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Dear Parents and Carers,
The last few weeks of any school year are an extremely busy time for the staff as they finalise the school reports ready to be sent home with students on Friday and finalise the class lists for 2021, and this year is no exception. Add to that the organisation of end of year masses, liturgies, graduations, assemblies and fun days, all under the banner of COVID. A huge thank you to all the staff for the extra hours they are putting into finishing off the year on such a high note and after such a challenging year.
Last night the School Board held their final meeting for the school year. I would like to offer my thanks once again for the commitment of time and energy to the school by the School Board for 2020. It has been a challenging year that has been constricting for both the School Board and the school community. I thank the School Board for the support you have shown our school community, particularly our staff. As a School Board they have strived to continue to be a welcoming and caring community, whilst ensuring the school continues to function despite the challenges COVID presents us with.
Of particular note I would like to offer my sincere thanks to John Daunt for his time on the School Board over many years and for the extras he has done to support the school. The generosity of your time and efforts have benefitted the school greatly.
Staffing
Congratulations to Mrs Amanda Basedow who has been successful in gaining a position at St Peter and Paul’s school from 2021 as Librarian. During her 7 years at St Benedict’s Mrs Basedow has contributed positively to our strong St Benedict’s identity, the community life of the school and Parish. We wish Mrs Basedow well in her new position and know that the St Peter and Paul’s community will be richer for having her join their staff.
Following interviews, I am very pleased to announce that Ms Sarah Maple was successful in gaining a permanent teaching position at St Benedict’s for 2021. Ms Maple joins us from St Kevin’s College, Glendalough Melbourne. She comes to us with over 12 years teaching experience. I know you will join with me in welcoming Ms Maple into our community.
Ms Samantha Slocomb was successful in gaining a temporary teaching position at St Benedict’s for the 2021 school year. Ms Slocomb is currently teaching Year 3/4 at St Benedict’s. Ms Kaitlyn Reedy was also successful in gaining a temporary part time teaching position at St Benedict’s for the 2021 school year. Ms Reedy has been teaching for the last 5 years and most recently has been teaching at St Thomas the Apostle, Kambah. Congratulations to both Ms Slocomb and Ms Reedy and welcome to the St Benedict’s community Ms Reedy.
We will be farewelling Mrs Narelle O’Callaghan at the end of this year. We thank Mrs O’Callaghan for being part of our school community this year and wish her well with her future endeavours.
We will also be farewelling Mr David Nobel at the end of the year. We thank Mr Nobel for the exceptional job he has done in transforming our tuckshop this year. All his hard work has been greatly appreciated by parents and students alike. We wish Mr Nobel well as takes on a new challenge.
God bless.
Rachel Smith
Principal
School Fees
A reminder that school fees are now overdue, for those who are not on a regular direct debit with us I ask that you settle your account with us by tomorrow so that we are able to meet our budgetary commitments.
Semester 2 Student Reports
These will go home with students on Friday. They are designed and written for parents, not students. We understand that students want to know how well they have achieved, and we give them feedback throughout each and every week at school. As you read the reports and share the relevant sections with your child, I encourage you to focus on the positive and celebrate successes and begin with skills and habits. They are far more valuable than we realise.
Semester 2 Reports
Teachers have spent many weeks conducting final assessments of students in their classes and writing Semester 2 student reports. They always take great care preparing these and I thank them for the extra time taken to complete them. These will be distributed Friday Week 9 with an opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss them early Week 10.
2021 School and Term Dates
Please be aware the term dates will be as follows for next year;
- Term One 1 February - 1 April
- Term Two 19 April - 25 June
- Term Three 12 July - 17 September
- Term Four 5 October - 17 December
2021 Term One Dates
- Wednesday, 27 January Staff Planning Day
- Thursday, 28 January Staff Planning Day
- Friday, 29 January Staff Planning Day
- Monday, 1 February Students Return
- Wednesday, 3 February Kinder Rest Day
- Wednesday, 10 February Kinder Rest Day
- Thursday, 1 April End of Term 1
The Season of Advent
Lighting the Joy Candle
This coming Sunday, we light the 3rd Advent Candle as a sign of joy — a testimony to the Light of God coming into our world that will shatter the darkness and bring healing to all who suffer and mourn.
Loving God, we thank you for the joy you bring us.
Help us prepare our hearts for this gift.
Bless our worship. Help us to hear and to do your word.
We ask it in the name of the one born in Bethlehem, Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
St Vincent de Paul Christmas Food Donations
A huge thank you to all our St Benedict’s families for their generous food donations for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.
Advent Liturgy
Thank you to our Kindergarten and Year ¾ Gold students who led our school community in celebrating our Advent liturgy. It was a lovely celebration that explored
the special symbolism of the advent wreath and candles, and the nativity scene. Fr Dan led us all in prayer to help us reflect on how we can give to others to spread the love of Jesus this Christmas.
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.
11 Dec Ways of Being Assembly
11 Dec Semester 2 Reports sent home
14 Dec Optional Parent Teacher Interviews
15 Dec Optional Parent Teacher Interviews
16 Dec End of Year /Graduation Mass, 10.00am
16 Dec Year 6 Graduation Dinner, 6pm
17 Dec Whole School Fun Day
17 Dec Year 6 Big Splash Day
18 Dec Christmas Concert, 12.30pm (Tentative)
18 Dec Last Day of Term 4
The following notes were sent home this week.
