Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to Week 6 of Term 1. Last week we began the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday liturgies as a way of celebrating the most important season of our church year and the basis of our faith. We believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only son of God, and we use this event as a way of living out our own lives.  We are all called to be bearers of Christ’s love and light as we go about our daily lives, especially during the seasons of Lent and Easter.  

Pope Francis’ homily on Ash Wednesday and the Gospel reading on Sunday, highlighted the actions needed by all of us in bringing us closer to God during our journey in Lent and leading up to Easter. During this time, we are called to deal with the practice of three kinds of religious acts: charitable giving, praying and fasting. The point is the same when applied to each of them: These are not to be done in a way that attracts attention to oneself, but in the quiet of one’s day-to-day activities. 

We are mindful that half a world away, we continue to watch with concern, hoping the world's sanctions may effect a change to Russian aggression towards the Ukraine, and we offer our prayers for peace. We also remember the countries of Turkey and Syria who have suffered greatly following the recent natural disaster. The death toll currently stands beyond 29 000 and Pope Francis calls us all, men and women of goodwill, to pray for the families who have lost loved ones because of the catastrophe. In this time of turmoil in our world, one can often feel helpless to make a difference however, one act that all humans can do is to pray. In the coming weeks, I urge you to pray for the people of Ukraine, Turkey and Syria as part of your own Lenten journey using the following prayer from Pope Francis:

Prayer 

Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine, Turkey and Syria
for all those suffering or afraid,
that you will be close to them and protect them.

We pray for world leaders,
for compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.

We pray for the world
that in these moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.

May we walk in your ways
so that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine, Turkey and Syria
and for all the world.

Amen.

As you are aware, Mrs Rodwell is currently on leave attending the Religious Congress in Los Angeles and will be until the end of Week 7. In her absence, I have been in the Acting Principal role. It has been wonderful to revisit the St Paul’s community as this is where my teaching career began, back in 1987. I hold this school very close to my heart, so it was with great excitement that I was offered this opportunity to return to where it all began. Whilst there have been some changes to the physical environment, little has changed in terms of the heart of the school. The teachers work incredibly hard to make sure that the children have the best possible chance of improving with their learning, developing their faith and supporting their wellbeing needs. I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the staff, students and parents for welcoming me into the St Paul’s community once again.

Thank you to the many parents and carers who were able to participate in the Parent-Teacher Meet and Greet meetings held over the last two weeks. I hope you had the chance to learn a little more about what the year has in store for your child. The Parent School Partnership is crucial for the development of every individual child. We all have a vested interest in the children, helping them to not only achieve but to thrive. The Catholic Education Office of Wollongong has developed a set of Parent School Partnership Principles which assists in the children reaching their full potential. They include:

• Co-Creating a Catholic Community
• Building Positive Relationships of respect, trust and resilience
• Maintaining a safe, supportive and respectful school environment
• Creating a connected and welcoming community
• Supporting engagement in learning and wellbeing

This framework provides an excellent platform to work together for the good of the children.

eSafety is a government run support organisation that assists both parents and educators in teaching children how to be safe online. As we know, children are often exposed to online content that can at times, be deemed to be inappropriate and can cause harm to their mental health. This website provides opportunities for you to be engaged in the children’s online activity and teach them how to navigate the digital world in a safe, secure way.

eSafety is currently providing online webinars for parents to assist them in teaching their children to be safe online. These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences. The webinars this term include a broad range of topics that will be delivered by their expert education and training team. If you are interested, you can click on the relevant link and register your interest to participate. There is no cost involved.

Parking during drop-off and pick-up times here at St Paul's can be challenging given the limited number of parking spaces in and around the school. It is understandable that you would park at the closest possible spot which on occasion, is in front of people's residences. We have had a complaint from a resident on Tongarra Road who has requested we remind you not to park across the driveways of their houses. She has stated that it happens regularly and prevents her from leaving her own driveway to take her child to school. It would be greatly appreciated if you could consider where you park and not obstruct the driveways of others. This makes for a happy, cooperative community.

Thank you for all that you do to support the education of the students of St Paul’s.

Warm regards

Angela Crandell

Acting 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.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. Each year students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. 

From 2023, NAPLAN is moving to Term 1 and will take place from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March. The reason for this change is so that results can be returned to schools earlier in the year which will support teachers to understand the learning needs of their students and plan accordingly. 

NAPLAN tests are just one part of our school learning assessment program and questions are primarily based on knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the prior year of schooling. 

In preparation for NAPLAN 2023, our school will undertake activities to help students to become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked.

Students and parents can access the public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN and the types of questions and tools available. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended. 

Students will be required to bring their own headphones to complete the tests. Bluetooth headphones do not operate when using the NAPLAN browser. Plug in headphones are required for all students in Year 3 and 5 sitting the NAPLAN tests. Should you require more information please contact the school.

Your child would love you to look through their book and use this as a starting point to discuss what they have been learning. If you would like to give your child some feedback you might like to try the following format. 

Acknowledge a success	✓ Identify what is done accurately ✓ Describe something that is quality work ✓ Point out if they have used a good strategy eg: evidence of editing
Guide a future action	✓ Ask a question about something  ✓ Offer a suggestion to improve one aspect of learning- try to reinforce any comments from the teacher

Again this year, students are encouraged, for a gold coin donation, to wear green or a touch of green on St Patrick’s Day, Friday 17th March. Money raised will be considered as a donation towards Project Compassion. Students will learn more about the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves during the coming weeks.

Last Tuesday, Mrs Nunes, Mrs Calleja and our School Captains Dante Rosete and Poppy Faulks, attended the Diocesan Launch for Project Compassion at St Collumbkille’s in Corrimal. During Lent we are called upon to donate money to Project Compassion which is the annual fundraiser for Caritas Australia. Caritas then distributes the funds to various countries around the world for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities. In donating, we are asked to go without something we might ordinarily like and place the money into the Project Compassion box. This is also a reminder to fulfil our commitment during Lent of almsgiving, prayer and fasting.

Lent continues for forty days after Ash Wednesday. Each week we will share a story from Caritas about those supported by Project Compassion.

This term Years 4 to 6 will be attending the Parish Mass on Friday, specified in the dates below. Parents are invited to attend and are most welcome to stay for morning tea in the hall afterwards.

Each grade will have the opportunity to present an assembly fortnightly on Friday afternoons in the hall at 2:30pm. ACE, Principal and Mary MacKillop Awards will be presented at these assemblies. Parents are welcome to attend. Please see below the dates for Semester One.

Term 1

Term 2

What is Mini Vinnies?

Mini Vinnies empowers primary school students to become advocates within their school and local community by putting their values into action. Students meet regularly to learn about social justice issues, develop leadership skills and engage with the wider St Vincent de Paul Society.

This year our Mini-Vinnies group will be meeting on Monday at Recess in the St Joseph’s room. Mini-Vinnies is open to all students from Year 3 to Year 6. 

Please listen for the announcement on morning assembly for when Mini-Vinnies will begin.

Dear Parents and Carers of Catholic Children in Years 3 to 6 in 2023.

If you wish for your child to receive the sacraments of Confirmation, Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in 2023, please check the St Paul's Parish website (www.st paul's parish.org.au) for information on dates and expectations of the parish for each of these sacraments.

Thank you,

Therese McQuade

Coordinator, Sacramental Programme

St Paul's Parish

Meet the Pastoral Care team and listen to how they support the school.

Mrs Jodi Marsh

Religious Education Coordinator

Our teachers have been busy over the past few weeks collecting and analysing Mathematics data across the grades. We have been working towards our 2023 Annual Improvement  Goal:

Improve teacher and student mathematical understanding through key evidence-based strategies in teaching concepts in number. 

The teachers have been building their skills and knowledge by participating in regular professional around some of the big ideas aligned with research:

1. Trusting the count
2. Place Value
3. Multiplicative Thinking 

We have been collaboratively designing tasks with our colleagues related to meeting the needs within our classes so that students deepen mathematical strategies to solve problems in flexible ways. We are working towards students representing their thinking in different ways by describing the way they are thinking both verbally and in written form. 

Belinda Evans

Middle Leader 2

Term One aligns with the Planning Phase of the annual Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) cycle and parents will be invited to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their child's Personal Plan.

During these initial planning meetings, individual goals and adjustments will be reviewed to ensure that students with disability, or those students who require additional support in the classroom, are able to participate in learning and the life of the school on the same basis as their peers. These meetings are a key part of the consultation process with parents and carers, and the students who are at the centre of the plans. 

Parents will be able to book a time to meet with teachers to discuss their child's Personal Plan during Weeks 9 and 10 of this term. Bookings will be made available via Compass in Week 8. 

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

On Thursday 16th February a welcome sausage sizzle was held to formally welcome all new families and our Kindergarten students to St Paul's Catholic Parish Primary School. It was a great afternoon of handball, conversation and laughter. Thank you to all the families that were able to join the staff for an afternoon of fun and community connection.

On Friday of Week 5, St Paul’s held a ‘coffee and contacting’ morning tea to prepare our new decodable resources for use in Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 classrooms.

Thank you to the parents who attended the morning tea, and those who have taken the time to cover the readers at home over the past two weeks. Your support has been greatly appreciated and all of our readers are now ready for use during guided reading in our classrooms!

Last week Year 6 began their Ultimate Frisbee program with Mrs Lyons and coach Kate. They enjoyed learning new skills, played fun and engaging games and are looking forward to the coming weeks. Year 5 will begin the program this week.

 

Mrs Amy Lyons

Over the past few weeks, dedicated students have been joining Mrs Lyons for Running Club, which takes place on a Wednesday at recess. Anyone is welcome to join. So far, students have completed a few High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts, which take place in the hall when the weather prevents us from using the grass. On our rain free day, students completed a Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) jog, which was the duration of the cross country course. Well done to the students who show up every week without fail. 

 

St Paul’s has gained some new sport equipment as part of Rebel Sport’s Community Giveback program. Students have enjoyed playing with this new equipment at break times and in PE lessons.

Mrs Amy Lyons

A huge congratulations to our super star Swimming Age Champions…

9 Yrs Boys Age champion - Wes Barrett

10 Yrs Boys Age champion - Jacob Mackiewicz

11 Yrs Boys Age Champion - Harrison McDonald 

12 Yrs Boys Age Champion - Lucas Glover 

9 Yrs Girl Age Champion - Anamika Bradford 

10 Yrs Girl Age Champion -Chloe Zonneveld

11 Yrs Girl Age Champion - Zali Barrett 

12 Yrs Girl Age Champion - Sophie Kennedy

I would also like to congratulate the winning house colour who I have heard is on a winning streak when it comes to the swimming carnival! 

CONGRATULATIONS to St Francis (Green house) for taking out the win again. St Joseph's (Blue) came in second, St Mary's (Yellow) Third and St Paul's (red) Fourth! It really was a wonderful day full of team spirit and fun. 

Mrs Eliza Treble

As a community we would like to congratulate the students who will be representing St Pauls at the Diocesan trials on the 7th of March. We know you will make yourself and all of the St Paul's community proud. Good luck to the following students;

Amarli Braddick 

Stephanie Hooper 

Toby Bancroft

Wes Barrett 

Anamika Bradford 

Magdalena Gjurova

Flynn Glover 

Jacob Mackiewicz 

Nicola Wynn

Chloe Zonneveld 

Zali Barrett 

Joseph Jedrezjczak 

Zara McCloy

Harrison McDonald 

Aiden Farraway

Lucas Glover 

Sophie Kennedy

Milla Nagy

Mrs Eliza Treble

I would also like to congratulate Bailey Duff on his amazing efforts at the Mackillop trials for touch football. We are very proud of your efforts and the way you conducted yourself at the trails. It is a huge achievement to make it to the trial! 

We have such a talented community that the well wishes need to continue! 

We would like to wish Laikyn Shelton, Harrison McDonald, Nicholas Carbonara and Kobi Elliot good luck in the upcoming  Mackillop trias for Hockey on the 3rd March. Good luck also to Madelynne Dowel, Jacinta Viena for the upcoming soccer Mackillop trials on the 8th of March, and lastly we would like to wish Charlie Babi, Aiden Farraway, Mason Hili, Bailey Duff, Jaxon Moran and Eli Coopes good luck for the Rugby League Mackillop trials on the 3rd of March.

Miss Eliza Treble

This years Cross Country will be held on the Thursday the 30th of March in Week 10, Term 1. We are looking forward to another great community event to be held at Centenary Training Fields, Croome Road Sporting Complex. More details will follow closer to the event.

Miss Eliza Treble

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year. The NCCD is a collection that counts the number of school students receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability, and the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.  

The collection of data for the NCCD:

• ensures that the information collected is transparent, consistent and reliable
• provides better information that improves understanding of students with disability
• allows parents, guardians, carers, teachers, principals, education authorities and government to better support students with disabilities.

All schools in Australia must collect information about students with disabilities. The information collected by the NCCD helps teachers, principals, education authorities and governments to better support students with disabilities at school. The NCCD encourages schools to review their learning and support systems and processes. This helps schools to continually improve education outcomes for all students.

Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive ongoing adjustments at school due to disability.

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

This Friday 3rd March will be Clean Up Schools Day.  Each grade will clean a designated area of the playground with their teachers. We encourage students to bring their own reusable gloves on the day. This day is a great opportunity for the school community to come together and beautify our school and be reminded of our responsibility to care for God’s creation. Students will not only be picking up any rubbish in the playgrounds but they will also be weeding the gardens. 

The SPLICED (Stretching Potential through Learning in Interactive Challenging Environments) program is a diocesan initiative, run across all primary and secondary schools in the Diocese of Wollongong to extend student learning for those who require extension or have been identified as Gifted Learners through further assessment.

The 2023 unit entitled “A View from Afar; Examining and Dissecting, Marvelling and Wondering through a Wide-Angle Lens’ is a conceptual unit of differentiated learning that covers a wide range of syllabus outcomes. It is designed to extend the students’ capacity to think critically, creatively and reflectively.  

Mrs Hayes and a group of Year 5 St Paul’s students will attend the first SPLICED Workshop next Tuesday the 7th March in Gerringong. This first workshop marks the commencement of this program and provides selected students with an opportunity to gain clarity and purpose around their ideas and product in relation to this program. In the weeks that follow, students will meet weekly to work independently on the development of their work with school staff.

Enrichment Mathematics

St Paul’s has engaged in the Maths Olympiad for a number of years and will continue to participate in this competition throughout 2023. The Maths Olympiad provides students who require extension in mathematics the opportunity to engage in rigorous learning experiences where they are required to apply their mathematical knowledge and skill to solve complex problems. The Olympiad comprises four separate contests held on the following dates: 

Competition One - Wednesday, 3rd May 2023

Competition Two - Wednesday, 14th June 2023

Competition Three - Wednesday, 26th July 2023

Competition Four - Wednesday, 6th September 2023 

Students who are part of the Enrichment Maths Program will participate in extension mathematics lessons on a weekly basis, commencing in Week 7 of Term 1, to develop their ability to work mathematically, problem solve effectively and consolidate mathematical knowledge.

Mrs Alexandra Hingston

The beginning and end of the school day are busy times for pedestrians and vehicles outside the school. That’s why you need to take extra care in 40km/h school zones. 

Park safely and legally, even if it means walking further to the school gate. Parking signs are planned with children’s safety in mind. Slow down to 40km/h in the school zone and stay aware of crossings. 

• Always park and turn legally around the school. 
• Never double park as it puts children at risk. 
• Manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns are dangerous. 
• Never park in a bus zone or in the school bus bay. 
• Make sure your children use the Safety Door (rear footpath side door) to get in and out of the car. 
• At a supervised crossing, observe the directions of the school crossing supervisor. 
• Model safe and considerate behaviour for your child – they will learn from you. 

Remember to always give way to pedestrians particularly when entering and leaving driveways. Don’t park across the school driveway or the entrance to the school car park. It’s always a good idea to use the drop off and pick up area suggested by your school. This will help keep all children as safe as possible during the busiest times of the school day.

Walking to school and back home again is a great way to spend time with your children and encourage safe and healthy behaviours. Here are a few things you can do to help keep your children safer as a pedestrian:

• Talk with your children about being alert in the road environment. 
• Plan and practice your trip to school so you use pedestrian crossings where possible.
• Always hold your child’s hand. Children need your help to spot dangers such as vehicles coming out of driveways. They can also be easily distracted and wander into traffic. 
• Meet your child near the school gate and don’t call them from across the road. 
• Explain why the place you have chosen is the safest place to cross. 
• Remind your child to STOP! LOOK! LISTEN! THINK! every time they cross the road and keep checking until safely across. 
• Talk to them about why they should stop, look, listen, think before crossing a driveway, road or carpark. 

Young children can learn and practice these safe pedestrian behaviours with you. This will help them to be safer pedestrians when they are old enough to travel alone.

Please click on the link below for more information.

Students in all grades have commenced library borrowing. It was great to see the students so excited to return to the library for the 2023 school year. Library borrowing time allows students to engage with a diverse range of books to extend their imagination and develop a lifelong love of reading. 

Parents are reminded that in accordance with updated regulations, any child who comes to school with an injury must have clearance from a doctor that clearly states the nature of the injury and what the student can and can not do at school, this includes them being on the playground at recess and lunch times. We understand that this can be difficult to obtain at some times, we have found that if you are able to ask for this information at the time of consultation it will save you the challenge of following up. We anticipate this will be helpful if you unfortunately find yourself in this situation. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the school office.

The NSW Education Act (1990) and Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) require Parents/Carers to ensure that children of compulsory school age attend school on each day that the school is open for instruction. If students are absent from school, Parents/Carers are required to provide the school with an acceptable explanation, within seven days of the absence. 

After seven days, absences will automatically be recorded as Absent - unexplained / unjustified if the school is not provided with an acceptable explanation from Parents/Carers. Parents wishing to provide the school with an acceptable explanation after the seven-day period, will need to contact the school and the school will adjust the attendance register. Parents will no longer be able to enter the absence through the parental portal in Compass after the seven-day period. 

The school will continue to support Parents/Carers and frequently send home letters giving Parents/Carers the opportunity to provide the school with an explanation for absences.

Kristie Bicknell

Senior School Support Officer