“I am the Good Shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep and mine know me.”

John 10:14

From the Gospel of the Fourth Sunday of EASTER Year C

Dear families and friends,

Welcome back to Term 2. It was indeed wonderful to see the sun over the Easter break. I do hope you were able to have some time together as a family to rest and recharge for this term.

Thank you to all the families that supported our ANZAC day March. It was wonderful to see so many of our students in their winter uniforms representing our school on such a solemn occasion. This day brings out many stories of past family members who were incredibly brave to ensure we have the freedoms that we are so lucky to have today. It was impossible to not think about the people of Ukraine and the terrible war they are currently facing.  We pray for them that they will continue to have the strength and courage to fight for their freedoms and their home.

At the first school assembly for the term I spoke to the children about respect and what it means. The definition is: acting or speaking in a way that shows you care about how you are affecting others. Our school rules all have the word respect in them. Disrespect means: unnecessary or selfishly having a negative effect on others. As a community we have a  collective responsibility to model respect at all times. You will notice that there are now ads in the media that are encouraging us to call our disrespect. At school we call it “calling it out and then calling it in”, which means if staff see disrespect they will “call it out” but they will then “call the student in” to teach them how they can approach the situation respectfully. For example, at times they will speak to your child about the way they spoke to another person and will assist them in knowing how they can change their tone of voice or body language to be more respectful. This is all part of our PB4L procedures and how we support the children on a daily basis. Stage three will be focusing closely on Respectful Relationships this term in their PDH units of work. We aim to hold a parent meeting later this term regarding the new Respectful Relationships framework that has been put together by the Diocese of Wollongong. We will inform you when we have a date.

Last week a survey link was sent out seeking your feedback about our PB4L procedures. If you have not had a chance to complete it we would welcome your feedback.

PB4L Parent and Carer survey

I would like to welcome Mrs Benadette Taylor to our staff for Term 2. Mrs Taylor is supporting Year 6 for this term as a School Support Officer.

Changes to our Athletics Program

This year we have reviewed our programs regarding athletics. We are fortunate to have pathways for students to progress in a number of sports, one being athletics. For this to happen we are required to provide an opportunity for students to participate in a carnival in order to put forward a team. It is essential that this does not stand alone from the PDHPE syllabus and all relevant skills are taught according to the syllabus. The Leadership Team and Sports Coordinator have reviewed our athletics programs to ensure consistency in teaching the skills from Kindergarten to Year 6 so the children can be competitive on the day if they wish to but also to provide necessary age appropriate developmental opportunities for the children to develop their skills.

In this process we have reviewed CEDoW policies and will no longer be providing High Jump as an option at the school based carnival or during sport lessons. Children who attend Little Athletics and have an official recorded high jump height may produce this to the Sports Coordinator for review and consideration in being included in the school team for the CEDoW Western Region Carnival.

The Leadership team and Sports Coordinator have also reviewed the Athletics Carnival and have moved to running two carnivals in place of one. There will be a Field Events carnival (Years 2 - 6) and then the Athletics Carnival (Kindergarten - Year 6). There are a few reasons for this change that were considered, including the challenge of fitting all the events in one day, providing all children with the opportunity to participate, allowing time in PE lessons for the actual teaching of the skills to perform in these events and having time for breaks for staff and students.

By holding a Field Events Carnival we can provide all children who are eligible for selection in the team the opportunity to participate in each of the three field events, shot put, long jump and discus. This means we are not holding trials and then finals. The whole event will take place in one go with warm up opportiunties and then actual throws and jumps. Prior to this event all skills will have been taught during PE lessons. Year 1 and Year 2 will not take place in this carnival however they may hold their own sporting activities at some point on this day. Children in Year 2 who are not eligible for team selection will still be able to participate but their throws and jumps will not be measured. Parents and carers are welcome to attend and watch the events taking place.

The Running Carnival will take place after the Field Events Carnival. On this day all the running events will take place, the marching, war cries and tabloid sports. This day is about the community and we will look to provide opportunities for families to picnic together at the breaks. All children will participate in all of the events excluding the 200m and 400m races.

I would like to thank the leadership team members and the Sports Coordinator for the work they have done on reviewing and preparing for these changes. This link takes you to the Rationale of the PDHPE syllabus which has formed the basis of why we have made these changes. I encourage you to take a look. While having sporting pathways is a wonderful opportunity for some students, our core purpose as a school is to teach the syllabus. The carnivals are a way to celebrate the children’s achievements in their learning with the added bonus for some students in going onto the next level.

Term 2 Overviews

The Term Overviews are now able to be accessed on the Parent Portal. These overviews have important information from each classroom teacher. Please take time to read them.

