Heavenly Father,
We thank You for the gift of these young souls,
as they receive the sacrament of Confirmation.
Fill them with Your Holy Spirit,
that they may grow in wisdom, courage, and faith.
Guide them with Your light,
and keep them always in Your loving embrace.
May they stand strong as witnesses to Your truth,
and share Your love with all they meet.
Bless them on this sacred journey,
and let Your grace be their constant companion.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Last night, Archbishop Prowse alongside Father Tom celebrated with a number of our Year 6
candidates the Sacrament of Confirmation. My thanks to Mr Joe McGrath for leading our Year 6
Confirmation candidates throughout their Confirmation retreat and journey these past months.
On the weekend, the Church celebrated Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the
year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.
I encourage you to share these words with your children to speak with love, wisdom and
eloquence.

What about those ‘tongues of fire’?
At Pentecost, a powerful wind hit the house, the noise was palpable:
And something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire, these separated and came to
rest on the head of each of them (Acts 2).
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) grabs hold of the event and squeezes out the symbolism:
The burning fire symbolises love.
The light from the fire symbolises wisdom.
The tongues symbolise eloquence.
Putting it all together, St. Robert draws out the meaning for the disciples of the Lord:

As we raise awareness for our Vinnies winter appeal, We pray for all those who don’t have the
simple comforts that are often taken for granted.

Open my eyes that I may see the deepest needs of men, women and children
Move my hands that they may feed the hungry;
Touch my heart that it may bring warmth to the despairing;
Teach me the generosity that welcomes strangers;
Let me share my possessions with people in need;
Give me the care that strengthens the sick;
Help me share in the quest to set prisoners free;
In sharing our anxieties and our love,
Our poverty and our prosperity;
We partake of your divine presence. Amen.

We also keep in our prayers and thoughts members of our own staff and school community who are currently unwell and undergoing specialist treatment. May each of them know the strength and love of those around them.

St. Vincent DePaul Sleepout
I'm helping to break the cycle of homelessness by joining the Vinnies CEO Sleepout for a onenight event held on one of the longest and coldest nights of the year. I’m hoping you can get on board to support such an important cause. Please donate if you can by clicking the link below. Thank you.
https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/erinmarmont

Welcome to Week 4. Another busy couple of weeks at St Anthony's! A reminder that it is Reconciliation Day next Monday- we welcome students back to school on Tuesday 28 May.

How wonderful it was to see so many of our families come to celebrate our Mothers' Day brekkie last Friday. My sincere thanks to our amazing staff for waking up extra early and cooking and serving our delicious egg and bacon rolls!

How great it was to see so many students riding and walking to school last Friday. My thanks to Tracey Adamson for organising our National Walk Safely to School Day and to all staff for assisting. If you can, it would be great to see as many students as possible continuing to ride or walk to school in the weeks and months ahead on a more regular basis.

Our Year 3 and 4 boys told me of a great day at the Jamie Pearlman cup last Tuesday, in large part to their guidance from Mr McDevitt. Thank you, Ben McDevitt, for accompanying them for the day and to our wonderful families who assisted.

The weather was just spectacular for our Cross-Country last week. Thank you to Mr Simon Van Meurs for organising the Cross Country and to our enthusiastic students and the many families who joined us on the day.

This afternoon I travel to Siloam at Galong overnight. This is such a valuable time for me to meet with fellow Principals to look at concepts we explored with Fr Timothy Radcliffe, namely transcendentals- Truth, Beauty, and Goodness- focussing firstly on Truth. My thanks to our wonderful staff and leadership team who will continue their hard work in my absence.

National Simultaneous Story Time
ACT Parks and Conservation guest “Ranger” will join Kindergarten as a reader for National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday 22 May, 2024. A number of our classes are participating in their own Storytime in their classes and library lessons.

Enrolment Period

We have had a wonderful response for enrolment applications for 2025. Please encourage families and friends who wish to join our beautiful community to submit their enrolment applications as soon as possible. The link can be found on our website or Facebook page.

Student Reports and interviews
Student reports this semester will include grade allocations followed by an interview. Reports will be released via compass in Week 9 with follow up interviews in Week 10.

TRIPLE F PROGRAM- Family, Faith Focus Mass- Change of date- SUNDAY 2 June 9.00am.
This term STA are launching the Triple F program- Family Faith Focus which is about attending Mass with us as a community on the first Sunday of each month. This month we will celebrate our Triple F program on Sunday 2 June at 9.00am at St Anthony’s Church. We as a staff will be there to support you and lead our children at Mass in a Children’s Liturgy. This is a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with our Church and develop your faith and commitment to Christ. Father Tom is such a valued leader in our community and has a wonderful, gentle, and comfortable way of drawing us back to our faith in Christ. So come along and join us at Mass on Sunday 2 June. We’ll be there to support you and give you a hand with the kids, we just need you to turn up and be part of something I know each of you will value and enjoy. SAVE THE DATE- Sunday 2 June 9.00am. Mass usually concludes just after 9.30am. If you have time, stay on for a cuppa and a piece of cake with us all afterwards in the foyer of the church.

Community council open meeting
On Tuesday of Week 7 at 6pm, all members of our STA community are welcome to attend our community council open meeting. This is a chance to see all the wonderful work and plans we have for our school. Including our Triple F program, STA kitchen garden, hall refurbishment, Catalyst curriculum and much more. The meeting will take place in the hall from 6pm sharp followed by our Community Council executive meeting.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW)
The 2024 National Reconciliation Week (NRW) theme, Now More Than Ever, is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will – and must - continue. NRW is held each year from 27 May – 3 June. In the ACT, Monday 27th May 2024 is our
Reconciliation Day public holiday.

Our Reconciliation Week focus assembly will be led by our First Nations students and Year Five students on Friday 31st May in the school hall, starting at 12:00 pm. We warmly invite all our First Nations families and Year 5 families to join us for this assembly. Students will also be participating in some Reconciliation Week focused activities in their classrooms.

Friday 31st May (Week 5) will be an out of uniform day.

We invite all students and staff to come dressed in the colours of our Australian, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags. For students who specially identify with another nationality feel free to come in the colours of your flag or even in national dress. After lunch on this same day we will be participating in a Reconciliation March around the top oval as a powerful reminder of all people coming together in the spirit of reconciliation. In the event of inclement weather this will be done on the walkway by our First Nations students. Students are encouraged to bring or make flags or banners focusing on this year’s theme for this event. We look forward to celebrating this important week.

Grandfriends Day
Save the date- On Friday the last day of Term 2, 5 July- we welcome our Grandfriends of our students to come to the school to celebrate how wonderful we think they are! The schedule of the day (weather permitting) will look like this:

10.00am- Grandfriends join classes for story reading and activities
11.00am- BYP picnic- Grandfriends bring along a picnic to share with their children at recess
11.45am- Dance performance in the hall- Grandfriends all come to the hall to watch performances.
1.00pm- Farewell to Grandfriends- thank you for coming along.

Save the dates:
• Wednesday 22 May - National Simultaneous Story Time
• Friday 24 May - Year 4 Grade Assembly 12pm
• Monday 27 May - Reconciliation Day Public Holiday
• Tuesday 28 May - Year 2 excursion to Lanyon Homestead
• Tuesday 28 May - Sue Geh Cup (Yr 3/4 Girls Basketball)
• Friday 31 May - Reconciliation Week Assembly- Year 5 | Out of Uniform Day
• Thursday 6 June - Sullivan Shield - Yr 3&4, 5&6 mixed
• Friday 7 June – 2A prayer focus assembly 12pm
• Friday 5 July – Grandfriends Day

Have a great week,

Erin