St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter 2022 Term 3, Week 2
Principal's Message
Good afternoon St Paul’s families,
As you read this newsletter, I will probably be in Geelong helping my son pack up his room, do a final check of travel documents and be a crying blubbering mess as I prepare to farewell him on his way to the United States where he has attained a four-year scholarship to play American football. He is not an amazing athlete (of course, as a mum, I have always thought he was pretty talented) nor did he get the highest ATAR score when he completed Year 12, but four years ago he decided that he would try to get a scholarship to the USA to be a punter on an American football team and so this is where we are today!
The reason I am sharing this story is because this is a story of trust – trusting the process and trusting in God’s plan (although as 23 year-old, he may not see that last bit). It is a story of a kid setting a target, working hard, taking risks and backing himself to achieve his goal. Of course, he has had bumps along the way - take two-years of COVID as blocker for example, but he has remained focused on the goal and trusted the process (even when some people doubted he was going to make it – maybe even his mum at times).
A couple of weeks ago, I rang our children to tell them that I had been offered the position of O’Loughlin Catholic College and expressed how torn I was with the decision because of how much I love being part of the St Paul’s community. It was at this moment, that the words that I have often said to our children during challenging moments in their life were spoken back to me: ‘trust the process…maybe this is part of the bigger script.’
And so here we are today. Thank you for the congratulatory messages over the last few weeks. I am also trying to convince myself that those who say they ‘are not speaking about it at the moment’, is means of congratulations! Over the coming months, there will be a selection process for appointing our new school principal. The position has recently been advertised and within the following months (it is a long process), we will know who will be leading St Paul’s beyond 2022. At this moment, we need to trust the process. We have been affirmed on many occasions that we are a school that is leading the way in so many areas of curriculum development and pastoral care. I am confident that this will continue to be the way in the future. We just need to trust the process and have faith in God’s plan.
May the spirit of Jesus shine on your long weekend.
Megan
School Photos have JUST arrived!
They are yet to be sorted then will be handed out after next week.
Click on the survey link and share your feedback to assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal Government and Catholic education.
Upcoming Events
As you know things are well under-way for our 2022 Art Show (Friday, August 12th)- 'Care for our Common Home.' You may have seen the preparation for new mural -let's hope your child remembered their smock!
Sponsorship opportunity: Thank you to those in our community with businesses who have already taken up this opportunity to sponsor our upcoming Art Show. If you are interested in taking up this unique opportunity to advertise your business by being a sponsor of the Art Show, please contact ArtShow2022@stpaulsnightcliff.com by Friday, August 5th (with your business logo) - see more information below.
Family Art Showcase: Have you and your family started a family art piece yet? If not, there is still plenty of time. Pieces should be submitted via the front office by Monday, August 8th. Collect recycled or upcycled materials, be inspired by Laudato Si and create a beautiful piece of art.
Pre-payment: As many people do not 'carry cash', we will give families an opportunity to pre-pay for some items at the art show. Families will be able to pre-order grazing platters (V and GF available), Tote bags (create your own design) and colourful chairs (paint your own chair). Please look out for further details about this on Operoo. Cash will also be accepted on the night and we also hope to have an EFTPOS reader on the evening.
P&F Volunteering: A link to sign up to help at the bar and platter stand will be sent out soon. Anyone can sign up and if you have your RSA (responsible service of alcohol), this is a bonus. Remember that if lots of people help, then everyone gets to enjoy the event.
Raffle Tickets: You will have received an Operoo asking you to 'accept' a Raffle Book. If you selected 'accept' you will be distributed a raffle book next week. When you return your book, there may be another one to collect (we only have limited tickets). PLEASE ENSURE that ALL tickets are returned to the school by Wednesday, August 10th - with such a great prize and cost of $5, these tickets are hot property so please return books so that we can sell all tickets to maximise our fundraising.
Order of events:
Gates Open - 5:00pm
Opening ceremony - 5:30pm
Enjoy the art show and activities
Raffle drawn and art auction - 7:00pm
Australian Mathematics Competitions
Wednesday 3rd August
Next Wednesday 22 students ranging from Year 3-6 will compete in the Australian Mathematics Competitions.
