6 May 2024

Upcoming Events

Term 2 - Week 2

• Monday 29th April 2024
  • Rugby League meeting at Recess in the Hall
  • Mini Vinnies with Mrs Avinash at Recess
    
    
• Tuesday 7th May 2024
  • Diocesan Cross Country in Coolah
  • Choir with Mrs Sadler at Recess

• Wednesday 8th May 2024
  • Rugby League Peachy Richardson Gala Day - Year 5 and 6 students
  • Guitar Group at Recess
    

• Thursday 9th  May 2024

  • Mothers’ Day breakfast starting from 7:30am

  • Mothers’ Day liturgy led by Kindergarten

  • Alpha @12pm
    

• Friday 10th May 2024
  • Mother's Day Stall
  • K-2 Gymnastics in the Hall
  • Agriculture Club with Mrs Angelucci @Recess

2024 Important Dates

• Friday 5th July 2024
  • Last day of Term 2

More important dates listed here Website Calendar Link

For those with a Google Account the calendar can be added to your Google calendars for
easy access on your phone or device Google School Calendar Link

From the Principal

This week we celebrate Catholic Schools Week. As we celebrate, we draw your attention to the community that is certainly alive each week at Cathedral. This week, we celebrate our community events.

Events that throughout each week create community with students, parents and the wider community.

This Catholic Schools Week, we also officially launch our Breakfast Program.
We thank Mrs Alice Gallagher and Mrs Alana Watson for making this dream a reality, along with the support of our P&F for assisting with the fit out of our canteen for this exciting venture.

Below are all the wonderful events happening in our school this week.

Over the weekend, as I watched many of our students and Cathedral alumni participate at the Western Junior League Basketball Finals I was reminded of the fine young people that we have here at Cathedral. I witnessed students, past and present showing respect to the referees, congratulating their opponents, bouncing back from failures on the court and playing together as a team. Together with our Cathedral families, we aim to grow faith filled members of the community who take the love of Jesus out to all they meet. We see this in our school and we are so proud that we also see this in abundance in our community. Congratulations Cathedral!

Camille da Silva Tavares   | Principal

Volunteers - the heart of our Catholic School

We see community in our classrooms, in our clubs, sporting groups, school bands and parish events. We also see community built by those who are able to volunteer. This Catholic Schools Week, we thank all those who volunteer at Cathedral for the many gifts that they bring to our school. Below is a letter from one of our former parents, who still volunteers at our school canteen. We thank Natalie for taking the time to write this for our newsletter.

 A letter from Natalie -
My first child started at Cathedral in 2017 and I found it hard not knowing exactly what was on offer at the School Canteen (for orders which were by paper bag back in the day and cash only)!  My son felt left out as I didn't allow him lunch orders as I wasn’t really aware of what they were (a yummy drummy what an earth was that …. yoghurt frogs, a pot of yoghurt, shaped like a frog??). So I found myself about week 6 volunteering to do Canteen just so I could get my head around the names of items and what they were, it was all another level of learning.

After my first day in the Canteen I found myself enjoying it. Alana is a wonderfully patient person with the training and some days I still have memory lapses as to timings and when to do things but she never says snap out of it Nat you have been doing this for 7 years, you should know!

 You can offer as much or as little time as you have spare. Some people do it on a Rostered Day off which Alana is very accommodating in ensuring you get the correct day and some parents or carers volunteer to just come in during their lunch break and do Canteen window service of ice blocks and chips which is a wonderful relief allowing the others on canteen to ensure fridges are stocked and clean up is completed before the end of the school day. You could even come in on an Annual Leave day to assist.

If you have not volunteered for the canteen, I suggest that you put your hand up and give it a go. Your children get such a thrill seeing you in the canteen and telling their friends that you're their Mum or Dad.

 I now no longer have any children at Cathedral but still enjoy helping out in the Canteen and volunteering my time to assist Alana.  So I ask that everyone just try it once, you never know, you might like it!

Alpha - You are invited!

We had a beautiful start to Alpha last week with Cathedral parents, grandparents, parishioners and friends joining in for our first session. We were treated to a scrumptious soup for lunch thanks to Alana in the canteen and had a beautiful time getting to know one another.

There is still plenty of room at the table and so we invite you to come along this Thursday, 12pm in the hall to join us.

What should I expect?
Alpha is an environment for anyone and everyone who wants to explore life and the Christian faith, ask questions, and share their point of view. Alpha is free and everyone is welcome. This season of Alpha will run for 10 sessions (each Thursday at 12pm).

Alpha begins by sharing a meal together (lunch will be provided free of charge).
After lunch participants watch a brief clip about Christianity.

After the clip we have some time to share our point of view in a small group.

Do I have to be Catholic or Christian to attend? No
Do I have to attend Mass regularly to attend? No
If I have small children can they come too? Of course!
Do I have to attend every week? No. It is ideal if you can attend every week, however we understand that you may not be able to make it each week or you may want to attend the first session to see if you will enjoy Alpha and that is perfectly fine.

 Alpha is a wonderful opportunity to connect with others. The Cathedral Parish has already run two seasons of Alpha and our Cathedral staff participated in Alpha last year. This is a combined effort with our Cathedral Parish and caters for those who would prefer a day time event. The Parish will continue to run future seasons of Alpha with further evening options.

If you are interested but would like to find out more about the sessions first then have a chat with one of our staff members.

Annual School Improvement Survey

We thank those who have already taken the time to complete the Annual School Improvement Survey. This survey is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the successes in our school and to plan for improvements in the new year.
We encourage you to complete this short survey over the coming week as we begin planning for 2025.

Whilst we can’t always action every suggestion, we use this data to build a picture of key areas of improvement and to make adjustments where we can. Over the past years we have made the following adjustments from data gathered in the survey by parents, students and staff.

• Provided an area for upcoming events on the newsletter.
• Developed the online Google calendar and after feedback, also provided an overview of important key events at the start of the year. This was given out at the Parent Information evening along with information regarding key learning in each grade (copy was also sent home in hard copy form and emailed to families).
• Reminded families that parent/teacher meetings can be made at any time of the year to review or plan for student learning.
• Scheduled parent conferences after semester reports are given out to give families, students and teachers an opportunity to discuss and plan for further learning based on the areas for improvement outlined in the report.
• Developed and continued the work of our School Wide Behaviours for Learning focus (SPB4L).
• Developed the role of our Sport Coordinator to provide a positive structured approach to participation in sports.
• Developed areas of play for students including the use of passive play areas and the allocation of varied sporting equipment/sporting play areas.
• The addition of extra-curricular clubs.
• Developed the role of the Student Representative Council to play a more active role in student voice within the school.

Along with these ideas, we have also been able to implement adjustments raised at our monthly P&F meeting:

• The addition of the weekly planner posted on Facebook each Sunday.
• The provision for families to be emailed by office staff each Friday to alert them that their child is receiving an award (starting this week). 

Staffing

We congratulate Mrs Alice Gallagher and our school counsellor,
Mrs Jordana Kissell on their announcements that they are expecting.  We will keep you updated with information regarding replacement staff during their maternity leave once these have been filled.

We ask that you share our advertisements links with any amazing teachers who you think could be an asset to Cathedral. We are looking for approachable and caring teachers who are committed to supporting the Catholic ethos of Cathedral.

School Shoes

Families are reminded that joggers should only be worn on designated sport days. On all other days students should be wearing black leather shoes. If you are unable to provide the correct shoes for your child because you are experiencing financial difficulties then please contact our office so that assistance may be provided.

From the Environment Committee

Last week the Environment Committee was lucky enough to enjoy a special presentation by Jo from Netwaste.
It was amazing to gain an insight into the amount of packaging that is used at a school and community level.
The activities and information supported a number of ways in which the Environment Committee have been considering new initiatives to support our focus on reusing, reducing and recycling at school and at home.
We can’t wait to share these with you soon!  We’ve shared a helpful tips sheet from Netwaste to help everyone!

Lily, Charlie, Jase & Liam | Environment Committee

Cuppa After Assembly

You are invited to join us for a cuppa after assembly each Monday morning.
Bring your coffee from Cafe Viva or make yourself a cuppa in the hall kitchen.
All are very welcome.

Student Representative Council (SRC)

Enrolments

Enrolments for 2025 are now open. We thank all those families who have already submitted Kindergarten enrolment forms and we ask those wishing to enrol their child for 2025 to do so as soon as possible. It has been wonderful to meet with so many siblings and new families already.

We look forward to beginning the important process of transition to big school for 2025!

