16 August 2024

From the Principals Desk

Well-being Week

As parents and leaders of our households we often prioritise our children’s well-being in sacrifice of our own. This week reminds us all that we have the right to be well and we need to make time for it – not just this week. When we feel well in ourselves, it transfers to our family and those in our care.

Congratulations Mrs Howard

The library was abuzz last week with many excited faces looking through the great collection of books put on display for purchase by Mrs Howard and Mrs Sneddon.

Thank you to all the parents who supported the book fair that provides extra funds to refresh our collections.

Mrs Howard and Mrs Sneddon who worked hard to set up, sell and pack up for our kids!! You are amazing!!

Parent student goal setting meetings

If you missed your meeting, please make contact with your classroom teacher to set up a new time.

Sporting Achievements

Some of our students have been training tirelessly to improve their sporting skills and been rewarded with selection into various teams and making it to the next levels of competition. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

POLDING FOOTBALL – Curtis Rollason
POLDING ATHLETICS – Curtis Rollason
POLDING ATHLETICS – Sienna Drage
POLDING ATHLETICS – Logan Gruber
POLDING ATHLETICS – Ivy McMahon

EVERY DAY IN SCHOOL MEANS SO MUCH MORE

Regular attendance at school is essential for students to achieve quality life outcomes.  Everyday counts, as regular attendance helps students:

• Develop a sense of belonging
• Develop and maintain friendships
• Be more engaged at school
• Progress with their learning
• Be more aware of career and life options.

Supporting positive school attendance is a shared responsibility - everyone has a role to play in promoting the regular attendance of students.

Assistant Principal  

PB4L

This week’s PBL focus is Listen to others. This aligns with our school rule of being respectful our value of love as well as with the following Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) focuses:

• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

In developing and acting with self-awareness, students begin to:

• recognise emotions
• recognise personal qualities and achievements
• understand themselves as learners
• develop reflective practice.

What does having Self-Awareness of emotions look like?

Kindergarten:
Identify a range of emotions and describe situations that may evoke these emotions
Example: Describing responses such as being excited at a birthday party or feeling disappointed when not selected for an award.

Year 1 and 2:
Compare their emotional responses with those of their peers
Example: Considering how others respond to difficult situations in historical contexts or when listening to fictional stories.

Year 3 and 4:
Describe the influence that people, situations and events have on their emotions
Example: Discussing their emotional responses to events, such as celebrations, sporting events or news stories.

Year 5 and 6:
Explain how the appropriateness of emotional responses influences behaviour
Example: Explaining the likely consequences of inappropriate emotional responses in a range of social situations.

Bullying No Way: National week of action

Each year St Paul’s participates in the Bullying No Way: National week of action.

Bullying No Way Week is a commitment being made by thousands of schools and supporters across the country. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to bullying prevention. It gives us an opportunity to connect with students, staff and school communities to implement workable solutions to prevent bullying.

The new hero colour for the campaign is purple – symbolising peace, strength and empowerment to take a stand against bullying behaviour.

The theme for this year's campaign is Everyone belongs. This theme highlights the importance of creating a sense of belonging and inclusion for students. We recognise bullying often thrives in environments where individuals feel marginalised or excluded, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that every student feels valued and respected.

“Positive school climates that value diversity and inclusion can foster a sense of belonging and provide a protective factor against negative peer relationships and reduce bullying.” (Australian Education Research Organisation 2023).

For more information about Bullying No Way Week and bullying prevention, visit the Bullying No Way website.

This week every class has been having meaningful discussions and taking part in activities aimed at promoting empathy, understanding, and respect for diversity. I encourage parents and carers to take this opportunity to have open and honest conversations with their children about the impact of bullying and what they can do if they need support. You can visit the Bullying No Way website for tips around how to have this discussion.

Each of our classes have made a whole class and/or personal pledge to take a stand against bullying. Here is a snippet of some of our pledges:

Each class has also discussed what bullying is and what is not by going through the decision tree below. This can also be helpful in supporting discussions with your child/ren at home.

Peer Support

Our whole school will commence Peer Support this week and continue with weekly sessions for the remainder of the term. The sessions are led by Year 6 students and supported by the supervising teacher in each room. Each Friday, all children will participate in a new module, Moving Forward which focuses on resilience. The experiences in the module help children identify qualities and strengths, develop skills, respond with a range of strategies and seek support when faced with challenges.

In this session, children will establish connection with other members of their group and develop an agreement to enable them to work well together. They will discuss an example of a challenging situation and some resilient and non-resilient responses. You might like to discuss with your child what they can do to help them take an active role in Peer Support.

Religious Education Update 

ST PAUL’S FAMILY MASS

Next weekend on Sunday the 25^th at 8am, St Paul’s Primary is taking over the Sunday mass. We would love to see as many families as possible from St Paul’s there. We will also see students receive the Sacrament of Communion for the first time (First Eucharist). Choir people – a reminder to come along!

GRANDPARENT'S DAY

Two weeks ago, on Friday the 2^nd of August, we celebrated 100 days of Kindy and Grandparent’s Day in honor of the Feast Day of Saints Joachim and Anne – The grandparents of Jesus. Thank you to everyone who helped the liturgy run smoothly – to kindergarten who did a fabulous job of preparing and running the liturgy. And the day.

We celebrate the gift of grandparents. These ancestors have given us the gift of life. They continue to give us the gift of love. Grandparents are a valuable and vital resource in our communities. They provide children with stability and a sense of generational connection. Many grandparents are also significant carers in the lives of their grandchildren and a few of them are the primary carers. The students of St. Paul’s wish to express their gratitude and love for their Grandparents. 

Each Grandparent is unique and irreplaceable. As society changes, the role of grandparent’s changes. But some things about grandparents are constant.  

Grandparents provide memories 

Memories help us to understand who we are. For most families, grandparents are the ‘Central Bank of Memories’. Grandchildren never tire of hearing stories about their own parents when they were children.  

Grandparents see the inner beauty of the grandchild 

To a grandparent, each grandchild is a wonderful mystery. Other people may look and just see a child, but the grandparent sees someone unique, special and loveable. 

Grandparents benefit too.  

It’s a two-way street! To young children, their grandparents are simply beautiful, and they tell them so; they don’t seem to notice the wrinkles. As one grandfather said, “They even laugh at my jokes!” So, both generations are helped to see themselves as God  

sees us – loveable, good and made in his image. 

"The educational task of grandparents is always very important, and it becomes even more so when, for different reasons, the parents are not able to ensure an adequate presence to their children. May the Virgin Mary, who, ..., learned to read sacred Scriptures at the knee of her mother, Anne, help grandparents to always nourish their faith and hope at the font of the Word of God.” 

(Pope Benedict XVI on the Feast Day of Joachim and Anne, grandparents of Jesus) 

We thank our Grandparents for the gifts they share with us. They have given us the gift of life, and they continue to give us the gift of love. Grandparents help us in many ways – they give us wisdom, guidance, support and love. So, whilst it is sad we cannot be together to celebrate, Grandparents will always be special in our hearts for everything they do. Thank you to all Grandparents, those that are still with us, and those that are not. We love you with all our hearts.

SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION 2024

Below are the events to mark on the calendar for those completing their Sacraments of Initiation this year. For any information, please contact me through the school office.

We completed the meetings for First Holy Communion this week, the next event is this weekend - Presentation of the Gifts Weekend – 17^th/18^th August

GOSPEL REFLECTION
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B
John 6:51-58
Whoever eats and drinks of the body and blood of Christ has eternal life.

Library News

TERM 3 BORROWING DAYS

Due to staff and timetable changes library borrowing days have changed this term.

Monday: Year 4
Tuesday: Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2
Wednesday: Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6
Kinder and Year 1 will continue to borrow weekly.
Years 2 - 6 will borrow each fortnight. 
Odd weeks M classes. Even weeks W classes.

OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS

Students can return overdue books any day. They do not need to wait until their borrowing day. Parents, please sign and return overdue slips for misplaced books. Many students become upset each week when unable to borrow, however overdue slips have not been returned. Communication is appreciated and no cost is incurred. Our aim is to have students reading regularly, learning respect for school property and responsibility to return borrowed books. 

PRC

Only 1 week left to record books read for the PRC. Challenge closes Friday of Book Week 23^rd August 2024. Currently, 6M is in the lead! Congratulations to the following students for completing the challenge in the past fortnight- Sophia 2M, Evelyn 2W, Sara 5W. If anyone is having difficulty recording books online please don’t hesitate to contact the library.

BOOK FAIR

Congratulations St. Paul’s community for such a successful fundraiser. We sold $6746 worth of books over 4 days and raised over $2000 in commission through Scholastics to go back into books and resources for our school. A huge thank you to all the families and staff that purchased. I hope the students are enjoying their book choices, engaging in reading and writing fun stories in their diaries. 

BOOK WEEK PARADE

The Book Week parade will be held on Thursday 22^nd August at 9:30am. Parents and carers are welcome and invited to bring along a picnic morning tea to share after the parade.

Students are asked to come dressed as a book character. Some character costume suggestions may be linked to the CBCA book week theme for 2024 Reading is Magic. Other ideas might include an Olympic sporting theme with many sports books now found in bookstores and libraries. Or perhaps students might like to come dressed as a bird character keeping with the theme of our own St Paul’s book creation through the Growing Minds Project taking place in week 7. Any book character costume will be sufficient.

Author In Residence
Term 3 Week 7 with Leila Rudge!

Book Characters have been finalised: Rainbow Lorikeet, Cockatoo and Magpie.
Book Theme: Inclusivity: Everyone belongs
Setting: Maitland Hunter River Levee Bank

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Penny in the Library.
katrina.howard@mn.catholic.edu.au
penny.sneddon@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Kind Regards,
Katrina Howard and Penny Sneddon

Term Dates for 2024

Term 1 Tuesday, 30 January - Friday, 12 April
Term 2 Monday, 29 April - Friday, 05 July
Term 3 Monday, 22 July - Friday, 27 September
Term 4 Monday, 14 October - Friday, 20 December

School Student Travel Passes 2024

Uniform Shop Hours 2024

TUESDAY AFTERNOON                      2.30PM – 3PM
WEDNESDAY MORING                       8.30AM – 9AM
THURSDAY AFTERNOON                    2.30PM – 3PM

When ordering Uniforms via QKR, don’t change the order date.
Orders will be sent the classrooms the days the uniform shop is opened.
If for some reason you need to exchange sizes, please ensure that the tags are still on the garment and the garment is in the original packing.

Christa Moylan
Uniform Shop Coordinator

Canteen

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR CHILDS CLASS ON QKR

Canteen Opening days.

Order via the QKR App, by 8.55am ON THE DAY.

Lunch orders will be sent to the classrooms in the class lunch tubs.

(IMPORTANT WHEN ORDERING LUNCHES – CHECK THE DATE OF ORDER)
In the past students haven’t received lunch due to the wrong order date entered.
Please discuss with your child if this happens, ask them to come to the office to see Mrs West or Mrs Mac, we will organise lunch for them through the canteen.  Only sandwiches will be on offer.

RECESS TIME:  10:30AM – 11:10AM
LUNCH TIME:  12:40PM – 1:20PM

St Nicholas OOSH

Guitar Lessons