Newsletter 7 - 6 May 2021
Principal's Page
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Mother’s Day
I would like to wish my mother and all mothers, sisters, aunties, grandmothers and other significant women in your lives, a wonderful and blessed Mother’s Day for this Sunday. Like myself, for those that cannot be with their mothers an extra special blessing. Have a wonderful day.
Staffing News After 20 years as an Aboriginal Teaching Assistant in Catholic Education, Sherie Townsend has decided it is time for a change. Sherie has resigned from her position at St Lawrence’s. Sherie has left her mark at St Lawrence’s with the amazing crosses she has painted for every classroom throughout the school. We wish Sherie Townsend all the best for whatever the future may hold for her. Currently we are advertising for a Part time Admin Assistant, Full time Education Assistant and Year 6 class teacher to commence in Term 3 (details can be found on our school webpage). A big congratulations to Mrs Claire Wheeler and her husband Alex as they are expecting their first child later this year.
Fr Johnny Carpenter On Wednesday I attended the funeral of Fr Johnny Carpenter. Fr Johnny was the Assistant Priest at St Lawrence's from April 1995 to November 2019. He entered Eternal Life on 20th April 2021. May he rest in Peace.
Audits Over the first 2 weeks of term 2, St Lawrence’s has had 2 separate audits. In Week 1 we had our annual financial audit and in Week 2 we were selected to be part of the Post Enumeration Audit. This audit involves looking at our student enrolment and funding throughout 2020. I would like to thank Admin and Leadership for the many hours of preparation in getting this together. Later in the year we will also be involved in our cyclical review and 5 year (Quinquennial) School Registration Audit.
School Climate Survey Thank you to the staff, students and parents who participated in this year's Climate Survey. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be sharing snippets of these results with staff, School Advisory Council and P&F. The results of this survey will help us plan future directions for St Lawrence’s.
NAPLAN For the next 2 weeks, Years 3 and 5 will participate in the annual NAPLAN Assessment Program. NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. We wish our students all the best.
Seesaw Seesaw is an online platform for hosting students’ digital portfolios which can be shared with families. System licensing has been purchased by CEWA as it provides additional features, greater oversight for schools, and clarity on where our data is stored compared with Class Dojo. At the beginning of 2022, all St Lawrence’s staff and students will move to Seesaw. In preparation for this, our Year 2 teachers have volunteered to become experts in Seesaw and will begin to transition to the new platform over the coming weeks. Just like Class Dojo, Year 2 parents will receive sign up details so they can access student work and have access to teacher/parent communication. As we go through the setup phase, please keep in contact with your class teacher to help improve the process.
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 10
You maintain and build on the community’s trust and confidence in Catholic schools and the church
- Model Catholic values
- Build communication and relationships between parents, parish and school
- Acknowledgment and acceptance of the past
- Social media
- Public view of Catholic staff needs to be exemplary
- Filter what you say
To see a full copy of St Lawrence’s School Code of Conduct go to:
Happy Days Mr David Tunchon Principal
Religious Education
Fruit of the Spirit Focus: Weeks 3/4 Galatians 5:22 " What the Spirit brings is different; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course." Our fruit focus for weeks three and four this term is the fruit of "Peace". Peace is a sense of being content, we are not anxious or disturbed but show an inner calm. Prayer for the fruit of Peace – Jesus, may we be peaceful in what we say and do today.
First Eucharist Letter from Father Gerard
The Sacrament of Eucharist Our Year four students begin their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Eucharist (First Holy Communion) this term. Important Dates: Year Four Reconciliation: 9:30am Thursday June 10th Students will attend Reconciliation before they receive the Eucharist, so that they are in a 'state of grace'. (Free from sin). The Sacrament of Eucharist Sunday June 13th, 11am in the school undercover area. Children wear "light" coloured, good clothes to acknowledge the special importance of this Sacrament in the traditions of the church.
Year Two Family Mass Please join with our Year Two classes in celebrating Family Mass in the school undercover area on Saturday May 22nd, 6pm.
Communio Fundraiser Please support our May appeal for Communio – all funds raised go towards supporting catholic aid agencies in our Diocese.
Administration News
Class Leaders for Term 2
Congratulations to our class leaders for Term 2. We wish them success in leading their classes.
6W- Sienna W & Patrick V 6M- Chloe W & Colby B 6R- Bailee R & Zeke G 5M- Shaylan S & Matilda T 5C- Finn H & Olivia P 5B- Olivia R & Darcy L
New Sport Shirts-History of the Names and Symbols By now you have seen the students of St Lawrence's wearing their new Sports Shirts. We would like to share with you the history around the name of each faction and the symbol associated with it. Each faction is named after a past Bishop of Geraldton. One symbol from the Coat of Arms of each Bishop has been included in the logo used for each house.
Gummer- Named after Bishop Alfred Joseph Gummer (1942-1962) the fourth bishop, he was aged 43 when he became bishop and had been a priest for 19 years. He chose a sailing ship (in recognition of migrants) as part of his Bishop Coat of Arms.
Kelly- Named after Bishop William Bernard Kelly (1898-1921) became the founding Bishop of the Geraldton Diocese in 1898. He was 44 when he became Bishop and had been a priest for 15 years before this. He chose a section of a castle (due to the many religious buildings being constructed) for his Bishop Coat of Arms.
O'Collins- Named after Bishop James O'Collins (1930-1941) became the third Bishop of the Geraldton Diocese. During his time as Bishop, numbers of parishioners, priests and nuns increased considerably. He had a Mitre (Bishops ceremonial hat) on his Bishop Coat of Arms.
Thomas-Named after Bishop Francis Xavier Thomas (1962-1981) became the fifth Bishop of the Geraldton Diocese. He faced challenges of new mining ventures in the Pilbara, requiring the establishment of a dozen churches and mass centres to cater for a very mobile catholic population. He had a Cross (recognition of setting up new religious structures) on his Bishop Coat of Arms.
NAPLAN 2021
Testing for NAPLAN 2021 for Years 3 & 5 has been set for the following dates:
11th-21st May-ONLINE TESTING (Years 3 & 5)
11th-14th May-PAPER TESTING (Year 3 Writing only)
Before School
A reminder that Before School Supervision begins at 8:15am.
Year 1 & 2 students remain in the Undercover Area
Year 3 & 4 students are asked to move to outside the Year 3 Rooms
Year 5 & 6 are asked to move to outside Year 5/6 Rooms
Davis Street Carpark
Just a reminder that the Davis Street Carpark is extremely busy on a Wednesday. Can we remind parents please to use this car park only if you are dropping and picking children up from Kindy and Preprimary.
The chains are locked for this carpark at 3.30pm.
Merit Certificate Recipients
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following children who have recently celebrated birthdays: Mackenzie C, Max H, Evie S, Maverick C, Izabella R, Jesse M, Kai R, Jacob C, Finn B, Amelia B, Michena-Sage S, Jasmine B, Leo D, Ivy A, Tiana P, Mary-Anna C, Morgan F, Gypsy-Rose K, Chase J, Finn H, Kobe G, Edie P, Luana C, Cooper R, Lyla A, Fletcher L, Patterson A, Connor J, Audrey A, Remy H, John M, Paige C, Josie D
News from Yr 6 Camp
News from Yr 5 Literacy Enrichment Students
Community Notices
BLUFF POINT DENTAL
The Bluff Point DTC had an internal water leak during the Christmas break and consequently the clinic is closed until cupboards/bench tops can be replaced.
The Bluff Point DTC is closed until further notice. If you have an appointment, we will contact you to reschedule. In the case of emergency only, please contact the Allendale DTC 99214218 or the Rangeway DTC on 99214373.
P & F News
Don’t miss out on your BOGAN BINGO TICKETS !https://stlpsboganbingo.eventbrite.com.au This event WILL SELL OUT!No table ? No problem ! We’ll match you with some sheila’s and blokes !Any questions just shoot me a msg! (Melissa Smith)
Bogan Bingo Donations
Hey Everyone!! It’s Amanda and Clare here from the STLPS Bogan Bingo Sub-Committee
The team have been hard at work gearing up for the P&F’s biggest fundraiser for the year and we are putting out a call for your help!! Clare and I are co-ordinating all prizes & silent auction items for the evening and we have had some amazing responses so far. However we are asking if any of you amazing peeps within our school community would be willing to donate either goods, services or vouchers for the cause. Donated vouchers will be used to purchase items to add to our Silent Auction. Some great ideas for these are Bunnings, Coles Myer, Woolworths, camping stores just to name a few. If you’d prefer to donate a monetary value, that would of course also be greatly appreciated. If you feel this is something you are able to help out with, please send either of us a message or comment below and we will be in touch.
Or feel free to message either:
Amanda - sattary@bigpond.com or Clare - clareandkurt@bigpond.com
All donations will need to be received by Wednesday 19th May
Thanks so much!