“I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”

Matt 11: 25

(from the Gospel for the fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A)

Dear parents and carers

Tomorrow we will conclude our term together with a PJ day. The children love pajama day. It’s a fun way to finish what has been a most unusual term. We began the term with remote learning for two weeks, before we moved to a scheduled one day week for another two weeks. In Week 5, we returned to school full time but with many limitations on what we were permitted to do and restrictions on our operations. All along we have been directed by NSW Health and guided by CEDoW. 

Thank you for your support, positive feedback and, frankly, patience with what has been a very challenging term. It has been deeply appreciated and valued. The wellbeing and care of the children has, as always, been at the forefront of our thinking and planning.

Our system is seeking feedback from our Catholic diocesan families regarding the management of COVID-19. I included in my letter shared with you yesterday via COMPASS a link to a short survey. I encourage you to take a few moments to complete this brief survey.                                                                           

Tomorrow’s PJ day will focus on “love and gratitude”. The children can wear their PJs and dressing gowns to school. We do ask that the children wear sneakers or similar. We don’t want slippers or ugg boots getting wet or dirty and children being cold and uncomfortable. Children are free to bring warm socks or slippers to school to wear inside in addition to their sneakers. We want the children to be warm and comfortable for the day. We want to celebrate the love and care shown to each other during this difficult time and express gratitude to everyone who helped us through.

Our Mini Vinnies are providing a free sausage sizzle at first break. Your child will receive a sausage on a slice of bread with (optional) sauce. If your child has a dietary requirement, please let the school office know first thing in the morning. Your child will require a drink as well as snacks and drinks for the second break.

We are asking for a gold coin donation. All money raised will go towards the annual St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal.

My prayer and hope for you is that the holiday period will give everyone the opportunity to relax, regroup and recharge. Try to have some quality time with your family and those you love. We look forward to seeing all the children back at school on Wednesday 22 July.

Building update and moving in pupil free days Monday 20 July and Tuesday 21 July

We remain on track to have the building completed in readiness for Term 3. Painting and carpet laying will be completed by the end of the school holidays. There has been a COVID-19 delay with the delivery times for furnishings. Nevertheless, we will be able to move into the Year 5 and 6 classrooms on Thursday of Week 1 (Thurs 23 July) albeit with temporary furnishing for a week or so.

In order to set up our school office and administration areas as well as ready the Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms for the children, the Catholic Education Office has given us two moving days. These days will be Monday 20 July and Tuesday 21 July. We are asking that you keep your children at home on these days while the staff move and set up in the refurbished buildings. 

We will offer supervision only to children of families who are unable to make alternative arrangements for the children on these two days. I am aware that this is going to be challenging for some families. We appreciate your support and understanding. If your family is unable to make care arrangements for your child, please complete the form below by Friday 17 July.

                        https://forms.gle/yt949etKqL8DWwxz9 

The first day of classes in Term 3 will be Wednesday 22 July for all children.

Parent Teacher Interviews- thank you!

It has been a pleasure to catch up with you over the past few days to discuss your child’s progress and well being. The partnership between home and school is at the heart of Catholic education. In working together with the common goal of every child growing in faith and learning we can achieve so much. Thank you for your time. Thank you to the teachers for making themselves available to meet with you.

CEDoW COVID-19 website remains our “source of truth”.

The website aims to provide clear and accurate messaging for our school communities. A link to the COVID-19 Information Centre has been placed on our school website home page. It is also available on the CEDoW website. You can access the site from this link.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/covid-19-information-centre

Sport Uniform Days by Class

Your child will need to wear the sport uniform on the following days each week.

Kindergarten- Friday

Year 1- Friday

Year 2- Friday

Year 3- Wednesday & Friday

Year 4- Wednesday & Friday

Year 5- Wednesday & Friday

Year 6-Wednesday & Friday

LOLS: Lessons and Liturgy and Scripture

Keep your eye out for the weekly edition of LOLS - Lessons and Liturgy and Scripture. Each week, I will be working with Fr Richard to create a short spiritual reflection video as a way of connecting with the school community. Each video includes a scripture focus, a short ‘homily’ and a song. The last video for Term 2 has been dedicated to teachers and posted on Google Classrooms.

St Paul’s Parish YouTube Channel

Here is the link to the St Paul’s Parish YouTube Channel where you can watch live and recorded Masses and prayers:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL9F08CA4ayKjhG-3ke-2rQ

Ripples Podcast

Ripples is a PODCAST developed for staff and parents on-going spiritual formation. It seeks to offer a space where people can draw on the wisdom of a series of guest speakers and can experience some treasured stillness through meditation. Practices like these create a ripple effect. They have the potential to impact the way we respond to family, friends, colleagues, to creation and to our loving God. Come and enjoy some Inspired Voices and Treasured Stillness:

https://sites.google.com/dow.catholic.edu.au/clem-spiritual-formation/spiritual-formation/parents

Catherine du Bois

Religious Education Coordinator

Gratitude: Is being grateful, thankful or showing appreciation and being kind.

This year we have faced many challenges and it can be difficult to be grateful when things are tough. Yet through this adversity we have witnessed some of the most amazing acts of gratitude and kindness. For example the money raised for the RFS by Celeste Barber. People doing acts of kindness for neighbours who are unable to leave their home because of the virus. Late last year when we asked for donations for the boxes for Guyra we were overwhelmed at the volume of donations and the genuine acts of kindness shown by our families for this drought stricken community.

At St Paul’s we have received many positive comments from families regarding remote learning and are grateful for the support in what has been a challenging and difficult time for all.

Research shows that when we show gratitude towards someone or be kind we build resilience and feel better about ourselves.  It is important that our children witness us showing gratitude and being kind so they learn to value gratitude and kindness.

These holidays will be an opportunity to take some time for ourselves and reflect on what we are grateful for. At St Paul’s we are grateful for our staff, students and families. We are grateful for Fr Richard who visits regularly and we are grateful for the building renovations that will mean we will have new, up to date facilities in our office and stage three classrooms. Most of all we are grateful for the opportunity to rest after a challenging term and find renewed energy for Term 3. If you would like to read more about gratitude and kindness you can access a variety of websites on our Parent Portal.

As part of our procedure unit, Year 2 made Fairy bread!

We made our Fairy Bread, wrote our procedure and enjoyed eating our yummy Fairy Bread!  We made sure tht we used Verbs, Capital letters and full stops!