2024 Newsletter Term 2 Week 3

OUR NEW ONLINE NEWSLETTER

Welcome to our first online Newsletter.  We the hope you enjoy the new format.

Please bear with us as we navigate the new program.  We will work on the calendar to be ready for next week.  In the meantime, please refer to the copy sent home in Week 1.

R.E. Matters - Walking In The Light Of Christ.

MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS - Patron Saint of Australia

Mary has a unique and privileged place in the Church because she responded ‘Yes’ to becoming the Mother of God. Mary is our first model of discipleship and our model of grace and trust in God.

The Feast day of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated on 24th May each year. Catholics have always had strong devotion to Mary.  

It is recorded that when there were no priests in colonial Australia, Catholics prayed  to Mary to nurture their faith.  One of the first priests, Father Therry, dedicated the Australian Church to Mary under the title “Help of Christians”.  

  On the 24th May 1844 ‘Mary, Help of Christians’ became a special patron of our country under this title.  

Australia was the first nation to have ‘Mary, Help of Christian’s as its patroness and to observe the feast on a national scale.  

FEAST OF PENTECOST - Sunday 5th June, 2024

On Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. PENTECOST is the annual Christian festival commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his ascension from earth to Heaven on Ascension Day. 

It always falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter. Pentecost means "fiftieth day", as it is celebrated on Pentecost Sunday, the 50th day of  the Easter season. It is considered to be the birthday of the Christian church.

Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful 
and kindle in them the fire of your love

YEAR 6 CHRISTIAN LIVING CAMP

“So great is the strength we possess in our unity”. (Mary MacKillop 1874)

Last week our Year Six students had a fun time at their Christian Living Camp held at Lake Burrendong. These school leaders were a pleasure to spend time with as they reflected on ‘Living an Authentic Christian Life’ now and in their future as well as the fun involved with the outdoor activities. The whole group from All Hallows, St John’s, Sacred Heart, St Michael’s and Assumption combined beautifully throughout the three days and impressed all the adults involved. Their good manners, positive effort in activities and sense of fun, were all commented on by the staff, Chris Doyle, and their teachers. 

Special ‘THANKS’ to Mrs Stubbs and Miss Mulligan who drove Yr 6 to Lake Burrendong and to Mr Toole for bringing us home on Friday. 

SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

The school Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 4th June ( Wk 6)

Students from Yr 2 – Yr 6 will attend the carnival all day and participate in track and field events. Kinder and Year Students will come to the oval after recess and participate in ballgames, running and field events.

We are in need of parents to help with field events, timekeeping and judging and would be very grateful if you could help.

We have been training and are looking forward to this event. Come and cheer on our budding Olympians next Tuesday. 

DIOCESAN CROSS COUNTRY

Last week 30 students competed at the Diocesan Cross Country in Coolah. On a tough track against solid opposition our students performed strongly.

Special congratulations to Brycen and Braxton who came 2nd and 3rd respectively and will now represent the Diocese at the Polding Championships in Sydney later this term.

RUGBY GALA DAY

Thanks to everyone who came along to support our students last Wednesday. Everyone had a great day and we played really well considering it was our first time for most of us.  

SNOW GLOVES FOR YEAR 5&6

Later in the term our Year 5 & 6 classes will be going on their excursion to Canberra. All students in Yr 5/6 will need to have their own waterproof gloves for this trip. As we head for winter, it would be a good idea to make sure your child has a pair of waterproof gloves and if needed buy a pair while they are on sale.

LITTLE BLESSINGS PLAYGROUP

This Thursday from 9.30am -11.30am we will be holding ‘Little Blessings Playgroup’.

We had a great time at our first playgroup last week. We are encouraging anyone with small children to come along and join in the fun. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday. 

GULGONG EISTEDDFOD

This Friday we have students attending various sections of the Gulgong Eisteddfod.

The program starts at 10am at Memorial Hall. There is a $5 charge for adults to attend. 

Order of events:

10.00am start 

Kinder Group (5 in Section)

Year 1/2 Group (2 in Section)

Year 3 and Year 4 (6 in Section)

Year 5 (3 in Section)

Year 6 (1 in Section)

TEDDY BEARS PICNIC

Our annual ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ will be held Tuesday 28th May (Week 5).

Gulgong Pre-School and Happy Days will bring their students to the school at 10.00am to join with our Kinder students. Their staff will be accompanying the students like a normal excursion. Mrs Menchin, Mrs Leotta and Kinder will organise games, stories and activities for the students during their time at All Hallows.

Anyone with Preschool aged children are invited to attend. We ask you to sign in at the office when you arrive.

KINDER 2025 ENROLMENTS

UNIFORM TRANSITION

All students should be in Winter Uniform by now. Our uniform shop also has school beanies for sale. Students are able to wear these on cold days. We ask that they pack their school hat in their bags on these days as well if the sun comes out later in the day.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY

Once again our school is conducting surveys to gather your knowledge, beliefs and experiences regarding our school.  This survey is part of a suite of annual surveys we are conducting with staff, parents and students. We are collecting this data to capture the experience of all key stakeholders in our school. The results and analysis of the data will assist our school leaders to drive school improvement. 

You should have received an email from the Catholic Education Office Bathurst with a direct link to the survey. It is important that we have your current email address in our school administration system. 

Your participation in this questionnaire is voluntary and confidential. All analysis of data will be done in such a way that your identity will remain anonymous. We would greatly value your participation and input.

**Please note that the cut off date for these surveys is this Friday.

P&F MEETING AND PIE DRIVE

The P&F are holding a family sized pie drive.

Please return all order forms and money to the office by Friday 17th May.

Pies will be delivered to school on Thursday 2nd of June.

GARDEN CLUB NEWS

This week we planted out our brassica seedlings - these included broccoli and cabbage.We were able to plant even more potatoes thanks to Mrs Buckle and Mr Holland for our extra potato beds.
We also planted out some onions from stage 1s science experiment!We are looking forward to watching these grow!

Happy gardening, Ms Norris and Mrs Watts

SCHOOL FEE - 2ND INSTALMENT

School fee statements were emailed to parents last Friday.  Thank you to everyone who is up todate with their payments.

The 2nd instalment is due now. 

If you are paying by direct debit, please ignore the 'overdue' amount as your payments will continue to clear fees by the end of the year. 

If you are experiencing financial difficulty, please reach out to us asap to discuss suitable payment plans and/or fee relief options.  If you have a Health Care Card or Pension Concession Card you may be entitled to a discount on your fees.  Please see the school office for more information.  

MERITS - Week 2 Term 2

Kindergarten - Sophie J, Tom L

Year 1 - Maisey S, Airlie K, Albert T, Bligh S, Oscar N

Year 2 - 

Year 3 - Brycen B, Reid C

Year 4 - Oliver K, Anna T

Year 5 - Ethan D, Dakota W, Logan T

Year 6 - Logan J, William B, Henry B

HALOS - Willow, Tayla, Charlotte A, Sophie, Arabella, Charlie, Albert, Maddie, Oscar, Emma