Dear Parents and Staff

As we began the Fourth Week of Lent last weekend, the Gospel reading was the parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32) in which Jesus shares the lesson of the son of the rich man who takes his inheritance and squanders it in a far off land. Eventually he comes to his senses and returns, full of remorse, to his father who welcomes him with great joy stating, “this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found”. Upon learning of his brother’s return and his father’s great joy, the older brother becomes angry and jealous of his father’s love and acceptance of his brother even though he has been so wasteful. There are many lessons to be learnt from this parable, but the one I find most interesting is about the older brother’s response. Why is it that he feels the need to be jealous? Why should he become angry about his father’s love for his brother? Doesn’t he still have so much more than he could ever need both in wealth and the love of his father?

Sometimes I feel, we too, forget how fortunate we truly are and become envious of the good fortune of others. Perhaps our time could be better spent being happy with what we have and thankful for our own good fortune, just as it is. Many years ago, I heard the following quote. There are a few people I have met along my life’s journey who fit the category of the second part of the quote, and I am (secretly) jealous of their ability to be so pragmatic.

COVID UPDATE

As the number of positive cases across the state increases so, too, do the cases within our school. Yesterday I sent six letters to a range of classes across our school with one more sent out this morning. Whilst there has not been the need for students to isolate when away from school from Year Three up, this has not always been the case for the younger children. I am certainly not in a position to have an opinion on the wearing of masks by adults or children, there is one significant thing that has become obvious under the current guidelines. If children in any of the classes wears a mask appropriately while inside and has the ability to physically distance while outside, they, and any close contacts of them, do not need to isolate when away from school. The decision for children from Year Two and below to wear masks rests very firmly with their parents, the above information is merely to ensure that you are aware of the situation. On two occasions over the past two days, a class has avoided isolation due to a COVID positive student appropriately wearing a mask while at school.

As we are still unable to gather as a whole school to celebrate our Lenten Liturgies next week, Mrs Bradshaw and Bro Stephen will be filming our Year Four and Five budding movie stars as they act out the Liturgies. These will then be shared with all of the classes so that the children may participate in the Liturgies within their class group.

INTERSCHOOL SWIMMING

Our Interschool squad left early this morning to compete against four other Catholic schools at Aqualife Aquatic Centre in East Victoria Park. Congratulations to all members of the squad for being selected to represent our school. I look forward to hearing the results of the Carnival when you return to school.

FIRE DRILL

As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the safety of all, we conducted a fire drill yesterday morning. Everything went very smoothly and the children were all very responsible in listening and responding to their teacher’s instructions.

YEAR SIX ASSEMBLY

At a Teams meeting this morning I was advised that parents will be able to attend Class Assemblies from next Term so I’m looking forward to seeing the Year Six students share their “Camp” experiences early in Term Two. We will advise parents of Assembly dates once these have been set.

SCHOOL REVIEWS

Early next Term we will be involved in two significant review processes to gauge our overall performance with input from Fr Quynh, parents, staff and children. A component of one of the reviews is to assess my personal performance as part of my ongoing professional development. I hope parents will support us by contributing to the reviews when invited to do so. Information will be shared with families in the next few weeks as it is made available to us.

END OF TERM

Our school Term concludes for 3 Year Old Kindergarten next Thursday, 7 April, and for all other classes on Friday 8 April. Students and staff are welcome to wear neat casual clothes on Friday to celebrate the end of a safe and successful Term. A gold coin donation to support the missions would be appreciated.

Bible Studies

Each Tuesday evening commencing at 6.00 pm in the Parish Centre.

Stations of the Cross

Every Friday evening commencing at 6.00 pm in the Church during Lent.

Caritas Australia – Appeal for Ukraine

In a matter of weeks, millions of people have fled the conflict in Ukraine. Our long-standing partner, Caritas Ukraine, is on the ground, supporting people in need during this unfolding humanitarian crisis. Help provide urgent assistance including shelter, food, clean water, medicine and psychological support to people affected by this crisis. Please donate www.caritas.org.au/ukraine or call toll free 1800 024 413.

Synod of Bishops 2021 – 2023

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take part in a global conversation about the Catholic Church. How are we called to walk together as Christians ? How can we listen to one another in making important decisions about our faith and our mission ? Find out more and share your contribution at https://catholic.org.au/synodalchurch

Parish Busy Bee

A Busy Bee has been organised for Saturday 2 April 2022, 9.00 – 11.00 am. Dusting inside the Church, wiping down of the pews and cleaning the Parish Centre windows are just a few of the tasks at hand. A list of small jobs will be available on the day. Please bring your own bucket, rags or window squeegee. Light refreshments will be served in the Parish Centre at the end of the Busy Bee. Your efforts and support are sincerely appreciated.

Music at St Mary’s Cathedral

Thirty-minute music recital every Thursday at the Cathedral, commencing at 1.05 pm. Admission is free. A perfect 30 minutes to enjoy prayerful and reflective music. For further information, please contact Jacinta by email music.cathedral@perhcatholic.org.au or on 9223 1377.

