St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter 2022 Term 4, Week 6
Principal's Message
Dear St Paul’s families,
Today as I was driving to school, I was alerted to the fact that tomorrow is International Men’s Day. Listeners were phoning in to give a ‘shout out’ to their ‘top blokes’. When I got to school, I read the Bishop’s Daily Reflection and realized that today is the feast day of St Peter and St Paul – two ‘top blokes’ in the founding of the Catholic Church. Tonight, I will head to TIO Stadium to watch one of our young ISAs, Harry Ling, play a football match that he will remember for the rest of his life as he will be playing against one of the AFLs ‘top blokes’ – Garry Ablett Jnr. It is so important for our children to have these ‘top blokes’ in their lives – to inspire them, to keep them safe and to nurture them.
It makes me sad that we have so few men in our schools, especially in our primary schools and I am so grateful for the men who we have working here at St Paul’s. Whilst we a couple of male teachers here (three cheers for Mr C and Mr Derrick), we support staff and ISAs who are tremendous role-models to our children. I also love that at the end of the day we have so many dads and grand-dads who come to pick children up and are a presence in our school.
As part of the Catholic Church, we have Jesus as one of our greatest male role-models. Stories that have been passed down for thousands of years, tell us that he was a man of forgiveness, inclusivity and wisdom. We continue to pass this message on to your children so that they can grow to be and grow to know, many top blokes in their lives!
May the spirit of Jesus continue to fill your hearts.
Megan
Well done to Samantha Rocio for placing in the Short Listed 9 to 12 Years category of the Young Territory Author Awards 2022.
Samantha's story is about a girl who reads a book and gets transported into the world of the book and spends her time trying to get back to the real world.
We are so proud of you Samantha!
Events
St Paul's Children's University Graduation
This year a whopping 27 of our St Paul's students graduated from Children's University this year at the graduation ceremony held at Charle's Darwin University on Monday 14th November. We are so immensely proud of the hard work and achievements of our students.
We congratulate the following students:
Matilda Uden for receiving the National Silver Postgraduate Award for 465 hours
Pippa Elliott for receiving the National Gold Degree for 400 hours
Oscar O'Reilly for receiving the National Bronze Diploma for 230 hours
Anha Charan for receiving the National Gold Certificate for 200 hours
Samantha Rocio for receiving the National Silver Certificate for 165 hours
These students received the National Bronze Certificate for 130 hours:
Bella Esguerra
Tallulah Evans
Malena Markez
These students received the National Gold Award for 100 hours:
Marls Esguerra
Sara Markez
Beatrize Tagufa
Deanna Tagufa
These students received the National Gold Award for 100 hours:
Marls Esguerra
Sara Markez
Beatrize Tagufa
Deanna Tagufa
These students received the National Bronze Award for 30 hours:
Hans Bigendako
Alexander Brotherton
Lola Bruce
Dana Caraig
Matilda Culgan
Esther Dhanaraj
Kai Johnson
Emilia Markez
Olive Mills
Ellena Novak
Sophie Roberts
Tayla Young
General Information/News
PLEASE CHECK PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS IN NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ON SZAPP FOR ST PAUL'S GENERAL INFORMATION
School Fee Update
Dear St Paul's families,
Please be advised that processes in our Finance department are experiencing delays due to movement of our finance staff within Catholic Education NT. We thank you for your patience as processes are now underway with final School Fee Invoices expected to be sent out via email to families during the first week of December. If you have a balance remaining and do not receive your invoice by mid December please first check your junk mail then contact finance at finance.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
School Fee Increase 2023:
Please also be advised that there will be an increase in school fees next year. This is due to the tuition fee increase as decided by Catholic Education NT (see circular from CENT below) and also the introduction of the ICT levy of $250 per child with a limit of $500 per family.
We thank you for your understanding.
LIBRARY NEWS
Week 7 will be the last week to borrow any books from the library
Please ensure all borrowed books and readers are returned to the library by week 8
Thank you
Birthday Treats
This is a friendly notice that if it is a child's birthday, we ask that you do not bring any food or treats. This is to respect the dietary needs of all children & families and also to maintain equity for all. On the day of the child’s birthday, the teacher will organise for the class to acknowledge the child’s birthday.
Parents organising a party outside of school should refrain from giving out invitations during school time, particularly if not all children are invited. It can lead to some children feeling excluded and cause unnecessary upsets. Parents should discuss options with their child’s teacher about appropriate distribution of invitations, give them directly to parents before or after school or contact them privately.
The decision was made by the school board in 2021.
Thank you for understanding and Happy Birthday to the many children celebrating birthdays!
Uniform Shop Appointments 2023
We will receive our uniform order for 2023 in late December.
Please book here to prior to your visit to purchase uniforms during our busy time in our uniform shop at St Paul's reception.
RE News
Room 12 News
We have had a busy term of learning in Room 12. In Art, our focus is on Media Arts. We are linking our biological science unit and art to create stop motion videos about animals that live in extreme environments. It takes lots of time and thought to make these videos and sometimes you have to work backwards. Students have also been working on writing an informative script to record as the voice over for their video. They have been very engaged in these lessons and have worked cooperatively to create their masterpieces. Here are some photos of them hard at work!
ELC & OSHC NEWS
OSHC IMPORTANT UPDATE
Dear St Paul's Outside Hours School Care families (After School Care and Vacation Care families),
With the easing of Covid restrictions & isolation rules, we have reviewed our OSHC booking policies, with subsequent changes to commence 1st January 2023. Please see changes outlined below.
Currently, for both After School Care and Vacation Care: If families cancel their booking in writing by 8:30am on the day of attendance (or day prior for Vacation Care), there is no charge for that day’s attendance. If the child goes home sick or we do not receive notice in writing then the family is still charged.
Change as of 1st Jan 2023: Two weeks written notice must be given for any changes to both After School Care and Vacation Care bookings or charges remain. If a child is absent (regardless of the reason) the charge for that day remains, regardless of bookings being casual or not. This is accommodated by the government entitlement of 42 allowable absences before Child Care Subsidy is affected. No changes will be allowed to usual scheduled days on public holidays (unless part of a holiday block or permanent change to booking).
Currently, a $25 After School Care booked care rate is charged per day if the same day/s are booked every week or fortnight for one term or more. Families are charged a $30 casual rate for bookings that do not meet the booked care requirements.
Change as of 1st Jan 2023: This booked care rate of $25 will be charged for all bookings with at least 2 weeks' written notice, regardless of what day/s are booked each week. $30 casual rate will be charged for any bookings with less than 2 weeks written notice. This is to assist families with irregular work rosters.
ELC NEWS
Just a few reminders for families that are stated in the ELC parent handbook you received when your child started at the ELC.
All families need to please make sure they are signing their child in & out each day- this is your legal obligation that is related to your Child Care Subsidy. If you need help to sign your child in or out please ask one of the ELC educators and they are more than happy to help you. If you can’t remember your pin, please see Cathy and she can reset your pin.
At all times the Assistant Director must be informed if your child / children will not be attending the ELC either by phoning the school and leaving a message or written notification on ClassDojo or phoning the Centre on 8985 4678.
Now that it is getting hotter, we will be doing lots of water play to help us stay cool in this hot weather. May you please make sure you pack a sun safe hat, at least 2 changes of clothes (including underwear) and a water bottle so we can make sure your child stays hydrated during the day.
Here at the ELC we have a lot of toys and resources, please encourage your child to not bring toys in from home as they can go missing. Educators will encourage children to look after their belongings, by placing them in their bags and lockers as much as possible. Toys from home can also be a source of conflict between children, we highly encourage to keep home toys at home.
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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