“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field”

Matt 13: 44

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

Dear parents and carers

We have moved in!! 

On Monday and Tuesday we took possession of the refurbished building. We have now moved in! The children were absolutely delighted to see their “new school”. As Harry in Year 4 said, “I love the first day of school and today we’ve got a new school!” We are still settling in. The COVID-19 emergency has disrupted delivery timelines. Items that we have had on order for months are still outstanding and we are awaiting delivery. The new Year 5 and Year 6 desks should arrive next week. 

The landscaping and exterior painting will take place over the course of the term and next school holidays. Security fencing will remain in place until all the works are finalised.

Thank you for making arrangements for your child’s care and supervision on Monday and Tuesday. I am fully aware that this was an imposition. In making these arrangements you gave us the time and space to have the buildings ready for the children. We are very grateful for your support and understanding.

You are welcome to drop in and have a look at the refurbished buildings. After morning assembly has been a good time with numerous parents taking up this offer. I’m sure you will be impressed!

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

It has been the case since the beginning of the COVID-19 that the advice from health authorities changes in response to the progress of the pandemic. There have been further changes. We are trying to keep you up to date amid the swirl of media reportage. The CEDoW COVID-19 website aims to provide clear and accurate messaging for our diocesan school communities regarding the response and management of COVID-19 pandemic. Our school’s local response is always in line with NSW Health directives and the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) management plans. 

The basic messages regarding COVID-19 have not changed. If you or your child is unwell, stay at home until symptoms resolve. If you have “flu like symptoms” get tested. If you have had direct contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case, returned from overseas or Victoria, self isolate for fourteen days (14). Practice good personal hygiene with coughing or sneezing into your elbow or a tissue which should be disposed of immediately (we have designated bins at school). Wash hands and use sanisiter regularly throughout the day. Maintain social distancing. 

Given the worrying turn of events over the past few weeks in Victoria and parts of NSW, the management requirements and guidelines have been adjusted. It is important that we all remain vigilant especially in regard to potential exposure during the holiday period. NSW Health maintains a list of case locations and subsequent action advice. Please review this list and if your family has been at these locations during the holidays, please follow the advice provided. 

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/latest-news-and-updates

There are three directives from the CEDoW website that I wish to highlight and draw to your attention. These have a direct impact on individuals who have had a COVID-19 test or have been directed to self isolate.

• Students and staff who have been directed to self-isolate or have undergone testing can only return to the school after their 14-day isolation period is complete, and they have received a negative test result and are not displaying symptoms.

• If a student or staff member is directed to self-isolate but does not undergo a COVID-19 test, they must provide a medical clearance to return to school (and may only return after their 14-day isolation period is complete and if they are not displaying symptoms).
• Students and staff who have undergone testing but HAVE NOT been directed to self-isolate can return to school when they have received a negative test result and they are not displaying symptoms of illness.

The CEDoW COVID-19 Information centre is available here. We ask that you review this website regularly. 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. 

ICAS not participating in 2020

St Pauls’ will not be participating in the annual ICAS competition in 2020. With the on going uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and potential future disruptions, we have taken the decision to not participate in 2020. We will revisit this decision for 2021.

Trading Cards and Toys at school

Children occasionally bring trading cards (football cards, pokemon cards and the like) to school. Children also bring toys to school. We ask that children keep these items at home. We can not supervise or manage these additional items at school. Loss or damage to these items often leads to unnecessary upset and conflict. The school provides a range of balls (soccer, football, hand balls, netballs and soft bouncing balls), skipping ropes, hoops and games for the children to play with at break times.

Traffic safety in the morning on Garrett Street

It is important that the road rules be followed for the safety of all our children. People have been again observed parking in the bus zones, dropping children on the far side of Garrett Street and allowing the children to cross the Garrett Street unescorted, and parking in the drop off zone whilst walking children into the school. People have been observed doing U-turns across Garrett Street.  

Aside from being illegal, this behaviour is dangerous.

Please continue to adhere to our school routines in relation to the morning drop off of children. If you need to park, please do so in the vacant block opposite school and escort your child across Garrett Street. Alternatively, park further down on Garrett Street (past the presbytery and beyond the bus zone and drop off zone) and walk up to school. It is a short easy, walk. Safety is everyones’ responsibility. We all need to do our part.

Morning Supervision begins at 8:20am

School supervision begins at 8:20am each morning. Children are not able to be supervised prior to this time. If there are circumstances that make this impossible, you must make contact with the school and make an appointment with Mr O’Brien. We will discuss the possibility of making reasonable, short term solutions to help families on a case by case basis. It is not safe for students to be left at school before 8:20am.

If you require your child to be cared for before this time you can access care at Moss Vale OOSH. Children who attend OOSH are accompanied onto the bus from OOSH at Moss Vale Public School and arrive at St Paul’s during morning supervision. Please do not drop children at school before 8:20am.

Sport Uniform Days by Class

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

Kindergarten- Friday

Year 1- Changing to Thursday & Friday

Year 2- Changing to Thursday & Friday

Year 3- Wednesday & Friday

Year 4- Wednesday & Friday

Year 5- Wednesday & Friday

Year 6-Wednesday & Friday

LOLS: Lessons and Liturgy and Scripture

The LOLS videos will continue this term, most likely on a fortnightly basis. These videos will include a spiritual reflection including a scripture focus, a short ‘homily’ and a song. These videos will be uploaded on Facebook and posted on Google Classrooms.

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

Reading Intervention at St Paul’s

Learning to read and read well is one the principle goals of primary education. It takes seven years for a child to become a competent, independent reader.  Most children make steady progress towards this goal during their primary school education. Not all children progress at the same rate. Some children will require additional support and attention as they learn to read.

At St Paul’s, we provide a number of reading interventions from Year 1 to Year 6 to support those children who require additional support. We use a suite of well researched programs from MultiLit, an organisation who are attached to Macquarie University. Teachers and support staff are trained in administering these programs to ensure the integrity and rigor of the program. We work hard to ensure quality and consistency in the lesson delivery is of the highest standard. These programs are part of the holistic education program that we provide at St Paul’s.

Entry into the reading interventions is based on a thorough data analysis of the student’s literacy skills. If your child is identified as needing to participate in a reading intervention, you will receive a letter explaining which intervention program your child will participate in. You will also be notified as to who will be working with your child.  At the conclusion of the program, you will receive a report on your child’s progress with learning gains and further recommendations.

MiniLit - Stages 1- 2

MiniLit is a small group intervention of up to five children that focuses on developing student’s initial reading skills. On occasion on a needs basis, MiniLit is run as a one to one intervention. There are two levels to MiniLit each comprising forty sequential lessons. 

Level 1 focuses on letter sound knowledge and developing decoding skills for consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. 

Level 2 focuses on extending word attack knowledge by teaching commonly used digraphs and longer words. 

Groups run on a daily basis until the children have achieved all the lessons. 

Reading Tutor Program - Stages 2 - 3

The MultiLit Reading Tutor Program (RTP) caters for students who have not sufficiently acquired basic reading skills to become functional readers. This program is a one to one program, occurring up to 4 days a week. This research based program incorporates intensive, systematic and explicit instruction in three areas identified by research as to being the most effective for low-progress readers. They are phonics (or word attack skills), sight word recognition, and supported book reading. 

Word Attack Extension Skills - Stage 3

After completing the Word Attack Skills component in the MultiLit Reading Tutor Program many students are able to generalise the strategies they have learnt to all text. However, in some cases, students do need further assistance to continue to make progress. The one-to-one Word Attack Skills – Extension program teaches strategies to help struggling readers tackle multi-syllable words with confidence. This is a one to one program that occurs up to 4 days a week.

Personalised literacy instruction

On a case by case basis, some students will participate in a tailored literacy intervention that is programmed specifically to meet a particular need for the student. You will receive a letter explaining the purpose of the intervention and the amount of time it is expected the intervention will take. You will receive a report of the student’s progress at the end.

If you have any questions regarding the interventions we run at St Paul’s please do not hesitate to contact me at school.