Emmaus Catholic Primary School

“Rejoice, exult with gladness; do not fear, dispel your sadness. Raise your hearts, the time is near; Christ the Lord will soon appear.”

Dear Parents and Caregivers

As we come closer to Christmas, we begin an exciting time of the year – Advent.

The ancient Advent prayer-hymn, (above), is about living in hope. Hope as we know is one of our school values. Hope is a sturdy virtue because it must put up with waiting, postponement and doubts that arise when it seems that what we hope for will not eventuate.

Being a Christian is about believing and hoping in God and this firstly requires that we seek Him. Seeking God requires that we don’t expect all the answers about God at once; it’s a lifetime’s quest; being a Christian is about the whole of life. As we experience annual observations such as Christmas, Easter and Advent, we might regard each of them as a door to be opened; as we step through each doorway there is the opportunity for a new sense of direction for our life.

Life is almost a constant Advent Season; we are constantly waiting to become…, to discover…, to complete…., to fulfil. However, Advent is also an invitation to remember, to see again the presence of God among us, God who is here from the beginning.

“Jesus is the single human being who puts together in one life all the ‘God-light’ scattered over thousands of years from Abraham to Moses to David to Isaiah to John the Baptist to Mary and Joseph, to us here and now.” Author Unknown.

When we look at the big screen, we find that Jesus is not just a special baby but the One who brings together all the promises, all the hopes, all the visions, all the miracles, all the dreams of all the people of God. Jesus is our promise, our hope, our vision, our miracle, our dream, because Christmas is our story, and Advent is our time to remember our collective past and look forward in hope to our future.

We all need periods of waiting in our lives for during such times we mature. We could be likened to grapes that spend time in vats and barrels, just waiting, but eventually maturing to become “full-bodied and rich with long, silky tannins”. We need times of waiting to savour the joy of fulfilment.

Sometimes we wait in darkness, when life is not so good, before we can appreciate the coming of dawn. Expectant mothers wait nine months before they can see the faces of their new children. Seeds are buried in the darkness of the earth before they can emerge into the light of day as new shoots. Ideas need to mature in minds before they can emerge as realities. So, Advent, the Season of waiting in hopeful expectation, fits in very well with our own life’s experiences of waiting, hoping and then enjoying the rewards of our hope and trust.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of God who became a child. It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open the doors of hope.”

As we wait and listen in faith, we trust that memory and hope will come alive. Hopefully, when Advent has led us to Christmas, we will be open to the realisation that God became man, not so that He can be with us but so we can be with Him.

With this all-in mind - it has been a really busy term at Emmaus and especially the last few weeks with swimming, transitions, annual budgets and concerts. We know everyone is tired, staff are tired, parents are tired and the children are tired, but we have made it. The children have been sensational this year and Mrs Hackner and I have been so impressed and proud of the work some of our children have produced. There is nothing better than to see our students grow academically, emotionally and socially. Please take the time to recover over the Christmas break and rest up. Take that extra time to be with family and to enjoy your family.

Wishing all our families a very Safe and Holy Christmas.

Take care and stay safe.

The Emmaus school community extends heartfelt congratulations to the Year 6 students as they graduate from our school and prepare to embark on the exciting journey of secondary schooling.

This cohort holds a special place in the history of our school as our very first group of graduates - a milestone that will always be remembered and celebrated. It has been a privilege to watch these remarkable students grow and flourish, developing into respectful, dependable and hard-working young individuals who embody the values of our school community. As they move forward, we wish each of them God's abundant blessings in the future and may they continue to inspire and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead with courage and faith.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

Liam

Bismanjeet

Devanshdeep

Gabriel

Jasleen

Ivory May

Caleb

Gabriel

Enzo

We would like to wish Mrs Waddington all the best and God’s blessings for the future.

Mrs Waddington has been with us at Emmaus for only 1 year and has made a huge impact on our community and especially the children. Mrs Waddington leaves us for family reasons, and we will miss her so much. Good luck and God bless, Mel! We hope to see you again in the near future.

To all those families who leave us this year, especially our Year 6 families, we wish you ALL, a safe and blessed journey into your next stages along your journeys. Thank you for your support and time given to Emmaus CPS.

God bless you all.

Our school community came together for the much-loved Christmas Concert which was held last Thursday 28 November. The evening was warmly opened with a Thanksgiving Liturgy, followed by every class performing both traditional and Funky Christmas songs. Thank you to Father Bona, Mrs Leith and the incredible staff for being part of the planning and coordination of a wonderful evening of connection and celebration.

Please see below our 2025 staff. We welcome our new staff, (bolded below), to Emmaus CPS and wish them an exciting and rewarding time with us.

STAFFING 2025

• Mrs Annmarie Baltov – 3K

• Mrs Rita Panebianco – 4K Green

• Miss Olivia Edwards – 4K Blue

• Miss Chantelle Comiskey – PP Green

• Miss Emily Ferraro – PP Blue

• Miss Teagan Thresher & Miss Olivia Edwards - Year 1

• Miss Alessia Fraser – Year 2

• Ms Catherine Maybury – Year 3

• Mr David Caddy & Mrs Katherine Turner - Year 4

• Mrs Deanna Perrella - Year 5

• Miss Kate Cameron & Mrs Katherine Turner - Year 6

SUPPORT:

• Mrs Angela Seal

• Ms Debbie McKrill

SPECIALIST AREAS:

• Physical Education – Mrs Rebecca Bol

• Art – Mrs Catriona Davies

• Music – Mrs Liz Leith

• Italian – Mrs Mim Ellis

• Science – Mrs Stephanie Freeman

IT SUPPORT:

• Mr Stephen Duncan

TEACHER ASSISTANTS:

• Ms Julie Glasson

• Mrs Karen Gallagher

• Mrs Carol Armstrong

• Mrs Leonie Cornish

• Ms Karen Fanderlinden

• Ms Sue Cousins

• Mrs Monique Mooney

• Mrs Danielle Barth

• Mrs Melina Dichiera

• Mrs Emma Pavlenko

• Mrs Kylie Lycho

• Ms Simone Jones

• Mrs Michelina Kazazis

ADMINISTRATION:

• Miss Rachael Langdon

• Mrs Rocio Albanese (Finance Officer)

GROUNDS:

• Mr Derek Gair

LEADERSHIP TEAM:

• Mrs Loretta Hackner

• Mrs Emma Fernandez

• Mr Sandro Coniglio

Once again our Emmaus students have delighted the Swan Valley Memory Cafe friends with a morning full of Christmas entertainment and treats. Kindy to Year 6 performed enthusiastically for our guests which was followed by a scrumptious morning tea. Emmaus CPS is honoured to be working with those living with Dementia and look forward to this partnership in 2025.

Next year we are excited to be revamping and upgrading our new look website.

We have been working with an outside consultant in this area and are just about at completion stage.

We will have more information on this for you early next year and also inform you when we will launch the new look website.

As per mid-year, all student reports (Kindy to Year 6) are issued to parent digitally via SEQTAEngage. By now all parents should have set up their SEQTAEngage account to view reports (and where relevant, Individual Education Plans). It is recommended that parents upload and save each report or print for safe-keeping.

The school administration office will re-open on Wednesday 22 January 2025.

All staff will return to school on Monday 3 February. Students will return for the first day of school for 2025 on Wednesday 5 February. 3-Year-Old Kindy will commence on Thursday 6 February.

Term Dates 2025

Term 1 - Wednesday 5 February (Monday 3 February for staff) to Friday 11 April.

Pupil Free Day - Monday 24 March.

Please see attached below the Parents to Supply Lists for each year group for 2025. A hard copy has been sent home previously with our students as well.

Items on these lists are the only items parents are required to purchase. Normal booklist items are purchased by the school for all students, that way, we are able to purchase the items in bulk at a discounted price and parents are then charged the cost of these items on the fee accounts which will be emailed to families in mid-February 2025.

Please also see attached below the 2025 Fee Schedule. Any families on non-fundable visas should contact Administration for the appropriate fee schedule.

Our uniform supplier, JFE will be closing on Tuesday 17 December 2024 at 11:30 am for their Christmas holiday break and reopening on Tuesday 7 January 2025 at 7:00 am.

JFE will have extended opening hours as per below (January only):

• Tuesday 7 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Wednesday 8 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Thursday 9 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Friday 10 January 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Saturday 11 January 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
• Monday 13 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Tuesday 14 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Wednesday 15 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Thursday 16 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Friday 17 January 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Saturday 18 January 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
• Monday 20 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Tuesday 21 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Wednesday 22 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Thursday 23 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Friday 24 January 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Monday 27 January - Closed - Public Holiday
• Tuesday 28 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Wednesday 29 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Thursday 30 January 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Friday 31 January 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Saturday 1 February 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

Normal JFE trading hours resume from Monday 3 February.

Monday - Thursday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Friday 8:00 am - 2:00 pm

Please see below the Uniform list of Requirements.

Pre-Kindergarten (3K) families - please note that your child’s Orientation is on Monday 3 February 2025.

WE NEED YOU! Our amazing P&F are looking for additional nominations for 2025. Please see the P&F Update Flyer below for more information. Without volunteers, the fun community building events that your children love, such as school disco, colour run and beginning of year foam party will not be possible. Please do think about putting your name forward to assist.

The following events are being held at the Dayton Community Hub across the road from the school:

1. Free Adult Hearing Tests - Tuesday 14 January 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Lions Hearing Bus at the Dayton Family Hub.

For more information or to register contact ro.hetaraka@swan.wa.gov.au

2. Stay & Create - Free Fun & creative session, build new friendships in a supportive & engaging environment. Ages 8 - 12 years. Tuesday 21 January from 10:00 am - 11:30 am.

Bookings essential: ro.hetaraka@swan.wa.gov.au

3. Free Sustainable Scarecrow Craft Session - Thursday 23 January from 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Join REMIDA and City of Swan for a free session where children apply their creativity in making a scarecrow for the garden or outdoor space. Ages 5 years plus.

Bookings essential: ro.hetaraka@swan.wa.gov.au

4. Free Acrylic Creations Workshop - Tuesday 28 January

10:00 - 11:00 am (6 - 8 years), 12 noon - 2:00 pm (9 - 12 years)

Free acrylic painting workshop with Antisha, a local artist. Parents are required to stay on premises for this workshop.

To register email ro.hetaraka@swan.wa.gov.au

5. Free Community BBQ & Salads Session - Saturday 1 February 10:30 am - 12 noon.

For more information or to register contact ro.hetaraka@swan.wa.gov.au

Wishing you all a joyous Christmas with your family and friends and all the very best for a wonderful 2025!

Enjoy the holidays and stay safe.

God bless!

Sandro Coniglio

Principal