Loving God,
We thank You for the gift of a new school term,
For the opportunity to learn, grow, and be part of this community.
Guide our hearts and minds as we journey together in faith and knowledge.
Bless our teachers, students, and families with wisdom,
patience, and love.
Help us to seek Your will in all that we do,
And may we always walk in Your light.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. 

Amen.

Prayers

We pray for Maree Alchin our canteen manager as she recovers from surgery. We continue to keep those on staff and in our community who are unwell or who have family members undergoing treatment. May they be comforted by the love and strength around them.

Welcome to Term 4

Welcome back everyone and thank you for such a wonderful start to the term. The students have settled back to learning quickly and well in the swing of school routine and structure. Over the weekend, Father Tom, Garreth Wigg, Joseph McGrath and I joined in the Archdiocesan Assembly at St Clares College Griffith with fellow colleagues, parishioners, and clergy. Together we celebrated the fruits of the Year of the Holy Spirit, whilst also exploring new opportunities for evangelisation and synodality in the life and mission of our Church. Over the weeks ahead the Assembly will collate the feedback and experiences of the participants and share this with us. I look forward to the next steps for us as an Archdiocese on this pilgrim journey of discernment.

This week I am away on Thursday and Friday at the Catholic Leaders Day and principals’ meeting. My thanks to our staff for their support in me being able to attend these important days. Thank you to Simon Van Meurs, Garreth Wigg, Vicki Beissner, Laura Stankovic, Sasha Daunt and Katie Akers who will accompany our students to Boorowa this Friday. I appreciate the enormity of the organisation of this event and thank each of them along with our parent volunteers who are coaching and managing teams along with families attending for your time and support.

Next week we welcome our Kindergarten 2025 students to St Anthony’s for their orientation on Tuesday morning from 9.30-11.00am. Our enrolment numbers have increased which is wonderful for our school. We will have three kindergarten classes in 2025. For our year 1-6 classes, step up day will occur in week 9. During this time students will learn who their teacher will be next year, where their classroom is located and who will be in their class. See below details, re. class requests.

This term is a busy one. Please find the term pacing guide in this week’s newsletter to assist you in navigating the number of events coming up.

Staffing Term 4

We welcome Courtney Allais to Kinder Assisi for the first two weeks of term. Shannon Henry will return from LSL next week. We welcome back Susannah Wilson full time, working across the school Monday-Wednesday and on 5P Thursday and Fridays.

Maree Alchin will be on leave for surgery over the weeks ahead. We wish her a speedy recovery. Whilst Maree is on leave the following parents will be working in the canteen:

• Tuesday: Angela da Silva
• Wednesday: Angela da Silva
• Thursday: Carol Coulter
• Friday: Zoe Veljanovski

My sincere thanks to these wonderful people for their time and service in the canteen.

Class requests

During this term, we will be finalising our staffing arrangements for 2025. Below is a copy of the ‘Class Allocation Policy’ which aims to ensure a fair and just process in allocating students to classes for the upcoming school year. 

I firmly believe that teachers are in the best position to decide a child’s placement because they know all the children in their classes and have a view of the ‘big picture’. However, I invite parents to inform me of anything that you feel needs to be considered, for your own child’s well-being or development. 

As there are two and three streams of classes each year at St Anthony’s Parish Primary School, there are different combinations of children in classes. When forming the class lists the following factors are taken into consideration: 

• Gender; 
• Diverse Learners; 
• Work habits; 
• Cognitive ability; 
• Friendships; 
• Behaviour; 
• Health considerations; 
• Religion (to assist in achieving a balance between classes, especially in Sacramental years) and 
• Common names. 

Ideally, we aim for an equal spread of both positive and challenging characteristics. Where practical, parental requests based on educational concerns may be considered. At St Anthony’s, the staff and parents will follow these principles and guidelines when considering the placement of students each year: 

Every care will be taken to ensure that each child is placed in the best situation to enhance learning and social development. 

Parents who wish to raise particular concerns regarding the placement of their children in particular classes should put the concern in writing and email it to me (erin.marmont@cg.catholic.edu.au) by Friday of Week 4 (8 November). 

Parent concerns will be considered during the process. It must be clearly understood, however, that no definite guarantees can be given regarding parental concerns. 

Where appropriate, advice will be sought from the Leadership Team, School Counsellor and current class teacher during this process. 

Considering all the factors listed above, the current class teachers compile class lists using Class Creator from mid-term, Term 4. These are then overseen by me to confirm. 

Children will be informed of their class placement for the following school year in December and the opportunity will be provided for them to spend some time with their new class teacher on step up day in Week 9. New students to the school for the following year are invited to attend. 

