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Dear Parents and Carers,
With Fathers’ Day this weekend I take the opportunity to say Happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads, grand-dads, uncles and father-figures of our children. Congratulations on the love you put into being a father. Though they may not often say it, the children appreciate you for the love you put into their lives.
Due to restrictions at the time we were unable to acknowledge and celebrate Mothers’ Day with the children. For this reason at 1/2 Blue’s mass this Friday we will be celebrating Parents and the important role they play in the lives of our students. As we celebrate our parents and carers I would like to say thank you to all our parents and carers for your fantastic support throughout the year. I am particularly appreciative of everything that you do to support your child’s learning. Thank you for your support of all staff and all that they do.
As a school we say;
- thank you to all the parents who volunteered and give us help when needed;
- thank you to all the parents for the support of the students as they take part in the sacramental program;
- thank you to all the parents who support their child’s learning at home and engage them in conversations about their learning;
- thank you to all the parents who regularly look through students' backpacks for notes and messages sent home;
- thank you to all the parents who ensure their child presents in the correct uniform each day;
- thank you to all the parents who read our newsletters and notes to keep up to date with communication and events;
- thank you to all the parents who generously support the school with fundraising both for the school and charities;
- thank you to all the parents who called in when their child was ill and would be absent from school; and
- a thank you to all the parents who make sure their children spend time reading at home.
Whilst this list is by no means exhaustive, we do want you to know that all that you do does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated by the staff and school. Thank you! You are doing a wonderful job and know that we will be celebrating you this Friday at mass.
God Bless.
Rachel Smith
Principal
Late Arrivals
We ask that all students arriving at school after 9am be signed in at the Front Office by a parent or appropriate caregiver. Thank you for your support with this.
Sunsmart
With the warmer weather on the way we remind you of the School policy regarding exposure to the sun: Simply stated, from August through May, there is a ‘No Hat – No Play’ policy. Please also ensure hats are in accordance with uniform requirements.
Lost Property
Though it’s not a guarantee, having your child’s name on their clothing helps it get back to them if they lose it. It’s amazing how many jackets without names are left outside during recess and lunch.
Water Bottles
Just a reminder that children are required to bring their drink bottles filled with water everyday. In this present climate of COVID restrictions the bubblers still remain locked and the weather is warming up so water bottles are essential.
School Hats
School hats are to be worn before and after school, at recess and lunch, for sport, outside class activities and excursions where appropriate. Please ensure your child’s hat is clearly marked with their name. The school hat is available to purchase from the Front Office for $10.00
Kindergarten Parents
Just a reminder that Canberra Health Services is offering a targeted kindergarten health check concentrating on vision and hearing.
These health checks are performed in clinics at the City Health Centre Mondays and Fridays and there will be appointments most days in the school holidays. An appointment can be made by phoning the Central Intake Line on 51249977.
School Uniform
A reminder that Summer Uniform commences in Term 4, so please check the wardrobe and visit the Clothing Pool and Savvy if any items are needed. We will have the usual transition period early in Term 4 to cater for the unpredictable weather.
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 where they are heading to. We need to begin planning for staffing and class configurations for 2021. Naturally Year 6 parents need not respond to this request.
First Holy Communion
Thank you to all our First Holy Communion families for attending the Prayer Evening. It was a lovely opportunity for parents and children to spend some time talking, reflecting and praying together.
Last week all First Holy Communion candidates received a final information note. The first group of candidates will make the Sacrament next Wednesday evening (9th September) and the second group the following Wednesday (16th September).
We pray for these children as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion, that they will grow to know the peace of Jesus, the light of his love and the joy of his life within them.
Amen.
Parents/Carers Mass
This Friday Year 1/2 will be leading our school in celebrating our Parents/Carers Mass, with other classes participating online. As our Parents/Carers won’t be able to attend this Mass, our students will be bringing home a little treat to say ‘thank you’. We especially wish our fathers, grandfathers and uncles a lovely weekend for Father’s Day.
ROBLOX
Roblox allows users to create their own virtual worlds and play with other people on a range of platforms, including mobile phones and Xboxes. By creating things, players can earn “Robux” to buy accessories, additional skills or more tools and materials to build with.
What do I need to be aware of? There is a chat facility within Roblox. For users aged 12 and under, Roblox automatically enforce more restricted settings so they can only directly message other friends (that they’ve accepted) but does your child know all their ‘friends’ on Roblox?
