Newsletter 13 - 5 August 2021

Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

Mary Poppins Jr   
Mary Poppins Jr production is only 3 weeks away (Saturday 28 August). I have had a sneak preview of the costumes and some of the props that help make up the magic of the show. The commitment our students have put into their rehearsals is outstanding, and I am so proud how far each of them have come along in preparing for this extravaganza. 

Tickets are selling very fast. If you have not purchased yours, get onto https://au.patronbase.com/_QPTheatre/Productions/21MP/Performances so that you won't be disappointed.  

Grandparents Day  
It was a joy to see so many grandparents at our school last Friday, joining our school in prayer and sharing morning tea with their grandchildren. World Grandparents Day was held on Sunday 25 July. 

‘Grandparents are the uniting link between generations to transmit to the young the experience of life and faith. Therefore, I have decided to institute the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly which will be held annually on the fourth Sunday of July.’ - Pope Francis 

Thank you to Kate Healey and her husband Grant Milentis for providing morning tea for our grandparents on behalf of their company Batavia Removals and Transport. 

Cross Country Carnival 
Congratulations to Thomas for taking out this year's school Cross Country Carnival. The weather was kind enough so that the carnival could proceed without interruption. Thank you to Mrs Burro and Mr Gaby for all of your organisation. All the results can be found in this edition of the newsletter. 

School Registration Audit 
Last week a representative from the Education Department conducted a Registration Audit for St Lawrence's Primary School. The audit covered 15 registration standards including curriculum, staff to student ratios, days and hours of instruction, staff, premises and facilities, enrolment and attendance, critical and emergency incidences, boarding (if applicable), complaints, child abuse prevention, financial resources, management of student behaviour, minimum age of enrolment, delivery of the curriculum, number of children enrolled. About a dozen staff were interviewed throughout the process. I would like to congratulate our Administration team and those in the Leadership team for the many hours of preparation in updating procedures and paper work over the past few months. The Schools Registration Audit happens every 5 years for all Catholic Schools in Western Australia. 

Open Night 
Next Tuesday evening from 5.00pm - 6.00pm we will be having our Semester 2 Open Night. All classrooms and specialist rooms will be open for the community to wander through and see some of the great work our students are doing. It is also a great opportunity to touch base with class teachers. Hope to see you all there. 

French Extension Program  
Congratulations to our Year 6 students who have been chosen for Semester 2 French extension. The purpose of the program is to provide students who have developed an aptitude for French, an added avenue to further develop and enhance their language skills. They will have the opportunity to further understand the French culture, increase their French vocabulary, maintain simple conversations in French and maybe involved in some French recipes and cooking. I am sure they will enjoy the experience. 

Athletics Carnival 
Our annual Athletics Carnival is approaching fast. This is held over 3 days in Week 5 (17, 18, 20 August). Please keep an eye out for notices in regards to times, events and volunteers. It is always an exciting week, so be sure to mark this one in your calendar. 

Australian Census 
The Australian census on 10 August 2021 will provide a snapshot of who Australians are and what is important to us.  The census is a key tool that government uses to determine how organisations, schools, church ministries and community groups are prioritised, funded and empowered to best operate in our State. 

 If your faith is important to you or if you identify with Christian values, please use your voice in the Australian census when asked your religion. 

 This is an important opportunity to demonstrate the significance of faith-based families in our West Australian community and will support endeavours to secure equitable access to opportunities and resources.   

Happy Days 

David Tunchon 
Principal 

Religious Education

Fruit of the Spirit
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 of this term is the fruit of "Self-control". 
Self-control  is having the ability to wait or put off responding immediately. We show this when we wait, reflect and then respond. 

Year Three Family Mass  
Our Year three classes will lead the parish at their Family Mass which will be held in the undercover area on Saturday August 7 at 6pm. Please join us for this special Mass.

St Lawrence Feast Day 
We celebrate the Feast of St Lawrence on Tuesday August 10th, please join us for our special Feast Day Mass – 9:30am on Tuesday August 10th. 

Athletics Carnival News

Congratulations to all our winners and participants in the 2021 Cross Country Carnival.  Luckily, the weather held off for long enough to complete all six races, albeit a little cold for spectators though. The amazing enthusiasm and good sportsmanship of our students was on full display once again. 

Congratulations to Thomas who were the winning faction on the day.

Final points were as follows:
Thomas - 1460
Gummer - 1214
Kelly - 1200
O’Collins - 1173

Individual champions on the day were:
Junior Girls- Jolie King
Junior Boys- Lincoln Payne
Intermediate Girls- Amelia Heinrich
Intermediate Boys- Toby Mawer
Senior Girls- Opal Prout
Senior Boys- Cruz MacDonald

Jumps Participants
Over the last few weeks the students have been practicing long jump and triple jump (Yr 5 and 6).

Please click the link below to see the list of four students and one reserve from each faction that will be competing in the jumps during carnival week.

Thank you to all the Nagle students who have offered to help out on our faction carnival day.

Mrs Burro and Mr Gaby
HPE Teachers

Visual Arts News

Children's Book Week 2021 - Book Parade

Dear St Lawrence's families,
It's nearly that time of the year again, Children's Book Week. Our dress up parade is in week six of term, Thursday 26 July at 9am in the undercover area. There will be prizes to be won but it is ultimately about the students having fun and celebrating books! Parents are welcome to attend and even dress up too if you like!

