100 year Anniversary of the Canonisation of St Therese

St Therese was canonised on May 17, 1925. The centenary will be marked at the 10am Mass this Sunday. St Therese died in 1897 at the very young age of only 24. Her remarkably simple life has had a significant impact right around the world. At the time of her canonisation, Therese’s 4 sisters were all alive and present to witness this event. All are invited to join together to celebrate to extraordinary life of St Therese. There will be a special anniversary cake to share in the Parish Centre afterwards.

Multicultural Mass - Sunday, 8 June @ 10am

This Mass has been a highlight in our parish calendar for a number of years now. We live in a very multicultural community with the school boasting over 40 different cultural backgrounds. This Mass, on the very relevant Feast of Pentecost, is an opportunity for all to come together and celebrate.

Athletics Carnival

Our School Athletics Carnival is scheduled for next Monday (19th). At this stage, the weather forecast is not looking great. As the option of a backup date is not possible (Beaton Park is fully booked until after the date for the Diocesan Carnival), we will need to run the track events regardless of the weather. This is the same scenario as in 2024 where the event became a competitors only event with the track events of 800m, 200m and 100m. A decision will be made either tomorrow or Friday with parents and students notified accordingly.

Da Vinci Decathlon

On April 30, St Therese were represented at the Regional Da Vinci Decathlon by two teams from Years 5 & 6. This is a very competitive event to even register for with this year having 40 teams from 22 schools. St Therese once again excelled in many areas with an overall finish of 10th.

The decathlon is made up of 10 separate challenges which students are given time limits to complete. Some of our best achievements were:

Year 5

• 1st in Creative Producers

• 3rd in Ideation

• 7th in English

• 9th in Art and Poetry

• 10th in Cartography 

Year 6

• 4th in Creative producers

• 4th in Ideation

• 5th in Science

• 6th in Engineering

These are fantastic results considering the reputations of many of the competing schools. Huge thank you to Mrs Carol Hiscox who has devoted much of her own time to preparing students for this competition.

Year 4 Excursion

Last Friday, Year 4 travelled to The Rocks in Sydney to gain a different context for their learning around British Colonisation. The feedback from the Ranger Jamie tour guides and staff who attended was all very positive and a great time was had by all the students.

Attendance

Changes to the CEDoW Attendance Policy have been flagged a number of times this year. Essentially, unless children are sick, most other absences will be recorded as Not Approved. This isn’t to say students can’t have the leave but the emphasis is now on the fact that students should be at school every possible day that they can. An average attendance of above 90% is the goal for every child. 

Mothers’ Day Stall & Morning Tea

A huge thank you to the parents who shopped, prepared, set up, served, etc, etc for the Mothers’ Day Stall and morning tea. As I have mentioned previously, as teachers we are in a privileged position to see the reaction of children on days like these. For many children, the Mothers’ Day stall was the first time they made a shopping decision all by themselves. For the morning tea and open classrooms, 220 mum’s had booked in which far exceeded expectations. Unfortunately the day coincided with a Principals’ Meeting so I was unable to attend. Feedback I have received from parents and staff was all very positive. Thanks again to the parents who give freely of their time to make these events possible.

So, You’ve Watched Adolescence... Where to Turn for Advice

Image courtesy of Netflix

For any parent who has watched the Netflix drama Adolescence and was left highly disturbed by the harmful impact that social media is having on young men and boys, you are not alone.

It’s hard to think of a show that has captured the world’s attention so fully and shone a much-needed light on the dangerous impact of misogynistic content, algorithms and influencers on the minds of young men and boys. 

Shockingly, despite our best efforts as parents to raise great kids, it is not a fair fight when tech companies and algorithms can influence our teenagers within seconds. 

As Australia’s national online safety educator, nothing is more important to us than ensuring young people are safe to create, connect and explore the wonders of technology and the internet.

It’s what motivates us in every aspect of our work, whether we’re connecting with educators, parents and young people to develop digital literacy and resilience resources, encouraging the tech industry to take a Safety by Design approach by putting safety at the forefront of the design, or developing guidance to prevent under 16-year-olds from having accounts on certain social media services.

eSafety Resources

eSafety resources to help you and your community navigate the risks facing young people online:

• Register for our free 45-minute parent webinar, exploring the online experiences of boys and young men, to understand the impact of social media, gaming, and influencers on attitudes, behaviours and sense of identity
• Listen to ABC Fran Kelly and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant unpack the themes of Adolescence, including toxic masculinity and the online manosphere
• Listen to ABC Big Ideas! to hear eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant and other experts in their fields discuss how parents can better support young people to navigate the risks and threats online
• Read our blog about how eSafety is shining a light on the dark forces manipulating our teenagers
• Read eSafety's young men online research series which explores young men's experiences and how they can be supported to develop healthy and positive masculinities
• For the young person in your life: explore our resources for young people.

Write On Competition

WriteOn is an annual writing competition open to all NSW primary school students in Years 1-6.

This competition is a fantastic opportunity for your child to explore their creativity, develop their writing skills, and express their unique voice by creating an imaginative text (up to 500 words) inspired by a special stimulus quote.

This year's quote is: “Could they be changing?”

Students in Years 1-6 are welcome to submit an entry to this competition, with all entries due to classroom teachers or Mrs South by June 13th.

School Uniform

Justice of the Peace

Ms Liz Pellizzari is a registered Justice of the Peace - for parents who require legal documents verified. Please contact the office if you would like to arrange a meeting with Liz.

Mobile Phones / Smart Watches

Minor Head Injuries

Further updates in Compass now allow for minor injuries to the head of a student be relayed to parents via SMS. These injuries are assessed as usual in the office and if deemed ‘minor’, an SMS will be sent. As usual, if deemed more significant, a parent will be contacted via a phone call. This process will free up a lot of time for office staff having to look up phone numbers and individually call parents. By minor injuries, we are looking at a soft ball bouncing on their head or lightly bumping a head on another child’s shoulder. If there is a significant bump on concrete or other hard surface, or head clash with another student, parents will always be contacted via phone.