Last Sunday as a Catholic community, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Holy Blood and Body of Christ. The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to "Body of Christ." 

This feast originated in France in the mid thirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264, and calls us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist and the Church. 

The primary purpose of this feast is to focus our attention on the Eucharist. The opening prayer at Mass calls our attention to Jesus' suffering and death and our worship of Him, especially in the Eucharist. At every Mass our attention is called to the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it. 

The secondary focus of this feast is upon the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with his disciples. He expresses this in the gospels by using the metaphor of a body in which He is the head. This image helps keep in focus both the unity and the diversity of the Church. Our worship of Jesus in His Body and Blood calls us to offer to God our Father a pledge of undivided love and an offering of ourselves to the service of others. I see that pledge lived daily by students, staff and parents and carers in our community. 

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday 7th June St Paul’s staff and students had the privilege to host the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong, Director of Schools, Mr Peter Hill as he visited with staff and students. As part of this visit Mr Hill spoke with our Year 6 leaders and students  regarding the qualities of leadership that are valued at St Paul’s. This was an opportunity to reflect on the importance of respect, responsibility and right relationships, as students discussed their leadership development as the senior students and leaders of St Paul’s.

Mr Hill, Fr. Leo Duck and I met to discuss Catholic Education, Faith and Catholic Tradition at St Paul’s. This discussion was an opportunity to reflect on faith formation and the lived experiences provided for the school community to experience the person of Jesus. We discussed the importance of a sacramental, spiritual and liturgically-centred Religious Education where meaning is expressed through ritual, symbol and prayer. 

Mr Hill took time to meet with St Paul’s Leadership Team to reflect on the progress made over the first half of the school year with the School Review and Improvement Priorities. The St Paul’s Leadership Team summated completed actions for the 3 Priority Areas of Religious Education and Mission and Catholicity, Learning and Teaching and People and Culture. These actions the School Leaderhip summated are as follows:

• Social justice initiatives introduced within the school community as opportunities for students to express their faith and the mission of Jesus.
• Spiritual formation experiences planned and facilitated by teachers that incorporate contemporary prayer for students that draw on the teachings of Jesus.
• Teachers have been involved in professional learning courses that have been facilitated by Professional Officers from the School Improvement Primary Team at the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Wollongong.
• Teachers have also been heavily involved in collaborative planning sessions using data to track student learning attainment and growth in reading and plan effective teaching and learning strategies in English.
• Teachers have also been involved in professional collaborative practices, providing an opportunity to view each other’s teaching and provide feedback.
• Each grade has outlined core learning experiences in each Key Learning Area through the publication of a Grade Term Curriculum Overview so that parents and carers are informed of planned learning experiences to discuss with their child.
• Grade teachers have collaborated to showcase their students' learning tasks through the digital platform Seesaw and Google Classrooms so that parents and carers can view their child’s learning artifacts and products.
• Each grade has showcased their students' learning and classroom experiences through the school newsletter so that the school community can celebrate the ongoing learning experiences that have occurred in all of our classrooms. 
• Fortnightly assemblies have been reintroduced after the easing of COVID restrictions. Each grade has been allocated an assembly timeslot for the year to showcase their learning. Students have been very excited about leading the whole school assemblies for our wider school community. In Week 10 of every term the school will continue to produce a virtual assembly so that those parents and carers who are not able to join the school community at the fortnightly assemblies can still be involved in the viewing of a whole school assembly.
• Grade teachers have been working with their Stage Leaders to create Assessment of Learning opportunities for their students following a unit of work in Mathematics. Twice per term the students’ Mathematics Assessment of Learning work samples are shared with parents and carers so that parents and carers can be engaged in their child’s progress in Mathematics.

Mr Hill completed his visit at St Paul’s with a Liturgy of the Word focused on World Environment Day, led by Mrs Marsh and the Year 5 Environmental team. This was an opportunity for our school community to showcase our initiatives that express our calling to look after the environment.

This Friday 11th June Semester One reports will be released to parents and carers. This will be an opportunity to celebrate your child's learning and to engage in a learning conversation with your child. On behalf of the St Paul's staff we congratulate our students on their achievements. 

Yours in faith and learning,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

81% of children aged 8 to 17 have played an online game

64% have played a multiplayer online game with others

52% have played with people they did not know

17% have experienced bullying or abuse while playing a network game with others

34% have made an in-game purchase and this rose to 45% when they played a network game with others

Find out more in eSafety Research,
State of Play — Youth and Online Gaming in Australia

How to create a safer gaming environment for your child?

Prepare

• Locate the computer or games console in an open area of your home, or if your child is playing on their handheld device, get them to do it in the family room.
• Install current security software on all devices to protect against viruses, malware and other online threats. 
• Activate parental controls and safety features on the device or in the app or browser. These controls can help restrict access to certain content and limit spending on in-game and in-app purchases. See our advice on taming the technology.

Build good habits

• Help your child to protect their privacy online — get them to use a screen name that does not reveal their real name. 
• Teach your child not to click on links provided by strangers, like ‘cheat’ programs to help with game play, which might expose their device to viruses or malware.
• Agree on strategies to help them to switch off, like a timer that signals game time is nearly over, with consequences for not switching off.

Stay involved

• Talk regularly with your child about their gaming interests and who they play with online. Help them understand the risks.
• Play alongside your child to get a better sense of how they are handling their personal information and who they are communicating with.
• Monitor the time your child spends online and keep a look out for any changes in their activity, school or social behaviours.
• Encourage your child to tell you if they experience anything that worries them or makes them uncomfortable. 

Be aware of what they are playing

• Games vary in their level of violent or sexual content, and may contain themes, language and images that are unsuitable for your child. 
• You can check the age guidelines and classification for an individual game on its website or product packaging, or from the
  Australian Classification Board’s public database.
• The Australian Classification Board also has useful information on violent video games to help parents and their children decide what video games are appropriate for them.
• Useful information about games ratings can also be obtained from the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) and the
  US Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
• Review sites can also be a good source of information about age appropriate content – check out the 
  Australian Council on Children and the Media, Kiwi Families (NZ), Common Sense Media (US), Parents’ Choice (US)
  and Ask About Games (UK).

Empower your child

• Wherever possible, help them make wise decisions for themselves, rather than tell them what to do. 
• Try to provide them with strategies for dealing with negative online experiences that will build their confidence and resilience.
  Our online gaming advice for young people may be a good starting point.

All students are now wearing their full winter uniform.

Please ensure that children are wearing their tie and have their shirts tucked in at all times.

Full winter uniform includes:

Grey socks for boys and navy tights or white socks for girls.

St Paul's is aiming to consult with parents and carers around the current uniform policy. This policy has been in place for some time and we would like to review the wording and ensure parents and carers have the opportunity to contribute. In the coming weeks, information will be sent out to parents seeking feedback about this. Keep an eye out for this information.

Parents and Carers receive notifications and letters to assist with explaining absences. If you received a letter or a notification please take the time to go onto the Compass Portal and provide an explanation of the absence. 

Please see the attached video to listen to Michael Grose, Founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia's leading parenting educators discuss important advice for parents when receiving a child's report. 

Watch this before looking at your child's report

Semester 1 Reports will be available via Compass on Friday 11 June for students in Years 1 – 6.  Kindergarten only receive an end-of-year report (Semester 2). Student Reports (Years 1 – 6) are standards-referenced, which in NSW means reporting based on the Common Grade Scale. Standards-referenced reporting requires teachers to consider the performance of each student according to the standard detailed at each level (A–E) of the Common Grade Scale for each Key Learning Area (KLA). Students are then awarded a grade based on the evidence teachers have of their learning in that particular KLA and the standard it reflects. According to the Common Grade Scale a ‘C’ grade is considered sound. That is, if awarded a C in a particular KLA the student has demonstrated that they have gained the knowledge, skills and understanding expected of them at that point in time.

The Common Grade Scale

The Common Grade Scale describes performance at each of the five grade levels.

OTHER REPORT FEATURES INCLUDE:

Overall grades

Each Key Learning Area has an overall grade that is determined by the teacher by considering the evidence of each student’s learning and the standard on the Common Grade Scale it reflects. Overall grades are not determined by averaging performance on strands within a Key Learning Area. In many cases more time has been dedicated to learning in one strand over others and this contributes significantly to the balanced judgement a teacher is required to make, in order to award an overall grade. It is not unusual for a student’s overall grade to change from one reporting period to the next as the knowledge, skills and understanding they encounter in each KLA will vary from one reporting period to the next. The Common Grade Scale is included on the front of the report.

Commitment to Learning

Commitment to Learning captures the student’s attitude to the particular Key Learning Area and their skills in managing their work, persisting when challenged and working to their potential. A scale explaining the three standards used in Commitment to Learning is included in the report.

