Newsletter Term 4 Week 3 (1.11.24)

Message from the Principal -Lynne Pull

Dear Parents

This week, St. Anthony’s welcomed our 2025 students with open arms at our Kindergarten Orientation on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Bright, happy smiles filled the room as our young learners settled in with ease, exploring the exciting activities prepared just for them. It was a heartwarming introduction to the St. Anthony’s community, marking the beginning of what promises to be a fulfilling school journey. Parents received lots of information from the Leadership Team and a goodies bag from Parent Assembly, who also supplied morning tea - thanks to Mrs Leanne Robbins

The primary students received a special visit from our local Police Youth Liaison Officer, who provided an essential introduction to road safety. The officer shared insights on navigating safely, including important reminders for both students and parents. It was surprising for many to learn that e-scooters are currently illegal on NSW roads, considered unregistered and uninsured vehicles with fines reaching up to $1,000. Students also learned about specific penalties, such as a $350 fine for not wearing a helmet and the requirement to dismount at crossings.

The visit also served as an opportunity for early conversations about the importance of respectful and responsible behaviour on social media. Our learners were introduced to the “Grandparent Test”: if a message is something you’d comfortably share with your grandparents, it is likely safe to post or send. This simple guideline encourages students to think twice before becoming “keyboard warriors.”

Celebrating Student Achievements

We also take pride in recognising the exceptional sporting achievements of two of our students. Kalani Favero Andreo in Year 6 recently represented NSW in the National PSSA Soccer Championships in Western Australia, showcasing impressive dedication and skill on a national level. Additionally, congratulations to Andy De Beer for his outstanding performance in the NSW Athletics Championship, where he placed 7th out of 30 in the multiclass discus event. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration to all, demonstrating the values of commitment and perseverance.

Year 6

We offer our best wishes to the Year 6 class who head out early on Friday morning for their Sydney/Canberra trip. Accompanying them will be their teachers, Ms Maddie Sleba and Ms Holly Lees, as well as Mr Sam Judd and Mrs Julianne Barlogio. We know it will be a wonderful, if not tiring (!), experience for them all. They will return on Thursday evening.

Grandparents Day will be held on Friday morning 22nd November. We welcome all grandparents or those who substitute for grandparents in our children’s lives on this occasion to the assembly prayer and entertainment commencing at 8.40am, followed by visits to classrooms and then morning tea in the hall.

Talent Show

We are sure there are lots of students who would love the opportunity to show us their talents so they will have the opportunity to do so. On the evening of 5th December we will have a celebration of the arts, showcasing some of our artworks from this year, our choirs and band, finalists for the Talent Show, finishing with a mini-disco. The parent forum will be organising a sausage sizzle, sno-cones, drinks and popcorn. It should be a fun way to celebrate the year. So put the date in your diaries. In the meantime students are asked to practise their acts and turn up for their class’s auditions which will be held in the lunch breaks over the next two weeks: Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 auditions will be held next week, and Years 3 - 6 the week after. The acts must be able to be performed safely on our stage in the COLA. Students will be responsible for providing their own music etc. The best of the best will be invited to perform on the evening of 5th December. Any questions may be addressed to Mrs Pull next week.

This Sunday the school is once again hosting the parish 9.00am Mass. We would appreciate families making a special effort to join us on this occasion as it is the last one for the year. Years 6 & 2 are particularly asked to come along and bring something to share for morning tea afterwards. There is always a great vibe on these occasions and the children enjoy the chance to meet up with friends out of school. 

As we are sorting the staffing of classes for next year, we appreciate you letting us know in advance if your children are not returning next year. We would like to wish the Waddell girls, Olivia(Yr 5) and Mahalia (Yr 3) and their mum Carmen all the very best as they leave next week to commence a new life in Canada. We will miss you all.

If we thank God for all the good things, we won’t have time to complain about the bad. In everything, give thanks.

God bless

Lynne

Important Dates & School Information

Term 4 2024

Sunday, 3rd November - School MASS @ 9 am

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

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 December- 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

Lynne’s Retirement

We are excited to invite you to celebrate Lynne’s retirement with us on Friday, November 29th. We’ve planned a special afternoon and evening to honor her incredible contributions, and we hope you can join us for this memorable occasion.

Event Details:

• Date: Friday, 29th November
• Location 1: St Anthony’s Church, Kingscliff
  • Time: 1:30 PM (Mass)
  • A special presentation from the school will follow.
• Location 2: Salt Surf Lifesaving Club, Kingscliff
  • Time: 3:30 PM onwards
  • Enjoy drinks and nibbles as we continue the celebration.

The ticket price is $20 per person, which includes a welcome drink. Since the Surf Lifesaving Club is not be open to the public, your ticket also covers temporary membership for the evening. In order to process the temporary memberships, we kindly request that you send through your names as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Something to think and pray about

I Am Loved

Dear Lord, recently I read of someone who felt that other people’s profiles were drawn in strong black, or in colour with magic markers, but hers was sketched only in light pencil. I sometimes feel like that woman, almost invisible, unimportant. Maybe it goes with seniority! Psychologists tell us that to be truly alive, someone else’s loving gaze is needed: otherwise we can never blossom to our full potential. I know you do your best to provide everyone with good parents, they’re a great blessing to a child, but of course this doesn’t always happen. You also send us good grandparents, relatives, friends who help us to believe we are worthwhile. They are escorts of your loving care. You want us to receive your great gift, the conviction that we are OK, that we are loved and that we matter.

