Dear parents, carers, staff and students

Welcome to Week 8 of Term 2, we are certainly well and truly into the winter season and the days are much wetter and colder. Once again I encourage parents to ensure that the students have their school jumpers in their bags as many students are arriving onto the playground without their warm clothing. We have had so many students report to the Office with colds and headaches and these students are being sent home.

Feast of Corpus Christi

Next Sunday we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. This Feast is a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is also called Communion, the Lord's Supper. The Mass, also called the Eucharist, is the liturgical celebration of Christ's death and resurrection, where Christians participate of Christ's body and blood. Corpus Christi is the feast day celebrating the Institution of the Mass.

We can call to mind our own very special day – First Holy Communion when we received Jesus in the Eucharist. We join with our young parishioners who will receive Jesus for the first time in this sacrament later this year. We pray with them and for them that, this will not be the first or the last time that they will come joyfully to the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Today I ask you to please spend a few minutes of your precious time to silently reflect on these words that I have adapted in this Reflection.  

God of all Goodness,

We pray for all those whose lives have been touched by tragedy.

Bring your healing touch.

For all whose image of your creation
is scarred by pain and suffering.

Bring your healing touch.

For those who wake each morning
to shellfire and destruction.

Bring peace.

For children robbed of their childhood
and transformed into soldiers.

Bring your loving care.

For orphans wandering lonely roads
to uncertain futures.

Bring your loving care.

For each persecuted family
carrying your Cross-.

Bring peace.

Please continue to support your child’s school with pride.

I thank all those parents who continually send emails to teachers and myself thanking us for their care and concern for the students in our care.

I ask that you continue to pray for peace in our world and keep our parish in your prayers.

With Peace and God’s Blessing.

Colleen Easton, Principal

The School Photographer will be here tomorrow to take staff and student photos, commencing with the Staff Photo at 8:15 am.

I ask all students to come in their FULL WINTER SCHOOL UNIFORM. Please remember that ties are part of the uniform.

Senior Leaders and School Captains will have their group photos taken at 8:30 am.  Year 6 will have their whole Year 6 photo taken at 8:45 am so I ask that all Year 6 are present at this time.  

Please note that the preferred option for payment is via online payment - instructions / details are on your child's photo envelope.  THERE IS NO CHANGE AVAILABLE AT THE OFFICE - IF YOU ARE PAYING BY CASH YOU MUST ENCLOSE THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF MONEY.

Please note that photo envelopes need to be returned before the commencement of school tomorrow morning. 

As you would be aware last week St Paul’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Albion Park transitioned to our new Financial Management System, TechnologyOne. We are pleased to report that overall the transition was a success and we are now adapting to using this new program.

You will find that school fee information is now available to you on the Compass Parent Portal. When viewing this information you may see a number of duplicated transactions at or soon after the time of our transition to TechnologyOne. Please be assured this was part of the transition process and the current balance of your account will match the balance presented on the final statement emailed to you from our previous system (SAS) last Tuesday 11 June 2019. We have checked every account to ensure balances are correct.  

Should you have any queries about your school fee account please do not hesitate to contact the school office.

Michelle Davey, Information Systems Project Manager, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong

Our young parishioners have been preparing for the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) and will have their Retreat Day on Thursday 27 June 2019 from 9 am to 3 pm in the School Parish Hall.

We pray for our children as they enter into their final days of receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Please keep in mind all the information that has been handed to you about the Retreat Day and the times and days for the reception of this sacrament.

Please do not contact the school office for assistance with Parish Sacraments.  Refer all queries to Mrs Paula Potts via the Parish Office on 4256 2038 or albionpark@dow.org.au

We invite you to join our students who attend Mass each Friday at 9:30 am. 

• This week, Friday 21 June, 2019 Year 2 will attend Mass.
• In week 10, Friday 5 July, 2019 Year 6 will attend Mass.

What a great opportunity to join with the children of our parish school to pray for all those who are in desperate need of God’s help.

These dates and classes are subject to change.

Principal's Awards

Congratulations to the following students who received a Principal's Award at our last Assembly on 7 June 2019:

Luke Tsolkas, Thomas Allen and Wil Moran

Congratulations to the following students who will receive a Principal’s Award at our next Assembly on Friday 21 June 2019:

Koby Hillard, Chelsea Allitt, Matthew McCabe, Scarlett Carrett, Jimmy Roberston and Sophie Jones

Mary MacKillop Awards

Congratulations to the following student who will receive a Mary MacKillop Award at our next Assembly on Friday 21 June 2019:

Joshua Schofield

About Beverley Whitfield

Beverley was raised in the Shellharbour Township and was very well known in the Shellharbour community.

Her achievements in the pool were outstanding.  In 1970, at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games,  Beverely won a gold medal in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and the medley relay, each time breaking a Commonwealth record.

At the age of 18 years at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, Beverley set a new Olympic record by taking out a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke, making her the first Australian woman in 40 years to win that event.  She also won bronze in the 100m breaststroke.  Retiring from swimming three years later, Beverley went on to become a youth worker at the Keelong Juvenile Justice Centre.

Known as the "Darling of Shellharbour" Beverley has a local pool and an oval named in her honour.

Presentation of Beverley Whitfield Award

The Mayor of Shellharbour City Council, Mayor Cr Marianne Saliba will be at our school on  Monday, 29 July 2019 at 8:55 am to present Thomas Allen and Janae Robertson with the Beverley Whitfield Award for 2019.

Our next Assembly will be held this Friday 21 June 2019 commencing at 2:20 pm in the hall.  Kindergarten students will be presenting this Assembly. Parents and Carers are asked to use the Parish side entrance to the hall.

Our Week 6, Term 2 Waste Free Warrior Winners are:

• Angus Bancroft - Year 5 Blue
• Sean Bancroft - Year 5 Red
• Jessminda Borg - Year 2 Blue
• Gabrielle O'Shea - Year 2 Red
• Mr Edwards - Year 6 Red

Our Week 7, Term 2 Waste Free Warrior Winners are:

• Max Sutton - Year 6 Blue
• Isaiah Infante - Year 4 Blue
• Mila Quinones - Kinder Blue
• Natalie Moon - Year 5 Red
• Harrison Whitehead - Kinder Blue

Please complete the survey that was asked of you in preparation for my Principal’s Appraisal. The closing date is Friday 28 June 2019.  

Thank you to all those who may have completed this, the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong takes the responsibility for this and not the school.

This year the first semester report for your child will be electronically provided using the Compass portal. You should receive this on Thursday 4 July 2019.

Please contact the office if you require your login details for the Parent Portal on Compass to be updated / verified - ie., reset your password.

All parents will have an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss the report.

Parents and carers will be invited to book in a time to see their child’s teacher to discuss student learning.

These meetings give parents and carers an opportunity to look at students’ work and celebrate their child’s learning. Bookings will be made via the Parent Portal in COMPASS.  You will be notified shortly via a COMPASS Newsfeed when bookings are open with available times and dates for these interviews with classroom teachers.

At St Paul’s we are continually looking at ways to improve the learning experiences for our students. One area, is engaging students with innovation. We are hoping to set up a Marker Space in our library where students can come and be creative, solve real problems, design and test out their creations. We are also hoping to purchase more Robotics for our classrooms allowing student to program, code, work in teams, select, build, test and evaluate, gain hands on experience with control, mechanics, sensors, motors, construction, programming and modeling opportunities.

We believe, these resources will make a great impact on our students giving them the opportunities to develop a deeper engagement in learning in STEM.

If your business is interested in sponsoring STEM technology, or other areas of the school on our improvement journey, please contact our school office by phone or email info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au or evanb01@dow.catholic.edu.au

 Belinda Evans, STEM Coordinator

Thanks to Mr Davide and Mrs Emily Greig who very generously answered our request to purchase STEM resources if parents can make a donation. Their donation will certainly make a difference in the students’ learning experiences.

Mr and Mrs Greig write:
Hi Belinda,

It is our pleasure, we know how important the STEM learning is for the students of St Paul’s and it is our pleasure to be able to make this contribution to their lifelong learning. 

Have a great week

Emily 

It was a pleasure speaking to you today. As per our conversation, We (MBC Employment) would like to donate $3,000 towards the first 2 items on you wish list (that is the Ozobot Evo and the Makey Makey packs)

Davide Greig

Operations Team                                                                                                 MBC Employment Services 

Mrs Evans responds

Thank you for your very generous donation towards building the  STEM resources in our school. Also, thank you for going head and pre-purchasing the Ozobots and the Makey Makey. I believe, these resources will make a great impact on our students giving them the opportunity to develop a deeper engagement in learning in STEM.

I am looking forward to implementing these within the current Science and Technology Curriculum and sharing them with the staff and students. 

Thanks again for your support.

Congratulations to the following students who recently participated in the STEM Challenge:

Connor Shelton, Max Elliot, Isaac Starling, Benjamin Joy, Kiri Sherry, Elise Jennison, Scarlet Richardson, Ivy Richardson, Jayden Holt, Chase Young and Wezley Smith.

These students designed a water catcher system that could trap and re-use the rainwater from our school.  The students shared their design with a panel of judges and explained how the water was trapped and then re-used. We had some amazing and creative designs made from recycled materials. Some designs will even be placed in our school gardens to catch water next time it rains!

Classes are welcome to visit the display in the Library during library lessons. Parents and friends are welcome to visit the display in the Library after school dismissal in Week 8.

Certificates will be handed out to the students at our next assembly on Friday 21 June 2019.

Belinda Evans, STEM Coordinator

May I remind all parents that when children borrow books and bring them home, they need to be responsible for these as this is one of our school rules. Far too many books are not being returned and since the Parents and Friends Association direct some funds for our Resources in the library to purchase books each year, we consider this as the child and parent’s responsibility.

Too often, overdue notes are ignored by parents this does result in full payment of the cost of each book.

Students with overdue books who do not return the borrowed books will NOT be allowed to borrow.

I thank the Parents and Friends Association for their commitment each year towards the cost of Resources for our children.

Parents and carers are reminded that birthday cakes cannot be shared with the class. Approximately three years ago, I made the decision to protect all those who students who have special dietary requirements, these students are not permitted certain ingredients in cakes of any kind.

Parents may wish to find an alternative to celebrate their child’s birthdays.  Please consider the health risks of other students. Thank you for your consideration.

The Woolworths Earn and Learn campaign finishes on Tuesday 25 June 2019.  Please send in your stickers by Friday 28 June 2019 so that we can process our points and place our order for the new resources.  Thank you so much for your support. 

Robyn Warton, School Support Officer, Library

Grandparent's Day

We will celebrate Grandparent’s Day in Week 1 of Term 3 on Friday 26 July 2019.

I invite all our students to ask your grandparents to our special celebration commencing with a liturgy and a picnic lunch.

Following the picnic lunch your grandparents are then invited to our Dance Spectacular.

I invite all our students to extend this invitation to their parents and family members to join us on Friday 26 July 2019.

After a highly successful Dance Spectacular last year, our energetic and creative teachers have commenced preparing our students in one of the strands of the Key Learning Area of Creative Arts.

Grades are preparing one or two dances during their allocated time of Physical Education or Creative Arts on the class timetable. We look forward to an enjoyable day on Friday 26 July at 1 pm. You are most welcome to join us as we celebrate both Grandparents day and the annual Dance Spectacular.

Hopefully, the parents are secretly preparing for their special presentation to commence the afternoon.

We will have two Staff Development Days in Term 3 - Monday 22 July and Friday 30 August 2019.

The first one is on Monday 22 July 2019 in Week 1.  The staff will be engaged in Professional Development on Sustainability. Miss Beth Riolo from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong will facilitate this day.

The second Staff Development Day on Friday 30 August 2019, Week 6.  The staff will be attending their Spirituality Day at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney.

Please remember that there is NO SCHOOL for students on both these days.

Our next time that we gather as a group of parents will be Monday 29 July 2019 at 6:30 pm in the St Joseph's Room.

At this meeting, Mrs Rebecca Hill from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong will present the Social Media Policy.

School Disco

• The next P & F School Disco will be held on Thursday 4 July 2019.
• The Junior Disco (Kinder to Year 2) will be held from 5 pm to 6:30 pm.
• The Senior Disco (Years 3 to Year 6) will be held from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.
• Please remember to send a labelled water bottle with your child.
• The cost is $5 per child.
• Children will be fully supervised and will not be permitted to leave the school hall until parents come to collect their child.
• Parent helpers are needed.  If you are able to assist, please email Sara-Jay O'Shea, P & F President:  sjayoshea@outlook.com

Amy De Santis, P & F Secretary

Colour School Fun-Run - SAVE THE DATE - Friday 20 September 2019

• Get ready for the launch early next term of St Paul's Major Fundraiser event of the year.
• The CUA Colour School Fun-Run will be held on Friday 20 September 2019
• Location:  The School's Top Oval
• The CUA Colour School Fun-Run promotes healthy and active lifestyles while helping us raise funds for our school community.
• Notes and sponsorship forms will be sent home with your child next term.
• Students who raise $10 or more will receive a prize.

Maria Bancroft, Colour School Fun-Run Coordinator

Ecumenical Prayer Evening:  Don’t forget - our next Prayer Evening, drawing inspiration from the prayers and music of the Taizé Community, will be held THIS Sunday, from 6pm. The liturgy will be followed by a cuppa. All Welcome!

Plenary Council 2020:  National Theme for Discernment #1 – How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church that is Missionary and Evangelising? This National Theme for Discernment is inspired by the voices of the People of God who shared a passion for participating in the missionary nature of the Church and desire stronger support, involvement and formation among all the baptised who make up the Church. Find out more at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au

Planned Giving Envelopes:  The new sets of Planned Giving Envelopes are now available to be collected from the narthex. They will commence on the first weekend of July.

Computer Operator: A computer operator is needed for the 10am Mass. At present this would be fortnightly but if more people volunteer then the load could be spread. Please also consider if available for the 6pm Mass. Training given. Contact Catriona on 0422 201 054.

Thank you!  To my Parish family - thank you for all your prayers and support over the last 18 months. Tony loved his God and this parish he was always there when needed. He will be forever in my heart. Therese McQuade

Albion Park Uniting Church:  Will be hosting a Church Service and Luncheon on Tuesday 25 June from 11am. There will be an inspirational message from guest speaker David Bosanquet. Donation $10. RSVP to Judy on 42574434 as soon as possible.

Day Retreat – Desire and Love:  Saturday, 22 June, 10 am to 3:30 pm at the Jamberoo Abbey.

Desire and love lie at the heart of centering prayer and centering practice. We will use poetry, Scripture and the writings of the mystics as keys to open the door to the world of longing and love within. See notice board for more details

Heart Women’s Conference:  20 – 22 June 2019 at Fairfield RSL A time to come together as women to be refreshed and renewed in our busy lives. Spoil yourself. Dream again. Feel loved, honoured and cared for. Invite your daughters, mothers, sisters and friends! Men – what women in your life can you spoil by sending them to Heart 2019? Register: Heart.TheCatholicGuy.com  Email: Phone: 1300 734 880

West Dapto Catholic Cemetry:  The stories of those buried in West Dapto Catholic Cemetery, is soon to be released in 2 volumes, totalling 12-1500 pages. This first publication will cover the families whose first burial is pre-1900, plus all their known descendants who are also buried in the cemetery. We are looking for photos of these people, to go with their stories. More information can be obtained from Wendy & Terry Nunan at or phone 4257 0042. A free newsletter is available for anyone interested.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Moon landing and our own 30th Birthday this July, Science Space is launching a full week of all new Space Camps these winter school holidays.

Running for a full day, children aged 6 to 12 years will enjoy an action packed day of creative science, technology, engineering and maths activities.  The themes of the days these holidays will include Astronaut Acadamy, Lunar Landers, Moon Mission, Robot Hack and Space Tech.

Refer to the attached flyer for further details.  If you require any further information about the programs please contact Science Space on 4286 5033 or check out their website at:  https://sciencespace.com.au/attraction/destination-space-july-school-holidays/[sciencespace.com.au]

David Lukins, Science Space Experience Officer

Since the last Community Safety Pop Up Meeting had to be postponed due to horrible weather, we have rescheduled it to be on Wednesday 3 July from 3 pm to 4:30 pm near the skatepark and ALbion Park Youth and Community Centre.  Refer to the attached flyer for further information.

Sarah Marshall, Community Safety Officer, Shellharbour City Council