Dear St Anne's Community,

It was such a relief to receive the updated NSW Health advice recently. The easing of restrictions is welcomed and it is nice to be able to resume some normal school operations. Please refer to recent emails from me, for further information on updated restrictions. 

Compass

Please do not hesitate to contact the school, should you have any questions or concerns about Compass. We understand that some functions are not as user friendly, but we feel the good outweighs the bad. Thank you for your patience and support. 

Don't forget to keep the attendance notes coming in. The quickest and easiest way to let us know your child will be absent is to fill in an attendance note on the Compass App. 

High Impact Teaching Practice

In 2020, we introduced ‘Daily Review’ into some of our Primary classes. Last year and moving into this year we have expanded this practice across the school. Daily review of concepts previously taught, prevents students from forgetting content over time, this process of forgetting is called - funnily enough - the forgetting curve. You may have caught yourself saying ‘but you learnt that last year’, I know I certainly hear teachers saying, ‘but I taught them that already, and they knew when I tested them!’. We may even remember back when we were at school, cramming for an exam and then almost instantly forgetting it as we walked out of the door. Our aim with daily review is to make it so students move new information from their short term memory into long term memory.

As part of the Catalyst Professional Development program that Catholic Education are implementing, staff at St Anne's will continue to engage in researched backed professional development sessions that support High Impact Teaching Practices.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

This week we marked the occasions of Shrove Tuesday, with pancakes before school started and a class liturgy on Ash Wednesday. Thank you to Mrs Miller for her organisation. 

St Anne's Community Council

This week we held the Annual General Meeting for the community council. I would like to thank all position holders for their contribution to the council and I am pleased to announce your representatives for 2022, as follows:

Chair: Margo Townsend

Vice Chair: Emily Watts

Secretary: Christine Collins

Treasurer: Duncan McCrone and Cassie Coddington

Parent representatives: Joel Fairman, Karissa Roberts

Parish Priest: Fr Sijo

Staff representatives: Geraldine Holland and Kellye-Anne Coleman

Appointment by the Principal: Dennis Sleigh

A warm welcome to Joel Fairman and Duncan McCrone. We appreciate their willingness to be a part of the council. A huge thank you and farewell to Paula Godde as she hands over the job of treasurer. Paula has been a part of the community council for a very long time and we will recognise her contribution with a gift from the council in the coming days. 

Staffing

Mrs Jacqui Collins is currently on leave and she will return 10th March. While Mrs Collins has been away, Mrs Cuttcliffe has been teaching her classes. Mrs Nicole Miller has been in the position of Acting Religious Education Coordinator as well. 

On Tuesday, we farewelled Mrs Georgia Hughes as she takes Parental Leave. We wish her all the best for the upcoming birth and look forward to her return in 2023.

We welcome Mrs Heidi Jones from next week until the end of the term, as a Classroom Support Assistant.

Enrolments

In the next two weeks we will welcome the following students and their families to St Anne's:

Week 6- Year 9, Dane Sinclair

Week 7- Kindergarten, Adam Sheraz

Week 7- Year 2, Isla Sheraz

We are happy to have them join us and look forward to them starting. 

Sport

Congratulations to all students that have participated in representative sport recently. It is nice to read about their successes and we are proud of all of them.  

Take care,

Grant Haigh

Principal

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday we celebrated Ash Wednesday which is the day that marks the beginning of Lent. The marking of the Ashes on Ash Wednesday is an expression of our faith and a sign that we are asking God for forgiveness. Each child in our school received the ashes on their forehead as we celebrated this special day with a Liturgy.

Shrove Tuesday

On Tuesday morning we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a wonderful feast of pancakes and maple syrup on our playground. Shrove Tuesday not only became a day for Confession but a time for Catholics to feast on eggs, sugar and dairy which are traditionally restricted during the Lenten fast. Not only was Shrove Tuesday a last chance to gorge on such foods but it was also a way to use them up before the fast began.

Project Compassion Boxes

Project compassion boxes have been sent home for the period of Lent this is to support Caritas Australia this Lenten season and help support vulnerable people around the world, now and For All Future Generations.

With your support, Caritas Australia has been able to support vulnerable communities around the world to tackle poverty, food security, education, water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction. Project Compassion 2022 reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come to build better future for all.

Please encourage your child to give generously to the project compassion appeal and then return their box with their donation back to school by the end of this term.

Altar servers

A reminder to please contact Mrs Collins via email or the office, if you would like your child to receive training to volunteer as an altar server. Any child who has received their First Eucharist in the Catholic Church is eligible to participate.

Sacrament of First Reconciliation

The students in Year 3 who are eligible to make the Sacrament of First Reconciliation will begin their preparation later this term. The Parent Information session will be held on Tuesday 15th March at 7pm, in the school hall. Any parent wishing for their baptised child to receive the Sacrament who is in Year 4 or above, is encouraged to contact Mrs Collins or the front office as soon as possible.

Year 6 have had a wonderful start to the year. In English, we have been busy writing Cinquain Poems and participated in the Michael McCormack ANZAC Day Writing Competition. We also loved the book “Blubber” by Judy Blume and voted for “Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” as our new class novel.

We have settled into our new “Maths Pathways” program and our Cycle 1 results were excellent. Our Maths Energiser Challenges have also been lots of fun and include lots of discussion and justifications about our answers. In Science, we have been exploring physical and chemical changes. We looked at burnt chocolate, melted ice, evaporated juice, milk and cordial and dissolved salt in water. In art, we made pictures of hanging baskets and the results looked great!

Yr 8 have been looking at body systems. We completed a dissection looking at the lungs and heart. 

Yr 9 have been looking at how the body gets rid of waste. As a part of this students dissected a kidney.

