We respectfully acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and learn, and pay respect to the First Nations Peoples and their elders, past, present and emerging.
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Dear SCA families,
I have decided this year to spend more time on my mountain bike. Last year I found life was too “busy” (COVID may have had something to do with that) for this great love of mine.
My plan is every Thursday to head straight to Mount Stromlo after school and hit the trails. Last Thursday I was on my trusty Trek by 4.30. ABC Switchbacks, Skyline, Trebuchet, Willow’s Loop, Double Dissolution, Breakout and Old Duffy Decent were my trails of choice. The climbs were slow, but the descents were a lot of fun. (One rabbit I encountered might be thinking otherwise!) After a busy day at school I enjoyed the tranquillity of the bush surrounds and the opportunity to be by myself.
With Lent starting today we might all like to make some time each week for the sake of our spiritual lives. In this season we have a wonderful opportunity to step back and take a long, hard look at our lives, both personal and communal. It can be a time of review, a time for evaluation of our relationship with our God.
Choosing to spend time daily in reflection on our lives and discovering where God is in our lives, brings us nourishment as well as challenges. What a far cry from the ‘giving up’ of some favourite food or pastime which was the sole focus of my childhood Lenten experiences! This alternative Lenten habit can be a new beginning, and a life-giving experience.
I haven’t been able to verify it, but I am told Mother Theresa had a business card, on which was printed:
“The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service.”
My prayer for us all this Lent is that we can make the time for silence in our lives (even if it is on your mountain bike).
Welcome
We warmly welcome to SCA Miss Deanne D’Ambrosio who will be teaching 3 Yellow, along with Mrs Jo Thomson.
Year 6 Camp
Plans are well underway for our Year 6 Camp at Narrabeen in 2 weeks’ time. As you could imagine, our usual risk management and safety plans have been supplemented by COVID safe plans from us, the camp provider and the transport company. After missing out on Year 5 camp last year, the students are looking forward to it with great excitement.
We will continue to take a risk-adverse approach to all activities, and will closely adhere to all health and safety guidelines from ACT and NSW Health authorities. It’s reassuring also, that while at camp, our students and staff do not interact with any members of the public. I am excited and looking forward to spending the time, along with the rest of the Year 6 teachers, with our student leaders.
Student Leaders
Our Year 6 students spent last Wednesday reflecting on what it means to be a leader, in particular, what lessons Jesus taught us about leadership.
This Friday we commission our Year 6 students as leaders in our school, and wish them every blessing for a wonderful final year of primary school.
Opening Mass
Sadly, we do not have the space to invite parents to attend our opening Mass this Friday. Please know that we will be praying for all in our community, especially all of our parents who do so much to support our students and school.
Year 6 SCA News and Video Images
Each week our Year 6 students publish an online SCA news report. It’s a great initiative by the teachers, and the children have already commenced doing a great job. Though the link is only shared in our community, it is on a public website.
They will occasionally speak with and record other children across the school. They will, though, never use a child’s last name or other personal identifying details in the SCA News. If you have concerns about this, or would like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at school.
Swimming Carnival
The Swimming Carnival at Queanbeyan Pool is on next Thursday (25th February) with the first 50m+ competition races starting around 9:30am. The 15m races will be hopefully starting some time around 12:00pm. Though parents may attend, the COVID safe guidelines of Queanbeyan Pool will apply. To ensure we are compliant, parents will be asked to not enter the student area, but instead remain in the spectator designated zone.
Permission notes must be returned this week.
Outside of School Hours Care
Have you enrolled your child for 2021? We are unable to accept children in care unless you have completed and returned the documentation for this year.
The school offers Before & After school care via the SCA OSHC program. If you are interested in using this service please contact OSHC directly, on 6294 8004, email sca.oshc@cg.catholic.edu.au or call our Front Office.
We provide this facility for working parents. Therefore, there should be no child dropped off to school before 8:30am, nor left at school after 3:20pm. Your child is not supervised before or after these times and dropping them off before this time or not collecting them leaves your children in a potentially dangerous situation. This is done entirely at your own risk.
Staff may be on site early for work purposes, or there may be no staff on site. Supervision of students is a carefully managed arrangement between the school and the staff. It is not fair to expect staff to supervise students before official work hours commence. Your child’s best interests are paramount to us all. We provide OSHC to ensure these interests are met safely.
Care Meals
We have a number of families in our community who would benefit from a care meal and our freezer is empty. It would be much appreciated if you could provide a clearly labelled care meal with ingredients in a disposable container for our freezer. Thank you in anticipation.