Strands

The term ‘strands’ refers to the breakdown of learning within each Key Learning Area that is presented in a grid with the options Extensive, Thorough, Sound, Limited, and Basic for teachers to indicate the performance of the student within each strand. Over a reporting period, some strands will have a greater focus than others, which will impact the overall grade for the Key Learning Area. In some Key Learning Areas, not every strand will be covered in each reporting period; those that are not covered will not appear on the report.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Semester 1 Reports will be available on Compass to all students in Year 1 to Year 6 on Friday 11 June.
• Learning Conversations (Parent/Teacher Meetings) will take place between Tuesday 15 June and Thursday 24 June.

Learning Conversations be made available for all parents from Kindergarten to Year 6. These bookings will close on Friday 11th June

Information on how to book a Learning Conversation with your child’s teacher was distributed on Compass on Friday 28 May.

These bookings will close on Friday 11 June.

Learning Conversations are open for parents and carers of all students from Kindergarten to Year Six.

There is a new feature to indicate if you would like your conversation to be face to face or by phone. When confirming the booking select 'Interpreter' and choose from the drop-down options of face to face or phone.

Joseph’s lived experience of God’s love led him to accept very difficult situations. Relationships, rather than the letter of the law, guided him in making loving and courageous decisions.

‘The nobility of Joseph’s heart is such that what he learned from the law, he made dependent on charity. The spiritual path that he traces for us is not one that explains but accepts.’ Pope Francis.

Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering whom you are trying to follow.’ Mary MacKillop 1909.

A reflection by Sr. Kerry Gardiner

During English, Year 6 has enjoyed Writing narratives.  Students have been learning how to ‘hook’ their reader and how to keep their reader engaged through the use of figurative language, interesting storylines and characters and a variety of sentence types for specific purposes.  In preparation for High School, students have learned how to use marking criteria and rubrics to self-assess their own writing and find ways to improve the quality of their work.

During PDHPE lessons this term, Year 6 have been exploring Respectful Relationships.  Students have been practising identifying what showing ‘Respect’ to yourself and others looks, sounds and feels like.  Year 6 have been regularly reflecting on the BOUNCE BACK Acronym and identifying ways they can use the strategies in this acronym to enhance their resilience.

On Friday of last week Year 6 participated in ‘part 2’ of a Diocesesan wide leadership day program facilitated by Mr Pat Douglas and Mr Cain Holgate. The theme for the day were three R’s; Relationships, Resilience and Reflection and how these can assist students to be empowering leaders and members of their school and the wider community. The students had a very fun enjoyable day and learned a lot about themselves, others and important life skills in the process.

This term, Year 6 have continued to work with their Kindergarten buddies on Fridays.  Year 6 really enjoys spending this special time with Kindergarten, playing games, building skills and developing relationships. The buddies program is an important way for our Year 6 students to continually build their leadership skills.

On Friday 25th June, Year 6, along with the P&F will be hosting the Disco to help raise funds for the Year 6 Graduation.  The Infants Disco will occur from 5:30pm till 6:30pm. The Primary Disco will occur from 6:30pm till 8:00pm.

Our focus for this week is playing appropriate games in the spaces which we play. We are reminded that there can be no football or soccer in the front playground or central playground as it is not a large enough space for these games. We know that we can play handball and basketball in the front playground as it is concrete and the space is painted with courts for us to use. In the central playground there are plenty of smaller games we can play including tennis, handball, skipping, noughts and crosses, grip balls and we also have an option to play in the hall in Passive Play. The top oval is a wonderful space for big running games, football, soccer and volleyball. 

Hello parents and carers, 

Our kindness project is starting this week. The PB4L student representatives have been busy in our meetings designing the kindness slips, a rap about kindness and a slideshow to share with all classes for our upcoming class meetings. We have created a space in the office foyer to display some of the kindness slips we will be receiving, so if you are visiting, make sure you pop by the office window to have a read about the kind deeds we are noticing around our playgrounds.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been a focal point of PDHPE teaching and learning school-wide.  There are 5 domains of SEL: Self Awareness,  Self Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making.

A key element of SEL implementation is ensuring students have regular opportunities to practise the skills they have explicitly learnt during PDHPE lessons.  This takes place through Core SEL Practices.  Classroom teachers have embedded a number of Core SEL Practices into classrooms.  Some examples throughout our school include:

• Kindness Walls

Students take the time each day to recognise and celebrate positive moments and behaviours which their peers display.  Students are invited to be ‘on-the-lookout’ for positive interactions, acts of kindness and demonstrations of resilience.  These actions are noted, shared with the class and displayed.

• Class Meetings or Circle Time

Students meet with their peers and teachers to have structured discussions.  Students are able to share their ideas and opinions, which contribute to class-wide actions.  During class meetings or circle time, all voices are heard and acknowledged and students are able to develop social awareness and relationship skills.

• Class Mantras

By selecting or creating a Class Mantra, students are able to work with their peers to maintain a particular focus or goal.  Class Mantras help students to focus on the positive elements of their day, to build self esteem and continually develop resilience.

• Check-Ins

Daily check-ins allow for students to inform their teacher and their classmates on how they are feeling throughout the day, so that students may receive the support they need to be successful learners.  Through sharing emotions and practising strategies for managing these emotions, students are continually increasing their repertoire of self-management skills and empathy for others.

• Mindfulness

Classes practice being mindful in a variety of ways.  These include mindful colouring, reflective reading, meditations and prayer.  During Mindfulness, students are provided the opportunity to practice self-management strategies and refocus their minds so they are ready for learning.  

The overarching aim of embedding SEL into the context of St Paul's is to assist in the development of a positive climate within our school and to equip students with the knowledge and skills to function with the complex social and emotional contexts of the world.

This term students have been bringing home their Assessment of Learning in Mathematics following the completion of a unit. This will be occuring twice per term. 

Parents are encouraged to look through the assessment and speak to their child about their results. We are hoping this provides parents and carers with a clearer understanding of their child’s attainment of numeracy concepts.

Each grade will bring home their two assessments at different points throughout the term depending on their grade’s scope and sequence of learning. The content that each grade is assessed on may also differ depending on which strand the unit was based. 

The assessment task is only one component of the assessment process. There may be more than one task needed to complete assessment for that outcome. The other components of assessment include class participation, bookwork, observation, verbal tasks and problem solving tasks. 

If your child is being assessed above or below stage outcomes their assessment proforma will not reflect a grade as assessments are addressing specific stage outcomes. 

ICAS

ICAS Assessment registrations close Friday the 23rd of July.

Please see Compass for information on the ICAS Assessments and how to register your child online.

Toys From Home 

Just a reminder that toys, particularly trading cards such as Pokemon and NRL cards, are not permitted at school. If these items are lost or damaged the school takes no responsibility.  The school provides a variety of equipment to use during break times. 

Olivia Djodan

Acting Middle Leader

A number of students in Years 4, 5 and 6 are currently participating in a Mathematics Enrichment program.  This program is based on the framework of the Maths Games and Maths Olympiad.

The Maths Games and Maths Olympiad are designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn and develop valuable maths problem solving skills, while offering enjoyment and an appreciation of maths.  

The main aims of the Mathematics Enrichment program include:

• Introducing students to important mathematical concepts
• Teaching major strategies and develop flexibility for problem solving
• Fostering creativity and ingenuity and strengthen intuition
• Stimulating enthusiasm and enjoyment of mathematics
• Providing for the satisfaction, joy and thrill of meeting challenges

Students engage in these lessons weekly and are eagerly developing their Working Mathematically skills.

National Reconciliation Week continues. We remember the theme “More than a word, Reconciliation Takes Action”. We continue to spread the Good News of Jesus by following in his footsteps. May we strengthen our efforts today to the work of healing and reconciling action.

When our grandmothers and mothers visited on Mother’s Day we had the opportunity to interview them about what life was like when they were growing up. Some things we heard were: 

Abbey M: My nannas had to walk out the back to go to the toilet.

Ruby: My nan and her brothers had to have their baths outside.

Arihana: My grandma didn’t have any lights when she was younger. She had to use candles

Harrison: My mum and my omi played card games like shookal hexa. It’s a German game. They did not have iphones.

Jacob: My Mum and Nan never had technology. They had to play card games too.

Kiri: My nan likes to cook me things like cauliflower pie. It is a recipe that has been passed down through the family.

Logan: My nan used to make baked potatoes that are still a little bit raw. She served it to my Mum every single day. My mum said it was disgusting.

Libby: When my dad was a little kid, he lived near a creek. He was allowed to swim there all the time. He didn’t even have to do swimming lessons.

Rocco: When my mum was little, she had no technology. My mum always had to play outside.

Liam: When my mum was little, they didn’t have a car. She had to walk to school.

Flynn S: My Pop and Grandma both have a picture of when Albion Park was just all sandy and there were not many houses.

Flynn G: When my dad went to school, they were very strict and they got the cane.

Shontel: When my mum went to school, she had to walk a long way, even in the rain.

Aaliyah: When my dad was little, he had to catch the train to school.

