Newsletter Term 4 Week 2 (25.10.24)

Message from the Principal -Lynne Pull

Dear Parents

Thank you to everyone who made the effort to come along to Mass last Sunday. There was a good crowd to witness the six Baptisms which took place – congratulations to Georgina and Hannah and their cousin and to Bonnie and her brother who were all baptised. There was a good vibe after Mass with morning tea – thanks again to all those who brought something along to share. Our next school hosted Mass will be next Sunday 3^rd November. We encourage you all to come along again and join in the celebration. Children’s Liturgy is on every Sunday during term time.

Swimming for Years 3 – 6 began this week and will be held each Tuesday until early December. We apologise for the late notice regarding giving permission for students to attend swimming. By law we now have to do this. In fact every time we leave the school premises we must have permission. Please ensure your children have all their swimming gear organised prior to coming to school on Tuesdays.

We welcome two new families to our school – the Scotts: Sadie has begun in Kindergarten this week and her sister Ava will commence in Year 3 next week; and the Kalenbachs – with Tala commencing in Kindergarten today. We hope the children love learning at St Anthony’s and we hope their parents will find lots of other parents at our school who will draw them into our community here.

Congratulations to Eden and Lennie in Year 4 who entered the Dance X online eisteddfod last term. The girls achieved first place in two divisions and received their certificates and trophies at assembly today. What great initiative they showed in organising their dances and then having them videoed for the competition! Well done!

This coming week we will hold Kindergarten Orientation on both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 8.45am until 10.45 am on both mornings. Once the children are settled on Tuesday all the parents will be invited to the school hall to meet various members of the staff and Leanne Robbins from Parent Assembly who has organised some goodies for the children. We look forward to welcoming everyone on Tuesday. Even if you are a current family there is still an expectation that a parent of each student entering Kindergarten in 2025 will be present for this gathering on Tuesday. If you know of anyone who has a child for Kindergarten next year and who does not have an invitation please let us know.

We have a Police/Schools Liaison Officer visiting our school on Wednesday afternoon. He will talk to all students from Years 3 – 6 about road safety rules, and will also talk about cyber safety with the older students.

Today it is World Teachers Day in Australia. We celebrate all our teachers and support staff at St Anthony’s who give generously of their time and expertise for the benefit of our students. It is good to remind ourselves of the significant influence that teachers have on the lives of their students and to give thanks for their steadfast commitment to their vocation. We are blessed to have some of the best in our school.

There has been a glitch in our calendar and some things have been left off. We have just realised that Grandparents Day is one of them. We would like to make amends and celebrate these wonderful people in our lives on Friday morning 22^nd November with prayer and assembly, open classrooms and morning tea. Please let them know about this!

May the dazzling rays of the sunshine of God’s love reach through the clouds of your life and brighten up your lives.

God bless all our families

Lynne

Important Dates & School Information

Term 4 2024

Tuesday, 29th and Wednesday 30th October - Kindergarten Orientation from 8.45am to 10.45am

Wednesday, 30th October - Parent Forum Meeting @ 5 pm

Sunday, 3rd November - School MASS @ 9 am

Monday, 4th November to Thursday, 7th November - Sydney/Canberra Excursion

Friday, 15th November - Rugby Union Gala Day

Friday, 22nd November - Grandparents Day 8.40 am to 11am

Monday, 25th November - Cyber Safety Parent Workshop 5.15pm

Wednesday, 27th November - Mount St Patrick College Year 7 Orientation Day

Friday,29th November - Lynne's Farewell MASS @ 1.30pm

Thursday, 5th December - Arts/Talent Show/Disco

Friday, 6th December - Infants Swimming Carnival

Thursday, 12th December - Year 6 Graduation Mass, Morning Tea and Assembly

Friday 13th December - Awards and Final School Assembly

Wednesday, 18th - Last day of school

Child Protection Policy can be found on our School Website under Information/School Policies: St Anthony's Primary School Website or in the following link:

https://www.kngplism.catholic.edu.au/policies

Something to think and pray about

Relational Love

We live in an age that is fascinated by identity. There is ongoing debate on gender identity.

To understand who we are is a deep and healthy human need. So many people are not at home in their own skins and the application of labels can be deeply unhelpful. All of this sounds like serious inner
work – and it is! But the Christian believes we need to turn outwards, not gaze inwards at the self. In the age of the selfie, this is quite a challenge.

