It is the most glorious day down at Nicholson Park today. Over 500 students from across the Archdiocese have descended on the playing fields for the Cootamundra Annual Secondary Touch Carnival. Our carnival has been in hiatus for the past three years due to COVID and flooding. The reinstitution of this iconic event has been welcomed and supported enthusiastically by all the invited schools. A huge thank you to Ms Megan Withers who has reinvigorated the event and once again restored it to its past glory. It has taken an enormous amount of effort, time and energy to make this event happen and we appreciate the effort and enthusiasm that Megan has given to make it successful. Thank you to all our staff for their support and taking on additional responsibilities at this busy time of year. Our students are so excited by the opportunity to participate and network with all their peers across the region.

It has been remiss of me not to formally announce to the school community the appointment of Ms Erryn Marsay to the position of Assistant Principal for 2024. Erryn brings a wealth of experience, skills and dedication to this role. We are very grateful that she is prepared to take on such a big and varied role. This will offer our school consistency and stability moving forward and we look forward to the contributions that she will make in this position. Currently we are sourcing a new Secondary Coordinator and additional staff roles for 2024. We are hopeful that we will continue the high standard of teachers that we have always employed and will release teacher/class details as soon as they are finalized.

Currently all classes are winding up final assessments and then semester reports will be written. Across the Archdiocese there is the reintroduction of written comments on all reports in the form of commendations and recommendations. This will mean that there will be NO phone calls to Primary parents this semester but an opportunity to book an interview after the release of the reports if there are any questions or clarification is required. All reports will be via the COMPASS app in week 9.

At the time of writing there has been no definitive for the start of our building works in the Primary building. It is currently being re for tender and then a scope of works can be determined and a start date named. However, we will begin the epic task of preparing for the interim teaching spaces when the work begins. We will be taking up residence in the vacated CONVENT rooms until the work is completed. Four of our Primary classrooms will be in the convent and the remaining one will be in a secondary space. This necessitates the cleaning up of the convent in preparation of our use of the building and the movement of resources and infrastructure from the existing classrooms. We a hopeful that we can have a significant working bee to help with this process. It is being considered for a Friday evening and a BBQ tea to conclude a couple of hours of work. Stay tuned for this possibility. Many hands make light work.

This Saturday 11 November is the commemoration of the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918. Our junior leaders will represent the school at the commemorative service at Albert Park at 11am tomorrow. Thank you to Mr Winsor who will support our leaders. This is a significant event to remember the sacrifices and service of so many people in conflicts across the globe. We are grateful and thankful for their service to peace. The school will commemorate the event on Monday 13 November at 2.45 on the presbytery lawn. Thank you to Mr Mahon and the Year 9 History class for their preparation of this event.

Our Year 10 students will participate in the annual Beyond Sacred Heart Week beginning on Monday. This is a fabulous opportunity to learn some of the essential life skills for life after school. Everything from budgeting, renting, saving, basic car care, dressing for success and applying for jobs are covered. This is the brainchild of Ms Withers and Mr Mahon and it is an incredibly successful and valuable program. We thank them for their efforts.

On Sunday 19^th November we will be hosting the Holey the 13^th Golf Day at the Cootamundra Country Club as a fundraising event for out school. This is a fabulous family day that raises valuable funds for our students. If you would like to be part of the day please organize teams of 4 and give your names to the Front Office by next Wednesday 15^th. It is $20 per head for an adult and $15 for a child. It’s a 10am shotgun start and refreshments are available all day. I you are not playing we are desperate for some more helpers to cook the BBQ and serve drinks. Please contact Emma Deep at the school 69422612.

A reminder that the Primary Disco is this Wednesday 15 November at the S & C Club. It will be supervised from 5pm until 7pm. There is no charge for this event. Drinks and snacks can be purchased from the Club. All students must collect a ticket before the event so that we can track attendees. The theme is: favourite movie character. Thank you to our wonderful staff for generously giving up their time to make this disco happen.

Our Year 5 and Year 9 students are already considering what it takes to be a leader and what is involved in being on the Student Leadership Team in 2024. These are important skills to learn and understand for future application. Our Year 5 Leadership/Reflection Day will be next Thursday 16 and Year 9 will take the 20 November to work through this understanding and nominate for the 2024 Leadership positions. We place incredible value on the Peer Leaders who take on these roles and train and support them to be strong and effective leaders. Thank you to Mr Winsor and Ms Marsay who have guided and supported the 2023 Leadership teams.

We are now half way through the team and the year has almost slipped by. We will continue to make every day count and attendance is vital. Only 5 weeks to go in the academic year and we hope to see every student every day!!!

There is always a reason to be kind.

God Bless.

Primary

Swimming Programs

Our K-6 swimming intensive program will be held in week 8-9. Further information is available through compass. 3-6 students may participate in this program if they require further consolidation of skills and water safety. It is not necessarily squad practice. Please decline or accept so that staffing and final arrangements can be made. 

Primary swimming will start next week, week 6, and run every Thursday until week 9. It will be $12.00 for the 4 weeks. If you have a valid season pass please let us know and we will adjust accordingly. Students are reminded that they will need to bring their swimmers including a rashie, towel, hat and goggles. This event is out on compass, if you have any questions please contact me. 

2024 Canberra/ Goulburn trials

Nominations are now open for students who wish to trail for the Canberra Goulburn 2024 sports. Touch, Cricket, Tennis and Basketball trails for 2024 are all run in term 4. If your child is interested in trialling for these events registration is through the CSNSW Sport Website; https://csnsw.sport/help/help-guide-for-parents 

Touch 24th November, ACT

Tennis 30th November, ACT 

Basketball 1st December, ACT 

Regards,

Wendy Van Kerk Oerle

Primary Sports Coordinator