Teaching and Learning

Catholic Schools Week - A Time to Celebrate Education
Catholic Schools Week commenced on Sunday with the celebration of the Eucharist at 10 am Mass in the Cathedral. Father Paul spoke about the rich history of Catholic education in Bathurst beginning in the 1850s and extending to 1866 when Bishop Matthew Quinn brought the Sisters of Mercy to the local area and the establishment of what was to eventually become Cathedral School. This strong tradition of education continues today in the 33 schools in the Bathurst Diocese. Catholic School Week provides the opportunity to reflect on our current practices in teaching and learning. With updated curriculums in Mathematics and English and a raft of new syllabus documents for HSIE, Creative Arts, Science and Technology and Health, PE and Physical Education just around the corner, our aim at Cathedral School is to provide a solid foundation for students to excel in all Key Learning Areas. Our dedicated teachers are committed to creating engaging and challenging lessons for students, fostering a love of learning that extends beyond the classroom. Teachers are looking forward to sharing details about student achievement and progress when we meet following the finalisation of Student Assessment Report for the first half of the year.

Spelling Bee Finalists
We congratulate Jacob (4W), Lawrence (3G), Lily N (5C) and Christian (6BG) for their success at the Cathedral Spelling Bee last week. These students will now represent Cathedral School at the Diocesan Spelling Bee at St Mary’s Wellington on Thursday 30th May.
The Stage 2 Spelling Bee will commence at 9 am and the Stage 3
Spelling Bee will commence at 11.45 am. Information about this
event will be communicated to parents and students during the week.

Challenge for Students - Spelling and Vocabulary
Set a timer for 2 minutes and see how many words you can make with 7 letters.

Catherine O’Neill   | Assistant Principal

Religious Education & Catholic Life

Catholic Schools’ Week
Thank you to everyone from our school community who were able to be part of the Catholic Schools’ Week Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral Church.  This week we join many faith communities across Australia in celebrating Catholic Schools and their contribution to our faith and education in Australia.  Thank you to Dr Amber Calleja from MacKillop College for coordinating our involvement at this special Mass.

Alpha Sessions
The Cathedral Parish invites families to another series of Alpha. We are excited to host these upcoming sessions in our school hall. Sessions commence on Thursday 12th May at 12pm with a provided lunch. Entrance is via the church car park entry.

Sacramental Program:
It has been wonderful to hear about many of our students receiving sacraments through Parish Masses recently. Please email a photo through to me if you wish to have this celebrated in the school newsletter.

We kindly request that names are not visible in the provided photograph.

Information on First Penance, First Holy Communion and Confirmation and how the parish based, but school supported, Sacramental Program will function  this year was provided last term via grade overviews, school and parish information sessions and through classroom teachers.

This was for families  not just in the grades where Sacramental Units are taught (Years 2, 3 and 5) but  also if your child has previously been in one of these grades but hasn’t had the opportunity to make one or more of these sacraments as yet. Please speak to your child’s teacher or myself if you require further information about registrations, particularly as all school preparation requirements have been met

Monday Liturgy & Assembly: 
Please join us each week between 9:00 and 9:30 am as we pray together and acknowledge the achievements of those in our school community. Classes, Grades and Committees each take

Coming up:

Ashley Boylan   | Religious Education Coordinator

Awards

Library

It was my pleasure to take a group of Year 5 students to participate in the Kids Lit Quiz in Orange last Thursday. The children worked in teams of 4 to answer a range of literature questions. The children had a fun day and were able to put all their great reading knowledge to use in answering questions like “Who married Ron Weasley?” and “What is Winnie the Pooh’s friend who is a tiger called?”. One of our teams even won a table round prize and got to choose a book to take home. It was a great day!

Merryn Sadler   | Teacher Librarian

Class in Focus | 6BG

This Mess is Amazing!
Last week, we walked into our classroom to find a scene of utter chaos. Papers were strewn everywhere, and it looked like a tornado had swept through. But Mr. Boylan just smiled and said words that we never thought he would say, “This mess is amazing!” We were all confused until we realised that this was the start of our new literature project.

We began by exploring the mess, which was actually linked to a multimodal text. We listened to the sounds, watched the visuals without any sound, and tried to make sense of it all. It was a bit like being a detective!

Then, we split into groups and started to bring everything together. We discussed what we had observed and started to connect it all together. We came up with rich language inspired from the text to create group posters. It was amazing to see how different groups interpreted the same text in different ways.

What was even more exciting was how this exercise inspired us to write. Even though the multimodal text had no spoken dialogue, it sparked our imaginations. We came up with engaging and inspiring hooks for our own version of the opening scene.

