Newsletter
Dear
www.scgleniris.catholic.edu.au
NO 5, 29th April 2016
Principal’s Update
Dear Parents
Thank you for your support and friendship over the past ten years during my time at St Cecilia’s. We have been able to
achieve great things because of the wonderful partnership that exists between all the stakeholders, including parishioners
no longer directly associated with the school, as well as members of the wider community.
I was delighted to be told by Father Waters that my replacement would be Karen Whiting and her deputy will be Matthew
Mooney. They have been key members of the school leadership team since I arrived at St Cecilia’s and they will continue
to be outstanding leaders as St Cecilia’s continues to develop and grow. They are well supported by the other members of
the leadership team, Pauline Kilduff, Libby Watkin and Kate Sutherland, together with the rest of our amazing staff members.
Last week’s assembly was something that I will cherish and it was made even more special to share the experience with my
wife Rhonda, my children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. I had no idea that they were going to be there!
I look forward to hearing about all the future successes at St Cecilia’s.
Thank you and best wishes
Gavan
Dear families,
Today is Gavan Murphy’s last day at St Cecilia’s after ten years of dedicated service as our principal.
We can hardly believe that the time has come! Gavan has been a teacher and principal for 46 years and made
an enormous contribution to Catholic Education. Last Friday we dressed him up as a King of the Kids for the day
but on reflection we should have given him a Superman cape! As you all know, Gavan is a gentle, mild-mannered
man but when inspired he can achieve great things! He has transformed our school buildings and yards into the
wonderful playground and learning spaces that we have today and future students will also reap the benefits of
his persistence with his grand “Master Plan”. Over the past few weeks he has had many farewells from the
parents, students and staff and has been overwhelmed by the accolades and expressions of thanks that he has
received. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to his wonderful celebrations and we can now lock the
gates!
We wish he and Rhonda all the best for a long and happy retirement together , travelling around Australia and
we hope that they will send us pictures/ Skype us on their journeys!
Best wishes, Gavan. You will always be fondly remembered by all at St Cecilia’s!
School Counsellors We are pleased to announce that the two new counsellors from Cairnmillar —James
White and Ms Rowan Arahia, have begun their two weeks observation sessions and are preparing to see individual
students. If any families would like their children to work with the counsellors, please contact Mrs Kate Sutherland:
[email protected]
NAPLAN The Naplan testing for the Year 3 and 5 classes will be held on Tuesday, 10th, Wednesday 11th
and Thursday 12th May. If you have any queries involving this testing, please contact Karen at
[email protected]
Alana Tortora Congratulations to Alana Tortora who has been trying out for the State basketball team and
is gradually moving through the divisions. Her next trial is on 7th June when she will compete in the Eastern Division ably assisted by her personal coach: Mrs Teresa Galgani!
Mid Year Function A reminder from Jessica Marriner not to forget the mid Year function is coming up on
Saturday, 18th June. A separate invitation will be sent out next week in a Mail– Out.
Winter Uniforms We extended our summer uniform dates due to our recent warm weather . From next Monday, 2nd May we will switch over to wearing Winter uniforms. There will be a week’s transition period and by Monday 9th May everyone should be in full winter uniform.
Thank you to our Uniform Shop organisers for opening the shop on extra occasions so that new families could purchase their uniform needs.
Life Ed The Life Education van has gone but the teachers and students are still working on the Activity
Booklets. Perhaps you could ask the children what they learnt in the van about the human body and making healthy
choices.
Maths awards Last year we introduced the Mangahigh Maths computer program for the students to use at
home and at school. Many students have participated in Challenges at home and six of them were presented with
an award at today’s assembly. Their names were: Stephanie Tortora, Megan Tran, Louis Katsos, Isabella Ronchi,
Nicholas Scacco and Angelica Rizk. Our school came 7th overall in the competition.
School Spirit awards Also today, two students: Zach Martin and Jacob Dee were presented with a special
School Spirit award. This is a special one given to students who demonstrate extraordinary leadership and are
great role models within the school community. At the end of the year, the Higgins Medal will be presented to one of
the recipients of our 2016 School Spirit awards. Congratulations to you both!
Confirmation Practice A reminder that there will be a Confirmation practice on Thursday, 5th May at 2pm.
Well done Mr Mooney and the year 5 and 6 teachers who conducted a highly successful Confirmation preparation
day on Thursday of this week! They had over 100 candidates and there is a report below.
Mothers’ day Please find information about the Mothers’ Day breakfast (on Friday, 6th May) in the pages below and send your replies in an envelope back to school early next week.
Mrs Louis Johnston is organising the Mothers’ day stall and would like some help next Wednesday at 9am in the
Hall to wrap gifts. The stall will be held on Thursday morning ( 5th May) so if anyone is free to help sell the gifts,
please contact Louise or come along on Thursday at 9am.
The Garden Anna is calling for some assistance in the school garden next Friday after 9am. She would like to do
some weeding, making compost, planting seedlings and adding more wire to the chicken cage. So… after a sumptuous Mothers’ day breakfast, maybe some mums will have the energy to help out!
