Filter Content
A Blessing for the School Holidays
Sustaining God, caretaker of life, you are always present. You live in us.
Watch over our children during the break and keep us safe in your watchful gaze.
Bless our school community as we celebrate our holidays.
We make this prayer through Jesus our guardian.
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope all our students and their families have a happy, safe and enjoyable Term 2 holiday, which starts after tomorrow, Friday 25 June. School re-commences for Term Three on Monday 12 July. It has certainly been an incredibly busy ten weeks and a well-deserved break from the regular daily routine will be greatly appreciated by everyone. I would like to thank all parents for their continued support and involvement and all staff for their tireless commitment.
BUNNINGS BBQ
I am extremely grateful to the P & F for recently organising a successful Bunnings BBQ. Thank you to the parents who gave up their time to assist and also to the families and staff who dropped by to have some lunch. Over $2000 was raised, which can now be used to spend on various school needs.
KINDERGARTEN 2022
Offers of acceptance were sent out last Friday 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/TEACHER CONVERSATIONS
I would like to thank our staff for their hard work in writing the Student Progress reports and for conducting the half-yearly conversations (interviews). I know that their work is very much appreciated by all parents and it is clear that the children on the whole tried extremely hard during the first semester.
PRINCIPAL’S LUNCH
Congratulations to the following children who received the most dojo points in their classes this term. They enjoyed a yummy Principal’s Lunch today:
Kindergarten: Indie Cohen, Leo Jimenez, Mia McKenna, Noah Tasevski
Year 1: Daniella Noakes, Leo De Gori, Lola Jimenez, Nixon Thomson
Year 2: Justin Lakeman, Florence Fackender, Oscar Creighton, Georgie Grove
Year 3: Logan Goodes, Brylee Mendis, Jess Grogan, Liam Neuschwanger
Year 4: Aerin Ling, Jayden Toskoski, Charlie Zammit, Peyton Gelfius
Year 5: Ashton Gregson, Halle Stannard, Nash Lewis, Milla Upton
Year 6: Isla Ling, Oscar Verdon, Mia Allard, Jett Parker
The Class of The Term winner this term will be announced on the first day back next term. They will enjoy a Pizza Party on Wednesday 14 July. Class of the Week points are awarded for the classes that pay close attention during assemblies and move to and from classrooms in an orderly manner. Teachers will also hold class rewards this week for children who constantly follow class and playground school rules.
COVID 19 REPORTING
Today, you should have received a letter via Compass, giving details of our most recent COVID restrictions. Could I ask everyone to please read these as soon as possible.
The school has prepared a whole-school plan in the case that we receive notification that one of our community members tests positive for COVID 19. We hope and pray that everyone continues to remain strong and healthy, however if any family member does test positive in the holidays parents are asked to ring the school telephone number and the call will be diverted to a mobile number.
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 until Week two next term (23 July) as we strive to assist those members of our local community who need support to survive the colder months of winter.
CONFIRMATION
The Year 6 students have now completed preparation workshops for the Sacrament of Confirmation, which will be celebrated in All Saints Parish on Sunday 18 July at 11am and 2pm. There will be a retreat day for them at All Saints on Friday 16 July. Please continue to pray for these students.
SCHOOL ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
The Annual Stella Maris Athletics Carnival was held at Myimbarr Oval on Thursday 10 June. Thank you to all the parent helpers, volunteers and teachers, as well
as the Year 10 Corpus Christi students and the Lake Illawarra Little Athletics Club who assisted on the day. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and the carnival was not able to be completed. As a result, age champions and the winning house are unable to be decided at this stage in time, but will be awarded once results are finalised. All events that have not yet been completed will take place early in Term 3. Further details regarding this will be communicated at a later date.
Congratulations to all students for their participation, cooperation and sportsmanship on the day. We will still select a school team based on results for the Regional Carnival on Tuesday 3 August.
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL REVIEW
It was greatly disappointing that we had to abandon this year’s athletics carnival due to inclement weather. It looked promising in the morning but as the day continued poorer weather set in. We are extremely grateful that parents were able to collect their children and we understand that this was extremely difficult and challenging for some due to work commitments. Hopefully these scenarios do not happen very often, however since Compass became the main communication channel between school and home, we have been instructed by the Catholic Education Office to use this in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as critical incidents, emergencies and last minute cancellations of events due to inclement weather.
We would envisage that there may be parents who are unable to access Compass throughout the day and in which case, we would endeavour to inform the emergency contacts via mobile to request the collection of children. We would continue to provide supervision for the children until someone is able to collect.
The staff’s sports committee met last Wednesday to reflect on the day and discussed ways to improve the carnival. It has been decided that the terms “Competitive and Non-Competitive” would no longer be used and that field event finals would commence from the 9 Years Age Group. This would bring the school in line with the Diocesan organisation of athletics and enable students in Kindergarten to Year 2 to participate in a variety of fun athletic events, which would still earn points for their house team. it would also help speed up the carnival. The younger students would still be able to race for ribbons in two track events.
