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Newsletter Week 2
OUR SCHOOL PRAYER
School Prayer: God, Our Father, you decided your Kingdom was for those who were humble. Help us to imitate the ways of St Therese and remember that ‘Love can do all things’. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen
Morning Offering: O God, my Father in Heaven. I offer you myself and all I do this day. Mary, my Mother, help me to love God and look after myself, and those around me, today. Amen.
Saints Joachim & Anne
Grandparents of Jesus
Feast Day 26th July
According to Church tradition they were a deeply faithful Jewish couple from the line of King David. Strong devotion to them dates back to early Christianity. While we know very little about Sts Joachim and Anne we can assume that Mary was raised in a faith-filled Jewish home, which led her to respond wholeheartedly to God’s request with faith, “Let it be done to me as you will”.
In Australia, a first class relic of St Anne is held at her shrine in the Parish of St Anne in Bondi where pilgrims are always welcome.
Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.
Pray for our grandchildren who are so
dear to us.
Car Name Signs (for Kiss & Collect)
With the new term starting, I ask that parents who come through the drive through pick-up, please ensure the ‘Family Name’ sign is clearly displayed. To ensure we can organise children quickly, teachers refer to the names several times therefore please keep the name on display not simply holding it up once. If you need another sign, please let Louise know in the office.
Good luck!
On Friday our squad of 13 girls will travel to Ulladulla to compete in the Regional Final of the Paul Kelly Cup. It has been a long time since the girls last played but they are very keen and excited to be attending. Mrs Dominique Hogarth will be the team manager at the event.
Soccer Gala Day
Students from Years 3 & 5 will represent St Therese at the Soccer Gala Day on Friday. This is a non-competitive event aimed at promoting the sport particularly to students who may otherwise never have played the game. Sportsmanship and having fun are the key elements of the day.
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL APPRAISAL
As part of the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) Assistant Principal Professional Development Planning and Review Process, an Appraisal occurs for each Assistant Principal every four years of his or her contract. This provides system and community accountability that is aligned with the School and Improvement process, focusing on the Assistant Principal’s leadership achievements and strengths, as well as identify areas for growth and development and future directions.
The Appraisal will be occurring for your Assistant Principal Mrs Dimitra Vezinias over the coming weeks and parents are invited to participate via a short survey.
St Therese Catholic
School Core Values
Inclusion Excellence Respect
Collaboration Community
The Zones Of Regulation
SEL
Healthy Lifesyle Unit
Principal's Awards
Toby Greenhalgh 1G
Silver Medallion
Sasa Karabeleski 5B
St Therese School Facebook Page
www.facebook.com/westwollongong.sttherese
School Vision Statement
“Immersed in faith, pursuing excellence in learning
and the positive wellbeing of all”
REC NEWS
Year Six Mass with the Bishop
Last Wednesday, St Therese hosted Year Six students from seven different schools. We had a beautiful Mass, celebrated by the Bishop and joined by three other attending priests. Each school had a special part in the Mass and displayed their school candle up on the sanctuary. It was amazing to see the church full (to the rafters) with the youth of our Diocese, showing such reverence and participating in the Mass. Students enjoyed having lunch together afterwards and meeting some students who they may be attending highschool with next year.
A huge Thank You to the Bishop, visiting priests, the CLEM team from Wollongong Catholic Education Office, REC’s and Staff from the seven participating schools and the wonderful St Therese Staff and Students for their organisation and generosity in hosting the event.
Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA)
Last week our Year 4 students practised the RLA on google forms, in preparation for next Monday’s RLA.
This assessment of religious literacy focuses on students’ knowledge and understanding of the key concepts that are being addressed by the RE program and the students’ ability to communicate with their religious tradition.
Christmas Story Art
This term, students in Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) are focusing on reading and understanding the Christmas Story. During this term’s Art (with Mrs McGoldrick), students will be creating their masterpieces reflecting their understanding of one of the scripture references. Stage 3 students received a note last week regarding any specialised materials they would like to use to be purchased and brought into school on Monday next week for example canvas or modelling clay etc. Please refer to the letter for specific details.
Thank you for your support.
MRS KIRRA CALVERT
Religious Education Cordinator
WEN
GARDENING CLUB
Gardening Club is run every Tuesday at lunchtine with Mrs McGoldrick - all are welcome - PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN GLOVES.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
BUNNINGS BBQ Thank you
We had a successful day at the Bunnings BBQ. Thank you P&F and especially Mark Thompson for volunteering his time in organising and working the whole day. Thank you to all the Parent Volunteers and Edmund Rice students.
