Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful break enjoying the gorgeous warm weather we were lucky to experience. It was lovely to welcome the children back to school last week seeing their smiling faces and looking smart in their winter uniforms.

Just a few beginning of the term reminders.

Students are not to be at school before 8:30am.

School times

The school supervision times are as follows:

8:30am - Morning supervision begins.

3:30pm – Students should be collected before 3:30pm each day.

Students should not be at school outside these times.

If you need care outside of these times, please book into TeamKids before or after school care.

Attending school improves students’ academic success, social development and future opportunities.

Aim for 100% attendance

School starts at 8:55am and concludes at 3:00pm 

It is really important for all children to be at school by 8:55am as vital learning commences straight away. Supervision commences from 8:30am so please try your best to have your child at school before the bell.  

Every minute at school is valuable learning time! 

We encourage all students to attend school every day from 8:55am to 3:00pm. On occasion, your child/ren may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons for student absences may include:  

• being sick or having an infectious disease 

• having an unavoidable medical appointment 

• being required to attend a recognised religious holiday 

• exceptional or urgent family circumstances e.g. attending a funeral. 

All absences from school must be explained. 

• If your child is away for a day or so, please enter the reason for the absence directly into Compass.  

• If your child is going to be away for an extended period (but less than 25 days) please provide a written explanation to the school in advance of the absence. 

• Planned absences of greater than 25 days, approval needs to be obtained from the school. Please contact the Front Office to obtain the ‘Application for Extended Leave from School NSW’ or visit the Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn website to see the Attendance Policy and download the required form.

LATE ARRIVAL or EARLY COLLECTION

If your child arrives to school after 9:00am they should be signed in at the front office Compass portal by the adult delivering them to school. Parents collecting students early must proceed directly to the Front Office and sign their child out. The printer will issue a slip which can be handed to the classroom teacher upon collection. For safety reasons, students will not be released from the class to parents/carers without a sign-out slip.

ANZAC Day 2025

We had many students and families participate in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, RSL and Legacy Queanbeyan ANZAC Day march on Friday 25^th April. This is a special opportunity to commemorate the sacrifices of the ANZACs as well as service men and women who have and continue to serve Australia since.  I thank all those involved in this community event that provided us with a valuable opportunity to pause, show respect and be grateful. As a school community we also paused on Wednesday last week to partake in our own ANZAC Day prayer services. One at Macquoid Street and one at Lowe Street. I am so proud of how reverently and respectfully your beautiful children participated in these services. 

Northern Region Cross Country Carnival

On Friday many of our students travelled to Braidwood to represent St Gregory’s in the Northern Region Cross Country Carnival. I congratulate them all on their efforts and for representing the school so beautifully. Congratulations too to all our students who have successfully made it through to the next stage to represent the Northern Region at the Archdiocesan carnival next Friday 16th May at Stromlo.Thankyou to Mrs Spackman and Mr Howard for accompanying and supporting the students to the carnival.

 

Enrolments Open

It is that time of the year when we are taking enrolments for the next school year and we already have strong enrolment numbers which is wonderful. If you have a child who is to start school next year please remember to put in an electronic application by the end of next week if you haven’t already done so. Also, if you know anyone thinking of enrolling, please let them know that we are open for enrolments. It relative quick and easy just follow the ‘Thinking of enrolling?’ link on our school website or use this link. It is also time for all our Year 6 families to be enrolling their children for next Year 7 next year.

Mother's Day Stall

Thankyou to Di Smith and all of her helpers for all their amazing work on gathering, wrapping and putting together the Mother's Day Stall that will be operating this Thursday.

Fr Tony’s Ordination

On Friday evening I was blessed to be able to attend the Episcopal Ordination of the most Reverend Anthony Gerard Percy to Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The Episcopal Ordination took place at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney and it was such a moving and joyful celebration. Although we do miss Bishop Tony, we keep him in our prayers and wish him well in his new role.

We also look forward to welcoming our new parish priest Fr George Ogah in July this year.

As you would all be aware with the passing of Pope Francis during the holidays, the conclave will commence on May 7 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. During this special time in the life of our church, in this Jubilee Year themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, we give thanks for the blessing that Pope Francis was for our church through his compassionate leadership and we also pray for the church and the conclave.