In Parishes throughout the Diocese of Wollongong we celebrated the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C. The reflection by Loyola Press explains that last Sunday’s Gospel reading Jesus is speaking to people gathered at the table about the difficulties of following him. This group of people is suspicious about Jesus, looking to catch him doing something wrong. Jesus speaks to them in parables, emphasising that although there is a right way to be a disciple and enter into the kingdom of his Father, it is a difficult path to follow. Many, even some of the guests at the table, reject the invitation. So Jesus turns to the crowds and speaks to them of discipleship. 

Jesus explains that, when it comes to making a choice for the Kingdom of God, nothing can get in the way. Jesus emphasises very strongly that choosing to be a disciple means that everything else—family, money, your own life—must come second. Jesus makes it very clear that being a disciple is not easy. It means to bear one's own cross. These difficult sayings of Jesus are followed by two brief parables, a person constructing a tower and a king marching into battle that make an obvious point—don't start what you cannot finish.

Discipleship is difficult and is something we can commit to only if we are prepared to put the Kingdom of God before everything else.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It was wonderful to spend time with the fathers, grandfathers and special father figures last Friday 2 September for our St Paul’s Father’s Day celebrations. The morning was full of much fun and excitement and was an opportunity to recognise the many gifts that our fathers and grandfathers contribute to our whole school community. Thank you to those fathers and grandfathers who were able to join us and to the wonderful students and staff who participated in the celebrations with such enthusiasm and excitement. Our students have told me the highlight of the morning was the games on our play spaces!! 

Tomorrow we celebrate RUOK day which is our national day of action when we remind Australians that every day is the day to ask, ‘are you OK?’ and start a meaningful conversation whenever they spot the signs that someone they care about might be struggling. St Paul’s will be recognising RUOK Day by engaging in planned learning experiences focused on well-being and gratitude. This is an opportunity for our community to show our support and care for each other and to check in with each other.  

Next Thursday 15 September I have the privilege to spend the afternoon celebrating with those students who have received a Principal and Mary MacKillop Award in 2021. Due to COVID restrictions in place in 2021 I was unable to hold an afternoon tea at the end of the school year to celebrate the great achievements of many of our students. I am looking forward to recognising and celebrating with our award recipients from 2021 with a wonderful afternoon tea.

On the 18 September a number of our Year 3 students will be receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist with the St Paul’s Parish.  Year 3 students have been participating in sacramental classes with the support of the St Paul’s Parish to prepare our students to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist. I would like to thank Fr. Leo and the St Paul’s Parish Sacramental Team, Mrs Jodi Marsh, Miss Julianne and Miss Samantha Ryan for preparing our students. I wish our Year 3 students and their families all the very best as we come together as a school and parish community to celebrate. 

On Friday we farewell Mr James Bryce as acting Assistant Principal whilst Mrs Rebecca Nunes has taken long service leave over the past 5 weeks. Mr Bryce has commented to me on many occasions over the past 5 weeks how supportive, caring and collaborative the St Paul’s school community is of each other and the strength of the school and parent and carer relationship. I would like to thank Mr Bryce for sharing his wisdom, care and support over the past 5 weeks. I will be taking long service leave in Week 10 of Term 3 and Week 1 of Term 4 and will be away from Friday 16 September. Mrs Jodi Marsh and Mrs Rebecca Nunes will be acting Principal in my absence during this time. I will be in contact with Mrs Marsh and Mrs Nunes in my absence and will write an end of term message in the Week 10 newsletter.

Thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support.

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.

Term 3- week 6

Online safety tips- gaming 

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

Dear Parents and carers,

In our week 6 newsletter, we began to explore some general tips that support parents and children in safely navigating the online world. In this week's newsletter, we have provided some tips from the eSafety commissioner website to support you in creating a safe gaming environment for your child. Some games are designed to support your child’s coordination, problem-solving and multi-tasking skills, as well as help build social skills through online interactivity with other players. But it is also important to understand what might go wrong and could have a negative impact on your child. Please see some tips below that will assist you in supporting your children to develop the skills to engage in safe gaming practices. 

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. 

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 lookout 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.

James Bryce

Acting Assistant Principal

Individual student reports have been dispatched to schools and distributed to parents. These reports contain more detailed information that will provide parents with the best understanding of their child’s achievement in NAPLAN. If you have any queries at all with your child's NAPLAN results please phone the school office to make a time to talk with your child's teacher.

On Monday, Year 5 and 6 participated in a leadership development day facilitated by Cameron Brown from Explore Discover Act. Students participated in meaningful games, activities and challenges that focused on developing leadership qualities. The students were incredibly engaged the whole day and took a lot away from it. Here’s what some students had to say about their experiences:

“I thought I already knew how to be a leader but throughout the day I was able to learn new things. I learnt that it isn’t all about being the best or the most noticeable in the room, it's about being able to read a room and understanding people around you” - Myah B Year 6

“I learnt that leadership is really important in life.” - Keiran S Year 6

“I learnt how naturally competitive we all are and that if we work together we can achieve great things”. - Hayley F Year 6

“Teamwork. There’s no I in team” - Matthew M Year 5

“One thing that I learnt from our leadership day yesterday was that I’m not the only one who isn’t comfortable with public speaking. Perfect is not a thing and practice makes progress” - Isabel G

Bianca Koczka and Katie De Sousa

Year 6 Teaching Team

Our Year 6 students will be attending the ACTIVATE Day at Nazareth Catholic Primary school on Wednesday the 14th September with Year 6 students from the host school, Stella Maris Catholic Primary School and Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School. ACTIVATE is a Catholic Youth Ministry (CYMW) initiative in the Diocese of Wollongong that provides students with an opportunity to further develop their relationship with Christ.

The theme of this event focuses on the Sacraments of Initiation which includes Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. ACTIVATE will be facilitated by CYMW with the support of NET and the Youth Ministry Leaders (YMLs - Year 10 and 11 students) from partnering schools St Joseph’s Catholic Secondary and Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary.

ACTIVATE is inclusive of all of our students regardless of their religious background and our Year 6 students will have the opportunity to build some connections with students from the other schools. 

We look forward to sharing more about ACTIVATE in Week 10’s newsletter.

Bianca Koczka and Katie De Sousa

Year 6 Teaching Team

Hi, this is Stacey and Grace from the Senior Leadership team and we are updating you on the SPAP handball competition that has been happening this term. We are currently playing the finals this week, from the 5th-12th. We are very honoured and proud to be running the whole school Handball Competition. We are very thankful for the participants and the teachers who have helped us along the way. This week on Tuesday the 6th of September we are holding the year 5 finals in break 2, the year 3 and 6 finals over both breaks and on Wednesday the 7th, Thursday the 8th we are holding year 4’s finals. The biggest show will commence on Friday the 9th is year  1 finals, Monday 12th is year 2’s final and The biggest show will commence on Friday the 23rd of September, as we present the teacher handball competition in the front playground during morning assembly. Goodluck to all the students who are in the finals this week.

On Tuesday the 13th of September infants classes will be participating in a shoe lace tying workshop run by Ascent footwear. Tying shoelaces is often a difficult skill for children to master so we are grateful for the opportunity to have Ascent visit. Keep your eye on Seesaw for some photos!

ACE Awards

Angelo Philip

Dakota Sydenham

Samuel Barrett

Ava Van Akker

April Van Akker

Aiden Cowell

Principal Awards

Samuel Barrett

Harrison Whitehead

Benjamin Joy

Isabella De Santis

Mary MacKillop Awards

Nicola Wynn

Personalised Plan Meetings are conducted between parents and teachers for those students with Personalised Plans at least two times each year.  Parents/Carers will be given the opportunity to meet with Classroom Teachers during Weeks 9 and 10 of this Term.  A schedule has been developed for collaborative meetings to be conducted between class teachers and parents. These meetings are specifically for students with a Personal Plan. Collaborative Planning Meetings present Parents/Carers with an opportunity to work collaboratively with teachers to discuss the adjustments that are effective in supporting your child in the classroom or on the playground, and to and review your child's current goals. It is also an opportunity to set new goals for the upcoming term. 

Some parents have had contact from either Mrs Jodi Marsh or Mrs Alexandra Hingston, the Diverse Learning Support Teachers in the last week regarding Tier Two Interventions of Mini-Lit, Macq-Lit or MSL. A meeting will not need to be scheduled for these parents unless there are other adjustments in place for your child in the classroom. 

Please check Compass - Conferences for dates each class teacher is available to meet and to book your time.

Students from Year 3 to 6 continue to have the opportunity to be involved in the Pivot Survey each week.  

Following a review of the data, an area of need identified in PIVOT Survey is promoting a positive response to the question: 

“I believe things will work out for the best”

Over the next few weeks we ask that you promote ‘Optimism’ through:

Encouraging end of day reflections. 

At the end of each day spend time asking your child to share one positive thing about their day. When students are encouraged to think about the positive experiences of their day, they are more likely to develop an optimistic mindset. 

Mrs Jodi Marsh

Diverse Learning Needs Support Teacher Monday - Thursday

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

Diverse Learning Needs Support Teacher Friday

Parents and Carers, thank you for joining together as a school community to celebrate Book Week, and for your support in the organisation of costumes and for the endless hours spent making, creating, painting, sewing, cutting, glueing, and constructing the most amazing costumes.

St Paul's will be entering one student in Year 5 and one student in Year 6 to participate in the Southern Region of the Diocesan Public Speaking Competition which will be held at St John's Dapto on 26/10 (Term 4, Week 3). In preparation for this stage 3 students have been writing a speech during the literacy block which they will present to their class by the end of this week. From these speeches two or three students from each class will be chosen to participate in our own mini Public Speaking Competition, which will be held in Week 9.  Our successful representatives will be selected by a panel of judges (Stage 3 teachers and other invited guests). Year 5 speak for 3-4 minutes with a warning bell at 3 minutes and Year 6 speak for 4-5 minutes with a warning bell at 4 minutes. 

This term students in Stage 2 and Stage 3 have been given the opportunity to participate in a Taekwondo program as part of their Physical Education. Coaches from South Coast Martial Arts Centre and Mrs Lyons have been running the program and the students have shown great enjoyment and enthusiasm. Students are learning basic martial arts skills, such as repeating stances and fighting patterns, striking and kicking pads, as well as developing their resilience and self-control. 

The Premier's Reading Challenge has now come to a close. Congratulations to all students who completed the challenge individually and to Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 who completed the challenge as a class. This is a fantastic achievement and may your love for reading continue to grow! A special thank you to Mrs Harb for her help in coordinating this year's challenge. 

If your child has experienced an injury or had an operation can you please notify the school office before your child returns to school. There are some instances where a student will require documentation from a treating health professional outlining the adjustments and modifications for learning and mobility on the student's return to school. Copies of documentation often is required prior to a student returning to school after an operation. Please contact the school office at any time to discuss student ilness and absences. 

Please ensure when your contact details change to email the info account, so we have a record of the new details. info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au

Next month, Wollongong will host an international professional cycling race - the 2022 UCI Road World Championships. 

The race will run from Sunday 18 - Sunday 25 September 2022 and is organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for cycling, in conjunction with Events NSW and Wollongong City Council and supported by a range of government and local community organisations.

You may be aware that a number of Catholic and public schools across Wollongong will be moving to remote learning during the event (Week 10, Term 3). 

Please note that the UCI cycling event will NOT impact access to our school and we will remain open as usual in the final week of term. 

While appreciating the economic and community benefits of such an event, we also acknowledge the significant disruption that will arise for local residents, business owners, local schools and parishes due to road closures, highly restricted location access and the flow-on impacts to transport services, routes and timetables.

Depending on where you live, it is possible you may be personally impacted by road closures. We encourage you to review the list of road closures and advice for affected local residents on the UCI website: wollongong2022.com.au/resident-information-road-closures/

If you believe that road closures or other impacts of the event will prevent your child from accessing school in Week 10, Term 3, please contact the school office as soon as possible to discuss this further.

All acceptance letters for Kindergarten 2023 have now been sent out via email. If you have not received this please call the school office on 4256 2772.

Please see below the Transition to School Playgroup dates which have been sent out via email.