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- From the Principal - Mrs Katie Browne
- From the Assistant Principal - Mr Simon Farrugia
- From the School Office
- Calendar Overview
- P&F News
- Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal 2025
- 2025 Term Dates and Pupil Free Days
- Wellbeing Officer
- Bishop Brian Mascord reads The Parable of the Lost Sheep - Tonight
- Book Club Catalogue
- Money Raised for Caritas
- Road Safety 2025
- Awards
- SEL Focus - Week 5 and 6
- SWAP it
- Catholic Care Families and Communities Program - Copy
- Canteen for Term 2 - Thursdays only (cancelled for Week 5 and Week 6)
Reflecting on Hope and Our Future
____________________________________________
Dear Families,
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Association of Catholic School Principals conference, where I heard from a range of experts in their fields. A significant and recurring theme throughout the conference was Hope, which resonated deeply with Pope Francis' theme for the Jubilee Year, "Pilgrims of Hope."
Each speaker thoughtfully wove this theme into their presentations. Yong Zhao challenged us to critically examine our current practices, urging us to stop doing what isn't working and instead, focus our energy on inventing the future rather than fixing the past. Similarly, Derek Wenmoth emphasized that education fundamentally involves building hope. To achieve this, he highlighted the importance of providing a clear sense of direction and purpose, coupled with a strong sense of agency in what we do.
I'll be expanding on these powerful messages and sharing feedback from our previous parent forum at the Parents Forum this Wednesday night. We would be delighted for you to join us as we work together to build a future of hope for the young people in our care.
The evening begins at 6:30 pm. Please RSVP via this google form.
God Bless,
Katie Browne
Principal
‘Girlfriends’ and ‘Boyfriends’
At St. Paul's, we believe primary school is a time for children to develop a wide range of friendships and learn positive social skills. For this reason, we do not encourage exclusive "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" relationships between students. Children at this age are simply too young to fully understand what such a relationship entails.
We've noticed an increase in children talking about these types of relationships, and we kindly ask that parents discuss this with their children at home and help us to discourage this kind of exclusive focus at school.
Furthermore, we want to be very clear that teasing younger children about having a "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" is not tolerated. Our aim is for all children to feel comfortable playing with whoever they choose, without any fear of being teased or made to feel uncomfortable. We want St. Paul's to be a place where all friendships can blossom freely and respectfully.
How can you help your child solve their own issues?
From time to time, disagreements will naturally arise between students at school. Our role, as both staff and parents, is to guide our children in developing the skills to resolve these issues independently.
While there are certainly moments when a parent's intervention, by contacting the school, is necessary, we encourage you to discern carefully before stepping in. Instead of telling your child not to play with someone, or contacting another student's family directly, please ask your child what they could do to address the situation. Encourage them to use their words respectfully, speak to a teacher, or work towards a solution that benefits everyone.
When we consistently step in and take control of situations for our children, or instruct them to avoid another child, we inadvertently teach them that it's acceptable to be disrespectful or that they don’t have to resolve their own problems. Empowering them to navigate these challenges fosters crucial life skills. If you would like further support and help with this, Catholic Care is available to run group sessions that focus on how you can support your child’s resilience, wellbeing and mental health.
We all know how busy pick-up and drop-off times can be around our school as well as assemblies and other events. With so many families arriving and leaving, it's important that we work together to keep everyone safe, especially our precious children.
A friendly reminder to please always park legally and safely when you are around the school grounds. This means:
- Looking for parking signs: Please pay close attention to signs like "No Parking," "No Stopping," "Loading Zone," "Bus Zone," and time limits. These signs are there for a reason – they help manage traffic flow and ensure clear visibility for everyone.
- Avoiding driveways and crossings: Never park across someone's driveway, or on or too close to pedestrian crossings. This obstructs access and makes it harder for children to cross the road safely.
- Leaving space: Ensure you leave enough space for other vehicles and pedestrians to move around easily.
- Using designated areas: Our school has a designated drop-off zone, please use it correctly and efficiently.
Parking unsafely, even for 'just a minute', can create dangerous situations for our students. It can block visibility, cause congestion, and increase the risk of accidents.
Let's continue to be great role models for our children by showing them what safe and responsible parking looks like. Your cooperation helps ensure that every child can arrive and leave school safely each day.
Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping our school community safe.
Thank you,
Uniform Items
The school sells sun hats ($16), School Bags ($65) and the girls winter skirt ($70). These are available to purchase from the school office and payment is by cash or eftpos.
Volunteers
If you volunteer at the school, parents or carers need to do an induction by scanning the QR code in the document:
Contact details
It is important that your contact details are up to date. It would be appreciated if you could log onto the Compass Parent Portal and check that your mobile/telephone number and email address are correct.
If you find that they are incorrect, you may update them in the portal.
Please also check that your email address is reachable, we sometimes find that we receive ‘bounce backs’ due full inboxes.
School Fees
School fee statements have been issued. Payment of fees is by BPay, Compass Portal or at the office. Fees can be paid by instalments – weekly, fortnightly, termly or via a lump sum. The necessary form would need to be completed ASAP and returned to the school office.
From the commencement of the 2025 school year, the management of certain aspects relating to school fee accounts in Primary Schools has been transferred to the School Fees Liaison Office at the Catholic Education in Wollongong.
What does this mean for families:
- Your school’s administration office is your first place for enquiry regarding school fees. School staff will provide information regarding instalments, methods of payment, giving access to an Application for Fee Concession and attend to other general enquiries.
- If you are experiencing financial difficulty or need to make an arrangement for payment of your school fee account, please email sflo@dow.catholic.edu.au with your name and the school in which your children are enrolled. The School Fees Liaison Office will then contact you directly to offer assistance.
- Please note that each school has a dedicated School Fees Liaison Officer to provide a personalised service to individual families. This Officer will also have a close relationship with your school.
If you require further information about this initiative, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
Injuries
If you child sustains an injury outside of school eg broken arm / leg and they have a cast/sling etc the office must be informed and a letter from the Doctor / ED report must be given to the office so that a risk assessment and care plan can be done for the student.
Only medication that is prescribed by a doctor is permitted to be dispensed at School upon completion of a “Consent to Dispense Medication” form which is available from the office. The form and the medication are to be given to the office staff in the original packaging with the student’s name and dosage. We are not permitted to administer Panadol unless prescribed by a doctor and the necessary form completed. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
If your child is Asthmatic or Anaphylactic please ensure the necessary plan has been forwarded to the office along with any medication so that it can be processed. We also need a "Consent to Dispense Medication" form to be completed.
Please see below the calendar overview for Term 2 2025:
| Week 5 |
Wednesday 28 May - Parent Forum in the School Hall at 6:30pm to 8pm - Parents welcome Thursday 29th May - Enviromental Incursion K to 6 Friday 30 May - Enviromental Incursion K to 6 Friday 30 May - Athletics Program K - 6 Friday 30 May - Kindergarten 2026 Enrolment Interviews |
| Week 6 |
Monday 2 June - Chess Tourament at Tudor House - selected students Tuesday 3 June - Athletics Track Events (to be confirmed) Thursday 5 June - Assembly at 2:15pm all welcome Thursday 5 June - Kindergarten 2026 Enrolment Interviews Friday 6 June - Athletics Program K - 6 |
| Week 7 |
Monday 9 June - Public Holiday - No students at school Tuesday 10 June - Newsletter Week 7 |
| Week 8 |
Thursday 19 June - Assembly at 2:15pm all welcome |
| Week 9 |
Tuesday 24 June - Newsletter Week 9 Friday 27 June - St Paul's Feast Day |
| Week 10 |
Thursday 3 July - Assembly at 2:15pm all welcome Friday 4 July - P&F Pie Drive, Pizza and Pyjama day Friday 4 July - Last Day of Term 2 |
There are savoury pies and sweet pies on offer as well some cakes. They are all family/large size. They are delivered fresh but can be frozen.
It's a good way to stock up the freezer with some easy mid week meals or to have a dessert on hand.
If you would like to place an order, please do this via the Spriggy Schools App. This is the only way to order and pay.
Orders will need to be placed by Sunday 22nd June.
Orders will be ready for pickup from the school hall on Friday the 4th of July from 12pm through to 3:30pm.
Pizzas:
| Term 2 | Last Day - Friday 4th July |
| Term 3 | 21 July - 26 September |
| 21 July - Pupil Free Day | |
| 22 July - Pupil Free Day | |
| 23 July - Students Return | |
| Last Day - Friday 26 September | |
| Term 4 | 13 October - 19 December |
| 13 October - Pupil Free Day | |
| 14 October - Students Return | |
| 18 December - Last Day for Students | |
| 19 December - Pupil Free Day |
*These are provisional dates and are subject to change.
The latest book club catalogue has been sent out.
If you would like to place an order, please do so via the LOOP app by Friday 20th June.
Recently we have been doing some fundraising for Caritas with our Pancake Day and Project Compassion Boxes.
We raised:
Pancake Day on the 4th of March - $771.20
Project Compassion Boxes - $609.35
A total of $1,380.55 will be sent to Caritas on behalf of the school.
Thank you for all of your generous donations.
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded the Principal's Award in Week 4
| Kindergarten | Soraya | Wilder |
| Year 1 | Josie | Flanigan |
| Year 2 | Miya | Muhlbock |
| Year 3 | Jemimah | Senkwe |
| Year 4 | Evie | Ireland |
| Year 5 | Sazal | Gurung |
| Year 6 | Mackenzie | Sheather |
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded a Merit Award in Week 4
| Kindergarten | Avery | Barbara |
| Year 1 | Henry | Johnstone |
| Year 2 | Tora | Knowles |
| Year 3 | Stella | Johnson |
| Year 4 | Beau | Figtree |
| Year 5 | Georgia | Allison |
| Year 6 | Henry | Holmes |
Chess Mentor Award:
| Year 3 | Riyaz | Joshi |
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded a Mission Star Award in Week 4
| Kindergarten | Sage | Noyes |
| Year 1 | Callie | Smithers |
| Year 2 | Quince | Waenkaew |
| Year 3 | Florence | Alves |
| Year 4 | Ida | Thompson |
| Year 5 | Harvey | McDade |
| Year 6 | Eadie | Babula |
When someone makes a mistake
Responsible decision making
- Look at the person.
- Say “Would you like some help?”
- If the answer is “yes” show the person what / how to do – don’t do it for them.
- If the answer is “no” say: “okay – let me know when you would like help” move away.
Dear Families,
Catholic Care has been consulting with us in order to provide services for families in the Southern Highlands. Currently services are provided in the Illawarra and Macarthur area and families from the Southern Highlands can attend although this is not ideal, hence the reason we have been consulting to bring the service to the Southern Highlands.
Catholic Care surveyed families and found parents are seeking additional support in how to help their children manage their mental health and wellbeing. As a result they have put together some group sessions to provide support for families.
Groups will be available in the St Paul’s School Hall from Term 2 and Catholic Care will also be available to support families with counselling services at a location to be determined. Bookings must be made directly with Catholic Care. Please see the flyer for further information on how to do this.
This is a great opportunity for families and we encourage you to consider how it can be of support for you.
Thank you.
We we have a company called Lunch Bunch Canteens who will be fulfilling our lunch orders each Thursday only.
Please find the menu below and how to order details.
