Newsletter Term 1 Week 4 (28.2.25)

Helping Others

"Rivers do not drink their own water, trees do not eat their own fruit

and the sun does not shine on itself. Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are all born to help each other no matter how difficult it is sometimes.

Life is good when you are happy,

but much better when others are happy because of you."

Pope Francis

Congratulations

We have enjoyed an extremely positive start to the school year and the first four weeks of Term 1. It has been an absolute privilege to witness the sense of belonging, community and friendship here at St Anthony's.

We are truly blessed to have such amazing students, parents and staff. The start of 2025, has been a wonderful reminder that it takes a village to raise our children and we are extremely grateful to have such a vibrant, loving and welcoming community.

2025 is going to be a very exciting year as we strive to keep improving for all our children!

Pancake (Shrove) Tuesday

The students are very excited about Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Tuesday), which will be celebrated this Tuesday, March 04. This is the final day before Lent- a period of fasting, praying and almsgiving that prepares us for Holy Week and the high season of Easter in the Catholic Church.

Why pancakes? Well, pancakes require butter and sugar, which were historically luxury items that Christians gave up during the forty days of Lent. Cooking pancakes is an easy and delicious way to use up these ingredients.

It would be greatly appreciated if some families can cook a batch of pikelet-sized pancakes and bring them in on Monday so we are all set for Tuesday.

If you are able to assist, could you please let the Office know at your earliest convenience.

Alternatively, donations of  jars of Nutella, jam or syrup for pancake toppings would also be appreciated on Monday.

Students will need to bring a gold coin donation for their pancakes which will go towards our 2025 Project Compassion (Caritas) fundraiser

Many thanks for your support!

Ash Wednesday and Lent

Next week we will begin our Lenten journey, marked by Ash Wednesday on the 5th March. 

On Ash Wednesday, we remember God’s love and try our best to follow His ways as we grow in love and grace.”

It is the start of 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, During Lent, we try our best to be more like Jesus.

On Ash Wednesday, we will receive ashes on our forehead in the shape of a cross. The cross is used to show that we believe in Jesus and want to grow closer to Him.

We invite our families to join us for our Ash Wednesday Liturgy at 9:00am on Wednesday 5th March in St Anthony's Church. All are welcome.

All St Anthony’s staff, families and Stage 3 students are invited to join our Lenten Prayer Group, which will be held every Friday in the School Library from 8:20- 8:40am.

School Leaders

During Week 2, we had the privilege of listening to our Year 6 and Year 5 students present speeches for a school leadership role in 2025. I was blown away by the quality of their speeches, how confident they were and how articulate they all were in describing themselves, their leadership qualities, and reasons why they believe they would make wonderful leaders for 2025.

As a school community it is important to recognise that we are all leaders. We can be leaders in everything that we do in our daily lives - in our work, at school, when we are teaching others or when we are learning from others. Often in life we are faced with difficult decisions and challenges and it is our attitude that often determines the path we take and the choices that we make.

Facing challenges and learning from our mistakes takes courage and support from family, friends and our school community. As our Year 6 leaders continue on their journey of learning and leadership throughout the year in 2025, we wish them every success and pray that they will have the strength to face challenges, learn from their mistakes and strive to be the best that they can be for the benefit of our St Anthony's community.

It takes courage to be a leader, especially when you need to do what is right, not what is easy.

School Attendance

Regularly attending school helps students develop a sense of belonging and attachment to the school community. This connection supports the development of meaningful relationships with peers, teachers, and staff, creating a supportive environment that nurtures their overall learning and wellbeing.

Regular school attendance is classified as being above 95% and our school will contact parents through email to advise that a student's attendance has fallen below this level.

Please note full day absences, frequent late arrivals and/or early departures all contribute to a student’s overall attendance profile.

We understand that many factors can impact attendance such as medical reasons, appointments or family commitments, but we feel it is important to keep you informed and ensure our attendance rates are as high as possible for every student.

Learning Conferences

We will be holding Parent/Teacher/Student Learning Conferences in Weeks 6 and 7 of this term. The focus of these conferences is for the students to showcase their classwork, celebrate their learning, discuss progress towards goals they are working on, to discuss future learning and/or any concerns or issues. These conferences are a very important part of strengthening our parent partnership and your attendance reinforces to our children that you are here to support them and that you value their learning.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Our Parish will commence preparations for the Sacrament of Reconciliation THIS TUESDAY, March 04 at 5pm with a Family Workshop about the origins and significance of this special Sacrament. Families wishing for their child to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation will need to register via the Compass link, which was sent out last week. Please note that children need to be Baptised Catholic before receiving this Sacrament. 

For your calendars, Commitment Mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be held Sunday March 09 at St Anthony’s, Kingscliff, or 7:30am at St Ambrose, Pottsville (whichever suits your family best). The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be on Wednesday, April 09, 6pm at St Anthony’s Church

Pupil Free Days 2025

Term 2

Monday 28th April

Tuesday 10th June

Term 3

Monday 21st July

Tuesday 22nd July

Term 4

Monday 13th October

School Assemblies and Newsletters

This year we have made the decision to move our assemblies out of our Literacy Block to ensure that learning and teaching continues to have a strong focus in the school and we are minimising disruptions to student learning.

