Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Last Sunday we commenced the liturgical season of Advent. This is a time of expectancy – where we prepare with joy in our hearts for the coming of Christ. The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. The season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting by Israelites for the birth of the Messiah, and the waiting by Christians for the return of Christ.

During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. The primary sanctuary colour of Advent is Purple. This is the colour of penitence and fasting as well as the colour of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King.

The first candle of the Advent wreath was lit on Sunday. This candle, called the Prophecy Candle, reminds us that Jesus’ coming was prophesied hundreds of years before He was born. I would encourage parents to take time to speak to their children about how they are preparing for Christmas in terms of prayer and acts of service. Perhaps a time could be set aside for family prayer or a family Advent calendar could be created.

This will be the final newsletter for the 2019 school year. I would like to thank our students for working so hard to learn to the best of their ability as well as living out our school Vision Reverence the Story of all People by following our four school rules and treating others with respect and kindness. I am truly grateful to all parents for their support of the school, their friendliness and involvement in all aspects of school life. I am also thankful for the wonderful staff we have here at Stella Maris. They work above and beyond expectations and are always committed to the development of the children in their care. I also thank Monsignor Bryan for his support of Stella Maris and his faith leadership over twenty years here in Shellharbour. I wish him all the very best in his retirement. At the same time I extend a warm welcome to our new Parish Administrator Father Joe Nguyen. We look forward to welcoming Father Joe to Stella Maris and inviting him into the classrooms to support us in teaching the children about our Catholic Faith. Finally, we as a school community bid farewell to Mrs Maryanne Heddles after twenty-three years of teaching at our school, including the last number of years as an amazing Kindergarten teacher. We will certainly miss her outstanding teaching ability, warm and welcoming personality and her deep devotion to the Catholic faith. As well as Maryanne, we have three other teachers who will be leaving us at the end of the year; Mrs Katy Grennan who has been Year 4 Blue’s teacher during Terms 3 and 4, Mrs Emma Mansbridge who has been our Project Based Learning Teacher as well as other roles for the last five years and Mrs Tricia Staff, who has been our Early Intervention Teacher on Kinder. We thank all these staff members for what they have contributed to the education of our students and we wish them well for the future.

MRS HEDDLES FAREWELL

Today we held a farewell assembly for Mrs Maryanne Heddles. There were many past and current students and parents present to say good luck and thank you to a person who has been so welcoming and the face of Jesus to all her students. We wish Maryanne and her husband Peter well in their retirement and we look forward to seeing her next year when she does casual teaching at the school.                                                                                                 

YEAR SIX GRADUATION MASS and DINNER

The Year 6 Graduation Mass and Dinner will be held at All Saints Parish Church and Hall next Thursday commencing at 6pm. It will be an opportunity to publicly thank the students for being such effective leaders this year, as well as the chance to say goodbye and thank you to the families that are leaving Stella Maris this year.

STELLA MARIS STAFFING 2020

The following is a list of the staff, who will be working at Stella Maris in 2020 and their respective roles:

PRINCIPAL: Danny Sykes

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: Ms Angela Crandell

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COORDINATOR (ACTING)- Mrs Julie Hopkins

MIDDLE LEADERS: Mrs Vanessa Hanns, Mr Christopher Price

KINDERGARTEN BLUE: Miss Elise Thompson

KINDERGARTEN GOLD: Miss Christina Agius

EARLY INTERVENTION TEACHER (KINDER): Mrs Jessica Ridley

YEAR 1 BLUE: Mrs Amelia Birchall (Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays) (Miss Grace Sullivan (Wednesdays, Thursdays).

YEAR 1 GOLD: Mrs Julie Hopkins (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays) (Miss Grace Sullivan Tuesdays).

YEAR 2 BLUE: Mrs Amy Moran (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays), Mrs Vanessa Hanns (Thursdays, Fridays).

YEAR 2 GOLD: Mr Adam O’Grady. Mrs Amy Moran will teach the class for half a day each Thursday whilst Mr O’Grady is released as Leader of Technology.

YEAR 3 BLUE: Mr Christopher Price (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays) Mrs Kelly Mang (Tuesdays).

YEAR 3 GOLD: Miss Emma Steele (Terms 1 & 2). Mrs Emma Tory returns part-time from Term 3.

YEAR 4 BLUE: Mrs Jessica Shelton (Transfer from Nazareth).

YEAR 4 GOLD: Mrs Peta Wright

YEAR 5 BLUE: Mrs Kim Downing

YEAR 5 GOLD: Ms Kelly Young (Transfer from St Brigid’s Gwynneville).

