Beginning of 2024 Newsletter

Calendar

From the Leaders

In this Sunday’s Gospel from Mark we hear how Jesus healed not only Simon’s mother-in-law, but many others who were sick. This shows that Jesus cared deeply about his friends and their loved ones. He cured Peter’s mother-in-law and then numerous others who came asking for help and healing. After this Jesus went off to pray, which demonstrates how much he valued his relationship with God, his Father, who kept him centred, peaceful and aware of the tremendous power of love within him and how it transforms others.

St Agnes’ Feast Day

On St Agnes’ Feast Day 21 January, the parish value for 2024 of SERVICE before self was launched. This value links beautifully with our whole school Mission focus of ‘Increasing our understanding of social justice’. 

2024 Message from Fr Paul to our Parish School Staff

Last week, all staff from St Agnes' Catholic Parish Schools gathered together to celebrate the start of this very exciting year. Playing on Steven Covey’s ‘9 habits of effective people’, in his homily, Fr Paul outlined nine habits of highly effective Catholic school staff, which staff in our Parish schools must develop a capacity for and a commitment to. These habits are:

1. To understand and be committed to the Catholic identity of our schools.
2. To develop an understanding of and commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
3.  To understand the integral connection between the school community and the wider parish.
   
4. To acknowledge that Catholic schools are places of prayer and encourage prayer in classes and staff and student meetings.
5.  To understand the importance of religious education of students and seek to integrate Catholic values in the teaching of other disciplines.
6. To encourage a culture in our schools which enables a personal encounter with Christ, and which promotes the teachings of the Church.
7. To appreciate each of our roles in receiving and proclaiming the Good News by word and deed and by the example of our lives.
8. To support parents and families to evangelise and catechise their children.
9. To create effective and growth-promoting learning environments that recognise the dignity and value of every student and enables them to achieve. 
   

At the Mass Fr Paul invited all present to pray, and he invites our Parish community to do the same, that staff have the capacity and commitment to live out these habits, so we are a truly blessed with a Christ-centred year in our schools and in our parish.

Dear Parents and Carers 

A warm welcome back to the start of Term One. A special mention to our new families who will begin their journey within our St Agnes’ Community in 2024.  We hope that the Christmas and holiday period provided opportunities for relaxation, connection and family time. The 2024 school year is shaping up to deliver many wonderful experiences to our students and community.  A child’s achievements go beyond academics; they depend on experiences that allow them to develop socially, spiritually, emotionally, morally and physically.

Over the coming weeks and months there will be many opportunities to get involved.

We look forward to an exciting year together.

SRC and Sport House Captains Badge Ceremony

Families are invited to join us for our Student Leader badge ceremony on Monday 12 February at 2:30pm. Year 6 students will receive SRC and Sport House Captain badges at this time.

To ask for God’s blessings for the 2024 school year we invite families and friends to join us in the school hall on Friday 23 February for the Infants Liturgy of the Word at 10:30am and/or our Primary students Mass at 11:40am.

We welcome families to join us for prayer and liturgy experiences throughout the year. Each Wednesday morning at 9:00am the Whole School Prayer is presented by an individual class. On Thursdays at 10:15am grades attend Christ the King Chapel at the end of Boronia Street for either a Liturgy of the Word or Mass. As a part of our ‘Faith Family’ we would love you to be a part of these opportunities.

The Sacrament of Penance is one of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after Baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. Catholic students in Years 4 and above will be invited to register for the Sacrament of Penance in the coming weeks. Workshops for this will start on 27 February, with the actual Sacraments taking place on 12, 13 and 14 March. Information will be sent home to potential candidates shortly.

2024 Staff

Finance - School Fee Statements

Over the coming week, all families should receive an emailed copy of their School Fee statement for Term One 2024. Please keep an eye out in your Junk folder as well. We encourage families to explore B-Pay processes as an effective way to manage school fee contributions throughout the year.

School Uniform 

We were happy to see all students in full school uniform on their return to school today. Please remember hairstyles must be neat and tidy, with long hair being tied back and off the face for learning. Extreme hairstyles, including mullets and cut out designs do not meet policy requirements.

