Newsletter Week 10

St Therese Feast Day - 1st October

Fr Duane will be celebrating the Feast Day of our Patron Saint this Sunday. At both the 10am and 5pm Masses, Fr Duane will recognise St Therese as a great role model for our Parish. Afterwards, a special cake will be cut in the Parish Centre. Everyone is invited to attend.

 

During my travels in June, I was very fortunate to have visited Lisieux in France. This small town about 2 hours north of Paris is fairly unremarkable apart from the fact that in 1873 Therese was born. Now, the town proudly displays Therese’s childhood home, the Convent she entered at just 15 years of age, a Cathedral and a Basilica in her honour. A sickly child who displayed wisdom well beyond her years, died at the early age of just 24.

 

An important part of educating children at St Therese is that we acknowledge the wisdom of our patron saint and try to have the children come to realise that it’s the little things that we do that can have the greatest impact

 

St_Therese_of_Lisieux.pdf

St_Therese_of_Lisieux _pdf 131.99 KB

Staff Development Days (Pupil Free)

• Friday, 27 September - Berry Street Education Model Day 2
• Monday, 14 October - Vision for Learning

 

Personalised Planning Meetings

Thank you to all our parents/carers and students who attended our Personalised Planning Meetings this term. Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) is redeveloping the Personalised Planning Tool for Students with Disability (PPSD). Teachers are undergoing training modules which will provide an excellent overview of the new and improved aspects. We will keep you informed when the Personalised Plan will be available and sent electronically via COMPASS. Please feel free to contact your class teacher for ongoing reviewing and monitoring.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Dimitra Vezinias and Mrs Amy Runko

Upcoming Teacher Professional Learning Development 

Throughout the year teachers have access to a variety of quality professional development opportunities. Casual teachers are employed to cover classes with the teacher ensuring the teaching program and routines are followed.

Week	Date	Staff Member/s	Purpose
10	23/9/24	Ms Pellizzari	Road Safety Program
10	27/9/24	All staff	Staff Development Day - Berry Street Education Model

Tell Them From Me Student Survey Information

The Tell Them From Me Student Survey Data outlines measures that are based on the most recent research on school and classroom effectiveness. The information in the student survey provides results based on data from 142 students from grades 4 to 6 in this school who completed the survey between 2 May and 8th May 2024. Results from our students are compared with TTFM Norms, which are based on the results from all students who participated in the TTFM survey at the year levels found in this school. Please see the table below that outlines the school mean and the TTFM norms for measurements surveyed.

Measurement Name	School Mean	TTFM Norm
Student participation in school sports Percentage of students with a high rate of participation in sports with an instructor at school, other than in a physical education class.	77%	72%
Student participation in extracurricular activities Percentage of students with a high rate of participation in art, drama, or music groups; extracurricular school activities; or a school committee.	43%	51%
Students with a positive sense of belonging Students feel accepted and valued by their peers and by others at their school.	81%	71%
Students with positive relationships Students have friends at school they can trust and who encourage them to make positive choices.	90%	85%
Students that value schooling outcomes Students believe that schooling is useful in their everyday life and will have a strong bearing on their future.	85%	89%
Students with positive homework behaviours Students do homework for their classes with a positive attitude and in a timely manner.	47%	43%
Students with positive behaviour at school Students that do not get in trouble at school for disruptive or inappropriate behaviour.	92%	88%
Students who are interested and motivated Students are interested and motivated in their learning.	72%	64%
Effort Students try hard to succeed in their learning.	92%	86%
Students with moderate or high levels of anxiety Students have intense feelings of fear, intense anxiety, or worry about particular events or social situations.	21%	30%
Students who are victims of bullying Students who are subjected to moderate to severe physical, social, or verbal bullying, or are bullied over the Internet.	21%	30%
Feel safe attending this school Students feel safe at school as well as going to and from school.	68%	61%

See the data below of additional measures that were surveyed by the Catholic Education Office as part of the survey.

 

 

As you can see by the information portrayed above there is much to celebrate at St Therese and areas for further conversation. We will continue to work with the information in the coming term as we plan for our 2025 Annual Improvement Plan Goals.

I would like to thank the students for their hard work and commitment to their learning this term. It has been a very busy term and our students certainly deserve a holiday. I would like to thank all parents and carers for your ongoing partnership as together we create a vibrant Catholic school community.

Mrs Dimitra Vezinias

Assistant Principal

Child Safety Handbook 

The “NSW Police Legacy Child Safety Handbook” is a comprehensive and free resource to assist parents, carers as well as teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety.  

This new digital edition (link below) includes important content updates from: NSW Rural Fire Service (NEW fire danger ratings), NSW Health (Water & Pool Safety), Transport NSW (School Bus Safety).

Child Safety Handbook

Child_Safety_Handbook_2024_August_Update.pdf

Child_Safety_Handbook_2024_August_Update _pdf 550.04 KB

St Therese Catholic School Core Values

Collaboration - Community - Excellence - Inclusion - Respect

Principal's Awards

Feliks C - 1B

Lila S - 1B

Jack T - 1B

Monty W - 1B

Eloise T - 3G

Gold Medallion

Carissa C - 5G

Anthony S - 5B

St Therese School Facebook Page

www.facebook.com/westwollongong.sttherese

The CEDoW The Christmas Story Art Exhibition and Competition

Stage 3 students across the Diocese are invited to participate in the Christmas Story Art Competition each year. The students are asked to create artworks that reflect an understanding and interpretation of one of the suggested scripture verses and include authentic imagery fromthe time of Jesus. A written description is also required with each artwork, with a brief explanation written by the students and is an important component of the judging criteria. The student's intention for the artwork, the media used, and the scriptural connection are especially important.

This year, three students from Years 5 and 6 were selected to have their artwork included in the exhibition at the Catholic Education Office Wollongong. From this exhibitions the artworks that best respond to the criteria will be hung in the Wollongong City Art Gallery. The exhibition will be open to the public from October 4 - October 27, 2024.

A huge thank you to Mrs McGoldrick for her artistic guidance throughout the term for all of our Year 5 and Year 6 participants and to our Year 5 and 6 teachers for their support in the written components.

St Therese Celebration Day 25th September- Good Deed Beads

St. Therese, the Little Flower, as a child, used a small string of beads in her pocket to help her count the gifts she did to offer to God. Today, each student received a prayer card and a ‘Good Deed Bead’ kit to create their own set of Good Deed Beads.

Sacrifice Beads or Good Deed Beads are a string of ten beads used to count the acts of love or sacrifices a person makes in a day for God. The string of beads helps a person to grow by challenging them to be faithful in making acts of love each day.

P & F Meeting

This meeting will be held in the Parish Centre on Tuesday 22 October, 2024 at 7pm. All welcome.

BAPTISMS

 For any new requests please contact the Parish Office (email: westwollongong@dow.org.au any time or call 4243 9610 on Tuesdays 9am-3pm).

God bless you all,
Fr Duane

Birthdays

25 September 2024 - 15 October 2024

Christina D - 6B, Luca S - 3B, Serena C - 4B, Allira K - 3B, Jock D - 1G, Joana J - 2G, Eli Z - 3B, Aria R - 6G, Marvin P - 3B, Shaun R - 5G, Eva A - KG, Hugo M - 1B, Valerie K - 2G, Samuel G - 5B, Brock S - 5B, Lara D - 6G, Isla C - 2G, Leo K - 4B, Zoey C - 2B, Themi A - 4B, Malia R - 3B, Samuel B - 5G, Christian W - 6G.

**These dates are acurate at the time of publishing but are subject to change**

2024

September 2024

26 - 9.30am Mass in the Church celebrating the Feast of St Therese 

       Last Day of Term 3 for Students

27 - Staff Development Day - PUPIL FREE DAY

       Last Day of Term 3 for Staff

October 2024

1 - Feast of St Therese 

6 - Daylight Saving commences

14 - Staff Devlopment Day - PUPIL FREE DAY

       Term 4 Commences for Staff

15 - Term 4 Commences for Students

16 - Kinder 2025 Playgroup Session 

17 - ERC Band visit

      Cricket Gala Day 

18 - 2.10pm 2 Gold Assembly in Hall

22 - P & F Meeting in Library

23 - Kinder 2025 Playgroup Session

25 - Public Speaking Competition - Parish Centre

       2.10pm 5 Blue Assembly in the Hall 

30 - Kinder 2025 Playgroup Session

31 - World Teachers Day 

November 2024

1 - All Saints Day 

     2.10pm 3 Gold Assembly in the Hall 

2 - All Souls Day 

6 - Kinder 2025 Playgroup Session

8 - 2.10pm 6 Blue Assembly in Hall

13 - Kinder 2025 Orientation Day  

15 - 2.10pm Kinder Assembly in Hall 

22 - 2.10pm Year 1 Assesmbly in Hall 

29 - P & F Colour Run

       9.00pm Year 4 Assembly in Hall 

December 2024

6 - Christmas Band Tour 

13 - 11.30am All school Christmas Liturgy in the Back Playground

17 - 6.00pm Year 6 Graduation in Church

18 - Last Day of Term 4 & 2024 for Students 

       10.50am End of Term 4 & 2024 Morning Tea in Hall 

        11.30am End of Term 4 & 2024 Assembly 

19 - Staff Development Day - PUPIL FREE DAY 

20 - Staff Development Day - PUPIL FREE DAY 

       Last Day of Term 

24 - Christmas Eve 

25 - Christmas Day - Merry Christmas 

2025

January 2025

1 - News Year's Day - Happy New Year 

31 - Term 1 2025 Commences for Staff - Staff Devlopment Day 

February 2025

3 - Staff Devlopment Day 

4 - Students in Year 1 to 6 return

5 - Students in Kindergarten first Day of School

 ST THERESE CANTEEN 

WEDNESDAYS, THURSDAYS & FRIDAYS ONLY

Canteen_Menu_2024.pdf

Canteen_Menu_2024 _pdf 3.11 MB

Happy Birthday to the St Therese Canteen

Congratulations! to 1 Blue who won the birthday bucket to celebrate the first year of Justine's Canteen.