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Naidoc Week although falling in the Term 2 holidays is an important time of the year. Here at Stella Maris we are grateful for the contributions that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters have made to this beautiful country and we value learning about their culture and heritage through the regular efforts of Miss Jo and Mr Mongta but also through events such as NAIDOC and Reconciliation Week.
NAIDOC Week 2021 invites the nation to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.
The NAIDOC 2021 Week theme – “Heal Country” – calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation and destruction.
Each year NAIDOC week grows in stature and depth of celebrations at community, state and national level. It is a pity that the celebrations this year were greatly impacted both at a school and community level by the current lockdown in our local area.
Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to welcome back everyone to school after the recent two-week holiday period. The lockdown, whilst preventing families from travelling to see family and friends and going on holidays, allowed us all to stop and take time to re-connect as family units. It was wonderful to see so many people exercising and I know all our dogs have certainly benefited from being taken on so many walks.
REMOTE LEARNING
The current period of remote learning has been going quite well with the children working through their online activities. Parents are reminded to contact the teachers if there are any questions or concerns as we try to support each other in these challenging times. We need to touch base with students each day for attendance and assessment purposes so if teachers do not hear from individual children they will be marked as absent. Stella Maris continues to fall in the Level 4 category for schools, which means students are encouraged to learn from home, however we are still open for families who need to send their children to school for work or even pastoral reasons.We are still operating with minimal staff on site so we appreciate your cooperation in this matter. All non- core curriculum related activities have currently ceased, as have canteen/uniform services and P & F Meetings.
SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES
Parents are reminded to contact me at school if I can be of any assistance to help you through these troubling times. I am extremely conscious that some families
are experiencing significant hardship in so many ways. I am also aware that children may be struggling and worried about the health of a loved one or even the disconnection they are experiencing from extended family members such as grandparents or elderly relatives.
AFTERNOON PICK-UP PROCEDURES
We have been able to trial the new afternoon pick-up arrangements, with
parents/carers staying off-site and collecting their children from one of three gates: Wentworth Street for surnames A-Grif; The Church Gate for surnames Grig-N and the Bottom Wilson Street gate for surnames O-Z. It has been working extremely well, however when larger numbers return to school, parents will need to exercise patience as the procedure may take a little longer. I thank parents/carers for wearing masks whilst collecting their children.
ZOOM ASSEMBLIES
With no face-to-face assemblies being conducted at the moment parents and children learning from home are invited to tune into our Friday morning Zoom Assemblies, which occur at 9am. The code from tomorrow will be 955 491 655 and the password is sms.
WINTER APPEAL
Thank you to the famil
ies who supported our Vinnies Winter Appeal. With lockdown restrictions, we have made a decision to finish the appeal, with 50 items of clothing and 250 food items donated, a wonderful response.
CONFIRMATION
Given the current lockdown, the Sacrament of Confirmation at this stage has been moved to Sunday 29 August with the Retreat on Friday, 20 August. This of course will be dependent on government restrictions in place.
SCHEDULED SCHOOL EVENTS
With the current restrictions in place, obviously important upcoming events such as Grandparents Day and the School’s Feast Day, which falls on the feast of
The Assumption (15 August) will have to be put on hold.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
This Sunday’s Gospel
Jesus feeds five thousand.
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 has been put on hold until we have further information. Any missed masses will be rescheduled later on in Term 4.
Kindergarten Blue Week 3 - 27 July TBC
Year 6 Gold Week 4 - 3 August TBC
Year 2 Blue Week 5 - 10 August TBC
Whole School Mass under the COLA - Week 6 - 17 August TBC
Year 6 Blue Week 7 - 24 August TBC
Year 5 Gold Week 8 - 31 August TBC
Year 5 Blue Week 9 - 7 September TBC
Year 4 Gold Week 10 - 14 September TBC
Confirmation | Shellharbour City Parish | 29 August 2021
As you may have anticipated due to the current ‘lockdown’ both the programmed upcoming Retreat/Preparation Day and Confirmation Day for this year’s Confirmation candidates have been cancelled and rescheduled. The rescheduled dates are as follows:
Friday, 20 August Retreat/preparation day
Sunday, 29 August Confirmation Masses at 11am and 2pm
We will be utilising the time preferences for Confirmation previously supplied. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask.
God Bless and Keep Safe
Alicia Sanchez-Levine
Religious Education Coordinator
Canteen News
Unfortunately, at this time, our canteen is not permitted to open. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please click on the link below to view the message created by our talented music teacher Mrs Hogan.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nD9M_A4kRzbmj3mTll0eSBYlTw7LUgTD/view?ts=60f64df8