St Anne's Catholic College - Temora eNewsletter

Dear St Anne's Community,

Term 4 is well under way and it feels like it won't be long before it is Christmas.

Garden Viewing - A huge thank you to Sally Cassidy, Amber Crawford and the organising committee for their coordination of a very successful day last Sunday. Thank you to everyone that contributed to the day, whether it was volunteering on the Sunday or in the lead up to the event. We are very lucky to have such generous people in our school community. We also owe the gardeners a great deal of gratitude for opening their gardens for this event. Some expenses are still being finalised with the fundraising, however, at this stage we are looking at around $13,000 raised. This is an incredible effort and something we appreciate greatly, thanks again.

I mentioned in the last newsletter about the end of year events. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions at this point in time, we will only be able to invite parents to the Year 6 Graduation Mass, the Year 10 Graduation Mass/Dinner and the Year 10 Awards Assembly. We will provide invitations with specific details in the next couple of weeks as well as an overview of the other events. Any event that we do not have parents at, will be videoed live for parents to watch.

The Secondary renovations are in full swing, with the Science room completely gutted and the new false ceiling being put up.

Thank you to Mrs Kite for a fantastic Book Week celebration last week. It was great to see the students either being read to by an older student or by a special guest. The library came alive with various displays and events.

Congratulations to our School Captains for the way in which they conducted themselves at the Local Leaders' Forum that was organised by the Council. It was a great opportunity for them to speak with the Mayor Rick Firman and Ms Steph Cooke, MP.

30/10/20- Happy World Teacher's Day to the amazing staff here at St Anne's. They are a wonderful bunch of dedicated professionals and I thank them for their efforts. All industries have experienced a challenging year with COVID and I just want to acknowledge that the way in which the educators here at St Anne's carried on with their work and tried to instil some normality for the students, is impressive.

World Teachers' Day 2020

Take care,

Grant Haigh

The Sacrament of First Eucharist

The students in Year 4 have been busy preparing to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist and we keep them in our prayers. It is pleasing to see that some of the families have made a conscious effort to attend weekend masses regularly especially during this preparation time. It certainly helps to provide the candidates with a greater awareness of all that they are learning and helps to promote a greater sense of community in this lead up. Any candidates who have not enrolled are reminded to please contact Fr Sijo and to also notify him at the beginning of Mass that they are present, when they attend in the coming days, so that he is aware of their intention to enrol. Please note that this must be done prior to the reception of the Sacrament.

Details regarding the Retreat day for First Eucharist will be sent home in the next few days.

Important dates:

First Eucharist Retreat Day Tuesday 10th November 9:00 - 3:20pm.

Sacrament of First Eucharist evening Thursday 12th November at 6pm.

Year 6 Retreat Tomorrow

In light of the fact that we had to postpone this year’s Confirmation, the Year 6 students are participating in a class Retreat tomorrow in St Joseph’s hall. Parents are asked to please check their emails to ensure that they have responded by tomorrow morning. The theme of the day is ‘Let your light shine’ and encourages the students to take some time to connect with each other, to connect with their God and to reflect on how they affect others and the impact of their choices. It is a lovely, affirming program that we are sure the students will enjoy. The Year 6 students are reminded to please bring their own recess and drink bottle (not to be shared due to COVID-19 protocols). They will all get individual orders of hot chips and a drink for lunch.

All Saints & All Souls Liturgy

Please note that this year the students will be having class liturgies on Monday 2nd November for the combined All Saints & All Souls Day and due to restricted numbers in the Church will not be attending the Mass. Parents and other parishioners are invited and most welcome to still attend the Mass with Fr Sijo as per the Parish Bulletin.

All Saints Feast Sunday 1st November

Adapted Commentary by Mary Coloe PBVM

Revelations 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-2

Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven

The Feast of All Saints is a rich and beautiful tradition within the Church. It honours those who have died, it reminds us that we are part of a wider communion of holy people, and it affirms our faith in God’s loving fidelity to life. In the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, from Vatican II, an entire chapter is given to affirm that the Pilgrim Church on earth looks to its final completion at the end of time, and that while awaiting this End Time, we are supported and nourished in faith by those already experiencing the fullness of life with God.