Are they signed up with their right age? Players age 12 and younger have their posts and chats filtered both for inappropriate content and behaviour and to prevent personal information from being posted. Players age 13 and older have the ability to say more words and phrases, but inappropriate chat and sharing personal information should be restricted. To adjust the chat and interaction settings of your child's account:
- Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner and click Settings.
- On the right hand side of the Settings page click the Privacy option. Users and their parents may also enable an Account PIN which requires a 4-digit code to make changes to the account.
Can I see what my child is doing on Roblox? Roblox has several ways to see the history for certain activities. When logged in, you can view the following histories:
- Private message history
- Friends and Followers
- Virtual item purchase and trade history
- Chat history with other players
For more information, Roblox have created this parent’s guide: https://corp.roblox.com/parents/
TIME TO GO ONLINE TOGETHER?
Think U Know is a great resource for parents and carers to use, to help navigate possible issues with online use. https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/
Think U Know have produced some useful conversation starters and advice to help you talk to your child about staying safe online:
- Ask your child about the games, sites and apps they like to use. What do they like about them? Is there anything they don’t like?
- If your child enjoys playing games where they interact with people they don’t know, make sure they understand that it is not safe to share personal information like their name, school, and phone number with people they meet in the game. Explain that if anyone says anything that worries or upsets them, they should tell you or another trusted adult straight away.
- Help your child manage the privacy settings on their apps to ensure that they are only sharing things with friends they know and trust in real life. If your child likes sharing photos or videos with people they know in real life discuss safer ways they could do this e.g. sending via email, messaging service or private link.
Find out how to block and report someone in each game, site and app they use and discuss with your child
- Tell your child that they can come to you if something goes wrong online, that they won’t be in trouble and you will be able to help.
7 DAY FAMILY ONLINE SAFETY CHALLENGE
The challenge involves a simple daily task for parents and carers to complete, to help kick-start their journey in helping protect their children. The tasks include reviewing privacy settings, researching the apps and games their children use and creating an online family safety contract.
https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/7-day-family-online-safety-challenge.pdf
We have tried to keep as many of our usual school events as possible. Please understand that in the current environment these events may be cancelled or the style in which they are held may change. 
4 Sep Parents Mass
6 Sep Fathers’ Day
8 Sep School Board Meeting
9 Sep First Holy Communion, 6pm
11 Sep DTT Session
16 Sep First Holy Communion, 6pm
18 Sep Ways of Being Award Ceremony
21 Sep International Day of Peace
23 Sep School Photos (Full Winter Uniform)
25 Sep Mindfulness and Student Fun Day
25 Sep Last day of Term 3
The following note was sent home this week.
- St Benedict's Front Garden
St Benedict's Front Garden
Please remember to check the Schoolzine App (SZapp) for all the latest school information. You are able to register via either:
Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pidigi.schoolzine&hl=en_AU
A Lens on Learning
MacqLit Program
MacqLit is an explicit and systematic intensive reading program that is run with small groups of middle and upper primary students. In these sessions students learn about all the key components necessary for effective reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Some of our student’s reflections on their involvement:
“MacqLit is making me more confident that my reading and writing is going to turn out well.”
“It is fun and I’m learning to read and write words better and write inside the lines.”
“It is making my writing better.”
KINDERGARTEN PARENTS
Canberra Health Services is offering a targeted kindergarten health check concentrating on vision and hearing.
These health checks are performed in clinics at the City Health Centre Mondays and Fridays and there will be appointments most days in the school holidays.
An appointment can be made by phoning the Central Intake Line on 51249977.
Commonwealth Student Banking is Wednesday. Please ensure your bank book and money are sent to the Front Office via the class notebag.
Happy birthday to the following children who celebrate their special day this week: Trinity M and Alec C.
Kinder: Jack K and Henri RK
Year 1/2B: Beau F, Olivia D and Fergus K
Year 1/2G: Dianna N, Bryce T and Mitchell S
Year 3/4B: Claire D and Huxley N
Year 3/4G: Leilah G
Year 5/6B: Sethmi L, Brigid N and Lucia M
Year 5/6G: Petar B and James N
Year 1/2B: Jack O
Year 1/2G: Benjamin F
Year 3/4B: Dasha F and Finn D
Year 3/4G: Ava W
Year 5/6B: Gabriella S
Year 5/6G: Niora P
St Benedict's Front Garden
The St Benedict's P & F are embarking on an exciting new project for the school!
