Please go to our school calendar on the website or COMPASS for more details.

Please note that the last day of Term 4 (17 December) is a pupil free days for professional learning for staff. Students do not attend school on this day. OSHClub will be available.

Term 4 Weeks 7-10

• Yr 6 - SFX Orientation Morning (week 8)
• End of Term Awards (week 8)
• Kindergarten Nativity (week 8)
• End of Year Mass (week 8)
• Christmas Picnic (week 8)
• Sue Ferguson Award (week 9)
• One Up Afternoon (week 9)
• Yr 6 Graduation Mass (week 9)
• Cornerstone Ceremony (week 9)
• Teachers vs Students Netball (week 9)
• Colour Run (week 9)

Term 1 Week 1

• First day for all students - 4 February
• Kinder rest day 12, 19 & 26 February

Class Lists & Teachers 2025

At this time of year we are sometimes asked by parents what class their child is in next year. Students with complex needs sometimes need a little extra time to prepare for their new class and parents naturally feel anxious about what is happening. We always have these needs in mind.

Forming classes and selecting teachers for each class is a long and complex process. We have drafted the class lists and are taking another careful eye over them before finalising these. After the lists are ready we will then assign the best teacher to match each group. We will hold a 'one-up' afternoon on Wednesday 11 December from 2.00pm until 3.00pm. During that afternoon students will go into their classrooms for 2025 and meet their teacher.

We farewell Mrs Tabitha May at the end of this year. Tabitha is due to have her baby early next year and will take leave for the remainder of the year. We also farewell Ms Carly Sargent. Carly stepped in to teach in Year 5 Blue during the middle of the year. Children and staff have thoroughly enjoyed her contribution and we wish her the best at St Thomas More's in Campbell. 

We welcome a few new teachers to our staff community. Firstly we welcome Mrs Cara Clarke who has been relief teaching this year and is joining us on a permanent basis. We also welcome Ms Lilly Eastman. Lilly is one of our Inclusion Assistants and, having completed her studies, will now begin teaching at St John the Apostle. We welcome Mrs Caroline Stewart, an experienced teacher currently teaching at St Matthew's in Page and excited about joining our community in 2025. Lastly, we welcome Georgia French who will teach AUSLAN to all of our students in 2025. AUSLAN is considered a language in the Australian Curriculum and we look forward to our students having the capacity to build relationships with AUSLAN users in the wider community.

School Fees 2025

Catholic Education have determined the school fees for 2025 and a separate letter has been sent out today. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me directly.

I wish everyone a peaceful weekend.

Year One Excursion to the Arboretum

On Tuesday, Year One had the opportunity to visit the National Arboretum. After traveling on the bus, we joined a kite-making workshop. All students flew their kites in the fresh air and experimented with the wind pushing against them.

Back at school, we have been learning about the concept of forces, including air resistance and gravity. While flying their kites, some got tangled, providing a rich opportunity for students to practice their problem-solving skills and resilience.

Another highlight was the POD playground. The students enjoyed taking turns on the swing and exploring the climbing equipment.

A huge thank you to our Inclusion Team—Mrs. Elliot, Miss Eastman, Miss Eustace, Mr. Tarry, and Mr. Seaman—and our volunteer, Holly. This day would not have been possible without you. Thank you!

Year Four Excursion to Questacon

On Wednesday 27^th of November, Year Four went to Questacon for Science and Digital Technology.

In small groups with some amazing parent/guardian helpers we explored the galleries of Questacon.

Our favourite galleries were the Excite@Q Gallery because we all had to brave the free fall slide. We also loved Gallery 1, which has a special Lego Space and Science exhibit. We all enjoyed creating unique Lego things to add to an exhibition about the surface of Mars.

Colour Run

Please save the date for this year's Colour Run which will be held on Friday 13th December, 2024 from 1.00pm - 2:45pm (Week 9, Term 4).

Donations can be:

• sent as cash to the office each week. All money should be returned in a plastic zip lock bag, clearly labelled with your child’s name and class. 
• sent as a Qkr payment. Individual sponsorships can be made via Qkr. Families can also collect cash and make the equivalent payment via Qkr. The total amount must match the record on the sponsorship card. You can find the Qkr payment under the Community Council tab. 

Christmas Picnic and Gelato Orders

We will be holding a Christmas Picnic on Thursday 5th December from 5.30pm. At this picnic, each year level will do a performance and we will farewell Mr Matthew Garton as a community. I sent out infromation about the schedule of the evening and costume ideas on Compass this week. The gelato is now sold out. 

Fete 2025

The Fete Committee is busy planning for the Fete on 14 March 2025. Its not too late to join the committee or register your interest in being a stall convenor. If you would like to volunteer, please email Stephanie Juskevics at stephanieh1978@homail.com

The committee kindly request if you could start to consider the items below for donations for the fete. We rely on our community to donate a couple of items per child. Please see below a list of the items we will be requesting. As we get closer to the date, we will send out weekly reminders for the different donations so you don’t feel overwhelmed with requests.

Thank you in advance for your donations and support. 

Tombola

For the 2025 Fete, we are asking that a full jar is donated. The items also don’t need to be in a jar. They could be in a zip lock bag, a plastic container or anything that is enclosed and we can stick a raffle ticket on. 

Items that can be put in the tombola jars/containers:

• Lollies and chocolates 
• Jar of trinkets - small toys, erasers, stickers, hair accessories, craft supplies, stationary etc.

Hampers

We are asking that each child in each year group, donates one or more items for the below hampers. Each year level has been allocated a theme. 

Year One 2025 (current Kindergarten) – Baby hamper (e.g. wraps, clothes, nappies, rattles, baby toys, wipes etc.)

Year Two 2025 (current Year One)- Pet Hamper (eg. pet toys, treats, feeders, bowls etc.)

Year Three 2025 (current Year Two) – Kids Toy hamper (e.g. puzzles, fidget toys, board games, balls etc.)

Year Four 2025 (current Year Three) – Pamper hamper (eg. bath salts, candles, body products etc.)

Year Five 2025 (current Year Four) – Parents hamper (eg. wine, beer, chocolates, nuts etc.)

Year Six 2025 (current Year Five ) - Home hamper (eg. tools, cleaning products, Bunnings gift card etc.)

Books

We will be having a book stall. We would love donations of books to sell at the Fete. These can be picture books, children and adult novels, recipe books etc.

Lucky Lock

We will be having a Lucky Lock competition again for the 2025 Fete. An esky is filled with wine and beer and locked with a padlock. We sell keys and one key opens the lock. This lucky person wins the esky and its contents. To run this competition, we would love donations of the following:

• Wine, beer etc.
• Old keys that are no longer useful 

Pre-loved Soft Toys

We are also asking for clean and in good condition pre-loved soft toys to be donated.

Rebekah Brown

Assistant Principal and Inclusion Coordinator

Why is My Child Like This?