“Your Endurance will win you your life.”

Luke 21: 5-19

From the Gospel of the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C.

As we begin the race to the end of the year we can find ourselves so busy that we forget to stop and reflect on what we have achieved. This year has certainly been a better year than the last few years but we are still recovering from all the challenges we have faced. I think it is important to acknowledge that it is in our faith that we have often found strength to get us through these challenges. This Sunday’s Gospel is about the importance of having faith that God will be there for us when we truly need it.

As a community we are now reflecting on 2022 and using this data to inform our agenda for 2023. If you could take a few minutes to complete a quick survey we would be greatly appreciative:

Parent Survey

I would like to thank Mr Simon Farrugia for being Acting Principal while I was away and the leadership team for supporting him in this role. 

Visit from the Director

We were fortunate to have Mr Peter Hill - Director of the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong visit us this week. Mr Hill came to see how St Paul's is going, to discuss our improvement plans for 2022 and 2023 and see some of the learning and teaching.

Vision and Mission Work

Approximately three years ago we began the process of renewing the school's vision and mission. COVID impacted this work and put it on hold for a substantial amount of time. We were however able to gather feedback from the community prior to the lockdown at the later part of last year. This year the staff have been focusing on this work and working with Neil McCann from the Catholic Education Office to develop statements. We have now reached a point where we can now share our renewed statements with you, which is very exciting. In the coming weeks we will share the statements with the community and officially launch them at the end of year mass. Moving forward we intend to embed the new statements into everything we do and focus on five values that support our statements. 

Grandparents Day

This was a wonderful celebration of the great people in our lives. It was a beautiful day and it was great to see so many grandparents and great people who are important to the students of St Pauls. Kindergarten students were delightful in sharing their songs and actions with us. Thank you to Miss duBois for organising the liturgy. To the staff for preparing their classrooms. Mrs Calla-Hunstone and Kindergarten for singing and to the families that provided afternoon tea and assisted with serving tea and coffee. COVID has meant that we are little out of practice for when we hold events. We thank you for your patience during the serving of tea and coffee and the book fair. We will reflect on this and work towards a streamlined approach for 2023.

Book Fair

The book fair has been a huge success. Thank you for your support of our fair in raising funds for our school. All the Children's book Council books have been donated by families. You will be acknowledged by having a bookplate added to the front of the book with your name on it.  I would also like to thank the Moss Vale Evening CWA branch for donating $200 towards our library.

Working Bee

A big thank you to the De Michiel Worgan and Vella families who came to support the working bee. We focused on the front of the school to remove weeds in the garden beds and the lawn. This has made the front of the school look substantially better. Your support of our school is greatly appreciated. We are currently working with the company contracted to complete the grounds maintenance to ensure it is up to date and meeting our needs.

Kindergarten 2023 Transition Playgroup

Our first Kindergarten Playgroups have been very successful and it has been wonderful seeing the children getting to know each other and the parents being able to meet.

The remaining dates are as follows:

Friday 11 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Tuesday 15 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Friday 18 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Tuesday 22 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Friday 25 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Tuesday 29 November 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Orientation Day Thursday 1 December 9:30am - 11:30am

Afternoon arrangements

We have noticed that a number of children are being collected early from school. Children are required to attend school for the full duration. When children are being collected early it disrupts their learning and the class lessons. Early pickups are recorded as a partial absence. We ask that where possible appointments be made outside of school hours. We understand that sometimes this cannot be avoided. We thank you for your support in making sure children are on time for school and not collected prior to the bell time of 2:50pm.

Lockdown Practice

We will be practising our Lockdown procedure next week. The children have been prepared for this by their teachers. Having an emergency evacuation and lockdown practice each year is necessary for compliance.

Year 5 and 6 Camp

Year 5 and 6 are very much looking forward to their camp this year. Year 6 attend for two nights and Year 5 for one night. For Year 6 the camp is about celebrating their time in primary school together before they move in different directions with high school, building resilience and confidence. For Year 5 the focus on the camp is about building the students leadership capacities by learning to work together, problem solve and collaborate.

