Term 3 Week 1 2025

Welcome back to each student and their family to Term 3.

I hope that you all had a chance to have some time just going that bit slower and taking some important time to relax and so something that you find enjoyable. During these holidays, I was able to travel with my husband Max to the Mid North for a few days. Whilst he was working in the great outdoors, I was able to walk around Laura and appreciate the ‘slower’ days for a bit.

We welcome our Term 3 Reception students and their families on their ‘official’ start to the St Monica’s community. Each of you is very welcome and we are so excited to connect and to get to know you more. We also welcome their educator, Ms Deneka Wilson who is very excited to begin this journey with her students.

As you may notice the back of the school is coming along smoothly and in a timely manner. We always knew there would be challenges with the building program, but we have been supported extensively by our architects from Brown Falconer, the building consultants from CESA and the builders themselves, Cook Build. We are still on schedule to have the back of school space handed back to us by late August. Students, families and staff have been very patient, flexible and resilient in working with the changes the building process has caused to our daily operations.

I would like to invite each family to our biannual Learning Expo on Wednesday 6 August, 3.00-5.00pm. This special occasion provides us with the opportunity to show case the students’ learning and our amazing learning spaces. There will be an afternoon tea served in the Library, we shall have all the learning spaces open for visitors and our talented students will perform musical items for our special guests. I hope that I will see many of you attend on this afternoon. Entry will be via Brunswick St.

There are a couple of important dates to put into your calendars for this term:

Wednesday 30 July – School Photo Day
Wednesday 6 August – Learning Expo at St Monica’s, 3.00-5.00pm
4 – 10 August - Catholic Schools Open Week
Monday 18 August - Book Week – Parade @ 9.00am in school hall
Friday 5 September – Father’s Day brekkie @ 8.15am and liturgy @ 9.00am
Friday 26 September – Sports Day @ St Alban’s Reserve, Clearview.

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO OSHC SERVICE AVAILABLE ON SPORTS DAY

I hope the week ahead is a joyful and productive one for you.

God’s blessings,

Emily Sayer

Congratulations to Harrison, Patrick, Sophie, Elsie, Lucy (Year 6), Annabel and Leo T (Year 5) who have been successfully selected to be part of the 2025 Tournament of Minds team.  Over the next 7 weeks they will work collaboratively to solve a complex challenge.  This will require problem solving skills, creativity and team work! 

Later in the term we will have a fair to celebrate Saint Monica, our Patron Saint. Student Voice is asking for donations of good quality used children’s books and novels to sell for 50c.  Please bring book donations to the office if you can.

Mrs Eden’s Year 3/4 Enrichment Group enjoyed a Science Unit looking into Changes of Matter. They had great fun doing the cornstarch and water experiment, often called "oobleck," creating a fascinating non-Newtonian fluid! 

The Year 6 group are doing a Science unit on Gravity and the writing up of scientific processes. Mr Daunt and the group re-lived their early childhood by using toy cars to test the impact of distance, height and angles on the distance that cars will travel.

A warm thank you to everyone in our school community who supported the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal this year!

Thanks to your generous donations, we collected a wonderful range of winter clothing—including beanie, gloves, scarves, and blankets—to help those doing it tough during the colder months. We’re also excited to share that we raised $855 to support St Vinnies in their mission to provide practical assistance and hope to people in need.

To mark the day, the children were invited to wear their pyjamas to school, reminding us of the comfort and warmth we enjoy—and the importance of sharing that with others. There were lots of smiles as students sipped on hot chocolate and enjoyed some delicious muffins, making the day both meaningful and fun.

We are so proud of the generosity and compassion shown by our community. St Mary MacKillop’s spirit of “never seeing a need without doing something about it” was truly alive in our actions.

Thank you again for making a difference!

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Sera, Beatrice, Stella, and Kingston who recently celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation!

This special milestone marks the deepening of their journey in faith, as they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit and were strengthened to live as true witnesses of Christ in the world.

We pray that the Holy Spirit continues to guide them with wisdom, courage, and love in all they do. May they always feel the presence of God in their hearts and walk confidently in their faith, sharing kindness, hope, and joy with others.

Well done, Sera, Beatrice, Stella, and Kingston! Your school and parish community are so proud of you.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.

On Thursday 3rd July, we participated in Catholic Schools Netball Carnival at SA Netball Stadium at Mile End. There was lots of laughter and happy smiles and everyone enjoyed the day. We want to thank all the parents and old scholars who volunteered to assist with coaching or umpiring. We all had an amazing time and enjoyed playing against the other schools. We entered 10 teams, four 3/4 boys teams, three 3/4 girls teams, one year 5 boys team, a Year 6 boys team and a year 5/6 girls team ! We are a small school in comparison to other schools but we are mighty strong 💪!

By Olivia Caruna and Annabel Nicholas

2025 Book Week – 18th -25th August

Only 4 weeks to Book Week.

This year’s theme Book an Adventure celebrates reading stories and their amazing power to transport minds, encouraging children to be curious about the wonders in our world.  

The Book Week Parade and activities will take place on Monday 18th August. The Book an Adventure theme provides endless possibilities for the students to dress up as their favourite book character or to have an adventure back in time, in space, the jungle, in the future or anywhere in the world.

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2025 / Premier’s Be Active Challenge 2025

Congratulations to all the students who have already completed the 2025 PRC and PbaC Challenges. Completed PRC Reading Records and Premier’s Be Active Challenge forms can be returned to the library at any time and blank record forms are available from the library. The PRC ends on September 19th and the PbaC on September26th

Further information about the Be Active Challenge can be found at https://pbac.sa.edu.au and the  Reading Challenge at www.prc.sa.edu                           

Overdue Library Books and Readers.

Over the holidays a stocktake of the readers was done and many are still out and overdue, there are also many library books which need to be returned.  Could you please check at home and in school bags and return any books found as soon as possible.  Thank you.

Scholastic Book Club Order No. 5

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Book Club which provides additional resources for the school. Book Club No. 5 order forms will be sent home next week. Loop orders need to be made by Tuesday 5th August.

Thank you to the students, their families, and the Staff of St Monica’s Parish School for the wonderful and generous response to the Vinnies Winter Appeal. The blankets, beanies, scarves, and gloves have gone to the Vinnies Men’s and Women’s Crisis Centres and Fred’s Van to be given out to those in need. The proceeds from the Muffin and Hot Chocolate Day will assist your local Vinnies Conference to provide food to Companions in our local community in need.

Thank you on behalf of those who will benefit from your support.

The parent community has established a private group on Facebook that facilitates the trading of second-hand uniform items.

Please visit www.facebook.com/groups/stmonicasbuyswapsell and request to join the group if you are interested.

The page is ideal for selling items in good condition that your child has outgrown, or to sell items if your child is moving on. Simply post images and your contact details. Alternatively, you can join the group to take advantage of the pre-loved items that become available.

For those of you who are not on Facebook, please contact the P&F pandf.stmonicas@gmail.com and they will assist you with the sale of items.

Please note the sale of old-style uniform items is not allowed. St Monica's Parish School does not manage this page and takes no responsibility for any private sales.

We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the land upon which St Monica’s learn, work and play.

May we walk gently on this land acknowledging the Kaurna people's deep spiritual connection with their country.

We pay our respects to Kaurna elders past and present and commit to the ongoing journey of Reconciliation.