We start from a basic belief that every human being is made in the image of God; in this case, a relational God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Trinity). At the very heart of God are mutual relations between the three. From what I gather, neuroscience also holds that the brain is deeply social. Babies’ brains take shape when they sense and experience loving interaction. They are intensely social little people. Their journey to self-discovery is always made in the company of others. Often we hear people talking about ‘my other half’, or somebody who is or was ‘a part of me’. The way we speak about love is always relational. Unconsciously we use the language of the Trinity; we sense that somebody else makes us complete. Two people together are exclusive, but add a third, equal love and what do we have? A
community, a communion of love that is inclusive. You will have many glimpses of the Trinity in your life … just be open to them.

Excerpted from The Sacred Heart Messenger, December 2021, Tom Cox

We Remember At This Time…

“The first sign of hope should be the desire for peace in our world, which once more finds itself immersed in the tragedy of war” (Irish Bishop’s Conference Autumn 2024)

We pray to the Lord that we don’t despair and always have hope for peace, and that God will give us the grace to be peacemakers in whatever troubled situation of life we find ourselves in. Amen!

“Those who are peacemakers will be called ‘children of God’” Matthew 5:9

https://sacredspace.com/

Sports News - Primary Swimming

Science Day

This week 20 Year 5 and 6 students attended the Cutting Edge for Kids Science Conference at Griffith University. Students enjoyed keynote Speaker Dr Alex Braczkowski, a conservation biologist who has been working in lion conservation in Uganda. They heard about the resilience of a lion named Jacob and the teamwork and conservation efforts that have helped him in life. 

Students then attended workshops on spacecraft design, electromagnetics, air pressure and flight, virtual reality and blood transfusions. In these workshops students were able to learn new concepts and experiments with the use and application of these concepts. Students enjoyed the hands-on nature of the workshops and the collaboration with other schools.

To finish the day students watched a science show and discovered some explosive properties of gases. The day ended with a bang!

This was a great experience for students to extend their science knowledge while building teamwork and collaboration skills. Hopefully they are inspired to continue their scientific efforts.

Rachel Waide - National Vaulting Championship

Rachel travelled to Boonah with the Aceline equestrian vaulting team to compete in the Australian Vaulting Championships 2024. Rachel was very successful achieving two 5th places in individual events and 3rd in the pas de deux (pairs) event. Rachel has been vaulting for 3 years and trains 1-2 times per week, we are very proud of her dedication and achievements. Equestrian vaulting is an artistic and athletic team sport where people perform gymnastic routines on a horse as it travels in a circle. Aceline equestrian centre is based at Cabarita and provides horses and coaching on a not-for-profit basis, providing vaulters with the opportunity to participate in horse sports without owning their own horse.

Flying Start

Week 2 is in full swing, and boy are we having fun.  This beautiful warm weather allows us to take our learning outside as much as inside over the past week.  As we are able to utilise the soccer field daily, we decided that it was a great place to fly our planes, and it turned into a great lesson on wind, length and form when throwing them. We certainly won’t be taking on Jetstar or Virgin, but we will re visit this activity to see how we fair on another day.

Our first Friday of joining in activities with the kindergarten class happened last Friday and this opportunity certainly wasn’t lost on any of them. The interactions with the spaces, the children and the teachers is something that just cannot be replicated anywhere else, and we are certain that this helps the transition to school next year. 

 We have a busy couple of days ahead down at Preschool with Grandparents Day where we get to celebrate with not only our Grandparents but other important people in our lives and on Friday we are off on a excursion to Mate and Matt’s where we will learn about all things fruit and vegetables.

Healthy Eating Active Living from NSW Health

Miscellaneous

Parish Information and News

Parish Priest: Fr Paul McDonald

Finance Manager: Paul Crouch

Parish Secretary: Marty Darragh

Pastoral Assistant: Catherine Holliday

Phone: 0266741368

Email: parkings@bigpond.com

Website: http://stanthonysparishkingslciff.org

WEEKEND MASS TIMES
VIGIL: KINGSCLIFF 6:00pm
SUNDAY:POTTSVILLE 7:30am
KINGSCLIFF 9:00am

WEEKDAY MASS TIMES
TUESDAY: POTTSVILLE 9:15am
WEDNESDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am
THURSDAY: KINGSCLIFF 9:00am
FRIDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am

RECONCILIATION TIMES

SATURDAY: KINGSCLIFF4:00-5:30pm
SUNDAY: POTTSVILLE 7:00—7:25am

Current Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9am-3pm

PARISH NEWSLETTER LINK: http://stanthonysparishkingscliff.org/news-events/

St Anthony's Parish - Care Group

Many parents may have noticed from the Parish Bulletin, that the Parish has a Care Group which, among other things seeks to provide meals to any parishoners in need.

This could include times of family sickness, new mums struggling to provide for the family in the early days of returning home, and many other circumstances of genuine need.

Please be aware that the Care Group is very willing to help out if any families find themselves in need of this service.

Contact: Parish Office: 0266 741 284 or Maree Moore 0439 174 116