St Paul's Bulletin Term 2 Week 9 2024

Principal's Message

Dear St Paul, 

Help me to follow your example of joyfully sharing God’s message with others. 

Please pray that I might remain strong in faith like you, even when things seem hard. 

Amen 

Dear Parents and Carers,  

Today, we celebrated St Paul’s Day and the 60th Birthday Celebration of our school. St Paul is not only our school patron but one of the most influential saints of all time. Following his conversion from persecuting Christians, he joined the Apostles in spreading the message of Jesus. He made long journeys by boat to visit towns and cities, from Corinth to Philippi, telling people about Jesus and baptising them. He wrote 13 letters to the people in those towns and those letters now make up 13 books of the New Testament.  

Our 60th Birthday Celebrations continue tomorrow in the Josephite Centre with Mass at 9am to give thanks to God for the past 60 years. All current and past students, staff and parents are invited! We are expecting a great crowd and are excited to be welcoming back the Sisters of St Joseph, who established St Paul’s back in 1964. Following Mass will be morning tea and ‘a walk down memory lane’ in the school hall. The conclusion of the celebration will be the burying of a time capsule. Year 6 has been tasked with selecting the time capsule's contents. We hope you can join us tomorrow! 

Our teachers have been busy writing the children’s Mid-Year Reports which will be released on Compass tomorrow. I have read every one of them. Most children will receive a ‘Sound’ grade for each Key Learning Area. A ‘Sound’ is to be celebrated and congratulated. It means your child is working at grade level and achieving at a level that is appropriate for them; they are achieving as would be expected according to the Syllabus outcomes. This grading is a compilation of many tasks that your child has completed throughout the first semester of this year. The reports for Kinder are slightly different as it is not a requirement that children in Kinder are graded according to the Common Grade Scale. Learning in Kinder is assessed for the effort and application displayed by the students.  

As teachers, one of the most important aspects of the report is the ‘Commitment to Learning’. We know children have a wide variance in abilities (up to six years’ difference in some classes) but we expect every child to be committed to their learning. Please celebrate and congratulate your children for their continued commitment to learning! Reports go live today on Compass.

Parent Student Teacher Interviews will be held in Week 2 of next term and will focus on setting learning goals for the rest of the year. Of course, if you have any concerns about your child’s learning at any time, do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Bookings for interviews will open shortly; just go to the ‘Conference’ section in Compass. 

Next week we celebrate NAIDOC Week (which actually falls in the holidays). This year the theme is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud. The week is full of activities. The children may wear ‘Aboriginal’ colours on Wednesday if they wish, or they may wear their sports uniform. Do not go out and buy new clothes in specific colours.. All parents are welcome to join us for our closing ceremony on Friday, July 5, at 8.45am. Our Aboriginal Dance Group, Undi Boraan, will be performing and will be followed by a cleansing ceremony for all. Our ceremony will take place in St Paul's Primary's courtyard. 

Recently, I had the pleasure of joining Year 6 on their excursion to Canberra. While the temperature was low, the energy was high! The children learnt lots about democracy and visiting Parliament House was certainly a highlight of the trip. I thank Miss Sofianos, Mrs Edwards and Mrs Mary Price for organising to be away from their own families to be with your children. The Year 6 children were wonderful ambassadors for our school, and we were very proud of them!  

Next term, Mrs Sue Coull will continue long service leave from her EALD role and Mrs Dionne Mitchell will continue to replace her, Mrs Belinda Mayal will commence in Year 3 Gold for the rest of the year replacing Mrs Tess Jacobson as she prepares for the birth of her first child, and Mrs Bec Sheehan will continue teaching Year 3 Blue each Thursday and Friday.

The Catholic Schools Office has decided to implement contract cleaners in all schools across the diocese. The contract starts at the beginning of next term, which sadly means that Mrs Lesley Sutherland, our current cleaner, will finish up at the end of this term. Lesley has been at St Paul's for over 10 years, initially as a contractor and more recently as an employee. She has been a dedicated and efficient cleaner, happy to fit around the availability of classrooms and always with a smile. Many thanks, Lesley, for your years of dedicated service to the St Paul's community. We will miss you! Our new contractor, Ventia, will commence in the school holidays. 

Following a process of consultation with the P&F, school-crested blue v-neck sloppy joes will now be part of our uniform. They may be worn by both boys and girls, summer and winter, and are now available from Lowes at Charlestown Square. If you purchase one, please ensure your child’s name is on it. We have many un-named school jackets in the lost property box. These jackets will be given to the uniform pool if unclaimed by the end of the term. 

A huge thank you to Rory Stone (Remi KG) from Rory Stone Landscaper who donated his time and bobcat to clear the drain on the field yesterday. This will make a huge difference to the drainage. Thanks, Rory!

 With every blessing, 

Greg Cumming 

Principal 

Important Dates

Assistant Principal's Message

Semester 1 Reports 

Reports will go live to COMPASS on Friday Week 9. Teachers have been working very hard to assess and write reports for each student. It is always a challenge to succinctly communicate a Semester's worth of learning that is celebratory of achievements / progress and constructive in ways to support the next steps in student learning. I encourage parents to take the time to read the report in detail, especially the curriculum content areas that effectively unpacks the exact learning in each Key Learning Area on which a grade is being awarded. By using focused content, we can be more specific to the exact content or skill set we are reporting to, especially in the subject areas of English and Maths that are so broad.

5-Point Assessment Scale 

The important aspect of these focus areas that are unpacked across each KLA is the 5-point assessment scale that teachers then provide parents about their child's achievement in that focus area (Please note this is a 3-point scale for Kindergarten). 

The 5-point scale is critical for parents to refer to when reading the report to gain clarity on where their child is at. We no longer use letter grades (as it added some confusion) but instead use the following terms to place a child on that scale. The descriptor for each term is provided as well. To achieve the Grade scale SOUND means that the child has been successful in all the grade level learning they have engaged with in that focus area within the Semester. SOUND is a good place to start to understand where your child is placed. If you read the additional clarification of thorough and extensive, you can see this level of the scale involves the application of the skills to new situations, whether that be all or some situations (extensive and thorough respectively). 

Areas of Strength and Development 

Teacher comments on ‘Areas of Strength’ and ‘Areas for Development’ in Religious Education, English and Mathematics are an important aspect of student progress in these Key Learning Areas. Teachers will focus on two areas of strength and one area for development in each report. These comments provide an opportunity to celebrate what a student is doing well and to identify goals for the following semester of learning. 

Standard comments have been developed from the NSW syllabus documents and are aligned to the Literacy and Numeracy Progressions used by all educators to support teaching and learning. Religious Education comments have been developed from Diocesan syllabus documents. These standard comments are used by teachers to provide consistency of feedback and language across Diocesan schools. 

Jessica Moulder

Assistant Principal 

Catholic Culture at St Paul's

Mary Davison

Religious Education Coordinator

Sports News

Regional Athletics Carnival

A reminder that the Lakes Region Athletics Carnival will be held next Wednesday 3rd July (Week 10). Those students who were successful in being chosen to represent St Paul's are asked to meet Mrs Davison (St Paul's Team Manager) at the track at Glendale around 9am (for a 9:30am carnival start). More details for the carnival can be found on the Compass Event.

If you are yet to provide consent and pay via Compass, please do so ASAP. If your child has not returned the hard copy of the Competitor Code of Conduct Form, please do so by Monday, as failure to complete this form prior to the carnival will mean that your child cannot compete.

If your child attends Little Athletics and is seeking to represent St. Paul's in discus, this event is not held at the Regional or Diocesan levels, and applications are considered for the Polding level. Applications must be submitted with validated, supporting documentation from an official meet. If you believe your child could participate in the discus event at the Polding carnival, please see Mrs Edwards ASAP for a form to complete with their distance from an official meet, as these applications close 3rd July.

Polding Rugby Union

We wish Lachlan Roberts and Xavier Catterson the very best of luck representing our Diocese in Forbes next Monday (1st July) in Rugby Union. We look forward to hearing how you boys go!

Touch Football Gala Day

Those students who expressed interest in attending a touch football gala day will be added to a Compass Event early next week. Please keep an eye out for this event and provide consent ASAP so that teams can be formed. The venue is at Newcastle Trotting Track, Broadmeadow and the dates for these gala days are:

Stage 2 (Year 3/4) August 15th

Stage 3 (Year 5/6) August 1st

Abbey Edwards

Koori News

Canteen News

Canberra Excursion

Our Year 6 students recently embarked on an exciting excursion to Canberra. The trip was an immersive educational experience that built on the learning from the Year 6 History Unit, Australia as a Nation. The students visited iconic landmarks such as Parliament House, Mount Ainslie and old Parliament House, as well as explored the Australian War Memorial, where they gained a deep appreciation for the sacrifices made by soldiers, and were part of The Last Post Ceremony. We also attended many ‘hands-on’ venues such as Questacon, the Australian Institute of Sport and the National Capital Authority. Overall, the Canberra excursion left a lasting impression, enriching the students' knowledge and creating unforgettable memories. The teachers are very proud of how students conducted themselves and represented our school.   

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, they contributed funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program. The rebate was deducted from the cost of the excursion and we are grateful for this contribution.

Creative Arts News

Thank you to those students who have already returned their band interest notes! There has been a lot of interest so Mrs Tantos and Mr Ward are currently collating the instrument preferences and will be in touch soon to let everyone know about the instrument selection they have been given and when we will get started with the program.

A reminder that students will be given instrumental lessons during the day on Wednesday in small groups with Mr Ward to learn their instrument. We will hold Band rehearsals on Wednesday morning from 8 am. Please get in touch for any other clarifying questions. We can’t wait to get started! 

Parish News

Children’s Liturgy is held every Sunday at 9:30am during Holy Mass. We have a beautiful, dedicated room at St Paul’s Gateshead where we hear and discuss the Gospel each week, working our way through the Liturgical Calendar.

There’s always lots of friendship and fun activities.

Safeguarding is our highest priority. Children’s Liturgy will only go ahead if there are two volunteers with current Working With Children Checks.

All are welcome, we look forward to meeting some new friends!

Jacqui Wilson (school mum at St Paul’s Primary) and the Children’s Liturgy Team. 

Please note, while St Paul’s Gateshead Catholic Church is undergoing renovations Children’s Liturgy is at St Mary Immaculate Charlestown 9:30am.

Office Messages

IMPORTANT - School Fees

Just a reminder that parents who pay annually need to finalise payments by 30th June, 2024

Thank you to the families who have commenced their regular payments. A reminder if you are paying by installments these payments need to have commenced to be paid in full by 30th November, 2024.

Anyone wishing to continue with a special Fee Agreement in 2024, please contact the office 4943 6369 to make an appointment with the Principal to discuss. It is necessary to reapply for an extension of the agreements into 2024

Complaints, Resolution and Feedback

St Paul’s Primary School, The Catholic Schools Office (CSO) and Schools in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle are committed to providing a positive, safe environment for all staff and students. There are occasions, however, when members of our schools and wider community are concerned about something happening at a school that appears to be unsatisfactory or unreasonable.

If you have a complaint, please follow this procedure.