Newsletter 17 - 14 October 2021
Principal's Page
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to Term 4
To all of our families in the St Lawrence's Community, welcome back to school. We hope that you enjoyed the 2 weeks of family time and are ready for the final term of 2021. The term is once again very busy so please keep the school calendar somewhere close where you can refer to it. A few highlights to look forward to include:
Wk 1 - Students Return, Yr 1 Museum Excursion
Wk 2 - P&F Meeting, 1I Assembly
Wk 3 - Nagle Orientation, World Teachers Day
Wk 4 - All Saints and All Souls Day, 2J Assembly, Arts on the Piazza
Wk 5 - Swimming Lessons, Official opening of new buildings
Wk 6 - P&F Meeting, 2ST Assembly
Wk 7 - Book Fair, Transition begins
Wk 8 - 2022 Kindy Orientation, 4B Assembly
Wk 9 - Graduation, Last Day of School
Staff Retreat and Professional Learning
The staff enjoyed a very relaxing retreat day on Friday 24 September at the Multipurpose Centre - Stow Gardens. Facilitator Miss Jo Harris (CEWA) led the staff in prayer, reflection, walks and learning about Jesus' father - St Joseph.
On Monday 11 October, Leadership facilitated a professional learning day for teachers which covered Quality Catholic Education (QCE), the new CEWA Policy Hub, NAPLAN and Data Analysis. Thank you to my Assistant Principals Donna Kempton and Damien O'Malley who assisted in preparing and presenting throughout the day. Our Education Assistants spent Monday at Nagle College with other assistants from our system. Thank you to Geraldton CEWA staff in coordinating the training for this day.
New Baby
Congratulations to Claire and Alex Wheeler on the safe arrival of their daughter, Tilly May. We hear that Mum, Dad and bub are all doing well.
St Lawrence’s School Code of Conduct - Voice of the student
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 the students of St Lawrence's. This week I have interviewed the Kelly Ministry Leaders - Eden and Baxter.
Code of Conduct - Statement 4
You conduct yourself in accordance with laws, agreements, policies and standards relevant to your relationship with the school community
- As students of St Lawrence’s we need to follow our school and class rules.
- We need to tell our teachers when others are doing the wrong thing
- We need to show respect to people and school property at all times
- All resources in our school are used for school purposes
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
Happy Days
David Tunchon
Principal
Religious Education
Fruit of the Spirit
The Fruit of the Spirit Foci for weeks one and two are:
Joy & Kindness
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.
Name some of the things that we have today for which we can give thanks and be joyful, e.g.-
- Our neat school uniforms
- Maybe some lunch or an extra snack
- For friendships
- For an engaging classroom
Kindness – when we are kind Jesus, we can do good for, and think of, other people.
In what ways might I be kind today?
- Maybe I could help another student with their school work
- Maybe I could listen carefully to the teacher and follow instructions more carefully
- I could say a kind word to another student
All Saints Day Mass
We will be celebrating our term four school Mass on All Saints day – Monday November 1st. Please join us at 9:30am in the undercover area to celebrate this special feast day. All Saints Day is a special time when we consider the example saints offer us today and how we can try to be like them. As Pope Benedict XVI remarked in 2011, All Saints Day calls us "to see the Church... as Christ wanted it, that is, as the communion of saints".
All Souls Day
Tuesday November 2 – a special day when we pray for all the souls in Purgatory, that they may make their way to eternal life in heaven.
Year One Family Mass
Our year one classes will be leading the parish at their Family Mass on Saturday November 13, 6pm in the undercover area. We look forward to seeing many of our school community at this special Mass for year ones.
Year Six Graduation Mass
The year six Graduation Mass will be held at 5:30pm on Tuesday Dec 7th in the STLPS undercover area.
NUMERO 2021
Administration News
2022 Kindergarten Enrolments
As we are now in the last term of 2021, please remember if you have a child born between 1st July 2017 and 30th June 2018, they will be eligible to start Kindergarten in 2022.
If you have not already enrolled them, please contact Louise at the office for an enrolment pack so we can ensure they are all ready for school in 2022!
Roadworks: Smith and Railway Streets
Currently, roadworks are taking place on Smith and Railway Streets as a part of the Safe Active Street Initiative by the City of Geraldton. The project is expected to be completed before the start of the 2022 school year. Kiss and Drop (including bus services) will remain as per normal, but parking on the spare block is unavailable until further notice. Any changes to the use of the streets and the parking will be provided to our school community and you will be notified via the usual mediums of communication.
2022 Book Lists
Booklists for 2022 are currently being finalised and details will appear shortly.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following students who will be celebrating their BIRTHDAY soon:
Violet S, Baylee S, Tully W, Franz E, Aila K, Ivy D, Levi S, Oliver S, Connor F, Hagan R, Phebie S, Rory Mc, Rahni T, Anumi A, Oliver S, Bryson M, Marlow E, Taylahni C, Kaden S, Jensen W, Axel W, Marco L, Lahni P, Ruby D, Ilahi G, Sailor S, Kaden S and Charli R.
Water Bottle Reminder
Please remind students to bring their water bottle to school with them every day. We do have cups available at the office if a student has forgotten their water bottle, however we are giving out approximately 20-30 cups per day, over 100 per week! As we always strive to minimise our school's environmental impact, we would love to be able to reduce this number.
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
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. Thank you for your assistance with this, the safety of our children is paramount.
P&F News
Outdoor Movie Night a success!
A very big thankyou to our St Lawrence’s School community for your support of our first ever Outdoor Movie Night on September 18th. You were a wonderful crowd and we do hope you enjoyed the screening of Peter Rabbit 2 and spending a cold night outdoors with your families. It was a fun night for all involved that was made possible by the hardworking and dedicated members of the P&F Outdoor Movie subcommittee. I would like to acknowledge the effort and commitment of the team that made the evening possible: Vanessa Heinrich & Lara Campbell for organising and sourcing the Candy Bar options, Sam Heirich (and Dario) for managing our newly purchased Popcorn Machine, Margaret Devine for organising cool drinks and managing our finances, Dee Watts and Sally Marshall for preparing hotdogs and coordinating the Hotdog Stand, Danielle Henderson for managing the Icecreams Stand, Alana Chung for investigating compliance for public movie screenings, Nicola Tropiano for managing the gate entries, Melissa Smith for the Eventbrite ticket sales and Eric Drummond for being our Electrician.
We had 12 Nagle students assisting in various areas throughout the night. They were able to gain hours and credit towards the achievement of their Christian Service Learning Program as they enacted the Nagle CC motto ‘for others’. The students were superb and I would like to acknowledge and thank them for their contribution to a successful evening. Thankyou Preston T, Lewis O’M, Isabella Mc Billie M, Maddie M, Charlie R, Kaden W, Cruz H, Conor T, Macey H, Ella & Max SM, & Keelee H. You will see some of the students again as a few have volunteered themselves for the Carols on the Green event.
As advertised prior to the evening on our social media platform, Events Entertainment WA and PFD Foods were our sponsors for the evening. Thankyou to Daniel and Siti Starling for the inflatable outdoor screen and projector, Sam from 6530 Events for picture and sound, and Angie Farden-Buckingham and Management at PFD Foods for the generous donations of icecreams and hotdogs. Thanks must also go to Susan Roberts for so willingly sharing her delicious food with us. You can find Susan on facebook at ‘Lazy Susan’s Kitchen’.
Carols on the Green subcommittee call out!
Save the date for this next fundraiser and school community get together. Carols on the Green is set for Thursday, December 2 with the time to be confirmed. We would like to have some more helpers to assist with organising various aspects of the event. There will be raffles, a sausage sizzle, popcorn (with our new machine), lolly bar, drinks stall, grazing boxes and a craft stall (for a market appeal) and of course the entertainment. If you would like to coordinate one of these areas or just contribute in any way to the subcommittee, please contact me. We will keep you updated on this event as we count down to December 2.
P&F Survey – the future of fundraising
This survey has been released to the school community seeking your opinions on the future of fundraising by the P&F. We would really like to hear what you think and any suggestions you may have about possibilities for fundraising as well as your feelings towards an increased P&F levy. The survey closes Friday and we will discuss the feedback at our scheduled P&F meeting on Monday afternoon.
P&F Meeting - Monday 16th October
This is the last meeting for the year before the AGM in November, the year has gone by so quickly. As always everyone is welcome to attend the meeting in the staffroom for a 4.30pm start. If you are interested to submit an agenda item, email our Secretary Melissa Smith. Hope to see you there.
Enjoy Term 4, especially you, Year 6 parents!
Take care.
Kind regards,
Julie O’Malley
President
Community Notices
Bluff Point Dental Therapy Centre
After a long wait, the repairs have been completed at the Bluff Point DTC, and it has re-opened for business again for Term 4.