RUOK? Day

RUOK? Day is an important National Day dedicated to raising awareness about mental health and the power of asking, "Are you okaY?"

Today, our students will be learning about RUOK? Day. They will discuss how to be a good friend to others and how to ask if someone is okay or if they need help. It is a simple but powerful way to show kindness and empathy.

At St Matthew's, I feel truly blessed to be part of a beautiful school community (staff. students and parents) that check in with each other every day. Whether it’s a friendly greeting, a caring conversation in the classroom or on the playground, or a 'How are you?' from staff as they pass in the hallway, every day feels like RUOK? Day here.

Let's continue to nurture this supportive environment by encouraging open, caring conversations with one another, both at school and at home.

Trans Tasman Primary Principals Conference

Next week, I am excited to share that I will be attending the Trans-Tasman Principals Conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. The theme for this year’s conference is Together Leading Learning, which perfectly aligns with our philosophy here at St Matthew's of fostering collaboration and growth for both our students and staff.

Conferences like this are a wonderful opportunity for me to learn new ideas, strategies, and insights that will help us continue to provide the best learning environment possible for our students. It's also a great chance to connect with fellow principals from Australia and New Zealand, sharing experiences and gaining fresh perspectives.

While I’m away, the school will be in the capable hands of Mrs Cole and our Leadership Team, and I look forward to returning with new knowledge and inspiration to continue leading our vibrant learning community.

Unfortunately, I do not return from my trip in time to attend the St Matthew's Trivia Night, so please accept my apologies. I know it will be a fantastic night and a wonderful opportunity to raise important funds for St Matthew's. I would like to thank the organising committee for all their hard work and encourage you all to attend. 

St Matt's Family and Friends Trivia Night 

The school Community Council warmly invites the parents, carers, staff, and friends of St Matthew's to attend the annual fundraising Trivia Night.

Tickets can be purchased using the QR code on the flyer in the School Community Council section of this newsletter or by visiting Try Booking https://www.trybooking.com/CUWZT

From all accounts, the trivia night is great fun, and it raises valuable funds for resources that assist your child.

Save the date!

We look forward to welcoming all of our Grandparents and Grand-Friends to St Matthew's on Friday, 25 October from 9.30am (commencing with a 10.00am Prayer Celebration) to 11.30am. Further details will be shared closer to the date.

Child Safeguarding Corner

The Child Safe Standards provide us with tangible guidance about how to create cultures, adopt strategies and act to put the interests of children first to keep them safe from harm. Each fortnight, I present one of the standards and ask you to reflect on how you think we’re addressing the recommendations. We welcome ideas and feedback from our families and community! This week, we’re looking at Standard 9: Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is continuously reviewed and improved.

The aim of this standard is to identify and minimise risks to ensure that we continuously improve our child-safe practices.  This standard is important because Child Safe Standards are more effective if implementation is continuously reviewed and improved. Being a child-safe organisation is an evolving process that requires ongoing efforts to keep children safe. 

Our aim is to prioritise this standard for child safety in what we say and do:

• We maintain a culture of continuous improvement to ensure policies and procedures are implemented and routinely reviewed.
• We know the value of continuous monitoring, open conversations and exploring new ways to keep children safe. 
• We review incidents to identify the cause and the risks to the safety of children and to make improvements. 

We now have a page on our school website dedicated to Child Safeguarding, and we encourage you to view it. 

If you have any questions or feedback about how we are addressing this particular Standard or about our new Child Safeguarding page, please email me (petra.cole@cg.catholic.edu.au). 

Friendology

St Matthew’s is proud to be a URSTRONG school. URSTRONG provides a friendship skills curriculum, Friendology 101, that helps our students to establish and maintain healthy relationships, manage conflict with kindness, and increase their overall resilience. One of the first foundational concepts in the friendship skills curriculum teaches our students about the difference between healthy and unhealthy friendships. 

Some friendships bring out the best in us, while, unfortunately, some bring out the worst. It’s important to teach children that friendships are a choice. The Friend-o-Meter was developed by URSTRONG because research shows that children don’t always assess or evaluate their friendships, which means they accept both the good and the bad. We want children to think about whether or not friendships are healthy for them, and it’s critical that we start now. In order for self-compassion to be an instinct when considering future relationships, children should be encouraged to ask themselves: 

• Is this friendship good for me? 
• Does this person treat me with the respect I deserve? 

