Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Sunday June 14 marked the beginning of Refugee Week. Australia joins with the world in celebrating Refugee Week, this year culminating in World Refugee Day on Saturday June 20. Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and to celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. During this week, we are all asked to reflect on and, if possible, contribute to creating a ‘better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration enabling refugees to live in safety and to continue making a valuable contribution to Australia.’ This year, as we celebrate ‘the year of welcome’, we continue to celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. Teachers have been exploring the stories of refugees and the acknowledging and celebrating the diversity of our wonderful country. May we as a Catholic community continue to be accepting of all people whatever their cultural or social background, whatever their faith tradition, because that is what makes St Paul’s a community that cares.

 Semester One Student Interim Report Years 1-6

Reporting in Semester One will be in the form of a written interim report. This report is designed to reflect the engagement in learning that has been undertaken during classroom and remote learning over the course of the semester. It is important to note that the interim report is not a progress report or an achievement. Therefore, grades will not be allocated. The reason for this is that given the modes of learning that have had to occur, valid assessment of student progress has been challenged. The interim report will be distributed to parents via COMPASS next Friday 26 June and supported by a parent/carer- teacher learning conversation in Week 10. 

Parent/Carer-Teacher Learning Conversations

Last Friday June 12  you would have received notification to book a learning conversation time with your child's teacher. These conversations will be held in Week 10, June 29-July 3, and will be in the form of a 10 minute telephone conversation. The teacher will call parents at the allocated time, using the phone number you have recorded on the google form. Teachers will either call from the school phone or their own mobile which will come up as a private number or no caller ID. Teachers are looking forward to discussing student learning, well being and faith development with parents and carers. Thank you to those parents and carers who have completed the google form with the preferred phone number or booked a time slot in Compass.

Social and Emotional Learning at St Paul’s

Throughout Semester Two students will be engaged in a Social and Emotional Learning Program called Bounce Back as part of the NSW Health/Personal Development and Physical Exercise Syllabus. One of the central components of the program is the teaching of social and emotional skills. Social and Emotional Learning helps children to understand and and manage their own emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. Bounce Back stands for

I would like to thank Miss Bree-Anna McGeehan and Mr Cain Holgate for their leadership in preparing the implementation of this program at St Paul’s. 

Students Presenting Unwell at School

Given the presence of COVID-19 and the commencement of the influenza (flu) season, I wanted to remind all parents and carers on what to expect if your child presents unwell at school.  In the event your child is unwell at school the normal processes apply: Your child will be cared for at school in the sick bay by school office staff who are qualified first aid officers, while they await collection from an appropriate parent/carer.  

The school has Personal Protective Equipment in order to support students and staff. Students who present to the sick bay will be provided with a medical mask to reduce the risk of transmitting droplets or respiratory fluids. The first aid officer who is assisting the student will also be wearing a medical mask and gloves. The student’s temperature will be taken using a non-contact thermometer to assess severity of presenting symptoms (note that regardless of the child’s temperature, all students who present unwell will be sent home).  

 When the parent/carer of the student collects their child from school, a letter will be provided to them, which outlines the steps required for the student to be able to return to school. These steps include gaining a medical clearance certificate and only returning to school once the student has fully recovered. Please contact the school office if you require any support.

Preparing for the Possibility of a Temporary School Closure - COVID19

While every reasonable step has been taken to ensure our schools are safe, we are prepared for the possibility that our school may need to close temporarily as a result of a confirmed case of COVID-19. You will receive timely updates via the COMPASS App.

If we are required to close during school hours parents will be asked to collect their child/children in a co-ordinated student departure process. There will also be supervision available for students unable to return home, with reduced interaction between students.

Please ensure that the school office has your most current mobile telephone number and email address. This will help the school to make contact with you and ensure that you are kept up-to-date with important information. As part of our coordinated student departure process parents will be given a time to pick their child/children from the school if they are available. The designated pick up point for students being picked up by parents will be the back gate. Over the coming week a laminated A4 sheet will be sent home with your surname. In the event of a school closure during school hours we would ask that you place the laminated A4 sheet with your surname on your dash board so when you drive to the designated student pick up point at the back gate staff are able to call students to the car line promptly and efficiently.  

The well-being and safety of all students and staff at St Paul’s remains our constant priority. We are most grateful to parents for their understanding and support.

Wishing you every blessing,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Congratulations to the following students who have received or will be receiving a Principal's Award or a Mary MacKillop Award:

Principal's Awards - Virtual Assembly Friday 12 June - Week 7 Term 2 2020

• Matthew Kadzielski - Year 2 Blue
• Aaron Robson - Year 2 Blue
• Sofia Di Martino - Year 2 Red
• Kaleeah Van De Voorde - Year 2 Red
• Lily Jones - Year 4 Red
• Wesley Smith - Year 4 Red
• Max Elliott - Year 4 Red
• Kobe Dunn - Year 6 Red

Mary MacKillop Award - Virtual Assembly Friday 12 June - Week 7 Term 2 2020

• Alani West - Year 4 Blue
• Preston Apps - Year 4 Blue

Principal's Awards - Virtual Assembly Friday 19 June - Week 8 Term 2 2020

• Piper Smith - Year 1 Blue
• Hayden Davitt-Stonham - Year 6 Blue
• Cooper Shepherd - Year 2 Red

This week we are celebrating a number of events and feast days.