This project has left us wondering about the author’s purpose and excited about the power of literature. We can’t wait to learn more about how literature can inspire us as readers and writers. Here’s to more messy weeks in 6BG!

Pipa, Ruby, Harrison & Oliver (on behalf of our 6BG classmates)

Staff & Students | 6BG

SPB4L

This week we continue our focus around safety. We ask that you support your child in this by ensuring that they arrive at school between 8:30am and 9:00am. We can not provide adequate supervision for students before 8:30am and so we ask that you do not drop children to school before 8:30am. We also encourage students to walk directly into school. We love that we have so many welcoming students but to avoid congestion, we ask that students walk directly into the school grounds and greet their friends as they arrive on the playground.

Our Hub area provides a space for any students feeling uneasy about the school day. If your child is upset or feeling worried at the start of the day, you are welcome to walk them down to the Hub so that they can be left in a calm, supervised area once you depart.

SPB4L Committee

Wellbeing

Part 5: Summary
In the final part of The Resilience Project's parent series, Hugh shares an important message about allowing our children to experience adversity.

The key to building resilience in our children is allowing them to experience failure, hardship, disappointment etc. As parents, we can be too quick to resolve our children's challenges which can deprive our children of enormous growth opportunities. These typically happen when we experience failure and uncertainty. As parents we should be there for our children when they fail, but not fight their battles for them.

View Part 5 of the series here:
Part 5 - Summary: https://theresilienceproject.com.au/2023-parent-carer-hub-inspire-hugh/

Thank you for participating in this Parent and Carer Digital Presentation series.

You can re-watch the videos and access activities and resources anytime via the Parent & Carer Hub.

You can also stay up to date with The Resilience Project news and events by signing up to their Newsletter.

Last week we commenced our Breakfast Club program and it was  positively received by all our Students. We were able to serve warm Toasties and fresh fruit, made available to all students who need Breakfast. It was very pleasing to see and hear the beautiful manners from our Cathedral students, and those who were only taking what they felt they needed, rather than all that they could. Cathedral Breakfast Club will be available every morning from 8:30-9:00.

We could not have commenced or run this initiative without the expertise of Mrs Alana Watson, and all of her wonderful helpers. They have managed to serve up to 200 toasties in a single morning!

We would like to thank Coles, Woolworths, Q Office Furniture, Mount Panorama Lions Club and the McMahon family for further sponsoring this project with their generous donations. Our hope is to continue this project into the future and would welcome any further donations of food or money to support the project.

This program is voluntary and only students presenting to the canteen will be given breakfast. Please contact the school if you would like to opt your child out of this program as all students who present to the canteen will be given breakfast unless instructed otherwise.

Please contact Alana in the canteen on 0417 044 116 if you would like to be included in the morning breakfast roster. Food is served from 8:30-9:00am. If you could spare some time at drop off it would be greatly appreciated.  

Alice Gallagher and Abbie Bowman   | Wellbeing Teacher/Primary Coordinator 

Sports

Polding Winter Sports Trials
Last week Liam and Archie represented the school and the Bathurst Diocese in Soccer at Tamworth for the Polding Winter Sports Trials. Their team played exceptionally well, winning 3 of their games and only losing the other two games 1-0 and 2-1. Bathurst Diocese also beat the Lismore team for the first five years with Liam scoring the one and only goal in that game. Both Archie and Liam made it into the possible/probable match which is a testament to their excellent talent and skill. Well done to both boys!

Coolah Cross Country
Congratulations to our 32 Cross Country representatives who, after their impressive efforts in the Cathedral Primary Cross Country last term, will be attending the Diocesan Cross Country in Coolah on Tuesday, 7 May. Thank you to our wonderful parents for transporting and supporting their children on the day. Thank you also to Mrs Louise Condon who will be supporting our students.

Peachey Richardson Gala Day
We have two Stage 2 teams representing Cathedral school on Wednesday, 8 May at the Peachey and Richardson RL gala day. Thank you to Barry Froebel for assisting the students on this day. If you are able to assist in coaching on the day, please send the school office an email.

Infants Gymnastics Sessions
We are very excited to have Aspire Gymnastics come to school this term to teach our infants classes. These sessions will be taking place in Week 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this term on a Friday. This will mean that infants sports day will change from Thursday to Friday for these weeks only. Students are asked to wear their sports uniform on Thursday’s and Friday’s for these weeks.