Olivia: When my mum was little, she lived with my nan and she used to tell her stories about how she got a special vase from Spain.

Dhyan: When we were little in India, we didn’t have a shower so we had to get water from the well to wash.

Ivy: When my Ava was little, her mum was very poor so she had to walk to school but all the richer people got to ride horses to school.

Sienna: Sometimes when children got into trouble at school, they had to write on a blackboard what they did wrong many times.

Mick: When my mum was a baby, they had an old fashioned TV and phone.

Mila: When my nan was at school, they barely had anything to play with and she always had to play with a skipping rope.

In History we learnt that we can discover information from the past by looking at old photographs of significant places or buildings.

Samuel - St Paul’s Catholic School in 1925

I can see that the school was smaller in the past. The building was made of bricks, wood and glass. The wood was used for the fence. The glass was used for the windows and the bricks were used for the walls. It was used for learning.

Abby - Main St, Albion Park

This is a photograph of the Main street of Albion Park in the past. I can see that there was a shop with white wooden fences between each building. The street was very wide and made of dirt. There was street lights but no power poles.

Molly - Post and Telegraph Office

This photograph is the Post and Telegraph Office in Albion Park in 1910. In the past people rode horses because there were no cars. The horse is tied to the fence out the front so they don’t run away. The post delivered by a horse and rider.

To end our assembly we shared a song that we sing during our brain breaks. Please scan the QR code to view our “visualising” artwork that was displayed in the background while we sang our song, “Maggalina Haggalina”.

As part of our School Review and Improvement priority we are engaging parents in our students’ numeracy learning.This page in our newsletter is part of our strategy and gives helpful hints on how to assist numeracy learning at home. 

Length 

Through the following length investigations students are able to estimate, measure and check a variety of lengths and distances. Students in infants use informal units such as blocks, handspans and paperclips to measure and begin to recognise the need for a formal unit. Students then begin to measure using centimetres, millimetres, metres and kilometres. Older students learn to convert between different units of measurement e.g. 200cm = 2m. 

Hands on Length Activities

• Make paper aeroplanes with family and friends. Which plane will fly the longest distance? Estimate and measure.
  
  
•  Who has the longest finger in your family? Who has the shortest finger in your family? Measure and order from shortest to longest.
  
  
• Find out the distance between your house and school. Estimate how long it would take you to walk or ride your bike. See if you can time it! 

Students in 3B participating in length investigations.

Last Friday, a number of students from Year 4 and 5 represented St Paul’s at the VEX Robotics Day at Good Samaritan Primary School in Fairy Meadow. We participated in a range of challenges like Elsa’s square, we had to make Elsa and Anna from Frozen complete squares in the ice to finish the levels.There were a lot of fun activities. We had to use the VEX coding app on our iPads to make our robot go through a maze and it was very complicated. We were really happy to be chosen for Vex and this year's challenge.  

The day was featured on WIN news check out our facebook page for the Video!

By Jack, Charlotte, Sam, Oliver and Ketzia (Year 5)

VEX Robotics 

Last Friday, a team of Year 4 and Year 5 students represented St Paul’s at the VEX Robotics 2021 Challenge Launch. We had to collaborate with other school teams to solve a series of coding challenges involving driving the robots using our iPads and the Vex IQ app. 

We enjoyed learning about the design challenges for the new VEX Scrimmages where we have been challenged to design a robot that can climb an obstacle course, go under some low course obstacles, and throw balls up into a basket. 

There were some very talented coders who shared their knowledge with our teams which was fantastic.  Congratulations to Mason, Matthew, Elise, Ketzia, Charlotte, Jack, Oliver and Sam who displayed great enthusiasm for the challenges, never gave up on their tasks, and grew in self- confidence throughout the day to seek help from expert peers. You have made St Paul’s very proud! 

New Enrolments for 2022 are now open. Enrolments packs are available for collection at our school office. Please let your friends and the wider community know that enrolments are now open.

Warriors, Warriors 

You know what to do!

Chuck out rubbish

Like it’s the flu.

Warriors Assemble!

Warriors Ahoy!

Let’s all do the 

jobs we enjoy

C O M P O S T I N G 

That’s our dream

We are the composting team

Yeah!

Fogo Bin Rap

What you put in the Fogo bin?

Tomatoes, apples and banana skin

Make sure you don’t put full food in

Because it’s harder to do composting 

Ahh, let’s get this straight 

Plastic, rubbish no no no

Food scraps yes yes yes yes yes

Planting and Gardening

All the classes got the opportunity to spend time in our school gardens. Some of the activities they did were weeding, picking up rubbish, mulching and spreading some of the rich soil from our compost. Some classes even planted some new seedlings. Some of the plants we planted are snow peas, lettuce, carrots, celery and onion. As a school, we have successfully grown lemons and tomatoes. We mulched the plants to give them strength and to help them hold the water. We are looking forward to seeing them grow and produce delicious fruits and vegetables.

Pruning

Mr and Mrs Carter generously taught some of the year 5’s how to prune. We spent almost a whole session pruning the tree in the front playground. Now it looks stunning! Pruning is when you cut back the branches, roots and leaves. It was a big effort! Thank you Mr and Mrs Carter for taking time out of their day to teach us!

World Environment Day in the Classroom

Each class participated in activities in the classroom too! These included art activities, liturgies, and watching videos about World Environment Day. In Year 5 we created posters that were intended to raise awareness of the environmental challenges that we face.

Lollies

Of course after all of our hard work, composting and our other fun activities at the end of the day we all deserved a delicious treat! Some of our Waste-Free Warriors shared out the lollies and gave them to every kid in the school (and a few teachers who wanted a snake. After all, they had a big day as well).

Written by the Waste-Free Warriors, Preston Apps, Alani West and Hayley Frendo. 

Students in Kindergarten to Year 3 have access to the PMeCollection. This is a collection of digital readers your child can read at home.

The PMeCollection is designed to help independent and guided reading both at home and school to improve digital literacy. Your child has access to a personal account, which can be tailored to cater for their reading needs with a selection of PM levelled readers. Please ask your child’s classroom teacher for access to your username and password.

PMeCollection Bookshelf app 

What parents need to do: 

1. Please download the PMeCollection app on your device from the App Store or to access the browser app, go to app.pmecollection.com.au on any browser. 

1. Open the app and log in with your child’s username and password. 

1. When you have logged in; your child’s assigned books will be on the shelves. 

How to use the App: 

• When you are in the bookshelf screen you are ready to go. 

• Touch a book, which will come up with the front cover. Press read and the book will open for you to read. 

• To turn the page, swipe your finger left for forwards and right to go backwards.

Getting the most from the App: 

The app comes with a variety of different features to enhance student development.

• Tap on a word to hear it.

• Swipe down to have the page read to you. 

• Swipe up to exit a book and access the home menu. 

• To record your child’s reading, press the record button in home screen, which will open the book again and press the microphone button on the bottom of the screen to record. This needs to be pressed for each page. You can listen to this by selecting the play button next to the microphone button. 

• The recording will be automatically stored on the student profile page. 

• Swipe on a tricky word and tap the clipboard that appears, and this word will be stored on the bookshelf menu. Tap on the green clipboard and your child can practise this word to learn it. 

• For further help using this application, press the ? icon in the top right corner to receive help.

https://app.pmecollection.com.au/get-started

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader

The School Photographer will be at St Paul's on Wednesday 16 June 2021 to take the students photos. Students will be required to wear their Full Winter Uniform on the day - no sports uniform please.

Photo envelopes were sent home last week, please return them as soon as possible. Please see the office if you did not receive your envelope.

Kristie Bicknell

Senior School Support Officer

Shellharbour City Council Reconciliation Flag Walk 

National Sorry Day is a day that gives people the chance to come together and share the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. 

The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families.

It is important for all Australians to remember National Sorry Day so we can support the people who got taken away from their families so they know they aren’t alone.

On Monday, May 31st our Indigenous students and school leaders gathered on the bus and went together with the St Josephs kids. We had people carrying the flags. I was privileged to carry the flag on behalf of St. Paul’s. We walked from the PCYC Lake Illawarra to Pelican View Reserve. At the reserve we took part in a Welcome to Country, a smoking ceremony, somes dances and an official Exchange of Flags. After the formalities we completed an art project on cardboard cut out hands which we placed in the sand to make a Sea of Hands. Then we all gathered around to snack. We then had a sausage sizzle lunch. All the kids went to the park and did some chalk drawings on the pathway.

Lilly R 6 Blue

Mabo Day

Reconciliation week concludes every year on June 3.  June 3rd marks Mabo Day which  commemorates Mer Island man Eddie Koiki Mabo and his successful efforts to overturn the legal idea of terra nullius, or ‘land belonging to no-one’.

British colonists arrived on the land now known as Australia in 1788. They declared the land 'Terra nullius’ meaning belonging to no one or uninhabited, despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples occupied the land, spoke their own languages and had their own laws and customs. Declaring the land ‘Terra nullius’ was an attempt to give ‘legitimacy’ for the British and Australian governments to allow the dispossession of all Indigenous peoples of their land.

The Mabo 

Starting in the Queensland Supreme Court, Human Rights activist Eddie Mabo fought the legal concept that Australia and the Torres Strait Islands were not owned by Indigenous peoples because they did not ‘use’ the land in ways Europeans believed constituted some kind of legal possession. Over a ten year period the case moved through to the High Court of Australia and on June 3rd 1992, 5 months after Eddie Mabo died the historic decision was made in the High Court of Australia that ‘native title’ did exist . In 1993 following the Mabo decision Australia’s Federal Parliament passed the Native Title Act which established a legal framework for native title claims throughout Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by  recognising and acknowledging that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people always had – and continue to have – a strong connection to ‘Country’ – the Australian land. 

https://www.reconciliation.org.au/commemorating-mabo-day/

NAIDOC Week

On Wednesday June 25 St Paul’s Will be recognising NAIDOC week. The students will participate in Creating a Sea of Hands for our grounds and we will celebrate a Liturgy of the Word at 2.15 pm in the Hall.

Monica McCann

Welcome to this week's Breaking News with the Senior Leaders. Here is all the information about what is going on at St Paul’s! 

What’s coming up this week:

Coming up this week at St Paul's all grades will be participating in the Athletics Carnival competing in shot put, discus, running, long jump and other activities. Also coming up this week we have the Netball Gala Bay for boys from Year 5 and 6 and girls from Year 3 to Year 6. 

Exciting things that have happened:

We have had lots of exciting activities and achievements that have happened here at St. Paul’s! This year we had diocesan tryouts for sport, hockey, rugby league and netball. Wesley Smith, Dejay Schutz, Max Elliot, Mckenzine Hutchison, Ava Alaban and Kiara Shelton all made the teams. They then went onto the MacKillop Southern State Trials. Max Elliot made the Hockey team, Ava Alaban made it for Touch Footy and Dejay Schutz made it as a shadow for the Rugby league. We had a mufti day fundraiser for the Cancer Council and we had to wear purple and yellow.  Dougal the Bear came into our school to say a big lovely ‘hi!’

Last week we celebrated World Environment Day, where all grades did activities to learn about how to keep our earth clean and healthy. We all helped clean the school. During the Environmental Day, Year 6 participated in a Leadership Day run by Mr Holgate and Mr Douglas.  We learnt about mindfulness, how to be a good leader and teach us about Year 7 coming up next year.

Written by Kiara and Emma-Lee

On Friday 18 June our school Athletics Carnival will be held at Croome Rd Albion Park. A booklet outlining the program for the day has been sent to all parents via compass. Please ensure that you go on compass to give permission for your child/ children to attend and participate in the carnival. We are still looking for more parent helpers especially parents who are happy to be an age group assistant. This role is one in which you get to move around to all events with your child and help out at their events. So if you are able to assist, please answer the questions on compass when you register your child.

Next Tuesday 15 June, students in grades 3-6 who nominated will be attending the Netball Gala Day to be held at Berkeley. The students will be supervised by Mrs Nunes, Mrs Fogliada, Miss DeSousa and Mrs Calleja. If any parents wish to manage a team on the day please email your interest to Mr McCann. 

Brian McCann

Sports Coordinator

The teachers in Years 3-6 are currently participating in professional learning  “Teaching Reading Strategies” facilitated by Elise Moore from the School Improvement Primary Team at the CEDoW.  Our staff are committed to improve student outcomes in reading and have been refining teaching practices in the classroom so that students deepen their understanding about a text to draw conclusions or consider multiple interpretations and perspectives. The students have been learning about the ‘super seven’ comprehension strategies: Making Connections, Predicting, Questioning, Monitoring, Visualising, Summarising, and Inferencing. 

What do good readers do as they read?

One way that researchers have studied what good readers do, has been to ask them to think aloud as they read. From these studies, researchers have determined that this activity described as "good reading" is made up of a set of highly complex, well developed, and well-practiced skills and abilities.

Particularly impressive is the way in which good readers actively and consciously coordinate these skills and strategies before, during, and after reading a text.

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader

Message from Bishop Brian Mascord - Future of Cemeteries NSW 

I am writing to ask for your assistance in petitioning the New South Wales Government to reverse a decision to exclude faith and charitable groups from cemetery management.