Systemic School Family Order for 2021
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
Kindergarten health check
A reminder to parents of all Kindergarten students that Canberra Health Services is offering a targeted kindergarten health check concentrating on vision and hearing. Uptake of the appointments is now slowing down. These health checks are performed in clinics at the City Health Centre Mondays and Fridays until Monday the 14th of December. An appointment can be made by phoning the Central Intake Line on 51249977.
Division of Women, Youth & Children Community Health Programs|ACT Health
1 Moore St Canberra ACT | GP Box 825 Canberra ACT 2601 |www.health.act.gov.au
RELIABLE / PROGRESSIVE / RESPECTFUL / KIND
Student Banking
Thank you to all the students who participated this year in the Commonwealth Student Banking programme.
Happy birthday to the following children who celebrate their special day this week: Nicolas B, Annabell W, Alannah C and Erik E.
Kinder: Ace H and Julian W
Year 1/2B: Harrison M, Jack O, Fergus K, Nicolas C, Beau F, Savannah L, Saanvi G and Mackenzie C
Year 1/2G: Mya R, Eva S, Nyx H, Noah W, Benjamin F and
Andrew K
Year 3/4B: Liam N and Alannah C
Year 3/4G: Amelia J
Year 5/6B: Himiona T, Edith Q, Matthew S, Ava de M, Natalija M
Year 5/6 G: Marissa M, Mia N, Arabella S and Edith B
Year 1/2B: Summah M
Year 1/2G: Elias S
Year 3/4B: Joe R
Year 3/4G: Alec C
Year 5/6G: Petar B
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our normal school clothing pool processes are not in place.
If you require any summer 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.
PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD/REN'S CLOTHING IS LABELLED WITH THEIR NAME.
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.
Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 12noon
Phone: 62957879
Email: narrabundah@cg.org.au
Web: website: http://cg.org.au/narrabundah/Home.aspx
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.
These bookings close at 11.30am this Friday. Please feel free to come if you fail to book as these numbers just give us an indication.
Saturday 12 December: https://www.trybooking.com/BNKJQ
Sunday 13 December: https://www.trybooking.com/BNKJT
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
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
Dear St Benedict's brothers and sisters, Recently Fr Ken and our MGL Council met and I have been asked to rejoin our Darwin Mission next year.
While I'm looking forward to this new chapter of my life, it's been a blessing being with you. I'm so grateful for your dedication, love for the Lord and St Benedict's and personal support for me. I was so happy when I was asked to come back to St Benedict's for my first appointment as a Parish Priest. I ask for your prayers and you can be assured of mine.
May the Lord continue to bless, protect and grow St Benedict's!
May the Holy Spirit empower you to reach out to those who need healing and are hungering to hear the Words of Eternal Life.
God bless
Fr Dan
As a reminder, to be eligible for Saver Plus, participants must
- Be at least 18 years old
- Have a child at school or starting kindy next year
- Have some regular income from work (them or partner), including JobKeeper and child support assessed by CSA
- Have a Centrelink Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card
- Be in receipt of an eligible Commonwealth social security benefit, allowance or payment (many Centrelink payments are eligible)
As parents start to juggle the costs of Christmas with back to school in the back of their minds, I was hoping you could continue to promote Saver Plus in your school newsletter and on your facebook site as well. At the end of this email I’ve included an image for the newsletter and another that can be used on facebook.
As always, many thanks for your ongoing support for the program and I hope you have a wonderful festive season.
Kind regards,
Brodie Wales
Saver Plus Coordinator ACT/Queanbeyan | The Smith Family
brodie.wales@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ph 02 6283 7606 | mob 0448 730 305
Corner of Launceston & Easty Streets
Woden, ACT, 2606
Keep in touch! Find us on Facebook
I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the Traditional Owners of the Land on which I live.
Please consider the environment before deciding to print this e-mail.
School Travel for 2021 
2021 school travel applications are now open
Applications for student travel in 2021 opened from Monday 12 October 2020.
Students who require a School Opal card or travel pass for 2021 can now apply online. A new application should be submitted if a student is applying for a school travel pass for the first time or requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).
Students who have changed school/campus, changed address, repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should re-apply or update their details.
*Applications must be completed by the student's parent or legal guardian if the student is aged under 16 years. Students 16 years and over must complete the application form themselves.
Where there is a change of distance eligibility based on a student’s grade, the system will automatically update a student’s entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.
If a student needs to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to
https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails
Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2020 to ensure that current student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card remains valid. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2020, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.
Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2021.
Students residing in Rural and Regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the commencement of the new school year from their nominated operator, this may be distributed via the school or sent direct to their address. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/Parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.
New Concession Entitlement Cards
Transport for NSW will be replacing the below cards with Transport Concession Entitlement Cards (TCEC) from October 2020: Senior Secondary Student Concession Card (16 years and over) – also used by Mature Secondary Students (18 years and over), Distance Education Students and Home School Students Proof of Age card (when a student under 16 years of age looks older) Boarder Rail Pass. All previous cards will be valid until they expire. Students who require a Transport Concession Entitlement Card should speak with their school administration staff.
Enquiries regarding school student travel can be submitted to Transport for NSW at:
https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback