Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year for the Church. The Gospel from Mark tells us to “Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:33). These words are a great reminder during Advent to ‘keep awake’ to the presence of Jesus who comes to us. The central theme of every Advent is the expectation of the coming of Christ into our lives at Christmas. It is a time when, through ritual, prayer and reflection, we focus on Christ’s presence in our daily routines, work and relationships. The name Advent comes from the Latin words, ad venire meaning to come to and adventus meaning an arrival of a person of importance, a king or a prince or a warrior leader, and in this context it refers to Christ’s coming into this world. The theme of the first week of Advent is hope. The theme of the second week of advent is peace. The theme of the third week of advent is joy. The theme of the fourth week of advent is love.

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday evening I had the privilege and pleasure to formally welcome our new 2021 Kindergarten parents during a Zoom parent information session. I would like to thank the parents who joined us for the information session and the many facilitators who shared information with the parents. Mrs April Grove and Mrs Alexandra Hingston will be the Kindergarten teachers for 2021 and Mrs Belinda Evans is the Early Stage One Leader. 

During the information session I was able to reflect and hear many of the facilitators speak about the wonderful attributes of our school community and highlight the great achievements of our students, staff and parents. When I am speaking to new parents and carers who are wishing to enrol their child at St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School, I ask the parents and carers to talk to me about the motivation for enrolling their child at our school. In outlining the reasons behind the desire to enrol at St Paul's Catholic Parish School, the conversation invariably relates to our identity as a Catholic School and the Gospel values. Our school actively promotes, teaches and celebrates our Christian faith, values and our Catholic traditions.  We proudly and willingly identify ourselves as Catholic as we strive to bring to life the gospel teachings of Jesus in the day to day interactions within our school.

At St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary school we have much to celebrate. The recent Annual School Survey results from students, staff and parents and carers highlights that our school is achieving excellence in Catholic Faith and Tradition,  Learning and Teaching, Diverse Learning Needs, Pastoral Care and Behaviour Management and Parent Engagement.

There are many wonderful things that characterise an education at St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School that the community are proud of and that we will continue to celebrate. 

I would like to warmly welcome two new staff members to the St Paul's community for 2021.

After a recruitment process I have the pleasure to announce that Mrs Kristie Bicknell has accepted the position of SSSO at St Paul’s beginning on the 18 January 2021. Kristie currently holds a position as Assistant Manager at Warilla Sports Club and is a member of the All Saints Parish at Shellharbour City. Kristie brings much knowledge and experience to the role of SSSO and I look forward to welcoming Kristie to our school in January.

After a recruitment process I have the pleasure to announce that Miss Olivia Djodan has accepted the Middle Leader 2 position at St Paul's beginning in Term 1 2021. Olivia currently teaches in the Newcastle/Maitland Diocese and is relocating to the Diocese of Wollongong. Olivia brings much knowledge and experience to the role of Middle Leader 2 and I look forward to welcoming Olivia to our school in January.

The staffing process is currently continuing and I am hoping to have this complete by early next week. Following this I will be able to communicate staff and class allocations with parents on Thursday 10 December.

On Monday 16 November the Parents and Friends Committee held the final Parents and Friends Meeting for 2020. On behalf of the school community I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Parents and Friends Committee for their work and support of the St Paul's Community. Throughout the year our students have been able to participate in great fundraisers organised by the Parents and Friends Committee. Thank You to Sara-Jay O'Shea and the Parents and Friends Committee for all that you do for our St Paul's Catholic Parish School Community.

CatholicCare are in the final process of organising the St Paul's Before and After School Care service to begin at the start of Term 1 2021. Attached to the newsletter is a Parent Handbook and an overview of the service for 2021. In the coming weeks information will be provided to families outlining how to register for the service for 2021. In the meantime if you have any queries please contact Monique Bagnall OSHC Project Officer.

Email: moniqueb@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Wishing you every blessing,

Michelle Rodwell 

Principal

This is the final reminder that any requests for a parent-teacher phone call must be emailed to info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au today. Reports will be distributed in Compass on Monday 7 December.

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.  All teachers are thrilled to get to know their new class members. 

Staff will be involved in a student handover process in weeks nine and ten. The purpose of this handover is to give the class teacher from this year the opportunity to discuss your child's learning style, specific interests and needs with next year's teacher.

After an extensive consultation process, all Year 5 students in 2021 will move to a new system called School Manager Program. There are many benefits to this system. These include cost and the ability to pay off a device, improved security features for monitoring and controlling content for students, no need to create Apple IDs that can cause issues for students and parents as well as support for teachers to closely monitor iPad use within the classroom. 

