In Parishes throughout the Diocese of Wollongong we celebrated the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The reflection by Loyola Press explains that in last Sunday’s Gospel the disciples have acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus confides in them the outcome of his ministry: he must suffer and die in Jerusalem to be raised on the third day. Jesus teaches all of the disciples about the difficult path of discipleship: to be Christ’s disciple is to follow in his way of the cross. Jesus is beginning to teach his disciples that he would be the Messiah in a different way. Jesus would be more like the suffering servant described by the prophet Isaiah than the political liberator. Those who would be Jesus' disciples would be called to a similar life of service. As Christians today we are still called to sacrifice and serve others as Jesus did.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was wonderful to spend time with the fathers, grandfathers and special father figures last Thursday 31st August for our St Paul’s Father’s Day celebrations. The afternoon was full of much fun and excitement and was an opportunity to recognise the many gifts that our fathers and grandfathers contribute to our whole school community. Thank you to those fathers and grandfathers who were able to join us and to the wonderful students and staff who participated in the celebrations with such enthusiasm and excitement. Our students have told me the highlight of the afternoon was the games on our play spaces!!  St Joseph is a role model for fathers and Pope Francis wrote the apostolic letter titled Patris Corde “With a Father’s Heart” in preparation for the year honouring St. Joseph, 2021. 

In this apostolic letter Pope Francis outlined that the role of a responsible and loving father or father figure, as we have seen in St. Joseph, is not an easy one. A father must embody many truths and live them actively. He must teach, model, and communicate the virtues of fatherhood so that the child can grow to the fullness of their potential. A father in the shadows, allows a child to have the freedom to walk “the paths of life unaccompanied.”

We pray that fathers may have the wisdom to know when their child/ren should have the freedom to walk the paths of life and trust in the values they have raised their child on. 

I would like to thank Amy De Santis and the St Paul's Parents and Friends Association and the wonderful parent volunteers who organised the Father's Day Stall. On behslf of the students and their families I thank the volunteers for their generousity and time given to provide an opprtunity for our students to buy something special for their fathers and grandfathers.

First Holy Communion

On the 9th and 10th September a number of our Year 3 students will be receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist with the St Paul’s Parish.  Year 3 students have been participating in sacramental classes with the support of the St Paul’s Parish to prepare our students to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist. I would like to thank Fr. Leo and the St Paul’s Parish Sacramental Team, Mrs Jodi Marsh, Miss Julianne Tonini and Miss Samantha Ryan for preparing our students. I wish our Year 3 students and their families all the very best as we come together as a school and parish community to celebrate and I look forward to joining our community this weekend.

From the 14th September till the 22nd September I will be taking Long Service Leave and Mrs Rebecca Nunes will be Acting Principal whilst I am on leave. I thank Mrs Nunes and the School Leadership Team for their leadership and support. 

Yours in Faith and Learning,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Acknowledgement to Country

St Paul's Albion Park acknowledges and pays respect to the Dharawal people past and present, the traditional custodians of the land on which our school is built.

This term, teachers met to collaborate and plan ways to teach students interpersonal skills. The collaborative planning sessions involved grade teachers and leaders looking at various sources to determine the skills students have in place and ways they can support a range of skills for students.

Staff altered their programs to teach interpersonal skills. They also create small group instruction and one-to-one support for individual students to meet their needs.

All classes are working on a 'Ready to Learn' Scale. This is a rating system that requires students to identify their emotions and be aware of themselves and if they are ready to learn. Staff can easily identify students who may need support to get ready to learn.

They are learning to identify ways to regulate emotions so that they are ready to learn.

Each week the students from Year 3-6 complete a wellbeing survey called the PIVOT survey. This survey allows the school to support the student's wellbeing by identifying trends in response and target support in these areas.

Recently the school engaged in teaching around online safety. This was a focus across all grades. Survey results would indicate that over 90% of students feel safe most of the time when online. 

Online safety is an important aspect of primary school teaching. Parents often find managing online activity difficult. Please see the tips and tricks for managing a device.

See below some tips from the eSafety Commissioner website to support you in building safe technology practices at home. If you would like any support with setting up restrictions on your child’s devices or have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the school. 

Advice for parents and carers (eSafety Commissioner)

• Keep the computer or device in an area of your home that can be supervised. And check in regularly with your child to see what they are viewing.
• Stay engaged with their online activity. If they agree, consider setting up your own accounts with the sites they use most so you can see how they work and understand the risks. 
• Explore the online world with them to help establish that this is not just a solitary activity. Play games with them. Do a creative project together.
• Think about social media readiness. Most social media sites require users to be at least 13 years of age before they can register, although some sites are created especially for children under 13. See are they old enough?
• Encourage respect and empathy. Teach them to avoid sharing or posting things that may upset others. 
• Start building resilience. Teach your child that there are ways they can deal with material that worries or frightens them. This includes immediately telling you or another trusted adult of any concerns or uncomfortable material. See good habits start young.
• Encourage them to learn about online safety by exploring the kids section of this site.

Review your rules as your child grows older

• Be clear about how much time they can spend online, the apps they can use, the websites they can visit and what they can share or post online. 
• Refer to our advice about time online and online gaming if these are of concern. 

Technology tips for parents of kids 5 to 12

• Ensure your own devices are protected by a password or pin, so your child cannot accidentally come across inappropriate content.
• Use parental control tools appropriate for the age and experience of your child.  Be upfront and get your child on board. Let them know that these can be reviewed and changed as they get older and they continue to demonstrate responsible behaviour. Consider installing a ‘child-friendly’ search engine that will allow them to explore a limited number of sites. See taming the technology.
• Check out Raising Children Network’s healthy screen time and quality media choices: 6-11 years.

Did you know that iPads have parental control of the "Downtime" feature of the iPad that can help you manage a device?

The Apple user guide gives directions to set this for your child.

Carly_Ryan_App_Limits.pdf

Carly_Ryan_App_Limits _pdf 4.27 MB

Set downtime and app limits on a family member’s device

1. On your family member’s device, go to Settings  > Screen Time.

2. Tap Turn On Screen Time, tap Continue, then tap This is My Child’s iPad.

3. To schedule downtime for your family member (time away from the screen), enter the start and end times, then tap Set Downtime.

4. To set limits for categories of apps you want to manage (for example, Games or Social Networking), select the categories.

   To see all the categories, tap Show All Categories.

5. Tap Set, enter an amount of time, then tap Set App Limit.

6. Tap Continue, then enter a Screen Time passcode for managing your family member’s Screen Time settings.

One of the handy steps listed is setting limits for a particular category of apps. As an example, you can choose games- select all games in the category or one game. You can then choose the length of time that app can be played for each day. So you might choose to set a 30 minutes limit on the use of Roblox on that device. 

If you require support to set downtime or any of the listed controls please contact the school and a staff member can help you. 

Your child would love you to look through their book and use this as a starting point to discuss what they have been learning. If you would like to give your child some feedback you might like to try the following format. 

Acknowledge a success	✓ Identify what is done accurately ✓ Describe something that is quality work ✓ Point out if they have used a good strategy eg: evidence of editing
Guide a future action	✓ Ask a question about something  ✓ Offer a suggestion to improve one aspect of learning- try to reinforce any comments from the teacher

Mrs Rebecca Nunes

Assistant Principal

With our school values now nominated, they now will be unpacked with the students and linked to scripture. This week we will look at the value of Compassion.

There are many examples of compassion within the Bible. The core scripture story that we will use at school to explain compassion is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. A version of this scripture story is in all four gospels. We are reminded of Jesus’ compassion from the beginning of this story when Jesus was traveling and healing the sick at the same time. At the end of the day, it was the disciples that wanted the crowd to go away. But Jesus said “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” The character of Jesus is shown in this part of the passage. His compassion has no bounds, He had traveled far, healed the sick, spoke to people, yet his priority was still the crowd that followed.

At St Paul’s we need to share our compassion for others, through showing love, kindness and respect for others. Compassion is more than hugs and kisses, it is showing that we care for others. Even if we feel tired or don’t agree, we should always aim to respect and care for the wellbeing of others.

First Communion will be held over this weekend at Parish Masses, 6pm on Saturday 9th September and 9am on Sunday 10th September. Students from Year Three and above have been preparing for this Sacrament over the last six weeks and we keep them in our prayers as they receive the Eucharist for the first time.

Last Friday our Mini-Vinnies team members were presented with their badges from Mr Tony Young of the local St Vincent de Paul branch. This is a recognition of the time given by these students to organise fundraising activities to support those within our community who are less fortunate than ourselves. For the remainder of the year students will work towards supporting Catholic Mission with Crazy Sock Day and the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal.

This Friday staff will be attending our Staff Spirituality Day, Praise be! Living our Ecological Conversion off site.

The aim of our Staff Spirituality Day is to continue our ecological conversion journey exploring aspects of eco theology and eco spirituality deepening our understanding of Laudato Si' and our call to care for our common home. A very appropriate theme in the Season of Creation.

The Season of Creation goes from September 1 to October 4, uniting the entire Christian family across the world in a celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. As followers of Christ from around the globe, we share a common call to care for creation. We are co-creators and part of all that God has made. Our wellbeing is interwoven with the wellbeing of the Earth.

This year, the theme for the Season of Creation is Let justice and peace flow and is inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24)

Kindergarten led us in a liturgy to begin the Season of Creation last Friday.

Catholic Mission, as the Australian agency of the Pontifical Mission Society contributes funding and provides project support to critical church-run initiatives in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America as well as remote dioceses within Australia. Catholic Mission creates opportunities for people to be formed in mission, and respond through prayer, fundraising and action, inspiring them to reach out, and give life—within Australia and around the world. All of us engage in mission when we proclaim our faith through our words, actions and lives.

The Diocesan Launch for World Mission Month is on the 13th September at Holy Spirit College, Bellambi. Mrs Rodwell and our school captains will be attending the Diocesan launch on behalf of the school community.

Early in Term 4, St Paul’s students will be raising money to support the Catholic Mission through our Crazy Sock Day.

ASSEMBLIES FOR 2023

Each grade will have the opportunity to present an assembly fortnightly on Friday afternoons in the hall at 2:30pm. ACE, Principal and Mary MacKillop Awards will be presented at these assemblies. Parents are welcome to attend. Please see below the dates for the remainder of the year. 

Term 3

Term 4

DATES FOR LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS IN TERM 3

Mrs Jodi Marsh

Religious Education Coordinator

Over the next two weeks our PB4L focus will be on PERSEVERANCE. At times this can be challenging for students when they are faced with a problem or task that they may find hard. You may hear your children say “It is too hard, I can’t do that” when we hear this it is important for us as teachers and parents to encourage students to change their thinking.

It is important for children to know that some things take work and a lot of practice in order to achieve. It is about having a growth mindset. For example I might not be able to tie my shoelaces YET. I don’t know my multiplication facts YET! I don’t know how to do this dance move YET!

At home this is something you can work on at home with your children. For example, I don’t know how to ride my bike YET! I don’t know how to button up my t-shirt YET! I don’t know how to make my bed YET! Yes they may not be able to do these things however with practice and small achievable steps they can achieve them.

Our current PB4L focus has been on Afternoon Dismissal however with maintenance required on the Front Playground we were unable to start this until this week. There has been a change to Afternoon Dismissal whereby all students on Waiters have been asked to sit on the Basketball Court instead of the Handball Court near the Administration building. Just a reminder that when collecting your child from the Front Playground or Back Gate, your car must be legally parked and parents must enter the school grounds to collect their child/ren. If this is a new procedure we encourage you to speak to your children about this change. This is so we can ensure the safety of all students at St Paul’s and it can be quite congested due to Kindergarten and Stage 1 being dismissed in this area. Please refer to the attached matrix for student, staff and parent expectations. 

Thursday 14th September is a national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that any day is the day to ask ‘Are you ok?’. This year we are asking students and staff to wear a touch of yellow on Thursday 14th September.

Just a reminder that over coming weeks we have been asking for Year 1 and Year 2 students to bring all their merit awards to school. We are in the process of uploading all merit awards to Compass as it is hoped that parents will eventually receive a notification informing them that their child will be awarded an ACE Award, Principal’s Award or Mary MacKillop Award at the following assembly. If your child is in Year 1 and Year 2 please send all your child’s awards to school in a sealed ziplock bag. This includes all awards received from previous years at St Paul’s. These awards will be collated and returned to students by the end of Term 3.

Due to a clash for our Stage 3 students we have had to reschedule our visit with the Youth Liaison from Lake Illawarra to Week 10 Tuesday 19th September. Senior constable Jo Cummings will discuss how the police can help students, how to stay safe online and the impact of physical aggression on others. 

Miss Alana Stroligo 

Middle Leader

Kindergarten have been working so hard this Term! Enjoy a snapshot of their learning. 

Throughout the year teachers have access to a variety of quality professional development opportunities. Casual teachers are employed to cover classes with the teacher ensuring the teaching program and routines are followed. 

“Those who dare to teach, never cease to learn” John Cotton-Dana

Our teachers have continued to implement targeted teaching small group lessons in Mathematics using the Outcomes of Representing Number in Place Value. The students across K-6 have been working with various-sized numbers and decimals to deepen their knowledge in reading, writing and representing numbers.

We still continue to evaluate our school Mathematics goal so teachers are deepening their knowledge and understanding of syllabus outcomes in place value.  Our teachers are reflecting on student work samples and through collaboration we are developing and planning engaging Mathematics lessons for our students to deepen their contextual understanding. 

GOAL: 

Teachers will have a deep understanding of the aspects of place value and implement evidence-based strategies for teaching Representing Number so that all students demonstrate growth in place value. 

Look how our Kindergarten students are talking about numbers:

Our students are enhancing their mathematical knowledge and reasoning by approaching numbers with flexibility. Here is what some of our kindergarten students have to say:

Teacher: Tell me about the number you made.

Student: Five and five equals 10 and one more equals 11.

Teacher: What number did you make?

Student: I made 14

Teacher: How do you know it’s 14?

Student: Because I know 6 and 6 is 12 and 2 more is 14

Teacher: Why did you arrange your counters in 2s?

Student: So I can count them easily.

Teachers: Show me how you can count in 2s.

Student: Student counts - 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16

Teacher: Can you arrange your count in another way?

Student: Yes, I did, 8 and 8.

Teacher: Why did you do 8 and 8?

Student: Because I know 7 and 7 is 14 and 2 more is 16.

Here are some pictures of the some of work that has been happening in classrooms during targeted Mathematics lessons: 

When: Wednesday 18th October, Week 2, Term 4

Time: 3:30-4:30 pm

 Join us on Wednesday, October 18th, for a parent Mathematics workshop. We extend a warm invitation for you to attend and gain insights into the exciting learning experiences taking place across grades K-6. During the workshop, our dedicated teachers from each grade will showcase the valuable content students have been exploring in place value, aligned to our school goal. Additionally, we will provide valuable information on how you can support your child's learning at home.

We hope to see you there.

Please RSVP via the Google Form linked here: https://forms.gle/s8mXBpLpDcVg9znx8

Mrs Belinda Evans

Middle Leader

We are thrilled to share the excitement of our STEM Lunchtime Clubs! Students have been exploring a world of creativity and innovation, taking on thrilling challenges. Throughout these engaging sessions, they had the opportunity to create, design, test, and collaborate. From constructing marble runs using playdough, paper plates, and paddle pop sticks to diving into the realm of block coding with mBbots. Additionally, Stage 2 and 3 students delved into engineering by building and strategizing with VEXiQ robots on our specially designed game board. The students have displayed natural curiosity enhancing their scientific mindset, and empowering them to become confident, capable and adaptable problem solvers, ready to embrace the challenges of the future. 

Mrs Belinda Evans

Middle Leader

Term Three aligns with the Planning Phase of the annual Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) cycle. During Week 10, Parents and Carers are invited to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their child's Personal Plan, review individual goals and adjustments that are in place to ensure that students with disability, or those students who require additional support in the classroom, are able to participate in learning and the life of the school on the same basis as their peers. 

These meetings are a key part of the consultation process with parents and carers, and the students who are at the centre of the plans. 

Parents will be able to book a time to meet with teachers to discuss their child's Personal Plan during Week 10 of this term. Bookings will be available via Compass this week. 

To book, please select the ‘Term 3 Collaborative Planning Meeting’ reminder. This reminder will appear on the top right hand side of your Compass home page, just above the ‘News’ section if you access Compass on a desktop computer or laptop. On a mobile device, this will appear just under your child’s profile pictures. Once you have located this, select ‘click here for booking’ and then select ‘start booking now’ and choose a time from the available time slots. 

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

Middle Leader

Thankyou to all families of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who have returned their Personalised Learning Plan questionnaires to school.

Your feedback is so important for our future planning of whole school activities embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences and perspectives for all students as well as small group and individual learning experiences for students. 

What experiences are students at St Paul’s engaging in this year?

Celebration and recognition of significant events - We share the Acknowledgement of Country at each assembly and staff meetings and display flags at assembly.

Dance, Music and Culture - On Wednesdays, Aunty Jo and Mr Wall visit each class once or twice a term for storytelling, whole class dance lessons and sharing cultural knowledge. Aunty Jo and Mr Wall also provide in class support to each class each fortnight on a Wednesday.

Across Key Learning Areas - Classroom teachers plan learning experiences throughout the term that embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives for whole class learning. Our Land, Our Stories is an excellent teaching resource teachers have started using at St Paul’s.

Small Group Support - Each Wednesday afternoon, every second week, Aunty Jo and Mr Wall lead small groups of students in the afternoon session. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and a friend engage in a range of art, dance and cultural activities.

• Dance - Pippy dance, Rainbow serpent dance (for girls); Welcome dance and Didgeridoo (for boys).
• Culture - The school has purchased possum and kangaroo skins for students to experience.
• Language - Dharawal language booklets with Aunty Jo for Aboriginal students.

Every school student in Australia who identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander has a PLP to guide wellbeing, learning and cultural goals during their schooling in partnership with students and their families, classroom teachers and school leadership. 

A hard copy of the information-gathering sheet for the PLP was sent home during NAIDOC Week. 

Miss Julianne Tonini

Year 3 Teacher

Book Week 2023 was amazing. Thank you for your participation, enthusiasm and of course, your fabulous costumes! It was our best Book Week yet! 

From exploring the new CBCA Shortlisted picture books and novels in our classrooms, exciting group activities, the live streamed ‘StoryQuest’ adventure performance and of course, our St Paul’s Annual Book Week Parade. 

Here are some of our highlights from the week…

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

Middle Leader

On Thursday the 31st of August, St Paul's held our Father's Day Celebrations. It was a busy afternoon with lots of smiles and fun! 

There was a sausage sizzle, games on the playground and open classrooms. All students had a wonderful time and enjoyed celebrating the day.

We hope all the Father's, Grandfather's, Carers, Uncles and Special Friends of the St Paul's community had a happy and joyous Father's Day on Sunday.

Enjoy some photos from our day:

Last Monday, we held our school based Public Speaking Competition. The quality of the presentations were very high and we congratulate all students involved for their effort preparing, practising and presenting their speech. The students chosen to represent St Paul's at the CDF Public Speaking Competition were Dominic De Santis (Year 5) and Anabelle Maounis (Year 6).  We wish them all the best of luck for the upcoming competition, which will be held on Monday 11 September, at Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School, Fairy Meadow. Special thanks goes to Mrs Nunes and Miss Sanderson who adjudicated our school based competition. 

Mrs Suzanne Hayes

Year 5 Teacher

This term Mrs Richter has supported and led our Stage 3 students through the process of creating an artwork for this year's CEDoW Christmas Art Competition. We would like to congratulate all Stage 3 students for their incredible artworks that were created. This competition provides the opportunity for Years 5 and 6 students to share with the wider community a greater awareness of the role of the arts in Religious Education. It allows students to develop an appreciation for their talents and recognise the value of the arts in expressing understandings of the Catholic faith. 

We would like to congratulate the following students and wish them luck as they move to the next stage of the competition. From here artworks are shortlisted and if chosen will be put on display at the Wollongong City Art Gallery. 

Miss Alana Stroligo

Middle Leader

The SPLICED (Stretching Potential through Learning in Interactive Challenging Environments) program is a diocesan initiative, run across all primary and secondary schools in the Diocese of Wollongong to extend student learning for those who require extension or have been identified as Gifted Learners through further assessment.

The 2023 unit entitled “A View from Afar; Examining and Dissecting, Marvelling and Wondering through a Wide-Angle Lens’ is a conceptual unit of differentiated learning that covers a wide range of syllabus outcomes. It is designed to extend the students’ capacity to think critically, creatively and reflectively.  

Students in Stages 1,2 and 3 have been working on their individual project over the past Semester and are preparing to submit their completed works in Week 10 of Term 3. We are immensely proud of their work and the depth of student responses demonstrated throughout this project and look forward to sharing their work with the school community in Term 4. 

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

Middle Leader

This week we celebrate National Child Protection Week. The purpose of Child Protection Week is to engage, educate and empower Australians to understand the complexities of child abuse and neglect and work together to prevent it. The theme for 2023 Child Protection Week is 'where we start matters'. As a Catholic school community, we wholeheartedly embrace this initiative and are committed to promoting the safety and well-being of every child.

National Child Protection Week is a time to reflect on the significance of ensuring a safe and nurturing environment for all children. Our school believes in fostering an atmosphere where every child is valued and protected. Through education, awareness, and cooperation, we can make a positive impact on the lives of our young ones, both now and in the years to come.

Catholic Care Resources

To support Child Protection Week, CatholicCare Wollongong's School Student and Family Program will be hosting several parent presentations with the aim of enhancing protective factors for children and assisting parents in helping their children navigate emotions, friendships and resilience. These presentations are available to all parents at Catholic schools. Please refer to the flyers for more information and registration. 

• St John's, Dapto, 6 September, (6 pm-7 pm) - Developing resilience
• St Patrick’s, Port Kembla, 7 September (6 pm-7 pm) - Managing big emotions

Please see below flyers for information evenings organised by Catholic Care.

Thank you for your patience with waiting on information for the Basketball Gala Day. All students have now been placed in teams and information has been sent on Compass for parents to give consent and make payment. The students will have another meeting next week to find out their teams and be given their singlet for the day. 

We are still short a manager for our 3/4 girls' team and one of our Year 3 boys' teams. If you would be able to help on the day please contact the office!

Miss Eliza Treble

Middle Leader

The St Paul’s Stage 3 Maths Olympiad Team have been working hard; crunching numbers, solving problems and sharing their mathematical thinking in preparation for the upcoming competition. The fourth and final competition paper will be released on Wednesday the 6th September - Week 8. We wish our amazing Maths Team all the best! 

Last Friday, St Paul’s came together to celebrate the blessed day of World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. It was a time for us to appreciate God’s wonderful creation and reflect on our role as caretakers for our Common Home. The theme for 2023 was Let Justice and Peace Flow, inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Lily, Mia, Elleah, Mia, Zali, Zara, Emily, Dakota, Eva and Esther from the Year 5 Waste-Free Warriors lead each class from K-4 in a compost demonstration, showing the younger grades exactly what happens to their organic waste. They shared some fun facts about worms and even gave out some prizes. In the afternoon, Kindergarten and some Year 6 buddies lead the school in a prayerful celebration. 

Waste-Free Wednesday is happening each Wednesday. The Year 5 Waste-Free Warriors and Year 6 Pastoral Care Leadership Team will be monitoring this and rewarding students who bring a waste-free lunch with prizes and raffle tickets. 

So many students are doing this every day, which is amazing to see!

What is a waste free lunch? A waste-free lunch is when we are conscious and mindful of the amount of plastic we bring to school. We can reduce the plastic by bringing more whole-foods to school or emptying packaged foods and disposing of the plastic thoughtfully at home. 

Here are some examples from Year 6:

Mrs Katie Culquhoun

Year 6 Teacher

On Friday 22nd September all students are invited to come dressed in mufti by wearing football colours or jerseys. This could be from your favourite NRL, AFL, soccer or a local sports club. The Canteen has also organised a meal deal for the students to pre-order and will be available on My School Connect from Monday 18th September. During some of the middle session of the day, students will be taking part in a range of fun games and activities, as well as our school’s Jump Rope for Heart Jump Off. 

Mrs Amy Lyons

Physical Education Teacher

On the last day of school, we will be holding our school’s Jump Off. This will be a chance for students to showcase the skipping skills and tricks they have learnt throughout the term. Parents and carers and friends are welcome to come along to watch their children perform. 

Date: Friday 22nd September

Time: 2:30 - 3:00pm on the Front Playground

We hope to see you there watching our students Jump Off!

Mrs Amy Lyons

Physical Education Teacher

Our Year 6 Senior Leaders have been preparing for the 2023 Handball Competition. This week the winners will play against one another to determine who will determine the overall grade winner. Prizes will be awarded to students who are good sports, most encouraging, students who try their best and the overall winner. We look forward to Thursday’s Final Handball Competition and thank our Senior Leaders for their hard work and leadership over the last few weeks with leading this initiative. 

Miss Alana Stroligo

Middle Leader

Please see information for our Term 4 school disco to be held on Friday 13th October 2023. A copy of the note has been sent home with students last week.

SPAP Parent's and Friends Association

Could all parents and carers please contact the school office if there is any change to your child's school dismissal/pick up arrangements. Students will not be able to leave with any other parents or carers if the school office has not been notifiied prior to 3:15pm. We thank all our parents and carers for supporting our school with transparent communication about our students dismissal/ school pick up arrangements.

Please ensure when your contact details change to email the info account, so we have a record of the new details. info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au

If there has been any change of information in relation to your child, please contact the office as soon as possible.  This could include change in emergency contacts, change of address, email or phone number, or updated medical information. 

Please see below the Canteen Menu.

Please see below regarding our meal deal for the footy fever day on Friday 22nd September.

Orders can be placed online at: www.myschoolconnect.com.au

Kylie Thomas

Canteen Operator

Dear Parents and Carers,

Due to the overwhelming response to the Seasons for Growth invitation, at this stage, I am happy to offer the program to years 3-6 commencing in week 9, which will occur outside of critical learning time.

If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at this address: bernadette.taylor@catholiccare.dow.org.au

or through the school office.

Warm regards,

Bernadette Taylor

Pastoral Support Worker

Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to 6 daughters. He is the parenting expert and co-host of Channel Nine’s Parental Guidance, and he and his wife host Australia’s #1 podcast for parents and family: The Happy Families Podcast. He has written 9 books about families and parenting. In the article below Dr Justin Coulson outlines the importance of a male figure in the life of children.

Held at Guntawang Catholic Youth Centre - Woolgemai Campground near Picton, this weekend is growing in popularity and bringing Catholic families from around the Diocese together for food, fun and fellowship with camping and bunk room accommodation options. For more information and bookings follow this link: https://www.dow.org.au/events/catholic-family-camping-weekend-19-21-may-2023/

Please see the attached flyer for school holiday care.

Becky Bridal

OSCH Coordinator