YEAR 6 BLUE: Miss Tina Porter (Currently working in Broken Hill. Formerly taught Term 4 (Year 4) at Stella Maris 2016).

YEAR 6 GOLD: Ashleigh Ahearn (Mondays, Tuesdays) Angela Crandell (Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays),

READING RECOVERY: Mrs Tarsh Hosking

GIFTED EDUCATION: Mrs Kelly Mang

MUSIC: Mrs Jenna Hogan- Thursdays: 3G-6; Mrs Alicia Sanchez-Levine- Wednesdays: K-3B.

PE: Jacqui Fry

STAGES 2 & 3 LITERACY SUPPORT TEACHER:  Mrs Alicia Sanchez-Levine

DIVERSE LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER: Mrs Amelia Birchall (Wednesdays, Thursdays)

LIBRARY: Mrs Jo Love

STAGE COORDINATORS:

EARLY STAGE 1: Julie Hopkins   STAGE 1: Vanessa Hanns  

STAGE 2: Chris Price     STAGE 3: Angela Crandell

SWIMMING CARNIVAL

We are all looking forward to tomorrow’s swimming carnival at Oak Flats Pool. Thank you to Mrs Wright and Mrs Downing who have spent countless hours organising the day and to the parents who have volunteered to help. Thank you also to our P & F for running a sausage sizzle for the children to enjoy.  

NYNGAN FUNDRAISER

I am most conscious of the fact that the school has promoted a lot of fundraising this year however I strongly support the P & F’s “Farmraiser” Appeal to assist the families of St Joseph’s Nyngan through the terrible hardships of drought and limited water supplies. Ironically Stella Maris supported this same school in 1990 when the town and school were completed flooded! If you would like to assist financially, donations can be placed in an envelope and left at the school office by tomorrow as a plane will be taking donations to Nyngan in the afternoon. We also welcome your family’s prayers and encourage our students to write cards of support.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS 2020

After a period of voting involving students in Years 3-6 and staff, I am proud to announce that the School Captains for 2020 will be Elizabeth Bryla and Jack McDonnell. Our Vice-Captains will be Emily Klein and Egan Lewis. As well as these positions, the following students have been voted in as Sports Captains for next year:

SMYTH: Milly Dimovski and Noah Ridley

MACKILLOP: Sadie Motbey and Cole Motbey                                                               

AIKENHEAD: Ella Cannon and Joshua Lakeman

WEATHERALL: Ella Greatz and Ryan Bolte.

Well done to these students and we know that they will do an amazing job. Thank you to all children who nominated for these positions. Every student in Year Six will continue to be involved in leadership as members of various groups. These include Leaders of Liturgy, Fund-Raising, Hospitality, Technology, Student Support, Public Speaking, The Environment and Bus Travel.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Our Christmas Concert is being held on Monday 16 December starting at 6pm. I ask that families make this a priority by attending in large numbers as it is important as a Catholic school to remember the true meaning of Christmas. 

UNIFORM 2020

As we head into the Christmas break I would like to remind all families that before purchasing shoes, our school policy states that joggers need to be predominantly white and school shoes are to be black leather and not jogger style. This year there has been an increasing tendency to deviate from this policy and with uniform standards being added to the Diocesan Behaviour Management Policy for all schools next year, we want to avoid students wearing incorrect uniform.

SCHOOL REPORTS

The Yearly student reports will become live on COMPASS for parents to view on Monday 16 December. Mr Michael Norris from the Wollongong Catholic Education Office will be in the playground from 2.15pm that afternoon for any parents who need assistance in accessing COMPASS to view the reports. A resource list and each child’s class & teacher will be sent home  with the students (hard copy) also on that day. As previously mentioned, it is a detailed exercise to form classes for the following year and the teachers spend a great detail of time considering a range of factors. I thank parents for their understanding in this matter and I can assure everyone that the students will be given continued support and commitment by all teachers here at Stella Maris in 2020.

ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORT SURVEY RESULTS

Thank you to the parents who completed the Annual School Report Survey for 2019. The responses were on the whole quite positive and it is good to see that we are largely maintaining our improvement from the 2017 survey. Around 30% of parents participated (up from 20% in 2018) and as you can see below, some areas scored higher than last year and some lower. I believe the drop in the favourable responses for Item 9 can boil down to the teething problems we are experiencing changing over to COMPASS. We are constantly working on addressing this so hopefully it will be more effective in 2020. In regard to Item 4, I am always open to parental feedback in how we can better meet the children’s learning needs. Whilst the result indicates that four out of five parents are satisfied that the school does well in this area we are always striving for improvement so any ideas would be appreciated.

