Vision Statement - “Immersed in faith …”

St Therese Catholic Primary school has a history spanning over 80 years. The school started within the church and has grown with 6 major building projects (including the current) over this time. Along with the growth, we have evolved from being traditionally referred to “Little Flower” to now “St Therese”. Our connection with parish has not waivered throughout this time. Successive Parish Priests have maintained and built upon the strong relationships formed with the school. The school grounds have been enhanced not only by the parent community but also the parish having contributed a great deal, often in the form of working bees where skills and interests were the gifts offered. As part of our current building project, the school basement is being transformed into a parish centre with three offices, reception, kitchen and multipurpose function room. Having the parish and school share the same building is a first for the diocese and a scenario that we, and the parish, are keen to see develop into a stronger unity over the coming years.

Faith at St Therese is not just something that happens during Religious Education lessons or when we go down to the church. Our faith teaches us that God is present all around us - in the people we meet and the environment in which we live. At St Therese we try to instil this in our students. The rules and procedures that we put in place, Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, are underpinned by our love of God, love for each other and love for our environment. This is regularly reinforced with our students.

Covid

After 2½ years of dodging and weaving to avoid covid, it has finally caught up with me. Hopefully, I will return next Tuesday. I have every confidence that the leadership team are in a good place to manage the school in my absence. 

 

Staff Changes

• Mrs Adele Walsh will be taking Parental Leave from the end of this term. During Term 4, Kinder Gold will be taught by Mrs Stephanie Milner on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays and Mrs Diann Sharman on Mondays and Thursdays. Both Steph & Diann will receive a thorough handover from Adele and I know they are both looking forward to working alongside Gail. Both teachers are also well known to the Kinder students from being present as casual teachers.
• Ms Mary Panozzo will be taking some extended Long Service Leave from September 12 through to the end of the year. As a Middle Leader, this position was advertised and interviews held last week. Mrs Anne-Marie Gilmore was the successful candidate. An advertisement has been posted today for a classroom teacher for 4 Blue.
• Mrs Michelle Devine will also be taking 2 weeks Long Service Leave at the beginning of Term 4. Mrs Mary Sinnreich will teach 6 Blue during this period.

Personalised Planning Meetings 

This meeting commenced this week and will run for the next two weeks. There is a great deal of benefit when teachers and parents have this opportunity to discuss student learning often within the context of outside agency reports and recommendations. I especially thank Dimitra Vezinias who chairs most of these meetings to ensure there is consistency across the school.

 

School Shoes

Reminder that our Winter & Summer uniforms include black leather shoes while the Sports uniform includes predominantly white joggers. At a recent gathering of Year 6 students from 11 primary schools, I was very impressed at how our students looked in their full Winter uniform.

Fallen Tree

As you can see in the photo, we have a fallen tree blocking a path way. This is not in an area that impacts students but does need to be cleared away. We are looking for a volunteer with a chainsaw who could clear the pathway. You are welcome to take the wood if you have an open fire or it could just be moved to the side. Please call Louise or Mary-Anne if you can assist.

Diocesan Sports Trials

Applications are now being sought for the Diocesan Trials for many different sports. These trials are open for elite athletes who will be in either Year 5 or Year 6 in 2023. A letter, providing basic details, will be sent via Compass to the relevant grades later today. Applications are then forwarded to the individual sport conveyor who will then accept or reject applications based on the criteria for each sport.

Bike Immersion Days

Thank you to Mr Timpano for organising these two Bike Immersion Days for Years 3 - 6. All bikes and equipment will be supplied. Besides highlighting bike safety and skills development, the days will draw attention to the UCI Cycling event that is going to take the Illawarra by storm in just a few weeks.

NAPLAN 2022 Results

 

Towards the end of this term, parents will receive the individual student reports for any students in Years 3 and 5 who completed NAPLAN this year. These reports contain detailed information which will provide parents and carers with an understanding of their child's achievement in NAPLAN this year. Information about the parent reports can be accessed from the following website: https://www.nap.edu.au/results-and-reports/student-reports

Andrew Edwards (NAPLAN Coordinator)

example_2022_y3_isr_without_school_mean.pdf

example_2022_y3_isr_without_school_mean _pdf 294.23 KB

faq_individual_student_report.pdf

faq_individual_student_report _pdf 232.66 KB

SEL

 

 

Book Week 2022 - Dreaming with Eyes Open

Book Week commences Saturday 20th August and this year's theme is Dreaming with Eyes Open.

To celebrate this fun and special event, students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character, or get creative with this year's theme, on Thursday 25th August. Students K-6 will parade in their costumes at 9.30am in the Back playground. Students and staff will get to showcase their costumes and parents are welcome to watch.

Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 will have the pleasure of entering in a Colouring Competition and Dewey Awards Writing Competition. These will be judged by Grades for the Colouring Competition and categories for the Dewy Awards K-2 and Yr 3-6.

After lunch there will be some exciting prizes and awards for the best Costumes and Competition winners announced.

Looking forward to seeing your wonderful creative costumes!

SOUTH COAST ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

A very, very tough day weather wise at Beaton Park last week with intermittent rain all day and cool conditions making it a challenging event. Despite these hurdles it was great to see the enthusiasm of the St Therese students and the amazing effort they put into each and every event.

Congratulations to Asher Flynn who progressed through to yesterday's Diocesan trials in high jump. At this event, Asher finished second which now takes him through to Mackillop level which is being held in Sydney in September. This is an awesome achievement for Asher.

A special thanks to all those parents who put up their hand and volunteered to help out on the day.

Your help was greatly appreciated.

Maurice Bernardi

WONDER RECYCLING REWARDS