Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to St Clare of Assisi for Term 4.

I love this time of year when the sun comes out, the trees become covered with leaves, the students don their summer uniform once more since Term 1 and we see just how much some of them have grown! At this time of year we can also see how much they have learnt and how they have become much more independent. It is a proud moment for us all!

Planning for 2023

Normally we undertake a number of processes in order to plan for the year ahead. We review our current achievements against the goals of the Annual Improvement Plan and Strategic Plan and use data from other sources to inform our priorities for next year. We would also analyse the feedback provided through the school surveys completed by students, parents and staff from the previous term and look at our NAPLAN data.

Staff would be involved at all levels of the review and analysis of data. We view this as an exciting opportunity to strengthen key improvement goals and to ensure students and student learning is central to all processes undertaken at the school. This year the planning for next year is somewhat different as under the guidance of Catholic Education we continue with Catalyst, a professional learning program designed to strengthen our performance in Catholic schools across the Archdiocese. Catalyst is a program informed by the science of learning to help all schools realise our bold goals;

1. Every student is a competent reader
2. High Impact Teaching Practice is visible in every classroom

To achieve these goals, the Catalyst Program focuses on four key initiatives;

• High Impact Teaching Practice – face-to-face workshops, coaching and online units to support improvement in teaching practice,
• K-2 Literacy – professional learning in evidence-based early literacy instruction,
• Curriculum – system-wide curriculum improvement through high quality resources, and
• Instructional Leadership – professional learning to support the implementation of evidence-based instructional leadership techniques

The Catalyst program is to be completed over three years with schools identifying their priority areas and Instructional Leadership occurring every year.

https://vimeo.com/748594778/2cd9f569c4

God bless.

Rachel Smith

Principal

Principal’s Notes

Purple Happy RUOK Day

Friday of week 10 we had our Purple Happy RUOK Day, focusing on wellbeing and mindfulness. Both the students and staff enjoyed participating in this day, which was made more enjoyable by the glorious weather. The students enthusiastically participated in a variety of wellbeing activities such as meditation, drawing, creating artworks, bubble blowing, jumping castles and outdoor games. 

Semester 2 Reports

Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn (CECG) has communicated to schools informing them that general comments will not be required on the Semester 2, 2022 reports. This is in line with other educational jurisdictions and systems. Given teacher workload at present, including staffing pressures across the profession, CECG’s position is to prioritise parent/teacher conferences occurring during Term 4. These meetings provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, their strengths, challenges, and future areas of focus. A Semester Report will be sent home as in previous semesters providing A-E grading and attendance information. The school will send communication regarding the parent/teacher conferences.

Summer Uniform

It is customary for our students to begin Term 4 by wearing their summer uniform. This year due to the fluctuating weather we are allowing a two week transition from winter to summer uniform. Students will be able to wear either their winter or summer uniform for week 1 and week 2 of this term. It is expected that all students will commence week 3, 24^th October with the summer uniform.

Taking Other Children Home

Occasionally parents organise for their child to go home with parents of another child in the school. Please notify the front office via a written letter, an email or a phone call if this is your intention. Understandably we don’t allow people to take other children home without this expressed permission from parents.

Leaving St Clare of Assisi

Don’t forget to let us know if you are planning to leave St Clare of Assisi at the end of the year. (Year 6 exempt of course!) Please use the link below.  We will soon commence the process of planning enrolments and class numbers for next year. 

https://stclareconder.schoolzineplus.com/form/10

2023 School and Term Dates

Please be aware the term dates will be as follows for next year;

• Term One 31 January - 6 April
• Term Two 26 April - 30 June
• Term Three 18 July - 22 September
• Term Four 9 October - 14 December

COVID Update

The restrictions in place at the end of last term have lifted and we excitedly welcome parents and carers back into the school grounds. We look forward to providing opportunities to welcome parents back into the classroom shortly.

October - Month of the Rosary 

October 7^th is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Francis invites everyone to rediscover, especially during this month of October, the beauty of the prayer of the rosary, which has nourished the faith of the Christian people through the centuries.

 Pope Francis says:

"I invite you to pray the rosary, and to carry it in your hands or in your pockets. The recitation of the rosary is the most beautiful prayer we can offer to the Virgin Mary; it is a contemplation on the stages of the life of Jesus the Saviour with his Mother Mary and protects us from evils and temptations."

Reconciliation Enrolments

Enrolments for Catholic students in Year 4 to celebrate the rite of Reconciliation (Penance) close next Monday 17 October. Parents and carers of Year 4 students should have received a Compass communication with a detailed letter from the parish explaining how to enrol.  Please contact the parish sacramental coordinator, Anne Gowen, or the parish office with any questions. Office Hours: Tues to Fri - 9am to 1pm 02 6291 6688

tuggeranongsouth.sacraments@cg.org.au (Anne Gowen)

tuggeranongsouth@cg.org.au (parish office)

St Francis of Assisi Feast Day

During the holidays, the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi was celebrated on the 4^th of October. St Francis is the patron saint of animals and many churches have a 'blessing of pets' on his feast day. St Francis was a friend and inspiration to our patron saint; St Clare of Assisi. St Clare gave away all of her riches, just as St Francis did. Together, St Francis and St Clare founded the religious order of the Poor Clares.

St Francis wrote the well-known Peace Prayer, or Prayer of St Francis:

Congratulations to the children who will be awarded white cards at the 8.45am Friday Morning assembly

Tickets are selling fast! We are already at 90% capacity for our performances. Tickets are available on QKR for $5 each. We have two performances:

Friday 28^th October 7pm

Saturday 29^th October 2pm

All students and their families are invited to come along and our students would love to see you there.

We have had a fabulous response to our raffle tickets this year. Thank you for the continued support. 

A reminder that raffle tickets must be returned by Friday 28^thOctober, 2022.

Congratulations to Luka E (4B)

During the school holidays Luka played in the Australian futsal schools nationals - representing Tasmania. Although they didn’t win the tournament he was selected to the all stars team of the tournament and also selected in the Australia Team that will tour Fiji in July 2023.

                                                                   

Evolution Psychology has offered our SCA families a 10% discount on a 8-week group parenting program for parents and carers whose children are displaying challenging behaviours. 

From Combative to Cooperative is evidence-based to reduce child/teen problematic behaviour, increase parent confidence, and reduce family conflict.

It's a real privilege to support families and be part of real, sustained change and I'd love for families to join the program if there's interest. 

Below is the link, which has all the relevant information.  Please enter the code C2CSCA:

https://evolutionpsychology.systeme.io/71ca46cf-f6795436-9c9b8aac-e527f628