2023 – Term 4, Week 07

This Sunday, 26 November marks the end of the church calendar year with the Feast of Christ the King.

Thank you God for sending Jesus to be our saviour and our friend. Thank you also that he is a King. Help us always to follow him, honour him, and serve him in his Kingdom. Thank you God that we are “kids of the kingdom.” In Jesus Name, Amen

Christ the King Sunday celebrates the full authority of Christ as King and Lord of the universe. Officially called “The Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King,” it is celebrated on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before Advent. The year, which begins with Advent 2023 and ends at Advent 2024 is Year C.

The liturgical vestments for the day are coloured white or gold, in keeping with other joyous feasts honouring Christ. Lord Jesus Christ,
You are a King who cares deeply for his
people. May we search out those in need, so that Love and
Justice will reign as the Kingdom of God is brought forth
within us. We ask our prayer in your name and in the power
of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Christ the King Day

What a fabulous day we had yesterday with our prayer service, stalls and buddy activities. A huge thank you to all staff and for working together to make the day so special. It was a wonderful feast day celebration. Thank you, Mrs Carroll for leading the music with our terrific choir. The readers were exceptional and did a fabulous job. I hope all the children enjoyed the day!

Staffing 2024:

Just as we know that the process of primary schooling encourages and supports our children as they stretch and grow towards transition to secondary schooling, so too, do the teachers and staff continue to develop in their profession and from time to time move on.

We say farewell to Anna Fanning, Lilly Hartley, Julie Gummer, Cathy Pagani, Deirdre Hughes, Domenica Carrello, Damian Albuquerque and Brian Dobbie who have been shining lights in our school over many, many years. We thank them for the contributions they have made to the lives of the students at CtK. Some of the staff mentioned will be joining us at our Carols night Wednesday evening.

All parents have been sent the CtK Staffing 2024 list.

School Advisory Council and Parent & Friends Annual Community Meeting 2023

I wish to thank my wonderfully talented staff and lovely parents for attending the Annual Community Meeting. At this meeting we presented reports from the Chairperson, Toni Beaton, Board Treasurer, Alan Pecotic and my Principal Report. The P&F held their meeting with Alison Reddyhough and Una Hosgood stepping down as President and Representative to the Advisory Council. Both have been instrumental in helping build community and enact change in our school all in the best interest of the children. Thank you so much Alison and Una, you will be missed but know you gave so much of yourselves, bravo! Research shows that when parents are positively involved in all aspects of their children’s lives, children develop into positive, well-balanced adults who realise their full potential.

Move-Up Morning

Monday, 9 December will be an opportunity for the children to visit their new classroom, meet with their new teacher and any new classmates for 2024. The morning will involve some schoolwork, or art, social mixing games and informal discussions about expectations for next year.

A reminder, we have our Christmas Carols next Wednesday, 29 November, which is starting at 6:00pm in the Quad. As a community, we will also have an opportunity to farewell our Year Six students. Each class will sing Christmas Carols. The focus will be on the Spirit of Christmas.

Here are the Events for the last week (Week 9) of 2023:

Monday, 4 December – Move Up Morning for Kindy-Year Five children. The children will meet and work with their new teacher for 2024 from 9:00am until 10:30am.

Tuesday, 5 December – at 9:00am in the Hall, we will be having our Year Six Graduation Awards, Head Boy and Head Girl announcement for 2024 and the Cheryl Babich Scholarship Award. This will be attended by the whole school and we would love to see parents attend this very special and important ceremony.

Wednesday, 6 December – At 9.15am at CtK Church, we celebrate the 2023 Graduation and Thanksgiving Mass. This year, our Year 6 students have been outstanding leaders of our student community and have led various ministries and roles that assist in setting the tone of our school. We take this opportunity to thank them for their dedication to our school and for the way they have conducted themselves this year. I hope all the Year Six families will make the effort to attend this celebration and give thanks for the blessings of this school year. When we look back over the year, and as our Year Six students reflect on their years at Christ the King, we realise that there is so much to be thankful for. Please help to make this a time when our Year Six students remember with pride, that they were part of a caring and supportive faith community who came together to honour and farewell them.

After Mass, we will have a morning tea for the Year Six parents in the Hall followed by a Graduation lunch and disco for the Year Six students in the Hall.

Thursday, 7 December – Year Six to attend King’s Park. Reports will be available via SEQTA Engage. Parents are most welcome to make a time to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss any aspect of the report on Wednesday, 13 December between 8:30am and 10:30am. Please make the booking with your child’s class teacher and not through the Office.

