Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                        

We are now two weeks out from the end of the year and I can give you an indication of where our staffing is situated for next year, mindful that one late change can cause a domino effect, should there be one.

At this stage, we have sent out numerous notifications reminding parents of the deadlines for class placement concerns regarding their child. In addition, it has been placed in numerous newsletters and finally, I have met with those parents who had concerns for their child’s placement in 2024. At no point in time did I allow parents to determine where their child was going to be placed concerning the staff. Parents know their children well in their setting, we know your child best in the school setting. It is a parent’s responsibility to listen to their child’s worries about next year and support them through this. However, it is important to understand that this is for some children the perfect opportunity for you to begin the resilience building process for your child, something that becomes more challenging on the whole every year and especially since the COVID  challenge of two years ago.

Friendships should never really be a part of the conversation, unless there is a particular friendship that doesn’t bring out the best in your child or another child. Therefore, classes at St Paul’s will never be based on the friendship groups in each grade and the statement “My child has none of their friends in their class” would not be a reason for juggling classes in such a situation. In fact, this is a perfect opportunity to begin that resilience building process with your child and allow them to broaden their friendship groups.

Finally, imagine if you expected the same for your child when they go to high school. I would be somewhat surprised if it received any attention unless there was a major friendship matter that needed attending to. This year I have met with over thirty parents for placement in 2024. I wonder how many parents have requested to meet with their child’s high school for 2024 for the same reasons? Whilst there are definitely parents who need to share with me concerns about their child’s placement each year, I’m sure they know in most cases whether it is necessary and if so, book the appointment.

Class lists for 2024 have now been finalised and I will not be extending any further opportunity for this to be reviewed as it places undue stress on everyone involved and the opportunity has been provided for this matter to be proactively addressed. 

I have attached the staffing summary for next year to enable all in the community to see the big picture at St Paul’s 2024.

CLASS TEACHERS - 2024

2024 School Staff

Go gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Principal Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have recently received a Principal Award. 

Anastasia Pasley, Ella Mulholland, Matilda Slattery, Max Lopez, Quinten Barnsley, Oliver Morassut, Mia Browne, Savannah Cahill, Tyson Ragusi, Olivia Davies, Tiffany O'Keefe, Savanah Oliva, Oliver Melisi, Sofia Cocco, Clare McLachlan, Savannah Bonvini, Hunter Begovich, Zoe Farrugia, Nicholas Macri, Maximus Casey, Annabelle Ditcher, Thomas Bradley, William Jackson, Benjamin Carr.

Leaving Families with Credit Balance

Students Not Returning in 2024

Students from Kindergarten to Year 5 (excluding Year 6 students) who will not be returning to St Paul’s in 2024 are requested to complete the attached form and return to the school office as soon as possible.

2023 - St Mary MacKillop Awards Close This Week

SPLICED 2023 Launch

We are eagerly awaiting this years launch video becoming live from the Catholic Education Office of Wollongong homepage on Tuesday, 12 December 2023  at 7:00pm. Students in Year 4, 5 and 6 from St Paul’s who participated in SPLICED will have their projects displayed on this website. Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding commitment to their investigations this year:

Anthony Spiers, Audrey Shephard, Phoebe Redman, Sophie Puckrin, Oliver Melisi, Bryson Marano, Isla Korny, Mitchell Jarvis, Micah Kenyon, Samuel Clancy, Mackenzie Bowen, Owen Van Der Linden.

This year, students from Year 2 and 3 joined our SPLICED students to complete a Personal Interest Project aimed at exposing them to some of the skills required to complete the diocesan SPLICED project. These students will be presenting their work to their peers in Years 2 and 3. Congratulations to the following students who demonstrated persistence with their projects this year as they investigated a topic of inquiry:

Gideon Korny, Alessio Silvano, Ziggy Costello, Alexander Brett, Alessio Mosca, Amalia Accoto, Leo Lonergan, Patrick Waters, Leonidas Atlantis, Sebastian Armstrong.

FORTNIGHTLY TARGET FOR PB4L

At St Paul’s I have self control.   ‘Stop, Think, then Choose what to do.’

Teaching self-control is one of the most important things that parents can do for their children because these skills are some of the most important for success later in life.  

By learning self-control, children can make appropriate decisions and respond to stressful situations in ways that can yield positive outcomes.

Self-control is important, it is a fruit of the Spirit. But do you ever feel like maybe God skipped giving you that fruit? Like you just can’t help what you do? What do we do when we don’t have self-control? 

By planning how to make good choices, we are making the conscious decision to stop and think about what might be impacting on our ability to make good choices and think about what we can do at those times, making the most appropriate choice

Let your kids know, sometimes we know we’re going into a situation where self-control will be hard. Maybe self-control in class is hard for you, and you know tomorrow is going to be an extra boring school day. If you know ahead of time that you’ll need self-control, plan ahead and pray ahead. Plan how to make good choices, and pray for God’s strength to do it.

On Friday, 17 November 2023, Sofia (Year 5) and Lily (Year 6) represented St Paul's at the CDF public speaking finals. Both girls represented St Paul's proudly, Sofia placing 1st in her grade category. It was a fantastic effort and opportunity for them both. 

Congratulation Lily and Sofia!

Swimming Carnival

On Friday, 17 November 2023, we had our school swimming carnival at Camden Memorial Pool. Congratulations to all the students for their efforts throughout the day! We appreciate the support of our parent and staff community with this event. Thank you.

Age Champion Results 2023

School Sports Australia Athletics Championships

Congratulations to Mitchell (Year 4), who represesented Catholic Schools NSW at the school sport Australia athletics championships held in Tasmania. Mitchell competed in the junior boys shot put and his outstanding performance saw him secure an incredible 5th place in Australia. This is a remarkable acheivement!

Congratulations Mitchell! The entire St Paul's community is extremely proud of you.

Canteen Caper Day

Canteen Closing at 1pm - Friday, 15 December 2023

We have been advised by Made Fresh that the cantenn will close at 1:00pm on the last day of school, Friday, 15 December 2023.

Lunch orders can still be placed for this day for both Infants and Primary, however there will be no counter sales available at break 2.

2024 Canteen Price List

December P&F Meeting - Monday

Yeronga School Uniforms

Yeronga school uniforms now have an online store. Below is the link to the St Paul’s  Shop for Yeronga.

https://www.yerongauniforms.com/product-category/schools/st-pauls-primary-camden/