May your word today convince me that I am good, worthwhile, lovable and wonderful; that I am your beloved, your unique creation, the apple of your eye. May I believe that, no matter what, you love me
infinitely, that you embrace me tenderly and live within me and that you have dreams for me that go way beyond my own. For you, I will always be important! My core identity is that I am your beloved! You are, so to speak, part of my DNA.

Excerpted from I Am Infinitely Loved by Brian Grogan SJ

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/

Exuro 2024

On Tuesday 29th October we had some Year 5 students attend the Exuro retreat day in Murwillumbah. The theme for the day was based on a scripture verse from Timothy 4:12 that reads ‘be an example in your speech and actions.’ The attending students had the opportunity to form new friendships with other Catholic School students from across our diocese and take part in a variety of team building activities to explore the theme of discipleship. The day ended with a touching Liturgy, planned and led by the students attending, with some support from high school students from Mt St Patrick College. 

Below are some highlights of the day written by our Year 5 students:

The highlight of our day was working in groups and performing a role-play of the Scripture in the Liturgy at the end of the day. We enjoyed the music and learnt a new song with actions,  got special gold fire badges, an Exuro candle, a certificate and bookmark as a memento of the day.               Rose Mc, Stella & Evelyn

At Exuro we learnt about how we can still be disciples of Jesus, even at a young age., through our actions and words and how we treat others. We heard some testimonies from the High School students about how their faith has been challenged and also how it has grown throughout their life experiences.        Camille Mc 

We enjoyed spending time with the high school ministry students that ran most of the small group activities and helped us out throughout the whole day. They enabled us to be more aware of Jesus in our lives.          Trey M & Jesse

The best part of Exuro was learning about Jesus, meeting the highschool students from Mt St Patrick College, taking part in small group activities with students from other schools, making new friends and playing fun games.       Finn CC & Alexander

Sports news

NSWPSSA Athletics Carnival - Andy De Beer

Congratulations to Andy De Beer of Year 4 who recently represented Polding at the NSWPSSA Athletics Carnival in Sydney. 

Andy competed in the 8-10 Years Multi-class discus. There were 30 competitors in this event and after some impressive results in the first round, Andy progressed to the finals. He was able to achieve an impressive 7th in the final.

Well done Andy St Anthony’s are proud of your achievements at this carnival!

NSWPSSSA Football  - Kalani Favaro Andreo

Congratulations to Kalani Favaro Andreo of Year 6 who travelled to Port Kennedy in WA during Week 1 to participate in the National Primary Schools Football Tournament. Kalani was a member of the NSWPSSA Football Team. 

Kalani’s team was placed 4th overall out of around 10 teams.

Well done Kalani on your achievements in Football during your time at St Anthony’s and we wish you all the best in the future with your chosen sport. 

Tweed Zone Cricket Trials

Well done to the following boys who attended the Tweed Zone Cricket Trials on Thursday: Nixon Moase, Ky O’Grady, Darcy Elliott, Callum Kelly.

Congratulations to Nixon Moase and Ky O’Grady who were selected to progress to the next level. They will attend the Diocesan Cricket Trials on Friday 29th November. Good luck Nixon and Ky!

Lost Library Books

CALL OUT TO

overdue or lost library books

Please look and return to the library or the school office . Here are some places you might not have looked yet.

• In a Closet: Things often get thrown on the floor of a closet. Tidy it up and you might just find a missing book buried under there.
• Under Beds: Since we often read in bed, books can get dropped between the wall and the bed.
• Under the Couch: This is another popular reading spot. Move the entire couch to make sure you don’t miss anything.
• In Your Vehicle: Look under the seats, under car seats and in the trunk.
• Chair and Couch Cushions: It’s easy for small books and paperbacks to get wedged here.
• On the Bookshelf: Imagine that! Books fall behind other books, get put in backwards, or simply get caught so deeply between other titles that they disappear from view.
• In a Back Pack: Many a missing book has hitched a ride in a child’s backpack, hoping to make friends with his textbooks, I suppose.
• In a Pile: Library books like to hide in piles where they don’t belong. Piles of school books, piles of magazines, piles of coloring books, etc.
• In a Toy Container: Check toy chests, boxes and baskets. Lots of things besides toys love to hang out there, because children (who are rushing through a clean-up job) will toss pretty much anything inside.
• Under an Appliance: Check under the stove, the fridge, washer, dryer, etc.
• Under a Rug: Area rugs can easily hide a paperback library book.
• In the Bathroom: Any place in the house where people like to read is fair game!
• Someone Else’s House: Did they take the book to Grandma’s? To a friend’s house? To God’s house?

Flying Start

This week at Flying Start has been about our Preschoolers and their transitions to school next year. It is always a wonderful time when they are nearing the end of their preschool journey and moving into the start of formal schooling. All our Preschoolers have embraced this with positivity, and we are so proud of them all. We certainly feel so lucky to be able to have such a strong connection with the school which makes transitions easy for our children.
Our excursion last Friday to Mate and Matts proved a big hit and we all loved not only learning about sustainable farming in our community but for most, it was so much fun catching the public bus up to the farm and back. We loved the fruit that Jane (Owner) shared with us, and we all agreed it was as fresh as you can get.
This week at Kindy Sport we enjoyed tennis, pass the footy, balancing boards, and tug-o-war. All of these are helping our children build relationships with the children at school well before they enter the environment next year. What a busy week we have had.

Mate and Matts

Healthy Eating Active Living from NSW Health

Community Events and Notices

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