ISSUE 5 - DUE Friday 28 July 2023 - via LOOP
BOOKWEEK 2023
ESafety Resources
https://www.esafety.gov.au/educators/classroom-resources/mighty-heroes/mighty-heroes-student-page
"Take It Down" Platform - Preventing the Unwanted Spread of Intimate Child Images Online.
A powerful new tool has emerged to safeguard the online privacy of young people who have unwillingly or unknowingly shared intimate images or videos of themselves with malicious recipients.
The Take It Down platform empowers individuals under the age of 18, regardless of their location, to remove or prevent the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of them.
This service is provided anonymously and does not require the uploading of any images or videos to the platform's system.
Take It Down sends a unique fingerprint of the intimate content to their participating social media/content distribution platforms who use the fingerprint to block the content.
The participating platforms include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pornhub, OnlyFans, Clips4Sale and Yubo.
Instances of image-based abuse can also be reported to eSafety or the police.
Please feel free to share this information with your school community and through your newsletter.
The eSafety Commission website has resources to help parents and carers be positive role models and online safety advocates.
For online safety information for parents and carers, visit eSafety.gov.au/parents.
For advice on how to set parental controls across home Wi-Fi, devices, software, and more, visit: eSafety.gov.au/parental-controls.
For online safety webinars for parents and carers, visit eSafety.gov.au/parents/webinars.
For advice on the latest games, apps and social media, visit eSafety.gov.au/esafety-guide.
eSafety Commissioner’s Online Relationships and Consent webinar
The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT, in partnership with the eSafety Commissioner, is offering all parents, carers, teachers and support staff the opportunity to join a 30-minute free webinar designed for parents and carers of young people in secondary school.
It will cover:
- The impact of sharing nude images without consent
- practical suggestions for starting the chat about respectful relationships, consent and pressure to send nudes.
- Where to get support for a young person who has experienced abuse.
- The impact of sharing nude images without consent
Webinar details:
Date: Tuesday 15 August 2023
Time: 7.30 pm – 8.00 pm
Register at: https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/5491931265697591563
NAPLAN
Last term the Year 3 and 5 students participated in the NAPLAN (National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy). This week parents received the results of this assessment. This year these results will look a little different from previous years. The NSW Education Standards Authority states that: from 2023, proficiency standards will replace the previous reporting of student NAPLAN results that used numerical bands and the national minimum standard. Proficiency standards describe what students are expected to know and should be able to do in literacy and numeracy at the time of NAPLAN. Students’ results are measured against 4 levels of proficiency:
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Exceeding: The student’s result exceeded expectations at the time of testing.
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Strong: The student’s result met challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
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Developing: The student’s result indicated that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
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Needs additional support: The student’s result indicated that they did not achieve the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.
News on the Digital Curriculum
NESA has developed ‘Supporting your Child: Parent and carer guides’ in English and Mathematics for Early Stage 1 - Stage 3. These guides are now available on the Digital curriculum website and accessible through the Teaching resources tab.
The NSW Government student learning library
The NSW Student learning library is a suite of learning resources which are accessible for teachers, parents and carers, and students to be used in class or at home.
The resources are aligned with new syllabuses and have been quality assured by educational professionals within the department. The new resources will supplement and complement other resources being provided by the department, including units developed by department curriculum experts to support the roll-out of new syllabuses.
The library currently contains K-2 English and Mathematics learning resources. The remaining K-10 learning resources are to be released over the next 3-5 years aligned to the new NSW syllabus rollout.
https://education.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/initiatives/nsw-student-learning-library#/
CURRICULUM REFORM NEWS - PRIMARY
NESA 3-6 English and Mathematics Online Courses
NESA has released 3-6 English and Mathematics professional learning courses which provide teachers with an understanding of the syllabuses. Each of these self-paced courses is NESA Accredited 2.5 hours of professional development (PD).
It is recommended that all leaders and teachers engage in this professional learning during the Familiarisation Phase of implementation.
These syllabuses will be taught in all schools in 2024.
New English 3-6 and Mathematics 3-6 Professional learning courses are now available on the NESA learning hub.
This link is also available on the K-6 Curriculum Support site.
Extended Leave (10 days or more)
For extended leave for holidays, parents are asked to complete an ‘Application for Exemption from Attendance at School’ form. This is available from the office.
HOW TO LODGE AN ABSENCE USING THE COMPASS APP
WHO DO WE CONTACT?
To assist with the leading of initiatives and the general running of school activities each stage is allocated a leader. For 2023 the following staff have been allocated to the four stages:
Early Stage 1 (Kindergarten) Mrs Trish Staff
Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) Mrs Trish Staff
Stage 2 (Year 3 and Year 4) Mrs Bethany Tirchett
Stage 3 (Year 5 and Year 6) Mrs Dimitra Vezinias
Should you have any questions or concerns, your first port of call should always be your child's teacher. Should you require further clarification you can make contact with the Stage Leader.
