“Your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed”

Mark 5: 34

(from the Gospel for the thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary time, Year B)

Dear Parents and Carers

Tomorrow is the end of Term 2. This year has slipped by so quickly. And yet so much has happened! We have had some very significant changes to our community this term. What has not changed is the manner in which we continue to work together respectfully and with the single focus on the wellbeing, development and academic growth of the children in our care. This is our mission and purpose. I hope that over the next couple of weeks you are able to have the opportunity for some quality time with your children and cherish them for the blessed gift they are to us all. We look forward to seeing the children back at school refreshed and ready to learn on Monday 12 July. God bless.

SEMESTER 1 PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

It has been a privilege to spend time with you this past week to talk about your child’s progress and development at school. We are very proud of the children and the effort they put into their learning every day. Our goal is to instill an attitude and aptitude as lifelong learners. There is much to celebrate with every child’s learning. Together home and school will continue to work for the good of each child as we take their learning forward. Thank you for making these Parent Teacher meetings a priority. Your children are the ultimate beneficiaries of our partnership and collaboration.

P&F NEWS

P&F pie drive- delivery tomorrow Friday 25 June between 1:30 and 4pm in school hall

Thank you for your excellent support of the P&F pie drive. As you will recall the P&F are attempting to raise $10,000.00 this year so that we can have some beautiful and useful playground stencils added to the playground. Here is a link to the company website where you can view a range of examples of their designs. We will consult with the community to have some input into choosing the final design choices.

Delivery of the pies will be tomorrow (Friday 25 June). You can come to the school hall between 1.30pm and 4pm to collect your pies. We will have them ready for you. Thank you to the P&F volunteers for organising and delivering this event on behalf of our whole community.

COVID-19 updates

The emerging COVID-19 situation in greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and the Shoalhaven has triggered updated school management measures for those areas. At this stage, the Southern Highlands is exempt from the updated restrictions and do not apply to us.  

We will continue to remind the children of good hygiene practices (wash your hands; cover your cough/sneeze; wash your hands; stay at home if you are sick). We have maintained our regular, daily regime of hand washing and hard surface cleaning. As a community, it would be wise for everyone to be vigilant with social distancing, hand sanitising and using QR codes wherever available. Those who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination are being strongly encouraged by NSW Health to take up this prevention measure.

I thank you for your patience, understanding and cooperation in helping to keep everyone safe. We are all doing our bit. The updated measures I referenced above are noted on the  current COVID- 19 guidelines for Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Wollongong for your information. Once again, these measures do not currently apply to the Southern Highlands. You will be notified if this changes.

COMPASS

COMPASS is our school’s communication app. You receive push notifications, letters, school reports and attendance notices via COMPASS. We have noticed that there were a number of the COMPASS delivered reports that were not opened. Furthermore, each week we have a significant number of newsletter links not accessed. I think it is timely that we freshen up our COMPASS usage in readiness for Term 3. Staying in touch is important in maintaining good communication and the home/school partnership. I would like to draw you attention to a few COMPASS related actions to help us all stay connected. 

How to get COMPASS

If you don’t have COMPASS, you can download the free COMPASS app from your app store. Search for “Compass School Manager”. It is a free to download app for both Apple iOS and Android. If you need help with the setup, feel free to contact the school office.

Contact Information

It is important that you keep your contact information up to date in COMPASS. This is especially true of your email contact. Please make sure that your email listed in COMPASS is the email you most frequently use. 

Forgotten passwords

If you have forgotten your COMPASS password, you will need to ring the school office. We can reset the password for you. Please be aware that each COMPASS account has a unique password. The password that one parent uses is different from the other parent’s password.

School Attendance

You receive a message via COMPASS informing that your child is away from school. Next term you will begin to receive reminder notifications for any unexplained absences from school for your child via COMPASS.

SENIOR SCHOOL SUPPORT OFFICER (SSSO) APPOINTMENT- commencing Term 3

We are very pleased to have Mrs Eileen Norman take up her new position at the beginning of Term 3 after she concludes her current role at St Thomas Aquinas Primary School Bowral. Mrs Norman has a range of experience in a range of school offices across different school systems. We are very fortunate to have her work with us at St Paul’s and take up Mrs Vaughan’s legacy. I’m sure you will make Mrs Norman feel very welcome as she joins our school community.

KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS FOR 2022 ARE NOW OPEN

We have had strong demand for the limited places we have available for Kindergarten 2022. The first round offers of enrolment have been made in writing this week. We still have a couple of places available and we do maintain a wait list. If you know of anyone who has a child ready for school in 2022, they can still apply. Applications can be picked up from the school office or downloaded from the school website. 

WINTER UNIFORM

The children look lovely in their winter school uniforms. We will wear the winter uniform throughout Term 2 and Term 3. If children would like to wear a navy beanie, navy gloves or a navy scarf, they are perfectly welcome to do so. We want the children to be warm and comfortable at school during the cold months ahead.

Sport Uniform days for Term 2

Sport uniforms are to be worn on the following days for each class:

Kindergarten - Wednesday and Friday

Year 1 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 2 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 3 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 4 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 5 - Wednesday and Friday

Year 6 - Wednesday and Friday

School Terms for 2021

Wishing all our families a restful holiday time. Down time is the best way to recharge and prepare for the second half of the school year. We are very lucky in the Southern Highlands to have National Parks at our doorsteps. Take a look at the website to see all the amazing walking trails that are nearby with ratings for levels of difficulty. There are many family friendly trails around and they are free. Links to the website on our parent portal. https://sites.google.com/dow.catholic.edu.au/st-pauls-moss-vale/wellbeing

Regards,

Katie Browne

Assistant Principal.

Activate Fire

On Monday 19th July, St Paul’s will be hosting an immersive spiritual experience for our Year 6 students as well as students in Year 6 from St Thomas Aquinas in Bowral, St Michael’s in Mittagong and St Anthony’s in Picton. The day is an Immersive Spiritual Experience based on the Year 6 Confirmation Unit: Celebrating the Gift of the Holy Spirit. St Paul’s is hosting the day with Catholic Youth Ministry Wollongong.

Thank you 

Catherine du Bois

Religious Education Coordinator