Refugee Week

Classes have been involved in activities based on Refugee Week. Students have considered problems affecting those who are forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

As a national celebration, this week not only raises awareness about the issues affecting refugees but also celebrates the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society.

You may like to have a discussion with your child about what they have learnt this week.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

This week the church celebrates two important feast days, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday and on Saturday is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Diocese has taken this special feast of our Lady as their Patron saint and Masses this weekend celebrating The Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Both of these feasts use the heart as a symbol of love.

The heart has always been seen as the “centre” or essence of a person. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary provides a model for what our own hearts should be like.

Here are 2 simple ways to celebrate these feasts:

• Make a paper heart to your child/children, with a message of your love and God’s love for them.

• Make a heart-shaped cake or biscuits. Use the time to talk about why Catholics practice devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart and the message of love as the basis of our faith.

Supporting Vinnies Sleepout Pyjama Day

On Friday (as mentioned on Compass earlier this week,) the staff and students will be supporting the Vinnies Sleepout where volunteers support the homelessness by ‘sleeping rough’ for a night. This event raises awareness and funds for Vinnies homelessness services.

Students along with the staff are asked to wear their pyjamas on Friday and to bring a gold coin donation, which will go to support the great work of the St Vincent de Paul Society.  Students are reminded to wear sensible pyjamas (no strappy/ brief tops and shorts.) 

It would be recommended that students wear winter pyjamas. Sports joggers are to be worn with pyjamas for safety reasons. If families would like to donate a little more to this wonderful cause you can do so online using the link below:

https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/

I am sure the students will enjoy the day but also learn and pray for those less fortunate especially the homeless.

Julie Ferguson, Religious Education Coordinator

On Friday 5 June our school took part in World Environment Day. World Environment day gave us an opportunity to learn about our environment and specific environmental issues in our world.

We celebrated the day by wearing green and spending time outside in nature; gardening, planting vegetables, composting, weeding, mulching and collecting objects from nature.

We had the best day learning  how we can care for the environment and how nature supports life on Earth. We understand how all living things on our Earth are connected and know that to care for ourselves, we must care for nature.

We loved getting our hands dirty  and being in the fresh air whilst learning new gardening skills. We can’t wait to watch our gardens grow and taste some of the vegetables we planted!

‘On World Environment Day Kinder Red and Kinder Blue, along with their Year 6 Buddies, enjoyed cleaning up the school and also weeding the garden beds. It was so much fun as Kinder always love spending time with their Buddies!’

In Year One we really enjoyed making an environmental collage of beautiful, natural items from Gods creation! It was so much fun!

Year 2 Red and 2 Blue loved being outdoors on World Environment Day. We enjoyed working together to weed our gardens, add extra bark to the gardens and use the watering cans to give all the plants, herbs and vegetables some much needed water and love.

‘On World Environment Day 3 Blue and 3 Red loved working together to mulch our gardens, weed our veggie patches, plant new seedlings and use sugar cane mulch to bring new life to our garden.’

Year 5:  We are very proud to have worked together to clear all the rubbish out of the Aboriginal garden in the Central playground and to tidy up the new gardens in our front playground area.  We had a lot of fun and enjoyed being out in the sunshine!

We are very excited to announce that the St Joseph’s room will be transformed into a Creative Arts Room for the remainder of the year.

Our Release from Face to Face teachers, will be using this fantastic learning space for the teaching of Visual Arts, Music and possibly Dance and Drama, depending on the timetable for each class visit.

We would like to begin collecting some vital resources for this learning space, so the Teacher’s will be ready to begin their exciting lessons Week 1 of Term 3.

If you could save and send in clean:

• Egg cartons
• Margarine or butter containers
• Baby formula tins
• Wool
• String

Could you also check that your child has a paint shirt, as all children will require one for the protection of their uniform during art lessons.

We thank you for any and all contributions.

Mrs Suzette Bennett, Mrs Angela Spaccavento and Mrs Maree Pollard

National NAIDOC Week 2020 celebrations will be held from the 8-15 November.

The November dates follow the decision by the National NAIDOC Committee (NNC) to postpone NAIDOC Week from the original July dates due to the impacts and uncertainty from the escalating Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic across our communities and cities.

The postponement was aimed at protecting our elders and those in our communities with chronic health issues from the disastrous impacts of COVID19.

The NNC understands that the original July dates for NAIDOC Week may still be acknowledged by communities and organisations. We strongly encourage that those events be staged in a COVID safe way to continue to protect the most susceptible in our communities.

Further announcements regarding the National NAIDOC Awards and a new NAIDOC Local Grants Round for 2020 will be made within coming weeks.

We acknowledge the commitment and tireless work of the many State, Territory, regional and local NAIDOC Committees, organisations and individuals whose passion each year makes NAIDOC Week an outstanding success.

We thank you for your understanding and working with us during these uncertain times.

The NNC are continuing to work with our partners and key stakeholders to make NAIDOC Week 2020 a suitable and fitting celebration of #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe