“Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”

Matt 3: 3

(from the Gospel for the second Sunday of Advent, Year A)

Dear parents and carers,

This week we have had the announcement of our new diocesan Director of Schools. This  follows the earlier announcement of the retirement of the current director Mr Peter Turner. The new Director is Mr Peter Hill. Mr Hill comes to us from the Archdiocese of Brisbane. He has a long history of senior leadership in three dioceses around Australia. Mr Hill will take up this important role in the new year.

Next Thursday, our diocese will formally farewell Mr Turner with a Mass at the co-cathedral at Fairy Meadow. Mr Turner has invited the student leaders from each of the schools within the diocese along with the principals and a parent representative to attend. The farewell Mass will be held at 10am on Thursday 12 December. 

P&F Annual General Meeting-postponed

The advertised P&F Annual General Meeting that was to be held last Tuesday, did not have a quorum (the minimum number of attendees to proceed). The constitution requires a minimum of six attendees to be present in order to proceed. As such, the current P&F executive will remain in office until the AGM can be held in February. Under the Constitution we are required to have held the AGM by the end of February. I thank the current executive for their willingness to continue in their roles until the new year. 

All parents and carers of children enrolled at St Paul’s are automatically members of the P&F. Only executive roles are by election. The P&F have provided playground seating and contributed to the replacement of the outdated interactive white boards with 75” TV and Apple TV. The work of the P&F is important in fundraising to provide necessary learning resources for the children. All children at our school are direct beneficiaries of the work of the P&F. 

I encourage as many families as possible to get involved with the P&F. The AGM will be held on Wednesday 12 February, immediately after the parish sacramental meeting.

Drought Support Initiative- now accepting gift donations

Thank you for your overwhelming and generous support of the drought initiative. The children have written beautiful letters to include with the gifts. Tomorrow, Mrs Burton and her band of helpers will pack the gifts. She will then deliver them to the school in Guyra next Thursday 12 December. This is a good example of Christian outreach. As St Mary MacKillop says, “Never see a need without doing something about it.”

Year 5 Leadership Day at Santa Sabina Outdoor Education Centre

Our Year 5 class participated in a leadership formation day on Friday. We focussed on the leadership skills of communication, collaboration and problem solving. The children had a fantastic day and learned a lot about being leaders. Check out our facebook page for pictures of the day.

Student Leadership elections Wednesday 11 December.

The student leadership election process will be held on Wednesday 11 December. Candidates for our school student leadership roles will be required to make a brief (1 to 2 minute) speech regarding their understanding of leadership and suitability for the role. The candidates will speak to to the assembled Year 3 to 6 students, who will also vote. The day at Talong is an opportunity to for the children work on team building, collaboration and deepen their understanding of leadership. The outcome of the election will be announced at the End of Year Assembly on Friday 13 December.

End of Year Assembly and Mass Friday 13 December running order for the day

On Friday the 13 December, we will hold our final assembly and Thanksgiving Mass. Both events will take place in the school hall. 

10:15- 10:45am- children have first break

11 am- 12 pm- End of Year Assembly including announcement of Student leaders for 2020

12:00- 12:20pm- comfort break (bathroom and drink)

12:30- 1:30pm- Thanksgiving Mass including Commissioning of Student Leaders for 2020

1:30pm- normal second break.

Families are welcome to take your children home after the Mass. Please notify your child’s teacher before departing so the class roll can be updated. Children who remain at school will have second break and the afternoon as normal. Everyone is most welcome to join us in celebrating a very successful year and giving thanks for the many blessings on our community.

Teacher Allocations for 2020

Our school has been undergoing some significant changes in the past two years. In order to ensure these important and necessary changes are properly embedded within the school’s pedagogy and operational practices, we not have any grade changes for teachers for 2020. The teacher allocations for 2020 are as follows:

Kindergarten- Miss Jessica Malloy

Year 1- Mrs Marg Burton (4 days) Mrs Alyssa Williamson (1 day)

Year 2- Mrs Tania Calla-Hunstone (4days)/ Mrs Alyssa Williamson (1 day)

Year 3- Miss Catheraine du Bois/ Ms Mari Sullivan 

Year 4- Mrs Yvonne kiah

Year 5- Mr Chris Boyd

Year 6- Mrs Jo Smith

Assistant Principal/ Reading Intervention- Mrs Katie Browne

Music/ library/ PDHPE/ PPT- Mrs Louise Cassidy

Principal- Mr Don O’Brien

We will continue to be superbly supported by Mrs Eilleen Vaughn in the Office, Mrs Maria Cevenaro in the library and Mrs Michelle Gillespie, Mrs Jodie Iliani, Mrs Raelene Rowland, Mrs Carole Hall Mrs Helen Gorton and Mrs Suzanne King in the classrooms

iPad arrangements for Year 3 to Year 6 in 2020- extended Friday 6 December.

