Newsletter - 2024 Term 2 Week 8

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From the Leaders

In this Sunday’s Gospel from Mark we hear of Jesus and his disciples being caught in a boat during a storm. The disciples wake him in terror. Jesus answers, “Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” The central truth of the passage is that Jesus is God. He has power over the wind and the waves and He is in fact God in flesh. Because Jesus is God we can trust Him and choose to live in faith in Him rather than fear, regardless of situations in our lives.

Biggest Morning Tea - Thank you Thank You Thank You

Thanks to Aunty Michelle and her band of volunteers who organised and led the Biggest Morning Tea. Congratulations to all who generously donated baked goods and those who joined us on the day to support the Morning Tea.

We are particularly grateful to Ali and Dean Trumper for their generous donation of lamingtons from The Bread Basket, towards this fabulous cause.

Well done also to Charlotte Hartmann who took the initiative to raise awareness for brain cancer in remembrance of her grandfather who suffered this disease - her stall alone raised over $100.

Together, we raised $2,310 to donate to the Cancer Council.

Sister Marjorie and Wayne Visit

On Monday morning, Sr Marjorie and Wayne came to talk with Year 2. In their Religious Education unit they have been learning about The Good Samaritan. Through this visit, they found out more about how Sr Marjorie’s Soup Kitchen supports people in our community in a similar way to the Good Samaritan helping the injured Jewish man.

Wayne and Sr Marjorie were impressed with the great questions and wonderful respect of our Year 2 people. Year 2 have been bringing in items to donate to those in need in our local community.

Year 5 Camp

Year 5 returned yesterday tired but grateful. We are incredibly proud of the way each of our students engaged in their ‘Leadership in Faith’ retreat. Right from the start students were excited and appreciative of the simple things, this included their cabins and cabin allocations, the food which was amazing, the prizes for participation and commitment to tasks, and demonstrating qualities expected of leaders.

Thank you to Joady and her team from the Francis Retreat Centre, they could not have been more helpful and the students and staff are all still ‘raving’ about the food. Zac Parnell, Leader of Youth Ministry in the parish, inspired the students in the importance of stepping up and stepping back in leadership situations, as well as the relevance of teamwork and taking our time to work together.  We are grateful to Father Prodencio, who encouraged us to continue to make St Agnes’ Primary an inclusive and safe place for all as they prepare to be leaders next year. 

Thanks also goes to the amazing Year 5 staff who prepared the activities and coordinated the experience, not to mention leaving their own families and lives to spend quality time with our students. 

The overwhelming response from the students was that this experience was valuable and successful.

On reflection, Year 5 students expressed their love of the venue, the different activities and the time spent in bonding, prayer and reflection on their attributes and challenges as 'Leaders in Faith'.

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Kinder Prayer

Thank you to Kinder Hope for their beautiful prayer shared with our school on Wednesday this week explaining about ways we should be kind to follow Jesus’ example.

Staff Professional Learning Day - Friday 5 July and Monday 22 July

Supervision will be available at school on these days for any families that are not able to organise alternative arrangements. Children should be in their uniform and will need to bring lunch, fruit, hat and a water bottle. Lunch orders are available, the canteen will be operating as normal on this day. Please use the link below to register your child.

To book your child’s place please log on to www.schoolinterviews.com.au. The unique code to logon is bebuw

Kinder Science

A4 Art Prize

AND THE WINNER OF THE A4 ART PRIZE 2024 IS......

On Monday evening, St Agnes' Education and the Creative Arts Nest team hosted a vibrant celebration of art at MacKillop Senior College, uniting students, teachers and sponsors in a festival of creativity, colour, connection and collaboration. 

A heartfelt congratulations to all our St Agnes' participants, finalists, and the highly commended recipients. Your talent and hard work have truly shone through. And to our winners—what an incredible achievement! You have inspired us all with your creativity and passion. 