Throughout this process, after appropriate consultation, I reserve the right to make final professional decisions regarding the placement of children. 

I thank our community for their ongoing support and trust in this rigorous process. 

Assessment and reporting

Assessment and Reporting is continuing to be undertaken across classes. Teachers will begin the report writing process this term and all reports will be released via compass on Monday of week 9. Semester 2 reports will be graded using the A-E assessment scale and supported with a brief comment. Optional parent/teacher interviews will be available for families to meet with classroom teachers in week 9. Further information will be provided in our week 4 and 6 newsletters.

Term overviews this week

To assist families in becoming familiar with the learning across their child’s class, term overviews have been sent home this week via Compass. These overviews are great opportunities for conversation starters with children if you are looking to find out more about their day and what they are learning. It avoids the typical answer of “nothing” that some students may reply with when you ask what they did in their day at school.

Hall Renovation

As discussed late last term, the hall renovation will commence this term. The start date is early November. There will be no assemblies/liturgies or events scheduled in the hall this term. ‘Kinder Christmas’ will be presented in the sensory garden in Week 9. Our end of Year Mass will take place in the Church on Monday of Week 10. Whilst renovations are happening the canteen will be set up and ready to serve from the “Donga” from Week 3. This is located next to the sensory garden and away from construction. A modified canteen menu and details of these changes will be shared with the community via QKR and Compass once this has been finalised. My thanks to Maree and our wonderful parent volunteers who have been assisting with the transition of the canteen moving to the donga. Students will be informed of the new canteen processes at the Week 3 Monday morning assembly.

The hall renovation will impact some areas of the school, including some of the overflow carpark and the gate entry next to the hall and some of our playground area. Areas of the school will be safely fenced off with visible signage and alternative routes will be outlined for families and students’ use. I appreciate there will be some inconveniences during the building process and thank the community for your patience as we look forward to having a new hall, canteen and toilets for our community in 2025. A map of the construction area to provide a visual of alternative entry and exit points and parking availability of the school is outlined below.

Congratulations

Congratulations Maddie Waye on her nomination for World Teacher Day award in recognition of her service. Maddie and I will be attending the award ceremony this Friday with the Teacher Quality Institute.

Working Bee

Due to the construction work commencing this term, we will reschedule our whole school term 4 working bee until 2025. The Kitchen Garden working group will still go ahead with their work later this term. Date to be advised.

Fire drill and lock down procedures

Over the weeks ahead our school will run through fire drill and lockdown procedures with the students. As per protocol these are treated as if there was a fire or lock down scenario. A notice will be sent home via compass to inform you when these occur and to assure you that these are drill procedures.

Boorowa

Thank you to our staff and parent & family volunteers who are accompanying some of our Year 2-6 students to Boorowa this Friday.

The bus will leave sharply at 6am from STA. Please arrive at school by 5.45am. The estimated time of the return will be around 5pm at STA. More information and confirmed time of return will be shared via Compass and Facebook.

Term 4 Pupil Free Day

The last day of term 4 is Monday 16 December. Please note that pupil free days are system directed and not determined by the school or principal.

2025 Term dates

In preparation for 2025 school year. Please note that there has been system allocation of Pupil Free Days across the school year.

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn has gazetted Pupil Free days at the beginning and end of each Term, common across all Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn schools, enabling shared professional learning and formation in key strategic areas of mission, teaching and learning, positive behaviour, inclusion and safety standards. This arrangement will also provide opportunities for school teams to combine and share best practice. Pupil Free days also provide flexibility to re-allocate time to teachers who assist above their normal load during times of staff shortages - a situation that is likely to continue in 2025.

The following dates are for ACT student attendance

TERM 1                4 February – 10 April

TERM 2                29 April – 3 July

TERM 3                22 July – 25 September

TERM 4                14 October – 18 December

*School photos for 2025 will be in the first week of Term 1 on Thursday 6 of February.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

1 JANUARY New Year’s Day

26 JANUARY Australia Day (observed on 27 January 2025)

10 MARCH Canberra Day

18 APRIL Good Friday

20 APRIL Easter Sunday

21 APRIL Easter Monday

25 APRIL ANZAC Day

2 JUNE Reconciliation Day (ACT only)

9 JUNE King’s Birthday

6 OCTOBER Labour Day

25 DECEMBER Christmas Day

26 DECEMBER Boxing Day

Below is a table showing all currently booked and confirmed events for Term 4. As always, please keep an eye on the school calendar on the school website and the Compass calendar for any additional events that arise throughout this term. 2025 term dates and other events for next year can already be viewed on the Compass portal and school website calendar.

 Have a lovely week,

Erin