Dear Parents and Guardians,

Once again I have the opportunity to reflect on Grandparents and Special People Day which is such a huge part of our tradition at St Paul’s.  Firstly I need to thank all those involved in making this such a successful day of acknowledgement for the work that grandparents and those special people in the lives of families, do to make family life the virtue it can be, even in those challenging times.  Infact, I see this day as a true acknowledgement of the christian story in word and action. The Christian way is one of new beginnings and hope. This special day, simply by its nature, is a story of hope and affirmation. Dreams and basic hopes in our lives are essential for being human.  We dream about what we shall be, what our life will become and those dreams were reflected in all on this very special day, right through from five to ninety-five! Moving through the various passages of life, dreams may be shattered, modified, lost and found and tested in various ways. Last Friday, there were all passages present as we came together in community and celebration.

Jesus carried with him the great vision of the Kingdom of God, his dream of what the world might be if God was accepted as Abba, Father.  Last Friday our school was a place where people can dream dreams and see visions. Every child carries many dreams with him/her.

Their dreams will one day turn into their stories about growing up and going to a Catholic school.  Part of their dream story was created last Friday.

In light of this I leave you with the following words of wisdom once given to me by a Josephite sister about creating dreams for little people:
“When you walk about me, walk gently, lest you tread on my dreams.”

As a parent, in a busy and demanding world, how skilled are you at doing this?  Something that last Friday made me stop and think about.

Go Gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Parent Teacher Interviews

I would like to thank the many parents who found the time to schedule this very important meeting into busy work and family calendars.  I know I used to find it challenging to get to the meetings when my children were at school, but somehow made it happen, largely due to the motivation given by Mrs Reardon!  I heard many grateful stories from parents and teachers as these meetings occurred. We very often talk about the impact that teachers have on young people’s lives, I know I have experienced this first hand myself.  Naturally, you the parent, have the greatest impact on your child’s development, teachers then come not far behind. When we treat each other with genuine appreciation at these meetings, even when the content delivered can be challenging, your child sees this and knows of a great sense of care and commitment that is surrounding them so that they are able to work towards becoming fully human and present to God’s love.  Sometimes, these meetings are very helpful for clarifying things, whether that be due to misinformation, excuse or communication problems. I took great satisfaction from the words of one parent who said in very simple terms: “I know my child out of school, I know she can be different in school, and the teacher has confirmed that.” My response to the parent was, “You are very wise.”

Staff Development Day: English

Staff Development Days are used by schools to improve the skills of teachers, school leaders and school administrative support staff. 

The purpose of staff development days:

They improve the learning outcomes of students by:  

• providing targeted professional learning for staff aligned to school review and improvement
• enabling whole school planning and enhancing teacher quality, school leadership and management practices 
• implementing policy, legislative and system requirements

Determining the content of staff development days:

• The content of staff development days is determined by data such as NAPLAN, PAT, the school assessment schedule and in consultation with teachers and leadership.

All content delivered in staff development days fully aligns with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers under the domains of: 

• Professional Knowledge
  
• Professional Practice
• Professional Engagement

Content focus for St Paul’s Staff Development Day

The content for the staff development held on Monday 22 July 2019 was English and Mathematics.

English: The Writing Process (Planning, drafting, editing, proofreading, publishing)

The learning intention for the first part of the day was:- 

‘We are learning to create a shared understanding of the writing process so that we can deepen our professional knowledge and skills in relation to writing.’

Teachers worked towards the success criteria:

• Revisit the shared definition of writing
• Understand the writing process document
• Explain what each step of the writing process looks like in each grade
• Generate a grade success criteria for each of the processes
• Reflect on our own knowledge of the writing process 
• Determine ‘where to next’ for SPC 

Using the Timperley Cycle to guide our learning, teachers were able to identify the knowledge and skills that they as educators need when teaching the processes of writing and to also highlight areas of further professional learning required to continue to build their collective capacity. 

          

The learning intention for the first part of the day was:- 

“We are learning to use the Mathematics Syllabus to develop a K-6 Maths Language Word Wall so that we can identify the importance of explicitly teaching the development of  language and linking W.M and automaticity.”

Teachers worked towards the success criteria:

• navigating the online Mathematics syllabus and locating where ‘Language’ is under each outcome.
• comprehending and responding to ‘why’ it’s important to explicitly teach Maths language
• defining the process strand of Mathematics - Working Mathematically.
• articulating the difference between Communicating, Reasoning, Fluency, Problem solving and Understanding.
• revisiting the importance of teaching automaticity to students
• identifying the link between Working Mathematically and automaticity

Staff participated in a hands on activity where they worked with other staff across other stages. They were given the opportunity to identify the progression of language from K-6. Vocabulary understanding is a major contributor to overall comprehension in many content areas, including mathematics. Teaching and learning the language of mathematics is vital for the development of mathematical proficiency. Students’ mathematical vocabulary learning is a very important part of their language development and ultimately mathematical proficiency and automaticity.

Teachers then unpacked Working Mathematically and how to enrich their students learning so that they have opportunities to understand, communicate, problem solve, reason and develop fluency in Mathematics.

Social Media Policy information Evening For Parents - Wednesday 31st August 7.00pm

Tomorrow, in the school hall at 7.00pm the Catholic Education Office will be presenting our school policies and regulations concerning the use of Social Media in school.  This presentation will last for approximately one hour. It is our intention, after this meeting, to begin the process of creating a formal school facebook page. It is critical that parents are across this policy as it will clearly outlines the protocols concerning the use of social media as a means of communication in catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Wollongong.

There are times when students, school staff or parents have been in breach of such protocols.  In many cases this is simply due to a lack of understanding or why such rules and expectations exist.  This is why it is very important that you are present at this meeting if at all possible, otherwise “You don’t know what you don’t know!”

Please try to make it - This Wednesday 7.00pm  School Hall

Compass Update

Parents can consent to excursions through the parent portal.

Parents are now able to provide online consent to events (School excursions) via the parent portal. This means excursion notes will no longer be sent home in a hardcopy parents will recieve an email altert directing them to log into their Compass site to view the excursion note and provide consent.

Please ensure your email address is up to date this can be done via the Compass portal.  If you require assistance please make contact with the school office.

Author Visit: Michael Salmon

New Zealand author and illustrator Michael Salmon will be visiting St Paul’s Thursday 22 August 2019. Kindergarten - Year 6 will be part of his presentation in the school hall. Michael will also be available for book signings and have his books available for purchase in the library after school on this day.

Michael Salmon has been involved in graphics, Children’s literature, TV and Theatre since 1967. He started his career with surfing cartoons and exhibitions of his psychedelic art and then joined the famous marionette troupe ‘The Tintookies’ as a trainee set designer/stage-manager in 1968 (The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Sydney)

Since then his work has been solely for young people both here in Australia and overseas. His many credits include his ‘Alexander Bunyip show’ (ABC TV 1978-88), pantomimes, fabric and varied merchandise designs, toy and board game invention and the writing and illustrating of over 170 picture story-books and activity-books for young readers. Several million copies of his titles have been sold worldwide.

Michael has been visiting Australian Primary Schools since 1972. His hour long sessions are humorous, fun, interactive and entertaining, with a focus on Students developing their own creativity. Suitable for all years.

Many of these School visits can be seen on his website: www.michaelsalmon.com.au