MATTHEW GIBNEY CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

30 Munday Road, High Wycombe WA 6057 Phone: 6216 8400 Email: admin@gibney.wa.edu.au Website: www.gibney.wa.edu.au

NEWSLETTER No. 24 15th August 2019

Dear Parents, Friends and Students

This morning we joined with the Parish community to

celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into

Heaven. It was great to see many of our parents join us

in this Mass. We can take inspiration from Our Lady’s firm

commitment to do the will of God in her life regardless of

what is going on around us. In today’s society, when

doing what makes you feel good regardless of its effect

on others is the norm, we are encouraged to be counter-

cultural and to be like Mary and say ‘Yes’ to God. As we

explain to our children each day, Making Jesus Real is

not easy but that doesn’t mean we give up. Thank you to

Mrs Keddie for organising the Mass and to Mrs Aldred

who led the music.

On Wednesday morning many of our students from

across the school performed our Easter Play at the

Catholic Schools Performing Arts Festival Christian

Drama Section. To say that they did our school proud is

an understatement. They were sensational! Mrs Aldred

and the students are to be congratulated on their

outstanding effort. With so many children being away over

the last couple of weeks, rehearsals were a challenge and

we weren’t really sure who were going to turn up.

However, as they say in the classics, it was ‘alright on the

day’. Many thanks to Mrs Aldred for all her work in

preparing the students and to the staff for their support.

On Wednesday evening the Parish held child/parent

workshops for our young people preparing to receive the

Sacrament of Confirmation. The workshops were held

here at school. Thank you to Mrs Keddie who has worked

with the Parish to prepare something that is thought

provoking and as practical as possible. Please keep our

young people in your prayers as they prepare to receive

the Sacrament over the weekend of 7th/8th September.

Next Thursday and Friday the school will be holding its

Faction Athletics Carnival. Jumps and Throws will be

held on Thursday 22nd August and the running and team

events will be held on Friday 23rd August. The students

have been working hard with Miss Andersen preparing

themselves for the carnival. Thank you to the parents who

have already volunteered to assist. Without your

generosity, our carnival would not take place. If you are

available, please volunteer to help out on the day by

informing the school office.

The Year 2 class will be holding their Liturgy of the Word

on Wednesday 21st August. It will begin at 9:05am and

will be held in the Sacred Space. All parents and

members of our community are invited to join with us and

then stay for the morning tea that will follow.

A reminder that our next P&F meeting will take place on

Wednesday 21st August. Please come along and show

your support for our P&F who are doing a fantastic job

building community in our school.

I wish you all a safe week.

Mark Powell

PRINCIPAL

LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation

in time of distress. (Isaiah 33:2)

GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS GOOD NEWS

Kindy have been learning about Pop Artist Andy Warhol and how to catch our germs!

Levi M Jack Mitchell Marco Selina

Friday Giving

Don’t forget our Friday Giving Appeal to

help the needy.

Please bring your donations of canned

foods or non-perishables, etc. to school

for collection each Friday.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Mon 19th Aug Book Week

Wed 21st Aug Year 2 Liturgy

Wed 21st Aug Yr 3 & 6 Rosary (Gertrude)

Wed 21st Aug P&F Meeting 7.30pm

Thurs 22nd Aug Yr 3 - 6 Jumps & Throws

Fri 23rd Aug Father’s Day Breakfast

Fri 23rd Aug Faction Athletics Carnival

Fri 23rd Aug Book Fair am & pm

Mon 26th Aug Book Fair am & pm

Tues 27th Aug Book Fair am & pm

Wed 28th Aug Book Fair am

Wed 28th Aug K - 6 Book Character Parade

Fri 30th Aug Year 4 Assembly

Sun 1st Sept Father’s Day

Tues 3rd Sept Year 3 SciTech Excursion

Wed 4th Sept Year 5 Performing Arts

Wed 4th Sept Confirmation Retreat Day &

Rehearsal

Thurs 5th Sept Performing Arts Years 2 - 6

Sat 7th Sept Confirmation Mass 6.30pm

Sun 8th Sept Confirmation Mass 9.30am

Wed 11th Sept Year 3 & 5 Liturgy

Fri 13th Sept Year 5 Assembly

Fri 13th Sept Year 4 G & T Testing @ 9.50am

Wed 18th Sept P & F Meeting 7.30pm

Fri 20th Sept Interschool Athletics Carnival

Mon 23rd Sept PP & Yr 2 Excursion to Kalamunda

History Village

Wed 25th Sept Reconciliation Workshop for

students & parents 4pm or 5.45pm.

Thurs 26th Sept END OF TERM 3 FOR STUDENTS

Fri 27th Sept PUPIL FREE DAY

Mon 14th Oct STUDENTS RETURN TERM 4 2019

PRE-PRIMARY NEWS

Last Thursday, the Pre-Primary children attended a liturgy

in the library, to celebrate Mary Mackillop’s Feast Day.

