Principal Message

This week we celebrated our school’s feast day, The Assumption of Mary. This is the feast day of the Sisters of Charity, our founding sisters of Stella Maris.

It is a day where we pay our respect to Mary, the Mother of Jesus who was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. A reminder that Mary and God are always with us and there is a place for us in the Kingdom of God. Fr Joe spoke about in his homily how, wherever there is love there is heaven. A reminder to act with love and compassion in all that we do. It was wonderful to celebrate mass with Nazareth and the Parish on our feast day.

Thank you to the parent volunteers who gave of their time to prepare, set up and run the disco for our students last week. The children had a fantastic time dancing with their friends and teachers! It was a lovely way to come together as a community again and celebrate what is good about Stella Maris. The time and effort by our parent community does not go unnoticed and is very much appreciated. 

Bringing Toys / Cards to school

A gentle reminder that as a part of the school’s PB4L policy and procedures children are not permitted to bring extra toys or swap cards to school. At the moment it is the Disney cards from Woolworths, however other times it may be sport cards or other initiatives from grocery chains. Bringing toys/cards to school often causes conflicts on the playground and or there is the likelihood of them becoming damaged. This can be quite distressing for some children. There are some children that may have a comfort item, this must be agreed upon with the class teacher beforehand. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Riding Bikes and Scooters

As the weather warms up, there is an increase in children riding their bikes or scooters to school. A reminder that children who ride a bike or a scooter to school MUST wear a helmet. As they enter the school gates they are to WALK their bike or scooter to the designated area behind the convent. It is also a requirement that all children that ride a bike or scooter have completed the permission form with their parents. If you need a form to complete please contact the school office.

Catholic Care Flyers

Catholic Care are holding some parent information sessions around the diocese during Child Protection Week. The local presentations cover supporting your child in managing big emotions and supporting your child to develop resilience. Please see the attached flyers for locations and topics.

St_Johns_Child_protection_week_flyer.pdf

St_Johns_Child_protection_week_flyer _pdf 994.17 KB

St_Patricks_Child_protection_week_flyer.pdf

St_Patricks_Child_protection_week_flyer _pdf 209.06 KB

  

Thank you!

The school has had the new tear drop flags for our 4B focus areas delivered as well as the brand new marquees for sporting events. Thank you to the P&F for their donation. They look amazing and will get plenty of use.

     

Mini Vinnies Mufti Day

On Thursday 31 August, we will have a Mufti Day with a gold coin donation. With this money they will adopt a whale for each class. The class gets a certificate and they get to name their whale. Any money left over will be donated to wildlife conservation Australia. I commend the team for the initiative and for being so proactive.

Rewards

As mentioned in last term’s newsletter, the students at Stella Maris are provided with regular positive reinforcements and rewards for displaying positive behaviours both inside and outside of the classroom. The school promotes appropriate behaviour through rewards, class points, stickers, raffle tickets, dojo points, class parties, End Of Term Rewards, Principal's Pizza Party, achievement awards, canteen vouchers and much more. 

Behaviour Management

However, when at times students display discouraging or inappropriate behaviours that fall below the accepted standard, our school’s behaviour management policy is followed. Major and Minor Problem Behaviour Definitions defined by staff for both classroom and non-classroom areas are displayed as a guide for correcting students’ behaviour. Students are given two warnings which include redirections, affirmations and clear explanations of what is expected to assist them with correcting their behaviour before a Minor behaviour infringement is recorded with the 3rd warning. This behaviour correction sequence is designed to provide opportunities for the students to correct their behaviour and make positive choices.

Athletics

South Coast Carnival:

On Tuesday 8 August, the Stella Maris Athletics team competed at Beaton Park at the South Coast Region Carnival. All students performed incredibly well on the day and tried their best. A big congratulations goes out to the following students who managed to place in the top four positions against tough competition:

Senior Girls Relay Team: Chelsea Santana, Stella Veleski, Lili Ranzi & Lucy Grove

Senior Boys Relay Team:  Archer Ridley, Harry Thomson, Reid Coelho & Elijah Sim

Junior Boys Relay Team: Riley O’Shea, Mason Jimenez, Davey McMullen, Harry Keneally

Sianna Badger: High Jump

Anabella Condy: 100m

Reid Coelho: 1500, 800m

Heath Paulissen: Discuss

Elijah Sim: Long Jump

Charlie Badger: Discuss

Alaina Cunningham: Discuss

Olly Lachlan:  Shot Putt

Lillian Pike:  Discuss

Selection Trials

A week later on Tuesday 15 August, the students mentioned above competed at the Diocesan Selection Trials at Beaton Park. All students again performed incredibly well and we congratulate the following students who placed in the top two positions

Reid Coelho: 800m (1st), 1500m (2nd)

Heath Paulissen: Discuss (2nd)

Elijah Sim - Long Jump (2nd)

These three students will now represent the Wollongong Diocese at the Mackillop Selection Trials on Monday 18 September, 2023.

Congratulations students.

Well done to Miranda Jonson who had her hair chopped for the charity 'Hair for Heart' recently. We are very proud of your efforts Miranda.

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.

First Holy Communion - Year 3 or Older                               

¨ Information and name recording Thursday 7 Sep: 7.00pm at the Parish Hall

¨ Enrolment—Weekend Masses 09/10 September. 

Celebration of the Sacrament of First Holy Communion: 

Sunday 26 November 2023 11.00AM & 2.00PM     

Thank you.

Parish Office Secretary 

Part-time employment opportunity—

Parish Secretary Parish of All Saints Parish, Shellharbour. 

All Saints parish is seeking the services of a part-time secretary for 18 hrs per week – currently Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but negotiable. The position requires skills in administration, bookkeeping, maintaining a database, and high skills in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The parish secretary needs to be a person who is supportive of the Catholic ethos of the Parish, who bears witness to Christ and Christian values in their own lives and in their work.  If interested, please make contact via email to request an application pack for this position to frances.vanleerdam@dow.org.au Applications close 5pm Monday 28 August 2023.