Dear Parents and Friends,

Last week principals and priests from around the Archdiocese gathered together to

reflect on ways in which they collaborate in their common mission. On Thursday

Archbishop Mark Coleridge joined us at the forum I attended and led us in prayer.

In speaking of the Year of Grace to each of the groups he emphasised that it is not a

program to be implemented but rather an invitation to contemplate the face of Jesus

and ponder what really matters in the tumult of life. He used the analogy of a retreat

experience. The message, he said, is a simple one. During the year ahead, particularly in

all aspects of our school life, we are invited to ask the question “What does this have to

do with the risen Jesus?”

As educators, we have been asked to hand on the most wonderful gift - handing on the

teachings of Jesus Christ.

We do this in partnership through parish, school and family. In doing this we take our

place in a great tradition, one of these is the setting up of Catholic Schools in Australia

and a system that is unique in the world.

This was initially set up through the dedication of the many early religious men and

women from different Orders..

Archbishop Mark Coleridge encourages us to look at the face of Jesus and contemplate

his voice and pay attention to what we hear - to see and hear Jesus in new ways.

Reflection

A holy time, given by God,

to start afresh from Christ,

contemplating His face,

and listening to His word,

that He may heal our wounds,

overcome all our divisions and

make us rich in hope,

so that we may show

forth His face and

speak His word to

the world in new ways.

Archbishop

Coleridge

Peace and Best Wishes,

Sue

Week 17, 31st May 2012

Wed 30 May to

Fri 1 June Year 5 & Year 6

Camp at Mapleton

Wed 6 June Qld Day Activities

Mon 11 June Queen’s Birthday

Holiday

Tues 12 June P&F Meeting 7:30pm Bolton Meeting Room

Wed 13 June Zone Cross Country

Sun 17 June P&F Habit and Working Bee

DATE CLAIMER

Our Lenten journey seems so long

ago……Did we find our pathways to Peace

and Justice?

Our journey this year enabled the school community to raise not only the awareness of how we can be a people of justice, but how we can support justice organisations. We fundraised $707 this year for Project Compassion. We thank all the families that donated this year, it is wonderful to know we stand as a community striving for justice in our ever challenging world. Caritas is the Catholic Agency for Aid and Development. Caritas began in Australia in 1964. And many people, then and now, feel that supporting Caritas is a great way to reach out to people in need. Caritas named after a Latin word meaning love and compassion, grew to become one of the world’s largest humanitarian agencies

The Year of Grace I invite you to join in praying the Year of Grace prayer over the coming year so that each of us, like the disciples at the first Pentecost, recommit ourselves to start afresh from Christ.

Year of Grace Prayer Gracious God,

You have blessed this ancient land with many gifts, especially its people. We thank you for the Year of Grace, a time to start afresh from Christ.

You invite us to contemplate the face of Jesus your Son, that we may experience a new wave of grace, and that the light of Christ may burn more brightly in our lives.

Attune our hearts and minds to the presence of your Holy Spirit, that our Church may be transformed, our relationships be healed, and our nation grow in compassion and justice.

With the intercession of St Mary MacKillop, who showed us new ways of living the Gospel, we make our prayer through Christ our Lord.

Amen. Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us

The Bishops of Australia have invited the whole Church to a Year of Grace which will commence at Pentecost, 2012. This short video shows the Bishops breaking open the theme "Starting afresh from Christ".

FROM THE APRE

The Logo

There is no one symbol or message that the Year of

Grace logo is intended to convey. It is a bright and stylish

image which, in looking at it, has many significant

symbols and connections that can be drawn:

• The cross

• The sun

• A circle that represents the infinity of God

• The halo incorporating a cross that surrounds the head of Jesus in Eastern iconography

• The host used at Mass

• The monstrance used in Eucharistic adoration

• A link with the artistic tradition of our Indigenous people

• The earthen, ochre colours of Australia

• A diversity of peoples and cultures, gathered into one community

• A star-burst

• Light

There may be other ways in which the logo speaks to people.

