Newsletter 21 - 12 November 2020

Principal's Page

Wedding Bells
Congratulations to Rachel (Kingdon) and Alex Zuideveld who were married on Saturday 7 November. We wish them all the love and happiness for many years to come.

Principals Meeting
Next week I will be in Perth for 3 days. As well as a time for training and reflection, Catholic Principal’s from around the state will gather to bid farewell to retiring Principals as well as welcoming those who are either new to the position or are transferring to another school.
Basketball Ring and Backboard
A huge shout out to the Desmond and Annison families for donating a basketball Ring and Backboard. These will be used in our old undercover area for our junior classes. Protection nets will also be installed along the old stage area for easy ball retrieval. We are still seeking 2 more sets to complete the project.
St Lawrence’s School Code of Conduct
Fortnightly in our school newsletter, we will explore an aspect of the Code of Conduct, so we can all gain a better understanding and how it applies to each of us.
Code of Conduct - Statement 3
You act in accordance with the values of the Gospel as defined in the Code of Ethical Conduct
For parents this may look like:
*Model appropriate behaviour in personal/professional life, e.g. confidentiality
*Respect for individual differences
*Be aware of your (and family) presence on social media
*The way Jesus wanted us to live – ‘right moral choices’
*Building positive relationships
*Be the best you can be and follow Jesus’ example
*Live like Jesus
*Where does the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ fit within your life?
To see a full copy of St Lawrence's School Code of Conduct go to:
https://www.stlps.wa.edu.au/Profiles/stlawrence/Assets/ClientData/Documents/Policies/codeofconduct.pdf

Religious Education

First Eucharist-Sun 1 Nov

First Eucharist Sunday Nov 1
Congratulations to all our students who received ‘Holy Communion’ for the first time with Bishop Michael on a very wet Sunday in November. The children were dressed to impress, sang beautifully and were most reverent during our Mass. Thank you to all those who attended and who supported the children during their preparation time.
The Sacramental Timeline for 2021 will be published as a TBC – ‘To be confirmed’ until Father Gerard arrives back in Australia in January and then dates can be confirmed with him.

Christmas Advent Appeal
Our annual appeal for Christmas Hamper items for Centre Care will go ahead in weeks 7-9 of this term. Instead of collecting items in the undercover area, each class will have their own crate to place hamper items into. Crates will be placed into classrooms on Monday Nov 23 in readiness for the donation of in date, non-perishable items. These will be taken to Centre Care on Friday Dec 11.  Thank you in anticipation for your generosity.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION

Administration News

Parking on vacant block and safety (Railway Street)
A reminder to all families that the vacant land on Railway street is a space that the nearby business allows us to use during drop-off and pick-up times. Please be mindful of not blocking the driveway of that business and always driving in a safe manner.
We also remind family members who choose to park on the vacant block to continue to walk across the road to collect their children. Safety of our children during this time is our priority. Thank you for your continued support.
STLPS Transition started this week
Purpose: Transitions are organised and structured so that ALL students at St Lawrence’s become familiar with the learning environments they will be working in when they return to school after the Christmas break.
Transition Tuesday: Starting this week, all classes will have a ‘Transition Tuesday’ lunch break, this will involve them eating their lunch and playing in their new year group area for 2021 (L2 Thursday’s)
Whilst the whole school Transition happens on Thursday November 26, P-6.
K-PP—WED Nov 25 & Fri Nov 27, teachers are already making sure that their students have the opportunity to visit their next year level’s classrooms and areas as much as possible e.g. Our Junior classes are buddying up for shared reading, taking messages to new parts of the school, touring where their new facilities are— toilet blocks/drink fountains etc.
Whole school Transition: Children complete an activity in each of their next year level classrooms with the teacher who is in that room this year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following children who have recently celebrated birthdays: Devron D, Shirley D, Salty W, Kirra V, Jada J, Darcy E, Kiara S, Liam McL, Louis W, Molly H, Kole W, Lucas R, Seabury W, Tyler, S, Hawkins W, Myles C, Hunter S.

Merit Certificates

News from Visual Art

From the Finance Office

School Fees
2020 school fees are due to be paid in full by November 20 unless you have a payment plan or other arrangement in place. We would like to remind all of our families that we continue to guarantee the enrolment of your child, irrespective of your financial position. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, please don't hesitate to contact Sharon MacDonald at sharon.macdonald@cewa.edu.au or call the office on 9968 2000 to discuss your situation. Any arrangements made between parents/guardians and the school will remain confidential.

Students Not Returning 2021
Plans are well underway for classes in 2021. If your child will not be returning to St Lawrence's in 2021 please call Louise Oliveri on 9968 2000 or email admin@stlps.wa.edu.au to arrange a departure form by  Friday November 20.

P&F News

Carols on the Green evening-Thurs 3 Dec 5-7pm
Grazing Boxes
Preparations for the evening are going ahead very smoothly. A big thankyou to those of you who have returned your orders for the Grazing Boxes so promptly. As we have exceeded our minimum of 50 orders we are pleased to announce that they will going ahead. If you haven’t ordered yours yet, just a reminder that orders will close on Thursday 19th November.

Entertainment
We can confirm a full program of entertainment where Anne Williams will be the opening act with performances to follow including Mrs Hart and the Choir, the Piano and Violin students and other individual performances. A program with the order of performances will be advertised closer to the evening via the school’s Facebook pages.
Raffles
A reminder that raffle books with monies are to be returned in the envelope provided to the Front Office by Thursday 26th November. If you are unable to sell your book of tickets or simply don’t want it, please return it to the Front Office so we can make it available for other families to sell. This will give others more of a chance to win one of our 62 raffles. Raffles will be drawn on the evening and detailed pictures of what you can look forward to winning in each raffle will be advertised through our Facebook pages over the next few weeks.
Guest Appearance
We have had confirmation that there will be a special guest dropping in for the evening! He will be in red and sure to bring some Christmas spirit and a smile to all.
We would like to thank the school community for your support for our only major fundraiser for the year and we can’t wait to join you for a fun, festive and relaxing evening. See you there.
P&F Meeting Monday 16th November
Elections for positions on the 2021 P&F Executive will take place at Monday night’s meeting. Nominations closed on 9th November and were sent via SMS. All are still welcome at the meeting which commences at 4.30pm. After the elections we will conduct a normal meeting as per the Agenda items tabled. This will be the last meeting for 2020.

P&F President

Julie O’Malley

Community Notices

Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays.
VacSwim in January offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations during the long break. Not only are they a great school holiday activity, they teach valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water. Your children can start as young as five years old.
Don’t wait! Enrol your children in VacSwim now at education.wa.edu.au/vacswim

City of Greater Geraldton advise as from Monday 23 November, the Library's hours of operation will be:
Monday            9.30am - 5.00pm
                                                          Tuesday            9.30am - 5.00pm
                                                          Wednesday      1.00pm - 5.00pm
                                                          Thursday          9.30am- 6.00pm
                                                          Friday                9.30am - 5.00pm
                                                          Saturday           9.30am - 1.00pm
                                                          Sunday               Closed            
The Library will recommence running two Storytime and Rhymetime sessions each week, the first being Thursday with a repeat session on Friday.  Storytime will start at 10.00am and Rhymetime at 11.00am.
For information contact CGG Library 9956 6919.