Last Sunday’s Gospel speaks to us of God and how God treats us. We have all been given gifts and talents by God. The important thing is not what we have been given, but how we use what we have been given. God calls us, God loves and as we see in this gospel, God also trusts us. Our talents are not just for ourselves; they are meant to be used to proclaim the gospel and build the Kingdom of God. The Gospel encourages us to think about how we are to live our daily lives in such a way that we use all the many gifts and talents God has given each of us.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Over the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to join with many Year 6 students and their families to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. The ceremonies were prayerful, reverant and faith filled liturgies and an opportunity for the wider community to join together to give witness as our Year 6 students were filled with the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Fr. Leo, Paula Potts and Julie Ferguson for planning and celebrating the liturgies. It is through their support that our students and families were able to have an opportunity to encounter the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. 

I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate and thank Julie Ferguson for her dedication as the Sacarmental Leader of St Paul’s Parish for the past 25 years. Julie will be stepping out of this role at the end of 2020. Through this role over the past 25 years Julie has supported many students at St Paul’s Catholic Parish School to deepen their faith through the Sacrament of Penance, the Eucharist and Confirmation. On behalf of the students, staff and parents and carers I acknowledged and congratulated Julie on her dedication and remarkable achievements at our school assembly on Monday.

Last Friday 13 December we were able to welcome and meet for the first time, many of our new 2021 Kindergarten students and their parents when they attended the first week of Orientation sessions. We warmly welcome 47 kindergarten students in 2021 and their parents and carers into the St Paul’s educational faith community. We will get another opportunity to spend more time with our new Kindergarten students this coming Friday 20 November.

Throughout the term teachers have been participating in professional learning which has involved the analysis of student data to inform instruction. This has also included teachers finalising assessments and using assessment data to begin drafting Semester 2 Reports. Teachers use a number of work samples, assessments to determine overall academic attainment and learning growth in all Key Learning Areas and I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the St Paul’s staff as they have engaged in this professional learning process.

Thank you to those parents and carers who were able to complete the survey regarding feedback for the St Paul’s Annual School Report. If you did not get a chance to complete the survey please see the link.

Wishing you every blessing,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Reports will be distributed via the Compass portal on Monday 7 December (Week 9). If you wish to discuss the report with your child's teacher, it will be conducted over the phone due to COVID-19 restrictions.  To request an interview / phone call you can email info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au by Wednesday 2 December. Include your child / children's names and classes.

The school is currently taking many steps to help students prepare for the transition to 2021 and a new grade.  The change of teachers and mixing of peer groups is being carefully considered by all staff.  Behind the scenes the following steps are occurring to help prepare your child:

1. Student profiles have been prepared by this year's class teacher indicating your child's strengths and areas of need;

2. Students that would benefit from some additional support with this transition have been identified.  Extra time will be provided for these students to familiarise themselves with their new environment and routines.  These times will begin next week;

3. All students will have an opportunity to spend a morning with their new class and teacher (where possible).  The 'Meet the Teacher' morning will occur on Thursday 10 December.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's transition to 2021 please contact your child's class teacher or a member of the leadership team.

The final two Confirmation ceremonies were held on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November. We would like to congratulate Noah Bisset-Amess, Jane Carbonara, Gemma Cresswell, Rebecca McGlashan, Ty Smith, Angus and Sean Bancroft, Holly Czornobej, Thomas Hofman, Hayley Jedrzejczak, Natalie Moon and Blake Murphy on receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we pray that God blesses them always.

It is with very mixed emotions that I have decided to no longer be Sacramental Coordinator for the parish.  After 25 years I feel very blessed to have had the privilege to share in so many children’s faith journeys.  I am grateful that families have trusted me to support them, in teaching their children the importance of the Sacraments in their lives.  I feel that I have received more from the children than I have given to them.  I want to thank all who have helped with the programs (too many to name) and also thank all the staff at the school over the 25 years who have been so supportive.  I thank the 6 Parish Priests that I have worked so closely with and the army of parishioners, especially Paula Potts, who worked alongside me.  I have so many beautiful memories to cherish of this special time.

Year Six were involved in a full day retreat yesterday to supplement their Religious Education Unit titled “Confirmation – The Gift of the Holy Spirit”

The retreat is normally held with students from other schools but of course this was not possible this year. I would like to commend the students on their great participation in all the activities and especially the discussions on prayer and ownership of their faith. The students finished the day by saying what they learnt and enjoyed, which of course included their hotdog lunch. Thank you to Fr Leo for joining us for the last session of the day.

Julie Ferguson

Religious Education Coordinator

Last Wednesday, a group of St Joseph’s High School students who are completing the Child Studies class came to visit Kindergarten. The high school students had planned, organised and lead a variety of activities for our Kinder students.

This is one of the initiatives to foster our ongoing partnership between St Paul’s Primary School and St Joseph’s High School.

We look forward to St Joseph’s students visiting us again soon, to share some books they have created for us.

In Year 1 this term we have been learning and playing with the tiniest of bots - the Ozobot!  Ozobot loves to drive on colour coded lines.  We are learning to draw and colour code these lines just the way Ozobot likes them so we can make him do all kinds of tricks like the tornado.  These lines are very tricky to draw as Ozobot can be a bit fussy, so we have to be very patient and persistent.  Eventually we will be drawing and coding pirate maps guiding Ozobot to the buried treasure!!  Watch this space...

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader

Thank you to all students who are trying their best to follow our school rules in the playground and classroom

Congratulations to all students who are consistently displaying positive behaviours in the playground and classroom. All classes are working together towards achieving Green Zone rewards.

Our focus for PB4L continues to be using the playground equipment respectfully and responsibly. We all enjoy having the equipment to play with at breaks. All classes have reported that they have appreciated the hard work of staff to purchase and provide games and sports resources for lunch breaks.

Our PB4L Draw winners for Week 5 are:

Scarlet Hu - 1 Blue

Dante Rosete - 3 Red

Jack Shoebridge - 4 Blue

Daniel King - 4 Blue

Mason Hili - 3 Red

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

Principal Awards

Jackson Hutchinson - 1 Red

Maya Huetter - 3 Red

Chase Young - 1 Blue

Mary MacKillop Awards

 Elias Maounis - 6 Blue

The PB4L Team

For your information, tomorrow Thursday 19 December at 12:00 pm we will be holding a Lockdown Drill. The teachers have discussed this with the students and they are aware of this drill.

Unfortunately our Canteen providers, Fresh Start Canteens, will be finishing up at St Paul's at the end of the year.  From Week 6 onwards the canteen will only be open on Thursdays and Fridays.  We thank you for your understanding in this matter.