Dear Parents & Friends,

As I begin to draft this newsletter my thoughts are completely caught up in the fete and how it is such a splendid community event.  To see so many parents, staff and children, firstly give up their whole day in many cases is such a selfless thing. In addition to this, the many meetings attended prior to the day is also another significant consideration.  To add to this further, I can’t speak for family budgets, but I do know that my wallet had $100 in it when I arrived in the morning and I went home with it empty in the evening and there was only me to consider!

So what does this say about our school community?  Firstly, such a wonderful success can only happen in a climate of affirmation.  The whole community, in some way, has shared with each other, invested themselves in our community and recognised the contribution of each person.  The sense of being appreciated allowed us all to be recognised for the people we are and this has created personal investment in our school, by you the parents, as well as the staff and children.  This IS our community.

So how would it look if this wasn’t the case?  Firstly, the fete would not have been a wonderful success where we are creating our rich St Paul’s story, where your children will remember the fete and the excitement leading up to it as well as running around and being free with their friends on the day.  This is truly a unique experience for students in our current society overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. Secondly, it just could not happen in a climate of criticism and negativity where one’s psychic energy is on the defence all the time as this then becomes about the individual and creates alienation.  This IS NOT our community.

The fete has become a celebration of life passages, just like birthdays, Grandparents Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Sacramental celebrations.

As I looked at our work last Saturday at the St Paul’s School Fete, I saw a school that calls itself a true Catholic School where we no longer take a neutral stance about what it means to be Catholic.  Having the symbol of the cross on our walls and our name, St Paul’s, publically designated our school as one founded on Christian principles naturally modelled by all who contributed in some way to this sense of great joy, experienced on this wonderful occasion.  In conclusion to my reflection I leave you with the following question to ponder over :

What was the image of God  portrayed by us all last Saturday and what experience did it create in this school for the children?

I thank you deeply!

Go Gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Fete Raffle Winners

Congratulations!

1st Prize -  (Holiday) - Craig Murphy

2nd Prize - (Diamond Pendant) - Craig

3rd Prize -  (LED TV) - Belinda Loizu

4th Prize -  (Photography Voucher) - Heather Towers

5th Prize - (Race Day Experience) - Santino Vecchio

6th Prize -  (The Chef & I Experience) - Belinda Maurell

Hamper in a Barrow - Maria Mifsud

Teaching and Learning

As educators we continually work towards assisting students to become lifelong learners, by encouraging them to take ownership of their learning through goal setting and self-reflecting on their learning.

It is only fitting that the teachers at St Paul’s are also lifelong learners. Teachers work collaboratively with leadership team members to set capacity building goals and work towards achieving these goals through instructional coaching. Instructional coaching provides teachers with one-to-one support and guidance in working on identified goals. Coaches collaborate with teachers in identifying the focus and then work with them to reflect and improve their practice.

Instructional coaching requires a rigorous cycle of goal setting, co-planning, co-teaching / observing , co-debriefing / co - reflecting.

Lifelong learning is not just for the students. Through collaboration with an Instructional Coach teachers continually reflect and work towards achieving goals to improve their practice.

Mrs Brunetta
Assistant Principal

Compass

Letters were sent home to every parent  outlining how to access the parent portal and your personal login details. This portal provides parents access to the school's student management system so it is imperative that every parent is able to access it. If you did not receive a letter, please make contact with the school office.

Last week a letter went home outlining how parents can book conferences (parent/teacher interviews) and view their child/ren’s academic reports through the COMPASS site.

Parents will be notified when the conference booking portal is open and when the current academic reports can be accessed.

CONFERENCE (PARENT / TEACHER) BOOKING TIMES

EMAILING OF STAFF/TEACHERS 
Parents please do not email staff directly.  Should you need to email your child’s class teacher or any member of St Paul’s Staff for any reason please email info@spcdow.catholic.edu.au and the school office will forward the email onto the teacher.

ABSENCE
When your child is absent from school please only telephone the school office on the third consecutive day. You may explain your child's absence via COMPASS or a note explaining your child’s absence to their class teacher.

PARKING IN MITCHELL STREET
When dropping and collecting your child from school you must park in a designated car park and walk your child into the school. It is not safe to park in the driveways or double park in Mitchell Street.  Please keep the safety of all of our families in mind.

WOOLWORTHS EARN & LEARN

We are excited to be taking part in the 2019 Woolworths Earn & Learn program. During previous campaigns, we were able to purchase some great resources with the points earned.

Collect your stickers at Woolworths and for every $10 you spend, you will receive a sticker. Your children can then place them on the special sticker sheet. Once completed, bring it to school or drop them into your local Woolworths collection box.

Our community has been deeply saddened by the passing of one of our parents Mrs Peta Willard. Mrs Willard is survived by her husband Nathan and two sons Fletcher and Parker.

Peta’s funeral was held at St Paul’s Church on Friday, 17 May 2019. Our school community was represented by several staff members as well as some families. Peta was a much-loved mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, friend, teacher and mentor. She will be missed by many.

We ask you to continue to keep the repose of Peta’s soul in your prayers and to pray for strength for Nathan, Fletcher, Parker and their extended family.

Eternal rest
Grant unto her
O Lord
And may perpetual light
Shine upon her
May she rest in peace

National Sorry Day & Reconciliation Week

National Sorry Day 2019 falls this year on Sunday, 26 May 2019 and is a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  

It leads us into the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week.

National Reconciliation Week is held each year between May 27 & June 3, 2019. It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements. It is also a time to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Gospel calls us to stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.     

It is our Christian responsibility to stand for and contribute to a vision of a reconciled, just and equitable Australia.

At St Paul’s we will focus on Reconciliation Week on Friday, 24 May 2019 during our Prayer Assembly.

Minor vs Major

The students here at St Paul’s are continually learning to read, write and do Mathematics. They are also still learning behaviours and our expectations. Just like the students who need help with academic learning, some students need help with learning social behaviours. This is the purpose of SPB4L - to teach the students expectations and right from wrong.

If students are not compliant, staff at St Paul’s will follow the Classroom and Playground Correction Sequence.  This will outline to staff the procedure for frequent ‘minor’ and ‘major’ behaviours.

Each fortnight, our SPB4L entry in the newsletter will follow a new format. In order for SPB4L to be successful at St Paul’s all staff and students are explicitly taught the weekly targets and expectations. We ask that you, the parents,  also show your support by following the table presented each fortnight. Please take the time each fortnight to view the table so that you have a full understanding of what is being taught and expected by all parties. We thank you in anticipation of working together to make St Paul’s a Safe, Respectful and Responsible environment.

Naplan Online Update

I am pleased to inform you that we have finished our Naplan Online Testing. I would like to commend all the students for embracing the online approach to complete the tests. When I asked the students for their feedback, many of them said that they preferred the online test compared to the paper-base booklet style. When I asked them why, the responses varied; “I didn’t feel nervous, as I only saw one question (on the screen) at a time but when I was in Year 3, I was nervous as soon as I saw how many questions I had to answer in the booklet”, “I like the fact you can flag questions and come back to double-check it easily”, “The personal clock on my screen kept me on track and I didn’t need to look around the room and then get distracted, I felt I was pretty focused”.

I understand many parents have mixed reviews about completing the testing online but we must remember that our children are growing up at a rapid rate, in a technological world where many students (even before they begin school), are able to navigate a device whether it’s an iPad, iPhone and/or a laptop. Throughout the tests, our students were very capable at navigating the NAPLAN site and our school was well prepared to operate multiple devices at once with minimal and minor connectivity issues. Thank you Year Three and Five Teachers for ensuring that students were  familiar with the test formats and providing the students with appropriate support and guidance.

Finally, Naplan tests the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, such as reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy. It is important to remember that Naplan is not about passing or failing, but about assessing learning progress. At the classroom level it is one of a number of important tools used by teachers to measure student progress and it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. The Online Testing provided tailored (or adaptive) testing, designed to assess a wider range of student abilities and to measure student achievement more precisely. The children were not concerned if they found a question more challenging than usual. A student’s overall Naplan score is based on the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly.

Congratulations to all Year 3 and 5 students who sat the Naplan 2019!

Mrs Andrea Martin
Naplan Coordinator

Here at St Paul’s, our ‘Sustainable Team,’ meet every Friday and discuss our plans in promoting environmental education initiatives which involves maintaining our garden areas and protecting our shared environment. We are actively engaged in recycling our biodegradable products and provide students the opportunity to think about sustainable solutions. Our Garden Club helps to build our students perspective in facing the enormous global challenges of our times by making them more environmentally conscious.

Mr Robinson

Thank you

 

Fete Thank You

Thank_you_fete_2019_1_.pdf

Thank_you_fete_2019_1 pdf 74.31 KB