Dear parents, carers, staff and students

As we enter into another busy week of learning and teaching, may I thank all parents and staff who are ensuring that our children are kept warm and safe during this polar blast of wintery weather.   Last Friday we in Albion Park experienced some wild westerly winds so I decided to keep the students off our playgrounds.

Once again this term we will be very busy with everything that involves student learning and extra activities in sport in and around the diocese. Thanks to all our energetic students who do their very best with every opportunity that is provided at St Paul’s.

I thank all those parents and carers who offer words of praise for our staff for their commitment to the teaching ministry, their many hours of preparing quality learning and teaching experiences and their love and care for the children each day.  I look forward to hearing your positive comments as we continue into the rest of this very busy term.

With every blessing to all staff, students and families of our school.

Colleen Easton, Principal

On this feast of Mary we celebrate a special favour that God gave to Mary, our Mother. The Assumption means that Mary was taken up into the glory of heaven not only with her soul, but also with her body.  Jesus, the Son of God was born from Mary's pure womb. So when Mary died, God the Father and Jesus, would not let the body of the Mother of God be spoilt. This was her reward for her love of God and her years of faithful prayers and suffering.  Now Mary is in heaven. She is queen of heaven and earth. She is the Mother of Jesus' Church and queen of apostles. Every time Mary asks Jesus to give us graces, he listens to her request.

Thanks to all those who attended our very special feast day liturgy last Thursday. Mrs Sykes prepared the students and staff for this special liturgy. Our students performed a short play on Mary MacKillop’s life and they also prayed and learned about the importance of this special patron saint of St Paul’s.

Thank you Mrs Sykes for all that you do.

Last Tuesday the Parent Information Night was held for the sacrament of Holy Communion. There was a lot of information given about dates and times for the lessons and the reception of the sacrament, homework to be completed, attendance at Mass, dress, Reflection Day etc. etc. Mrs Ferguson asked parents and carers not to contact the school about the sacramental program. Please contact the parish office or Mrs Ferguson as we do not have all the information and answers to the questions you may have.

A reminder that First Holy Communion lessons commence this week Saturday17 August promptly at 4:30 pm and concludes at 4:45 pm. Saturdays and Mondays’ lessons will continue for the next four weeks with the Preparation Day on Friday 6 September.

I invite you to join the students as they attend Mass each Friday. The children love to have their parents attend all school events and attendance at Mass is even more special to them. Please join your children at the Parish Mass at 9:30 am

Thanks to all those who come along when our students have been to Mass.

Week 4:  Friday 16 August – Year 3

Week 5:  Friday 23 August – Year 2

Last Tuesday our students together with the Year 6 students from the northern Catholic schools celebrated Mass together with Bishop Brian and other priests from the diocese. Our Year 6 students led by Mrs Diane Allison played the African drums to lead the students into prayer. The Mass concluded the diocesan Youth Team entertained the students with vibrating live music.

Our students met other Year 6 students from the other Catholic schools and had a very enjoyable day.

I thank Mrs Allison for the time she gave so generously to train the Year 6 students to play the drums at our annual Year 6 Mass this year.

We received this email thanking the staff and students

I wanted to thank you very much for organising the wonderful drumming yesterday. The students sounded amazing and added to the celebration in a special way. I know you would have spent time preparing the students, and I am very appreciative of this. I look forward to welcoming the drummers and their wonderful talents to future Year 6 gatherings.

With gratitude

Warm regards

Amy Sammut

Education Officer - Primary

Catholic Life, Education and Mission Team

We offer our most sincere condolences to Mrs Whalan and her husband Mark and family on the recent sad loss of Mark’s dad, Mr Peter Whalan who passed away two weeks ago after a short illness.

May the Lord enfold him in his boundless mercy and love. May he rest now from his earthly labours, marked with the sign of faith in God's eternal peace and love. Amen!

Once again, could I please ask your support in caring for our children with special dietary requirements. Quite a number of our children have been diagnosed with allergies to milk, eggs, seeds, nuts and wheat, including children with sensitivity to animal fur, latex etc. etc.

Last year I requested not to send in food items. I am happy for the teacher to distribute anything else on your behalf at the end of the school day to be taken home. Thank you for your cooperation.

At St Paul’s we are continually committed to Laudato Si in the ‘Care for Our Common Home’. This term our classes have been working hard to reduce wasted energy in the classroom, by ensuring they have switched off lights, TVs, smart boards, air conditioners and heaters when not in use.

Our Environmental Warriors have been busy checking on each classroom during break times and recording data. The Warriors will announce the winning class at each assembly. We believe “every person living on this planet" can make a difference and we are in this together.

Principal's Awards

Congratulations Heath Gillis and Eli Coopes who received a Principal's Award at our last Assembly on Friday 9 August 2019.

An invitation has been extended to some of our students who have now received a Principal's Award and / or a Mary MacKillop Award this year to join me in celebrating their achievement.

We will gather together as a group and have some sharing of talent and enjoy each other’s company on Wednesday 21 August 2019 at 1:20 pm.

I Congratulate all the students who have worked extra hard to achieve this special award. Well Done.

Our next Assembly will be held this Friday 16 August 2019 commencing at 2:20 pm in the hall.  Year 3 students will be presenting this Assembly. Parents and Carers are asked to use the Parish side entrance to the hall.

Please note that these dates are subject to change:

Week 4: Friday 16 August - Year 3 presenting

Week 5: Friday 23 August – Book Week Assembly 1:00 pm

Week 8: Friday 13 September - Year 4 presenting

Last week our students had some additional learning experiences with the facilitator from the Commonwealth Bank. Start Smart is a valuable program that teaches students important life skills on how to earn, count, spend and save money wisely in a fun, educational and engaging way. The workshops were all matched to the curriculum and our students enjoyed the learning experiences.

Now, comes the challenge to see how students can begin to consider saving their dollars or cents to purchase something special for themselves or others.

This week we celebrate National Science Week. The theme being Destination Moon: more missions, more science, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the moon landing.

The teachers will encourage the students to engage in some of the activities during this week. There has been so much in the media this year about the landing on the moon by the three astronauts that:

The Honourable Karen Andrews MP Minister for Industry, Science and Technology writes:

"In 2019, the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and first moonwalk. Australia’s space tracking stations played a vital supporting role, relaying to the world the first televised images of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon’s surface. In fact, Australia has been an integral part of NASA’s deep space missions since 1957… and now we have our own space agency."

After working for 18.5 years at St Paul’s ensuring that our classrooms and areas of the school have been clean and presentable, Mrs Limbert has resigned from her position due to a long-standing injury to her shoulder. We sincerely thank Mrs Limbert for the many years at St Paul’s as she kept the classrooms and school facilities clean.

We wish her a restful time and pray that she will find some comfort from her injury with the support of her doctors.

Thank you Mrs Limbert for all that you have done at St Paul’s.

Mrs Turner has been studying for the last year to update her credentials in the teaching profession, undertaking her six weeks practicum at St Pius X catholic School Unanderra from next week. Mrs Turner has been a valued member of staff working with children and supporting them in their learning.

We wish her every success in her practicum and we know that the added experience to be teaching a group of students will bring her greater satisfaction to the teaching profession. Good Luck Mrs Turner.

Just a reminder that there will be NO SCHOOL for students on Friday 30 August 2019. The staff will attend their Spirituality Day at Mary MacKillop Place North Sydney.

All Book Week Competitions are due TOMORROW MORNING - Wednesday 14 August 2019.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept late entries as the judging will be on the Wednesday and the winners will be chosen before the end of the school day. The certificates will then be printed. Thank you for understanding. 

