NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
9 December 2021
Dear Parents and Staff
What a wonderful last week of school we have had. The Graduation Mass last Friday evening provided us with the opportunity to farewell our Year Six students and to thank them for all that they have contributed to our school over their years here, the Carols Evening and Presentation of Awards on Tuesday night was a very fitting way to round out our year with the children, and even some staff, entertaining the huge crowd of parents, grandparents, and family members and our final Whole School Mass, yesterday morning, was a great opportunity for us to thank God for such a successful year and to direct our focus towards the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus.
Today the children had the opportunity to have fun with their friends and the staff on their end of year activities and I am sure they’ll all be exhausted which will mean that tomorrow is a relaxing day for all of us…. hopefully!
The past two years have certainly challenged all of us and, whilst we have been fortunate in Western Australia to have remained almost completely Covid-19 free, there will be a time when our border restrictions are relaxed and the threat of the virus spreading within our community will be with us once more. We have been planning strategies to deal with this should the need arise and will be able to implement these at relatively short notice as we move into the new school year, which we hope will commence without interruption as was the case this year.
I wish all families
a Holy, happy, and safe Christmas
and look forward
to sharing the journey
with you in 2022
FAREWELL
In last week’s newsletter I farewelled Mrs Carol Smith and Mrs Denise McGregor who will both be retiring at the end of this year. In addition to these, other staff who will be leaving Notre Dame are:
- Mrs Jo Addy who leaves us to spend additional time with her family and to explore other opportunities
- Mrs Emily McLure who, with three active young sons, will certainly have her hands full in supporting their many and varied needs
- Mrs Bree Jennings who is passionate about sustainability and the environment and leaves us to pursue opportunities in this field
- Mrs Alicia Whiu is leaving our OSHC facility to focus upon her family and the building of her new home
- Mrs Lydia Bordoni is taking a one year break from her Education Assistant role in Kindergarten but plans to return for the 2023 school year
I thank each of these ladies for sharing their extensive talents with us over the past few years and wish them much happiness and success in all their endeavours in the future.
WELCOME
It gives me great pleasure to welcome the following staff members:
- Mrs Dianna Panzich-Sekulla re-joins our staff after a two-year hiatus as the Class Teacher for Year 5M
Miss Olivia Tana has been appointed as the Class Teacher for Year 3M
I look forward to working with both of these ladies in 2022 and hope they enjoy their time as part of our wonderful school community.
YEAR SIX FAREWELL
- Our Year Six students will conclude their time at Notre Dame with a march past the classes at 2.45 tomorrow afternoon. I hope many of their parents will join us as this very significant era in their educational journey draws to a close.
- At yesterday’s Mass the Year Six classes presented two rose bushes that have been planted in the gardens that surround the Mother Mary Piazza. These join the roses donated by the students of previous years and will be a constant reminder of the contribution to our school by the students and their families.
STUDENT LEADERS 2022
Congratulations to the following students who were presented with their Student Leader badges at the Carols and Presentation of Awards evening on Tuesday. Brother Stephen looks forward to working with this team and all of the Year Sixes next year as they continue to develop their leadership skills in preparation for their move to High School in 2023.
Angeli Periyannen
Eli Alvis
Jasmin Koh
Lucas Lee
Eoin Harvey
Kate South
Isla McGruddy
Tiger Richardson
REMINDERS
· Free dress for all children and staff tomorrow. No donation is required.
· School commences in 2022 on Monday 31 January.
WHAT DO THE STAFF DO NEXT WEEK?
During next week the staff will engage in a range of activities in preparation for next year. These include:
· A review of 2021 considering processes, policies, and procedures.
· Extensive handover meetings where every child’s needs are discussed.
· Discussion of Curriculum updates and the implications of these.
· A range of online courses to upskill staff.
· An extensive First Aid course.
· Classroom preparation time.
· Prayer and reflection.
PARISH NEWS
Thank you to all staff and parents/caregivers for your work and support for the students and School during this Semester and the academic year.
I wish everyone a safe, restful, happy school holidays and a peaceful festive season.
St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal
Boxes have been placed at both entrances of the Church for donations of ‘in-code’ non-perishable food items for Christmas Hampers. Donations will be received up to 13 December 2021. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Bible Studies
Each Tuesday evening commencing at 6.00pm in the Parish Centre.
Planned Giving Envelopes 2021 – 2022 Financial Year
The envelopes are available from the School side entrance of the Church. Please take the same number as last year and tick your name off. If you are taking a set for the first time, please write your name and contact details next to the number that you are taking. Direct Debit forms are also available. For further information, please contact the Parish Office on 9277 4094. Thank you for your ongoing support of the Parish.
Simbang Gabi – Nine Night Novena Masses
During the period 15 – 23 December 2021, Simbang Gabi will be held at Notre Dame Catholic Church, commencing at 8.00pm. All are invited to attend this wonderful Filipino tradition. For further information, please contact the Parish Office on 9277 4094.
Busy Bee
A Parish Busy Bee has been organised for Saturday 11 December 2021, commencing at 9.00 am. Please come and help clean the Church and the surrounding gardens. For further information, please contact the Parish Office on 9277 4094.
The Record Magazine – Issue 34 December 2021
Articles in this month’s Magazine include:
· Plenary Council Update
· Catholic Community of Christmas Island
· Powerhouse of Prayer
· Pastoral Supervision Program
Altar Servers
Altar Servers play a very visible part in Parish liturgy. For the young person, their time of altar service plays an important part in their personal spiritual growth. The Altar Servers’ special ministry is to serve in the sanctuary in areas pertaining to the altar and lectern. They assist with the smooth flow of the liturgical rite, enhancing the spirit of worship and prayer. In July 1992, Pope John Paul II confirmed a Vatican clarification that the 1986 Code of Cannon Law #230 allows both males and females of any age to assist at serving Mass.
