“She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matt 1: 21

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

Dear parents and carers

Today is the last day of the 2019 school year for our children. We have much to celebrate and much to be grateful for as we bring the year to a close. I want to thank everyone for your continued support and passion for St Paul’s. This support and passion was reflected in the parents satisfaction survey sent via COMPASS earlier this week. 

We had a response rate of 39% of families (anything over a 30% response rate is considered statistically representative). Over 90% of respondents to the satisfaction survey strongly agreed or agreed in each of the following survey domains; that St Paul’s effectively teaches your children about our Catholic faith tradition; provides opportunities for you to be involved in the life of the school; maximises your child’s learning outcomes; provides a safe and supportive environment, and offers a range of co curricular options. 

Feedback regarding effective communication of your child’s progress (87.1%) and effective communication of events and activities (83.8%) recorded a slightly lower satisfaction. We will continue to explore ways to improve these elements of the school during 2020.

Most pleasing was the 100% reported satisfaction and agreement to the statement “The teachers are genuinely interested in the welfare of my child”. Overall satisfaction with the school was reported at 96.8%. Thank you for your overwhelmingly positive feedback. We truly have a school where home, school and parish work together for the benefit of the children entrusted to our shared care.

Christmas is the season of new beginnings and hope for the world. I pray that over the Christmas season you have time to be truly present with your children, families and friends. This is the ultimate gift we have to share- the gift of ourselves. I wish you all a holy, safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 29 January when our Year 1 to 6 children return to school. Our new Kindergarten children will commence school on Thursday 6 February.

Student Leadership elections 

The student leadership elections were held last week. The election results were announced at the End of Year Assembly last Friday. The student leaders were commissioned by Fr Richard at the subsequent Thanksgiving Mass. The student leaders for 2020 are:

School Captains: Hannah Reynolds and Ayessa Cecilio

Colour House Captains: Macca McKeon (Gold), Jack Dowler (Red), William Kriszyk (Blue)

We congratulate our elected leaders and I look forward to working with them in 2020. All Year 6 students have a leadership role at school. They received their badges last Friday.

Carols in the Park Saturday

We had over forty children join us to sing at the Carols in the Park event last Saturday night. The children were absolutely beautiful and their performance was well received. Thank you for your support of this community event. It was great to see so many families present and participating.

Year 6 Farewell

We farewelled our Year 6 children and families on Monday evening. The Mass, supper and assembly were a fitting and lovely way to conclude the children’s time at St Paul’s. I would like to acknowledge and thank the Year 5 parents and children who served the supper to Year 6 families. The Year 5 servers did an outstanding job. 

Teacher Allocations for 2020

On Tuesday afternoon, the children spent some time in their new classrooms for 2020 with their new teachers. It was lovely to see the excitement and anticipation of the children as they looked forward to the new school year. 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 (4 days)/ Mrs Alyssa Williamson (1 day)

Year 3- Miss Catherine du Bois (REC)/ Ms Mari Sullivan (IC)

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

The school leadership team is comprised of the Principal, Assistant Principal, Religious Education Coordinator and Instructional Coach. I thank Mrs Browne, Miss du Bois and Ms Sullivan who join me in leading and managing the school. These important roles require time away from class. The class sharing arrangement we have in place for Miss du Bois and Ms Sullivan minimises the impact on their class effectively. We thank parents for your continued support and understanding.

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

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. 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.

The only items we ask you to provide each of your children is an art shirt, library bag, pencil case and headphones.

Summer Uniforms in Term 1

When the children return to school in Term 1 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. The full uniform list is reproduced again in this newsletter for your information.

Athlete’s Foot Bowral 

We have entered into an arrangement with Athlete's Foot Bowral whereby any sport shoes purchased at their store by a member of the St Paul’s Primary School community (both children and adults) will generate a $5 donation to the school. The money raised will contribute to sports equipment.

Term 1 preliminary date claims

I have included a preliminary Term 1 overview of significant dates for your information below. Please be aware that additional dates will be added as they come to hand from the diocese. Please take a moment to review these dates in readiness for Term 1.

NSW SCHOOL TERMS 2020  

Date claimers for Term 1, 2020

Congratulations to the following students who achieved the Library Borrowers Award for 2019:

Last Thursday 12th December, Mrs Burton and her husband Steve arrived at St Mary's in Guyra to deliver the gifts that had been donated by the St Paul's Moss Vale community.  The Holmes Family also drove to Guyra to help with the gifts.  Thank you to everyone for your donations, to help brighten this little community's day!  Mrs Burton has written about her time in Guyra:

The Gold Certificate for the Premier's reading challenge has been awarded to the children who participated in the challenge for 4 years in a row.  The winners were Ruya in Year 4 and Minna in Year 3.  Well done to all who participated this year.