There will be other events happening that week such as an author visit and a 'design a book cover' competition, so stay tuned.

Mary Poppins Musical

Administration News

Australian Primary Principals Day
Our Principal, Mr David Tunchon, does a wonderful job in supporting our St Lawrence School Community. Tomorrow, Friday 6th August, is a day set aside to celebrate the work that all Principals do. I ask you to take a moment to think about, and acknowledge, David's dedication to the role.   

Family Week – Celebrating 200 years of Catholic School families 
8 August - 14 August 
Parents and carers are the primary educators of their children and are crucial partners in each student’s learning journey. Family Week is an opportunity for Catholic school communities to celebrate the contribution of families during our bicentenary celebrations. The bicentenary is an opportunity to acknowledge the families of the 777,000 students, and their essential role across 1,755 Catholic school communities. 

Mary Poppins Musical
The performance date of our Musical, Mary Poppins is fast approaching and the excitement levels are rising. At the end of Term 2, information outlining extra rehearsal times was sent to parents/care givers. Please see the dates below: 

Saturday 14th August: 2pm-4pm 
Saturday 21st August: 2pm-4pm 

Railway Street Project
Please find the link to the project website page below. It contains all the latest information, detailed designs of the street, and all the questions and answers that were compiled in the FAQs we handed out during the parent session. 
https://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/your-council/key-infrastructure-projects/railway-street-safe-active-street-project.aspx

Assembly Week 4
A reminder that next week, 13th August at 2:30pm we will gather for our whole school Assembly. Year  1D will be leading and presenting. 

BRLA completed
The Bishop's Religious Literacy Assessment was completed by all students in Years 3 & 5 today. We congratulate all the participants. 

After School Pick Up (Grenville Street) 
It has come to our attention that some children are waiting for their parents on the grassed area near the Lighthouse Memorial, off Grenville Street. Please be reminded that students are to wait at the Kiss and Drop until parents arrive at the Cross Walk, where children are then asked to cross. Thank you for your assistance with this, the safety of our children is always paramount. 

School Uniform during Winter
Parents and carers, please encourage your children to wear their jumpers to school daily as the days are getting cold now we are officially into the winter months.
Don’t forget to clearly label these jumpers and check the lost property for jumpers misplaced by students. 

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. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following students who will be celebrating
their Birthday soon:

Ava P,  Hudson F,  Lucy H,  Baxter R,  Eden C,  Ryan L,  Charlee S,  Sophia G,  Reid M,  Jameson B,  Darcy K,  Libby M,  Koby G,  Bella Mc,  Vera W,   Kinley K,  Hudson Mc and Angus J.

P & F News

Save the date – Outdoor Movie Night Saturday 18^th September
Our next fundraiser event at St Lawrence’s is just around the corner. Members of the subcommittee have been working hard for the last 8 weeks to organise our first ever Outdoor Movie Night and our third fundraiser for the year.

Save the date for Saturday 18^th September, the end of Week 9 and bring the family to the movies. We have yet to confirm the movie and ticket prices but will update these details closer to the time. Keep an eye out for posts from us via Facebook and Class Dojo. A reminder that tickets for the movie night will need to be purchased through Eventbrite where a link will be published soon.

We can confirm some of the details - the ‘gates’ will open at 5.45pm with the movie set to screen at 7pm. The Outdoor Theatre will be located on the northern grassed (side oval) area in front of the OSH building where families can settle in with beanbags, picnic rugs and outdoor chairs. We will have a full Candy Bar available for purchase prior to and during the movie, that will include popcorn, lollies, slushies and drinks. There will be no hot food available and families are most welcome to bring a picnic dinner.

We are looking forward to presenting the evening to you all and would like to thank Events Entertainment (Daniel and Siti Starling) for their support with this fundraiser.

Stay tuned for more details. We hope you can come.

Next P&F Meeting
Monday 16^th August is the next P&F Meeting at 4.30pm in the Staff Room. Remember that you are all members of the P&F and are welcome to every meeting. Come along and have a say and give us ideas of how you would like to see your money spent to benefit the students – our children. If you would like to add an item to the Agenda, contact Melissa our Secretary. Just a reminder of what was outlined in the last newsletter in Term 2 regarding tabling agenda items, you must be present at the meeting to have your agenda item discussed. If you are unable to attend, your item will be removed and held over to another time. To access the agenda for each meeting, head to our Facebook Parent Information Page as well as the School Website. If you are free on a Monday afternoon come and join us, we would love to see you there.

Kind regards,

Julie O’Malley
President

Community Notices

Saint Patricks College Reunion
There is to be a reunion of former students of Saint Patrick’s College, Geraldton, for following years:

• 1969 Junior Certificate
• 1970 Sub Leaving, and
• 1971 Leaving Certificate

The reunion will be held in Perth WA on the first or second weekend of  October 2021.

If you are interested in attending please contact Terry Pass (Ph. O401 610 158 or terry.pass2@bigpond.com) or Laurie Cream (Ph. 0420 525 780 or lacream@optusnet.com.au)

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. 
If you have an appointment, they will contact you to reschedule. In the case of emergency only, please contact the Allendale DTC 9921 4218 or the Rangeway DTC on 9921 4373.