Dear Parents and Carers,

On behalf of the St Paul’s staff I would like to welcome you all to a new school year. We hope that after a restful holiday break all members of our St Paul’s school community have returned ready for another year filled with continual growth in faith and learning. Our focus during the first days of school has been to revisit our non-negotiable expectations of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe and establishing procedures and practices for our daily operation, ensuring a successful transition back to school for all children. It is normal for some children to take time to adjust to their new teacher, classroom as well as the routine of school. I would like to thank you for helping your child settle back into the routines and structure of school, we are very proud of the way the students have begun the school year and this is certainly testament of your support. I would also like to thank parents and carers for the care taken to present your child in their correct school uniform. 

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the new families who have joined our school community in 2021, especially those parents who will commence the journey with their child at St Paul’s for the very first time tomorrow. Welcome to St Paul’s. 

We also welcome our new staff members; Mrs Kristie Bicknell Senior School Support Officer,  Mrs Alexandra Hignston Kindergarten Teacher, Mrs Jodi Marsh Religious Education Coordinator and Year 2 Red teacher, Miss Olivia Djordan Middle Leader and Year 3 Blue teacher. We also welcome Mrs Elizabeth Rippon Year 1 Blue Teacher.  I am sure our new staff, students and families will experience the beauty of the St Paul’s hospitality which was so very evident when I came to the school at the beginning of 2020.

2021 will see the staff at St Paul’s focus on a number of School Review and Improvement priorities which I have briefly outlined below. 

1. We will provide a range of faith and spiritual formation experiences for our students and staff which offer an encounter with Jesus through prayer and gospel reflection.
2. There will be a focus on the pedagogy of teaching reading comprehension in Years 3 to 6 and a focus on Early Literacy Teaching Strategies in Kindergarten to Year 2.  As part of this focus will be a continued emphasis on modelled, guided and independent teaching.
3. St Paul’s plans to continue our focus on parent and carer engagement in student learning.  It is our intention to create more effective opportunities for parents and carers to be engaged in the growth of faith and learning of their child so that they are knowledgeable of their child’s needs and growth.

I would like to thank you all for your continued support especially adhering to the COVID restrictions and protocols put in place to keep our community safe. As parents and carers are still unable to attend liturgies, assemblies and school based events, St Paul's will continue with our Virtual Assemblies every fortnight and student awards will be captured along with student learning. The first virtual assembly will be published this Friday 5th February. 

On behalf on the staff at St Paul's we look forward to working with our parents and carers to provide a supportive and caring learning environment whereby every St Paul's students experiences continual growth in faith and learning. 

Wishing you every blessing,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Parent Information Processes in 2021

The CEDoW Lighting the Way Together Parent-School Partnership Framework  asks that parents and schools are committed to:

- Co-create a Catholic Community

- Build positive relationships of respect, trust and resilience

- Maintain a safe, supportive and respectful school environment

- Create a connected and welcoming school community

- Support engagement and wellbeing. 

The various goals listed above have been difficult to address with ever-changing restrictions. This year we have stepped out some opportunities for parents and teachers to connect and begin the partnership in their child's 2021 learning journey.

STEP ONE:

A general information note was distributed last week. This yellow note gave parents the opportunity to tell the class teacher a bit about your child. If you have not yet filled out this note please do so and return as soon as possible.

STEP TWO:

This week Grade Curriculum Overviews will be distributed to parents on Compass. These overviews will give parents information about specific areas of learning for your child.

STEP THREE:

Information will be distributed to parents shortly offering a phone conversation to further discuss specifics about your child. These calls will be optional. The purpose of this is to provide teachers with any facts about your child that may assist the teacher. These calls are optional and will be conducted across Weeks 4-6 (15th Feb-5th March). Kindergarten parents will be invited to attend an optional Zoom meeting that will give them general information about starting school at St Paul's. The date and time will be communicated soon.

STEP FOUR:

If your child has specific learning and wellbeing needs and has a Personalised Plan then a meeting will be scheduled with you and the class teacher. These meeting will discuss specific student goals. They will occur across Weeks 7-9 (8th March- 26th March).

Please note that all of these opportunities are OPTIONAL.

For example, if your child has a personalised plan you may wish to opt just for this communication with your child's class teacher. 

Over the last two weeks the students have been looking at St Paul’s Albion Park Vision and Mission statement. During class, students are developing understanding of how to follow the vision and mission of our school.

VISION STATEMENT

In the richness of our Catholic faith and tradition we achieve excellence.

MISSION STATEMENT

In partnership, St Paul’s parish and school communities will:

• give witness to the life and mission of Jesus
• build and nurture positive relationships
• provide a safe, inclusive, quality learning environment
• develop socially and ecologically responsible citizens

The school will join together to celebrate the beginning of the 2021 school year on Friday 12 February in the school hall, with a Liturgy of the Word. Our school captains will be inducted and Year Six leaders will receive their badges at this time. Unfortunately, due to current restrictions the parent community will be unable to attend.

On Wednesday 17 February we will celebrate Ash Wednesday. Details are to be finalised for the distribution of ashes to the students.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent and our preparation for Easter. As parents of young children know, Lent can seem so “heavy” in comparison to the excitement of preparing for Christmas. What can this season mean for little children?

For many of us growing up, Lent meant “giving up lollies.” That wasn’t a bad way to introduce us to the notion of self-discipline, but simply giving up something for Lent, without a whole spirituality that children can enter into, can leave kids dreading Lent more than looking forward to it.

The most important part of Lent can be how children are helped to make this a time to practice being more loving. In this spirit, every family can do something to make Lent special for children. The key features of Lent are:

• prayer
• almsgiving
• Fasting

While children are too young to fast they are able to pray and offer help to others. One perfect way to offer almsgiving is to collect money for Project Compassion.

Father Leo Duck has given dates for the celebration of the Sacraments for 2021.

Further information about preparation and registration will be forwarded to you as it comes to hand.

FIRST RECONCILIATION (for students in Year Three or above)

21 June to 25 June

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION (for students in Year Three or above)

11 September or 12 September

CONFIRMATION (for students in Year Six)

29 April or 30 April

Jodi Marsh

Religious Education Coordinator

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

The teachers of all classes in Stage Two and Three are in the process of nominating and inviting a representative for the class to join the Student PB4L Team. The purpose of the PB4L Student Leader Team is to give students a voice at St Paul’s. We aim to create an inclusive learning community where everyone feels respected. We believe this is created when students participate in decision-making, and their ideas inform the day to day procedures they experience, to co-create empowering environments. An empowering environment is one where students have a voice, participate and have routine opportunities for leadership. (Adapted from https://beyou.edu.au) 

PB4L class representatives from Stages 2 and 3 are chosen by the classroom teachers based on the following criteria:

*Someone who is honest and trustworthy

*Someone who is reliable

*Someone who will listen to others respectfully and share their own ideas clearly

*Someone who follows school and class rules at all times

Students who are selected will support the Staff PB4L team by collecting tickets and drawing playground raffles, chairing class meetings and reporting back to the Staff PB4L Team, communicating with their peers about classroom and playground issues, and modelling positive behaviours that contribute to a safe, respectful school climate. 

We will advise you of the Student PB4L Team appointments as soon as they are finalised.

The PB4L Team

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

Mary MacKillop Award

Mia Hili - 6 Red

The PB4L Team

It has been wonderful to meet some of our new Kindergarten students this year. Many of our students have been coming into school over the past few days to complete their Best Start Assessment with their Kindergarten teachers, Mrs Grove and Mrs Hingston. 

Our school community is looking forward to meeting you officially this Thursday 4 February on your first day of school.

This year some of our Stage 3 students will be participating in a VEX Robotics Challenge Rise Above within our diocese.  Our students will, build and design their VEX robot and will be learning to navigate, control and code their robot so that it can stack towers onto each other on the VEX game board.  The students will work collaboratively in teams and together will devise a strategy so they can gather points for the most towers stacked in one minute.  For further information see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHifxhOcuc

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader / Instructional Coach

Happy New Year and welcome back to a new school year. Just want to let everyone know that my availability has increased this year to 5 days per fortnight.  I will be here every Monday and Wednesday as usual, and now on alternate Fridays starting 12 Feb. I am very excited to have started my fourth consecutive year here at St. Paul's.

For those of you that are not familiar with my work at the school, I am able to help your child with various issues that may arise. This may include separation anxiety, general anxiety, peer issues, family separation, grief and loss, anger, sadness, fears or worries.  You can pick up a referral form from the school office if the need arises. Counselling occurs during school hours and there is no fee for service. I will always consult with you prior to seeing your child, and I will keep communication open and collaborative.

Having a counsellor available in the primary school environment is important, because it means we can address small problems before they grow into big ones. Also, because the children know me from being around the school, and the children that come to counselling generally enjoy the process, it  helps to destigmatise seeing a counsellor generally, which is important. When the first experience of counselling is gentle and positive, children are more likely to seek it out in the future if problems or difficulties arise.    

The new year school year can sometimes present a difficult adjustment back to reality. CatholicCare has developed two fact sheets that may assist you to help your children with the transition. These sheets are attached.  As always, if you have any questions for me, you can contact the school office and I will return the call.  Alternatively, my email address is doreenw@catholiccare.dow.org.au .  Wishing you and your child a great school year!

Doreen Waddington

CatholicCare Counsellor

All parent/carer communication, including alerts, will be through compass.  Please ensure that you have downloaded the Compass School Manager app to your device (and that it remains up-to-date). If you require further information or assistance, please contact the school office.

The Parents and & Friends (P&F) Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 15 February at 6:30pm via Zoom. The primary purpose of the P&F is to provide an opportunity for parents to be involved in the school through social events, fundraising and support for school initiatives. At the P&F Annual General meeting, all positions will be declared vacant and an election will take place. 

All parents and carers are very welcome to the meeting and a link to access the meeting via Zoom will be communicated via Compass on Monday 15 February.

At the end of Term 4 2020 the school canteen service provider Fresh Start Canteen indicated that they would need to review the service at St Paul's. Subsequently the school canteen will not be operating this term. We are currently investigating further options with the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Wollongong and will communicate progress throughout the term.

Our new coordinator, Deanna Carbonara, is volunteering her time to continue to provide this helpful service to our St Paul’s School Community.  Parents/carers who require uniform items will now need to contact Deanna (0409 563 546). Items requested will be left at the office to pay and pick up at your convenience.

All items $5

Please Note:

The Office can only accept EFTPOS payments when purchasing uniforms.

DONATIONS of uniforms which you no longer require are always needed to replenish our stock. It is important that all uniforms have been WASHED and are in relatively GOOD condition (no rips, big stains or broken zippers please).

Parents and Carers are welcome to drop off the uniform donations at the front office.