Dear Parents and Carers,

As we move further into this term, I'm delighted to see the continued enthusiasm and dedication from our students in their learning journeys. The classrooms are buzzing with activity, and it's wonderful to witness their growth in faith, knowledge, and wellbeing.

A significant time in our school calendar is fast approaching with the upcoming reporting and parent-teacher interviews. These interviews, scheduled for Week 10, are an invaluable opportunity for you to connect directly with your child's teacher. Our teachers have been diligently assessing your child's progress, and these discussions will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of their achievements, areas of growth, and how you can best support their learning at home. We strongly encourage all parents to attend these interviews, as the partnership between home and school is crucial for your child's holistic development.

On a spiritual note, we are also looking forward to the sacrament of Confirmation for a number of our Year 6 students. This is a very special time as they prepare to deepen their commitment to their faith and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We ask you to please keep these students and their families in your prayers as they undertake this important step in their spiritual journey. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen them as they prepare to be confirmed.

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in fostering a vibrant and faith-filled learning environment for our children.

God Bless

Belinda Hughes

Principal

Today, the Year 6 students who are completing the Sacrament of Confirmation participate in their retreat day with Nazareth and neighbouring public school students. We wish them all the best in their preparation.  As they join morning Mass with the parishioners and experience a range of activities to support their journey with the Spirit, we pray that they will be guided to be the best that they can be, serving others in our mission to reverence the story of all people.

Come Holy Spirit

Fill the hearts of your faithful

And enkindle in them 

The fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit

And we shall be created - and you will renew

The face of the earth.

Lord, by the light of the Holy Spirit

You have taught 

The hearts of your faithful.

In the same Holy Spirit

Help us to desire what is right

And always to rejoice in your consolation

We ask this through Christ our Lord

Amen

God Bless

Alicia Sanchez-Levine

Religious Education Coordinator

Grade Masses at Stella Maris 

Grade 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 2, 2025:

Yr 1 Week 9 24 June

Yr 6 Week 10 1 July

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 

Programme for the Sacrament of Confirmation (Year 6 Students)

Timetable of Events after the Vigil/Sunday Masses:  Thursday 19 June: Retreat Day 9:00 am-2:00 pm All Saints Parish Hall

21/22 June: Rehearsal Saturday 5:00 pm for 1 July session; Sunday 9:00 am for 2 July session

Tuesday 1 July 7:00 pm & Wednesday 2 July 7 pm: Celebration of Confirmation

The Confirmation Workshop sessions have now come to an end.  A huge thank you goes out to the teachers who have helped prepare the students.  We also thank the parents and carers who attended the experiences with their child/children, who have collaborated with the school and parish to develop and enrich the faith of the students.

If there are any questions related to any of the Sacraments, please contact the parish office via email shellharbourcity@dow.org.au

The Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians invites you to join us for the Corpus Christi Event! If you're seeking a deeper understanding of the Eucharist, the origins of the Mass or want to deepen your faith, then this day is for you! You will never celebrate Mass again the same way! Join us Sunday 22 June (10:00 am to 3:30 pm) at Our Lady Help of Christian's St. Joachim Hall (adjacent to the Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School) (80A Demetrius Rd, Rosemeadow). 

Please note: We welcome all adults over 18. Any person under the age of 18 must attend with a parent or legal guardian. Due to the content and nature of material, the minimum age of attendees is 14 years. For more information on the day and to register, please use the QR code provided.

Semester 1 Reports

As you are aware, students K-6 will receive Semester 1 reports at the end of Term 2. These will be available for parents on Compass Friday 27th June.

These reports will contain Learning Gains and Areas for Growth for English and Mathematics, and Learning Gains for Religious Education. All other subject areas will have an achievement level for each component of the subject, and an overall grade. These overall grades take into account the levels of achievement in each component, as well as the importance of each component. That is, they do not all have equal weighting. 

Please remember the common grade scale uses descriptors to explain what a student at each level has demonstrated through a wide range of assessment experiences, including teacher observations and interactions with students, class work, contributions to class work, as well as more formalised assessments. 

What is ‘sound’? 

Students who are awarded the grade ‘sound’ are achieving the stage outcomes at the expected level of competency for their particular year of learning. 

What if my child receives the same grade as last year? 

This means your child has continued to learn and improve because each term/year  students undertake new learning with new outcomes, and the expected level of competency increases throughout the grades. That is, what is expected at the end of Term 2 2025, is more challenging than what was expected at the end of Term 4 2024. 

Also, in most subject areas, content changes throughout the year, meaning teachers are often reporting on completely different outcomes for each unit of work. A student may not achieve both sets of outcomes with the same competency. 

NAIDOC Week 2025

Theme: The Next Generation – Strength, Vision & Legacy

NAIDOC Week is a special time across Australia when we celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This year’s theme, The Next Generation – Strength, Vision & Legacy, reminds us how important young people are in carrying forward the stories, traditions, and values of the world’s oldest living cultures. It’s about honouring the strength of the past, embracing a strong vision for the future, and continuing a proud legacy.

At our school, we take this opportunity to learn, reflect, and celebrate together. Please join us for our NAIDOC Liturgy at 2 pm on Thursday, 3rd of July. All students are encouraged to wear red, black, and/or yellow mufti on the day and will be offered the opportunity to have ochre painted on their face.

To learn more about NAIDOC Week, visit www.naidoc.org.au

Stage 2 and 3 Art Enrichment Opportunity

The Wollongong Art Gallery hosted two exciting art enrichment days this week and three of our Stage 2 and Stage 3 students were chosen to attend – Celeste (Year 3), Spencer A (Year 4) and Thea (Year 5). The theme of the enrichment days was ‘Surrealism – Seeing Things’. Students were invited to view artworks from the ‘Seeing Things’ collection and create their own artworks which depict narratives of everyday life as a waking dream, seeing with their eyes closed. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we look forward to offering similar experiences to more students in the future.

Who We Are Resources

The Diocese of Wollongong has recently updated its Who We Are: Bearers of Christ’s Love statistics and mid-season report. Please find attached a visual of their report.

Representative Sport

Soccer

On Friday of Week 5, Isaac Krstevski proudly represented Wollongong Diocese at the MacKillop Football Trials held at a new venue in Sydney. Despite the cool morning, the day was filled with strong performances and great team spirit. Isaac competed with determination and skill, contributing to a high-quality team display. Well done, Isaac, on representing Stella Maris with pride!

AFL

In the early part of Week 6, Alani Waters represented the South Coast team at the NSWPSSA Girls AFL Championships held in Sydney. Over two days of competition, Alani played in five matches, helping her team secure three victories and ultimately finish in 3rd place overall. Congratulations, Alani — we’re all very proud of your hard work and achievements!

Cross Country

The NSWCPS (MacKillop) Cross Country was held at the Sydney Equestrian Centre on Wednesday, 11 June. Congratulations to all our students on their efforts, with a special mention to Lola Jimenez, who finished 8th in the U11 Girls event and has been selected as a reserve for the Mackillop team.

U8/9 Girls - Mahli Creighton - 18th

U8/9 Girls - Quinn Beaton - 31st

U8/9 Girls - Banksii Spencer - 32nd

U11 Girls - Lola Jimenez - 8th

U11 Girls - Pearl Coelho - 26th

U10 Boys - Leo Jimenez - 34th

Carnivals

Regional Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the South Coast Athletics Championships after their performances at the school Athletics Carnival in Week 5, Term 2. Hard copy notes have now been handed out including the events they will be attending for and a Compass event has been set up for online permissions.

We wish these students the best of luck for the competition in Week 4 next Term.

Gala Days

Netball Gala Day

The Netball Gala Day is being held on Tuesday the 24th of June at Fred Finch Park in Berkley. We have been able to secure the following teams in each age group:

4 x Junior Girls Teams (up to 10 students per team)

2 x Junior Boys Teams (up to 10 students per team)

4 x Senior Girls Teams (up to 10 students per team)

3 x Senior Boys Teams (up to 10 students per team)

If you could please indicate your child's availability for this as soon as possible it would assist greatly with team formations. If you are also able to assist with managing a team, could you please indicate via the Compass event or call the school to let the office staff know. Staff attending this event include: Mrs Shelton, Mrs Treble, Ms Young, Miss Zuza, Ms Gruber, Mrs Black and Mrs Piccirillo.

SPORT PATHWAY FOR MULTICLASS STUDENTS 

Please view the following website for further information on Multiclass sporting opportunities.

https://csnsw.sport/students-with-disability/student-with-disabilities-links/multi-class

The Multiclass Pathway is for students with a physical or intellectual disability. Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country provide Multiclass events and provide a pathway for students in the school system. Students will need to have a classification in order to progress through the sports pathway as a multiclass athlete. This can take some time to organise so if you are considering this option for your child please act as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please see Mrs Sablowski.

CEODoW Website

CEODoW has released a new website. You can access this new website via the following link. To navigate to the sport section, please follow the below process:

Go to the CEODoW website: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/

Click on the three lines in the yellow box at the top right hand side of the page

Click on ‘Student Experience’

Click on ‘Sport’

Click on ‘Primary Sport’

Navigate through the options

CEDOW Instagram

Don’t forget, the Sports Council at the CEO DOW has set up an Instagram account to help spread the news about sport in our Diocese. Please follow @cedow.sport to keep up to date with all the latest news and information.

Upcoming Events

31st July - Disco
5th September - Father's Day Breakfast
5th September Father's Day Stall

Just One Thing

We are very grateful to all who have volunteered their time already. We have lots of fun events coming up in Term 3 & 4 and would love to have as many volunteers as possible. If you are able to volunteer your time for any event, please see the link below.

Just One Thing 2025

If you have anything you would like to raise with the P&F, please email through to parents@smsdow.catholic.edu.au at any time.

The canteen is now open from Tuesday to Friday. 

Canteen Menu

The canteen menu is also on our website.

Online orders can be made via the My School Connect app - www.myschoolconnect.com.au/stellamarisps 

Click on Create account.

Take A Break Tuckshop advertises canteen news, specials and updates via their Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/takeabreaktuckshop