Prayer for Guidance 

Lord Jesus,

In this time when leaves turn to bright and the days grow longer, Please colour my outlook with Your grace.

Though the Earth travels farther from the sun, Help me to draw closer to You.

May my patience with others never wear thin.

Loving Savior, may Your example inspire me, Although I am far from perfect.

May Your forgiveness help me to keep trying to serve You with humility.

Amen.

Our Family, Faith, Focus (Triple F) Mass on the weekend was a lovely way for our community to come together to celebrate Jesus. Father Tom welcomes all families to his Masses, and it is a wonderful opportunity for our families to meet others in their faith journey and for children to be a part of learning about Jesus in our children’s liturgy.

Our next Family, Faith, Focus Mass in on Sunday 1^st December at 9.00am. All are warmly welcome.

Last Friday and Saturday we celebrated All Saints and All Souls Day. On All Souls Day, we pray for our loved ones so that they may be forgiven of their sins and have the joy of entering into heaven. It is also a time for remembering and celebrating their lives. I felt very blessed to attend the year 3 excursion at St Christopher’s Cathedral for All Saints Day. How proud I was of our students when they confidently answered questions from our Archbishop Prowse and respectfully toured the cathedral with such grace and reverence.

Silence and stillness does have a magic to it. It doesn't matter where you find it — in your home, your workplace or your classroom. However, in our fast-paced world it is getting harder and harder to find. Christian Meditation is a tool that we use in our school as a valuable strategy to provide our students with stillness during their day. All students in our school pause at 11.00am each day to participate in Christian Meditation with their class. These opportunities of stillness not only provide a space for our students to be with God but enable each child to breathe and take charge of their bodies and minds. I encourage you to talk with your child about Christian meditation.

Behaviour and expectations 

As we embark on almost the halfway mark of term four, for some students this can become an increasingly challenging time. Over the past weeks I have met with some students and families around the expected behaviour of our students. Unfortunately, behaviour of some of our students has been less than desirable.  A reminder to all of our students in our community at St Anthony’s, we pride ourselves on Being Respectful, Being a learner and Being Responsible. This also includes through the use of technology.  Name calling, hands-on other children, inappropriate language and using technology to speak unkindly about others is not acceptable. Please be assured, student wellbeing and management is a key priority of St Anthony’s primary school and addressed accordingly. I thank the parent community for their support and communication. 

Hall renovation

This Friday our hall renovations will begin. Signage and temporary fencing will be built around the hall over the weekend with new temporary pathways. The bottom gate near canteen will be permanently shut, our two entry and exit gates will be the top one next to our community garden and the second one next to the front toilets.

Canteen

Beginning today, our school canteen will be operating from a temporary workstation between the OOSCA building and the Year 5/6 block. The canteen will operate from this space throughout the hall and canteen renovations. Due to the move and complexity of the space, the canteen menu has been adjusted to meet the requirements of the new space. The QKR menu reflects these changes. I thank Maree, our canteen helpers and volunteers, and the school community for your understanding and patience during this time. I know that once the renovations are completed, we will all be very thankful for our upgraded facilities and capacity in the new canteen.

Clothing Pool

The clothing pool has now been relocated to the room behind the front of school toilet block. There is a gate immediately between this building and the main admin building, allowing for easy access. My thanks to Caroline Brogden, our clothing pool organiser, for assisting in moving all of the clothing pool items to this space over the weekend. The clothing pool will continue to open each Saturday fortnight from 9.30-11.00am.

Staffing 2025

Congratulations to Simon Van Meurs who has successfully been appointed to a teaching position at Daramalan College in 2025.

After an interview and panel recommendation led by Father Tom, Garreth Wigg and Bernadette Whitfield, we welcome Jamie Marmont to the role of PE Teacher and Coordinator from 2025.

Finalisation of staffing will occur in the coming weeks in preparation for step up day in week 9 where all students will move to their 2025 class for a session to meet their teacher.

Reminder - Class requests

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 this Friday 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. 

School Yearbooks

In previous years, each family has had one school yearbook included on their Term 4 school fees. This year, we are providing all families with the opportunity to order as many copies of the yearbook as they would like, or the option to not purchase a yearbook at all if you would prefer. If you do not purchase yearbook yourself via the link below, you will not receive one this year.

Below is the link to make the purchase for a yearbook, which will be delivered to the school before the end of the school year and given at to students in their classes:Year book purchase. Purchases can be made now and until Friday 15 November. This cut-off date is firm so that we can provide the printing company with exact numbers. We are thankful for being able to ensure that the cost of each yearbook remains unchanged from last year at $40 per book.

Ride Safely to School Week

My sincere thanks to Mrs Tracey Adamson for organising events last week for Ride Safely to School Week. We had so many students participate and join in riding to school this week, with a huge contingent of students riding to school on Friday. My thanks also to our staff members who came in early to supervise check points, escort large groups of riders to school and cut and serve fruit to students as they arrived to school on Friday morning. We were lucky enough to have ‘Simon the Bike Guy’ come in and show our regular riders some tips about keeping their bikes tuned-up and safe to ride

School Community Council - Kids Play Date

My sincere thanks to those members of the School Community Council who have organised a Kids Play Date Kids Play date on Sunday 10 November. Please see the flyer below for information.

Save the dates:

Enjoy your week,

Erin