They behaved respectfully as they joined in with the

hymns and prayers and learned about the life and work of

Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop. Today, we attended

the Assumption Mass at St Francis of Assisi Church. The

children took part in the prayers and songs with respect

and reverence and we were very proud of them. In the

classroom, the children are making wonderful progress

with their literacy and numeracy skills in their rotation

groups and they are displaying great team work skills

during this time. This week was the start of our ‘Fairy

Tale’ theme. Over the next few weeks, the children will

have a chance to develop their problem solving skills in

STEM activities relating to some well-known fairy tales.

As a reminder, the Pre-Primary children will join in with

the annual ‘Book Week’ parade in Week 6, on

Wednesday 28 August. We will be discussing some

familiar book characters over the next week which will tie

in with ‘Book Week’. Have a great week!

Debbie Hawley & Jen Moore

SPORTS REMINDER

Students will need to wear full

sports uniform with house

(coloured) polo on

Monday 19th August.

Sports uniform with representative

polo on Thursday 22nd August

for Jumps and Throws.

Sports uniform with house (coloured) polo on

Friday 23rd August for Athletics Carnival.

Coloured hairspray is allowed but must be

applied at home.

Assistant Principal’s

Religious Education News

Confirmation Candidate & Parent Workshop

Many thanks to all the Year 6 Students and their parents

and sponsors for attending the Workshop yesterday

evening. It was a great opportunity to learn more about

the Sacrament of Confirmation. Today the students will

receive the Confirmation Card Information Sheet. We ask

that all parents fill out this sheet as soon as possible and

return it to school. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Karen Keddie

Assistant Principal RE

Congratulations Amelia on

receiving First Eucharist at Mass

this morning.

BATTERY RECYCLING We are very pleased to “do our bit” for

the environment by offering recycling

collection for household batteries. You

can drop your batteries off in the metal

collection bin in the hallway opposite the

Year 3 class room.

YEAR 2 NEWS

Last Friday, one dad, two mums and three nanas helped

us with a sewing activity. The children did a great job

sewing and are looking forward to finishing off their

animal creation. Many thanks to our fabulous helpers!

On Wednesday 21st August, we will be celebrating God’s

creation at our Liturgy, starting at 9:05am in the Scared

Space in the school library. The boys are kindly asked to

bring in a small plate of food to share for morning tea.

Earlier this term we welcomed Lily S to our class. The

children have been very welcoming to our newest class

member. We hope Lily and her family enjoy becoming a

part of the Matthew Gibney school community.

Please note that the Year 2 children will have sport on

Monday19th August and will need to wear their sport

uniform with house polo. The children are very excited

about the Athletics Carnival on Friday 23rd August!

Gina Nickels

YEAR 4 NEWS

Yesterday the whole Year 4 class, along with students

from Years 1 – 6 performed the Easter Story at the

Performing Arts Festival which was held at Mercy

College. The children were outstanding and their

performance was very moving. It isn’t often that you see

the adjudicators visibly touched by a school performance.

Our children did themselves and our school proud. Thank

you to all the students for their hard work and a huge

thank you to Mrs Aldred for co-coordinating this event

and for encouraging the students to strive for excellence.

Today we gathered as a whole school to attend the

Assumption Mass at our Church. Congratulations to

Amelia who received her First Eucharist at Mass today.

The children are excited about the impending Athletics

Carnival and Father’s Day Breakfast next week. We are

looking forward to another busy week.

Joanne Brescacin

P & F Meetings Term 3 2019

Wednesday 21st August @ 7.30pm

Wednesday 18th September @ 7.30pm

SENT HOME FRIDAY 9th AUGUST

★ P&F Father’s Day Breakfast Reply Slip

★ P&F Book Week Character Parade Flyer

SENT HOME TODAY

★ Athletics Carnival Canteen Special

HELP The Canteen is in URGENT need of a

volunteer for Friday 23rd August at recess

and to pack lunches.

Please contact Alison if you can help.

Athletics Carnival Parent Help If you can help us on either days listed below, please

write your name on the sheet provided in the office or

return this slip to the office.

I can help on:

Thursday 22nd

of August – Jumps and Throws

Years 3 - 6 Morning - 12pm.

Friday 23rd

of August - Faction carnival Pre-

Primary - Year 6 all day.

Name: _______________________________________

Contact:______________________________________

For details on what help is required, please see the list at

the front office. Your help is very much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Shannon Andersen

Congratulations Eli on being awarded the

Excellence Award for his piano

performance. Eli received excellent in

every category!

CHILDREN’S LITURGY AT ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Children’s Liturgy takes place during the 9.30am Mass on

Sunday mornings. Children from Kindy to year 4 are welcome

to come and hear about the Gospel reading of the day at their

own level. They also do a little activity about it.

Please bring your child to the hall before Mass starts (we are

there from 9.15am), and then we will bring them across to the

Church for the Offertory procession, where they take up the

gifts and show Father their work. They then rejoin their family

for the rest of Mass.

This is a lovely way for children to learn about Jesus, and

feeling part of the Parish community.

Thank you.

Philomena - Catechist Coordinator