Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew 13:44-52 Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. Jesus told his disciples stories of the Kingdom through three parables: The Parable of the Hidden treasure; The Parable of the Pearl and the Parable of the Drag Net.

Jesus’ message to all of us through this Gospel message, is to value the “treasure” we have today, the treasure that is the love of our families and friends and the caring community that we strive to be. Pope Francis made these comments about the parables: “The treasure is the Kingdom of God, found through the person of Jesus Christ, and to obtain it, our hearts must burn with the desire to seek it and find it out. He is the hidden treasure; he is the pearl of great value. He is the fundamental discovery, which can make a decisive turning point in our lives, filling it with meaning.” May we always be reminded to see the treasure in our lives each day. 

As we start the term, things still remain a challenge as we try to come together as a school community.  We are still unable to have parents on the site, excursions and camps are still unable to proceed. Assemblies are only allowed to go for no more than 15 minutes with no parents in attendance. So the challenges of coming together as a school community are still present, however we will endeavour to continue to engage our community within the constraints of such restrictions. I would like to once again thank our parents and carers for the manner in which you have responded to the ever changing protocols and procedures surrounding the current COVID-19 situation. 

This term we welcome two new staff members to the St Paul’s school community. Miss Katie DeSousa has replaced Mrs Amy Relf and Mrs Marianne Stevens, and will teach Year 5 Red. Mrs Wendy Maccioni has replaced Mrs Lisa Cooper in the School Office as Lisa continues to access leave for the remainder of the year. Welcome Katie and Wendy to the St Paul’s school community.

Parent- School Partnership Framework 

The Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) have developed a Parent-School Partnership Framework. The Parent-School Partnership Framework has been developed to support the creation and maintenance of the partnership between parents and carers and the school. The CEDoW Parent-School Partnership Framework was introduced to parents at the Parent-Carer Information evening held in Term 1. There are 5 Partnership Principles included in the Framework that outline expectations for parents and carers and the school and over the coming school newsletters each of the 5 principles will be unpacked. If you would like a copy of the CEDoW Parent-School Partnership Framework could you please contact the school office.

Partnership Principle One: Co-creating a Catholic community. This principle involves expectations that we all value and respect:

• the Catholic identity of the school as a community centred on Jesus Christ;
• its connection to the parish community and the wider community of the Diocese of Wollongong;
• the expression of its tradition through prayer, liturgy and Catholic beliefs and teachings.

This involves:

• being welcoming, inclusive and compassionate
• respecting the dignity of all;
• acknowledging that the wellbeing of the individual is balanced with the common good;
• living the Catholic faith through the principles of Catholic Social Teaching;
• supporting social justice initiatives that give witness to the Catholic faith in action.

Staff Development Day- Pupil Free Day Term 3

On Monday 31st August Week 7 staff will be involved in a Staff Development Day. This will be a pupil free day for students and students will not attend school. The focus of the Staff Development Day will be on curriculum development.

Teacher Professional Learning

At St Paul’s, we pride ourselves on providing quality education to our students as well as quality professional learning experiences for our teachers. Ongoing professional learning is provided throughout each year for teachers to continue to develop their growing knowledge and skills in delivering quality teaching and learning programs. This professional development is often led by members of the leadership team who are experts of the field. This ongoing teacher training is usually done through half day or full day workshops at the school. In Week 4 Term 3 teachers will be involved in further professional learning and collaboration which will be held on site.

Curriculum Learning Overviews

Last Friday Curriculum Learning Overviews from each grade were shared with parents. The purpose of the overviews was to provide parents and carers with information about what topics your child will be learning about in the various subjects throughout the term. Feedback I received from many parents during remote learning was  knowing more about what your child was learning. The Curriculum Learning Overview is one way we can present information to you and I encourage you to talk to your child about the topics of learning throughout the term.

Wishing you every blessing,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Throughout Remote Learning, we realised how important technology is to our lives. It has supported us to communicate, connect and learn. Managing devices can be a challenge. The eSafety Commissioner website has some great advice for parents on how to help manage screen time, online gaming and staying safe online. 

eSafety Commissioner site can be accessed here.

Devices could include iPad, tablet, mobile phone, iPod or smartwatches. These devices allow students to access online communication. If your child needs to bring a device to school for safety reasons (other than an iPad used in Stage 3), then a permission note needs to be completed. Each day the device is checked into the office for safekeeping. The device is then returned prior to going home. 

The reason for this is to ensure the device is safe from breakages or theft, that the devices are not distracting the student and that the student is not communicating without the knowledge of an adult. 

Permission notes can be obtained at the school office. 

During Term 3 students are required to wear their winter uniforms. Below are a few reminders of the current uniform requirements at St Paul's.

• Wear the correct school/sports uniform at all times
• School/sports uniforms are to be worn in a neat manner
• School shoes are to be black leather (for safety at school). No brand names are to be visible
• All sports footwear must be predominately white jogger style with white laces or Velcro
• All sports socks must be plain white, ankle-length socks. No brand names
• No coloured hair decorations – girls may wear headbands, ribbons, scrunchies in red or royal blue
• No jewellery except for studs or sleepers (one per ear lobe) watch, signet ring or religious medals
• No nail polish or make-up
• School hat is to be worn at breaks, PE and sport.  We have a “NO HAT-NO PLAY” policy- children will be asked to sit in the shade if they do not have their hat

The St Paul’s Catholic School Uniform is available at Hazelton’s, Tongarra Road, Albion Park. There is also a second-hand clothing pool from which parents can purchase (for a small cost) some uniform items.

