St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter Term 2, Week 6 2021

Principal's Message

Dear St Paul’s Families,

This week we have been blessed to come together as a school community on a number of occasions to recognise our history.

On Monday May 24^th, along with every other Catholic school in Australia, we celebrated 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. We are grateful to those who have gone before us. We especially think of our founders, the MSC Priests and Brothers and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. If they had not seen the need for education in Darwin, we would not be here today. It is hard to believe that 200 years ago, parents did not have an option to send their children to a Catholic school. We appreciate the hard work and effort of those who struggled to have Catholic schools recognised and supported by past governments. We thank Mrs Del, Ibu Margy and Room 12 for their efforts in leading this Mass and to Fr John for making it so special.

Of course, the history of Catholic education, like our nation, is one with a blemished past. This week we commemorated National Sorry Day and recognised the intergenerational impact of the Stolen Generations. It was a beautiful service and we thank Miss Bindi, Miss Sally and Mr Daniel for their preparation. We especially thank the children and their families for sharing their stories with us. Please see below, the words of one of our families:

‘It is a day that is really so emotional for me and I felt so proud to have the school make it so special, to acknowledge the day in such a thoughtful way, and to have our kids lead the service. I loved how the kids walked in carrying their items close to their heart. I loved the words they spoke and how brave they all were to speak about what they brought to the service.’

Tomorrow, we will celebrate Reconciliation Week at our assembly. Reconciliation Week celebrates the anniversaries 1967 Referendum and Mabo Day. Once again, this is an opportunity to give thanks for those strong men and women who fought for justice and to ensure that their hard work is continued so that everyone has an opportunity to live a life of freedom with pride.

In the week that was a celebration of Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit continue to guide you.

Ms Megan Evans

Year 1/2 Darwin Museum Excursion

Arlo - We saw a skeleton of a turtle.

Lola – I saw Sweetheart the big crocodile.

Joshua – I liked the boats and the dinosaur skeleton.

Kiana – When we went into Cyclone Tracy, it was dark and scary.

Tom – We saw Sweetheart the huge crocodile who was super loud.

Billy – Its name was Sweetheart and there was a little button and I made a warning noise to scare the humans and the predators.

Charlie – When we saw Cyclone Tracey, I saw an olden day telephone on a bench in the house.

Hananiah – We went to see Sweetheart and the long neck turtle and Cyclone Tracy.

Anish – At the museum there is a sound booth. It sounded very scary.

Lucien – I liked the birds because there was a big black tail eagle. It was cool.

Jesleen – I really liked the Small World.

Elanor – We went to the sound booth and we heard the noise of Cyclone Tracy.

Cassandra – I saw a snake that almost ate a mouse.

Magnus – I went into the Cyclone Room and it was dark and stormy.

Lewis – I went into the Aboriginal Art. It was amazing.

Austin – I liked the dinosaur’s bones but I did not know that the dinosaurs were so big.

Kirsten – We got see a turtle and it was swimming in the pond.

Stella – We also saw the wa tji bird and it was blue, black and white.

Evelyn – We saw a big nose turtle.

Margot – Sweetheart is a boy and he is so rough and bumpy.

Upcoming Events

RE News

First Holy Communion Program 2021

Dates to Remember:

Weekend 29/30^th May – Presentation of Children to the Community at all Masses – children will be involved in the Mass at the 8.30am Children’s Mass.

Preparation and Cleaning of Church: Saturday 5^th June at 9am - parents to attend

Celebration of the Sacrament:  Saturday 5^th June at 6pm at Vigil mass. Please bring a plate of finger-food for shared celebration following Mass

(Celebration Cake and drinks for children will be provided)

NOTE: The Sunday Eucharist is celebrated here at St Paul’s on Saturday evening 6pm, Sunday morning at 8.30am and Sunday evening 6pm.
We encourage you to attend Mass each weekend. Particularly encourage you to attend the children’s Mass on the last Sunday of each month at 8.30am Mass; the children are very much involved in these Masses!

Helen:                                   0407 556 555

Mrs De La Mare:                8985 1911 (St Paul’s School)

Mrs Evans:                           8985 1911 (St Pauls School)

Sr Anna:                                8985 3128    0457572814

Fr John:                                 8985 2343 or 0402850084

Fr. Bartha:                            8985 2343 or 0408014336

Weekly Awards: Week 5 & Week 6

Week 6 MJR Teamwork Awards- will  be shown after Friday's assembly 

Classroom News

General Information/News

OFFICE HOURS: The school office is open 7:50am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday during term time.

UNIFORM ORDERS: This week we received some of our shorts order from the supply company. If you ordered shorts please come to the office to collect them. Hopefully this means it will only be a few more weeks until we expect to receive our complete order (remaining shirts and shorts orders). Families will be advised when their orders are ready for collection. We thank you for your patience, Covid restrictions have made this process lengthier than we would wish.

LOST PROPERTY: Please check the names on your children's hats and other property as we have discovered that children are accidentally taking other children's belongings home.

SCHOOL FEES:  School fee invoices have now been sent out to all families via email, please contact us if you have not received your email. When paying fees please ensure you include a reference for what the payment is for, either 'School Fees', 'OSHC Fees' or 'ELC fees' in the name.

SIBLING DISCOUNT: If you have more than 1 child studying at a Catholic School in the NT, you will be eligible for a sibling discount. Please contact finance.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au to inform our finance team of which schools your other children attend.

Rm  4 Transition - Miss Jo  & Sr Hilde   - SPORT DAY: Tuesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Friday

Rm 1  Yr 1-2  -  Miss Mona   -   SPORT DAY: Tuesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Thursday

Rm 2  Yr 1-2  -  Mr C   -  SPORT DAY: Wednesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Friday 

Rm 8  Yr 3-4 -  Miss Mandy & Sr Hilde  - SPORT DAY: Wednesday   LIBRARY DAY:  Monday

Rm 9  Yr 3-4  -  Miss Alex   - SPORT DAY: Tuesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Thursday

Rm 12  Yr 5-6  -  Mrs Del & Miss Margy - SPORT DAY: Tuesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Tuesday

Rm 13  Yr 5-6  -  Miss Lauren & Miss Jess - SPORT DAY: Wednesday  LIBRARY DAY:  Wednesday

Rm 14  Yr 5-6  -  Mrs Pond  - SPORT DAY: Wednesday  LIBRARY DAY: TBA

BOOK CLUB ORDERS: Book Club orders are sent out from Scholastic through the school twice per term.   We use the “LOOP” system which means online ordering only.  For more information on how to do this please see the link below www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP

Please remember to use your child’s classroom number when ordering.

SPORTS VOUCHERS: Parents are asked to order their voucher online at www.sportsvoucher.nt.gov.au  Simply visit the For Parents or Carers section and scroll down until you find the Request a New or Replacement Sport Voucher link. Please allow 2—4 weeks for delivery to your postal address.    

Semester 2, 2020 Learn to Swim and Sport Voucher applications are now open to apply online.

Semester 1 2021 Learn to Swim and Sports Voucher applications opened 4^th January 2021

Parent or carers are able to print or save the voucher if the child/s details are in the system. If the child/s details are not found, you will receive a voucher to your nominated email within 7 days of applying. Please check your junk/spam folder prior to contacting us if you have applied and not yet received your voucher.

Sport Voucher:

The Sport Voucher Scheme is available to every urban school-enrolled child from preschool to year 12 and home-schooled children. Parents or carers need to apply for vouchers online each semester. All vouchers expire on 31 May each year. Applications close 24 May each year.

Learn to Swim Voucher:

Children under 5 years old and not enrolled in preschool or school may be eligible to receive the Learn to Swim voucher. Children must be registered for the water safety awareness program run by Royal Life Saving Society before you apply. Parents or carers need to apply for vouchers online each semester. All vouchers expire on 31 May each year. Applications close 24 May each year.

PARENT CONTACT DETAILS: Please advise the office of any changes to your contact details. This includes phone numbers, address details and emails. It is vitally important that we have the correct contact number in view of any emergency. Thank you for your assistance in this area.   

INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS: Instrumental lessons will take place again this year with Andrew Arthur, Violin lessons with Kirsty McCullum and Woodwind lessons with Eliza Tobin.  Instrumental lessons will take place each Friday and Violin lessons each Wednesday during school hours.  Contact details for Andrew are – dapa@live.com.au 0428153355 and Kirsty McCullum-  kirstymac@bigpond.com and Eliza Tobin for Woodwind lessons - elizatobin@hotmail.com.

SCHOOL START TIMES: We request that families drop their children off at school as close to 8am as possible.  Should you arrive prior to this time please wait on the steps outside the staffroom before going to the classroom.  At 8:10am the first bell will sound which means the children and parents can then proceed to the classroom.  The classrooms and office will be closed during that time however, recess/lunch trays will be accessible outside the classrooms. 

SCHOOL DENTIST:  St Paul’s does not have on onsite dental clinic, however you can use the Dental Clinic at Nightcliff Primary school. Parents are asked to contact the clinic on 89226466 to arrange an appointment. Parents are to accompany their child to the appointment. There is no charge for this service and it is highly recommended that children’s teeth should be regularly checked. This also includes pre-school children.  

PICKING UP CHILDREN at the end of the school day.  We ask that all parents/carers who will be picking up their child from school please wait in the area outside the office and staffroom. 

CARPARK PICK-UP: In an effort to move the traffic along more quickly and freely we ask that parents safely follow the appropriate procedures.  Should you need to get out and buckle your child in—we ask that you use the car spaces available to do so and not the pick up area. 

CANTEEN NEWS: 

The Canteen will provide recess and lunch through quickcliq.com.au (account set up required). It seems that some children are choosing not to eat food brought from home and are instead requesting snacks and food from the canteen. Please note that families will be invoiced for this so please ensure your child is aware of what food is packed for them each day and that all food is labelled clearly (including packets of snack foods as it is confusing when children have the same snacks.

LUNCHES:  Lunch boxes are taken to the coolroom each morning between 8.15 and 8.30am.  It is important to be at school on time for the smooth running of this program and it is important that all recess and lunch boxes are labelled with your child’s name and Room No.

OSHC NEWS: If you have changed your child’s days from last year or would like more could you please let Anna-Lea or Ihrene know.  If you wish to enrol in the program—Enrolment Forms can be collected from the office or OSHC.  Thank you.

FULL TIME, PART TIME AND CASUAL BOOKED CARE: Please understand that fees will be charged for booked days regardless whether the child attends or not. As we need to consider rosters and menu food that are prepared and organised. There is a subsidy for your fees for this available from Centrelink. Please ring them for more information.

CANCELLATION OF CARE: Two weeks written notice will be required for cancellation of care for both full time and part time children. Change of care days should be supported by email and change to enrolment form. As above, there is a subsidy for your fees for this available from Centrelink. Please ring them for more information.

St Paul's Parents and Friends

We have a very busy term ahead and we will need EVERYONE’S help in some way.

As you will have read in the Principal’s Message, due to very unfortunate circumstances, Bernadette will be temporarily stepping down from her role as President of the P&F. We need someone to step up to help us through this time – you will have lots of support and this is a great way to get to know more people within our school community and a chance to give back. Please contact principal.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au

If you are interested in helping please come to a meeting on the first Tuesday of the month.

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