Kindergarten
Winner – Edward Morris ‘Playing at the Beach’
Highly Commended – Ande Singh ‘Narwhal Magic’

Year 3
Highly Commended – Asha Galbraith-Robertson ‘My Best Buddy’
Highly Commended – Theodore Healey ‘Volcanoes’

Year 5
Winner - Kitt Quirk ‘Asaro’

Year 6
Highly Commended – Joseph O’Brien ‘Birds on a Wire’

Packing Room Prize
Winner Primary  – Lucy Davis ‘Australian resilience’ 

Community Choice Award 
Winner – 846 votes (online + Artwalk) Taya McMahon ‘Heaven’

Sports News

NSW Netball School Cup Gala Day

On Tuesday, nine teams from St Agnes' competed at the NSW Netball Gala Day. This was their first time participating in such an event for many students. Feedback from the courts suggests that we have significant talent in Years 5 and 6. The day featured both competitive and non-competitive leagues, and although some new players took a while to grasp the rules, their skills improved as the day went on.

Our two Year 5 teams performed admirably in the competitive draw, winning some games and losing others, a commendable effort given that some boys had never played before. The senior girls excelled in their competition, remaining undefeated through the pool games. In the final, they put up a strong fight but narrowly lost to an all-boys team from St Columba.

Thank you to Renee Shaw from our school office for her efforts in registering players and supporting our students throughout the day. We also appreciate the support from Mrs Alchin, Mrs Brazel, Mr Brazel, and Mrs McEntyre. A special thank you goes to our Parish high school students who volunteered their time to umpire games and coach our players.

New School Representative Jerseys - Expression of Interest

St Agnes' is excited to announce a new initiative to purchase updated sports jerseys for our representative teams. Our families, School Community Forum, and staff have all expressed a strong desire for new playing gear that not only highlights the dedication and skills of our athletes but also proudly represents St Agnes' Primary School at sporting events.

The School Community Forum have already kindly offered to contribute some payment, but we are also reaching out to businesses within our school community to gather interest in sponsorship as well. By partnering with us, your business can help us achieve our goal of providing top-quality sportswear for our students. This partnership would include funding the purchase of the jerseys, featuring your business logo on the jerseys, and collaborating on their design.

The sports kits in need of updating include jerseys for rugby union/rugby league, soccer shirts for both boys and girls and singlets for netball, basketball, touch football, and cross country/athletics.

If your business is interested in sponsoring a set of jerseys or if you would like more information, please contact Renee Shaw at the school office on 6583 7433 or at renee.shaw@lism.catholic.edu.au . Your support will make a significant difference in enhancing our athletes' experience and showcasing our school spirit.

School Athletics Carnival 

Thank you to all the students, families, and staff for making our school athletics carnival a success. The full Aggies spirit was on display, and it is so encouraging to see our students get behind each other and support their friends during events. A full write-up of the events will be featured in next week's newsletter.

Thank you to Aunty Michelle for organising Australia's Biggest Morning and to all our bakers who whipped up the culinary delights. 

Future Dates

Term 3

• Wednesday 24 July - Zone Athletics at St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie
• Friday 16 August - Diocesan Athletics Carnival - Coffs Harbour
• Thursday 5 September - NSW Touch Football Gala Day - Tuffins Lane
• Wednesday 11 September  - NSW Netball Schools Cup Years 3 and 4
• Thursday 12 September - Paul Wilson Cup and Diocesan Netball Cup - Laurieton

Positive Behaviour Support

This week we have continued with our PBS focus on being Respectful. Our whole school expectation is that all students learn to be respectful to their peers at school by making sure that everyone feels included and can join in play.

Recently we have had many new families move to our beautiful town and join our school. At St Agnes' we want to make sure that everyone feels included and can join in play. This is important, because even though some students are new, we always have the opportunity to grow new relationships with current students too. During the past two weeks our students have learnt about being respectful, what positive relationships are and how we can make sure everyone in our school feels accepted and a sense that they belong, just for being who they are! 

The video below has been viewed by all grades over the last two weeks. It supports our students by helping them learn the social skill of being respectful, including others and self reflection. This leads to helping us all with our wellbeing within our school community and a sense of belonging. 

Catholic Social Teaching: The Common Good

The common good is reached when we work together to improve the wellbeing of people in our society and the wider world.

Family Sites: 

This is a great site for parents to explore many aspects of feelings and self awareness development in children.

https://www.pbs.org/parents/learn-grow/all-ages/emotions-self-awareness

https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/learning-toolkit-blog/5-tips-helping-children-develop-friendships.html 

St Agnes' Primary School Community Forum

To get in touch, please contact pandfstagnes@gmail.com

Canteen News

Parish News

Community News