Newsletter 8 - 20 May 2021
Principal's Page
Dear Parents and Guardians,
A Prayer for May - the Month of the Virgin Mary
Staffing News
Congratulations to Belinda Gammon who was the successful applicant for the part time Admin Assistant position at St Lawrence’s. She comes to us highly recommended and will be a fabulous addition to our office staff. Belinda has two children at St Lawrence’s, Amber in 2SM and John in PPZ.
Evangelisation Planning Days
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the Leadership Team attended a three day workshop with Geraldton's Bishop Michael Morrisey and Bunbury's Bishop Gerard Holahan to draft St Lawrence's School Evangelisation Plan. The Evangelisation Plan is an important document for our community over the next 3 years as it covers the area of Witness, Call to faith, Discipleship and Christian Prayer. Once completed, document will be available to the St Lawrence's Community.
NAPLAN
Well done to our Year 3 and 5 students who have completed their 2 weeks of NAPLAN testing. In walking past all classrooms these past couple of weeks, I was very proud to see students diligently trying their best and giving all questions a go. Awesome work.
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 11
You act reflectively and ethically
- Reflective practice
- Safety and wellbeing of all are a priority
- Open communication with Principal
- Care for each other (staff, students, parents)
- Clear communication
- Pastoral care (staff, students, parents)
To see a full copy of St Lawrence’s School Code of Conduct go to:
Happy Days
David Tunchon
Principal
Religious Education
Fruit of the Spirit Focus: Weeks 5/6
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 five and six this term is the fruit of "Joy".
Joy is a sense of happiness, a light-heartedness to ourselves and others in a variety of situations.
Prayer for Joy – Jesus, you taught us that joy may be when we are happy ‘inside’. We do not have to shout out to be joyful but just be happy for all that we have today.
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. All welcome to attend, please sanitise and scan the QR Code as you enter the undercover area.
Communio Week: Give Hope to Others
Week Six is Communio Week in the Geraldton Diocese. Communio is Bishop Michael's appeal to raise funds and awareness to support Catholic Aid agencies that work throughout our Diocese. Some of these agencies are Nazareth House, St Vincent de Paul, CentaCare, Drug Arm, Pregnancy Help, and Diocesan Community Outreach Programs.
Our Geraldton Diocese is the second largest in the world. The term Diocese refers to the area that falls under the guidance of a Bishop.
Please join our Mass for Communio on Wednesday May 26th - 9:30am in the undercover area. All classes will present their 'May Money Jar' Fundraising efforts at the beginning of this Mass. This year our students have worked on the theme of 'giving without receiving' and we thank them for their very generous donations.
National Sorry Day will be also recognised during our Communio Mass as part of National Reconcilaition Week which is also in week six.
National Sorry Day is a special day that occurs in Australia on 26th May every year.
It is a day when we take the time to remember when Governments made choices that hurt our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities through the impact of the “Stolen Generations”.
The day is an opportunity for all Australians to remember past mistakes and build stronger bridges for a richer, stronger future together.
National Sorry Day is a yearly opportunity for all Australians to reflect upon the mistakes of the past, learn more about what the current issues facing Indigenous Australians are, and outwardly show their commitment towards reconciliation.
200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia
On Monday May 24th our year six students and teachers, Mr Tunchon, Mr O'Malley & Mrs Kempton will attend a special regional Mass to represent St Lawrence's at St Francis Xavier Cathedral to celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education provided to children all over Australia.
Junior Prayer Services
During the month of May our Kindy, Pre Primary and Year One classes all celebrated prayer services with their families, honouring Mary. May is known as the month of Mary and is a time where the Church honours with special love Mary as the Mother of God. It was so lovely to see parents and carers back in the school praying with their children and celebrating morning tea afterwards together.
Our Year Two classes will have their prayer service on Thursday June 3.
Important Dates:
Year 4
The Sacrament of Eucharist Sunday June 13th, 11am in the school undercover area.
Administration News
Year 5C Assembly time change
The Assembly scheduled for 5C on Friday 11th June at 2:30pm (Week 8) will now take place at 9am.
Swimming Reminder
A reminder that Years 5 & 6 will be attending Swimming Lessons during Weeks 6 & 7 (Monday 24th May-Thursday 3rd June)
Bebras Challenge Results
Bebras is an international initiative aiming to promote Informatics and Computational Thinking among students. Started in 2004 by Professor Valentina Dagiene from the University of Vilnius, 'Bebras' is Lithuanian for beaver. Bebras Australia began in 2014 and is now administered through CSIRO Digital Careers.