OUR SCHOOL
What is the meaning of our School Motto?
Our school motto, ‘Love Can Do All Things’ comes from a quote in a letter by Therese after entering the Carmelite convent at the age of 15 in 1888. The letter was to her sister, Celine. “Love can do all things, and the most difficult things don’t appear difficult to it. Jesus does not look so much at the grandeur of actions or even their difficulty as at the love which goes to make up these actions…”
What does our School Badge mean?
Our badge shows Saint Therese holding a crucifix and flowers,
encircled by the brown of the Carmelite order. Therese loved flowers
and saw herself as the ‘Little flower of Jesus,’ who gave glory to God
by just being her beautiful little self among all the other flowers in
God's garden. Therese said, “My mission - to make God loved - will
begin after my death." "I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.
I will let fall a shower of roses." Roses have been described and
experienced as St Therese's signature in times of intercession.
The crucifix is significant because Therese wanted to save the souls of poor sinners with Jesus on the Cross.
OUR SPORT HOUSES
Lisieux - This is the birthplace of our patron saint, St Therese
Benedict - This honours St Benedict from whom part of our charism comes
Samaritan - This honours our founding order of nuns - the Good Samaritans
Keira - This reflects where our school is nestled - in the foothills of Mt Keira (Geera)
and honours the Indigenous of our area.
EDMUND RICE GALA NIGHT
FERNS FAMILY FUNDRAISER
On behalf of our whole family we would just like to say a huge thankyou. The fundraiser was a big success, selling out very quickly.
Amari & Lenny were able to raise $210 through the generosity of the St Therese community. This is just from donations collected at the school from the Bake sale and cash donations.
We have also seen people donating through the City2Surf fundraiser links.
Thank you!
UPCOMING IMPORTANT EVENTS
Paul Kelly Cup
- 28 July ay Ulladulla
Year 3 & Year 5 Soccer Gala Day
- 28 July - at Unanderra Park & Ocean Beach Park Woonona
Year 1 Excursion to Stanwell Park Reserve
- 1 August
Year 5 Excursion to Taronga Zoo (Overnight)
- 2 - 3 August
STUDENT BIRTHDAYS
Birthdays
26 July 2023 - 1 August 2023
Enzo B - KB, Hannah C - 6G, Zoe W - 3B
PARISH INFORMATION
BAPTISMS
For any new requests please contact Kathy at the Parish Office (email: westwollongong@dow.org.au any time or call 4243 9610 on Tuesdays 9am-3pm).
God bless you all,
Fr Duane
Calendar Dates 2023
2023
July 2023
28 - Year 3 & Year 5 Soccer Gala Day - Unanderra Park & Ocean Beach Park Woonona
World Youth Day (week)
August 2023
1 - Year 1 Excursion - Stanwell Park Beach
2 - Year 5 Excursion to Taronga Zoo (Overnight)
4 - Census Day
Year 3 Excurion - Science Centre
9.30am Year 6 & Year 1 attending Parish Mass
8 - Feast Of Mary of The Cross Mackillop
South Coast Athletics Carnival
The Athletes Foot - Tying Shoelaces Workshop - Year 1 & Year 2
8pm P & F Meeting in Primary Building
15 - Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
21 - Book Week - Read, Grow, Inspire
22- 5pm First Reconcilation in the Church
23 - 9.00am Book Week parade
24 - 5pm First Reconcilation in the Church
September 2023
1 - World Day of Prayer for Creation
8.50am Father's Day Prayer - Year 6
12 - 7pm P & F Meeting in Primary Building
22 - Last Day of Term 3
October 2023
9 - Term 4 Commences - Students Returns
15 - School Fete
25 - 9.15am - 10.45am 2024 Kinder Playgroup
12.00pm - 1.30pm 2024 Kinder Playgroup
31 - 7pm P & F Meeting in Primary Building
November 2023
1 - 9.15am - 10.45am 2024 Kinder Playgroup
12.00pm - 1.30pm 2024 Kinder Playgroup
All Saints Day
2 - All Souls Day
4 - 11.30am First Holy Communion - St Therese Church
2.00pm First Holy Communion - St Therese Church
8 - 9.15am - 10.45am 2024 Kinder Playgroup
12.00pm - 1.30pm 2024 Kinder Playgroup
15 - 9.15am - 10.45am 2024 Kinder Playgroup
12.00pm - 1.30pm 2024 Kinder Playgroup
22 - 9.30am 2024 Kindergarten Orientation Day
December 2023
15 - Students Last Day of School 2023
11.30am End of Year Assembly
18 - Staff Development day
19 - Staff Development day
End of Term 4 2023