Following the camp Year 5 will begin the process of nomination for the leadership roles. More information will come home to families after the camp.

Visit from Surf Lifesaving

This visit was to prepare for the Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6 Beach days coming up in Week 7. Beach safety is a vital skill for all people in Australia. We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and not all of them are managed by surf lifesavers or are safe beaches. We consider this a key priority as part of the PDHPE curriculum around keeping ourselves safe and knowing how to get help when needed. This will be our third year in attending this program and we have found it to be a positive and beneficial day for the students.

P&F AGM.

The P&F AGM is fast approaching. It will be held on Tuesday 13 December at 7pm in the School Hall. All positions will be made vacant and an election held for new office bearers. If you would like to be a part of a working committee that works to develop the community of St Paul’s then please consider taking on an executive role in the P&F. Nominations can be made using this form. If you nominate someone please ensure you have sought their permission first and the person seconding your nomination has given you their direct consent.

Fee Increase 2023

We have been informed by the CEDoW Finance Committee there will be a 2% fee increase for Tuition fees taking them to $1781 per family and  5% increase with the SEDSO fee taking it to $1187 per family for 2023.

Katie Browne

Principal

Students will, on the occasion, come toschool and inform us of something that has happened on their way to school or on their way home the previous day. We take these concerns very seriously. Whilst we inform the relevant parents immediately and remain in regular contact with the bus company, we feel that reminders and information are useful. There are two government sites which provide great information and tips for talking with children and actions we as parents can take to support them. Here are the links to these sites: Health Direct: Keeping your kids safe & Transport NSW: Bus Safety Week 2022.

Simon Farrugia

Assistant Principal

Kindergarten	All of Kindy
Year 1	Beau	Figtree
Year 2	Zoe-Grace	Gavellas
Year 3	Gurshaan	Bains
Year 4	Bella	Canham
Year 5	Alice	Harcourt
Year 6	Isabelle	Garnett

Kindergarten	All of Kindy
Year 1	Saxon	Cuttriss
Year 2	Leo	Doyle
Year 3	Nicholas	Costa
Year 4	Odhran	Connolly
Year 5	Phoebe	Abbott
Year 6	Eleanar	Regan

Kindergarten	Neve	Carter
Year 1	Heidi	Saul
Year 2	Scarlett	McKelvey
Year 3	Bridie	Culpeper
Year 4	Shannon	O'Meley
Year 5	Lorelei	Hewitson
Year 6	Nate	Williams

Kindergarten	Harper	Babula
Year 1	Xavier	Luker
Year 2	Harvey	McDade
Year 3	Alexa	Cuttriss
Year 4	Shanaye	Thapa
Year 5	Liam	Allison
Year 6	Jordan	Esquilant

Our AGM will be held on Tuesday 13th December in the school hall. If you would like to nominate someone for an executive position please fill in this google form:

Please make sure the person you are nominating is aware that they are being nominated. The google link will also have a brief description of each role and what is involved.

The positions are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Vice Treasurer, Secretary and Vice Secretary. If you would like to be more involved within the P&F, but can't commit to an executive position, please still come along as any help is much appreciated. We are hoping to have more people involved so that we can look at having class parents, and starting up some sub committees for events throughout the year. If you think you would be able to help in any way, it is a great way to meet parents and give back to our fabulous school making it bigger and better in years to come.

Tea Towels have now arrived, if you ordered one they were sent home with your child today.

We have a small number of extra ones if you missed out or would like another one. They are $15 each and will be available from the office. 

Tickets for our end of year raffle went home earlier this week. 

There is a gingerbread house kit prize for each year along with a smaller gingerbread house cookie for some runner up prizes. 

A Gingerbread house by Gumnut Patisserie has been donated by Mel and Grant Reynolds and it will be drawn after the individual class prize has been drawn. 

Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 and are due back by December 8th. Extra tickets can also be picked up from the office if needed.

We have some of the most caring and dedicated staff there is and after a tough few years, we would like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of our teachers that give our children their all every single day.