“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:14

(from the Gospel for the thirtieth  Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C)

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Year 6 robotics teams competed in the Illawarra VEX robotics scrimmage last Friday at St Peter and St Paul’s in Kiama. Both teams have qualified for the national VEX competition to be held in Adelaide in December. VEX is a robotics competition that is conducted in more than 8500 schools across 40 nations globally. When I checked the VEX website for results, I discovered that our school is ranked #52 in the world.  We are the highest ranked primary school in the world outside China and USA! This is a remarkable achievement! We should be very proud of our school. Congratulations to our Year 6 students and to Mrs Smith their teacher. I have included a link below to a story in the local press about our success:

Staff Development Day tomorrow Friday 25 October- no classes

We will conduct a staff development day tomorrow Friday 25 October. There will be no classes or supervision tomorrow. The whole staff will be working off site at Penrose Park for the day. We are undertaking Module #4 of “Educating with a Mission Lens”, a professional development being rolled out across the diocese.

Kinder 2019 playgroup and orientation

Our new Kindergarten class for 2020 will begin their transition to school with the Kinder playgroup on Tuesday 29 October at 1:30pm in the school hall. The children enrolled at St Paul’s for next year and their families are invited to come along for a play and to make some new friends. This program will run on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon between 1:30 and 2:45pm for the next four weeks. 

On Tuesday 26 November, there will be a more formal Kinder Orientation meeting for the children and families to find out about life at St Paul’s in readiness for 2020.

Grandfriend's Friday 1 November

We are going to hold the annual “Grandfriend's Mass” on the Feast of all Saints, Friday 1 November. The purpose is to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution made to our families and community by grandparents and older community members. We have called the day “Grandfriend's Day” in an attempt to be inclusive of both grandparents as well as the more experienced members of our community who both play such an important role in the lives of our children. There will be a Mass in the school hall commencing at 12:30 pm. After Mass, the classrooms will be open for visitors to be shown around the children’s learning spaces. There is also a book fair being held in the library. Books can be purchased to donate to the school library. From 2pm onwards, the visitors are invited to join our children for a “byo picnic” in the playground. They will need to bring a blanket and something to eat. We hope that as many visitors as possible can attend.

Water Safety Program in Week 4 (Tue 5 Oct to Fri 8 Oct)

Our annual water safety program will be conducted during Week 4 between Tuesday 5 November and Friday 8 November. This is a change from last year’s arrangements. After reviewing the program and taking feedback, we feel that four consecutive days will maximise the impact of the lessons as opposed to spreading them over four weeks as in the past.

The children will walk to Moss Vale Pool for their lesson. Children need to have swimmers, towel, sunscreen, hat and change of dry underwear and a plastic bag in which to place wet clothing. Children can wear sandals or croks to the pool. We strictly will not allow thongs to be worn. Children will change into their shoes upon returning to school. 

There is a link to a swimming skills survey attached to this newsletter that the pool has asked us to share. They are seeking feedback from you regarding your child’s swimming skills in order to begin to place each child in group for the program. Please take a moment to complete the survey for your child.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdK2mxi--Any_ovIfdJ1AqQgpid4k-Zi9tuvr7i6QFp-DfHiw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1

At the conclusion of the swimming program, we will hold our annual swimming carnival on Friday 22 November again at Moss Vale Pool. Our swimming team for the Term 1 regional carnival will be chosen on the basis of the times recorded at this carnival.

iPads in 2020

After much deliberation and research we have made a significant decision regarding the use of iPads at St Paul’s. For the past several years the school has operated an optional “Bring Your Own iPad” program from Year 3 onwards. Whilst this program has served the school well in the past, it is no longer an effective approach given the change in the technology available to schools. It has become clear that if we are to derive maximum benefit for our children’s learning, every child needs their own iPad. Obviously, this is an additional cost burden to families. We have worked out an arrangement to mitigate the costs to families.

Commencing in 2020 with our incoming Year 3 group, we will have a compulsory 1:1 iPad program. The school will purchase and provide the iPads as part of your resource fee. Families will be asked to pay off the iPad over two years. At the end of Year 6 the iPad will be yours to keep. We will be writing to the current Year 2 families with details regarding the program including the management of devices at both home and school. 

Children in Year 4 to 6 in 2020 who don’t currently have an iPad, will also be given the opportunity to participate in this resourcing arrangement. We will write to these families to detail the program.

Obviously, these changes will mean an increase in your resource fee. The price the school is able to purchase iPads is significantly lower than the recommended retail price. Our diocese is able to purchase iPads at an education price on our behalf. It is a significant saving for families. 