Parent Volunteers
This term is filled with lots of fun sporting events for our students to be a part of! For these events to be as successful as possible and include all the students that want to participate, we are asking for parent volunteers to assist in managing these teams on the gala days. We are particularly calling for any parents who have experience or a child participating in the netball gala day in week 6 or the soccer gala day in week 8 to reach out via email to the school office or Mrs Bowman. We will be holding a parent volunteer session later this term for parents to be able to assist us on these very busy days. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Community Sport Site
Our Diocesan sports coordinator Mr Steve Maguire has created a Community Sport Site (has reports from events) for parents, families & teachers which can be accessed to assist with Diocesan Sports pathways. You may like to bookmark this site for reference: https://sites.google.com/bth.catholic.edu.au/cedbsportcommunity/home

Abbie Bowman   | Primary Coordinator

Mini Vinnies Club

Parents and Friends

Next P&F Meeting: Wednesday 1st May 5:30pm - School Library
Everyone is invited to attend our monthly P&F meetings, which are held on the first Wednesday of each school month at 5:30pm in the Library.

There is NO PRESSURE to attend every meeting or volunteer bucketloads of time - the P&F is a great resource to keep track of what’s happening at school and connect with other parents, caregivers and school staff. 

For those who cannot attend in person, we have a zoom link, if you would like to join from home!

https://bthcatholic.zoom.us/j62675200979?pwd=duYyV3M2MvdoTVVjclRKZE5jdnlMdzo9
ID:62675200979@zmau.us 
Password: 106688

MOTHERS' DAY
Thursday 9th 7.30am-9am- Breakfast
Please come and enjoy breakfast with your children from 7.30am

Friday 10th- Gift stall 
Ordering for Mother’s Day Gifts are now available in the “Events” section on Flexischools

 Breakfast and Gift Stall Volunteers Needed
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Please email which day your available to help cathedralpandf@gmail.com
Thursday 9th May 7am-9.30am
Friday 10th May 9am-12pm

OPTIONAL School Jackets- Are you ready for a cold snap?
The Cathedral School logo is embroidered on the chest, the jackets are lightweight, windproof and water-resistant perfect for the cold weather. These optional school jackets are available to try on at the school office and ready to order via Flexischools under shop.

Please note: The optional jacket is NOT compulsory - All maroon/navy/black school jackets are also acceptable.

If you have any enquiries about our projects or would like to get involved, please email us at cathedralpandf@gmail.com

  Melissa Bray   | P & F Publicity

Music

Cathedral School Ensemble Times & Days:

• School Choir Tuesdays at Recess
• Guitar Group Wednesdays at Recess
• Concert Band Thursdays at 7:50am
• Junior Band Thursdays at Recess

 If your child is interested in participating in any of these groups please feel free to contact me chris_dove_trumpet@hotmail.com

Chris Dove   | Band Director

School Calendar Handy Hints

For those who are not familiar with Google Calendar an easy way to keep up to date with the school calendar is to check the school website. Here is the link that will take you straight to the Calendar section of the site where the calendar can be displayed by month. If you click on the event more details (if confirmed) will be available for the event. 

Most end of year events and special celebrations have already been added to the calendar and all
other events appear as soon as we can confirm the details.  Website Calendar Link

For those with a Google Account the calendar can be added to your Google calendars for easy access
on your phone or device. Google School Calendar Link

Update your Details

Update your email, phone number, address, your child’s medical details or emergency contacts by emailing the information to cathedral@bth.catholic.edu.au

Canteen

   Canteen Roster Term 2 2024

The Canteen is open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

We are in need of helpers in the Canteen on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. 
For the canteen to run smoothly 3 volunteers are essential.

Please contact Alana Watson on 0417 044 116 if you would like to be included in the canteen roster,
any time offered is welcomed.

Thank you to all our friends and family for all your ongoing support of the Cathedral Canteen.

Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)

Community Notices

Bathurst Bus Lines - School Bus Tracking App
The school bus tracking app is available for parents to download on their phone and track their child's bus in real time.  This might alleviate some of the anxiety related to putting students on the bus. Please see instructions below.

Parents requiring any bus pass or general bus travel information are welcome to contact our office and we will be able to discuss their needs accordingly.

If you have any queries please contact us on 6331 2744

Kind regards,

Carolyn
Bathurst Bus Lines