In Parishes throughout the Diocese of Wollongong we celebrated the 2nd Sunday of Advent. The reflection by Loyola Press explains that last Sunday's Gospel invites us to consider John the Baptist and his relationship to Jesus. John the Baptist appears in the tradition of the great prophets, preaching repentance and reform to the people of Israel. John the Baptist is presented as the figure who bridges the time before Christ and prepares the way for Christ's own ministry. 

In last Sunday's Gospel we also note Luke's attention to political and historical detail. Luke shows that salvation is for all people and situated in world events. Therefore, Luke lists the political and religious leaders at the time of John's appearance in the desert.

Salvation is understood as God's breaking into this political and social history. John's preaching of the coming of the Lord is a key theme of the Advent season. As John's message prepared the way for Jesus, we too are called to prepare ourselves for Jesus' coming.

We respond to John's message by repentance and reform of our lives. We are also called to be prophets of Christ, who announce by our lives the coming of the Lord, as John did.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was such a pleasure to return tp school and hear the excitement about the wonderful community events that occurred last week in my absence. Thank you to Sara-Jay O’Shea and Amy DeSantis for their organisation of the Parents and Friends Christmas Stall and the Pizza Day. Thank you to all the parents and carers who willingly gave up their time to help Sara-Jay and Amy with these two community events. It is events like these that the students at St Paul’s remember with such fondness.

I would like to congratulate the Year Five students who presented a Captains Speech as part of the selection process for School Captains for 2022. The speeches were testament of the many leadership qualities the Year Five students possess and apply in their daily interactions at St Paul’s. 

It is my great pleasure to announce the 2022 Student Leadership Team that will represent the student body. These students will be formally recognised in a ceremony in February 2022. At this ceremony all Year Six students will also receive a special badge to acknowledge their important role as leaders. 

I would like to congratulate the following students and wish them well in their prospective roles. 

School Captains 2022

Senior Leaders 2022

Pastoral Care Leaders 2022

ICT Leaders 2022

Hospitality Leaders 2022

Sport Leaders 2022

I would also like to acknowledge the 2021 Student Leadership Team for their outstanding contribution to St Paul’s Albion Park. Please see the video below of the 2021 School Captains Ivy Armstrong and James Allen providing advice for the 2022 School Captains Charlotte Hooper and Oliver McDonald.

I have had the pleasure to read the Semester 2 student reports. The reports are a testament of the high quality of work produced by students and the high quality of learning experiences planned and taught by teachers. The Semester 2 reports will be released to parents and carers this afternoon, which allows parents and carers time to contact teachers for a learning conversation. I would like to thank the staff at St Paul’s for their professionalism, the comments staff have diligently and professionally written highlight the depth and breadth of their knowledge about  students and their learning attainment and growth, student attitude to learning and their well being and behaviour strategies.  I would like to congratulate the students of St Paul’s on their hard work and their pleasing results.

This year we have achieved a great deal and there is much to celebrate. The recent results from the Annual School Survey which parents and carers, students and staff completed is indicative that our community values and acknowledges the many strengths of the school.

Student Satisfaction

96% of students agreed that they are proud of the school, 96% of students agreed that the school helps them in their understanding of the Catholic faith, 97% of students agreed that their teacher encourages them to learn to the best of their ability, 99% of students agreed that they understand their rights and responsibilities at school, 92% of students agreed that they felt safe at school, 93% of students agreed that there are people at school they could approach for help if they had a problem, 95% of students agreed that there are sporting and other activities in which they can become involved.

Staff Satisfaction

95% of staff agreed that the school helps students to develop a knowledge and understanding about Catholic tradition,  99% of staff agreed that the school helps students understand their rights and responsibilities, 99% of staff agreed that students are challenged to maximise their learning outcomes, 99% of staff agreed that the school strives to meet the individual learning needs of students, 100% of staff agreed that the school provides appropriate information to parents and carers about students’ academic, well being and behaviour needs, 100% of staff agreed that the school provides a safe and supportive environment.

Parent Satisfaction

97% of parents and carers agreed that the school helps their child to develop knowledge and understanding about Catholic tradition. 91% of parents and carers agreed that their child is challenged to maximise his/her learning outcomes. 91% of parents and carers agreed that the school strives to meet their child’s individual learning needs. 89% of parents and carers agreed that the school provides appropriate information about their child’s academic, well being and behaviour needs, 94% of parents and carers agreed that the school provides a safe and supportive environment and 95% of parents and carers agreed that the school develops partnerships with parents and carers.

As we make preparations to begin a new school year we do this with the knowledge that we will be farwelling some of the existing staff members of our community.

I wish to acknowledge the work of Mrs Amy Relf who has been a staff member at St Paul's for the past 6 years. Amy's passion for Creative Arts and her involvement in many aspects of the school community is testament of her commitment to her profession. Amy will continue teaching in the Diocese of Wollongong in a casual capacity and on behalf of the community I wish her the very best. 

I would like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Janet McDonald Cook who has been a staff member of St Paul’s. Janet has made many wonderful contributions to the community in her role as classroom teacher. Janet will continue teaching in the Diocese of Wollongong in a casual capacity. On behalf of the community I wish Janet the very best.

I would like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Nicola Turner who has been a staff member at St Paul’s. Nicola has made many wonderful contributions to the community in her role as SSO and classroom teacher. On behalf of the community I wish Nicola the very best.

I would like to acknowledge the work of Mr Cain Holgate who has been a staff member at St Paul's. Cain has been an integral part of the Year 6 teaching team and Physical Education Teacher. Cain will be travelling in 2022 and then will continue teaching in the Diocese of Wollongong in a casual capacity. On behalf of the community I wish Cain the very best.

I wish to acknowledge that Miss Shari Allison who has been an SSO at St Paul's will be pursuing her marketing career in 2022. On behalf of the community I wish Shari the very best.

I wish to acknowledge the work of Mrs Robyn Warton who has been a staff member at St Paul’s for nineteen years. Robyn’s passion for the school library will certainly be missed. Robyn will be retiring to enjoy time with her family and on behalf of the community I wish her the very best.

To each of these valued staff we say ‘thank you’ for the contributions they have made to making a difference to the lives of our students. We wish each of them abundant blessings as they all begin their new adventures in 2022.

On behalf of the staff and students at St Paul’s I would like to acknowledge and thank the parent community who has worked with us and supported us throughout the year especially during remote learning. I would like to also acknowledge and thank the Parents and Friends Committee for their support throughout the year. St Paul’s is very fortunate to have a culture of collaboration with parents and carers and we will continue this collaboration in 2022. 

As I reflect on the year I am very proud of the staff and students who have worked tirelessly throughout the year especially considering the challenges that a pandemic has placed on schools and the continuity of learning. What I have learnt this year is that our St Paul’s Community can adapt and cope with constant change and what I have witnessed this year is that the St Paul’s Community is a spirit-filled community that care and support each other especially in times of need. What a wonderful community we have at St Paul’s Catholic Parish Primary School. 

On Monday 13th December I will have the pleasure of joining our Year Six students and their parents and carers and the St Paul’s staff to celebrate the Year Six Graduation. This will be a wonderful occasion to recognise the many achievements of these students. Next Wednesday 15th December our Year Six Students will complete a milestone in their lives, the completion of their Primary Education. For the majority of these students St Paul’s has been the only school they have ever known. As these students leave us to begin the next phase of their journey, I thank them for sharing their special gifts with all of us. Year Six please be assured that each of you takes with you our love and prayers and you leave with us the memory of the special, unique person that each of you are.

On behalf of the staff and students I wish our Year Six students the very best as they transition to secondary schooling and know that they will cherish the time they spent as part of the St Paul’s school community.

For a number of our families their association with the St Paul’s Community will be coming to an end. I take this opportunity to thank these families for living out their commitment to the school and for contributing to the building of this wonderful community in a multitude of ways. We farewell the following families at the end of 2021. 

Please note that this is not our last school newsletter for Term 4. Next Wednesday there will be an additional school newsletter and Christmas wishes from all grades.

Please look out for the 2021 St Paul's Virtual Christmas Story and Award Ceremony which will be released to Parents and Carers on Friday evening. 

Yours in Faith and Learning,

Michelle Rodwell

Principal

Acknowledgement to Country

St Paul's Albion Park acknowledges and pays respect to the Dharawal people past and present, the traditional custodians of the land on which our school is built.

This year due to Level 3 COVID restrictions in place for all schools, the following arrangements have been made for the 2021 Christmas Story and Awards at St Paul’s.

Date: 10 December, 2021

Time: 6:30 pm

Format: YouTube Premiere. A link will be provided on Compass closer to the date. You can watch the premiere at 6:30pm or choose to view it across the weekend. 

To ensure the safety and privacy of our students the link will only be made available to parents/carers via Compass.

The presentation will include:

• Pre-recorded video of some students acting the Christmas Story
• Photographs of class groups
• A single photograph of the award recipients will be displayed with their first name
• A staff member will say the award recipients first name as their photo is displayed

The school is relying on the signing of the annual image consent form as evidence of your consent for this event. If you do not wish your child to participate please email info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au by close of business today.

Any parent whose child does not have image permission may also opt to have their child included by emailing info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au by close of business today.

Copyright of the premiere and recording lies with the school and no duplication or onward transmission of the broadcast is authorised. The school will retain the video/audio content in a secured manner and will not be further disclosing the content to any third party.

Due to the disruption caused by COVID-19, adjustments to curriculum have been made throughout Terms 3 and 4. Focus for Semester Two is on student wellbeing and learning, and priority has been given to Religious Education, English and Mathematics. As a result of this extended period of Remote Learning and the limited opportunity for teachers to provide quality assessment tasks during the Remote Learning period to determine student learning attainment and growth, student reporting in Semester Two will look different to the Semester One Report you received earlier this year.

The Semester Two Report will provide you with information about your child’s participation in learning during this time of extended Remote Learning. The Semester Two Reports are available to parents and carers on Compass today, Wednesday 8 December 2021. This will allow you time to meet with your child’s teacher for a learning conversation before 15 December if you need to.

Recently the school requested information about the current homework practices in order to update the homework procedures at St Paul's. Thank you to those that took the time to complete the survey.

The following results were received:

A huge thank you to all families who contributed to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. A truck arrived on Friday to take our contributions to be sorted and distributed to those less fortunate than ourselves before Christmas.

The Season of Advent

We continue the Season of Advent in the Church calendar.  

Advent is a time of waiting, but it is not an uneventful time. 'Prepare the way of the Lord' says John the Baptist: the hills will be levelled, the valleys filled in and the roads straightened and smoothed. John speaks as if this smoothing process could happen in an instant; but time is relative when we are talking about the actions of the creator God. While the world has been waiting for its fulfilment in the end times, the processes of smoothing have been happening for millennia in places like the Australian desert. The landscape pictured here – near Coober Pedy – is worn down by millennia of weathering. It is difficult for humans to imagine the vast time spans that God uses to shape this environment, but the season of Advent acknowledges all time – past present and future – as the time of Redemption.

In last week's gospel about John the Baptist we are reminded that Advent is a season of preparation. In this case, the preparation is all about making way for the love of God in our lives. The love of God surrounds us all the time. It’s like a rapidly flowing stream and sometimes we have placed boulders in the stream that send the water flowing around us. The call to make a way for the Lord is a call to clear the rocks out of the stream; to remove the obstacles that are directing the love of God around us and allow it instead to flow directly through us.

First Holy Communion Masses were celebrated in the Parish on the last weekend of November. Congratulations to the children who received the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.

St Joseph is described in Matthew’s Gospel as “a just man” (Matthew 1:9). We learn about a man’s attitude to law both from what he says in certain circumstances, from how he interprets the law and from his actions in applying law. St Joseph has no word of his recorded in the Gospels. Therefore, we learn about his being a Man of Law from how he interpreted the law and how he applied it when it was necessary — both the civil law and his inherited Abrahamic and Davidic law. Joseph listened faithfully to the whisperings of God in his heart. He lived the words of Jeremiah, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). As a just man he knew and understood the law and was guided by it as is evidenced in his life.

Law is necessary in any society for the wellbeing of the society and its individuals. It enshrines the purposes of the society and the structures needed to attain those purposes. It establishes the rights of the members and their corresponding obligations. We learn that law needs to be interpreted according to the understanding of its time and then applied to the situation that arises. The longstanding rule of law allows for a strict application or a more lenient application when circumstances demand. Law needs to be applied with compassion according to the seriousness of actions in order to avoid marginalisation of persons, but it needs to be strictly applied when there is serious damage to others or society.

Joseph frequently exemplifies obeying civil law as well as divine law. St Luke tells us that Caesar Augustus, a Roman despot, “issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken… Everyone went to his own town to be registered”. Joseph set out with Mary to go to Bethlehem since that was the town of his lineage, “David’s House and line” – the line from which the Messiah was to come. As we well know, Mary gave birth to her son in Bethlehem, “her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn” (Luke 2:7-8).

Joseph has definitively proved that he is truly a Man of Law. He not only wisely interpreted law, but applied it with care. He related to his God with a constantly listening ear.

The students of St Paul's have been waiting so patiently for Book Week to arrive and it was an excellent day despite the dreary weather. Each class shared story time with one of the shortlisted books and made some excellent artworks and written responses to these books. Our visiting author, Sue Whiting dazzled us with her imaginative stories and shared a lot of secrets and tips on how to make a story great. We even got to listen to a snippet of one of her unpublished books! We finished the day with in-class grade parades. Thank you to all of the helpers at school and at home who helped to get the activities and the students prepared for the day. We're looking forward to next year already, the theme is Dreaming with eyes open.

Wednesday 8 December: Semester Two Reports distributed to Parents and Carers

Thursday 9 December: Students meet their new teacher for 2022 during the Meet the Teacher Transition morning- 9am till 11am

Friday 10 December: Christmas Celebration and Awards for Students 

Monday 13 December: Year 6 Graduation

Wednesday 15 December: Last Day of the school year for Students

Thursday 16 December: Last Day of the school year for Staff

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

The staff PB4L team along with all staff of St Paul’s would like to sincerely thank the student PB4L team for their amazing dedication, hard work and initiative in fulfilling their roles this year. Sienna, Mackenzie, Alani, Mackenzie, Mason, Addison, Roman and Abigael gave up many of their lunch breaks to support the teachers in delivering positive messages and initiatives to students. Some of our wonderful successes we celebrate are;

• Kindness project- Covid put a little stopper on this one...stay tuned for more in 2022
• Collecting raffle tickets and giving out rewards for positive playground choices
• Making digital presentations to share information with classes in a covid safe way
• Hosting class meetings and listening to student voices
• Sharing student voices with staff in order to cater for students wants and needs
• Updating playground play equipment according to student requests

Our PB4L Draw Winners for Week 9 & 10 are:

Angelo Philip - 3 Red

Faith Winslow - K Blue

Lara Williamson - 1 Blue

Zara McCloy - 3 Red

Chloe Fletcher - 3 Red

Ava Van Akker - 2 Blue

Reuben Jomon - 1 Blue

Lilly Hingston - 3 Blue

Flynn Glover - 2 Blue

Savannah Harrison - 3 Blue

The PB4L Team

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’.

During Term 3 and 4, we will be sharing some specific strategies for helping develop resilience at home using each of the BOUNCE BACK key strategies.  

The final letter of the BOUNCE BACK acronym represents the strategy Keep things in perspective.  Don’t let it spoil everything.  

The key messages are:

• If you don’t keep things in perspective, you get upset over very little things and make mountains out of molehills.  You forget about the good bits and see only the bad bits.
• When something happens, some ways to help keep things in perspective are to ask yourself: 
• 'Does this really matter? Am I getting upset over very little?’
• 'On a scale from 1 to 10, how important is this to me really?’
• 'How much of my life has this really affected?’
• 'How many parts of my life are still exactly the same and still as good as they were?’
• 'Is it really the end of the world?’

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

• Create a playlist -   Work as a family to search for songs where the lyrics mention looking for the good and keeping things in perspective.  Add them to a playlist. 
• Media search -  look at current news stories in the media.  Rank them from 1 - not so bad to 10 - the most terrible thing ever. Discuss the aspects of each situation which make the article ‘not so bad’. 

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 Keep things in perspective.  Don’t let it spoil everything.  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

We are excited to welcome the new Kindergarten students and their families to our school community. Over the past few weeks, the Kindergarten students of 2022 have been participating in playgroup sessions in the hall. It has been wonderful to meet so many new students and families. The students have enjoyed playing with the toys and meeting some new friends, listening to stories and meeting the teachers. 

The students each received a Welcome to St Paul’s T-Shirt. Many of the students wore them proudly throughout the session. 

Our teachers are greatly looking forward to meeting our new students and welcoming them into our school community.

Belinda Evans

Acting Middle Leader

On Friday 3 December the St Paul's Parents and Friends Association held a Pizza Day and Christmas Stall.  Students enjoyed their pizzas so much - one student told us his pizza tasted like heaven!  Students were also given the opportunity to purchase items from the Chistmas Stall in their grade as per Level 3 Restrictions, where they were able to buy special gifts for their families.  A great day was had by all!

Kristie Bicknell & Vennessa McGeehan

School Office

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.

On Tuesday 7 December Year Six visited Albion Park Pool for a Fun Day. The scheduled outing to Jamberoo could not go ahead so we made alternate arrangements to go to Albion Park Pool. The students had a fantastic time together swimming, getting across the inflatable, playing games on the grass, and having pizza for lunch. We were lucky to have some nice weather most of the time. A storm came over as we were headed back to school. Year Six got a bit wet on the walk back but it could not stop their smiles. 

Year Six would like to thank the staff of Albion Park Pool for their care and supervision. They would especially like to thank Mrs Rodwell and the Year Six teachers for allowing them to go. A very special thank you to Mrs Calleja who came along to help us. 

Thank you to all those who have entered the St Paul's virtual talent quest to celebrate the end of the school year. The teachers have enjoyed watching the entries and cannot wait to share these with the rest of the school! All students K-6 will watch the entries next week during Week 11 at a time that suits their class.

Olivia Djodan

Acting Middle Leader

Great News! St Paul's school canteen will be opening on a Monday and Tuesday from Week 3 in Term 1, 2022. 

Please see attached a canteen introduction letter from Kat Monk.

Please also see below a link to a google form. The School Canteen needs volunteers to help Kat, I will putting together a roster for Term 1 in 2022. To assist in the canteen, you will need a Working With Children Check Number you will also need to be able to show proof of your double vaccination status. If you can assist please put down your availability on the attached form. If you have any enquires please email Kristie at info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au or phone 42562772.

Kristie Bicknell

Senior School Support Officer

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

Students who need a School Opal Card or Travel Pass for 2022 can apply now. Parents/students will need to submit a new application if they are applying for a school travel pass for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation.

Students who change address, school, campus location, or who have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of Term 4. This will ensure that schools can endorse applications and current entitlements are updated and remain valid. School Opal Cardholders will have the changes applied to their existing card.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will also receive a notification to re-apply.

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their Student Opal card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2022.

Students living in rural and regional areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator.

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Website

We're excited to share with you our new and improved website. Please take the time to look through and familiarise yourself with the way our website looks and operates now. 

Head online to www.spapdow.catholic.edu.au to check it out. 

The P&F Christmas stall and pizza lunch was a great success on Friday of week 9. There were many happy faces amongst the students when participating in these events.

On behalf of the P&F team, I would like to express my deepest thanks to the following parents for their gift of time on the day;
Karin Kolodzey, Chen Oryungorn, Cristine Richardson, Karen Niven, Amy and Rob De Santis, Tanika Apps, Leonie Jordan, Melanie Jennison, Leonie Jordan, Olivia Abnett, Katie Zanin, Sonia Shaw, Karene Harrison, Nicole Zonneveld, Renee Randall and Jess Clifton. We appreciate your help in both the Christmas stall, and the organisation of pizzas in baskets.

Thank you to Julie and James Ramsay for making two trips to pick up the pizzas from Dominoes and deliver them to the school. Thank you also to Louise Frendo, Rebecca Nunes, Vennessa McGeehan and Kristie Bicknell for their assistance also.

We would like to wish all of the families of St Paul’s a safe and happy Christmas break.

Sara-Jay O’Shea
P&F President

CatholicCare provide information sessions for parents and carers on a range of parenting strategies. Please see the attached document for an overview of the Term 1 Parent and Carer Parenting Sessions offered by Catholic Care.

Part time employment opportunity – Parish Secretary – Shellharbour parish

Shellharbour parish is seeking the services of a part time secretary for 3.5 days – 19.5 hours per week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The position requires skills in administration, bookkeeping and maintaining a database.  

The parish secretary needs to be a committed and practising Catholic, embracing the teachings and ethos of the Catholic Church in their daily life.

If interested, please make contact via email to request an application pack for this position frances.vanleerdam@dow.org.au 

Applications close 5pm Tuesday 14 December 2021.