It was heart-warming to speak to the teachers and students of both classes and hear what a peaceful and rewarding time it was for them. Fr Leo also commented that it was a blessing for him and a pleasure to speak to the students, both in the classroom last week and to celebrate the Sacrament with them.

Year 3 will commence preparation for their First Reconciliation next week. We keep them and their families in our prayers. Thank you to the family members who attended the Parent Meeting on Tuesday evening in the church.  

If you would like to attend a weekend Mass you are required to ring the parish office  Ph: 4256 2038 (Tuesday - Friday 8.30am - 3.30pm) to BOOK a time so numbers are controlled at each Mass and the parish has details of who attends (as is required by present COVID-19 rules.)

The times for Masses are:
Saturday Mass: 6.00pm
Sunday Mass: 9.00am

Weekday Masses
Monday: 8.00am
Tuesday: 6.00pm
Wednesday: 6.00pm
Thursday: 8.00am
Friday: 9.30am
For further details of worship visit the St Paul’s Parish Website https://stpaulsparish.org.au

Grandparents Day & National Parent's Day were celebrated on 26 July. Sadly, due to COVID restrictions we could not have our annual Mass to celebrate these important people in our lives. Still we pray for parents, grandparents and all family members, that they are blessed with health, happiness and love.

Julie Ferguson

Religious Education Coordinator

Theme: ‘Deep Blue: innovation for the future of our oceans’

As part of our 2020 Science Week Celebrations, we are inviting students to participate in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) challenge. This process is an extracurricular activity and is not compulsory, however we encourage students to participate in the challenge and have a go at a design and making task, using the criteria below.

There are three optional tasks the students can choose from, relating to the National 2020 theme: ‘Deep Blue: innovation for the future of our oceans’

The challenge is to take place out of school hours and will be presented to a panel of judges in Week 5. All designs are due on Friday August 14 2020 - Week 4. Outlined below are the challenge descriptions for the students. We hope this is an enjoyable and rich learning experience for the students and we look forward to their submissions.

Belinda Evans 

STEM Coordinator 

evansb01@dow.catholic.edu.au

TASK 1: Design an create an ocean habitat

What might fish, octopus, turtles, clams, crabs, jellyfish, seals, dolphins, sharks and other ocean creatures need to be safe and healthy? Ocean creatures need to have shelter, food to eat, and clean seawater in which to live.

Your task is to imagine what their sustainable habitat might look like.  Design and make a model of the sustainable ocean habitat for an ocean creature. What might your creature need, now and in the future, to grow and survive in the ocean.

Remember, some ocean creatures like to swim in the ocean, others live in rock pools, and some live in seagrass meadows, while others live in reefs in the ocean.

You will present your sustainable ocean habitat to the judges during National Science Week and explain what creature/s you have made a habitat for and how it can grow and survive in the ocean.

You will need to:

• use mostly recycled materials
• Explain to the judges how your ocean habitat can help your sea creature grow and survive

TASK 2: Design and make a model sailing boat 

Sailing boats use the energy of the wind to move. Can you design a boat with a sail that is moved by the wind? 

Your challenge is to design a boat with a mast and a sail.

Try making a boat from a range of different materials and experiment with a variety of sail shapes.

You will need to:

• use mostly recycled materials
• draw a labelled diagram of your boat
• show the judges how your boat works 

Some ideas to think about:

• Can you make the boat sail in different directions?
• Can you make it sail in a circle?
• Can you make the boat travel from one place to another and return to its starting point?
• Can your boat be powered by a balloon or elastic band?

Sail boat ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Flc4RPczDA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOYGlMBjfCA&feature=emb_title

TASK 3: Design your own robot that can explore the seafloor  

Your challenge is to design a robot that can be launched into the ocean to create maps and take close-up photographs of the ocean’s different zones—all while the probe is floating and communicating what it finds back to scientists.

You will present your robot to the judges during National Science Week and demonstrate what your robot can do.

 You will need to:

• use mostly recycled materials
• draw a labelled diagram of your robot
• Name your robot
• show the judges how your robot works 

Some ideas to think about:

• What might an ocean robot need so that it can be propelled into the ocean?
• What might it carry and contain so that it can communicate with scientists?
• What might it need so that it can stay deep within the ocean?
• What equipment will it have so that it can send its data, including the maps and photographs, back to scientists?
• What design features will it need to be able to resurface?

Robot ideas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcBeDbs8n9k

Jellyfish robot: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45574309

https://aquamagazine.com/program-teaches-kids-about-underwater-robots.html

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

Principal Awards

Angus Bancroft - 6 Red

Kalea Williams - 3 Blue

Myah Bramstedt - 4 Red

Flynn Clifton - 2 Red

Isabella De Santis - 4 Blue

Mary MacKillop Awards

Myah Bramstedt - 4 Red

Deakin Cook - 4 Red

St Paul's Parents and Friends Term 3 Meeting

A reminder that the Parents and Friends Meeting for Term 3 will be held via Zoom on the 3rd August starting at 6:30pm. If you would like to add any items for the agenda could you please email info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au. A link to the Zoom meeting and a pass code will be sent to all parents and carers via a Compass News feed on Monday 3rd August. All parents and carers are welcome to attend the meeting. We are looking forward to seeing parents and carers at the meeting.

St Paul's Parents and Friends Association

Please note that the competition may be impacted by the restrictions and therefore may have games reduced or the competition cancelled.