2021 will be the first year that the School Manager Program will be rolled out. We are thankful to the current Year 4 parents for consulting and helping problem-solve through this process.

If you have ordered a student device for 2021 it will arrive in January and be ready for your child when they return to Year 5 in 2021.

This week all Year 4 students have received their school Google login credentials. The school uses the Google Suite for Education to assist students and teachers to communicate and create. Year 4 students have engaged in information sessions about how to log in and the various applications available in the Google suite. 

All parents of a Year Four child who have not returned their order form will need to provide an iPad to the school on the first day of school 2021. This device will be wiped and set up using the School Manager Program.

Last Sunday we began the liturgical season of Advent, the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas. Advent means 'Coming' in Latin. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. We use the weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas.

There are many ways you can celebrate Advent with your children.

• Having an Advent wreath where you light one of 4 candles each week of Advent
• Advent calendar
• Reading bible stories together
• Do a small act of kindness each day of Advent
• Making a Jesse Tree: Putting symbols of the ancestors of Jesus on a tree (as we have in the entrance to our school)
• Saying a little prayer for different people each day of Advent

No matter the Advent activity, the purpose is to set aside time each day in December to pause and celebrate Jesus, the miracle of Christmas.

Purple Day - Wednesday 9 December

This Advent we are supporting our local chapter of St Vincent de Paul Society by donating items for hampers, to give to local families who are in need this Christmas. This is one practical way to prepare for Christmas by thinking of others, especially those in need. 

To celebrate this day of giving, the students are allowed to wear PURPLE the liturgical colour of Advent.

We ask each grade to bring in different items so we can give a variety of “treats” this year for the hampers.

Kinder: lollies 

Year 1: fruit boxes/ fruit juice

Year 2: tinned fruit  

Year 3: zooper doopers

Year 4: chips (large or snack packets)/ sweet or savoury biscuits

Year 5: cakes (need to be prepacked with use by date after 28/12)

Year 6: soft drinks

These items will be presented to The St Vincent de Paul representatives on 11 December at the Stage 2 Mass. If families cannot buy the allocated item for their grade, we will be grateful for any donation.

We had hoped that COVID restrictions would have changed by the end of Term 4 to permit both the whole school to celebrate together and also to have family members at the concert and presentation of awards. Sadly, neither of these are possible and we are still only permitted to have children in the same stage seated together.

In spite of these restrictions, we will still have children tell the Christmas Story and have their teachers present their class awards in stage groups in the hall. All classes and the presentation of their awards will be videoed by the Catholic Education Office. This will give a better quality of video and sound recording. This video will be made available to families on the evening of Friday 11 December so all students and family members can watch it at home at a time convenient to them.

While different stages are performing in the hall, the other stages will be participating in Christmas Liturgies in their classroom. Stage Two (Years 3 & 4) will have a Mass in the church, giving Year 3 an opportunity to receive the Eucharist again as a group. At this Mass we will also be able to give thanks for Mrs Wendy Carter, Mrs Janet Sykes and Mrs Judith Johnson who will be retiring at the end of this year.

The day will finish with all classes doing Christmas craft in their classroom in the last session of the school day.

Celebrating Student Work

Last term we explain that Years 5 and 6 students participated in the Christmas Story Art Competition for the Catholic Education Office. They reflected on a variety of Bible passages that told parts of the Christmas story. They created their own artwork (either 2D or 3D) and explained why they created the art piece, in a written reflection on how they retold the story of Jesus’ birth. These artworks are now decorating the main walkway through our school. Over the final weeks of the year, those students whose work was selected to be displayed at the CEO and Wollongong Art Gallery, will be displayed in the front foyer of our school. Photos below show some of these art works.

Julie Ferguson

Religious Education Coordinator

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

Over the past few weeks, St Paul's has been focusing on our school rule of Be Respectful.  We have been practising showing respect to our teachers, our friends and ourselves in the classroom and playground.  Each class has been rewarding those students who have shown consistent respectful behaviour through class-negotiated 'Green Zone' rewards.  

 

As we reach the end of the scholastic year, we would like to congratulate all those students at St Paul's who have been displaying outstandingly positive school behaviour!  We look forward to celebrating this behaviour in each classroom's Green Zone rewards over the coming weeks.

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

Principal Awards

Harrison McDonald - 2 Blue

Hayley Frendo - 4 Blue

Mason Hili - 3 Red

Mia Hili - 5 Blue

Alex Hofman - 3 Red

Mary MacKillop Awards

Alyssa Shepherd - 5 Red

The PB4L Team

We were thrilled to welcome our new families and of course the families who are already part of the St. Paul's community at the 2 days of orientation.

It was a great way for the children to experience a brief but engaging and fun session at our school.

In a sign of the times, our Kinder 2021 Parent information Session was held over ZOOM on Monday night. We thank those parents who were able to join us. The School Leadership Team presented a variety of information to the parents and were supported by our P and F, with Sara-Jay O’Shea and Amy De Santis presenting additional aspects of St Paul’s.

Our teachers and the rest of the school community are greatly looking forward to meeting our new kindergarten students when they start next year on Thursday 4 February.

On Monday our Year 5 students participated in a Leadership Day led by Mr Cain Holgate and Mr Pat Douglas. The day focused on the skills, knowledge and attributes required to be a responsible leader in Year 6.

Throughout the day the students:  

• Explored personal and shared leadership by building an individual and shared connection, understanding and vocabulary.
• Engaged in challenges and reflection that built awareness and appreciation of our ability to lead within our daily thoughts, words and actions.
• Developed an increased awareness of and deepening connection to self, others and the world.
• Developed an appreciation for the ability to lead in all daily thoughts, words and actions.
• Valued the role of connection and interdependence while working towards authentic goals.
• Expressed an attitude and sense of empowerment while continuing the learning and leadership journey.

Year 5 students have now completed their leadership speeches and the voting process has been finalised. The school leaders for 2021 will be announced this coming Friday at the the morning assembly.

This term, in Science and Technology our Year 6 students have been exploring the role of electrons in transferring energy in electric circuits. They have been investigating conductors and insulators and have experimented with Makey Makey. The Makey Makey allows you to take everyday objects and combine them with the internet. Using the alligator clips attached to any conductive material you can control the keyboard of your computer, such as the space bar, arrow keys and left click of the mouse. The students have enjoyed these hands-on learning experiences to explore how circuits work.

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader

Please could you assist your child/children in returning all library books as soon as possible?

Thank you for your support.

Robyn Warton and Louise Frendo

Library School Support Officers

Today students from Kinder to Year 6 enjoyed a fabulous lunch of Pizza thanks to the Parents and Friends Fundraiser. As a Catholic community we enjoy these opportunities to celebrate a special meal together.

We thank the P and F for organising the fundraiser and we also thank the SSO’s for assisting in the distribution of the pizza, due to no parent helpers being allowed on site.

Annalise Hastings

Middle Leader

Children are always excited and happy at the end of term 4 as they look forward to Christmas and the long school break.  While the first few weeks are exciting, many children start to get bored if they are not busy.  If you need some help finding things to do at home with your children, there are some great suggestions on the KIDSPOT website.  

Check them out at https://www.kidspot.com.au/school/school-holidays/holiday-activities/12-easy-ways-to-beat-school-holiday-boredom-at-home/news-story/0ee735d5eee03c6201cafe7c10a5cd09

One of my favourite activities for children in the down time, is to get them working on a Gratitude or Thankfulness journal.  Simply provide them with a notebook or diary they can use at bedtime to write down all the things they were thankful for that day and remembering the good things they did and the fun they had.  If they continue writing in it every night, they will end up with a lovely reminder of all the things they did over summer, and all the people and things they are grateful for.   Besides, it is always good to remind ourselves of the blessings in our lives.

Remember to start preparing your child for back to school a week or so prior to the end of the break.  Involve them in purchasing new school supplies and snacks to buy for recess. Ask them what they'd like to take for their school lunches and involve them in how they'd like it packed.  

Routine is everything to children, even though they fight it.  Try to get them in a bedtime routine and keep the same routine and bedtime as much as possible, Get children off their electronic devices at least one or two hours before bedtime, and encourage quiet activity such as reading or drawing before lights off.  Make sure your morning routine and after school routine are clear and simple.  Make sure children know where their school things should be stored and where they should put their school uniforms at the end of the day.

The more excited you are about your children starting school, the more excited they will be.  If you have anxiety about leaving them, they will sense it and they will also be anxious. Be positive, reassuring and casual, and make sure they know that you trust the school to keep them happy and safe.  Remember that your children will sense how you are feeling and will follow your lead.    

Praise them at the end of the day and tell them you are proud of them. 

Have a great Summer.

Doreen Waddington

CatholicCare Counsellor