It was once said…
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- Confucius
Blessings to you and your family.
Principal
Be the Light
At St Clare of Assisi, we are all striving to live like our patron Saint, Clare. We aim to do this through our four school ‘Rays of Light’, which are:
· Faith,
· Community,
· Learning and
· Leadership.
Our theme for this year is ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’. Psalm 119:105 This psalm allows us to continue to be the light by listening to, praying with and acting upon God’s word. Faith, community, learning and leadership are all qualities that can shine through us as we aim to live out our school motto ‘Be the Light’.
As a school we will be celebrating the theme through masses, prayer celebrations and classwork. We invite you to chat to your children about what the theme means to them and how they think God’s word lights a path for us in our daily lives.
Before beginning his ministry, Jesus went into the desert to pray. He didn’t eat or drink; he fasted and used the time to focus on his relationship with God. Today, during the 40 days before Easter known as Lent, we too are called to focus on our relationship with God. Catholics do three things to grow closer to God during Lent: pray, fast and give alms to those in need. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the three pillars of Lenten spirituality.
Over the next three weeks we will look at these pillars.
The first pillar of Lent is PRAYER. We pray to grow in our relationship with God and ask God for guidance on how to live our lives. In our prayer, we also thank God for the gifts we have been given and we pray for those who have less than we do. During Lent, we can make an extra effort to pray each day to become the person God calls us to be.
Congratulations to the children who will be awarded white cards this week on Friday morning
| Kinder | Ruby H, Peyton R |
| Year 1 | Delilah C, Jaydon J |
| Year 2 | Chloe H, Elias W |
| Year 3 | Flynn O |
| Year 4 | Damaris C, Noah C, Jasmine N |
| Year 5 | Jacques McK, Shreya S |
| Year 6 | Jeremy J |
Swimming Carnival Year 3-6
Thursday 25th February, 2021
Dear Parents,
On Thursday 25th February, St. Clare of Assisi will be holding our annual Swimming Carnival at Queanbeyan Pool. All children from Years 3 - 6 will participate. The cost will be $16.00 per child to pay for buses & pool entry. For those students making their own way to and from the pool the price for admission only is $5.00. Payment is to be made through Qkr.
All 200 IM swimmers are asked to be at the pool by 8.30am to begin their races at 9am sharp. Parents may be asked to stay and assist with time keeping for these races. For all other swimmers, buses will begin leaving school at 8:50am. 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.
The program will include 200 Individual Medley, 100m, 50m and 15m swimming events. It is expected that all children will be able to compete in at least one swimming event. If your child is not a confident swimmer, the 15m races swum across the pool are the best option. These races are to give an opportunity for everyone to have a go at a race. There are adults in the water to assist and flotation devices there if needed. On the attached form, please nominate the events your child would like to participate in.
The day is designed for all children to participate and so that a school swimming squad can be chosen to compete in the Tuggeranong Region Swimming Carnival.
Children will need to remember the following:
- Wear a T-shirt in their house colour; (McCubbin-blue/Roberts-red/Streeton-green/Conder-yellow)
- Bring recess, lunch and drinks – Lots of Water!!
- Swimmers are to be worn to school under sports uniform
- Thongs/sandals, towel, school hat and sunscreen
- Swimming Caps are highly encouraged. These are available from the Front Office for $5.
Please complete the separate event nomination form and permission slips and return them to school by Friday 19th February.
Due to new Swimming Carnival guidelines regarding staff to student supervision ratios around water, novelty events will only be run this year if we receive adequate parent support to relieve staff from time keeping duties. If you are able to assist on the day, please complete the note attached. It is greatly appreciated by the staff and students. Parent helpers and spectators will not be charged entry and your children will love to see you there!
PLEASE NOTE DUE TO PRIVACY LAWS PARENTS MAY ONLY TAKE VIDEO FOOTAGE AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN. THIS WILL BE SUPERVISED.
Covid-19 Restrictions:
This year there will be NO 8 and 9 year old races being held at a regional level. However, we will still be running races for these age groups at our carnival.
If you are coming to the carnival as a spectator please ensure you sign in using the Service NSW App QR code at the pool. If you do not have a suitable device, paper forms will be available. Spectators will have a separate area away from the students and are asked to ensure they adhere to social distancing protocols of 1.5m. Thank you.
Nomination Form:
https://stclareconder.schoolzineplus.com/form/112
Parent Helpers:
