Dear SCA Families,

The Easter eggs on the supermarket shelves have been on display for a month now, so Easter must be soon, right?  Well, not quite yet. Lent begins today, so I share with you the following reflection.

Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry. It was for him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation. By observing Lent, Christians join Jesus on his retreat.

Lent consists of the forty days before Easter. I didn’t know until recently that we skip over the Sundays when we count the days of Lent, because Sunday is always the joyful celebration of the Resurrection.

Early societies relied on wood fires for heating and cooking, which meant that keeping ashes under control was a major task. Then as now, if a person was preoccupied with something serious, they didn’t always tend to the housekeeping (at least that’s my excuse) — it’s the least of their concerns. Imagine that there is a death in the family. A friend stopping by to pay their respects might gently say, “Did you know you have ash on your face?”

So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Today someone might wear a black armband to signify they are in mourning; back then people put ashes on their foreheads.

During Lent, ancient Christians mourned their sins and repented, so it was appropriate to show their sincerity by having ashes on their foreheads. The custom has persisted in the Church as society has changed around us. It is most appropriate on Ash Wednesday, when we begin a period of reflection, self-examination, and spiritual redirection.

SCA School Community Council Activity Plan

Attached to today’s newsletter, please find a document from your School Community Council. It maps out the main events for the 2025 school year and lists the members of your Community Council Executive.

While the Cat’s Away…

I will be away from school today for a Catholic Leaders’ Day and on Thursday and Friday while I attend the annual CE Principals’ Retreat. (I had intended on remaining at school, but the Executive Director insisted I attend!) I also plan to take three days long service leave next week, following the long weekend. I will return to SCA on Friday 14^th March. Nikki Dwyer, supported by the rest of the Leadership Team, will hold the fort while I am away.

Swimming Carnival and Water Fun Day

Parents are welcome to visit us at the Swimming Carnival tomorrow. Queanbeyan Pool is a great venue and families are encouraged to spend some time enjoying the atmosphere.

Years 3 to 6, along with some Year 2 children will attend. Kindergarten, Year 1 and the majority of Year 2 will remain at school and participate in a water fun day.

Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers who have a role in organising and assisting with the swimming carnival.

NAPLAN Weeks – Years Three and Five

Next week (Week 6), our students will commence their participation in NAPLAN, the national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years Three, Five, Seven and Nine sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students can undertake. Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

All schools have transitioned from paper-based to computer-based assessments. All Year 3 students will continue to complete the writing assessment on paper. Online NAPLAN tests provide more precise results and are more engaging for students. One of the main benefits is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test presents questions which may be more or less challenging depending on a student’s responses. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

See the types of questions and tools available in the online NAPLAN assessments at the public demonstration site. More information for parents and carers can be found here.

Kindergarten

We are pleased to have our Kinder students with us for 5 days a week from this week; no more Wednesdays off.

Colour Run

Friday was a fantastic day of fun, excitement, and most of all, colour. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make it a successful fundraiser for new ICT equipment in the school and to our worthwhile Caritas Project Compassion cause. I am pleased to report that we raised over $22,000, thanks to the support of so many people.

It was great to see so many parents join us to help out, cheer the kids on, or just share in the vibe of the day. Thanks to those of you who helped, and to the staff who all participated with good humour. A special thanks to Mrs Jo Thompson, who along with a band of helping staff and parents, organised this year’s event.

Parent / Teacher Conferences

It was wonderful to see parents and teachers walking away from interviews looking so positive last week. The parents I have spoken with have been full of praise for their child’s teacher and are looking forward to the rest of the year. Thank you to the parents for your support of all we do here.

Special thanks to the teachers for keeping a smile during the long days of the week on top of all the work involved in organising and preparing for the conferences. Thank you.

Year 6 Camp

Congratulations to the Year 6 student for your participation, cooperation and teamwork shown in Tathra on your camp last week. I extend a sincere vote of thanks to Mrs Ruzvidzo, Miss Moritz, Mr Purcell, Mrs Philippa and Mrs Dwyer for giving their time to ensure the children had a great time.

It was once said…

Blessings to you and your family.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal

Dear SCA Families,

We are delighted to share the latest developments in our ongoing commitment to educational excellence, with a focus on placing our students at the centre of all we do. Building upon our successful Catalyst journey, which emphasises the Science of Learning and supports Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), we are now integrating instructional coaching into our teaching framework. To facilitate this, we are utilising Steplab, a leading professional development platform designed to enhance teaching practices through evidence-based coaching strategies.