Week 3

Yr 8 - Daniel Balinski for working hard in Maths.

Yr 9 - Milly van Egmond for great application to Maths tasks.

Yr 10 - Joshua Daly for great contribution in Maths. For seeing a need and showing comassion. Daniel Hirt for seeing a need and showing compassion.

Week 4

Yr 7 - Esther Adeyemi for a well planned Dreaming style story in History. Jonte Reid for an interesting Dreaming style story in History.

Yr 8 - Joseph Collins for positive contributions to classroom discussions and activities in History. Alice Fogarty for great application of writing skills in English. Eloise Haigh for excellent participation in History discussions and activities. Jimmie Harper for great application ot writing skills in English.

Yr 9 - Alexia Lancaster for showing insight with new information in History. Milly van Egmond for contributions to class discussions in History.

Yr 10 - Mia Block for consistent effort in Religion. Angus Cooper for excellent research to support personal opinions in History. Sharn Ferguson for outstanding historical research to persuade. Annabelle Wiencke for positive contributions to class discussions in Religion.

Week 4

Kinder - Frankie Townsend, Olivia Perry, Paddy Wallace

Yr 1 - Filip Balinski, Karzon Rebibis, Billy Bush

Yr 2 - Ned Hale, Dusty Karn, Samuel Moroney

Yr 3 - Abby Watts, Nate Swanston, Zephanie Lancaster

Yr 4 - Dallas Gibbs, Leo Drenovski, Hannah Pham

Yr 5 - Liam Oliver, Hayley Kite, Matthias Lancaster

Yr 6 - Max Drenovski, Lani Summerfield, Macey Coddington

St Anne’s conducted its annual swimming carnival on Friday 11th February in fantastic conditions for swimming. Despite some Covid restrictions the students participation and support of other competitors was wonderful. Congratulations to Joes who won the carnival on 1074 points, followed by Pauls on 798, Johns on 574 and Pats on 547.

Primary swimmers who qualified for Western Region travelled to Cootamundra on Thursday 24th February. Secondary swimmers will compete in Queanbeyan in March.

Age champions were:

A number of long standing records were broken at the carnival too, they were: Annabelle Gray broke three records:  the 9 year girls 50m butterfly record, achieving 58.02 seconds, beating the 1993 record held by C Reardon, the 50m backstroke record, achieving 51:36 seconds, previously held by T Moroney in 1991 and the 50m free, achieving 42:24, previously held by C Reardon in 1993. Will Maxwell set a record in the 100m free, swimming 1:23:97 minutes, beating Joel Lynch’s record from 1999 - well done Annabelle and Will.

A number of students qualified to swim at the Western Region carnival in Cootamundra. They were: Avery Evola, Annabelle Gray, Abby Watts, Barney Taylor, Brodie Gray, Charles Minchin, Addie Warren, Grace and Lani McCrone, Harry Swanston, Hayley Kite, Lani Summerfield, Will Maxwell, Jacob Bett, Angus Oliver, Judd Oliver, Macey Coddington, Livvy Blackwell, Joey Guymer, Matthias Lancaster, Ava Derrick.

Twenty one students travelled to Cootamundra to compete for Western region swimming squad selection.

In very good conditions the squad enjoyed a great day of competing with St Anne’s finishing third overall for the day. Three students also attained runner up in their age divisions, they were: Annabelle Gray junior girl, Lani Summerfield senior girl and Will Maxwell senior boys. Congratulations to all swimmers and in particular to our age champion runner ups and the four students who qualified to go to the next level. They were: Annabelle, Will, Lani  and Abby Watts, who will now progress to Queanbeyan to trial for Canberra Goulburn selection.

This free webinar, hosted by the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT and delivered by the eSafety Commissioner, is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 10–18.  Parents and Carers can register at  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6726877427764036623 Date of the webinar will be Tuesday 8 March 7.30pm – 8.30pm

The webinar will cover:

• What do to about accidental exposure to content about suicide, self-harm or eating disorders
• Using games, apps, and social media to support mental wellbeing
• The pros and cons of digital mental health platforms
• strategies for young people to support friends online
  

This week, Issue #2 of Scholastic Book Club was been sent home. The due date for Book Club is Wednesday, 16^th March 2022.

A reminder that all payments are to be made online via Loop. To make payments visit scholastic.com.au/LOOP or download the LOOP app.

If you would like to view Issue #2 online you can follow this link https://scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/

Issue #2 of Scholastic Book Club was sent home this week.

24th March - Open Primary girls AFL selections in Wagga.

1^st April - Netball and rugby league under 11's and under 12's Canberra Goulburn selections in Canberra.

6th April - Primary Schools Championships AFL (previously known as the Paul Kelly Cup) at Wagga. Girls, boys or mixed teams.

Good luck to George Morton, Lani McCrone and Darcy Reardon who are attending WR Touch Trials tomorrow.

Primary swimming for sport is now finished. For the remainder of the term students will be doing netball in preparation for the NSW Netball Cup in Term 2.

Reminder - If you need to postpone your child's canteen order please send Belinda Maxwell a text on 0412142166 before 9.30am on the day.

Did you know - You can cancel your child's canteen order on the QKR App anytime before 8am on the day.

Monday 14th November - Team 1 - Carly Bickham, Andrea Cartwright, Ashlee Smith

Monday 21st November - Team 2 - Kirsty Oliver, Liz Oliver

Monday 28th November - Team 3 - Lisa van Egmond, Nicole Talbot

Monday 5th December - Team 4 - Kerissa Reardon, Rochelle Caldwell

Monday 12th December - Team 5 - Meg Morton, Ali McCrone, Atalie Perry