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Dear Parents and Caregivers,
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself. The theme of NAIDOC Week this year is Voice, Treaty, Truth, let’s work together for a shared future. We will hold our annual school NAIDOC liturgy next Thursday and parents and grandparents are warmly invited to join us. It’ll be a wonderful celebration of indigenous culture and a chance to thank Miss Jo and Mr Mongta, our Aboriginal Education Assistants for all the wonderful work they do with the children in this area.
THANK YOU
I would like to thank staff, students and parents for a wonderful Term Two. I trust that you are looking forward to the upcoming holiday as a chance to unwind and relax, an exercise we all need.
WINTER APPEAL
Thank you to the families who have already supported our Vinnies Winter Appeal. Items of food and clothing can still be brought into school over the next week 
as we strive to assist those members of our local community who need support to survive the colder months of winter.
FIRST RECONCILIATION
We are asked to pray for the students who will be experiencing the Sacrament of Penance for the first time in our Parish next week. This important sacrament allows these children to continue their involvement in our Catholic faith as well as helping them grow closer to Jesus.
GRANDPARENTS DAY
This year we will be celebrating Grandparents’ Day on Friday 26 July, the feast of our Mother Mary’s parents, Saints Anne and Joachim. We will commence with Open Classrooms at noon, before inviting our grandparents to have lunch with the children (BYO Yummy Food!) at 1pm. The day will conclude with a liturgy at 1.55pm. Please add this date to your calendars and we look forward to welcoming many nans, nonnas, grans, pops, pas and nonnos on the day.
SCHOOL PROMOTION
Last week we filmed a school promotional video. The video was filmed within the Kindergarten classroom and included several of our Kindergarten students. The video will be used for various school promotions, like parent information sessions, Kindergarten enrolment sessions and various school promotions at the Catholic Education Office. The video will also feature on our social media pages and on our new website, once launched. We have invested in this important project as we really want to showcase the wonderful work that happens at Stella Maris.
SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
The students had a great time at today’s Annual Athletics Carnival and will indeed sleep well tonight. Thank you to the many parents who assisted in various ways and also to those who encouraged the children as they participated in a variety of events. A team will now be chosen to represent the school at the Regional Carnival next term.
KINDERGARTEN 2020
Offers of acceptance will be sent out in Week 10 to parents seeking enrolment for their students in Kindergarten at Stella Maris next year. Playgroup will commence in October for a month, followed by two Orientation mornings in November. We eagerly look forward to welcoming our new Stella students.
PARENT EDUCATION MEETING
The next Parent Education Meeting will be held on Wednesday 3 July at 8.45am. Anyone is welcome to attend, as we will be observing Miss Crandell teach a Challenging Task Mathematics lesson with her Year 6 Gold class.
MACKILLOP CROSS COUNTRY
Congratulations to Campbell Knox (Year 3) Lily Griggs (Year 3), Josh Lakeman (Year 5) and Will Fowler (Year 6) on qualifying to represent the Wollongong Catholic Diocese at the Mackillop Cross Country Championships. The carnival was held on Friday 14 June at Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek where they competed against children from the Diocese of Canberra/Goulburn, Parramatta, Sydney and Wagga Wagga. All four students tried their best on the day in races against 62 competitors and should be proud of their efforts.
Campbell placed 54th in the 8/9yrs Boys.
Lily placed 52ndin the 8/9yrs Girls.
Josh placed 17th in the 11yrs Boys.
Will placed 24th in the 12/13 Boys.
Well done children! 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
This Sunday’s Gospel,
Lk 12:13-21
Parable of the rich man with a good harvest.
All Saints Catholic Parish Shellharbour
Mass times: All Saints Church
19 College Ave, Shellharbour City
Saturday 6.00pm Vigil
Sunday 9.00am inc. Children’s Liturgy
5.00pm (6.00pm daylight saving)
Confirmation & Life
Last Tuesday 23rd July the Year 6 students who will be confirmed this September commenced the Confirmation & Life Program at All Saints Church.
The next session of the program is on the 6th August at 7:00pm.
Thank you to all the Parents, Grandparents and friends who attended our NAIDOC Week Liturgy and our Grandparents Day last week.
It was wonderful to see so many people sharing in these special events with us.
Year 6 Mass with Bishop Brian
Year 6 travelled to Ss Peter and Paul’s Kiama to celebrate Mass with Bishop Brian Mascord on Tuesday 30th July. They were joined by students from other schools in our southern cluster.
It proved a memorable experience for the students and a wonderful opportunity to mix with the children from our neighbouring schools.
Year 2
Reflecting God’s Goodness
This term in Year 2 students will be reflecting on God’s goodness. They will be exploring the concept of living as a follower of Jesus and introduced to Jesus’ commandment to love others as Jesus loved us.
The children will draw on their knowledge of stories about Jesus and of their experience of people who reflect God’s love. They will look at Saints as ordinary people who reflected God’s goodness to the world and brought God’s love to others.
Julie Hopkins
Acting Religious Education Coordinator
NAIDOC WEEK – 2019 ‘Voice. Treaty. Truth: Let’s Work Together for a Shared Future’
This year, NAIDOC Week is celebrated during the week of the 7-14 July however, at Stella Maris, we will be celebrating this important event on Thursday 4 July. The theme for NAIDOC week this year is ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth: Let’s Work Together for a Shared Future’, celebrating the indigenous voices of the past 65 000 years. It’s the indigenous voices that include know-how, practices, skills and innovations - found in a wide variety of contexts, such as agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal fields, as well as biodiversity-related knowledge. They are words connecting Aboriginal people to country, an understanding of country and of a people who are the oldest continuing culture on the planet. Activities are organised every year around Australia and at schools to celebrate the history, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples.
Our celebrations will take place on Thursday 4 July 2019 and our day will begin with a Whole School Liturgical celebration at 8.45am. Parents, friends, grandparents, elders, aunties and uncles are all warmly invited to come along and celebrate with us.
Our celebrations will continue during the day as the children participate in class based activities, recognising NAIDOC Week as an important celebration in recognizing this important aspect of our Australian history. The children are asked to wear clothing in the colours of the Aboriginal flag – red, black and yellow on the day along with, covered shoes such as joggers.
Please note: Whilst Year 2 and Year 5 will be heading to different excursions later that day, they too are to wear the colours of the Aboriginal Flag, as this is an opportunity to send a clear message to the community that we publicly value and celebrate NAIDOC Week.
INFORMATION FROM THE PARENT'S GUIDE TO ONLINE SAFETY
Online bullying can have a devastating impact on young people, whose online life is a key part of their identity and how they interact socially.
Cyberbullying behaviour takes many forms, such as sending abusive messages, hurtful images or videos, nasty online gossip, excluding or humiliating others, or creating fake accounts in someone’s name to trick or humiliate them.
This webpage is for parents and carers
https://www.esafety.gov.au/
During Term 3 we intend on including newsletter tips for parents on how to promote online safety at home as well as conducting a workshop before a P & F Meeting on the School and Diocesan Social Media Policy, which will be operational in 2020.
STELLA MARIS FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PAGES
If you haven't already please follow our school pages to keep up to date with events at school and for photos and updates from across the school.
Please click on the direct links to follow our pages:
www.facebook.com/stellamaris.
www.instagram.com/stellamaris.
Congratulations to the following children who are receiving Gold Awards:
1B - Grace Griffiths, Alanah Toskoski