Our Whole School Assemblies will now be held every second Monday, starting at 2:25pm. Our assemblies for the remainder of Term 1, will be held in weeks 5, 7 and 9.

School Newsletter will be sent home every second Friday in weeks 6,8 and 10.

Sporting Success-Zone Swimming

Our school once again led the way in sporting excellence with the Diocesan Swimming Carnival being a huge success.

Congratulations to all students from St Anthony's who represented themselves, their families and our school with pride, humility and great sportsmanship. A big thank you also to the staff and families who attended and supported our students.

A special congratulations to the following students for personal achievements and also our teams who were successful on the day in their events.

*Finn Carroll-Cinque : Senior Boys Champion

*Ava Kotze : Senior Girls Champion

* Ted Petherbridge : Senior Boys Multi-Class Champion

* Floyd Morley Senior Boys Multi-Class Runner Up

*Zara Reid : Junior Girls Champion

*Lila Flaherty : Junior Girls Runner Up

*Frankie Fogg : Junior Girls Multi-Class Champion

*Junior Girls relay team: Zara Reid, Lila Flaherty, Amelia Popov and Chloe Kotze, won their race by nearly a pool length and broke an 18 year old record for the event.

* Senior Girls Relay Team: Claudia Popov, Ava Kotze, Jacinta Reynolds and Lennox Stonefield also won their relay in a tight race

*The Junior Boys Relay Team: Thomas Huett, Peter Perske-Fripp, Finley Smith and Zachary Jacobs came second.

For the 5th year in a row, our school won the Champion School trophy. Well done everyone!

Good luck to all the students who were chosen to represent the Tweed Zone at the Diocesan Carnival in Murwillumbah on Tuesday 4th March. 

St Anthony’s Primary Swimming Carnival 

The St Anthony’s Primary Swimming Carnival was held on Wednesday 5th February at the Kingscliff Aquatic Centre. Well done to all the students from Years 2 - 6 who participated in the day with such great house spirit. 

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Swimming Age Champions for 2025:

8 Years Boys - Leo Clarke

8 Years Girls - Marigold Huett

9 Years Boys - Finley Smith

9 Years Girls - Lila Flaherty

10 Years Boys - Thomas Huett

10 Years Girls - Zara Reid

11 Years Boys - Louie Fallon

11 Years Girls - Jacinta Reynolds

12 Years Boys - Finn Carroll-Cinque

12 Years Girls  - Ava Kotze

Congratulations to Ted Petherbridge, Floyd Morley and Frankie Fogg who competed in Multi-class events at the carnival. They will all progress to the Zone swimming carnival for the efforts.

Several records were broken throughout the day:

Ava Kotze broke the record for the 12 Years Girls 50m Breaststroke. 

Finn Carroll-Cinque broke a record in every event offered at the carnival, an amazing 6 records for the day! The events Finn broke a record in were: 100m Freestyle, 100m IM, 50m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly. What an effort Ava and Finn!

Congratulations to the Leonard Gold house who won the house trophy for the Carnival.

AFL

Diocesan AFL
Well done to Orlando Caine of Year 6 and Van Edwards of Year 5 who attended the Diocesan AFL trials last week in Grafton.
Congratulations to Orlando who was selected in the Lismore Diocesan AFL team. 
He will attend the Polding trials in Newcastle at the end of the Term. 
Good Luck Orlando!

Cricket

Polding Cricket

Congratulations to Ky O’Grady of Year 6 who has been representing Polding this week at the NSWPSSA cricket championships in Maitland. 

Ky was selected for the Polding cricket team at the end of last year. 

His team has competed strongly against some tough competition and played off for 5th and 6th position today with results still yet to come.

Great effort Ky!

Important Dates & School Information

Term 1 2025

Week 5

Monday 3rd March- 2:25pm School Assembly

Tuesday 4^th March-Shrove Tuesday

Tuesday 4^th March-Reconciliation Family Workshop 5-6pm

Wednesday 5^th March-Ash Wednesday, Whole School Mass, 9am

Week 6

Learning Partnership Conferences

Wednesday 12^th March-NAPLAN Years 3 and 5

Thursday 13^th March-NAPLAN Years 3 and 5

Thursday 13^th March- Years 3-6 Mass 9am

Friday 14^th March-NAPLAN Years 3 and 5

Week 7

Monday 17th March- 2:25pm School Assembly

Learning Partnership Conferences

Monday 17^th March-St Patrick’s Day

Thursday 20^th March-K-2 Mass, 9am

Thursday 20^th March- Family Faith and Fun Night 5:30-7pm

Friday 21^st March-Harmony Day

Week 8

Thursday 27^th March-Years 3-6 Mass, 9am

Week 9

Monday 31st March- 2:25pm School Assembly

Tuesday 1st April- School Cross Country

Thursday 3^rd April - K-2 Mass, 9am

Week 10

Wednesday 9^th April-First Reconciliation 6-7pm

Thursday 10^th April- Years 3-6 Mass, 9am

Friday 11^th April- Last Day of Term 1

Baptism

We will soon start preparing a number of our St Anthony’s students to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, which will initiate and welcome them to the Catholic faith. 

