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Dear Parents and Carers,
As we approach the end of term I wanted to share with you some good news stories about our students. Over the last couple of weeks, our students have had opportunities to engage in outside activities like gala days, excursions, and incursions. One of the consistent messages we have had from external people has been how good the behaviour of our children is. Many of the external providers and excursion leaders let the teachers know they are the best group they have had so far. In addition, we had a member of the public take the time to call the school and commend a group of students at the beach and the teachers with them. After some detective work, we think it may have been Year 4! Hearing that the children are well-behaved and respectful when out of the school grounds is always a delight. Thank you for working with us and being so supportive at home and instilling those values of respect and kindness.
This week sees the celebration of NAIDOC Week. It is an opportunity for all Australians to come together to celebrate and recognise the contributions and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme of Keep the Fire Burning: Blak, Loud and Proud points us to the important opportunity to reflect on the strength of First Nations’ leadership and ways we can all be involved in keeping the fire burning for justice, truth, and hope.
During NAIDOC, we remember the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of our country and celebrate their rich cultures and inspiring contributions to Australia. As a school community, we will be celebrating NAIDOC week with a liturgy and a smoking ceremony, and the children can wear Red, Black, or Yellow.
Term 2 has come and gone. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the teachers for another great term of commitment and dedication to doing their best for all the children. Thank you to you as the parents for your ongoing support of the school and the teachers. We have enjoyed sharing the learning journey with you and look forward to many more exciting opportunities in Term 3. We wish you all a joyful and safe holiday break.
God Bless
Belinda Hughes
Principal
Last Wednesday, students in Year 6 celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation with Nazareth and surrounding public school students. It was a beautiful liturgy led by Father Chris and Fr Hung. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers and support staff who supported the students through their preparation, by leading workshop sessions and assisting at the ceremony on the night. I know the students and their families appreciate the guidance and time our teachers provide them. A true example of the Holy Spirit at work in our community. Thank you!
Enjoy the break!
God Bless
Alicia Sanchez-Levine
Religious Education Coordinator
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Catholic vocabulary term of the week: Interfaith or inter-religious – A meeting of people of differing religions in an atmosphere of mutual respect, freedom, and openness in order to listen to the other, to try to understand that person’s religion, and hopefully to seek possibilities of collaboration. |
Grandparents Day: 29th July at 2 pm - SAVE THE DATE!
Invitation to Grandparents
Each Grandparent is unique and irreplaceable. As society changes, the role of grandparents changes.
But some things about grandparents are constant. Join us in celebrating the gift they are in our lives!
Monday 29th July 2024 Liturgy under the COLA at 2 pm, followed by Open Classrooms!
Stella Maris’ Feast Day - The Assumption 15 August
Celebrate with us the day Mary, the Mother of Jesus was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Parents and caregivers are invited to share with us the following activities:
- 10-11 am Mass with Nazareth at All Saints (Students will travel as a school by bus)
- 12-1 pm K-2 Novelty Games on the Stella Playground
- 12-1 pm 3-6 at Keith Hockey Oval watching the Teacher Vs Year 6 Game
- 1-2 pm K-6 Lunch on the Stella Playground - Bring a picnic lunch!
- 2-2:30 pm Open Classrooms K-6
- 2:50 pm Dismissal
Grade Masses at Stella Maris
These Masses take place at our Stella Maris Church on Tuesdays at 9:30 am. Parents, grandparents, and carers are most welcome to attend. Please find below a schedule of the Masses for Term 3, 2024:
Yr 6 - Week 2 30 July
K - Week 3 6 August
Yr 1 - Week 4 13 August
Yr 2 - Week 5 20 August
Yr 3 - Week 6 27 August
Yr 4 - Week 7 3 September
Yr 5 - Week 8 10 September
All Saints Catholic Parish NEWS
All Saints Church Mass Times: 19 College Ave, Shellharbour City
Saturday 5.00 pm Vigil
Sunday 9.00 am & 5.00 pm
Stage Masses: Celebrated at All Saints Church with Nazareth students.
Please join us on the following dates where students will be involved in participating and celebrating together:
Saturday 31 Aug 5 pm - Years 1 & 2 Father’s Day
Sunday 3 Nov 9 am - Years 3 & 4 Ordinary Time
Program for the Sacrament of First Holy Communion (Year 3 Students) TBA
If there are any questions related to any of the Sacraments, please contact the parish office via email at shellharbourcity@dow.org.au
Writing Pulse Survey
2024 Annual Improvement Plan (AIP) goal: Students consistently produce writing of a high standard and demonstrate expected growth.
As our AIP goal on writing is well underway this year, we wanted some student voice in relation to writing to improve our teaching practice and engagement in writing in the classroom. With the support of our Leaders of Innovative Learning (Year 6 leaders), we conducted a Writing Pulse Survey to check in with the students regarding their attitudes, feelings, and interests in writing. Students from Years 1 to 6 were surveyed and we received some interesting results that we would like to share:
- 72% of students said that they liked writing.
- Most students enjoy more creative forms of writing such as free writing, stories, poems, and creating comics.
- The students were able to articulate a range of different resources or strategies they could use to help them become better writers.
- The majority of our students feel nervous about sharing their writing.
- The majority of students said that they do writing at home.
- When asked ‘who they are writing for?’, the majority of students answered teacher, friends, parent, or myself. This has highlighted to us the need for more authentic purposes for writing in class and an area we will be working on as a staff for the next semester.
Term 3 Key Dates and Events
Please find below a summary of some key events in Term 3. The parent calendar and compass alerts will always notify you of any changes and be the most up-to-date. Further information will be provided for some events closer to the date.
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Week 1 |
Tuesday - Students return |
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Week 2 |
Monday - Grandparent’s Day Liturgy & Open classrooms Thursday - P&F Disco Friday - Awards Assembly, Music Showcase |
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Week 3 |
Monday - Year 4 Religious Literacy Assessment Tuesday - Year 6 Mass with the Bishop Friday - Year 4 Excursion |
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Week 4 |
Wednesday - Year 3 Excursion Thursday - Feast of the Assumption Mass & Activities Friday - Awards Assembly, 4G presenting |
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Week 5 |
Monday - P&F Meeting Thursday - Kindergarten Excursion Friday - Soccer Gala Day |
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Week 6 |
Friday - Father’s Day Breakfast & Stall Friday - Awards Assembly, 5G presenting |
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Week 8 |
Friday - Awards Assembly - 4B presenting |
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Week 9 |
Thursday - Basketball Gala Day Junior Friday - Basketball Gala Day Senior |
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Week 10 |
Thursday - Book Week Festivities - TBC Friday - Awards Assembly, KG presenting Friday - Last day of term |
Uniform Expectations
As we approach the end of term 2 and the school holidays, many families will be looking at getting haircuts done before they return to school. When considering haircuts and styles, all families are asked to follow the school uniform expectations of haircuts and styles that do not invite comments or are outrageous. This includes no mullets, undercuts, mohawks, rats tails (or any tails), coloured braids, or coloured hair. All hair that is shoulder length must be tied back.
For any students who do not follow the school expectations the school procedures are:
- Class teacher will follow up with families
- If it is not rectified, it will be passed on to the stage leader to follow up with families
- If it continues to be an issue it will be referred to the Assistant Principal or Principal to follow up.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.
Morning drop off and Afternoon Pick Up
To best support our children and their learning, it is important that children arrive on time for school and early pick-up times are kept to a minimum. The school gates are opened at 8 am for supervision. Please note, the car line gate will close at 8.30 am. Any late arrivals must proceed through the front office to be signed in.
The school will continue to support Parents/Carers and frequently send home letters allowing Parents/Carers to provide the school with an explanation for absences. There may be instances where parents may receive a pastoral phone call in support of regular attendance and/or receive a further letter at the end of a term indicating emerging attendance concerns.
Mini Vinnies - Winter Appeal
The Mini Vinnies group would like us all to be aware of how blessed we are to have a home to live in, food to eat, and water to drink.
This winter the theme of the Winter Appeal is “Sleeping rough”, and we are asking the Stella Maris community to give generously.
We are asking for beanies, blankets, canned foods, coffee, gloves, hot chocolate, jumpers, noodles, scarves, socks, soup, tea, and toys.
We'll be visiting classrooms once a week to see how donations are progressing and will be storing them in a central location.
In addition, there will be weekly challenges that will encourage classes to be creative in the way they give.
Your donation will help families who are less fortunate than us this winter.
Good luck and please give with your heart.
Bishop Brian's Message - Who Are We
The Diocese of Wollongong has recently updated its Who We Are: Bearers of Christ’s Love statistics and a mid-season report. Bishop Brian has asked schools to share with their community. Please find a graphic of the report.
Free Online Parenting Program - Separation or Divorce
This free online course with Triple P Parenting provides parents and their children support in dealing with family separation and divorce. The program can be personalised to suit your circumstances, gives strategies for supporting children with big emotions, and for parents to develop effective communication and co-parenting skills.
Please find below a list of the upcoming events our students may be involved in next term.
Key Sport Dates (Term 3):
Week 1 - Wednesday 24th - Saturday 27th - National Primary School Swimming Championships - Gold Coast (Lachlan M)
Week 2 - Wednesday 31st July - Touch Football Gala Day - Croome Rd Sporting Complex, Albion Park.
Week 4 - Tuesday 13th August - South Coast Athletics Championships - Beaton Park
Week 4 - Thursday/Friday 15th & 16th August - NSW All Schools Boys Netball U12’s Championships - Sydney (Cooper R, Heath P, Harry T, Mason G)
Week 5 - Tuesday 20th August - Wollongong Diocesan Athletics Selection Trial - Beaton Park
Week 5 - Friday 23rd August - South Coast Soccer Gala Day - Various Locations
Week 7/8 - Saturday 7th - Friday 13th September - Australian All Schools Boys Netball U12’s Championships - Victoria
Representative Sport
NSW PSSA Rugby League
Last week, Harry T and Reid C competed at the NSW PSSA U12 Boys Rugby League competition held in Wollongong. The boys were representing Mackillop and competed in a series of matches over 3 days against other teams from all over the state. We commend the boys on their leadership, sportsmanship, and teamwork throughout this tournament.
Mackillop Rugby Union Trials
This week, Spencer G, Hugo M, Cooper R, and Reid C competed at the Mackillop Rugby Union Trials in Forbes (Olly L was missing from this trial due to illness). Congratulations boys on your outstanding representation of both the school and Diocese, we are all proud of your efforts!
Mackillop Softball Trials
On Thursday of Week 8, Carter C attended the Mackillop Softball Trials at Panania. While Carter is a keen Baseball player, the pathway for school representation is limited to Softball. Congratulations Carter on your efforts on the day and we hope to see you giving it another shot next year!
South Coast Athletics Championships
All representative students should now have received their notes for the South Coast Athletics Championships held at the Kerryn McCann Athletics Centre, Beaton Park on the 13th of August. All students will be given a representative singlet for the day to compete in (if you have any outstanding singlets at home please return them ASAP). If you believe there to be any mistakes in selection or events, could you please notify Mrs Sablowski as soon as possible. We need to supply a parent volunteer for the day. Please complete the volunteer section on the Compass event notice if you can assist in part or full on this day.
* NEW Golf
NSWCPS Golf Tournament - Monday 5 August
The NSWCPS Golf Tournament (MacKillop team to be selected from this tournament) is coming up early in Term 3. If your child is a keen golfer and meets the criteria below, please follow this link to the online registration. There are 9-hole and 18-hole competitions in the Boys and Girls divisions.
The 18-hole competition is for students wishing to be selected for the MacKillop team, with the 9-hole competitions designed to get younger (Year 3-4) or less experienced golfers involved in the process.
Date: Monday 5 August
Venue: Blackheath Golf Club
Registration Closing Date: Monday 29 July
Eligibility Criteria: Year 3-6 students
Students must have a golf link number and handicap.
* NEW Rugby
NSWCPS Girls 7s Rugby
Date: Wednesday 14 August 2024 @ Santa Sabina College
Registration Closing Date: Friday 2 August
DOB: Turning 11 or 12 Years in the year of competition - NO EXEMPTIONS
Years: 5 - 6
Gala Days
Netball
The South Coast Netball Gala Day was held on Tuesday the 25th of June. Students in Years 3-6 had the opportunity to play a series of friendly matches against other students within the Wollongong Diocese. This day brought together 91 teams, approx. 910 participating students and 87 secondary student umpires. It is a great cross-section of our primary and secondary communities. It was a fun day for all students who participated with all teams demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship throughout the day. Thank you to all the teachers and parent volunteers who assisted throughout the day.
Remaining Gala Days
These are the dates for the remaining Gala Days:
31st July - Touch Football
23rd August - Soccer
19th September - Basketball Gala Day (Juniors, Years 3/4)
20th September - Basketball Gala Day (Seniors, Years 5/6)
17th October - Cricket (Senior, Years 5/6 only)
TBC - Oz Tag
Just a reminder that the Soccer, Basketball, and Cricket Gala Day have a small charge per team which is spread across the students who attend. For Soccer and Cricket, it is approximately $5 per student and for Basketball, it is approximately $10 per student. These are payable when giving online consent. The Touch Football Gala Day is free of charge and we are awaiting further information for the Oz Tag Gala Day.
Team numbers have been submitted for the Touch Football and the Soccer Gala days and are awaiting confirmation.
Please see the update from the CEO regarding Soccer Gala Day:
This year we will be trialing the organisation of micro gala days based on geographical location for the soccer gala teams.
The aim is to limit the impact on schools and enhance quality participation for all students.
Key changes: 12 students per team - we will play a 9-a-side format.
We hope to circulate potential venues (based on responses) for your consideration later this week.
CEO DOW Sports Website
For more information on any of the upcoming Diocesan carnivals, or representative sports please visit the following website. For further information regarding Gala Days please click on the link ‘About Primary Sport’ link on the above website.
CEDOW Instagram
Don’t forget, the Sports Council at the CEO DOW has set up an Instagram account to help spread the news about sports in our Diocese. Please follow @cedow.sport to keep up to date with all the latest news and information.
FREE Cricket Holiday Programs!
Cricket NSW are having some FREE school holiday programs coming up.
Below are the details and links for registrations at the various venues.
1. Lake Illawarra South PS, 8th July. 9.30 am-3.30 pm. https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/0dbb18 (5 -12 yrs)
2. Russell Vale PS, 12th July. 9.30 am-3.30 pm. https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/8e921b (5 -12 yrs)
3. Stanwell Park PS, 16th July. 9.30 am-3.30 pm. https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/080761 (5 -12 yrs)
4. Tarrawanna PS, 17th July. 9.30 am-3.30 pm. https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/9b2fa3 (5 -12 yrs)
Mrs. Sablowski
Sports Coordinator
Christmas Market - Call Out for Stall Holders
A call out to all of the creative arms of the Stella Maris community for expressions of interest to hold a stall on the night of our Christmas Market - 6 December. We would like the families of the school to have first access. If you would like to have a stall, please send the below information to parents@smsdow.catholic.edu.au along with a copy of your public liability insurance for markets.
Name:
Stall Name:
What type of items do you have for sale at your stall:
Reminder of Upcoming dates
1 August - School disco - Nazareth School Hall
30 August - Father's Day breakfast and stall
13 September- Pie Drive pick-up date - Order forms will be sent home in term 3.
6 December - Christmas Market
We hope everyone has a lovely school holiday.
P&F Association
Gold Awards
Ace Cohen
Georgia Nowakowski
Marlee McConnell
Finley Wright
Georgia O'Shea
Maverick Hodges
Miranda Jonson
Tully Sanson
Indie Warren
Penelope Attenborough
Quinn Wilton
Landon Benson
Augustin Eid
Levi Zdraveski
Catherine Miller
Oskar Long
Sophia Comacchio
Logan Goodes
Patrick Shillito
Thank you to IGA Shellharbour Village!
IGA Shellharbour Village has kindly donated to Stella Maris through their Community Fundraising. We thank IGA Shellharbour Village!
It’s time to pick up your camera and let your creativity go wild!
Shellharbour City Council would like to invite you to participate in our Wild About Shellharbour Nature Photography Competition!
This year’s theme ‘Connecting with Country’ encourages participants to get outside and explore the beauty of Shellharbour’s abundant natural spaces.
Prizes are up for grabs, including cash and professionally printed canvases of the winning images from local business PhotoMart.
The competition is open to Shellharbour City residents of all ages and skill levels until Sunday 14 July.
To view the competition guidelines and submit an entry visit: www.shellharbour.nsw.gov.au/environment/wild-about-shellharbour
Canteen News
Canteen is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The canteen menu is on our website.
Online orders can be made via the My School Connect app - www.myschoolconnect.com.au/stellamarisps and click on create account.