St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter 2021 Term 3, Week 6
Principal's Message
Good afternoon St Paul’s Families,
Last night we held our August school board meeting (via Zoom) and when the meeting was finished I felt a true moment of gratitude for the support, the diversity of views and the wisdom shared in our time together. I was once again reminded of the importance of decision-making for our school community and the impact that these decisions have on others. Sometimes the world around us brings a sense of uncertainty and this can sometimes be scary. It is important that we continue to make decisions that will help us during these uncertain times.
Since our last newsletter, a number of decisions (especially around the COVID situation) have been made for our school community – the greatest one - to postpone the school concert that we should be preparing for this evening. We have confirmed that to mitigate the risk of the show being canceled again should we encounter another wave of restrictions; we will hold our concert here on site on Thursday, September 16th. Any tickets that have been purchased through Darwin Entertainment Centre (DEC) will receive a full refund. There will be more information to come about final arrangements so please keep your eye on Operoo emails (and be sure to ‘action’ those that require action).
A couple of weeks ago I listened to a TED Talk, ‘The Three Secrets of Resilient People’, by Lucy Hone and a couple of things have sat with me since. We hear the word ‘resilience’ all the time and sometimes question whether resilience is of ‘nature or nurture’ – are we born with it or can we learn it? Lucy Hone believes that we can develop resilience and there are three key things we can do to develop resilience in our children and ourselves. 1) know that tough times will come and they will go; 2) place attention on the good things in our lives, knowing that some things can be changed and accepting the things that can’t be changed; 3) making decisions about what is helpful / harmful in our lives. I was reassured that these three things are a perfect match for the MJR (Making Jesus Real) attributes that we focus on with our children here at school. When you have a spare fifteen minutes, you may want to view it.
Next week, we will acknowledge Father’s Day with a breakfast and a Liturgy to give thanks for our fathers and those in our lives who play the role of a father figure. Please see further details in the newsletter and note the volunteer link if you can spare some time to help with our breakfast or our stall.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and patience over the last couple of weeks with restrictions in place. Please note, we will not have parents at our assembly tomorrow but will instead live stream the assembly on Facebook for those who would like to ‘tune in’.
We hope to see many of you at our Children’s Mass this Sunday at 8:30.
May your hearts be filled with generosity,
Ms. Megan Evans
2021 SCHOOL TERM DATES
SEMESTER 2
TERM 3 (10 Weeks)
10/09/2021 Friday Catholic Identity Day - Pupil Free Day - School Office Closed
24/09/2021 Friday Last day of Term 3
27/09/2021 Monday to 08/10/2021 Friday Term Break
TERM 4 (10 Weeks)
11/10/2021 Monday Students return
16/12/2021 Thursday Last day for students
17/12/2021 Friday Last day for teaching staff
UNIFORM ORDERS
There has been another delay in our uniform orders due to the Covid restrictions. We hope to receive our remaining orders in the coming week. Thank you yet again for your patience.
If required, orders can be exchanged for larger sizes. Students in Year 6 awaiting orders are welcome to request a refund, please email Tahlia at: admin.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
Families will be advised when their orders are ready for collection. We send sincerest apologies to all families that are still waiting and thank you for your patience yet again!
Upcoming Events
St Paul’s School Concert
Any tickets that have been purchased through Darwin Entertainment Centre (DEC) will receive a full refund. Darwin Entertainment Centre will be in contact with those families who had purchased tickets over the next few days.
Book Week Character Parade will be held:
Week 8: Thursday 9th September
Theme: Old Worlds, New Worlds & Other Worlds
You will be able to pay online, please see the link below:
or
Students will also be able to pay by cash only at the fair
Religious Education News
Greetings dear Parents and Carers,
How lovely was the rain on Tuesday night? It came at the start of our new MJR focus ‘Care of Creation’. The students are keen to commit to actions that will contribute towards sustainabilitiy of our common home. Many have pledged to go ‘nude food’ which means reusable containers to replace plastic wrap. Some have even suggested planting a fruit tree or a vegetable garden. No doubt there will be many family discussions regarding this very important issue.
Confirmation
The second meeting for the Confirmation candidates has been changed to Tuesday 31st August at 6pm at St Paul’s church.
Confirmation date: Saturday 18th September at 6:pm Mass at St Pauls.
Children’s Mass
Sunday 29th August – Room 12 will be hosting. Everyone is welcome to attend this special Mass.
Father’s Day Liturgy
A Father’s Day liturgy will be celebrated after a cooked barbeque on Friday 3rd September at 8:30am.
Happy Father’s Day to all those who extend love, kindness, patience, good teaching and wisdom to their loved ones.
Prayer from Pope Francis
Pope Francis’ A Prayer For Our Earth
Please use this link to share this beautiful video prayer with your family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaTJF1AkwcA&t=1s
O Lord, grant us the grace to grow deeper in our respect of
And care for your Creation.
O Lord, help us to recognize the sacredness of all of your
Creatures as signs of your wondrous love.
O Lord, help us turn from the selfish consumption of
Resources meant for all and to see the impacts of our
choices on the poor and vulnerable. Amen
jesuitresource.org
Weekly Awards: Week 5 & 6
Please note: no parents at assembly this week
Week 5 Awards will be awarded at Week 6 Assembly
PE News
General Information/News
OFFICE HOURS: The school office is open 7:50am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday during term time.
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: 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.
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 is now open 5 days a week as of the 15th of March
Tuesdays and Thursdays will have a limited menu, please refer to Quickcliq for available items.
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
Community Flyers
To be eligible for first round offers, and to ensure that an interview has been conducted, completed applications must be received by O’Loughlin Catholic College by Thursday 26th of August.
Our proposed interview dates for Term 3 are; 28 July, 11 August and 1st September.
First round offers will be announced via post Term 3 Week 8.