If you would like your child to receive the Sacrament of Baptism and your child has a Catholic, Baptised Parent, please contact Gemma Ballantine gemma.ballantine@lism.catholic.edu.au

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Next week Compass communication will go out to families for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is for any child Baptised Catholic in Year 4 or above.

There will be a family Workshop on the night of Tuesday, March 04 at 5pm in the Year 4 Classrooms. 

Please note that attendance is COMPULSORY. If you are unable to attend you will need to contact the school.

There is a Commitment Mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Sunday, March 09 at 9am. You can attend St Ambrose, Pottsville, at 7:30am if that works better for your family.

The Sacrament of First Reconciliation will be on the evening of Tuesday, April 09 at 6pm at St Anthony's Church.

If you require further information, please contact Gemma Ballantine via the Office.

The Year of Hope Jubilee 2025

The Holy Father, Pope Francis,  has announced that 2025 will be a Jubilee Year, something which happens every 25 years. “Jubilee” is the name given to a particular year. A time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of Creation. The theme for Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and it will be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis.

We have a range of activities and celebrations planned at St Anthony’s during the year to observe this Jubilee and the students are working on a display that will go up in the next few weeks. 

For more information and updates visit the Vatican website https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/en.html

Something to think and pray about

Trust in God

There’s an inspiring passage from The Book of Habakkuk where the author describes the attitude of a person whose world has come apart –they have lost their livelihood and income, everything! The bottom has fallen out of their world, as happens to countless numbers of people every day, especially in war zones and many other areas of life. Yet the author, faced with such a huge calamity, can still say, ‘Yet I will rejoice in the Lord / and exult in God my saviour / The Lord my God is my strength’ (Habakkuk 3:18–19). That is just one of the extraordinary acts of trust in God found throughout the Bible. That’s the kind of faith involved in ‘I believe in God.’ At such times, many of us may not be able to make such an act of trust as it seems to defy the odds. We simply allow ourselves to be carried along by the prayerful trust of our faith community as if we’re stowaways on their prayers. Experience also confirms that those with a deep trusting faith are supported by their conviction that God can be relied on, especially during difficult times, because the Bible reassures us that God is on the side of the broken-hearted.

Jim Maher SJ, Reimagining Religion: A Jesuit Vision

We remember at this time...

Our thoughts and prayers are with Pope Francis as he struggles with serious health issues. We unite in prayer with our brothers and sisters across the globe, seeking the Lord’s grace for his healing and restoration. Pope Francis, who has selflessly placed the well-being of the world before his own, continues to inspire us with his unwavering commitment to prayer and service.
May we strive to see the world through the eyes of Jesus, asking for unity in the midst of suffering and for peace to overcome the strife and inequality that afflict humanity. We pray that the light of God’s love will shine through the darkness and bring forth restoration from the pain that Pope Francis endures, and from the suffering and division that mark our world. Amen.

https://sacredspace.com/

Flying Start

Week 3 and 4 for us here at Flying Start has been full of activities to promote both settling into our preschool routine and forming relationships with peers.  These peer relationships we know form such a big part of our year,  and the children then take these onto school and beyond. 

 We have had a great time this week investigating frogs and

toads, then using the Indigenous calendar to extend our learning to incorporate the significance of these animals to our local area.  We have included sensory play, art and stories to assist with the learning and to ensure that we are always having fun in a play-based environment.

 Visiting the school on a daily basis has sparked conversations and discussions around big school and all that it has to offer.  We can’t wait till next term where we will join in with the kindergarten children to try different sports and activities.  We love our interactions with the teachers and the school and know that it creates a seamless transition to school at the beginning of each year.

MISC

Parish Information and News

Parish Priest: Fr Paul McDonald

Finance Manager: Paul Crouch

Parish Secretary: Marty Darragh

Pastoral Assistant: Catherine Holliday

Phone: 0266741368

Email: parkings@bigpond.com

Website: http://stanthonysparishkingslciff.org

WEEKEND MASS TIMES
VIGIL: KINGSCLIFF 6:00pm
SUNDAY:POTTSVILLE 7:30am
KINGSCLIFF 9:00am

WEEKDAY MASS TIMES
TUESDAY: POTTSVILLE 9:15am
WEDNESDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am
THURSDAY: KINGSCLIFF 9:00am
FRIDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am

RECONCILIATION TIMES

SATURDAY: KINGSCLIFF4:00-5:30pm
SUNDAY: POTTSVILLE 7:00—7:25am

Current Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9am-3pm

PARISH NEWSLETTER LINK: http://stanthonysparishkingscliff.org/news-events/

St Anthony's Parish - Care Group

Many parents may have noticed from the Parish Bulletin, that the Parish has a Care Group which, among other things seeks to provide meals to any parishoners in need.

This could include times of family sickness, new mums struggling to provide for the family in the early days of returning home, and many other circumstances of genuine need.

Please be aware that the Care Group is very willing to help out if any families find themselves in need of this service.

Contact: Parish Office: 0266 741 284 or Maree Moore 0439 174 116