Dear parents and caregivers,

Welcome to the 2023 school year and what a start we have had! Wednesday was a wonderful day for me, and I was as excited about welcoming back all our students and parents. It was fabulous to be met by smiling faces! A special welcome to our new families that are joining St Elizabeth’s school community, especially our new staff. A very special welcome to Mr Simon Tomlinson and Mrs Toni Chansaw who have joined our staff from Telethon Speech and Hearing. As a school we are incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to work alongside TSH for the benefit of our students. I sincerely hope that you enjoy your time with us.

On Monday, the whole staff had the opportunity to spend time reflecting on our ‘Faith Story and Witness’. It is very important that we all take time to reflect on our patron, St Elizabeth of Hungary, her values and commitment to her calling, to remind ourselves of the important vocation that we are dedicated to and how we can make Jesus visible in our school. The day was very much about recognising and honouring our Faith story, our history as an educational facility and looking at what the future holds.

The beginning of the school year is a timely reminder to all about parking around the school grounds. Please be mindful of nearby residents’ driveways when parking in the streets and follow the rules outlined by the City of Wanneroo. I would also like to encourage parents of students in Year 3 to 6 to use the Kiss and Drive option for pickup to allow our families in the Early Years a chance to park in the carpark and collect their child from the classroom.

Another reminder for families considering holidays during school term. As a school we do not encourage families taking holidays during school time. When students go on extended holidays in school time, parents are required to provide a written email/letter to myself at least two weeks prior to departure. Please note that the school will not provide any work for the student while they are away.

As our first week together comes to an end, I wish to thank my staff for everything they have done to ensure things went as smoothly as possible. The beginning of the school year is always challenging, but all students have transitioned well into the new year.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

God Bless

Rebecca Clarke

Principal

Parent information sessions will be held on Monday, 6 February. We will welcome all of our parents to the 2023 school year at 5:00pm. This will be followed by meetings in your classrooms at 5:15pm. There will then be a second session in the classrooms at 5:45pm on the same evening for parents who have children in more than one year level.

Parent Welcome – 5:00pm - 5:15pm

Sessions 1 - 5:15pm – 6:00pm or

Session 2 - 6:00pm-6:45pm

This morning our Year Three to Year Six students joined St Anthony’s staff and students for our Beginning of Year Mass. It was a lovely way to start the year and as always Fr Peter’s homily was centred around how we can be more like Christ in our everyday life and how we can show compassion to those around us. Father Leonard concluded mass reminding students how lucky we are to have two schools within the St Anthony of Padua's Parish and reminded us that we join together as a family with St Anthony as the 'big brother' and St Elizabeth the 'little sister'. Our students were commended for their reverence in church today.

Friday February 3 - Beginning of School Mass

Sunday February 19 - Staff Commitment Mass

Tuesday February 21 - Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday February 22 - Ash Wednesday Liturgy

Wednesday April 6 - Stations of the Cross Liturgy

Friday April 7 - Good Friday

Sunday April 9 - Easter Sunday

Confirmation

Candidate Commitment Mass

Saturday 25th March 6.00pm

Sunday 26th March 7.30am

Sunday 26th March 9.00am

Sunday 26th March 6.00pm

Parent/Child Workshop

Tuesday 16th May 5.00pm

Candidate Retreat

Friday 19th May

Sacrament

Saturday 27th May 6.00pm

Sunday 28th May 11.00am

Saturday 10th June 6.00pm

Certificate Weekend

Sunday 11th June

First Holy Communion

Candidate Commitment Mass

Saturday 24th June 6.00pm

Sunday 25th June 7.30am

Sunday 25th June 9.00am

Sunday 25th June 6.00pm

Parent/Child Workshop

Tuesday 8th August 5.00pm

Candidate Retreat

Friday 11th August

Sacrament

Saturday 19th August 6.00pm

Sunday 20th August 9.00am

Sunday 20th August 6.00pm

Saturday 26th August 6.00pm

Sunday 27th August 9.00am

Sunday 27th August 6.00pm

Certificate Weekend

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd September

Reconciliation

Commitment Mass

Saturday 25th March 6.00pm

Sunday 26th March 7.30am

Sunday 26th March 9.00am

Sunday 26th March 6.00pm

Parent Workshop

Wednesday 25th October 5.00pm

Candidate Retreat

Friday 3rd November

Sacrament

Tuesday 7th November 5.00pm

Wednesday 8th November 5.00pm

Thursday 9th November 5.00pm

Certificate Weekend

Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th November

We welcome our fourth year practice students from Murdoch University who will be working with us over the next two weeks and then will be back in term two for their final teaching practice. Please make them feel welcome when you see them around the school.

Year One - Mr Travis Hunter

Year Three - Mr Kent Fitzgibbons

Year Four - Miss Jaymee Johnson

Year Five - Miss Emma Collins

We are also lucky to have Mrs Deb Williams in Year One from Insight Training completing her Education Assistant Practice.

We wish all of our prac students all the very best over the coming weeks.

Check out our new hats!

These are reversible, adjustable and in your Faction Colours!!! 🧡💛💚💙

Available now in the uniform shop for $13.00. Please use the online order form as always, to order and they will be sent home with your child. please make sure you label them (there is a secret label in a pocket) We will be transitioning over to these hats, however please still conitinue to use the original hats until you are ready to replace.

Catholic School Parents WA has recently developed two brochures you might find useful to have available at any upcoming welcoming and/or orientation events. The first is a welcoming resource for parents and gives an overview of school gospel values, feast days and sacraments.

Term 1 Start Date Wednesday 1 February

Term 1 End Date Thursday 6 April

Term 2 Start Date Wednesday 26 April
Term 2 End Date Friday 30 June

Term 3 Start Date Monday 17 July
Term 3 End Date Friday 22 September

Term 4 Start Date Tuesday 10 October

Term 4 End Date Friday 8 December

Friday 3 March

Monday 24 April
Friday 18 August
Monday 21 August

Monday, 9 October

Please note, these dates are subject to change. If these dates for Professional Learning do require amending, parents will be notified well in advance.