Drop Off Zone The Council parking representative has been busy this week! He informed me that he observed and booked 3 parents who sat in the Drop Off Zone for 15 to 20 minutes after school on Wednesday. Vehicles are only permitted to remain in the Drop Off Zone for 2 minutes so if your child does not appear, you are asked
to drive around the block. Also, you are not meant to leave the car– except to put the seat belts on the children. It
might be good if you could inform grandparents, aunties and uncles and any other family members who pick up the
students about these rules otherwise they may be fined. Parents are also reminded to move along in the queue as
it can be dangerous when people pass and then reverse park into the queue to collect students.
Have a lovely weekend everyone,
Regards Karen Whiting
The beaming faces, excited discussions about
faith and the Church, new friendships formed
and an atmosphere of openness and joy were
all testament to the fact that Thursday’s Confirmation Retreat was not just about the Holy
Spirit, but was blessed by it’s presence and
guiding influence.
For the second time the Youth Engagement
Program (YEP) collaborated with the staff of
both St Cecilia’s to and St Columba’s to lead
over one hundred Confirmation Candidates
through a Retreat Program.
The witness of the young leaders from the YEP
team and our own returning students, Laura
Dean, Molly-Rose Coulter and Dina Gregg was
really inspirational and had the students thoroughly engaged and involved throughout the
entire day.
Included are some reflections from the candidates themselves.
I want to be confirmed so I can continue in
the catholic community and be apart of
God’s family. Another reason is because I
want to be one of God’s followers.
-Tyson Dyer 6A-
To me Confirmation means to be deciding
with my own voice, that I will choose to be
apart of the Church and learn about God as
well as I can.
I learnt that if I am me, God will only accept
that and nothing else, because I am happy
being me.
-Carla Gaunt 6A-
Paul, our host, explained milkshake theology.
At first I was confused because I didn’t know
how chocolate milkshake related to what we
were learning. As he started to talk about the
milkshake I began to understand, It was
about how we shouldn’t waste our gifts and
we should keep on using them or they will become useless. In the future, I will use my gifts
so I can help others and I will keep on praying
to God.
-Megan Tran 6A-
Bishop Mark came in and gave us a teaching
on the Holy Spirit's blessing with oil. This was
a very reverent time for me and everyone because he is such a special man talking about
how he will confirm us.
-Joel McMahaen 6A-
The Good News
Prayer Cloths:
WHITE
Class attending Mass this week:
Class Masses to Resume in Week 4 on Thursdays
Gospel:
John 15:9-11
Remain in my love
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved
you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my
commands, you will remain in my love, just as I
have kept my Father’s commands and remain in
his love. I have told you this so that my joy may
be in you and that your joy may be complete.
A prayer for the week:
Dear Jesus
I know you want me to be happy!
I realise that what is in question is not superficial
but is a happiness that comes from joy of being
‘in the right place’ - in right relationship with God,
with others, with myself.
Dates for your diary:
Friday May 13—St Cecilia’s Confirmation Ceremonies
St Cecilia’s Sports Day
Last Tuesday our students participated in the Annual School Sports at Ferndale Park. Students from
Foundation to Year 6 participated in a variety of events and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There
were many highlights throughout the day however the standout was the enthusiasm and sportsmanship that the students displayed. Miss Mustey very kindly offered to have the boy's race of the 'Mustey
Mile' be renamed to the 'Murphy Mile' in honor of Mr Murphy retiring this year. Some other highlights
include the House Captains relay, The senior 4x100m relay and the exciting team events. Congratulations to Red House and their House captains on their achievements and speech at the end of the day.
I would like to thank Mrs Galgani for all her hard work in the lead up to and during the sports day. Also
I would like to thank all our parents helpers who gave up their time to help out judging, scoring, marshaling, taking photos, supervising etc. Thanks a lot.
The teachers did a magnificent job of helping out with many different events so thank you also. Finally
a big thank you to the students for being such wonderful competitors throughout the day. The support
More Pics from…..St Cecilia’s Sports Day
2016 DIARY DATES
APRIL
Friday 29
Mr Murphy’s last day
MAY
Friday 6th
7:45am
Mothers’ day breakfast
Sunday 8th
Mothers’ day
Tuesday 10th
NAPLAN– language conventions eg punctuation./ spelling
Wednesday 11th
NAPLAN– Reading
Thursday 12th
NAPLAN– Numeracy
Friday 13th
5pm & 7pm
Wednesday 18th
Thursday 19th
Confirmation
Foundation Fire Brigade visit
9-10am
Open Morning for current school families
JUNE
Friday 3rd
Sunday 3rd
9:30am
10am
Feast of the Sacred Heart Mass
Yr 3/ 4 Sacramental Commitment Mass
Monday 13th
Queen’s birthday—long weekend
Wednesday 15th
Foundation Zoo excursion
Saturday 18th
Mid Year function
Tuesday 21st
Reports sent home
Friday 24th
P/ T interviews– no school