Newsletter - Term 1 Week 8

Calendar

From The Leaders

This Sunday’s Gospel comes from John.
This is one of the most remarkable stories in Scripture. Lazarus, one of Jesus’ good friends, is sick, so his sisters, Martha and Mary, send word to Jesus. They know how extraordinary Jesus is. But what does Jesus do when he hears that Lazarus is ill? He doesn’t go to see him right away. Eventually Jesus goes to Judea. But by this time, Lazarus has died. Jesus tells the dead man to come out of the tomb. Many people began to believe in Jesus from that moment on. The Spirit of God, working through Jesus, brought Lazarus back to life! 

The Spirit can also free us from things that hold us back and allow Jesus to give us the fullness of life he offers.

Principal Appraisal

Dear Parents

During Term Two on 9 May 2023, Ginaya Yarnold will be involved in a principal appraisal process as part of her contract of employment. The appraisal process seeks information from a variety of people associated with the school and uses a number of tools to ensure effective consultation. The process aims to highlight the positive aspects of the leadership offered and identify areas for further development.

A timeline is currently being arranged to suit the needs of the school community. The appraisal will be conducted by an External Chair nominated by the Catholic Schools Office.

The full principal appraisal process involves:
- a survey and self-appraisal statement completed by the Principal
- an interview with the Principal
- input as arranged with the Parish Priest
- surveys of parents, school staff and Catholic Schools Office personnel
- interviews with the Schools Leadership Team
- interviews with a random selection of staff who request an interview with the Chair
- interviews with a random selection of parents who request an interview with the Chair.

The preferred method of survey completion is by the online survey form. A link to this form will be forwarded to your email address. Please ensure your current email address is registered at the school as this survey link will be sent to you sometime in the next two weeks. Parents may express their interest to be interviewed via this electronic form. Not all those who express an interest to be interviewed will be contacted. If not contacted, then parents may wish to email their comments. Anonymous comments and emails will not be considered. In writing the appraisal report, use of the information gathered will remain confidential and not identify sources. Every family in the school is encouraged to complete a survey.

Your support of the appraisal process is appreciated.
Yours sincerely
Michael Mullaly
Chair

Harmony Day

Greater insight and appreciation of the vast number of cultures represented in the St Agnes’ school Community. The day is designed to promote  a sense of belonging, welcome and inclusion. It was fantastic to see the colour explosion reflecting the flags of our different cultures.

We were also thrilled with the amount of families who were able to join us for the picnic lunch and to ‘travel around the world’ with their children. Harmony week was made even more special this year thanks to those families who came in to share aspects of their culture and answer the students' questions about life and culture in other countries.

Chick-itas

So many good news stories are coming to light about students and families donating money to buy chickens for our Caritas initiative. Students are bringing in pocket money and money they had saved for other things to help those less fortunate during Lent. 

This week we total 178 chickens. With two weeks to go we are excited by how much we can offer to our focus group in Zimbabwe.

Sacrament of Penance

We are praying for all of our candidates receiving the Sacrament of Penance next week. The ceremonies take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights in St Agnes’ Church at 6:00pm. We ask families to please arrive at 5:45pm. 

Year One and Kinder Visit the Chapel

Thank you to Father Prodencio for celebrating this week’s prayer service at Christ the King Chapel for our Year One cherubs. Next week Kindergarten will have their first experience in the chapel. We would love as many Kinder families to join them as possible at 10:15am on Thursday. We leave the school at 10:00am if any parents wish to walk up with us.

Children's Liturgy

A reminder that this Sunday at both the 9:00am and 5:00pm masses Children’s Liturgy will be available. We welcome all of our students to attend.

Week 5 - Living in Hope

School Improvement Goals for 2023

A4 Art Prize Closes Tomorrow

It’s not too late to finish your artwork. Entries are due to the front office today. Don’t forget to complete the online form. It has been amazing to see the entries flooding in!

We Need Your Help!

We would LOVE some more helpers to create resources. If you can spare some time to laminate, cut and pack resources, we would be most grateful.

Easter Raffle

Families are continuing to send in their donations towards our Easter Raffle drawn on the same day as our Hat Parade on the last Thursday of term. All families who donate automatically receive a ticket in the draw. Further tickets are being sold at lunch time by our Year 6 SRC outside of the office for 50 cents each.

Welcome 

We congratulate Parker and Miller Clarke on the safe arrival of their little brother Seán on 21 March. Please join us in welcoming Seán to the Aggies community.

Pastoral Care

Lunchtime activities

Did you know that at St Agnes’ we have a range of activities that your child can join in during their lunchtimes? These activities are a great opportunity for your child to make new friends, try something new or spend extra time doing something they enjoy!

Family and School Partnerships

It was wonderful to have so many families celebrate Harmony Day with us yesterday! Together we shared in learning about the richness of the many cultures that make our St Agnes' Primary School such a wonderful and diverse community. We are better together.

PBS

This week our focus is to  be resilient at school. 'Stop Opt Go' is a tool that can help us.                                       

Congratulations to our Kennedy house students who are in the lead receiving the most dojos for following our whole school expectations. They are leading in the challenge for who will be the winners of the house cup treat day for this term. 

Family sharing story links:
- What is Resilience? How to Build Resilience - Kids Helpline
- Infants - Building Resilience with Hunter and Eve

Student Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have reached 100 Dojos:

K Hope - Emily
1 Faith - Chelsea, Mike and Roman
1 Hope - Ethan and Indiana
1 Love - Kanata
2 Love - Arham, Ava and Korbin
3 Faith - Mikayla and Nikita
3 Love - Ava, Catherine, Georgia and Lexi
4 Hope - Alexander, Cody, Jada, Kasper, Sally-Ann and Thomas
4 Love - Charlotte, Emilia, Kallan and Konnor

Sports News

Good luck to Armani Daley, Max Schneider and Oliver Brazel, playing in the Polding touch football competition next week. Our three students will travel to Parks for a training day with their Polding teams on Monday and play on Tuesday. It is an outstanding achievement to have three players representing Aggies in Polding teams. From these trials, the NSW Catholic Primary School (NSWCPS) Polding team will be selected to attend the NSW Primary School Sports Association (NSWPSSA) Touch Football Championships, where they will compete above a state level.

Best of luck to Armani, Max and Oliver.

Cross Country

Our school cross country carnival will be held on Tuesday 4 April. There will be competitive and non-competitive events aimed at participation by all students. For the competitive events, 8/9yrs, and 10yrs will complete a 2km track, while 11yrs and 12yrs will complete a 3km track. Zone cross country will be held in Kempsey on 10 May.

This Week's Notes and App Alerts

Canteen News

P&F

Parish News

St Joseph's Regional College and MacKillop College

Dear Families

We appreciate and thank you for submitting your child's application online prior to the night, and look forward to seeing you at the Year 7 2024 Information Night!

This Week At Aggies

General Information

Drawn to Art Afterschool Art Classes, Term 2 - 26 April through till 21 June
Visual Arts Room - Wednesdays 3:00pm - 4.45pm
Term fee: $310.00 - Creative Kids Vouchers Accepted.
Students join a nine week art program where they are given complete creative freedom. They have the opportunity to work on varied subject matter while guided lessons provide the students experiences, experimenting with different art mediums through out the term. We will work with Sculpture, Painting, Printmaking, Drawing and mixed media collage. Lots of fun to be had, amazing artworks to be created and all skill levels welcome.