You can join URSTRONG and support our school by sharing the same messages and teaching the same skills that we teach here at St Matthew’s. URSTRONG provides simple but meaningful language and skills to open up a dialogue with your children. You can join URSTRONG for free: https://urstrong.com/.

Petra Cole

Assistant Principal ┃Child Safe Advocate┃Classroom Support Teacher

At St Matthew’s, we believe that a positive discipline policy should be concerned with guidance and instruction and not based primarily on punitive actions. We believe in a proactive approach that utilises positive reinforcement and is sensitive to the needs of each student as an individual.

Our goal is to foster a positive school environment where students feel supported, even when mistakes are made. We believe in learning from these moments while maintaining trust within our school community and upholding a respectful atmosphere for everyone. 

Our school rules revolve around four basic premises:

Lead - we lead by caring for ourselves, for others and for our environment

Listen - we listen to and follow instructions

Learn - ee allow teachers to teach and students to learn

Safety - we keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves

Sometimes, children make mistakes - it's a natural part of growing up and learning. When a child’s behaviour requires attention, a staff member will address the issue carefully. In response to a significant incident, either the classroom teacher or a member of the Leadership Team will reach out to the parents or guardians of all children involved to keep them informed and ensure a collaborative approach to resolving the matter.

It’s important to understand that, for privacy reasons, we do not share the specific details of any consequences or disciplinary actions that may be taken with others outside of the family directly involved. This policy is in place to protect the personal privacy of each child and to ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect.

Our approach to Behaviour Management considers four interrelated aspects of discipline:

1. Positive strategies to celebrate appropriate behaviour, including awards and affirmations
2. Preventative strategies to encourage appropriate behaviour
3. Corrective strategies to address inappropriate behaviour and

If you have any questions about our Behaviour Management processes, please contact me or a member of the Leadership Team.

Mrs Rachel Powell

Co-Ordinator

Sunday Connection - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Taken and adapted from LoyolaPress and Break Open the Word)

Gospel Reading - Mark 8:27-35
Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus teaches that those who would follow him must take up his or her cross.

Background on the Gospel Reading

Today’s reading is the turning point in Mark’s Gospel. In the presentation of the life and ministry of Jesus found in the Gospel of Mark, the deeds of Jesus have shown Jesus to be the Son of God. Yet many, including Jesus’ disciples, have not yet realised his identity. In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the disciples for a field report by asking what others say about him. He then turns the question directly to the disciples and asks what they believe. Peter speaks for all of them when he announces that they believe Jesus to be the Christ.

Now that the disciples have acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, Jesus confides in them the outcome of his ministry: he will be rejected, must suffer and die, and will rise after three days. Peter rejects this prediction, and Jesus rebukes him severely. The image of Christ that Jesus is giving is not the image of the Messiah that Peter was expecting. Jesus then teaches the crowd and the disciples about the path of discipleship: To be Chris’s disciple is to follow in the way of the cross.

Family Connection 

Peter had expectations about what it meant to call Jesus the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus was indeed the Messiah, but his life and death would show a different understanding of what it means to be the Messiah. We, too, have expectations of God and our own ideas about what we think God ought to be doing in our world. Like Peter, however, we may risk limiting our image of God by thinking only in human ways. God's plan is always more than we can ever imagine.

As a family, talk about what we expect God to be doing in our world and in our family life. Then read today's Gospel, Mark 8:31-35. Why do you think Peter was so upset by what Jesus was saying? Notice how Jesus reprimands Peter. Do we sometimes forget to let God be God for us? That is, do we sometimes get discouraged because God doesn't act in our world in the ways that we expect? Pray together that we will remember that God is always working for the world's salvation in ways that are beyond our imagination. Conclude by praying together today's psalm, Psalm 116.

Praying at Home 

Our students often show a desire and interest in praying at home. One way to regularly bring prayer into your home is by praying before meals. It reminds us that God is with us, and we thank him. Here are some ideas for prayer before meals for you to try at home. 

1. Have family members take turns leading the prayer each day. You might start with a petition, praise to God—whatever the leader chooses.
2. Ask each member to say one thing he or she is grateful for that day.
3. Expand on the previous exercise by having each person at the table quickly answer these questions: What are you grateful for? What do you want to ask God for? What are you sorry for today? Whom did you help?
4. Or try one of the traditional prayers.

First Holy Communion

This weekend we celebrate our Year 4 students who are receiving their First Holy Communion. The students began preparation for the Sacrament with a faith formation evening back in Week 4. They have been exploring and learning about the Eucharist through scripture, the parts of the mass and the ritual and tradition of our faith. 

Jesus tells us that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there with them. He also asked us to share together as a community through a fellowship meal regularly and to do so in memory of him. Our faith tradition teaches that every time we receive Communion, we are receiving Jesus Himself. Through Communion, God’s life and Grace we received at Baptism, along with our Charisms from the Holy Spirit, are nourished and strengthened. We stay in relationship with and stay connected to God every time we receive Him during Mass.

We take time to think of our First Communicants during this special and blessed occasion. May their spiritual life be nourished and strengthened through prayer, encounter, discipleship, mission and through receiving the Eucharist.

Upcoming Events 

Young People and Technology

How do young people use the internet?

Apps: Each ‘app’ is a program that can do different things. 

Social Media: Social media is described as different websites and apps where you create a personal profile to communicate with others. Examples include Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Gaming: Gaming can be a great way for young people to have fun. Games can help children:

• Learn problem-solving skills
• Work with others
• Grow confidence

Downloading or file sharing: Downloading is when you copy data, files or information from one device to another.

Instant messaging and ‘chat’: Instant messaging (IM) and ‘chat’ are messages sent (and received) in real time over the internet. You can also video chat if you have a computer or mobile device with a webcam or camera. Young people might talk to friends or family that live far away. 

Image and video sharing: For young people, image and video sharing can be a fun way to communicate with friends. Even though some apps may claim that content ‘disappears’, remind your child an image can still be copied, saved or stored. Once an image or video is sent, you can lose control over where it ends up. 

How can I help my child search the internet safely?

	Children under 10 It’s a good idea for adults to supervise children under 10, and explore technology with them. You can also use filtering software, parental controls and safe searching controls.
	Tweens (11 and 12) Tweens may want more freedom to explore the internet in private. Safe searching tips and parental controls may still be used. With your child, discuss safe internet use and talk to your child about what they should do if something upsets them online.

Regional Track and Field Championships

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to all parents who assisted at the Track and Field Athletics Carnival. Without your help, these events would not be possible to run. We are so lucky to have such a supportive parent community here at St Matthew’s. 

Congratulations to Alastair and Elsie on making it through to the ACT level in the following events:

Alastair - 800m and 200m

Elsie - 100m, 200m, 800m, Long Jump and 1500m

Best of luck to you both!

Pictured below are Mya, Georgia and Evelyn at the AIS.

Tennis Coaching Clinics

This term, all students have been participating in Tennis clinics with our good friend Coach Buster. If your child has recently shown an interest in wanting to play tennis, below are two flyers with information about their upcoming events. 

In Term 4, we will be looking at other clinics for all students so that they can enjoy and learn a variety of sports. 

2024 Swimming Program

This year, our Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two students will participate in a swimming program at Stromlo Leisure Centre during Week One of Term Four.

Due to the recent increase in the cost of the program, we have decided to focus on giving our non-swimmers and early swimmers the opportunity.

Representative News

I have heard recently that we have a number of students selected to represent Canberra in a variety of sports and activities (soccer, skiing, and rubriks cube were mentioned). I would love to share these achievements with the school community.

If your child has news, please send a photograph and information about the event to me dillon.payne@cg.catholic.edu.au.

Welcome to St Matt's Family and Friends Trivia Night 2024!

Come join us for a night filled with fun, laughter, and brain-teasing questions at Raiders Belconnen. Get ready to test your knowledge and compete with friends and family in this exciting in-person event. Whether you're a trivia master or just looking for a good time, this is the place to be!

Grab your team, brush up on your facts, and get ready to win some awesome prizes. Don't miss out on this chance to show off your smarts and enjoy a great evening out. See you there!

Use the QR code below to purchase tickets or visit Try Booking https://www.trybooking.com/CUWZT