Attendance

It is expected that a child be present at school at or above 90% of the time and we regularly check in to monitor habitual absences. Please know that we are here to support you if you are having any difficulty in getting your child to school. You can contact Ginaya Yarnold, Donna Sprague or Kate de Bressac if you need any assistance. It is extremely important that we work together in partnership to ensure that every child stays above 90% attendance. Every minute counts when it comes to lost learning opportunities. 

Safer Internet Day

Tuesday 6 February is Safer Internet Day and we're encouraging you to take three simple actions when approaching online safety: Connect. Reflect. Protect.  

Connect safely by keeping apps and devices secure and reviewing your privacy settings regularly. 

Reflect on how your actions online may affect others or your safety. 

Protect yourself and others by visiting eSafety.gov.au to find out how to stay safe online and report online abuse.

We use the internet in almost every aspect of our lives, so it’s important for everyone to know about online safety. 

The top five cyberbullying harms reported to eSafety in 2023 were nasty comments or serious name-calling, offensive or upsetting pictures or videos, fake accounts and impersonations, threats of violence, and unwanted contact. Two-thirds of reports (66 per cent) related to cyberbullying of girls, and just under one-third (29 per cent) concerned boys.

Road Safety is a Back to School Essential

As children return to school, it is essential to keep safety in mind. Talk with your children about safely getting to and from school.

• Keep children safe getting in and out of the car. Always use the door closest to the kerb.
  
• Keep children safe by walking distraction-free. Expect your child to take off their headphones while walking.
• Keep children safe getting on and off the bus. Wait at the bus stop and stand at least one step back from the road's edge. Always meet your child at the bus stop. Never meet them on the opposite side of the road and call them across. Wait until the bus has gone before crossing the road.
• Keep children safe while using wheeled transport. Children must wear a helmet when riding a bike in any public place – it is the law. Foot scooter, skateboard and rollerblade riders should wear helmets and protective equipment.

Be a positive role model when you are a pedestrian, passenger and driver. Children learn from what they see, as well as what we say.

Thank You

Thank you to Josh Crowe and John Sprague for generously donating their time and expertise during the holidays to prune our trees at the front of the school. This work was done in accordance with the Bushfire Safety Recommendations set by the Catholic Schools Office. We are also grateful to Adam Mendes, Peter Gerisch and Carol Sealey for their work in ensuring our school looked fantastic for this week’s start.

In preparation for our Creative Arts Spectacular Night and The Port Macquarie Eisteddfod, we would love to extend a warm invitation to you for a morning tea dedicated to fostering creativity and collaboration within our school community. Your unique ideas, talents, and skills are invaluable, and we believe that by coming together, we can create an extraordinary Creative Arts Spectacular for our students. 

We invite you to join us on Thursday 8 February from 8:45am to 9:30am in the school hall. Whether you have a flair for visual arts, a musical talent, or a knack for crafting, dancing or drama we would love your contributions in planning for our night. We look forward to seeing you there!

Sports News

Zone Swimming Trials

Welcome back to another Year of Sport. Term 1 is busy, and we begin with the School Swimming Trials in Wauchope on Monday 12 February. The purpose of the trials is for competitive students who wish to compete in the Zone Swimming Carnival. The trials are for students who are eight years (turn eight this year) or older and regularly attend swimming or squad lessons. Families can register their children for individual events on schoolinterviews.com.au using the code w5smu. The cut-off day for registration will be Tuesday 6 February. Students who place first or second in an event are expected to attend the Zone Swimming Carnival in Macksville on Tuesday 20 February.

Winter Sports Trials

In Week 4, Students in Years 5 and 6 will have the opportunity to compete at the Winter Sports Trials. The Netball, Soccer, Rugby League and Hockey trials are on Monday 19 February. Netball is at the Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium, Hockey is at the Port Macquarie Hockey Fields and Soccer and Rugby League are at St Joseph's Regional Collage.

This year, the Diocese is running the Rugby League and Rugby Union separately, so students have the opportunity to compete in both sports. Rugby Union trials will be at Kempsey on Wednesday 28 February.

Polding Basketball

Best of luck to Flynn Wehlow, who will compete at the Polding Basketball Trials in Coffs Harbour on Friday. Flynn will be trialling for a spot on the NSW Polding Team against the best basketball players from all NSW Catholic Schools. He has done well to reach this level of representation, and we wish Flynn all the best.

Canteen News

Parish News

Community News