Friday, 8 December – Christ the King Fun Day, we are all going to the movies. Last day of the 2023 school year.

Pupil Free Days (Staff Professional Development), Public Holidays

School Start and End Dates for 2024:

TERM 1

Teachers Return – Monday, 29 January and Tuesday, 30 January
Students return – Wednesday, 31 January
Labour Day Public Holiday – Monday, 4 March
Last day of term for staff and students – Holy Thursday, 28 March
Good Friday – Friday, 29 March
Easter Sunday – Sunday, 31 March

TERM 2

Students return – Monday 15 April
ANZAC Day – Thursday, 25 April
Staff PD Day – Friday, 26 April
WA Day – Monday, 3 June
Last day of term – 27 June

TERM 3

Staff PD Day – Monday 15 July
Staff and students return – Tuesday 16 July
Last day of term for staff and students – Thursday, 19 September
Catholic Day for all staff and students – Friday, 20 September

TERM 4

Staff PD Day – Monday, 7 October
Staff and students return – Tuesday 8 October
Staff PD Day – Friday 8 November
Last day for students 2024 school year – Friday, 6 December
Last day for staff 2023 school year – Friday, 13 December

This is a hectic time of the year and there are many events, tasks and dates in our minds. Despite all this, we need to ensure that we take the time to do the important things with patience and with the right attention to detail. The most important of these is how we treat each other. Students are tired, parents and staff are very busy and, in this time, we can help each other immensely by being kind and being thankful for having each other in our lives. A happy supportive community is one where children feel safe to grow.

There are ‘good things’ happening in our school due to the efforts of so many people; seek to be one of those people in the coming week!

Andrew Kelly
Principal

ACM:

Thank you to those parents and carers who attended the Annual Community Meeting last Wednesday evening. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Christ the King Day:

Christ the King Day was an enjoyable day for our staff and students. We gathered as a school community in the hall for Mass, led by Father Isidore. Following this, each class ran an inviting stall and students had fun, with some even being awarded prizes. The afternoon session was spent with buddies.

Teaching and Learning:

Time in class is precious for teaching and learning. Every effort is made to reduce interruptions to teaching and learning time. If it is unavoidable to collect your child during the day for appointments, please report to the office. Teachers are not able to speak with parents during teaching time as this does not honour the time and attention for the discussion and interrupts the teaching of the class. If you need to speak to your child’s teacher, please send them an email to set up a time for a discussion to take place. We appreciate your support.

End of Year Reports:

The End of Year Reports for students will be available for parents on SEQTA Engage at the end of Term Four, 2023. We ask you to please check your login details NOW to ensure that you have access, prior to the reports being released. New families from Pre-Primary to Year 6 will receive a welcome email, directing you to set up your account for SEQTA Engage. Both parents will be sent the email, however if you are happy to operate just one login for both parents, you don’t need to set up the second one. If you can’t see the email in your Inbox, please check your Junk or Spam folders as sometimes these emails will appear there, as they are sent in bulk. Please contact: admin@ctk.wa.edu.au if you have any concerns.

It is important that you log into your SEQTA account before reports are posted online. Passwords often need to be reset if your account hasn’t been accessed regularly or may need to be reprovisioned. It is advised when checking your SEQTA Engage account, you do not open from a saved bookmark as data can be cached and affect your access. Please access your account from a new link (preferably on a laptop or PC, not your mobile phone) on our school website under SEQTA ENGAGE quick link or https://ctk.engage.cewa.edu.au

It is highly recommended you check this now, so your child’s reports can be accessed easily.

Please note, that all Year 6 parents/carers and any students leaving Christ The King School at the end of this year, need to access, print, download and save their reports this year, as students come off the Primary SEQTA system at the end of the school year.

Absenteeism:

As previously mentioned, it would be appreciated if parents could email or phone the school office before 9am, to notify staff of their child’s absence from school. Please do not wait for a message from the school. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter.

Sickness:

Many school and community members are suffering from gastro, colds, flu and/or COVID. Please keep your child home if they have any symptoms such as a sore throat, high temperature, running nose or cough. Parents will be asked to collect their children from school if they present at school with these symptoms.

Student Uniform Vigilance:

We strongly encourage you to remind your children to wear the correct uniform, on the correct day and to wear it with pride. Staff have noticed children are not wearing the correct uniform on the correct days, incorrect shoes and socks are being worn (some students are wearing black socks or socks with nike/sporting logos on them etc), and hair ties/scrunchies should be the school colours or the colour of their hair. No claw clips please. Socks should be the school socks or plain white. Please ensure your child is not wearing dangly earrings to school – studs or sleepers are appropriate and safe. Hair below the shoulders should be tied back and out of one’s face. Students should always be looking neat and tidy. Please ensure items are labelled correctly so that they can be easily returned in case they are misplaced. We thank you for your continued support.

