St Nicholas of Myra School PO Box 265, Penrith 2751. Phone: (02) 4721 2623 Fax: (02) 4721 0141 Email: stnicholas@parra.catholic.edu.au Website: http://www.stnicholaspenrith.catholic.edu.au Term 3 Week 9 2017 Dear St Nicholas of Myra Families, Friday 15 Sept Stage 2 Touch Football Parish Mass - Stage 3 and Early Stage 1 Wed 20 Sept 1:10 1:35pm Stage 3 Art Exhibition 2:15pm End of Term Awards Assembly Friday 22 Sept Stage 3 Touch Football Parish Mass Stage 1 Last Day of Term 3 Happy Holidays! Monday 9 October God is the invisible parent and God s love and care for us will always be greater than ours. Moreover, God has the power to touch the heart of our child and break through to our child in a way that we, as parents, often cannot. God can reach into places where we cannot reach. God is always there with a love more patient and strong than is our own. This can be of great consolation to us, if our children ever stop listening to us, turn their backs on us, reject our values and even turn away from everything we stand for. God, they cannot walk away from. God s friendship with us comes to the surface every now and then and one such occasion is when our children receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Prior to the first Confirmation, Jesus disciples were in no-man s-land. Jesus had gone from them and there was a void in their lives. For ten days after the Ascension they gathered together waiting for something to happen, as Jesus said it would. They had ten days to go over the past three years when Jesus had been the centre of their lives; ten days to reassess their own lives and be supportive of one another. Our children, through our example and the preparation they receive at parish and school, also have time to consider their lives, to become aware of the Seven special gifts of the Spirit and the practise of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. When the disciples, on the first Pentecost day, received the Holy Spirit into their lives, they were changed forever and they in turn changed the lives of thousands of other people. Likewise, our children, when they receive the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, will receive the potential for change. God is now with them, with the fullness of His presence, as they move ahead in their own individual lives. God will always be there, when perhaps we are not, with a love patient and everlasting. Confirmation is the sacrament where we as young people say a strong YES the decision to be Catholic which our Parents made on our behalf at Baptism. Thank you for a wonderful Confirmation Celebration! Peace and Joy Anita Knezevic Principal Term 4 Commences
Thank you to Father Pio for being able to be flexible and still celebrate our Father s Day Mass in the Hall.
Learning News Congratulations to Elle Moore for representing our school in the Voice of Youth Semi Final. Thank you to Darcy, Breanna and Mrs Khoury for attending to support Elle at this next level. She performed her speech with the same exuberance and received a medal to acknowledge her efforts, time and speech! Stage 3 Excursion On Tuesday 5 September, Stage 3 ventured to the Art Gallery of NSW to view the finalists of the Archibald Prize. There was much debate among our groups over the artwork that was chosen as the winner. Most of the Stage 3 children would have chosen a different artwork. This excursion has served as their inspiration for their own portraits which you are welcome to view on Wednesday 20.9.17 at fruit break. Page 3
Religious Education News Congratulations to these students who completed their Initiation into the Catholic Church on Tuesday night making their Confirmation. These students have said YES to continuing their Catholic faith. Ella Becroft Stacie Becroft Alex Stevens Noah Simmons William Goncalves Tara Teuma Lucy Keane William Brown Levi Briggs Ante Broz Lilly Vlores Isabelle Sharpe Caeleb Culley Page 2
Catholic Culture Our PAKZ Club has started.. Thank you to Cathe Cohen, Kristy Britt, Sarah Lestal-Braid and Maria Braid for giving their time to our students to offer some alternatives during Lunch and Fruit Break. Here are some photos of our first two weeks. Thank you to Mrs Cole, Miss Inskip, Miss Biasi, Mrs Smith and Miss Teulan for organising this for our students with our parents. Happy Birthday to Father Pio on Monday we hope you are still enjoying your delicious fruit box! Father s Mass, Superhero BBQ and Disco! Thank you to Emma Williams for Coordinating and organising this event along with a band of helpers: Helena Steed, Lauren Baker, Nicole White, Jeff Reitano, Cathe Cohen, Daniel Coulton, Jenniffer Madraitabua, Andrew Archer, Racquelle Kassouf, Sarah Edwy-Smith, Hamssa Danil, Simone Mitchell, Yash Swarup, Katrina Wearne, Kevin Wearne, Sam Costello and Paul Williams. Thank you to Agata Burdanowski for providing the disco lights and Claire Vella for providing the photo booth. Also to the staff who stayed and helped get some Dads dancing; Mrs Cutajar, Miss Inskip, Miss Reece, Mrs Smith, Mr Simpson our photographer, Miss Teulan our DJ in the house, Miss Harris, Miss Wheelahan and Miss Khalifeh for setting up and Mrs Vella for being our welcomer. It was a fun and fantastic event with everyone getting into the spirit of the night and a great way to commence our Father s Day Celebrations. Fun Food Day - Pizza Thank you to Nicole Rebernik and Jennifer Almeida for stepping in at the last minute to ensure our Pizza Day was a delicious one!