SPORTS UNIFORM
There has been an increasing trend of some older students not wearing predominantly white joggers as part of their sports uniform. It is important that we work together to uphold high standards of uniform that are consistent with school policy. I thank parents for their ongoing support in this area.
MACKILLOP CROSS COUNTRY
Congratulations to Sienna Zammit (Year 4), Campbell Knox (Year 5) and Bronte Grove (Year 6) on qualifying to represent the Wollongong Catholic Diocese at the Mackillop Cross Country Championships. The carnival was held on Tuesday 8 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 three students tried their best on the day and should be proud of their efforts. Campbell’s 11 year old team came first and he was extremely happy to receive a gold medallion. Well done children!
TO SEND OR TO HOLD BACK?
After reflecting on the recent interviews that were held for the 2022 Kindergarten students, a constant debate for parents is whether a child is ready to start school. The chronological age of a child is not the only factor to be considered, but it is true that there are more and more parents who are deciding not to send their child to primary school if they are turning five in the first five months of the school year. I came across this article, which may be of interest to parents:
PARENT- SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
Last year an important document was launched, “Lighting the Way Together,” which is the Diocesan’s Parent-School Partnership Framework. In choosing a Catholic Systemic School in the Diocese of Wollongong, parents enter into a partnership with the school. This results in a shared responsibility for each child’s learning, wellbeing and faith development. The framework centres around five principles, which if implemented will create a collaborative relationship between home, school and parish. The five principles and their meaning are:
- CO-CREATING A CATHOLIC COMMUNITY: We express our faith through prayer, liturgy and Catholic beliefs and teachings. We are strongly connected with and involved in parish life.
- BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS OF RESPECT, TRUST AND RESILIENCE: Parents and school staff have a mutual respect for each other and model to our children, values of courtesy and positive regard, even in challenging times.
- MAINTAINING A SAFE, SUPPORTIVE AND RESPECTFUL SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT: We uphold school rules, directives, policies and processes in order to ensure the wellbeing of all and the effective learning and wellbeing of students.
- CREATED A CONNECTED AND WELCOMING COMMUNITY: We are engaged in the life of the school and parish by participating in various events and collectively being involved in collaboration and consultation.
- SUPPORTING ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING AND WELLBEING: We share information between school and home and model a positive attitude to learning, education school and co-curricular activities.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
This Sunday’s Gospel
Jesus restores Jairus’ daughter to life.
All Saints Catholic Parish Shellharbour
Mass times: All Saints Church
19 College Ave, Shellharbour City
Saturday 5.00pm Vigil
Sunday 9.00am
5.00pm
Mass at Stella Maris
Class Masses in Term 3
KIndergarten Gold Week 1 - 13 July
Year 3 Blue Week 2 - 20 July
Kindergarten Blue Week 3 - 27 July
Year 2 Blue Week 5 - 10 August
Sacramental News
The Confirmation Retreat Day will be held on Friday 16 July from 9am to 1:30pm at the Grealy Centre at All Saints. All students in Year 6 are to attend. Parents/Caregivers are to drop their children off at the Centre and return to pick them up at 1:30pm. Students are to wear casual clothes, bring their own recess and lunch for the day, as well as their pencil case. NO IPADS are required.
There are two celebrations planned for the Sacrament of Confirmation 11am and 2pm on Sunday 18 July 2021. Please be seated 10 minutes before Mass begins.
Alicia Sanchez-Levine
Religious Education Coordinator
All students at Stella Maris Catholic Primary School participate in Social and
Emotional Learning programs that are part of the school curriculum. These
programs aim to enhance the mental health and well-being of all students.
They are delivered across a number of Key Learning Areas and provide
students with the strategies and skills to use when navigating relationships,
managing their emotions, dealing with conflict, developing resilience,
enhancing their self-esteem and much more.
We recently conducted a mental health and well-being survey with the Year 3
– 6 students, which has provided us with meaningful data around the internal
strengths, feelings and behaviours of all the students in each year group. It is
important to note that this survey is anonymous, as individual student
responses are not provided, rather only, provide entire grade data as an entity.
As a result of the survey data, specific and targeted well-being programs have
been created to cater for the needs of each grade. Lessons run for
approximately 30 minutes once a week and are facilitated by Mr Chris Price
and Mrs Bree Lord (School Counsellor). These programs have commenced
positively over the last few weeks and will enable the students to learn and use
additional strategies as they continue to grow and thrive in this every changing
world.
On Tuesday 15 June, 8 students represented Stella Maris in the NSW Junior Chess League at Shellharbour Public School. All students played several games of Chess, showed great problem solving skills, sportsmanship and were terrific role models of Stella Maris.
All the students are to be commended on their chess ability and skills, but a special mention to Kobi Lorkin for using and applying his knowledge of learnt end game strategies to help him checkmate quickly in his games.
Well done to everyone.
Results on the day include:
4th Place in the Championship division (Dustyn Kotwal, Sam Huetter, Logan Goodes and Kobi Lorkin)
2nd Place in the Rookie division (Isaac McAlister, Nash Lewis, Aidan Santana, Jake Genford)
Canteen News
Unfortunately, at this time, our canteen is not permitted to open. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.