We congratulate the following students for their wonderful results in the latest Bebras Challenge:
Ethan S - 6W - High Distinction
Bryson M - 4W- High Distinction
Asta M - 4B- Distinction
Abbey M - 4B- Distinction
Harli K - 3D- Distinction
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: Brayden M, Theo H, Bluebell S, Milla C, Minty M, Michael V, Lyla P, Sophie V, Pia W, Koa P-B, Ruby W, Ainsley S, Hale S, Billie L, Isla C, Isla R, Harper Q, Mischa M, Baylee H, Carson S, Reef F, Paddy S, Rennley C, Harli K, Patrick v K, Annabelle T, Ethan S, Lilah R, Indy B, Kaylee H, Makayla H, G Ward, Jobe d S M, Hendrix S, Isaac S
News from Kindy
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
We held our first P&F Meeting for the term on Monday afternoon after nearly two months since our last meeting. This meant there was a full Agenda with lots of discussion on how the remainder of the year will look with activities for our children and other fundraising events. We welcomed another new face to our team, Sam Heirich and I would like to thank her for her valuable contributions to the tabled agenda items. Remember you are all members of the P&F and are invited and welcome to any meeting.
Bogan Bingo Update - Saturday 29th May
This much anticipated evening is only two weeks away. If you haven’t yet purchased your tickets and are intending to come along, we ask that you do so by Friday 21st May. Bookings are through the Eventbrite link https://stlpsboganbingo.eventbrite.com.au
We would also like to inform everyone and confirm that there has been a change of venue for the evening. It will no longer take place on the school site in the UAC but instead the Fitzgerald Hall. Melissa Smith posted in the Parent Information Facebook Group on Tuesday an update regarding the change of venue for the evening. This is the only change, everything else remains the same and it will still be the fun night all are expecting.
And what can you expect? The evening is a bingo night and there will be prizes for those that win the bingo game/s. A King and Queen Bogan will be named and take home a prize each. There will be several Silent Auctions up for bid where the winners will be announced at the end of the evening. EFTPOS facilities will be available for the auction’s highest bidders enabling people to collect and take home their auctions at the end of the evening. (The EFTPOS machine will NOT be a cash out facility.) Raid your money boxes (or the kids’) for those $2 coins. Bring them along to join in the various games Bingo Masters Anne and Jody will coordinate and rope you into doing! A $100 note will circulate during the evening, $2 a guess at the last few numbers of that note. Good luck!
A reminder that it is BYO everything: drinks and food. There will be bottles of water available and they will be free. The P&F are really looking forward to hosting the evening seeing our guests revealing their inner bogan, letting their ‘mullets down’ and enjoying each other’s company. Can’t wait to see you there.
It’s back the School Disco – Thursday 3rd June
You would have seen posted in our Parent Information Facebook Group and Class Dojo the confirmation that the school disco is back. The children can groove into the extra-long weekend afterschool on Thursday 3rd June thanks to our Disco Mums and Dads who have come forward and organised this event.
Notes for the disco have been sent out. Parents can you ensure the return slip is completed and returned ASAP so our Disco Team can prepare for the evening. Encourage your children to include a song on the return slip they would like DJ Leigh to add to the playlist.
There will be two discos both a 1-hour duration. Both discos will be held in the Undercover Area with entry and exit through the Parish carpark side. First disco will be Years 1 – 3 (PP are included in this disco if they would like to come) from 4pm to 5pm and Years 4 – 6 from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Ticket details and prices are included in the Disco note and monies with completed return slip to be enclosed and returned in an envelope. Lollies and drinks will be for sale so children can bring money to purchase. Thank you again to Nadine Smith and Leigh Golosky for your coordination of the Disco Team and enabling the ‘grooving’ to happen this term. Keep up to date with the posts about the disco from Nadine on the Parent Information Group page.
Vale Tania Gibson
On behalf of the P&F I would like to offer our condolences to the Gibson Family with the very sad passing of Tania earlier this month. Tania (as a grandparent) was a ‘silent contributor’ to the P&F over the last few years, who generously donated her resources and time to sew and create quality products for the Craft Stall at the Fete and the Christmas Craft Stall. Tania is going to be sadly missed and may her family find comfort in their memories of her.
Next Meeting is June 14th
Pencil it in! Our next meeting is in Week 9 Monday 14th June at 4.30pm in the staffroom. We are hoping to confirm activities for Term 3 and finalise some ideas for purchases. Come along and join in the conversation.
Minutes of P&F Meetings
You can keep up to date with the items discussed at our meetings. Minutes for this week’s meeting will be promptly uploaded to our social platforms and the website by our Secretary Melissa Smith.
Take care everyone.
Kind regards,
Julie O’Malley
P&F President