Early Childhood Gates:

The ECE playground gates are now locked before and after school for safety reasons. The gate will be unlocked at 8.20am for the students to enter and will be re-locked at the end of the day at 3.20pm. Thank you for your support with this matter.

Move Up Morning – Monday 4 December

Between 9am and 10.30am on Monday 4 December, students will spend time with their classroom teacher for 2024 and will participate in some activities with their 2024 cohort.

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal:

Term Four is well and truly upon us and Christmas time is fast approaching. This is the time when we start collecting for the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers. The St Vincent de Paul Society helps to provide hope, comfort, and dignity to families who require extra assistance during the festive season. Due to the nature of the season, Christmas can be a particularly emotional time of year where feelings of disappointment, failure, and isolation can be heightened. We hope you will help bring ’Christ into Christmas’ and generously donate non – non-perishable items to our appeal.

Last date to bring in your donations to your child’s classroom is:

Friday 1st December 2023

Pre – Kindy	Jam / Jelly	Year 3 RED	Life Long Custard
Kindy Girls	Bons Bons/ Candy Canes	Year 3 GOLD	Life Long Milk
Kindy Boys	Christmas Napkins/ Tablecloths	Year 4 RED	Tinned Fruit
Pre-Prim Girls	Sweet Biscuits	Year 4 GOLD	Tinned Vegetables
Pre-Prim Boys	Savoury Biscuits
Year 1 RED	Pancake Mix / Cereals	Year 5 RED	Pasta Sauce
Year 1 GOLD	Long Life Juice	Year 5 Gold	Pasta
Year 2	Christmas Cake/ Pudding / Fruit Mince Pies	Year 6	Christmas Cake /Pudding /Fruit Mince Pies

Christmas Carols Evening:

Parents, carers, families, and members of our school community are invited to our Christmas Carols Evening! This lovely community event showcases our talented students and is a fabulous way to celebrate the school year and the magic of Christmas. Please wear something warm, bring along a picnic rug/blanket, and join with us in celebrating the true magic of Christmas.

Where: Christ the King School Quadrangle

When: Wednesday 29 November 2023

Time: 6pm – to be seated at 5:45pm.

Please arrive early, as children need to be seated at 5:45pm when the siren sounds. The Concert will conclude around 7:40pm. Children have been advised what to wear by their teachers. Please make sure your child has a water bottle with them. Each class from Kindy to Year 6 will be involved, along with our school choirs. The P&F raffle will be drawn at the end of the evening! There will be plenty of parking available on our school oval. Please be respectful of our neighbours and do not park on their verges. We kindly ask for students not to run around on the evening and to sit with their families before the concert begins at 5.45pm. We appreciate your support with this.

Please bring your best Christmas cheer and your best singing voices and join in this special Christmas Carols event.

Staff Profile:

Our Year 6 Head Girl and Head Boy, Ahlia and Maksim will be interviewing our staff throughout the year so that we all can get to know each other well. This week they interviewed Mrs Onoforo our amazing Special Needs Education Assistant! To find out more about Mrs Onoforo, please read below;

How long have you worked at Christ The King School?
Since 1996.

What is it like being an Education Assistant?
Hard work!

What is your favourite colour?
Green

What is your favourite thing about Christ the King School?
Everything- the kids and the teachers!

Did you have a pet as a child?
Yes, a cat with no name. We just called him puss.

Why did you decide to become an Education Assistant?
Because I loved being with children.

Community News

Christmas Carols

Seton Catholic College

Perth Goju Karate

We teach classes for young children, teens and adults and they are fantastic for fitness, wellbeing and of course, self-defense.

Students who attend the schools on-site After Care can be collected and taken to the class in the hall and returned to After Care when their class is finished.

Classes continue over the school holidays (with a short break over the Christmas period) which makes it perfect for the kids who are looking to try something on the holidays.

Karate has many benefits which include confidence, respect, discipline and fitness.

Places for the beginner’s class will be limited, contact us to book your name in and secure your spot for week 1 of the trial period.

Sensei Johnny Moran – 0402 830 402
Facebook pages – perth goju karate
Instagram – perthgojukarate
Google – www.perthgojukarate.wordpress.com

Christ the King School

BEACONSFIELD

From the Principal – Term 4, Week 07