General News Summer Uniform is compulsory from Monday 23 October 2017. As the days are beginning to get warmer students are able to wear their summer uniform. As long as the student is wearing a complete uniform albeit summer or winter this is permitted until the end of Week 2 Term 4. Calendar Please enter some of these important dates for the End of Year School Events: Parent Group Week 3: Monday 23 October 2017 Week 5: Monday 6 November 2017 - Normally this meeting would take place in Week 6 however, I am on leave on the Monday in Week 6 and therefore have moved this forward a week to Week 5: Monday 6 November 2017. This is where we accept and self nominate 2018 Parent Group Roles and Stage Representatives. We also set The Fun Food Days for Term 1 as well as organise who will assist the major fundraisers each term. By the Parent Group Roles (Chairperson, Pastoral Care, Secretary and Treasurer) being a one year commitment it allows others to step in and also ensures many people are represented across our school community. Swim School for two weeks each year... Monday 27 November - Friday 8 December 2017 St Nicholas of Myra Feast Day and Christmas Concert 2017 This year we will be combining and celebrating our Patron Saint with our Christmas Concert festivities on Wednesday 6 December 2017 5:30-6:30pm BBQ, Raffle Tickets, Slushies, Soccer Darts and Christmas Ornaments 6:30 - Concert commences Wednesday 13 December 2017 9:00-10:00 Talent Quest in the school hall 11:00-12:30 End of Year and Year 6 Graduation Mass in the Church 13:40-3:00 End of Year Awards in the Church Thursday 14 December 2017 Swimming Carnival at Ripples Year 6 Graduation Dinner at Nepean Rowing Club from 6:00pm Term 4 final dates for school Final Day for Students Friday 15 December 2017 Final Days for Staff Monday 18 December 2017 and Tuesday 19 December 2017 (staff will not be on site) Super singers! Preparations are now underway for the 2017 St Nicholas of Myra Christmas concert. All students will be involved in the concert however last Monday auditions were held for our lead singing roles. I would like to congratulate all of the students who auditioned for their courage in singing solo and acapella in front of myself, Miss Sheridan (from The Music House, who will be assisting us with the concert) and their peers. All students sung beautifully and I would encourage them and any others who may be interested to join the St Nicholas Parish Children's choir. The choir sings on the first Sunday of each month at 10am Mass, with rehearsals being the Friday before the assigned mass at 5:15pm. For further details, please contact Miss Sheridan at The Music House sheridansinging@hotmail.com Mrs Lennon Page 3
Grooming Hair General News Once again we have received a complaint from our neighbours in Higgins Street regarding double parking in the afternoon blocking driveways. Could we kindly ask that you be respectful and mindful of our neighbours. Please do not queue up early in the afternoons. There are still cars arriving before 3pm starting to queue up. Police and Rangers are being very patient, but they will start issuing fines if this practice continues. If it is necessary for you to get to school earlier please park in a side street and walk to school. We are very fortunate that we have an organised Kiss n Drive procedure here at St Nicholas of Myra. Thank you to those parents and carers who display their family names of the dashboard and respect our Kiss n Ride Procedures. Hairstyles are to be neat and simple and devoid of any type of cosmetic colouring. Students with shoulder-length hair are to have it tied back away from the face to allow clear vision and for hygiene reasons. Ribbons and scrunchies worn by girls are to be in the school colours of blue. Hair accessories such as multi-coloured clips are not to be worn. Boys' haircuts are not to be radically cut or multi-layered (such as pronounced, shaved undercuts) or so long, that it is below the collar, or across the eyes that it impairs vision. St Nicholas of Myra Parish 326 High St Penrith 4721 2509 Mass Times Saturday Vigil 6:00pm Sunday 7:00am, 8:30am, 10:00am & 6:00pm Weekday Masses: Monday 9.30am Tuesday 6:45am, 9.30am Wednesday 6:45am, 9:30am Thursday 9:30am Friday 6:45am, 12:10pm JUNIOR GOLF CLINICS School Holidays Leonay Golf Club Wednesday September 27 Ages 12 & Under 9 to 10:30am Ages 12 & Over 11 to 12:30 Tuesday October 3 Ages 12 & Under 9 to 10:30am Ages 12 & Over 11 to 12:30 BBQ Lunch at each Clinic 10:30 11am Everything supplied $25pp Phone for bookings: 02 47355529 Ben Breckenridge Head PGA Professional Leonay Golf Club