1. The school helps my child to develop a knowledge and understanding about Catholic tradition. 2017- 95% of parents agreed; 2018- 98%; 2019- 99%.
2. The school provides various opportunities for me to become involved: 2017- 69% of parents agreed; 2018- 95%; 2019- 99%.
3. My child is challenged to maximize his/her learning outcomes. 2017- 59% of parents agreed; 2018- 91%; 2019- 87%.
4. The school strives to meet my child’s learning needs. 2017- 69% of parents agreed; 2018- 91%; 2019- 82%.
5. The school provides appropriate information about my child’s progress. 2017- 51% of parents agreed; 2018- 84%; 2019-76%.
6. The school offers a range of co-curricular activities. 2017- 71% of parents agreed; 2018- 93%; 2019- 93%.
7. The teachers are genuinely interested in the welfare of my child. 2017- 86% of parents agreed; 2018- 93%; 2019- 96%.
8. The school provides a safe and supportive environment. 2017- 83% of parents agreed; 2018- 91%; 2019- 93%.
9. The school effectively communicates information about activities and events. 2017- 76% of parents agreed; 2018- 91%; 2019- 79%.

PRINCIPAL’S LUNCH

The final Principal’s lunch for 2019 will be held on Tuesday 17 December for the two highest Dojo Points winners in each class. The children will be rewarded with hot chips and other yummy food down at the harbour. The Class of Term 4 will also be rewarded on the same day.

SPORTS NEWS

Congratulations to Cole Motbey (basketball) and Joshua Lakeman (cricket) on their selection in Wollongong Diocesan teams in 2020.  Well done boys!

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO

Many people have discovered the promotional video clip on our school Facebook page featuring many of our super-cute Kindergarten students. It will be used in the future to advertise the many great things that happen on a daily basis at Stella Maris. A big thank you to cinematographer Glenn Hanns and his team for spending countless hours filming and editing the movie.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS 

This Sunday’s Gospel,

Mt. 3:1-12

John the Baptist begins to preach in the desert.

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)

Mass at Stella Maris 

We would like to welcome all friends and families to the following School Masses this Term at Stella Maris.

Kinder & Yr 1 Mass 10 December

St Vincent De Paul’s (SVDP) Christmas Lunch 

On Monday the 25th October, Year 6 students assisted at the parish based St Vincent De Paul Christmas Luncheon. This luncheon reaches out to those in our local community who may not experience a Christmas meal.

The students assisted in serving and cleaning up, conversation, as well as singing and performing for the luncheon guests.  It was a wonderful experience for all the guests and extremely rewarding for our students. A simple act of kindness, such as this, can really have a lasting effect for someone in need. Thank you Year 6!

Post Communion Mass

Students who received their First Holy Communion shared a special mass with Nazareth on Wednesday the 27th November.  After mass, the students shared their recess and a lovely cake together. We once again, congratulate the students and thank the Year 3 teachers for all their hard work in preparing the students.

Advent

The start of December marks the beginning of Advent.  It is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "coming".

Christmas Concert

A reminder that the Stella Maris Christmas Concert is on Monday 16 December at 6pm on the school grounds.  All students are to be seated with their class teacher by 5:45pm. The students have been preparing with the help of Mrs Hogan and myself and it is expected that they will be in attendance.  If for some reason your child is unable to attend, could you please notify Mrs Hogan or myself as soon as possible, as this needs to be taken into consideration in terms of student placement for the concert.

We ask that the students dress in the following:

Kinder and Year 1- Mary or Joseph

Years 2-6- Christmas Clothes

2019 Captains- Shepherds

2020 Captains (yet to be announced) - Angels

Looking forward to a fabulous concert, celebrating Christmas as a Catholic community.

Alicia Sanchez-Levine

Religious Education Coordinator

Recently, some children from Stages 2 and 3 participated in the ICAS Writing Competition run by the University of NSW. These competitions are offered to children all over Australasia and really challenge the thinking of those involved. I congratulate all children who participated and pushed their learning boundaries. Overall, the children involved did extremely well and are to be congratulated for their efforts. The results are as follows:

Participation: Bailey M

Merit: Milly D

Credit: Elizabeth B

Distinction: Mae B, Karolyn K, Lara G

Congratulations to all children who took part in this opportunity and for the results gained. These children will be receiving their awards at the Week 9 assembly which will be held on Thursday 12 December.

Miss Crandell

GOLD AWARDS