For further information about this special ministry, please contact the Parish Office on 9277 4094.
Dr George Sekulla JP
Chairman
Notre Dame Parish Council
St Vincent de Paul Hamper Appeal
A very big thank you to all the families who donated to our St Vincent de Paul Hamper Appeal. Mr John Harbinson from the local Belmont branch thanked the children at Monday morning’s Advent liturgy. We collected four carloads of food from our school community! The donations we collected will go directly to those in need in our local community this Christmas Season.
Thank you for all your kind donations throughout the year.
Stefanie Bradshaw
Assistant Principal
NOTRE DAME PRIMARY SCHOOL FACEBOOK
MUSIC NEWS
The last couple of weeks have been a busy time of music making for the choir. We have been spreading Christmas cheer and goodwill by singing Christmas Carols for the residents at Faulkner Park Retirement Village and in the Coles Mall at the Belmont Forum Shopping Centre. We also sang carols for the parishioners from Notre Dame Parish and also for the residents at Little Sisters of the Poor Home in Glendalough. In between singing carols for the parishioners and our visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor, the choir members enjoyed a pizza lunch and some free time on the equipment at Braithwaite Park.
The children have spent Term 4, learning and preparing the carols to sing at these events where we outreach to those who are homebound, lonely and/or may have some other need. We have had many helpers throughout the year with the choir and we are very grateful to you all. We are also very thankful to the parents of the choir members who made enormous sacrifices to get their children to choir rehearsals and the events that involve the choir children. We also thank Fr Quynh for his help and support.
The children have been a wonderful group to work with this year and we are very proud of them all. Perhaps the best things that we have been able to do this year is to sing when in so many places singing has been suspended because of the pandemic. So, in a way, our outreach also extends to singing on behalf of those who have not been able to for the last two years.
We look forward to our choir and music making for 2022!
Mrs Evans and Mr Loiacono
FUN DAY
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE
As usual, our OSHC children participated in a range of freely chosen play and leisure opportunities, including talking about the news they prepared for school, art and craft, card games, free drawing, construction, board games and many other activities. It was great to see the children learn and strengthen their autonomy and inter-dependence through these seemingly random experiences.
The children freely followed and extended their own interests and ideas with enthusiasm and concentration. Who said we can only draw on canvas? Who said a greeting card is better bought than hand drawn? And, who said creating a maze and eating an apple cannot be done at the same time?
PARENTS' & FRIENDS' ASSOCIATION NEWS
Merry Christmas
Thank you again to our wonderful school community and the Notre Dame staff for your generous support of all the P&F events held in 2021, what a great year.
I would also like to thank all of the parents and friends who have volunteered many hours of their time this year to assist with all the events and make them so successful.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have a wonderful break.
Colour Run Raffle
Thank you to all the families and friends who sponsored all the children for the Colour Run lapathon on the 26th November. We haven’t counted all of the money yet but will keep you updated when we have a total. Congratulations to our raffle winners for both the KIndy draw and the PP - Yr 6 draw.
Kindy: 1st Prize Ben- KP, 2nd Prize Jaxon- KP and 3rd Prize Zibo- KP
PP- Yr 6: 1st Prize Connor- 1M, 2nd Prize Jack- 4M, 3rd Prize Milla- 4M
Free access to the ySafe Cyber Safety Hub
Following on from the student, teacher and parent sessions held on Monday 8th November, all Notre Dame parents/carers now have access to the ySafe Cyber Safety Hub for a whole year. To access the hub, please use this link: https://nds.cybersafetyhub.com.au. No passwords required.
You will find a range of information and resources, including:
Parent Advice:
- Cyber Safety Guides
- Dealing with Issues
- Creating a Safe Home
Cyber Safety Tech:
· Setting up Parental Controls
· Guides (Google Safe Search, YouTube Restricted Mode)
App and Game Reviews:
· Including Among Us, Call of Duty, Facebook, Fortnite, Discord, Messenger, Minecraft, Roblox, YouTube and much more.
Night Market 2022
Flyer included in the newsletter.
****If you are interested in hosting a food stall, please contact Nicole Beresford via email by end of term: bent_mb20@hotmail.com****
All vendors need to have a registered food business and public liability insurance.
Nicole Beresford
President, Parents' & Friends' Association
CITY OF BELMONT
CLOVERDALE SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC INFORMATION
Cloverdale School Dental clinic is open from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday. Our phone number is 9479 7222.
Our last day will be Thursday 16th December 2021, we will reopen Monday 31st January 2022.
If you have an emergency during this break, the Mt Henry Clinic, 43 Mt Henry Rd, Salter Point, will be open during all work days from 8:15 am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. Their phone number is 9313 0552.
Loose teeth are NOT deemed an emergency. Please encourage children to wobble their loose teeth until they fall out on their own. Some loose teeth tighten up again, then loosen. Cloverdale School clinic is a very busy centre, and we really appreciate your patience with waiting for appointments. Please contact us should you have any queries.
Best wishes for a relaxed and safe school holidays
Sharon, Daniela, Tess, Megan, Phyllis, Elle and Nina
Cloverdale Dental Therapy Centre Staff
180 Fisher St (Clinic access through Gate 5 off Hendra St)
Cloverdale 6105
Ph: 9479 7222
NOTRE DAME CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Email: admin@nds.wa.edu.au
Website: www.nds.wa.edu.au
Location: 360 Daly Street, Cloverdale WA, Australia
Phone: 62727100
Facebook: www.facebook.com/notredamecps