The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives. It is open to students in years 3 to 12. Australia’s leading educators and academics, with a deep understanding of our national curriculum standards, actively design the unique AMC problems each year.
We congratulate these students on their willingness to aim high in their mathematical learning. Later in the year their results will be sent home.
ELC & OSHC will be closed on the
16th of December 2022
St Paul's P & F
General Information/News
PLEASE CHECK PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS IN NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ON SZAPP FOR ST PAUL'S GENERAL INFORMATION
St Paul's Staffing News
We recently farewelled Miss Anna-Lea Higgins and Miss Anna from our ELC. Miss Anna-Lea is devoting more time to her studies and Miss Anna has taken up a teaching position at a local primary school. We have recently appointed a new Director of ELC / OSHC, Mrs Cathy Acton and two new educators, Manpreet Kaur and Brenda Johnson. We are thrilled to have them as part of our team and know you will make them feel welcome.
Rochelle De-la-Mare (Mrs Del) has returned from Maternity Leave and has resumed her role as Religious Education Coordinator and will be teaching in Room 12 on Thursdays and Room 4 on Fridays.
Mrs Libby Rosewarne looks forward to continuing her role in Room 12 for the remainder of the year.
We also welcome Annabel Oliver who will be teaching Health and Wellbeing as a specialist subject for Semester 2. As you are aware, Margy Woods has taken leave for twelve months, and despite advertising for almost a term, we were unable to fill the specialist role of the Indonesian language position. Whilst we know that many of the children will miss their Indonesian lessons, this is an excellent opportunity for us to continue our work in developing the recently mandated ‘Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum’.
We also welcome Caitlyn Morrison who will be assisting us in a casual administration role, so when you see an unfamiliar face at the reception desk or hear an unfamiliar voice answer the phone, you will know who it is.
Can you help?
With the current climate with the rental market we have a couple of families in our community that are struggling to find rentals for their families.
If you could be of any assistance with this please email admin.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
Social Media - Keeping Our Kids Safe
It has come to our attention that some of our (older) students have registered with the social media site – Discord. Please see information on the link below to assist parents with your judgement about whether you think your children are using this site. We do not recommend this site for young people. Please note that school emails are not to be used for anything other than school work. It seems that some children have used their school email address to sign up for this. It is really important for your child’s safety that internet use is monitored by an adult and it is recommended that devices are used in a shared space in the home i.e. not in bedrooms or places where adults are not present.
ELC & OSHC NEWS
WELCOME CATHY, MANPREET & BRENDA!
We would like to welcome Cathy as the new Assistant Director for the ELC and OSHC. Cathy is excited and looking forward to caring for and educating your child and working together with you to ensure your child’s time at St Paul’s ELC & OSHC is a fun, playful and exciting experience for us all.
We also welcome Manpreet & Brenda whom we are so grateful to have them add their wonderful talents to the ELC!
School Counselling Program
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the School Counsellor from CatholicCare NT. I am located St Paul’s Catholic Primary School one day a week on Wednesdays and I'm here to provide students with support and emotional well-being. Through the School Counselling Program during a counselling session I conduct Child Centred Play Therapy modality which is a developmentally appropriate, evidenced based, therapeutic intervention for school aged children from 3-11 years old. This approach is based on the belief that "play is therapy" for children, like when adults talk through their problems to solve them, here children play through their problems to solve them.
What is Play Therapy?
Play therapy builds on the child’s inner resources and strengths, which are supported by the therapeutic relationship to bring about growth, development and healing in the child. Play therapy helps children develop confidence and positive self-esteem, find healthier ways of communicating and can promote resilience and coping, in ways that are appropriate to their developmental stage.
Here are some of the following referral reasons that your child may be struggling with and that Play Therapy can be an effective therapeutic approach by referring to the School Counselling Program; divorce & separation of parents, anxiety & depression, low self-esteem & self-confidence, social difficulties, angry & aggressive behaviour, trauma & abuse, grief & loss, autism spectrum disorder, attachment issues… and more…
Play therapy is a gentle intervention that provides a safe and secure space for chil dren to process their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through their first and most natural language; play!
Referrals can be made through completing the form which is avalaible on request at: admin.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
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