Summer Uniforms in Term 4

Now the children have returned to Term 4  they are to be wearing their summer uniforms. Summer uniforms are worn in Terms 1 and 4. Winter uniforms are worn in Term 2 and 3. Whytes in their shop front on Argyle Street, Moss Vale and NSW Uniforms (mob: 0400805 596 email: ethnae@drewdesigns.com.au) both stock a full range of our uniforms.

Term 4 date claim

I have included a Term 4 overview of significant dates for your information below. Please take a moment to review these dates in readiness for Term 4.

Transition from Skoolbag to Compass

In the past we have discussed moving away from Skoolbag and into Compass for all notifications such as the weekly newsletter and notifications to parents. 

Skoolbag will be de-commissioned on Monday (Week 4).  There will be no further messages sent via Skoolbag.

From next week, the newsletter will no longer be communicated via Skoolbag. It will be sent via email and a compass notification.

Any future notifications will also be sent via compass, with last minute messages sent via SMS.  Please make sure SMS notifications are turned on in your Compass settings if you wish to receive the notifications this way.

If you need your Compass log in details again, please contact the school office.

St Paul's Facebook page

Our facebook page is now established and we are enjoying using this platform to promote the positive school community we have here at St Paul's.  Please remember to 'like' the St Paul's Moss Vale page (click the link below)

Date claimers for Term 4:

Educating with a Mission Lens

Friday the 25^th of October is a staff development day as St Paul’s staff are participating in some Professional Development at Penrose Park. We will be engaging in Module 4 of the Educating with a Mission Lens Program. This module focuses on the school Vision and Mission Statement and how it links with the Diocesan Mission as well as God’s Mission.

Whole School Mass – Grandfriend’s Day

Next Friday the 1^st November, we will be celebrating Grandfriend’s Day. This will include a Whole School Mass at 12:30 in the school hall. Following Mass, grandfriends will have the opportunity to visit classrooms and enjoy a picnic with their grandchildren. All are warmly invited to attend this special day.

Thank you

Catherine du Bois

Religious Education Coordinator

BOOK FAIR is coming next week

Next Wednesday, 30^th October, I’m hoping to get all children to have a preview of the books for sale at the book fair which will be open for business on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  During this preview session they will be able to fill in a ‘wish list’ indicating some books they are interested in.  They will bring this wish list home for you to consider.  You may like to visit the book fair with your child.  Today I have sent home a promotional brochure and payment envelope.   This envelope can be used by children to pay for books if you are unable to attend the book fair with them. I encourage you to purchase a book for your child.  Every purchase helps us earn rewards to buy more wonderful books for our library.  Please also consider donating a book to our library. Donations will be acknowledged with a plaque inside the front of the book.

Our Book Fair will be open…

 Many thanks in anticipation of your support of our Book Fair.

Louise Cassidy

See our facebook page to see James in Kindergarten explaining what the Mission Star award is all about:

On Friday 18th October our Year 6 students travelled to Kiama to participate in the VEX competition (International Robotics Competition).

We are very proud to announce we came 1st place!

We are currently ranked 52 in the world! What an amazing achievement!

The team will be off to Adelaide for the nationals next. Well done and good luck everyone!

On Tuesday Year 5 and 6 attended the Council Environment Day at Lake Alexandra, Mittagong.

This week, Isaac Hucker in Year 5 and Rachael Grosvenor in Year 6 attended the North West Region Public Speaking Competition.

Rachael and Isaac said:

"It was a fun day and we got good advice from the judges.  It was a good experience and it can help us in the future for other speeches.  It helped us to go and talk in front of an audience.  The other people helped us to get better.  We really enjoyed the day."

Well done Rachael and Isaac!

This week is the annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count. Year 5 and 6 students have been participating in this count and have seen many birds in and around our school. 

Some of the birds seen in our school include magpies, starlings, sparrows, crimson rosellas, little corellas and rock doves (pigeons!)

Students have recorded the data collected using various means and forms, on both paper and in a digital form.

Over a thousand Years 5 and 6 children across the diocese began last term with blank canvases and sheets of paper. Now, 56 talented young students have had their artworks selected for the 2019 CEDoW Christmas Story Art Exhibition at the Wollongong Art Gallery – inspiring us with beautiful imagery and artistry, rich meaning and creative storytelling to celebrate the Christmas Story.

Please find below our CEDoW coverage of the Christmas Story Art Competition and Exhibition:

You might also be interested in our interactive virtual tour of the exhibition with audio... view all the 56 students' artworks as displayed at the Wollongong Art Gallery - zoom in to view a student's artwork in closer detail and to hear from the student as they describe their artwork for you.

INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL TOUR WITH AUDIO at: