Heavenly Father, 

We thank You for the peaceful beginning of this school term. Bless our children, their families, all staff, and all who support them.  

Grant them wisdom, patience, and joy in their learning.  

Keep them safe and guide them to grow in Your love each day. 

Through Christ our Lord, 
Amen. 

The beginning of Term 3 has been a strong reminder of the privilege I have to work with the amazing St Anthony’s School community. The start of the term was settled, and it was lovely to see students so energised and eager to return to school.  

We have already had many amazing events occur in such a short time. Last week we had 5L and 1P lead us in a beautiful prayer focus assembly on NAIDOC Week. On Thursday our Year 5 and 6 students attended a performance of the musical Mamma Mia at the Erindale Theatre on invitation from St Clare’s College. Last but not least, we had many of our First Nations students attend the NAIDOC Week celebration mass at St Chrsitopher’s Cathedral, and following that, our Year 3 students attended an excursion at GeoScience Australia. How lucky we are to have such amazing staff to plan, organise, and coordinate so many meaningful events while still maintaining an environment of calm across the school. 

Grandfriends day 

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Grand friends day on the last day of Term 2. It was such a pleasure to meet so many new and familiar members of our students’ families. Our students loved being able to showcase their classrooms, the things that they have been learning about, introducing their friends to their Grand friends, and showing off their dance skills. I was humbled to learn that so many people had travelled significant distances to be at school just for that day. My sincere thanks on behalf of all students and staff.  

FFF 

We had a wonderful turn out of families and staff at our first Family Faith Focus mass. Our next Family Faith Focus Mass is this Sunday the 4 August, 9am at St Anthony’s Parish Church. It is a wonderful opportunity to come together and celebrate mass.  

Family Faith Focus is about attending Mass with us as a community on the first Sunday of each month. 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. Mass usually concludes just after 9.30am. If you have time, stay on for a cup of tea and a piece of cake with us all afterwards in the foyer of the church. 

Reminder - Reconciliation and First Eucharist programs  

• Tuesday August 8th 5:30pm- Reconciliation Life Lesson (Week 3)  

• Tuesday August 13th 5:30pm- Reconciliation Life Lesson (Week 4)  

• Tuesday August 20th 5:30pm- First Eucharist Life Lesson (Week 5)  

• Tuesday August 27th 5:30pm- First Eucharist Life Lesson (Week 6)  

• Monday September 2nd – Retreat Day (Church Week 7)  

• Wednesday September 12th -Sacrament of Reconciliation (Week 8)  

Each student has been allocated a date and mass for First Holy Communion. If you have not yet contacted Mr McGrath please do so at joseph.mcgrath@cg.catholic.edu.au  

Sports awards 

The awards for the cross country carnival will be presented on Monday the 5th of August at our morning assembly. We look forward to congratulating those who placed in the top 3 from each age group. Well done to all competitors for a great effort. 

Hats are back 

As we exit July this week, students are required to wear a school hat when they are playing at recess and lunch. 

School Parking 

ACT police have responded to recent complaints about cars parking in the bus zone immediately outside of the school admin building during zoned bus times, and cars turning right into the school entrance after 8.15am. 
 
The area immediately outside of the school admin building is zoned for buses from 8.15am-9.00am and 3.00pm-3.30pm on all school days. I appreciate that the mornings are quite busy and that the bus drop-off zone can be a convenient and reasonably easy enough drop-off for students to move on from when buses enter the area. However, parked cars and students taking a significant amount of time to exit their cars in the bus zone could cause access and safety issues. 
 
Vehicles are not permitted to enter the school driveway by exiting right from Wheeler Crescent between 8.15am-9.30am and 2.45pm-3.45pm. Vehicles heading in this direction are to travel onto the roundabout, turn and exit back onto Wheeler Crescent, and then enter the school driveway via a left turn. 
 
I expect that traffic monitoring of these issues will be significantly increased in the coming weeks. 

Vinnies Winter Appeal 

This week is our final chance to donate any winter clothing or items for The St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal. If you have anything at home you would like to donate, please drop a bag off to the front office and it will be added to our collection. 

Save the dates: 

• Friday 2 August. KA prayer focus assembly @ 12pm. 

• Sunday 4 August. Family Faith Focus Mass 9am at St Anthony’s Parish Church 

• Monday 5 August. Cross Country awards at morning assembly 

• Tuesday 6 August. Basketball ACT Sue Geh Cup Years 5 & 6 girls 

• Tuesday 6 August. Year 4 Excursion to Lanyon Homestead 

• Wednesday 7 August. Year 1 excursion to the Arboretum 

• Reconciliation Life Lessons begin on Tuesday 6 August @ 5.30pm at St Anthony’s Church 

• Thursday 8 August. 3L Mary Mackillop Feast Day Liturgy 

• Thursday 8 August. ICAS Writing test 

• Friday 9 August. Winter Walk to School Day 

• Friday 9 August. ICAS Digital Tech test 

• Thursday 15 August. Basketball ACT Jamie Pearlman Cup Years 5 & 6 boys 

• Thursday 15 August. Year 4 Assumption of Mary Liturgy @ 9am

Have a wonderful week,

Garreth Wigg