Please see here an opinion piece from Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP on the matter published in The Australian on 27 May 2021

Save Our Graves Online Petition 

I give my support to Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP who has recently launched a Save Our Graves online petition to put pressure on the NSW Government to reverse its decision to exclude faith and charitable groups from the management of cemeteries in NSW that operate on Crown land. This also has the support of other faith leaders from the Muslim and Jewish communities.

The government’s decision is a serious attack on religious freedom and raises significant questions as to the appropriateness of handing over the management of cemeteries to a bureaucracy that has no experience in providing comfort to grieving families or the management of burial grounds. Caring for the dead and those who love them is a spiritual mission, not secular. Our faith teaches that it is one of our “corporal works of mercy” and this underpins the way we look after our cemeteries, which we have been doing for over 150 years.

An online petition page has been established at www.saveourgraves.com.au and you are encouraged to sign this petition and circulate it to your family and friends in NSW.

Expectation of Students: Back Gate

• At end of school day, students will line up with other gate students at the Central Playground.

• Students will line up in an orderly fashion.

• Students are not to leave the back gate unless parents are there to collect them.

Expectation of Parents: Back Gate

• Parents or those with permission are to collect students only. Parents are to park their car and come to the gate to collect students.

• Parents are to ring the office if unable to pick up their student if circumstances suddenly change.

• Any students not collected by their parents by 3.30pm will be taken to the school office and parents will be notified. Back gate needs to be locked. 

Thank you for your co-operation.

Kristie Bicknell

Senior School Support Officer

A feature of our fortnightly newsletter is an overview of Term 2 dates. The best platform to view the Term 2 dates is a laptop or iPad rather than a phone. The remaining Term 2 dates are outlined below

The following dates have been planned as Staff Professional Development Days for St Paul’s this year. Being Staff Development Days they are pupil free days, so children do not attend school. The dates are as follows:

CatholicCare OSHC Care will provide a Vacation Care style day, on Monday 12 July, please see the CatholicCare OSHC section in the newsletter for details.

You can give Becky and Matt a call on 0460 666 010 or email them at albionparkoosh@catholiccare.dow.org.au if you have any further questions.

Save the Date:  School Disco 25th June 

The Parents and Friends Association along with Year 6 students and teachers will be hosting a School Disco on Friday 25th June.

Infants Disco Years K-2 students: 5:30 pm till 6:30 pm
Primary Disco Years 3-6 students: 6:30 pm till 8:00 pm

Details regarding the cost of the Disco and procedures regarding drop off and pick up will be communicated via Compass next week.

The second hand clothes stall will be available at Friday School Assemblies every second week. Deanna Carbonara will be available in the school hall foyer to help any parents and carers who would like to purchase any second hand clothing. 

Friday 11th June at 2:20pm

Last week Charlotte competed in the Wollongong Eisteddfod where she came away with 4 x 1st places and a highly commended. On Saturday she also competed in the Dance and Dazzle Campbeltown.  She received 4 x 1st places, a 3rd and 2 x highly commended. She sang really beautifully and all her practice paid off. 

If you would like to know more about the changes and challenges children experience in the pre-teen years (ages 9-12), our School Counsellor has put together a presentation that covers the following topics:

• What are the pre-teen years
• What is happening to my child
• Changes and Challenges
• Girls
• Boys
• Gender
• Social Media and Gaming
• What does my child need from me
• Tips for parents
• When should I be concerned

The two sessions will be held in the School Hall on Monday 21st June. Please note that these are repeat sessions

Session One: 9:15am-10:15am

Session Two: 3:15pm-4:15pm

All parents and carers are welcome to join Doreen for these informative sessions.

Fresh Start Canteens have been operating the school canteen one day per week on a Thursday.  The service has been operating in conjunction with Nazareth Catholic Primary School, Shellharbour City.  The service runs out of Nazareth Catholic Primary School and lunches will be delivered to St Paul's at 10:50 am.  Please see the documents attached for the menu and details to order lunches.

If this proves successful, Fresh Start Canteens will hopefully commit to further days of operation.

Hey families, over at St Paul’s OOSH we have been very busy finishing our Vacation Car program for this coming school holidays. We will be operating the service on the Tuesday and Wednesday of both the first and second week of the school holidays as well as the pupils free day on the first week of Term 3. These are dates 29^th and 30^th of June and 6^th, 7^th and 12^th of July! Our flyers are now out and you can find them on the link below. We have a range of fun activities for the children including Kidchella where the children will have a chance to party and do a range of fun festival games, TV game show day, Olympics of obscure sports and NAIDOC day. Bookings are open now and are able to book in right up until the day (spots pending).