Issue 14 - 12th August 2021
This week, Catholic schools throughout Tasmania have celebrated Catholic Education Week. Part of these celebrations was the recognition of 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. The week also coincided with the Feast of Mary of the Cross MacKillop, who co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph, and is Australia’s first saint. It was the Sisters of St Joseph who established St Attracta’s which later became the school we know today, St Peter Chanel Catholic School. And so, we have a very special connection to the Josephites and to Saint Mary MacKillop. I have had the great privilege of visiting Mary Mackillop’s tomb in the Mary Mackillop Memorial Chapel in Sydney. It was a wonderful experience to be in the presence of this remarkable woman.
One of Mary’s most well known quotes is, ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’.
At St Peter Chanel, we abide by this mantra in our daily work, and encourage the same in our students. Just seeing something small that can be done for someone else makes a big difference. It could be asking someone to play when they are on their own, taking someone to the office when they are hurt or sick, helping a fellow classmate with their work and many other ways we encourage and witness our students seeing a need and doing something about it.
On Monday we had a whole school Mass to celebrate the Feast of Mary of the Cross MacKillop. It was a lovely celebration! On Tuesday, I attended the Catholic Education Week Mass in Ulverstone with Miss Bradley and our Year 6 students. They did us very proud. In fact someone attending the Mass said to me, “Aren’t your children beautiful?”. Yes, they are!
Acting Principal
Mrs Kerrie Flynn
On Sunday, 8th August, we celebrated the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
As a Josephite school, we strive to continue the work of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop can be best understood by looking at her ministry through 6 ‘Ps’.
She had Passion. It was a deep passion for God and a passion for supporting people made in His image.
Out of these, she believed in Possibilities. In her local and wider community, she saw suffering, injustice, struggles and pain and she wanted to alleviate these things.
This led her to Practical Action – a willingness to get her hands dirty and to walk alongside those who suffered.
In this, she was never alone – she embraced Partnership as a means of securing the Common Good. She did not let differences of faith, opinion or class be a barrier to her mission.
She Persevered – facing barriers that were systemic, institutional and at times personal. Lastly, she was immersed in and believed in Prayer as a means towards transformation, and communion with God.
Take some time to think about your own life journey, and ask yourself:
- What have been the blessings?
- What have been the struggles?
- Where have you found God?
As you continue your life’s journey, you are invited to pray the Pilgrim Prayer.
God of the Pilgrim
Mary MacKillop trusted your guidance in her journey of life,
And deepened her confidence in your will.
May we renew our trust in your providence
To lead us to hope, as we bring our Prayer before you.
May we grow in the fullness of your love
And the depth of your mystery.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Way, our Truth and our Life.
Amen
Pax Tecum,
Mrs Andrea Jaffray Morf
Deputy Principal
The St Peter Chanel Catholic community is saddened to hear of the passing of Di this week. Di worked in our school office from 1995 to 2015 and prior to that worked at St Joseph’s Queenstown from 1989 to 1994.
Di was recognised for her 25 years of service for Catholic Education Tasmania with a presentation on 11th August, 2015 at Burnie.
Di was a much loved work colleague for those that had the pleasure of working with her.
We extend our condolences to Di’s family and friends.
HAVE I CHECKED IN?
HAVE I SIGNED IN?
HAVE I SANITISED?
With the spike in cases on the mainland, and the requirement for our school to complete a Covid Checklist on a fortnightly basis, we would like to remind families of the following requirements:
Please do not enter the school unless it is necessary to do so. For the collection of children, you are able to wait at the bottom of the steps and the students will come out to you. Please adhere to the social distancing rules when gathering and avoid congregating in groups.
The preference is for families to contact the school via the following options:
Phone: 6452 1431
Email: spc@catholic.tas.edu.au
SeeSaw message to the teacher
Message in your child’s diary
Any adult entering a school building must use the ‘Check in Tas’ app, regardless of how long they stay for. Check-in QR codes are placed at the school office when entering the building. A sign in sheet will also be available for those who do not have a smartphone.
Entering the school for any reason:
- Sign in at the sign-in station (School requirement)
- COVID check in using QR code or sign-in sheet (Tas Government requirement)
For Assemblies, we ask that people please enter via the front office, use the hand sanitiser upon entry and follow the two step process above. Please adhere to the 1.5m social distancing and refrain from entering the school if you are unwell.
Chores! Who wants to do them?
www.childmind.org
Chores can be a pain, whether you’re a kid who has to do them, or a parent who has to tell your kid it’s time to do them. However the potential for some friction may well be worth it as researchers have linked doing household chores at an early age, with feelings of empathy, competence, self-confidence and a sense of responsibility to other people. Chores also teach children skills that they will need throughout their lives, including in the classroom and on the sports field, such as how to work together and be a part of a team.
Beginning chores at the age of 3 or 4 instead of 15 or 16 is the best predictor for success in terms of career, relationships and not using drugs, because the sense of responsibility learned by doing household tasks is best learned when children are young.
Make chores part of the routine - routines and structure are really grounding for kids. Tell your child upfront what the expectations are and include them when creating the chart. Your child will feel more invested if they are a part of the visual schedule by giving them choices of what chores they want to do. Don’t forget the family meetings to review how things are going.
Break it down – give them a job that is specific and age appropriate, ie. Instead of ‘clean up your room’ give single instructions – “put the Lego’s in the tub”, then “place books on the shelf”.
Focus on skill building – relate the chores to life skills needed for the future. Even preschoolers can gain from this by packing up their toys. Pre-teens and teens can learn how to do things for themselves in the future by being apart of meal preparation, packing up the dishes, making their own bed and the laundry.
Pitching in benefits children, as well as the whole family like belonging to a community.
Book week runs from 23rd - 27th August with this year's theme being ‘Old worlds, New worlds, Other worlds’. As per previous years, we will hold a book week dress-up day on Thursday, 26th August. We are planning to hold the parade outside if the weather permits, if it is raining it will be held in the Josephite Centre. Due to the nature of the parade, if it is inside we will be unable to have families attend due to Covid-19 social distancing regulations. If this is the case, classes will share their book week dress-ups via seesaw.
We will be holding a Book Fair in our school library over book week. A letter will be sent home to families about how this year's fair will run to be in compliance with our COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Congratulations to the following students who received Aiming High awards at our last assembly:
Kinder - Macklen & Levi
Prep - Millah & Finn
Grade 1 - Bronte & Max
Grade 2 - Charlie & Carly
Grade 3 - Jaiden & Harper
Grade 4 - Tayla & Phoenix
Grade 5 - Noah & Elvis
Grade 6 - John & Libby
Please see below the 2022 Kinder Timeline. Please note there have been some date changes.
The kinder children found a rather large interesting frog in their playground yesterday. He was approximately 7cm long with stripes. Mrs. Hall got a container and some grass for him to be carried back to the lake. We found out he is called a Striped Marsh Frog which is a threatened species and is only known in a limited number of locations in the far North West and North East of Tasmania. Many years ago when Donna Porteus' dad was working at McCains he would rescue these frogs when they came in the trucks loaded with beans and then set them free in our Lake. He is very pleased to see that the species have continued to breed in this perfect habitat.