In Parishes throughout the Diocese of Wollongong, last Sunday we celebrated the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. The reflection by Loyola Press explains that in last Sunday’s Gospel, an unnamed man approached Jesus and inquired about what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that one must follow the commandments of the Law of Moses. The man acknowledged that he had observed all of these since his childhood. Jesus then said that only one thing is lacking: he must give his possessions to the poor and follow Jesus.  

Jesus made two requirements of the wealthy man who approached him. First, he must give up his possessions.  The second requirement Jesus made of this man was the invitation that Jesus extends to all would-be disciples: “follow me.” Jesus very much wanted this man to be his disciple. We believe that the Christian faith is one in which each believer is in a personal relationship with Jesus. Just as Sunday’s Gospel tells us that Jesus loved the man and was sad when he departed, so too, Jesus loves us and is saddened when we are unable to follow him.

Jesus acknowledges that those who have given up everything for the sake of the Gospel will be rewarded. This reward begins now, in the new community that one will gain in this life, and will continue in the eternal age to come. Our personal relationship with Jesus is also an invitation to the community of faith, the Church.

Term Four commences all students wearing full summer uniforms. When students return after restrictions have eased they will be required to wear summer uniforms. Onsite students will be required to wear summer uniforms.

The St Paul’s school uniform is available for purchase at Hazeltons on Tongarra Road, Albion Park. The school and sport uniform should be worn in full by all students. However, we believe that no student should be disadvantaged because of financial difficulties – so parents are asked to see the principal if they are unable to purchase new uniforms. We have a second-hand clothing pool from which parents can select used uniform items left in good-condition.

Please ensure all return to school haircuts meet the following expectations:

HAIR CUTS

• The emphasis is on 'neat and tidy'
• Girls' long hair or hair below the shoulders is to be tied back
• Boys' hair should be no longer than collar length
• Extreme hair cuts and coloured hair are not permitted
• The emphasis is on evenly cut hair
• Extreme use of gel or products of that nature are not permitted

Headspace is conducting Parent and Carer Mental Health Education sessions for Term 4. Please see the flyer attached for the Illawarra/Shoalhaven sessions that include the session dates and hyperlinks to the registration pages.

A full list of session dates for Term 4 can be found here: headspace NSW Parent and Carer Sessions Events | Eventbrite

For the most up to date information about Remote Learning please visit St Paul's Remote Learning site

SOCKTOBER FOR MISSION MONTH 2021

Catholic Mission invites us this year to go on a journey of transformation of our minds, hearts and hands.

The journey will entail 3 elements:

• Listen - to the 'note of greatest need' in our neighbouring community of Thailand;
• Pray - for God to give our neighbours strength to prevail and ourselves the strength to respond
• Act- on the lack of resources in this community to enable them to continue to live with the dignity they deserve.

Each Friday students will engage in an activity to learn more about Catholic Mission. This Friday students will be making a ‘sockball’. Students will require plastic bags, old socks and t-shirts and string to create a family ‘sockball’.

This year St Paul’s will be accepting donations online through the Socktober website. Please follow the link and contribute what you can as a family. https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/stpaulscatholicprimaryschoolalbionpark

MONTH OF THE ROSARY

The month of October is dedicated to the holy Rosary, one of the best known of all Catholic devotions.

“The traditional image of Our Lady of the Rosary portrays Mary who with one arm supports the Child Jesus and with the other is offering the rosary beads to St Dominic. This important iconography shows that the Rosary is a means given by the Virgin to contemplate Jesus and, in meditating on his life, to love him and follow him ever more faithfully. It is this message that Our Lady has also bequeathed to us in her various apparitions.” (Benedict XVI, Angelus, October 7, 2009)

The Rosary allows us to meditate on the Mysteries of God’s love.

St Teresa of Avila dedicated 10 of the 15 monasteries which she founded to the care of St Joseph. Her devotion to him helped establish the place which the Church accords him today. In spite of the honour given him, very little is known about this man. 

Like Prince Philip, the late husband of Queen Elizabeth, St Joseph took a lesser role compared to Jesus and Mary. He stood behind them, giving his support and love. 

Even though he was not Jesus’ father, Joseph does give Jesus a name and ancestry. Jesus, the carpenter’s son, thought to be the son of Joseph, is of the house of Joseph and through this a descendant of David. While we may conjecture the role that Joseph played in the Holy Family, we cannot build an historical picture of the man. However, we may surmise the inner man by asking appropriate questions.

When we meet Joseph in Matthew’s Gospel, he is about to informally divorce Mary because she is with child. He has a dream and as a consequence his life changes. Why did he believe the dream? Few of us believe our dreams. Psychologists tell us that dreams are about the one who dreams, not the people who populate the dream. What does Joseph’s dream and his response tell us about the saint? 

“Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Joseph could not have understood this. There are no other instances of women conceiving of the Holy Spirit, and it is doubtful that he would have known who or what the Holy Spirit was. Why did he follow the dream? 

As is often the case, a dream taps into the depths of the inner person. In Joseph’s case, I think that he believed the dream because he wanted to. He loved Mary and did not want to divorce her. He believed because he loved. Here love and faith work together. 

The darkest moment of Joseph’s life is the instant that he realises that Mary is pregnant and he is not the father. The dream speaks into this darkness and uncovers the depth of his love for Mary. Perhaps he didn’t know how much he loved her; nevertheless, the life which he will now live is proof of that love. 

The dream, faith and love do not guarantee freedom from doubt. St Augustine tells us that to doubt is human. I wonder what Joseph expected. Perhaps he thought the child would be miraculous, a leader. 

Tradition tells us that Joseph died before Jesus began his ministry and therefore Joseph was not privy to the miraculous signs worked by Jesus. For almost 30 years Joseph lived with and cared for a regular person. I’m not sure that Joseph ever saw anything spectacular. Did he ever doubt his dream? Did he ever wonder whether Jesus really was conceived miraculously? 

This would have happened in the secrecy of Joseph’s heart. Since we all have questions and moments of doubt and uncertainty, we have access to the hidden recesses of St Joseph. We have wondered whether we are loved, we have laboured under uncertainty and we have made mistakes because of our doubt. How did Joseph cope and go on to live an integrated holy life? 

He was a man of dreams. In the Carmelite tradition, this means St Joseph is a man with a profound interior life; he is a man of prayer. In the spiritual life, doubt, uncertainty and darkness furnish the inner sanctum of the soul. We search for God in this context.

Joseph is a master of this. In his struggles, he cries out “where are you hidden?” He does not wallow in his difficulties. He looks for God; this is a fruit of profound inner love. We all understand this because in similar circumstances, even though it does not feel like love, we find an inner strength which enables us to go on living and loving. We discover a love deep within ourselves which impels us; we share this with St Joseph. 

Prayer is friendship with God. St Teresa of Avila took Jesus as her closest friend. As she grew in relationship with him, she grew in self-knowledge, and through self-knowledge she grew in knowledge of Jesus. 

Part of St Joseph’s prayer was his relationship with Jesus and Mary. His love for them supported him in his trials. He experienced their love and he loved them. It was an intimate and real love. We can say that he was a master of prayer. 

We might not have the biography of St Joseph, yet as we ponder him, we see that he had a profound hidden inner life which is relevant to us because we experience similar difficulties. His hidden life is also my life. He shows me how to navigate the ups and downs of life in such a way that I might draw closer to Jesus. In darkness we may find light, and in faith learn to love.

The Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L) framework is implemented at St Paul's to help create vibrant and positive learning environments in which all students are supported to reach their full potential.

PB4L is an evidenced-based, organisational framework for behaviour support to enhance respectful relationships and engagement of students in their learning. It encompasses a broad range of systemic and individualised strategies and agreed practices for achieving important social and academic outcomes for all students.

This week, all teaching staff will meet to discuss our PB4L Procedures as we return to school and teachers will plan for how these processes will look in each individual classroom.  Over the coming weeks, as children return to school, Classroom Teachers will support students to relearn the rules and expectations for classroom and playground activities.  Classroom Teachers will reinforce these procedures through each individual class’s rewards system, our playground raffle ticket rewards system and our whole school merit award system.

During Week 3 and 4, as students return to school, our whole-school PB4L Focus will be arrival and dismissal procedures, responding to bells on the playground and responsible behaviour in the classroom. Classroom teachers will continue to remind students of the expectations of play on each individual playground prior to each break time.  

Throughout the Term, teachers have planned for the reteaching of explicit social skills which children were not able to practice during remote learning, such as cooperation, active listening and respectful interactions. Teachers will implement various activities during learning time which allow for children to re-form and build on their peer relationships while continuing to engage in learning experiences.  

Below are some helpful hints for preparing children for their return to school developed by the Department of Education.  

Helpful tips  for  students going back to school

Get ready

• Try on your school uniform and school shoes. You may have had a growth spurt and it may not fit!
• Get organised and pack your bag the day before school starts. Pack your own hand sanitiser and a mask. If you don’t have hand sanitiser or a mask don’t worry, your school can give

Be safe

• It’s a good idea to wear a mask while on the bus and at school. Wash your hands or use hand sanitiser during the day and before you eat.
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow. If you need to blow your nose, use a tissue and put it in the bin. Make sure you wash your hands or use hand sanitiser afterwards.

Feelings

• Just so you know, it’s ok to have different feelings when coming back to school. You may feel worried, nervous, angry or happy, or any feeling in between.
• Talking to friends and family can be helpful. You can even talk to your teacher or school counsellor /school psychologist if you’d like to. Your school can help you get in contact with someone to talk to, just let your teacher, parent or carer know. 
• Watch out for your friends too! Ask them “Are you OK?”. It’s OK to tell someone if you are worried about your friend. There are more ideas on looking after yourself .………….

School work

• Try your best. Let your teacher, parent or carer know what you found easy or hard when working from home. They are there to help you.

Be kind

• Be kind to your classmates. Invite them to play a game with you. Be patient. It’s been a while since we have all been together. If you feel a bit annoyed or angry while playing or learning, try taking some deep breaths, walk away to another area or talk about it with your teacher.

Have some fun

• Have fun with your class and teacher. Use your break times to spend some time outside playing with your friends.

Eat

• Don’t forget to eat breakfast! Pack a healthy lunchbox and drink bottle for school. This will help you feel energised during the day.

Sleep

• Make sure you go to bed on time! Sleep helps us concentrate, learn and enjoy the day at school. Put your devices in another room, so your sleep is not disturbed.
• You might notice you are more tired than usual. That’s ok, after a while you will get back into your normal school routine

Bree-Anna Fogliada

Diverse Learning Support Teacher

Staff Professional Learning Term 4

On Tuesday 5th October our staff participated in Professional Learning aligned to our School Review and Improvement Goals of  improving student outcomes in Literacy. Our Primary staff are learning to use the seven Comprehension Strategies to explicitly teach comprehension skills for students so they can critically unpack language features in texts by linking prior knowledge to review the author’s purpose and to justify points of view.   

The teachers in K- 2 have been busy working on Effective Teaching Strategies in Literacy and reviewing and providing feedback to colleagues in order to improve teaching and learning outcomes. At St Paul’s we are dedicated to improving students learning outcomes and are looking forward to working with the students throughout term 4. 

Mrs Belinda Evans

Resilience refers to the capacity of an individual to overcome odds and demonstrate personal strengths needed to cope with hardship.  At St Paul’s we teach our students strategies for building resilience using the BOUNCE BACK Acronym. The Bounce Back Program teaches students how to ‘bounce back’ after encountering negative events, challenges, difficult situations or adversity and return to a sound level of emotional wellbeing.

While the social and emotional skills for developing resilience start with the explicit teaching of these skills, it is through the continual practice of these skills that children build their resilience and capacity to ‘bounce back’

The next letter of the BOUNCE BACK acronym represents the strategy Everybody feels sad and worried sometimes.  Not just you.

The key messages are:

• Bad things happen to everyone, even though you may think they happen only to you.
• Courage is needed when you feel sad or disappointed or when you fail at something.
• ‘Personalising’ is thinking that when something bad happens it only happens to you.  People who say ‘I’m a jinx’ or ‘Bad things always happen to me’ are personalising
• Normalising is more helpful and realistic.  This means accepting that bad things, such as rejection or failure, or frustrations, happen to everyone now and again, not just you.  Sometimes they seem to happen all at once!  It’s normal!

Some strategies for supporting your children to learn and practice this strategy at home include:

• Research the paralympics- Focus on the resilience of the athletes and their capacity to persevere and not give up despite great setbacks.

• Revisit coping strategies - yes, bad things will happen to everyone.  It is how we react to setbacks that develop resilience in children.  List and practice coping strategies for when bad things do happen, supporting children to return to more positive feelings- your children may refer to this as the Green Zone.  Strategies could include going for a walk, reading a story, playing with a pet or talking to a trusted adult. 

The most powerful way to build resilience in children is to remind them of the strategies they have been practicing in real-life contexts.  Reminding children that Everybody feels sad and worried sometimes.  Not just you and that they have the ability to BOUNCE BACK when they are faced with hardship is integral to developing children’s resilience to a level of independence.  

Bree-Anna Fogliada

Diverse Learning Support Teacher

In response to the continued arrangements of remote learning the ICAS testing window has been extended. Students enrolled in the writing ICAS exam took part in this yesterday. I would like to thank the parents of the students involved for their assistance in doing this test from home. The remainder of the ICAS assessments will take place in WEEK 6, from the 8th-12th November. If you have registered your child in ICAS and know they will not be at school during this time please contact the office ASAP.

Miss Olivia Djodan

As part of the initiatives in Stage Three to develop the Leadership Qualities of our Year Five and Six students, students in Year 5 will soon begin the process of nominating and applying for leadership roles for 2022. They will be engaged in remote learning experiences around knowing and understanding leadership qualities, along with exploring the language features in a speech. The leadership roles are as follows:

School Captains 

Senior Leadership Team

St Paul’s also offers an opportunity to be in a Leadership team. This allows for a more distributive model of leadership where more students are able to further develop their own leadership skills. Nominations should be based on the student's strengths and interests.

Sports 

ICT (Information, Communication and Technology)

Pastoral Care

Hospitality

Nomination

Over the course of the next few weeks, a nomination form will be distributed to students to fill out and nominate their chosen leadership role. In order to become School Captain or a member of the Senior Leadership Team, students must nominate their interest first. Each of these students will then complete a School Captain Application Form, and  prepare a 2 minute speech on why they would be the best choice for school captain. Students will be given time in class to complete this when we return to face-to-face learning. 

Parent letters and nomination forms will be distributed by the end of the first week of return, Thursday 28th October (Week 4).

Voting

All staff, as well as students in the upcoming Year Four, Five and Six cohorts will then vote preferentially for two school captains. The children will be taught how preferential voting works, and how to organise their vote to represent their wishes. The Parish Priest will be consulted and his recommendations taken on board. The results of this process will determine who is installed as the 2021 School Captains.

At St Paul’s we believe that our students truly value the opportunity to make decisions, take on responsibility and have an input into the direction of the school. Our teachers value the opinions of the many young and creative minds they are guiding and are constantly amazed by the inspiring ideas and capable organisation of the girls and boys in Stage Three. 

Miss Katie DeSousa

Unfortunately, many of the excursions that were planned for this year have had to be cancelled along with Year 6 camp. Many teachers had been looking to reschedule into Term 4, however even when we return, Level 3 restrictions will still impact on what we can do. For most families, this will appear as a fee credit on your school fees statement. Kristie Bicknell will be in contact with families leaving from Year 6 who have already paid their fees in full to organise a refund into their bank account.

We are expecting to get word shortly on the scheduling of some of our Diocesan Sport trials to be held this term. These trials are only for students in grade 4 and 5. A note detailing the available trials, criteria for participating as well as the dates and venues will be sent out to all students in grades 4 and 5 as soon as it becomes available. For any clarification around these trials please email Mr McCann.

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.

We are currently in negotiations with Fresh Start Canteens to open up our Canteen on site this term, two days a week. More details coming soon......

This term the P&F will be holding a fundraiser for Christmas Gingerbread kits. There will be more information to come shortly on flavours, what is included and the cost.

The next Parents and Friends meeting will be held Monday 25th October at 6:30pm via Zoom. A link to the Zoom meeting wil be sent prior to the date. All welcome to attend and if you have any items please email the school office info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au.

Pease join us on Friday, 12 November 2021 for the 24th Annual CDF Sports Awards to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of our student athletes. This will be an engaging presentation with action videos and also feature guest appearances from past students who were in action at the Tokyo Olympics. Over 150 students and 9 school teams will receive awards and showcase the incredible talent we have in our Wollongong Diocesan schools.

The following dates have been planned as Staff Professional Development Days for St Paul’s for the 2022 school year.

The Catholic Education Office has released information on changes to when staff development days are held. This will now be the case from 2022 onwards, this change is in line with the direction that the NSW Department of Education has also taken. Please see below a summary of the dates for 2022. (Term 2 and Term 3 2022, Staff Development Days are yet to be determined)

Specifically for 2022 the CEDoW gazetted dates are as follows: 

• 26 January - Australia Day holiday (Wednesday) 
• 27 January - Student vacation (Thursday) 
• 28 January - Staff Return Pupil Free Day (Friday) 
• 31 January - Staff at School Pupil Free Day (Monday) 
• 1 February - Students in Years 1 to 6 return (Tuesday) 

For Primary schools - Best Start Kindergarten Assessment will be conducted 1 February to 7 February and the first official day of the school year for the 2022 Kinder cohort is 8 February (Tuesday). 

• 8 April - Last day of Term 1 (Friday) - 11 weeks (10 plus 1 day) 
• 25 April - First day of Term 2 (Monday) 
• 1 July - Last day of Term 2 (Friday) - 10 weeks 
• 18 July - First day of Term 3 (Monday) 
• 23 September - Last day of Term 3 (Friday) - 10 weeks 
• 10 October - First day of Term 4 (Monday) 
• 19 December - Last day of Term 4 (Monday) - 11 weeks (10 plus 1 day)
• 20 December - Pupil Free Day