Until the Lord shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him and death being destroyed, all things are subject to Him, some of His disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding ‘clearly God triune and one’, but all in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same love of God and neighbour and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God…

For by reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth and in many ways contribute to its greater edification. (L.G. para 49)

This weekend’s readings reflect that certainty of faith. In the context of today’s celebration of the Saints, the Beatitudes may sound as if they are the promise of a future, heavenly reward, but it is important to notice that Jesus’ words in the first and last Beatitude are in the present tense: ‘Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Along with the Saints in heaven who experience the fullness of God’s desires, Jesus’ sermon is directed to disciples now, offering them a vision of what life in the kingdom might mean.

The whole point of Jesus’ sermon is to show that Jesus is not speaking from the values of this world. He is offering his listeners a change of perspective. He is offering us a vision of what the world would be like if God’s reign were operative. In this world of God’s desires the hungry would be fed, the merciful would receive mercy, and mourners would find comfort. It is this world, this present reign of God, which you and I are meant to be citizens of. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is our Constitution setting out the values and way of life for Christians. If we truly live as citizens of God’s kingdom, it is unlikely that we will know successes in our current society. Values of generosity, compassion, hospitality do not sit well alongside values of economic prosperity, border control and globalisation. But if we take this Gospel to heart we can draw strength from Jesus’ words – ‘Good on you, if people abuse you and persecute you, and speak against you. Yours is the kingdom.’

Thank you to the seven gardeners who opened up their properties for our Garden Viewing Fundraiser. The time and effort in getting the gardens ready is very much appreciated and they looked beautiful on Sunday. The day ran very smoothly and the atmosphere in the school was amazing. Thankyou to everyone that baked or volunteered their time. Thank you also to Pikes Landscaping who generously donated vouchers to the owners of the gardens.

Raffle Winners were:

Outdoor Furniture - Pat Wells

Whipper Snipper - Sophie Dunstan

$500 Betts Gardens gift voucher - Sally Hurst

Parklane Jewellery gift set - Libby Hanlon

Plasma cut sign - Kellie Neilson

Gift hamper - Rhonda Grant

Gift hamper - Joy Cronin

$80 Rose City Massage gift voucher - Jenny Fisher

Wine hamper - Ken Morton

Greening your Interior hamper - Sue James

Woven pot cover - Joy Cronin

Oil diffuser set - Bec Drenovski

$50 Kindly Darling gift voucher - Ken Morton

Pot & Baths Salt Pack - Gloria Rodway

Feather stand & oil - Jamie Cole

$20 Coffee Bar on Hoskins gift voucher & dressing pack - Diana Cartwright

$30 Tanza gift voucher - Pauline Martin

Thank you

The Garden Viewing Committee

Our School Captains had the pleasure of attending a local leader’s forum this evening along with the Captains from the other great schools in town. The event was held at the town hall and hosted by Mayor Rick Firman and Ms Stephanie Cooke, MP. The captains had an opportunity to ask questions and listen to a variety of speeches. They were also presented with leadership certificates.

Wow! What a busy and wonderful start to Term 4 Year 2 have had!
Book week was definitely a hit as Year 2 had the pleasure of listening to Mr
Sleigh tell his Walter the Dragon stories.

We got to listen to lots of different stories read to us by the secondary
students, Mrs Wallace and Mr Haigh which was so much fun. We even got to
act out and participate in some of the stories!

We LOVED dressing up as our favourite book characters!

Year 7 came and read a picture book to us during our library time!

Year 2 have also had the pleasure of welcoming Brigette Pritchett into our classroom to work with us on our emotions and the importance of teamwork! We have read some wonderful books and have examined what we are feeling and why we feel that way. We have also been playing some really fun games by working together to finish the game.

Overall, Year 2 have had an amazing and eventful first 3 weeks of Term and we are excited to see what the rest of the Term has for us!

Students have been very busy in Maths this week learning lots of new things.

Year 8 have been solving equations and have enjoyed the challenge of trying to beat table members in an equations game.

Year 9 have been graphing equations to represent a variety of lines. Some interesting points arose when lines with the same equation somehow didn’t look the same on the graph.

Year 10 investigated the interior and exterior angles of polygons and devised rules that could be used in order to find missing angles.

Year 7 - Kayde Carney - For great participation in sport. Guinevere Drumore - Excellent town planning skills in Geography. Mitchell Dunstan - For persistence in Science. Charli Momot - Great work ethic and perseverance in French, excellent town planning skills in Geography. Rachael Thompson - Being a kind and inclusive member of Yr 7.

Year 9 - Madison Cassidy - For working hard in Maths.

Year 10 - Kiara Balon - For working hard in Maths.