St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter 2022 Term 3, Week 6
Principal's Message
Good afternoon St Paul’s families,
In the last newsletter, there was a link to a survey from Catholic School Parents Australia, (CPSA) which some of you may have completed but others may have skipped (I know how busy we all are). I just wanted to highlight an opportunity as the Northern Territory does not have representation and some of you may be interested in finding out a little more or wanting to share your voice at a national level. CSPA works in collaboration and consultation with the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC)- the peak body for Catholic education in Australia. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact greg.omullane@nt.catholic.edu.au
Next week, Jo Knight and myself will be attending the NCEC Conference in Melbourne and we look forward to hearing from key note speakers, educational experts and joining in professional conversations around current trends and best practice in teaching and learning and student wellbeing. We anticipate much of this will help to guide us in focussing our strategic direction beyond 2022.
As you are aware, this year, we narrowed our focus to achieve five key aims in 2022 and I wanted to take this newsletter as an opportunity to update you on our progress.
- St Paul’s Pedagogical Framework – this has undergone several consultation phases with staff and was presented to our school board on Wednesday evening. We are looking forward to launching this and linking elements of this to our website by the end of 2022.
- St Paul’s Data Plan – data gathering and interpretation is a growing area. Dr Selena Fisk will attend St Paul’s staff meeting next week to further develop staff capacity in this area.
- Professional Learning – we continue to work with Guy Glover from CENT and Guy Constable from Learning Through Doing (LTD) to improve teaching of numeracy. All teachers are implementing The Writing Revolution to improve student writing. All ISAs recently attended professional learning with Demi Koulendianos, Speech Pathologist (CENT) around structured social skills programs.
- St Paul’s Commitment to Laudato Si – we held a very successful Art Show (thank you again everyone) and we will be rolling out a new bin system in Term 4. Please take small steps to make your child’s lunchbox more sustainable with landfill.
- St Pauls’ Master Plan – we continue to work on our Master Plan. Our toilet refurbishment is due to commence by the end of Term 3. Information regarding the logistics of temporary toilets during this upgrade will be sent as separate correspondence. We know these changes will cause some discomfort for some students but we will aim to minimise anxiety around this.
I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate to parents that if you have any concern about your child or any other school matters it is important that you contact your child’s teacher or myself directly. We pride ourselves on having a school that welcomes community voice and focuses on bringing positive solutions to any difficult situations that arise.
I pray that the spirit of Jesus is filling your hearts this week in your thoughts and actions.
God bless,
Megan
Click on the survey link and share your feedback to assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal Government and Catholic education.
Upcoming Events
PUPIL FREE DAY on Friday 28th October 2022
ELC and OSHC will be open 7:30am-5:30pm
Complete Operoo form to register for OSHC - this will be sent out 2 weeks before
ELC & OSHC will be closed on the
16th of December 2022
General Information/News
PLEASE CHECK PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS IN NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ON SZAPP FOR ST PAUL'S GENERAL INFORMATION
Dear Library Borrowers,
It is the responsibility of the student who has checked out a library book in their name to find their overdue library book for return. If the student has left the book somewhere at school it it their reponsibility to find it and take it to the library and ensure it is checked back in.
Thank you for your cooperation :)
Dear St Paul's families,
This is a friendly reminder that School finishes at 2.35pm and children can be picked up from steps within the school ground or at the express carpark lane, both of which are supervised by a teacher.
Students left waiting at 2.50pm are sent to our Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) located on the school grounds and families will be charged the casual OSHC fee of $30. Our OSHC operates from 2.45pm to 5.30pm on school days.
We thank you for your understanding.
Room 10 Class News
Art Show
We worked very hard to produce a number of exciting pieces of art to help spread the messages of Laudato Si - care for our common home. The Art Show was a wonderful celebration for not only our class but for the St Paul’s community.
Canticle of Creatures
One of the influences of Laudato Si is this prayer written by St Francis of Assisi in 1223. We are using this prayer in our daily prayer times.
History has been a big focus in our English and HaSS times. In Weeks 5 & 6 we looked at some of the history of Darwin. These are some of our children’s examples of learning.
In Week 6, we finished the week presenting the Assembly before the Book Week Parade. We certainly had a big crowd and our children did a fantastic job out front of such a large turnout.
A job well done.
Cheers from Room 10
ELC & OSHC NEWS
The ELC will be holding the Father’s Day liturgy in the church on Friday 2nd September.
We would love for you to join us in celebrating our wonderful Fatherly figures.
Introducing the *NEW* HubHello Parent Portal & iPay for OSHC & ELC!!!
We have heard your feedback and have found a more convenient way for families (and us) to manage bookings and payments for ELC & OSHC. There will be no additional cost for families to use these services (unless a payment reversal/rejection occurs through iPay which will incur a $50 fee).
OSHC & ELC families will have received two emails this week, one with informtation about the new HubHello and iPay system and the other with their login details. . If you do not receive the login details – then you are either not currently an active family or your email needs to be updated. PLEASE READ THE EMAILS AND ATTACHMENTS CAREFULLY.
We hope this makes life a little easier for families to manage their ELC & OSHC accounts and welcome your feedback.
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
Community Flyers
