Dear Parents and Carers,

This week, Stella Maris along with thirty-seven systemic Catholic Schools in the Wollongong Diocese are celebrating Catholic Schools Week, a time to highlight the diversity and uniqueness of Catholic Education.

Inspired by the person and spirit of Jesus, Catholic Schools are called to be signs of God's love and hope in the world. The schools are vibrant Catholic communities of faith and learning, providing quality education and opportunity, and supporting every child to find meaning and purpose in their life.

The theme for Catholic Schools Week 2020 is 'Embracing our Future Together', which blends in beautifully with our own school Vision Statement of “Reverencing the Story of all People.”

Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of our Parish, priests and Catholic School supporters that make our school a dynamic place of faith and learning. We are grateful for the long tradition of committed Catholics, especially the Sisters of Charity, who began Stella Maris and nurtured our community throughout the years. Help us to follow their example of service and generosity as we carry on their mission to bring the love of Jesus to our children and to each other.

We ask this prayer in your name. AMEN.

Tomorrow we culminate Catholic Schools Week with the following activities: 8.45am Catholic Schools Week Liturgy; 9.30am- Open Classrooms; 10.30am- Parents and grandparents invited to share recess with their children.

We hope lots of mums and dads, nans and pops can join us in what should be a celebration of what a wonderful school we have here at Stella Maris.

If it is raining in the morning, we will cancel the liturgy, however, the open classrooms will go ahead at 9.30am.  Cake, coffee and tea will be available to be purchased at recess from the canteen at reasonable prices.

KINDER ENROLMENTS 2021

Enrolment forms for Kindergarten 2021 are now available from our school office and from the school’s website. Enrolment interviews will be held from early May.

PROJECT COMPASSION LAUNCH

Last Tuesday, our school captains and Leaders of Liturgy went with Mrs Hopkins and Mrs Nieborak to the 2020 Project Compassion Launch at St Benedict’s Catholic College Oran Park. The students learnt about this year’s Caritas Project where we raise awareness and funds for needy communities.

WHOLE SCHOOL MASS

Our Whole School Mass, held a fortnight ago at All Saints Church was a beautiful experience for all who attended. The children were so prayerful and respectful, as we had the opportunity to ask God’s blessings on our school year. The choir and musicians, ably led by Mrs Birchall, Mrs Thompson and Mrs Nieborak, greatly contributed to the liturgy. A big thank you to the large number of parents, grandparents and parishioners who were able to join us. Your presence was truly appreciated. Finally thank you to our Religious Education Coorodinator, Mrs Hopkins for organising the Mass and especially Father Joe for celebrating the Mass with us.

WELCOME BBQ

What a huge turn out we had for our Welcome BBQ, which was held in the school grounds last Friday. It was a wonderful opportunity for families to mix with each other, share a meal and mingle with class teachers. The children also had lots of fun playing a variety of games. A big thank you to our P & F for organising the event and to the parents who assisted cooking the bbq and helping out in various ways.

REGIONAL SWIMMING CARNIVAL

Congratulations to the students who represented Stella Maris at the Regional Swimming Carnival at Corrimal Pool today. The children had participated in training sessions with Mrs Wright leading up to today and we know that they would have tried their hardest. Well done children!

CROSS COUNTRY CARNIVAL

We are all eagerly looking forward to our School Cross Country Carnival, which will be held at Keith Hockey Oval next Thursday 12 March, commencing at 9am. Parents are reminded that this is a compulsory school activity and all students are expected to attend. The day will conclude with a presentation back at school at 2pm. Thank you to the parents who have agreed to help on the day, together with students from Corpus Christi. The children are not allowed to go home early as this is only a half-day event.

PARTY INVITATIONS

I once again remind parents not to send birthday party invitations to school for handing out or even handing them out on the playground before or after school. My experience is that this practice causes problems, especially when some children learn that they have not received an invitation whilst others have. It is also not the teachers’ job to be handing out invitations in class time. I thank all parents for their anticipated cooperation in this matter.

