Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy Book Week!

Today has been a fabulous day to celebrate books. We had a wonderful dress-up day parade this morning and some great activities throughout the day about the shortlisted books. We’ll share some photos with you next week.

Mrs Anderson, our Teacher-Librarian, reads most of the year’s shortlisted books to the students in the lead up to Book Week. She likes to see which they prefer compared to the winners selected by the judges from the Children’s Book Council.

Some of the 2019 winners were:

You may like to ask your child about their favourite shortlisted book and the activities they completed today based on the shortlisted books. It would be interesting to see what they believe makes a book a winning book!

Thank you for your ongoing care and partnership in your child’s learning.

God bless.

Rachel Smith
Principal

Future of ACT Catholic School Soccer and Netball Carnivals
Regretfully, this year is the final year for the ACT Catholic School Soccer and Netball Carnivals.

This decision was carefully considered and was made unanimously at the recent ACT Catholic Primary Principal’s Meeting.

Although these are great community days and have been going for many years, the huge workload on staff, increasing costs, complexity of indemnity and insurance and a lack of volunteers to assist has necessitated the decision to no longer host these events.

Schools are rostered on to coordinate, run and volunteer these events and are run, entirely, by the host school, irrespective of the school size. Parents volunteer on the day and staff work all weekend on these events. In the past few years, some executive staff have worked nearly fulltime in the lead-up to pull off these carnivals, along with many staff who commit their time to support the planning and preparation, all of which is impacting on the teaching and learning agenda of the host school. 

ACT Principals acknowledge that there may be some parents and students disappointed by this decision, however, we have agreed that the future of hosting and leading an event such as this is untenable.

This year, Holy Rosary Watson will host the final ACT Catholic School’s Netball Carnival.

ACT Primary Principals

Qkr!
Just a reminder that the school has now begun using Qkr! Qkr!™ (pronounced 'quicker') is a mobile payments platform that enables consumers to order and pay for goods & services directly from their smart device. Qkr! accepts all major credit and debit cards and consumers can register more than one card. Qkr! will enable you to order and pay for school items (lunches, trips, pictures, uniforms, extra-curricular activities, etc.) for your children directly from your phone or computer. Thank you to those parents and carers who have begun to use Qkr!

School Fees
Thank you to those families who have paid their school fees. Just a gentle reminder that school fees are now due and payable at the Front Office. Please speak to Mrs McRae, in the Front Office, if you are interested in setting up direct debit or if you are not sure of the amount to debit.

Leaving St Benedict’s
If you anticipate that your child will leave St Benedict’s at the end of this year, could you please notify the Front Office. We need to begin planning for staffing and class configurations for 2020. Thank you to those who have let us know already, this is very much appreciated. Naturally Year 6 parents need not respond to this request.

Lunchtime Clubs
During the colder weather our students have some great opportunities to pursue personal interests and hobbies through the lunchtime clubs this term, generously organised and supervised during lunch by staff and/or student leaders.  This term they include:

Confirmation Parish Preparation

Last Saturday many of our Year 5/6 students and their families enjoyed an afternoon of formation at our Confirmation Retreat. We thank families for their enthusiastic participation.

A reminder that there will be two Confirmation practices in the church during school hours. It is crucial that all Confirmation candidates are present for both of these practices (parents are not expected to attend). As the practices are first thing in the morning, we also ask that families are mindful of arriving to school on time.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Confirmation Practice 1
Wednesday 11^th September 9-10.30am

Confirmation Practice 2
Wednesday 18^th September 9-11am

Class Parish Mass

Thank you to all the families from a number of classes who assisted at the parish Mass on Sunday. It was wonderful to see the children lead the welcome, readings, offertory and sing in the choir.

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Thank you to Year 3/4 for leading our school community in celebrating the

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It was a wonderful opportunity for our community to reflect on the motherly qualities 

of Mary as the mother of Jesus and how we know and experience her ever guiding presence.  Thank you also to our school choir for creating a vibrant energy for all to participate in.

Father’s Day Mass
Kindergarten will be leading our school community in a special Father’s Day Mass 6^th September. In preparation for this Mass, families are invited to share photographs of their fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, uncles or any father figures, to be shown in a PowerPoint reflection. Please email all photos to Fran Tomadini: franca.tomadini@cg.catholic.edu.au

Community Meals Program

The Community Meals freezer is one way we can assist families who are experiencing hardship. If you are able to cook a meal, please use disposable containers and label with ingredients and date. All meal donations can be brought to the Front Office. If your family requires temporary meal assistance, you can speak in confidence to any of our staff members.

30 Aug Fathers’ Day Stall
1 Sep Fathers’ Day
3 Sep Parents & Friends Meeting, 6.30pm
4 Sep Indigenous Literacy day
6 Sep Kindergarten’s Fathers’ Day Mass, 10am
10 Sep School Board Meeting
15 Sep Year 5/6 Family Mass, 9am
17 Sep Catholic Schools’ Week Begins
19 Sep Learning Showcase, 2pm
19 Sep Year 3/4 Mountain View visit
20 Sep Colour Run
22 Sep Sacrament of Confirmation, Mass, 9.00am
25 Sep School Performance, 6pm
26 Sep Mindfulness Day
27 Sep Last day of Term 3
27 Sep 5 Ways of Being Award Ceremony, 2.30pm

The following note has gone home this week and will be sent home via Schoolzine App:

• Fathers' Day Stall
• Junior Primary Sports Days

Junior Primary Sports Days
Due to Orienteering beginning on Thursday 22nd August, all students in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 will be required to wear their sports uniform on Mondays and Thursdays for the remainder of Term 3.

Commonwealth School Banking News 

School Banking is processed on Wednesday of each week.  Please ensure your child's deposit book and money are at school by Wednesday morning in order to be processed.  Bank books will be returned via the note bags on Wednesday afternoons. 

Thank you to all the students (and parents) for your support with School Banking.

School Fees
Thank you to all the families that have paid their school fees so far.

Please remember if you have not received your school fees yet, please contact Belinda at the front office.

Term 3 School Fees where due last week and the reminders went home yesterday.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Belinda in the Front Office.

Qkr!
A quick and easy way to now pay for items such as school fees and canteen lunch orders is available through the Qkr! app.  As excursions and P&F events have final costs available these activities will also be added to Qkr!.  Please see below how to upload and use Qkr!.  There are a number of 'St Benedict's' using Qkr! so in the search bar type Tallara and our St Benedict's Primary School with logo will pop up.

Canberra Quilters Show

Congratulations to Jack in 1/2 Blue who recently entered two quilts in the Canbera Quilters Annual Quilt Show.  Jack was awarded the Allan Armistead Junior Encouragement Award for his quilt titled 'Triangles' and this was his first ever quilt.  Jack's favourite quilt was titled 'Shape Pattern' which he also entered in the show.  He's already planning his next quilt which will be space themed.

Archery ACT Short Course

Hamish M from year 5, competed in the Archery ACT Short Course Championships on the 3^rd of August.  Hamish won a gold medal in the ‘cub’ male compound division.  The short course championships require archers in the club divisions to shoot across three distances: 40 metres, 30 metres and 20 metres.  It was Hamish’s first competition and he is keen to further develop his bow skills across the range of Archery events run in the Canberra region.

Crazy Hair and Sock Day

What a fun day that was had by all, as you can see from the photo's below.  Well done to all as we raised $200 towards new IT equipment.

BOOK WEEK
On Wednesday 21st August students and staff celebrated book week, commencing with a parade and then fun activities, relating to the short listed books. This years theme was "Reading is my Superpower".  Mrs Anderson organised a staff performance highlighting each of their superpowers, much to the children's delight.

Finn M dressed up as Harry Potter and he likes Harry as "he helps people".  About the the parade, Finn said  "it was fun and good".

Claudia K  dressed up as a Princess and said, "The parade was very fun. I was a bit nervous on the stage.  The activities were so good, I made paper glasses and did some chalk drawing outside".

Happy Birthday to the children who celebrate their special day  this week: Clancy B and Shyla M.