Over the past few months we have been writing to you regarding the changes to our 1:1 iPad program at St Paul’s. Year 3 are participating in the school school managed device program. Our Year 4 to 6 classes who have formerly participated in a voluntary Bring Your Own iPad (BYOI) have been presented with options for participation. 

We have asked for your feedback and intentions for 2020. We have had around half the Year 4 to 6 families respond. If you haven’t yet responded, I ask that you do so by tomorrow 6 December. The survey takes less than one minute to complete per child in Year 4 to 6. We will be placing orders on Monday.

The link to the survey is 

https://forms.gle/bxaHN9vCC4P3bnYZ6

Carols in the Park Saturday 14 December from 7pm

We have been invited to sing at the Carols in the Park community event to be held in Leighton Gardens. The children have been practicing the three carols we will sing. Any child enrolled at St Paul’s is invited to attend and join us in singing. We will send further information home.

Student Resource Packs for 2020

This year the school introduced student resource packs. These packs include what your child needs at school. The cost of the resource pack is fully covered by your school resource fee. By bulk purchasing we are able to buy items cheaper than is available in retail outlets. In organising this, we no longer need to send home the list on school needs that you need to provide at additional cost. Items such as, for example, pens, pencils, work books, art materials and glue sticks are included in the resource packs. Teachers have worked out what the children need in class. In introducing this efficiency, we are saving you money. The only items we ask you to provide is an art shirt, library bag, pencil case and headphones. We acknowledge that children usually like to choose these items themselves. We are currently organising the student resource packs for 2020. They will be ready for the return to school in January.

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.

Full Implementation of the new uniform from Term 1 2020

The two year transition period from the old to the new school uniform concludes at the end of Term 4, 2019. From the beginning of the new school year, all children will be expected to be wearing the “new” school uniform that was designed in 2017 and introduced in 2018.

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.

Skoolbag Closure

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 has now been de-commissioned.  There will be no further messages sent via Skoolbag this week or in the future.

They are now 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:

Altar Server Training Day and Pizza Party

There will be a number of students participating in altar serving at our final school Mass on Friday 13th December. These students will have a training session on Tuesday 10th December, prior to the Pizza Party.

Following the training session, there will be a Pizza Party at second break for all students who are altar servers (experienced and newly trained). This will take place in the undercroft of the school hall. Students will still need to bring their own food for first break. Please inform Miss du Bois of any special dietary requirements if necessary if you haven’t already done so.

 Year 6 Fundraiser

Year 6 are organising a Christmas themed mufti day to help raise funds for a replacement gum tree as their end of year gift to the school. This will be planted near the sports shed, in place of the old tree that was cut down. On Thursday 12th December students are able to come to school dressed in mufti clothes with a Christmas theme. For example, they can wear Christmas colours, Santa hats and coloured ribbons. Small amounts of tinsel are acceptable. A gold coin donation is required for students to participate. Students are still required to wear closed in shoes and have a hat.

 Year 6 Farewell Mass and Supper

The Year 6 Farewell Mass and Supper will take place on Monday 16th December (Parents are invited to both the Mass and the Supper). This is an important event for our Year 6 students and our staff as we bid them farewell. Mass will commence at 6:00 pm followed by supper, speeches and a presentation in the school hall. Year 6 students are required to wear their summer school uniform.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you

Catherine du Bois

Religious Education Coordinator

This week we have been holding Personal Plan meetings. These meetings are for families of children with medical conditions and or learning needs. Thank you to the families who have attended these meetings or will be this week. Your input into your child’s growth and development at school is greatly appreciated by the teachers. This collaborative approach ensures the most appropriate adjustments are chosen to support your child’s learning and participation at school. These plans take a lot of administration time by the teachers and reflect the current adjusmtents and supports that are in place for your child at this moment in time. Our Diocese supports our school with funding by providing time for teachers to maintain the plans and attend meetings with you. Below is the link to the NCCD website which provides further information about Personal Plans and the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data that forms the basis of our funding to support students with additional needs.

https://www.nccd.edu.au/

Katie Browne

Assistant Principal

Last Thursday our Swimming Carnival Awards ceremony was held in the school hall and here are the results:

The students, families and community of St Paul’s have been busy generously donating, preparing gifts and writing letters for St Mary of the Angels in Guyra.
The town of Guyra has been without water for 5 months and is on category 5 water restrictions. This is impacting the whole community in many different ways as the impact extends to local businesses, trades and services. At this time of year with Christmas approaching, families are concerned they won’t be able to afford gifts at Christmas. The St Paul’s community has come together to help out.
Here are some photos of our students writing letters, wrapping gifts and our preparations for the delivery next week. Thank you to our school community for coming together and generously donating gifts. We will keep everyone updated when the delivery is made to the school next week