Reports and Parent/Carer Teacher Interviews

Semester 1 reports will be available at the end of Week 9. In Week 10 we will hold Parent/Carer Teacher interviews. Reports are based on A-E reporting. Further information will be provided in coming weeks. Kindergarten do not receive Semester 1 reports and parents and carers are strongly encouraged to attend the Parent/Carer Interviews.

COVID-19 Latest Advice

Please see the attached letter regarding the latest advice around COVID-19 protocols.

School Oval

Recently we were fortunate to receive a donation from GUBBINS Hardware for sand for our long jump pit however in delivering the sand the truck got bogged on the oval and then the ute that came to get the truck out got bogged. As a result we have damage to the oval and the sand had to be dumped in order to get the truck out. See the pictures below. If any parents or carers have equipment to help repair the oval and put the sand where it needs to go we would really appreciate your help. Please contact the office if you can help us.

Changes to Library Days from Week 6

Mrs Cassidy will be taking Long Service Leave from the end of Week 5. We wish her all the best during her leave. We have unsuccessfully filled her position after advertising twice so for the remainder of this term we have been able to secure Mrs Jacinta McAndrew, Miss Jess Molloy, Mrs Kate Armstrong and Mrs Genevieve Norrie to fill the library days for the last 5 weeks of term.

The library days and teacher will be as follows from Week 6.

Monday Even Weeks - Year 4 Mrs Jacinta McAndrew

Monday Odd Weeks - Year 3 Mrs Jacinta McAndrew

Wednesday Even Weeks - Year 6 Miss Jess Molloy

Wednesday Odd Weeks - Year 5 Miss Jess Molly

Thursday Even Weeks - Kindergarten Mrs Kate  Armstrong / Mrs Genevieve Norrie

Friday Even Weeks - Year 2 Mrs Jacinta McAndrew

Friday Odd Weeks - Year 1 Mrs Jacinta McAndrew.

I would like to thank the ladies for taking up the library position until the end of this term. We will advertise the position for Terms 3 and 4 and inform you of the arrangements towards the end of term.

Innes Road Pick up

Please take your children when they arrive and leave promptly to ease the congestion around the gate entry. It also helps the children to see when their parents and carers arrive.

We will be holding a P&F Meeting on Tuesday 10 May. This term we will trial holding our P&F meetings via zoom. This is the zoom link. We encourage you to join our meeting as we have a very motivated executive who is seeking additional support to get a number of projects up and running. We are also seeking a secretary. Please consider taking on this role, it is not onerous. We will send the link out again on Tuesday via Compass.

Political Election Information

We are well into an election campaign and there is no shortage of selective information that comes through the media which is quite often missing in information and often picked apart by the media to create drama.  It is important as members of the community that we are fully informed when making our choice at the voting polls. Attached are a number of fact sheets from the Australian Bishops and the National Catholic Education Commission. You are welcome to read the information at your discretion.

Industrial action

Please see the attached letter regarding the latest industrial news.

Campaign overview
• Bus flashing lights is a quarterly statewide campaign to promote the road rule that motorists must 'Slow down to 40 when bus lights flash'
• Since July 2018, bus flashing lights messaging has been incorporated into the wider School Zones campaign at the beginning of each school term.

Key Messages - Motorists
• Lights flash on buses to warn motorists that buses are picking up and dropping off children.
• You must slow down to 40km/h when overtaking or passing a bus displaying flashing lights.
• You can help keep children safe by:
• Sticking to the speed limit and following the road rules in school zones
• Slowing down to 40km/h when bus lights are flashing
• Looking out for children crossing the road near bus stops, in school zones or along bus routes
• Giving way to buses when they merge back into traffic.
• For more information visit:

Key Messages - Families
• Families have an important part to play in keeping children safe around roads.
• Never drop off or meet your child on the opposite side of the road to the bus stop or call
them across the road. Always drop them off or meet them on the same side of the road as the bus stop.
• Remind your children to always wait until the bus has gone before choosing a safe place to cross the road.

Bus Safety for School Students Brochure

St Paul's School Bags are back is stock and are available from the School Office at a cost of $60.

BOOK CLUB

Book Club catalogues were sent out last week.  Orders are due by 16th May.

Movie Night - Under the Stars

A subcommittee has also been formed to organise a movie night with more details to come. This event is to bring our little community together to connect and have fun along the way. As well as raising great funds for the schools resources and equipment for the students.
We are calling on volunteers to be part of a committee to assist with the preparations for the event.
If you are able to donate some time to assist in organising the event please follow the google link.

We are also looking at holding a raffle for this event, if you know any business that may be in a position to donate a prize please get in touch.

APC NEWS