Kindergarten:  Nyx H, Noah W

Year 1/2B:      Alexander H, Nathan W

Year 1/2G:       Saanvi G, Alex C, Jayden L

Year 3/4B:       Lucia M, Archer B and Edith B

Year 3/4G:      Edith Q, Joshua L

Year 5/6B :      Sethmi L, Jacinta V and Joanna M

Year 5/6G:       Uma J, Riley W

Year 1/2G:  Geordie B

Year 5/6B:  Matthew S

Fathers' Day
Fathers' Day is just around the corner and this can be an exciting time for children. Please have a look in your diary and see if you have any time available on Friday 30th August to help with setup and helping students select presents for one of their favourite people in their lives.  

Make his day and support St Benedict's Primary School!
It's smart, dynamic and fun, just like Dad. The Entertainment Digital Membership is more useful than a tool kit, fits neatly in Dad's smartphone and has great offers for dining, movies, activities and travel - all the things he loves to do with you :)

We are still selling the 2019-2020 Entertainment Book Membership for $60. You will receive hundreds of valuable offers for shopping, dining and accommodation.  $12 of every membership sold will go towards our school. A sample copy is available for viewing at the Front Office.

Please make sure you buy a book through St Benedict’s School, and tell your family and friends about it too!

Entertainment           Book           using           the           link: https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/23231n Then pickup your book from Belinda at the Front Office. 

Purchase now and go in the draw to win the ultimate Father’s Day gift. When you purchase a Membership online during August you will go into the draw to win 2 tickets to the AFL Grand Final, along with accommodation at Melbourne Shortstay Apartments, flights from Jetstar and dinner for 2 at Red Spice Road.

The Clothing Pool will be open each Tuesday and Thursday between 2.50pm to 3.15pm by appointment. 

The Lost Property box will be emptied during the term and all named items will be returned to students via their class note bags.  

Please let Mrs McRae know at the Front Office if you need something from the Clothing Pool, even if you are unable to make the opening times.  Where possible we will always help.

The Lost Property Box is located in the  canteen area.  Please take some time to go through the box on a weekly basis as the lost property box is overflowing with jumpers and jackets.  These are going to be essential items of your child/rens uniform as the days get colder.

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD/REN'S CLOTHING IS LABELLED WITH THEIR NAME.

Extra Lost Items
There are still a number of expensive personal items and cash that has been handed into the office. If you are missing any jewellery or accessories please call in and see Mrs McRae at the Front Office.

Hello parents and friends,
Canteen days are Mondays and Thursdays.

This week during recess, available are:

gluten and lactose free savoury muffins $1
pumpkin soup $2
nachos $2
cheese and herb pastry twists 10c
pizza slices 50c
delicious muffins of the day $1
fresh fruit $1 ea (Bananas, Apples and Pears)
whole carrots 50c
jelly 50c
jelly and lactose free custard 50c
warm corn cobs 50c
seasonal fruit and custard $1

If your child forgets their morning munch and crunch, please see the front office.

THURSDAY 22nd August
9am to 11.30am - Helpers Required - Over counter sales only
11.30am to 2pm - Helpers Required

MONDAY 26th August
9am to 11.30am - Helpers Required - Over counter sales only
11.30am to 2pm - Helpers Required

If you would like to touch base about volunteering please either drop in or contact me on Cara.Cook@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Yours in tongs,

Cara Cook, Canteen Manager

Weekend Mass Times

Saturday          6.00pm

Sunday            9.00am

Youth Mass      6.00pm

Charismatic Mass    6.00pm (last Sunday of the Month)

Baptisms: 11.00am, 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month

Fr Dan and St Benedicts are running a Men Alive weekend Oct 12-13. A low key weekend to explore what it means to be a Christian man. Contact Fr Dan at Daniel.Benedetti@cg.org.au or check out the website: www.menalive.org.au

Interested in becoming a Catholic or learning more?
Contact Fr Dan at Daniel.Benedetti@cg.org.au for info about the RCIA program for adults.

Welcome/Info night Thurs Sept 5 at 7:30pm in the Collins Wing next to the School Hall.