Introducing Instructional Coaching with Steplab

To further enhance our teaching practices and, most importantly, to enrich our students' learning experiences, we are implementing instructional coaching - a collaborative process where experienced educators work one-on-one with teachers to identify personalised areas for growth. This involves short classroom observations followed by structured feedback sessions, enabling teachers to refine their instructional techniques. Our dedicated coaching team comprises Belinda Breen, Jo Thomson, Susan Strickland, Cherie Ruzvidzo, and myself.

Benefits to Our School Community

Integrating instructional coaching with the support of Steplab aligns seamlessly with our Catalyst journey and commitment to EDI. This initiative aims to:

• Enhance Teacher Development: Provide personalised support to teachers, fostering professional growth and instructional effectiveness.
• Improve Student Outcomes: Refine teaching practices to boost student engagement and academic achievement.
• Promote a Culture of Continuous Improvement: Encourage ongoing reflection and development among educators, ensuring our teaching methods remain effective and up-to-date.

We are looking forward to the year ahead, full of possibilities and opportunities for our staff and students.

Nikki Dwyer

Assistant Principal

This week White Cards will be presented at Friday Morning Assembly at 8.45am. Parents and Carers are very welcome to attend.

Congratulations to the following children.

2025 TERM 1

Year 3 -6 Swimming Carnival

Tomorrow Thursday 6th of March, St Clare of Assisi will be holding our annual Swimming Carnival at Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre Cnr Crawford Campbell and Antill St, Queanbeyan for all children from Years 3 - 6.

All 200 IM swimmers are asked to be at the pool by 8:30am to begin their races at 9:00am. Parents may be asked to stay and assist with time keeping for these races. For all other swimmers, buses will begin leaving school at 9am.

Competitive 100m and 50m swimmers will leave school on the first buses. All children will return to school by approximately 2:45pm. Lunch will be eaten at the pool so please pack recess, lunch and water bottles for your child. The canteen at the pool will be available for snacks only.

What to wear/bring:

• Swimmers are to be worn to school under sports uniform.

• School hat must be worn all day
• Wear a T-shirt in their house colour; (McCubbin-blue/Roberts-red/Streeton-green/Conder-yellow)
• Bring recess, lunch and drinks – lots of water!!
• Thongs/sandals, towel, school hat and sunscreen
• Your smile!

Kinder - Year 2 Water Fun Day

We will also be holding our Water Fun Day tomorrow at school for Kinder, Yr 1 and Yr 2 while the rest of the school attends the Swimming Carnival.  The day will involve water safety activities as well as water play. For the morning session of our day (9:30am - 11.30am), each grade will rotate through a variety of fun water based activities. Students will then be able to dry off during the recess break (eating time, then play).

What to wear/bring:

• Full sports uniform with swimwear underneath (please ensure this is sunsafe)

• Hat & sunscreen (advised to pack sunscreen in your child's bag to re-apply)

• Students are welcome to bring thongs/sandals to change into and a towel

• Fruit Break, recess and lunch as normal. The canteen will operate tomorrow as normal for the K - 2 children at school.

• Drink bottles

• Optional: one water pistol/toy to use as part of a water fight, these must be labelled (this is your child’s responsibility and we recommend not to bring anything valuable/that would be upsetting if lost or broken).

Katherine Austin

Sports Coordinator

Congratulations to all our students on an incredible Colour Run fundraising event! With the support of our amazing families, staff, and parent helpers, we raised just over $22,000 a fantastic achievement! The day was filled with fun, laughter, and plenty of colour. SCA, you are AMAZING! How lucky we are to be part of such an incredible school. To celebrate this success, we will be holding a special Uniform-Free Day on Friday, 21st March. Students will enjoy a movie afternoon, and we will announce our highest fundraisers and raffle prize winners at a Prize Assembly. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event such a success!

A huge thank you to our amazing school janitor, Mr. Wayne Dunn, for his incredible effort in making our Colour Run such a success! He worked tirelessly behind the scenes to build and set up the best obstacle course yet and even took the time to cook up a delicious BBQ for everyone to enjoy. We truly appreciate all the hard work and dedication he puts into our school—thank you, Mr. Dunn!

Missing Receipt

If you made a Payment in the front office on Tuesday 25th February at 9.35am could you please contact us on 6294 1860.

If your child is going to be absent from school, you can notify the school via Compass (the school app), email, or phone, providing the reason for their absence. It is a legal requirement to account for all absences.

For any planned leave of more than 10 days, you must inform the school in advance by emailing both the Front Office and the classroom teacher, also submit the leave on Compass.

If your child will be absent for 25 to 100 days, you need to submit an extended leave form, which can be obtained from the Front Office or the school website. For absences of 25 days or more, you must submit this request to the Principal two weeks prior to leaving.

The Uniform Shop is urgently in need of wire coat hangers. If you have any spare ones, please drop them off at the Front Office.

We would greatly appreciate your donations!