Robyn Warton & Louise Frendo, Library School Support Officers

Dear Parents/Carers,

This year’s Book Week theme is “Reading is my secret power”. Our Assembly and Parade will be held in the hall on Friday 23August 2019, 1 pm to 3 pm

Children are encouraged to dressed up as:

• Something to do with the theme; “Reading is my secret power”; for example, a superhero such as Superman, Wonder Woman etc

Or

• A character from any book; for example, Frozen, Harry Potter, Dorothy from ‘Wizard of Oz’, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, a fairy, Star Wars, Minecraft, The Hungry Caterpillar, Snow White etc

Or

• A character from one of this year’s Shortlisted Books; for example,
• “Rainbow Bear” – a bear onesie with coloured drawings attached
• “Here comes Stinkbug” – an insect from the story such as a snail
• “Noni the pony” – kangaroo ears and tail, with apron for a joey
• “Girl on wire” – a girl with a tutu

Costumes can be very simple; we do not want to cause you any stress over costumes. The dress up parade is not meant to cause any extra work or anxiety for parents, it is just a fun day.

Lunch: 12 pm – 12:40 pm. Parents are invited to join their children in the Quiet Area of the School for a BYO picnic lunch. Parents can also place a lunch order at the canteen with their child’s order in the morning.

Book Week Assembly in the hall: 1:00 pm

Each grade will parade in the hall in their costumes. Kindergarten will perform a song. All winners of the Book Week competitions will be announced.

Uniform: Sports uniform. 

Costume:   Children are to wear their sports uniform to school and change into their costumes just after lunchtime. There will 15 minutes after lunch for the children to get ready. Costumes need to be easy for the children to change into independently as parents will not be able to assist their children with costumes in the classroom. Please ensure all clothing is labelled with the child's name

We hope that you will be able to join us Friday 23 August 2019. We would love to see you.

Robyn Warton and Louise Frendo, Library School Support Officers

On Friday, Tasha Moyla, Jessica Cheetham, Ciara O’Brien, Thomas Hofman and I attended the Cultural Day at St Joseph’s. I wanted to learn more about the Aboriginal culture and their way of creating things like artworks and tools.

One activity involved painting a wooden board. It had a meaning behind it. I used coloured dots to represent Aboriginal families all coming to a meeting place which was a blue river in the middle of the board. After our art activity, we had a nice welcoming morning tea. Our second activity was weaving and we weaved a fish. Towards the end of the day, we came to the last activity which was sad but Uncle Kevin, one of the elders, showed us an Aboriginal painting he painted himself which took six months! In our last activity we also learnt about some Aboriginal weapons used for hunting to protect themselves or to catch or kill animals for dinner. My favourite part was learning more about the Aboriginal culture and experiencing the traditional Aboriginal way of life. Thank you to the Aboriginal students and the teachers for helping us out.

Abbey Bartley, Year 6 Blue

St Pauls Major Fundraiser event of the year, the CUA Colour School Fun-Run is on Friday 20 September 2019.

Time:        12 pm start (Back Gates open at 11:40am)

Location:  Our School Top Oval

The CUA Colour School Fun-Run promotes healthy and active lifestyles while helping us raise funds for much needed STEM Resources and Sporting Equipment.

Notes and sponsorship forms have been sent home with your child and we have started fundraising. Jump online at schoolfundraising.com.au and create a student profile. Families can use the same login details as last year. Once you do this and raise at least $1, you will be entered into the $30 000 Ultimate Family Experience! Your child will also go into the draw to win a $20 Colesgroup Gift Card.

Students who raise $10 or more will receive a prize, and the more money you raise the better the prize, and the more you help our school.

We are looking for all students to participate and we are organising a great day for our school community, so we’d love everyone to come along on the day.

Are you all aware that we have a St Paul’s Albion Park P and F Facebook group?                             

Please feel free to join this informative group, as lots of Colour Fun Run fun facts will be posted in the lead up to this exciting event.

Thanks for supporting the school and we hope to see you at our Colour EXPLOSION!

Please contact Maria Bancroft - Mobile: 0400570105 if you require any second-hand uniform items. Items requested can be left at the office to pay and pick up at your convenience. All items are $5 each.

Please Note: We can only accept CORRECT CHANGE when purchasing uniforms on Assembly days or if paying at the office.  NO CHANGE CAN BE GIVEN. Alternatively, families can pay by EFTPOS at the front office.

Maria Bancroft, 2nd Hand Uniform Coordinator