Dr George Sekulla JP

Chairman

Notre Dame Parish Council

Dear Parents

Throughout the season of Lent, your child may have been collecting money in their Caritas Project Compassion Box. Thank you to those who have collected donations. Please return any donations to the Classroom Teacher before the end of term.

Thank you

Mrs Bradshaw

Assistant Principal

ANZAC Day is celebrated this year on Monday, 25 April. This is a public holiday and then school begins for Term 2 the following day, 26 April. We will be holding our own ANZAC DAY service at 8.50am on this day. The children are invited to wear service medals belonging to family members for this event.

We would like to involve children who are members of scouts, cubs, girl guides or any other affiliated group to have a role in our service. Therefore, they are invited to wear their uniform to represent their organisation on this day and may remain in this for the day unless they wish to change into their school uniform. If your child is a member of one of these groups and would like to be involved in our ANZAC Day service, would you please click on the link below and complete the form.

It’s hard to believe we are nearly at the end of Term One! It feels like the weeks have been flying by in Year Five and we have had a very busy and productive start to the year. Here is a snapshot of what we have been up to so far.

Makerspace

We are lucky to be one of the year groups participating in Makerspace this term. Each week the students make their way to the library and, under the tutelage of Mrs Mullins, Mrs Samaradin and Ms Dyke, engage with Lego, coding and technology. The students have been split into three groups with one group creating a ‘sport’s drill’ using Dash as an athlete, another group creating a sports arena using Mine Craft Education and the final group using Lego to construct sports equipment.

History

In HASS this term, we have been researching the Australian gold rush as a significant part of Australia’s history. We have been learning about the harsh reality of daily life on the goldfields of Victoria in the early 1850s, including accommodation and living conditions, diet, health, mining methods and the problems associated with needing a “gold licence”. It has been very interesting learning about the events that led to the rebellion known as the Eureka Stockade and we are looking forward to finding out more about why this has become known as the birth of Australian Democracy.

Writing

For writing this term, our Year Five students have been busy creating narratives and persuasive texts. They have been learning about the structure and features of both types of texts and are using this knowledge to enhance their writing. We are looking forward to reading them!

Art

This term in art, the Year Five students have been carefully and patiently, cutting and gluing feathers onto an Australian Bird of their choice. Their focus has been to mix and use the correct colours to make their bird look as realistic as possible! Please enjoy some of our finished products.

Mr Seers & Mrs McCluskey

The library has some new and exciting books to share with parents and students.

Sarah Sarmardin

The openings times are : Monday & Thursday from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.

Canteen is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Easter Raffle

Thanks to Joanna Barber for all her work getting the tickets ready for the Easter Raffle this year. Don’t forget to return your tickets with any monies by Monday 4th April. The raffle will be drawn on Friday 8th April.

School Holiday catch up- Free Coffee!!!

Unfortunately, COVID has impacted on the start of the school year yet again, and the P&F recognises that this will have an effect on all families, but especially those new to our school and those who are just starting their schooling journey at Notre Dame as their opportunities to meet other parents has been limited. I think back to when my now year 6 son started kindy and all the wonderful Mums and Dads and grandparents I met, who have become some of my closest friends over the past 7 years.

Since the P&F have had to postpone or cancel some of the usual social events we would hold, we wanted to encourage all the classes to still get together where possible to catch up and build those relationships and friendship networks, off school grounds. At the last P&F meeting, the group voted to provide $150 for each year level to purchase coffees during a school holiday catch up. This was offered back in 2020 and worked quite well. The Class Representatives will coordinate this with their classes and let you know the details of the catch ups so keep an eye on your emails and class Facebook pages.

Packed with Goodness

In 2020, the P&F organised a Healthy Lunchbox information session for parents which included tips for packing healthy lunchboxes that actually get eaten, encouraging adventurous eating, as well as quick and easy ways to read food labels.

With the current restrictions in place, face to face workshops are on hold but the team is offering 45-60 minute webinars. Upcoming dates are:

• April: Thursday 7th April @ 7:30pm
• May: Thursday 5th May @ 10 am

To register, please enter this link: https://www.crunchandsip.com.au/event/5/packed-with-goodness and to check out the website for other healthy tips and recipes, please visit: www.crunchandsip.com.au.

Unfortunately, we are still under the category of Red Alert for Covid-19, and unsure of when we will move back to Amber Alert.

We are still open to see emergencies like broken teeth, swollen cheeks and toothaches.

Please be assured you are still on our waitlist. When we are back to Amber, we will send appointments out to your home address.

Please call if you have any concerns. 9479 7222 8am to 4pm Mon to Friday.

Thank you from the staff at Cloverdale Dental Therapy Centre

Cloverdale DTC I Dental Health Services

Cloverdale Primary School

180 Fisher Street

Cloverdale 6105

Ph: 08 9479

Email: admin@nds.wa.edu.au
Website: www.nds.wa.edu.au
Location: 360 Daly Street, Cloverdale WA, Australia
Phone: 62727100
Facebook: www.facebook.com/notredamecps