NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
17 March 2022
Dear Parents and Staff
We are now coming to the end of the Second Week of Lent. The three pillars of Lent are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving and it is the second of these that I’d like to focus upon today. As Catholics we tend to grow up thinking that Lent is a time for giving up things such as our favourite foods and treats. In his Lenten address in 2017, Pope Francis put this into a much more positive light of not so much denying ourselves of things but rather doing things for the benefit of others. His words still ring true today.
Fast from hurting words and say kind words
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude
Fast from anger and be filled with patience
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope
Fast from worries and trust in God
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity
Fast from pressures and be prayerful
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others
Fast from grudges and be reconciled
Fast from words and be silent—so you can listen.
A recent West Australian newspaper article that caught my attention truly represents Francis’ call to treat others with dignity and respect.
If this isn’t compassion in action, I don’t know what is!
COVID UPDATE
To date we have had 28 positive cases of Covid – 19 in our school with 12 of these still active. Thank you to all of the parents who have navigated this difficult space with their children and kept us fully informed of their progress. Please ensure that children from Year 3 upwards wear a surgical quality mask both inside and outside for 7 days after returning from a positive PCR or RAT result.
On Tuesday families were sent an email containing a link to upload information regarding positive Covid and close contact details. This has now been added to our school website to assist with access.
https://cewa-collections.powerappsportals.com/COVID-19-Self-Reporting-Form/
If parents upload this information, there is no need to report to the school via phone or email. However, it is important to advise the Health Department as well as the school.
Parents, Kelly Bateman and Tanya McAullay have sent me the following links which parents may find to be useful.
https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/covid-19-information-parents
SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
Congratulations to our Year 3M children and those from Years 4 to 6 who made their First Reconciliation yesterday. I was so impressed by the reverence and respect that the children showed and their obvious understanding of the importance of receiving this Sacrament. I look forward to the children from the Year 3P class meeting with Fr Quynh next Wednesday to continue this aspect of their Spiritual journey.
FACTION SWIMMING
I was only able to attend the Carnival for an hour or so last Monday, but it was obvious that all of the children were having a great day and giving their best to support their faction. We were very fortunate to be able to hold the Carnival and I thank Brett Webb and the staff for all of their efforts in ensuring its success.
DADS’ & KIDS’ CAMPOUT
This great family event was due to be held tomorrow evening but due to the current regulations has had to be postponed. That doesn’t mean that families can’t join in the fun, though. Why not set up a tent in your back yard or on your patio and roast up a few marshmallows. The dads and mums could even enjoy a beverage if they wished!
NOTRE DAME PRIMARY SCHOOL FACEBOOK
MASS AT HOME LINK
PARISH NEWS
PARISH NEWS
Bible Studies
Each Tuesday evening commencing at 6.00pm in the Parish Centre.
Stations of the Cross
Every Friday evening commencing at 6.00pm 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
Australian Catholics Magazine – Autumn Edition
Articles in this edition of the Magazine include:
· Investigating the Bible
· A guide to combatting inequality
· The joy of the Gospel
· ‘Jesus: Holy Man or Sacred Sham ?’
· The Bible in art
Dr George Sekulla JP
Chairman
Notre Dame Parish Council
YEAR 2 CLASS NEWS
Welcome to Week Seven! Wow, what a term it has been, so far, for the terrific Year Twos.
We have been super busy learning about how we are all unique in our own special ways, and how to inquire about various topics that may interest us.
In writing we have learnt how to use question marks and how to apply some important words to help us to write inquiry-based questions. These words are who, what, where, when, why and how. We are very excited to be planning and writing our own autobiographies using lots of interesting information about ourselves. We are sure our parents will be impressed when we finish these.
In mathematics we have been developing our skills and understanding of three-digit numbers and place value. It has been fun using the MAB blocks to build three-digit numbers and identify the hundred, tens and ones in each of them. We have become very clever at completing the expanded notation and addition sentence for these three digit numbers. We are also learning how to count on by tens to solve larger addition sums.
In religion we have been learning that Lent is a time for people to remember stories about Jesus in preparation for the celebration of Easter. We have explored some bible stories in class about Jesus, and we discovered that he performed many miracles, such as healing a blind man and feeding the five thousand. We have learnt that during Easter people celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead and by his birth, life and resurrection, he brings new life. On Ash Wednesday, we attended a class Liturgy to celebrate this special day and we wrote Lenten Promises. We are looking forward to making some special Easter cards and gifts for our families in the next few weeks.
In HASS we have been learning about what a community is. We discussed places a community would need such as; shops, schools, houses and doctor surgeries. We have been thoroughly enjoying creating our own communities, using the Minecraft App, during our MakerSpace lessons.
We are clever artists in Year Two. During Art, we have drawn colourful self-portraits. Our portraits were put together using many visual art elements. The main focus of these portraits has been to ensure we create a portrait that looks like ourselves using fine line techniques to create our various features. We think they look like us, amazing!
Wow, we cannot believe we are in Week 7 already. We were so excited to find out what Kindy had to offer us; new friends, new routines, and many others we hadn’t thought of.
The first few weeks in Kindy we have been focusing on:
We are looking forward to starting our Easter Activities and making presents for our families.
We can’t wait to meet more friends and get used to our classroom routine.
Our teachers are eager to watch us bloom and grow and continue our journey together through this year.
Keep safe and be kind
Mrs Millard and Miss J
UNIFORM SHOP
CANTEEN
P&F NEWS
Easter Raffle
The P&F will be running the Easter raffle this year. The flyer and raffle tickets will be sent home in the week beginning 21 March and will need to be returned with the tickets (name, year level on each ticket) and money by Monday 4 April.
Footy Tipping
Danielle Lawrie has kindly offered to run the footy tipping competition again. Please see the flyer included in the newsletter today.
ySafe Cyber Safety Hub and Parent TV
Don’t forget that the P&F has funded memberships for the whole school community to the ySafe Cyber Safety Hub and Parent TV.
To access the hub, please use this link: https://nds.cybersafetyhub.com.au. You will get access to cyber safety guidelines, tips on how to set up parental controls, reviews of all the latest games and apps, plus much more.
To access Parent TV, go to www.parenttv.com/membership and enter our school's code “notredame.” You can set up a profile for yourself and your children and you will get emails with content relevant to their ages. Parent TV have pulled together a team of trusted parenting experts in the areas of health, technology, behaviour and everything in between and created a range of easy to access 2-5 minute videos answering just about every parenting question under the sun.
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:
- March: Thursday 24 March @ 1.00pm
- April: Thursday 7 April @ 7:30pm
- May: Thursday 5 May @ 10.00 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.
Nicole Beresford
COMMUNITY NEWS
NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
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