Click on the link below to find out more about this exciting new initiative.
The lost property box is overflowing, with winter uniform items. In the morning as you drop you child or children off to school please ask them to go and have a look and find any of their missing items.
Please check your child/ren are bringing their uniform home. If they have accidentally picked up someone elses uniform, please return it to the front office so it can be returned to the correct child.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our normal school clothing pool processes are not in place. If you need uniform, please email the school office.stbenedicts@cg.catholic.edu.au or contact Mrs McRae with a list of items required. We will endeavour to fill your order and reply to you as soon as possible.
Due to current circumstances all clothes in lost property will be emptied and clothing will be washed and returned to the clothing pool. All other items will be cleaned and donated to St Vincent de Paul.
PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD/REN'S CLOTHING IS LABELLED WITH THEIR NAME.
St Benedict's Parish
Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 12noon
Phone: 62957879
Email: narrabundah@cg.org.au
Web: www.cg.org.au/narrabundah
Parish Team:
Fr Dan Benedetti MGL
Fr Rembert Fernando MGL
Fr Baiju Thomas MGL
Monica Nulley-Valdes (Parish Secretary)
Anjalie Upasena (Parish Youth Minister)
Dear St Benedict’s community,
Dear brothers and sisters,
See below our links for booking our Saturday 6pm Mass and Sunday 9am Mass. Please remember that 9am Mass is being streamed live and the 10am live streamed Mass has finished.
These bookings closed at 11.30am this Friday. Please feel free to come if you fail to book as these numbers just give us an indication.
Mass Saturday 5 September https://www.trybooking.com/BLFZQ
Mass Sunday 6 September https://www.trybooking.com/BLFZR
Those who wish to attend the Friday Healing Mass and the Sunday 6.00pm Charismatic Mass still need to contact Carmel Henry on 0409777743 or email carmelhenry2@gmail.com
Please book for the Weekend Masses by 11:30am this Friday:
Daily Mass from the Archdiocese is available online at https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/mass-online/ .
If you would like to have email updates from St Benedict’s Parish, please contact narrabundah@cg.org.au . Be assured of our prayers for the whole St Benedict’s community at this time. Please keep safe and if anyone would like to contact Father Dan, he is available through the Parish or through the school.
St Benedict, pray for us.
God Bless
Fr Dan Benedetti MGL PP
Parish Priest
St Benedict's Catholic Community Narrabundah ACT
The opening hours for Savvy Tuggeranong are as follows:
Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am to 3pm
Sunday Closed
Uniform is available at Savvy Tuggeranong, and also online via https://www.savvyschoolwear.com.au/schoolwear/school.
There is no St Benedict's uniform at Lowes Queanbeyan.
Thanking you and stay safe,
Charlene Muraotto
ACT/NSW Account Manager
P: 0499 056 234
E: Charlenemuraotto@lowes.com
Shop 37 Homeworld, Soward Way, Tuggeranong ACT 2900
5th September 2020
Audition Sessions
Aspire: 3:30-4:30pm
Pre-Professional: 4:45-6:15pm
To learn more or register your interest, please follow the link below!
The class will be ballet so please come preparedSpring Tennis Canberra coaching registrations are open!
Tennis Canberra's professional coaches are running junior tennis coaching programs at both South & North Canberra clubs this Spring. We welcome first time players and those who are ready to play competition tennis.
The 2020 Spring Season starts the week of August 24th however you are welcome to join at any time.
For more information and to book please visit www.tenniscanberra.com.au/junior-tennis or email play@tenniscanberra.com.au
All bus and light rail services, including special needs transport, are operating as normal.
To keep our community safe from #COVID19, only use public transport if necessary or consider walking or riding to school for those shorter trips.
The safety of our drivers and our customers is our highest priority and in response to #COVID19 increased cleaning is taking place across all areas of public transport including at stops, stations and within the vehicles.
If you are required to use public transport to get to and from school, please be aware and remember the following:
- No cash accepted on buses - please use MyWay
- Top up (and register) your MyWay card
- Use the rear door to enter and exit on buses
- Be aware that light rail vehicles have auto doors opening at all stops
- Where possible maintain physical distancing
- No front seat access on buses
- Always practice good hygiene
For more: https://bit.ly/2Ws5mZs
Kind regards,
