Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Students,

We have almost come to the end of Term 1 and the days and weeks have certainly flown. Our Kindergarten children have very quickly adapted to school routines and made some very good friends and a lot of new learning. New students in other classes have also settled in well.

Thanks to all those who continue to support our students with making transition to a new school, so enjoyable.  I especially thank our School Support Officers who work in our classrooms.

Some of our Kindergarten students are still finding it difficult in playing in the correct areas and also leaving mum and dad in the mornings.

We now conclude this very busy term with so much more to celebrate, I ask you to support our students by attending our activities whenever it is possible. The students love to see you and celebrate with you so please come.

During these last weeks of Lent, let us reflect on the seven last words that Jesus spoke from the Cross:

The First Word - “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”   (Luke 23:34)
The Second Word - “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
The Third Word - “Dear woman, here is your son." (John 19:26)
The Forth Word - "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Mark 15:34)
The Fifth Word -  “I thirst.” (John 19:28)
The Sixth Word - "It is finished!" (John 19:30)
The Seventh Word  - "Father I entrust my spirit into your hands."(Luke23:46)

The last Sunday of Lent is known as Palm Sunday. This is when Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem where the crowd greeted him warmly. Accompanied by his disciples, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, while crowds of people covered the streets ahead of Him with their cloaks and with palm branches and sang “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:1-11).

On this day six days before Jesus’ death, people lined the streets waving palms as Jesus entered Jerusalem. He was going there to die.

I wish all families, staff and students a safe and happy holiday. May the soon to be Risen Christ guide each of you and your loved ones during this Easter season and Autumn holidays, to be people of faith and hope.

Happy Easter.

Colleen Easton, Principal

Our students will retell the events of Holy Week next week in the hall.

Please join us to commemorate the passion and death of Jesus during this time of Lent. Our students will very simply take you through Jesus’ last days before the greatest feast of the Resurrection – Easter.

The days and times together with the classes that are re enacting Jesus’ last days are listed below. We will commence each important part of Holy Week at 2:15 pm in the hall.

I invite our Year 6 students who are about to be confirmed to join me for the Chrism Mass that will be celebrated at the St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral Wollongong on Tuesday 16 April 2019 at 7 pm. Bishop Brian will concelebrate with all the priests of the diocese.

At this Mass the Holy Chrism is consecrated and the oils blessed, showing that in the consecration of the chrism that the bishop with his priests share in the priesthood and ministry of Jesus. This chrism will be used to anoint you the boys and girls in the sacrament of Confirmation this year.

On our return after the autumn holidays, we will joyfully celebrate the Easter story on Thursday 2 May 2019 at 2:15 pm.

Our Year 6 students will re enact this. Please join us to celebrate the true meaning of this great feast.

Please join us for our ANZAC Day events here in Albion Park as well as at Shellharbour City Memorial. These days are during the holidays and I have invited the School Captains and Senior Leaders to represent the school at both these services.

Event No. 1:             Albion Park RSL Sub Branch ANZAC March and Service - Sunday 14 April 2019 (first Sunday in School Holidays)

Time:                        Commencing at 1:30 pm

Where:                      Meet at Mood Park, Tongarra Road, Albion Park.

Event No. 2:             Shellharbour City Council Commemorative Service - Thursday 25 April 2019 (in 2^nd week of School Holidays)

Time:                        Commencing at 7:35 am

Where:                      Shellharbour City Memorial, Harrison Park at the junction of Minga & Memorial Drive, Shellharbour City Centre

Please remember we will hold our School Cross Country tomorrow, Wednesday 3 April 2019 on the Top Oval.

The students will be separated into two groups of Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2 in one area and Years 3 to 6 in a different section. All students are encouraged to participate unless they have a medical condition or they are unwell.

At the conclusion of the carnival, parents are invited to the Quiet Area to share lunch with their child.  If you have already ordered a sausage sizzle for lunch, this can be collected from your child's classroom.

Students will be presented with medals and results will be known as soon as we are able to ascertain this.

It is a school day and students will not be allowed to go home until the whole school is dismissed at approximately 2:45 pm.

Parents and carers are asked not to sign their child / children out, as all students are to remain for the presentation after the carnival. Thanks for you cooperation.

ALL Students are to wear their Sports uniform to school.  Students may bring a coloured shirt (the colour of their Sports House) to change into before the carnival.  They must not wear these coloured shirts to school.  Students must wear their Sports shirt to and from school.

House Names / Colours are:

St Francis of Assisi - Green House
St Joseph's - Blue House
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop - Yellow House
St Paul - Red House

Please see below an order of events for tomorrow's Cross Country Carnival:

Our Week 8 Term 1 Waste Free Warrior Winners are:

• Elijah Schutz - Year 6 Red
• Max Sutton - Year 6 Blue
• Matthew Shepherd - Year 6 Red x 2 tickets
• Myah Bramstedt - Year 3 Blue

Our Week 9 Term 1 Waste Free Warrior Winners are:

• Leon Jones - Year 5 blue
• Chelsea Allitt - Year 2 Blue
• Stephen Jones - Year 6 Blue
• Chloe Zonneveld - Kinder Blue
• Alexis Wau - Year 1 Red

Principal's Awards

Congratulations to the following student who received a Principal’s Award at our last Assembly on Friday 22 March 2019:

Tasha Moylan, Matthew Parker, Pacey Moylan, Sophia Greig, Sophie Claridge

Congratulations to the following students who will receive a Principal’s Award at our next Assembly on Friday 10 May 2019 (Week 2 Term 2):

Tasha Melgarejo, Lachlan Daly

Mary MacKillop Awards

Congratulations to the following student who received a Mary MacKillop Award at our Assembly on Friday 22 March 2019:

Natalie Moon and Tasha Melgarejo

Congratulations to the following students who will receive a Mary MacKillop Award at our next Assembly on Friday 10 May 2019 (Week 2 Term 2):

Mackenzie Hutchinson

Our next Assembly will be held on Friday 10 May (Week 2 Term 2) at 2:20 pm.  Year 5 will be presenting on this day.

The Parish Gates will be opened at 2:15 pm for parents to gain access to the hall.

Family and friends are invited to attend as our Year 5 students share their learning with you.

Project Compassion 2019 is Caritas Australia's 39th Annual Lenten fundraising and awareness raising appeal.   Millions of Australians come together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

At St Paul’s we are raising money through Project Compassion to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

All students were given a Project Compassion Money Box to take home to raise money for this worthy cause and these can be returned to school after the school holidays.

Our Minnies Vinnies group also organised a ‘Crazy Sock’ Day. The students brought in a gold coin donation and were able to wear crazy socks to school. We raised $383.40.  This money will be transferred to Caritas Australia as part of our Project Compassion Fundraising for 2019.

Thankyou to all those who are helping to support this worthwhile cause. 

Janet Sykes, Religious Education Coordinator

In Term 2 the following grades will attend the Parish Mass at 9:30 am on Fridays:

• Friday 10 May - Week 2 - Year 6
• Friday 17 May - Week 3 - Year 1
• Friday 24 May - Week 4 - Kindergarten
• Friday 31 May - Week 5 - Year 3
• Friday 7 June - Week 6 - Year 5
• Friday 14 June - Week 7 - Year 4
• Friday 21 June - Week 8 - Year 2
• Friday 5 July - Week 10 - Year 1

Parents and carers are most welcome to join us for this Eucharistic Celebration.

Our Mini Vinnies students will visit Warrigal Mount Terry Nursing Home next Wednesday 10 April 2019. Our CatholicCare Pastoral Support Worker, Mrs Lisa Pannell has sourced the support of the bus company who will transport our students to and from the Nursing Home free of charge as a service to the school.  We thank Premier Illawarra for their generous donation of the bus.

This is our Easter visit and the Mini Vinnies students look forward to their visit where they have an opportunity to talk with the elderly residents.

On Thursday 4th April 2019 at 10 am our school will be joining hundreds of schools across NSW to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously.

What is The Big Vegie Crunch?

Only around 5% of NSW children eat enough vegetables. To help our community do better, St Paul’s will be taking part in The Big Vegie Crunch (part of Vegetable Week) Thursday 4th April 2019.

Primary schools across NSW will be joining together to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously. Last year 50,260 students crunched together.

But we need your help to make it a success!

On Thursday 4th April 2019, please pack your child a container of vegetables (not fruit this time) for them to crunch on.

Need some ideas?

• carrot, celery, cucumber – cut into sticks or left whole
• capsicum – cut into sticks or wedges
• corn – raw baby corn spears or a cooked corn cob
• broccoli or cauliflower florets - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
• tomatoes – small cherry tomatoes or a large tomato that can be eaten like an apple
• beans or snow peas - raw or lightly cooked to keep their crunch
• mushrooms – sliced or left whole

Thank you for your support.  Angela Spaccavento

The Parents and Friends will hold a disco for our students on Thursday 4 April 2019.

Cost is $5 per child payable on the night.

Infants Disco - Kindergarten to Year 2 - 5 pm to 6:30 pm

Primary Disco - Years 3 to 6 - 6:30 pm to 8 pm

Students, who bring mobile phones to the disco, must hand these in to the teachers/ carers and collected at the conclusion of the disco.

Students are asked to bring their drink bottles with their names clearly marked on them.

My most sincere thanks to parents who observe the uniform code and make the effort to send their child to school in St Paul’s Catholic Parish Primary School uniform.

 Winter Uniforms 

When we return in Term 2 students are to wear their WINTER Uniforms. I remind all parents about haircuts and coloured hair. These need to be carefully guided by you the parents. Boys I remind you that there will be NO patterns shaven into your heads, with long lengths that cover your foreheads and shoulders and colour in your hair.

Girls please ensure that long hair is to be plaited; below the shoulder length hair is to be tied back with red or royal blue ribbons.

Sports shoes should be predominantly white with NO fluro laces. Thanks to all those parents and carers who have purchased white sand shoes/ joggers for your children.

I seem to be making this an ongoing ritual by reminding all students constantly about the way they are presented for school. The uniform code is there for ALL students. Please refer to the Uniform Requirements in our School Handbook.

We invite parents and carers to start thinking about all those items that you can recycle to make your child’s Easter hat. We are encouraging parents not to spend money on buying items but reusing things that can be recycled. We are teaching our children that we need to care for our planet by recycling what we already have.

Our students from Kindergarten to Year 2 will participate in the Easter Hat Parade on Friday 3 May 2019 from 2:15 pm in the hall.

Today Mr Edwards, Mrs Sara-Jay O’Shea and I attended the Social Media Policy Launch at the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong.

We will share this with you in Term 2.

I thank Mrs O'Shea, the President of the Parents and Friends Association for her willingness to attend this launch.

I am confident that as a school community we will have several procedures in place for our staff, parents and students.  Colleen Easton, Principal

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2020 and other grades close on Friday 12 April 2019.

If you are aware of students who are seeking enrolment for next year could you please inform them of the closing date.

I remind parents and carers that if there are siblings who intend coming to St Paul’s your Enrolment application needs to come in by the closing date also.

Two parent sessions were held last week to guide parents in supporting children with their Home Reading.

Our Kindergarten teachers facilitated the sessions to groups of parents giving them directions and advice when students are learning to read and learning about reading.  The teachers spoke about students bringing home readers and parents’ role at home.

Parents are asked to mark these important Staff Development Days in your calendars.

Monday 22 July Week 1 Term 3 – the staff will spend the day with a presentation and then write a unit of work with their grade partner that addresses sustainability.

Friday 30 August Week 6 Term 3 – Spirituality Day at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney.

Please note that the school will not be open for students on these days.

As part of our commitment to environmental sustainability we continue our partnership with St Vincent De Paul and the Return and Earn Program. Our Waste Free Warriors and Environmental Year 5 teams have begun educating all students about the correct use of these bins.  Many of us place our 10 cents drink containers we purchase from the canteen or bring in from home in the blue bins provided. Lately, we have noticed not many refundable containers are being placed into these bins. Please be generous during this time of Lent and donate any containers to the St Vincent De Paul Society. Blue Bins are located in the quiet area and on the front playground.

Our goal is for everyone to bring in one 10 cents refundable bottle to school each week. This would mean we would donate $36.50 to the St Vincent De Paul Society.

Cross Country BBQ

Helpers are needed for the upcoming BBQ to held directly after the Cross Country on Wednesday 3rd April. If you are able to help, please return the volunteer form to the school office.

School Disco

The first school discos for the year will be held Thursday 4^th April. The Junior disco (K-2) will run from 5pm to 6.30pm. The Senior (3-6) will run from 6.30pm to 8pm.  Please remember to send a labelled water bottle with your child. Cost is $5 per child. Parent helpers are needed. If you are able to assist, please email Sara-Jay O’Shea (P&F President) at sjayoshea@outlook.com  children will be fully supervised and will not be permitted to leave the school hall until parents come to collect their child.

LAST CALL for the OLD Sports Uniform

The P and F committee are pleased to announce that our old sports uniforms are going to donated to the Philippines. Our local Rotary Club are going to take the uniforms, pass them onto one of their Sydney contacts, who will send them over in shipping container. If you like to support this initiative, we ask for families to drop off any items from the old sports uniform at the front office before THE END OF TERM!!!!!!  Maria Bancroft

Second Hand Uniforms

Parents/cares who require second hand uniform items throughout the term, please contact Maria Bancroft (0400570105). Items requested can be left at the office to pay and pick up at your convenience. All items are $5.

Please Note:            We can only accept CORRECT CHANGE when purchasing uniforms. NO CHANGE CAN BE GIVEN. Alternatively, families can pay by EFTPOS at                                 the front office.  Maria Bancroft

P & F Facebook Page

Please be reminded that the St Paul’s P&F Facebook page is NOT an official school page. It is run by volunteers.  We always recommend confirming directly with the school if you are unsure of any event or information required.

You can find us at:

St Paul’s Albion Park P & F

Summary of Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday 3April 2019 - Cross Country BBQ, helpers needed
• Thursday 4 April 2019 - Disco, helpers needed       
• Monday 6 May 2019 - P & F Meeting at 6:30 pm in the St Joseph’s Room