Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 3! It's hard to believe we're already halfway through the year, and what fantastic progress we've made towards our School Strategic Improvement Plan. We're continuing to embed our school's vision and mission into everything we do.

Last term, we were excited to launch our new values awards, with the very first presented on St Paul's Feast Day. This term, we'll be introducing the St Mary MacKillop Award for Determination. One student from each grade will be nominated to receive this special award at our St Mary MacKillop Feast Day celebration. This award acknowledges students who show:

• Faith: Being a bearer of Christ's love and living by our school values.
• Learning: Having a growth mindset and embracing challenges to apply feedback constructively.
• Wellbeing: Developing self-awareness and self-regulation to make positive choices for themselves.

A big thank you goes to our Awards Committee for their dedication in reviewing our existing awards and developing these new, values-based recognitions. Special mention also to Miss Morgan Jade for designing such beautiful certificates!

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We're also deepening our understanding of student engagement, working collaboratively through a "collaborative complex problem-solving" strategy we learned about at our last professional development day. This approach helps us truly unpack potential challenges and "blockers" to growth. Just yesterday, our staff spent time analysing our positive reading results, looking at how we can replicate this success in writing and numeracy. This work goes hand-in-hand with our goal to boost student engagement in their learning. Over the first half of this term, teachers will be exploring with students what it means to be a "good learner" by asking questions like:

• What do good learners do?
• What does it mean to be a successful learner at school?
• How do you feel when you make a mistake, and what does it mean?
• What helps you to learn at school?
• What makes it hard for you to learn?

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Finally, we're continuing to build our Catholic Community by offering parents and carers the opportunity to learn about Christian Meditation. We had a wonderful afternoon with Robyn Gallagher on St Paul's Feast Day, where a small group experienced Christian Meditation and learned about its origins. We'll be offering this session again on St Mary MacKillop Feast Day. Our staff also spent today learning about Prayer and Liturgy in the classroom, including ways we can invite families into the classroom to pray with the children and celebrate their learning at the end of units through liturgy.

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During the holidays, I had the privilege of attending the Catholic Schools NSW Law Symposium. It was an insightful day, with speakers including the Hon. Chris Minns (NSW Premier), Paul Martin (Head of NESA), Bishop Danny Meagher, Fr Julian Wellspring, Professor Donna Cross, and Psychologist Clare Rowe. While there were many valuable takeaways, a key message came from the session with Donna Cross and Clare Rowe.

Clare made a powerful statement that really resonated: "We overprotect our children in the real world but underprotect them in the online world." Chirs Minns also spoke about the decision to ban mobile phones in schools and why this was such a key move in trying to protect our young people.

Working with many children and parents facing challenges, Clare and Donna offered some crucial advice for us to consider. It's so important that we teach our children:

• Emotional regulation
• To sit with struggle
• To overcome difficulties
• To develop resilience

These are lifelong skills that will help them grow into adults who "feel well, connect well, function well, and have the capacity to give to others," which truly defines good wellbeing. It's important to remember that it's not normal to experience poor mental health or anxious thoughts on a regular basis. However, it is normal to feel emotions, to struggle sometimes, and to work hard to overcome challenges. Healthy boundaries are essential; children do need to hear "no" and "not now." This was excellent advice and a great reminder of the vital team effort between home and school to ensure we're giving our children the best opportunities to grow in their faith, learning, and wellbeing.

I wish everyone a productive and fulfilling Term 3!

God Bless,

Katie Browne

Principal

Announcements

Ms Catherine duBois will be changing her name this term to her married name Mrs Wynn. In October Mrs Wynn will be taking parental leave from 15 September until the beginning of Term 3 of 2026. We wish Mr and Mrs Wynn all the best as they prepare for the arrival of their baby. The Acting REC position is currently being advertised and once this has been finalised we will then be able to determine who will take the Year 4 class for the remainder of the year. We will keep you updated and ensure there is a thorough handover.

Mrs Michelle Gillespie has handed in her resignation after 13 years of working for the St Paul’s Community. Michelle has been successfully recruited for a position working in Wingecarabee Libraries. This is a passion of Michelle's and she is to be congratulated on achieving this position in what was a strongly contested role. We will farewell Michelle next week prior to her last day on Friday 1 August. Due to the nature of her new work hours Michelle will still be able to do some casual work so we expect to see her around.

This term Mrs Jo Smith is on leave for the first 5 weeks. Mrs Liesl Burnett and Mrs Lousie Cassdiy are filling in while she is away.

Soul of Ireland and Italy Diocesian Pilgrimage

Mrs Margaret Burton and Mrs Katie Browne have been successfully selected to be a part of the Diocesian pilgrimage. This is a special opportunity to be led by our Bishop Brian Mascord and Director Peter Hill with a group from the diocese. Preparations have begun and we look forward to sharing our insights when we return. The trip leaves on the last day of Term Friday September 26 and returns October 19 2025. Mrs Browne will be taking an extra week's leave following  the trip to complete study commitments as part of her Masters studies. Mr Simon Farrugia will be acting principal during the first two weeks of Term 4 as a result.

Acting Principal Week 1

Unfortunately Mrs Browne has succumbed to the pool of viruses currently about and is on leave this week. Mrs Farrugia is the Acting Principal this week. On Thursday Mr Farrugia will be attending professional learning so Mr John Walsh will be the relief principal. Mr Walsh is very familiar with our school. Mrs Browne expects to be back in Week 2. 

We do urge that if your child is not well you keep them home and give them time to recover to avoid the spread of the many viruses currently around. We are aware that the following viruses are impacting many people: COVID 19, Rhinovirus, Influenza A and B, a range of pneumonias and respiratory viruses.

Basketball Clinics

Students from Years 3-6 will participate in Basketball clinics during Term 3. These clinics will be conducted on Fridays from Weeks 1-6 of this term and are run by qualified coaches at the basketball stadium in Moss Vale. Students will walk with their class, teacher and one other staff member to and from the stadium for these clinics. 

There is no cost to these clinics as the school has successfully gained a Sporting Schools Grant. All students need parental permission to attend and this is done via the Compass App.