big thank you to Anne our Parent Rep Coordinator for cleaning out our ever growing lost property.  Found in the clean up today was the below blue bike helmet, please contact the front office on 6294 1860 if this is your child's.

NEWSFEED

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Butterfly Foundation is offering a FREE live webinar for parents providing important tips on supporting body image in children and teens.

Let's Talk Body Confident Children and Teens

For: Parents/carers of primary and secondary age children

Covers: Body image influences | Importance of positive body image| Positive role modelling | Reducing toxic body talk| Responding to appearance bullying | What to do if concerned

Date: Monday, 22nd November 2021

Time: 7pm - 8.15pm (AEDT)

Format: Live, via Zoom (no recording)

Webinar registration:  https://events.butterfly.org.au/portal//event/?id=EP_BCCT_Parent_Webinar3040012394&Name=22/11/21 BCCT for BKF