Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The reflection I have chosen for this week’s newsletter refers to the importance of having a positive outlook in life. We are indeed fortunate to have so many positive people in our school community, who by their smiles, words of encouragement and thanks and their willingness to lend a hand, not only strengthen our school but are also following in Jesus’ example when he said “Love one another as I have loved you.” 

FOUNDATION DAY

Tomorrow we celebrate Foundation Day. It is on this day 64 years ago that Stella Maris Catholic School began with forty-six children and two Sisters of Charity.

All  parents/carers and grandparents are invited to join us from 11am when Year 2 will re-enact the story of Mary Aikenhead, the foundress of the Sisters of Charity. This will be followed by a presentation of a special award in her name.  After this all visitors will be invited to “Open Classrooms” where the children can share their learning. All visitors are then invited to stay and have lunch in the playground with the students (BYO), before the day concludes with a Staff versus Year 6 game of netball.

Because of the Foundation Day celebrations, the awards assembly will be held at 8.30am tomorrow morning.

WALK SAFELY TO SCHOOL DAY

Now in its eighteenth year, the National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) initiative will also be celebrated tomorrow on Friday 20 May. The day aims to promote an important message that Active Kids are Healthy Kids. The event encourages parents, carers and their children to build regular walking to and from school into their daily routine, because children need a minimum of 60 minutes, regular physical activity per day. It also encourages parents to drive less and walk more, aiming to decrease dangerous vehicle congestion around schools and reduce carbon emissions from idling cars. 

We would encourage all students who live within close proximity to Stella Maris, to walk to school tomorrow. Perhaps mums or dads could walk too, accompanied by the family dog. Parents who drive their children to school, could park their car a few blocks away and walk the remaining distance. All students who participate in this initiative will be presented with a WSTSD sticker at school.

NAPLAN

Our NAPLAN testing for Years 3 and 5 students concludes tomorrow and by all reports our children have done well and have enjoyed the experience.

STUDENT REPORTS

PARENTS’ and FRIENDS’ MEETING

 The next general meeting of our P and F Association will be held in the school library next Monday at 6.30pm. I would encourage parents to attend to find out what is happening at school in the second half of this term.

YEAR SIX SPORT & RECREATION CAMP

All Year 6 students had a wonderful time at their three day camp at Berry. The constant wet weather could not dampen the children’s enthusiasm and excitement and they are sure to be talking about this outing for many days to come.

CROSS COUNTRY

Next week’s Diocesan Carnival has had to be cancelled due to the state of the course and car parking facilities at Nowra. It has now become a selection trial for a representative Wollongong Team, competing at the Mackillop Trials in June. A number of our students have been invited to participate in the selection trial, which will be held at Narellan next Tuesday. Good luck children!

SPORTS NEWS

Congratulations to Tahj Diamond (Rugby League) on his selection in Mackillop Opens Team. He was chosen after performing strongly in the recent Winter Trials in Canberra. Well done Tahj!

Dear Parents,

At this stage the School Athletics Carnival will be going ahead, pending further favourable weather conditions in the lead up. Further information for the carnival is as follows:

Weather Conditions

Please ensure your child is equipped with the appropriate clothing for all weather types including tracksuit, jumpers and raincoats in the event of adverse weather conditions on the day.

Alternate Date

In the event that the carnival does not proceed on the 26 May, we will reschedule for a future date. At this stage council will not allow us to pre book a date so we will pass this information on as soon as possible.

Field Events

With consideration from the feedback collected last year, there have been some changes to the structure and facilitation of the events. The plan will be as follows:

• U5/6’s, U7’s and U8’s will compete in two field events (Shot Put and Long Jump).
• U9’s, U10’s, U11’s and U12/13’s will compete in four field events (Shot Put, Discus, Long Jump and High Jump).
• All students will have 2 attempts in Shot Put, Discus and Long Jump which will be measured and recorded. Students will remain with their age groups for these events with the boys competing out of the Northern end field event facilities and girls out of the Southern end. These field events will not be split into competitive and non-competitive groups as has been scheduled in previous years.
• High Jump will be split into two groups (competitive and non-competitive based on school trials and student nominations) in order for the event to run efficiently.