SPORTS NEWS

Congratulations to Joshua Lakeman (Cricket, AFL) and Cole Motbey (Basketball) on their selection in Wollongong Diocesan Sports Teams. The boys were chosen after participating in various selection trials. We also have a number of other students who will be participating in trials in a variety of sports tomorrow and we are hopeful of further representation for our students. Well done children!

NAPLAN ONLINE TESTING 2020

This year’s NAPLAN Online tests for students in Years 3 and 5 will be held in the period from Tuesday 12 May until Friday 22 May. The test sequence, which must be followed in order is writing, reading, conventions of language (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) and numeracy. The Year 3 Writing test must be held on Tuesday 12 May. If students are absent on days when the tests are administered it is possible to have a catch up day provided it is held before the end of the testing period on Friday 22 May.

This Sunday’s Gospel,

Mt 17:1-9

Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John.

All Saints Catholic Parish Shellharbour

Mass times: All Saints Church

College Ave, Shellharbour City

Saturday 6:00pm Vigil 

Sunday    9.00am - Children’s Liturgy 

               5:00pm 

Catholic Schools Week Liturgy

We warmly invite all family and friends to our Catholic Schools Week Liturgy on Friday 6th March commencing at 8:45am.

After the Liturgy parents and grandparents are welcome to visit classrooms and then join the students for morning tea. Visitors will be able to purchase morning tea from the canteen.

Caritas Launch

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things, with great love.” 

Saint Therese of Calcutta

The leaders of Liturgy and the School Captains travelled to Oran Park for the Caritas Launch on Tuesday 25th February. The launch was attended by Bishop Brian who spoke to the students about the importance of ‘thinking of others’ during Lent.

Lent

Lent is a period of preparation in the Church’s Liturgical Year that orients the community towards Holy Week and the Season of Easter. It is a time of prayer, fasting and good works. It is also a special time of solidarity with those who are entering their final period of preparation for initiation into the Christian community at Easter. The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Thursday Evening (the Vigil of Good Friday). 

Dates for your information:

1st Mar - 7th Mar Catholic Schools Week

5th Apr - Palm Sunday

9th Apr - Holy Thursday Liturgy

10th Apr - Good Friday

12th Apr - Easter Sunday

Mass at Stella Maris 

We would like to welcome all friends and families to the following School Masses commencing at 9:45am at Stella Maris.

10th March - Stage 3

24th March - Stage 2

31st March - Stage 1

Feast Days

17th March St Patrick’s Day

19th March St Joseph’s Day

25th March The Assumption

Reconciliation

Week One Workshops for Reconciliation commenced this week at Stella Maris or the Grealy Centre for students making their Reconciliation. Classes will run for 4 weeks.

Julie Hopkins

Acting Religious Education Coordinator

Dear students, families and school communities,

Thank you for your school's participation in Catholic Schools Week from 1-7 March. It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and showcase many of the fantastic things happening in your school every day, and in all our Catholic schools across the Diocese of Wollongong.

We thank you for working together in partnership with us to help make your school community such a vibrant, nurturing place of learning, faith, belonging and hope.

If you or a family member or friend would like to enrol your child in one of our schools, please download an enrolment package here.

Have a look at our Catholic Schools Week video below, celebrating what our students across the diocese love about their Catholic school. Can you spot the students from your school?

Please be advised that due to new attendance procedures issued by the Catholic Education Office, we will be calling to check on your child's absence on the third day of an unexplained absence and this will then be followed up by a letter.  If we are unable to obtain an explanation for the absence we will call on a daily basis to try to establish the reason that your child is not at school.  All of these attempts to reach parents or carers will be documented in the child's records. Please input your child's absence on the day of the absence in Compass, or call the school to advise.

If you are taking leave from school, please seek approval from the Principal and the leave will be entered into Compass by the school.

Thank you for your assistance with this. 

GOLD AWARDS