Ordinary Time ‘Experience of Journey’

The Season of Ordinary Time is a “split time” of the per annum or “through the year” weeks between the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday and the weeks after Pentecost. To many of us, the word “ordinary” suggests dull and boring sameness. Nothing could be further from the truth in this Season. The origin of the Latin tempus ordinarii is: ordinal or counted time. The numbering of the Sundays in Ordinary Time is simply the way in which the Church organises its year. Sundays are the distinguishing mark of the Christian community. Every Sunday is a celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Each Sunday of this Season acts as an echo of Easter Sunday. While each of the special Seasons of the year celebrates a particular aspect of the dying/rising of Christ, the Sundays in Ordinary Time celebrate the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. Ordinary Time is the period in which God reveals to us the face of Christ through the eyes of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the 33 (sometimes 34) Sundays of Ordinary Time, some of which occur between Christmas and Lent (depending on the date set for Easter) and the remainder after Pentecost, we get on with the day-to-day faithful living of the Gospel. The difference is that whereas the other Seasons of the Liturgy are focussed on one major faith event, Ordinary Time simply follows the Gospels. During this period, we hear a semi-continuous proclamation of the Scriptures over the 3-year cycle. It’s as if the evangelists are our guides. Each year, one of them will lead us deeper into the mystery of the mission of Christ in the world.

GGGGo in peace this weeko in peace this weeko in peace this weeko in peace this week

BenBenBenBen

DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to all the children who participated in the District Cross Country, representing St Ambrose’s.

Further congratulations to Jessica Mann who has been selected in the Metropolitan North Trials. Good Luck

Jessica!

QUEENSLAND DAY 2012 – ‘Capturing Queensland’

Next Wednesday our school will again host Queensland Day Celebrations. All students will be involved in a

wide range of activities across the day. Our theme for 2012 is, “Capturing Queensland.”

The Students will be broken into groups and stay with their group for the day. This year groups have been

assigned a colour. We ask parents and students to raid the cupboards and dress in their group’s colours. This

will assist with logistics on the day. Ensure that clothing is the same length as School Uniform and closed-in

shoes are worn.

Thank you to Michele Pezzimenti and Gina Cantarella for organising the day.

Students will know their team on Friday, if they are unsure please contact your teacher.

Teams Colour

Pineapples Orange or Gold

Maroons Maroon

Banana Benders Yellow

Mango Munchers Green

Cane Toads Brown or Black

Queenslanders Red

Sunshine State Blue

Cuddly Koalas Grey

Go Queensland!

SOS – Volunteers needed for Wednesday 6 June Parents are you able to help with the following to make Queensland Day a great experience for your child?

1. Making Damper for the Morning Tea – please let School Office or Rebecca Clarke know if you are able

to help. So far we only have 3 Volunteers to do this.

2. Helping to prepare the Morning Tea in the Tuckshop – 3 parents are needed – please let Rebecca

Clarke know of availability.

3. Cooking sausages for lunch and organising lunch for classes - 3 parents are needed – please let

Rebecca Clarke know of availability.

FOOD for Queensland Day

On Wednesday for a total of $5.00 students will be given for Morning Tea – Damper and a piece of fruit and

for lunch – Sausage Sizzle and a Fruit Box.

Students need to complete the following and bring in by Tuesday 5 June so numbers can be collated.

Please not those students who are Coeliac will be catered for on this day by Mrs Cavanough this year.

SCHOOL NEWS

QUEENSLAND DAY FOOD – Please return by Tuesday 5 June 2012

Enclosed is $5 for the food for Queensland day for …………………………………….. Signed: ……………………………….

Parent

P&F MEETING

‘ROLL UP ROLL UP – A reminder to all parents that the next P & F Meeting will be held at the Bolton Centre

Meeting Room at 7.30pm on Tuesday 12 June 2012. All parents are encouraged and welcome to attend.

Copies of the minutes from the last meeting are available on the School’s website at

http://www.stambrosesschool.qld.edu.au/documents/pandfminutescurrent.pdf.’

STUDENTS LEAVING DURING THE DAY

Parents, this is a reminder that if your child needs to attend appointments during the day, first of all the child

needs to be signed out from the School Office. Once that is done, then Mrs Orr will call for your child to meet

you in the Reception Area. Please do not go and collect your child from the classroom or from the playground

yourself. As you can imagine, this has caused some panicked moments until your child’s whereabouts has

been verified via a phone call.

SCHOOLZINE

We are transferring over to the SCHOOLZINE newsletter on June 21. From this moment the newsletter will be

circulated through this link and come out every fortnight.

All teachers now have an ipod to take photos and video streams to use in the Newsletter. At the next P&F

meeting Lisa Lum will outline what Schoolzine is and all the connecting factors. Mark this in your diary as the

Schoolzine has wonderful capacities that we as a school can utilize.

In preparation for this new presentation of our newsletter, there will be NO NEWSLETTER for the week of

June 11. And from the beginning of Term 3, the newsletter will be published fortnightly.

PREP A & PREP B: Wow we can’t believe how much fun we had last week at Under 8’s Week. Thank you to all the wonderful parents who

came to help on Friday. A special thanks to Marni Shaw for her amazing face painting. Thanks!

YEARS 1A & 1B: What an amazing time we had last week! We all needed a big rest over the weekend to recover (teachers as well)!! A

big thank you to all the parents who helped us celebrate Under 8’s Week. This week we are straight back into the swing

of things with Literacy Groups, morning reading and fine motor group. We have been doing lots of addition, subtraction

and place value work. It’s hard to believe we are almost half way through Year One!

YEARS 2A & 2B: After such a fun and exciting week we are back to normal! We have been continuing to learn about mixtures and this

week we learnt how to work in a team together completing an investigation. This week maths has been quite tricky. We

are learning how to add 10’s and 20’s from any number. We have been using a hundred’s chart to help us. We would

also like to congratulate the Year 2 children who made it into the zone cross country team. Well done!

YEARS 3A & 3B:

In Science we have been learning about the phases of the moon. We have also explored facts about the Earth and Sun.

Queensland Day is fast approaching and we are really looking forward to all the fun activities that have been planned for

us.

YEARS 4/5A & 4/5B:

Excitement is in the air as the Year 5’s prepare for camp. We wish them a safe journey and an enjoyable time, trying

new and challenging activities. We will miss you! The Year 4’s have had a great time at Gala Sport and look forward to

this week’s competition against the other schools.

YEARS 6/7A & 6/7B:

On Wednesday the Year 7’s and Buddies hosted Mass. The theme of our Mass was Our Hands and How We Use Them to

Make Friends. We also waved off the Year 6 students who are camping at Mapleton until Friday. They seemed very

excited as they boarded the bus with the Year 5’s, Mrs Surawski and Miss Frawley.

CLASS ROOM NEWS

Sam Wright Moe Kimmel

Tilly Lee-Archer William Nash

DAYS OF EXCELLENCE

Congratulations to the following students who will be participating in Days of Excellence workshops this week and next

week.

Words Matter Maths of

Astronomy

Codebreaker Lights Camera

Action

Games

Through

History and

Cultures

Shapes That

Fly

Sidney

Hunwick

Matthew

Hutton

James Clarke Arwen Dias-

Jayasinha

Zachary Vivian Jaxon Barwell

Emma

Shannon

Joshua Durkin Zoe Goss Charlotte

Morgan

Joe Stephens

Esther Mann Matthew Duff Elliott

Beauchamp

Harriet

Backstrom

Madison

Durkin

Daniel

Fitzgerald

Lynece Cavanough

(Learnng Support Teacher)

SCHOOL FEES ARE DUE THIS THURSDAY, 31st

MAY, AND

PROMPT PAYMENT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

Wow! What a week! Cross country Tuesday, PJ Disco Wednesday, Jump Rope Day Thursday and Under 8’s Day Friday. A

very special thank you to all the mums and dads who came during the week to support their children and help out in

any way you could. The children and the staff appreciate all your efforts. A big thank you to all the staff who helped to

put these activities in place. It was a huge success. We raised over $500 at the disco for the Pyjama Foundation and

$2700 for the Heart Foundation from the Jump Rope for Heart Day.

BIRTHDAYS

UNDER 8’S DAY & JUMP ROPE DAY ENTRE NEWS

LEARNING SUPPORT NEWS

SCHOOL FEES

Book club orders are due to the office tomorrow, Friday 1st

June.

If you wish your purchases to be a secret just write your request on your envelope along with a phone number

or email address and I will contact you when the books have arrived.

Methods of payment

If paying by credit card please pay online as per the instructions on the order form and then submit the

receipt number on the credit card coupon. (If ordering from multiple catalogues you only need to make one

credit card payment to cover the total value of purchases.)

If paying by cheque please make it out to Scholastic Australia.

We expect delivery to take approximately 2 weeks.

Thank you for supporting Scholastic book club.

Carmel Swaine

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

CENTENARY MASS ST BRIGID’S CHURCH