800m & High Jump (competitive) Nominations

A digital sheet has been sent to each of the classes (800m U8’s + and High Jump U9’s+) for the students to nominate for these events prior to the carnival. These nominations must be completed prior to the carnival for organisational purposes.

Canteen/Lunch Orders

Canteen facilities will be available on the day. 

Pre-ordered lunch order forms were dispersed by the classroom teacher over the last two weeks, and were due back on Friday 13 May. These pre-orders submitted by last Friday, will be distributed to the students via their age groups on the day. 

Please ensure your child has recess, lunch, snacks and water packed for the day. 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS 

This Sunday’s Gospel

Jn 14:23-29

Jesus leaves peace as his farewell.

All Saints Catholic Parish Shellharbour

Mass times: All Saints Church 

19 College Ave, Shellharbour City

Saturday  5.00pm Vigil 

Sunday    9.00am, 5.00pm 

Special 9am Mass: 5 June Feast of Pentecost - Multicultural Day Luncheon 11:30am

Mass at Stella Maris 

Grade Masses have begun this term at our Stella Maris church on Tuesdays at 9:30am.  Parents, Grandparents and carers are most welcome to attend.  Please find below a schedule of the Masses.

Week 5 - 24 May, Yr 5

Week 6 - 31 May, Yr 3

Week 7 - 7 June, Yr 1

Week 8 - 14 June, Kinder

Join us for a Cuppa!

Additionally, we would like to invite parents, grandparents and carers to please join us for a cup of tea or coffee after Mass in the school staffroom.  Simply follow the students and Mrs Sanchez-Levine through the gates after Mass to join her, Mr Sykes and Sr Kerry for a 30 minute informal gathering.

The Sacraments

Confirmation - Year 6 or Older

After Masses this weekend, families will be advised of their group allocation via a leaflet distribution. Next weekend, books for workshops will be distributed to all children.  The first week of workshops will begin on Monday 30 May.  Celebration of the Sacrament will take place on Sunday 3 July 2022 11.00am and 2.00pm.

Communion - Year 3 or Older 

Enrolment for First Holy Communion will occur on the weekend of 17 and 18 September 2022.  

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

May - The Month of Mary

For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of May to honor Mary, Mother of God. Not just a day in May, but the entire month.  She has a unique role in salvation history as the Mother of God, conceived without Sin, who by her own free will agreed to bring the “Word made flesh", (John 1:14) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into the world.  Her life in the Gospel years was one of service and great devotion to Jesus, from the stable in Bethlehem where she gave birth to Him, to Calvary in Jerusalem where she stood by His cross in His Crucifixion. Mary was a woman of great faith and courage. 

Foundation Day Liturgy

Parents, grandparents, family and friends are warmly invited to our Foundation Day celebrations on Friday May 20 at 11am.  This day celebrates the day our school was founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1958.  Every year we celebrate Foundation Day with the Mary Aikenhead Awards.  The Awards Ceremony will be preceded by the Year 2 presentation of the Story of Mary Aikenhead.  Following the awards, from 12-1pm we will have open classrooms where parents, grandparents and carers are invited to visit their child’s classroom.

God Bless

Alicia Sanchez-Levine

Religious Education Coordinator

Canteen News

We are a school run canteen and rely on volunteers to operate.

Canteen is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to make and prepare lunch orders and serve the children over the counter.

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

Our Mother’s day breakfast and stall which was held in Week 2 was a huge success with over 180 mothers, grandmothers and carers in attendance. A beautiful morning was had and we are sure, many memories made. A huge thank you to those who donated a plate of food for the morning, and in particular, the Cunningham family who supplied and set up our beautiful flower photo wall so families could have lovely photos taken. Your generosity and assistance definitely made for a seamless morning and one in which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Our greatest thanks also goes out to the volunteers who assisted in setting up the breakfast and assisting the students at the Mother’s day stall on both Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The students always love this day and it wouldn’t be possible without the help of many volunteers. We look forward to being able to celebrate our dad’s in a similar fashion in Term 3.

• There are lots of clothing items in great condition which can be purchased from the uniform shop. Opening hours are Friday’s until 9am or for any other times, please email parents@smsdow.catholic.edu.au.