Newsletter 2 - 17 February 2022

Principal's Page

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

Schools are unquestionably a platform for drawing close to children and young people. Precisely because they are such privileged places of personal development, the Christian community has always been concerned to train teachers and administrators, and to found its own schools of various kinds and levels. In this field of educating the young, the Spirit has raised up countless charisms and examples of holiness.  
(Pope Francis - Christus Vivit - Chapter 221, 2019) 

As we come to the conclusion of Week 3, we would hope your child/children are now well settled in to their new class. You would have received a letter from your class teacher outlining the class information and plan for this term. Your class Seesaw account should be set up allowing for easy communication between home and school. Routines are important for children, whether they are at school or at home and ensuring your child gets a good night's sleep will help in their everyday learning. During assembly I spoke to all students about setting their goals for the term. Please ask your children what their goals are and encourage them to work towards in fulfilling their academic and personal goals. 

If you have any concerns about your child's education, the first point of call is the class teacher. Sometimes a message on Seesaw or email is not enough. If you require a meeting, our teachers are very obliging and this can be arranged at a mutual convenient time over the phone. As I stated in all my enrolment meetings, we want to work in partnership with you for the benefit of your child's whole education. 

Head Girl, Head Boy and Ministry Leaders 
Congratulations to all students who nominated for the position of Head Girl, Head Boy and Semester 1 Ministry Leaders. The number of applicants were very encouraging and staff had a very difficult time in the shortlisting process. After their Leadership Days last week, Year 5/6 students listened to speeches before voting for the eventual winners. 

2022 Head Girl - Ava O 
2022 Head Boy - Darcy L 

Semester One Ministry Leaders: 
O'Collins - Pia W and Noah G 
Gummer - Poppy H and Evan W 
Kelly - Marlee L and Blake G 
Thomas - Gaia S and Shaylan S 

Once again, congratulations to all students who participated in the process. The St Lawrence's Leadership Team does not participate in the voting process allowing the voice of the child and the St Lawrence's staff to make their selection. 

On Monday the Leadership Team had the privilege of having lunch with our newly elected student leaders. We had a great discussion about the year to come and what to expect as student leaders of St Lawrence's. Thank you to Ms Agi for allowing to have lunch in the library and Ms Taylor for making our delicious lunches.

Year 3 Reconciliation Retreat Day
Please keep in your prayers our Year 3 students as they start their preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They have spent today's retreat down at Stow Gardens Multipurpose Centre with their teachers and parent volunteers. Their Commitment Masses are on this weekend and the Sacrament will be given to them on 26 March. Thank you to all of those who are helping out in the children's preparation. 

Ventilation Audit 
Today an assigned company came through the school to test the ventilation of every room across the campus in an audit set up by CEWA. Any room that does not meet the ventilation requirements will be clearly marked. Air purifiers will be purchased and placed in these rooms. The health and well-being of all our students and staff is our top priority. 

Covid 19 Update 
Due to new regulations introduced state wide last week, the following school events have  either been postponed or cancelled for Term 1: 

• Parents attending school assemblies - cancelled until further notice
  (we will record and share each assembly) 
• Swimming Trials - postponed to Term 4 
• Community Commissioning Mass - cancelled 
• Swimming Carnival - postponed to Term 4 
• Ash Wednesday Whole School Mass - just Year 6 attending 
• Year 5 Family Mass - TBC 
• School Open Night and Welcome BBQ - cancelled 
• Year 6 Camp - postponed to Term 4 
• School Camp Parent Info Meeting- postponed to Term 4 

Please keep an eye on the school calendar. We will continue to keep you informed of any other changes.  

Don't Forget: 
Our fortnightly newsletter has very important information for our parents. Our school webpage is also regularly updated and has a wealth of information including important dates, school events and notes. Also, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Ask to join the closed parent facebook page and second-hand uniform page to stay in touch.  

School Webpage – www.stlps.wa.edu.au 

School Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/stlawrenceprimary 

Parent Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1674320395969638 

Second-hand Uniform Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/331820517339822 

School Instagram Page - @stlawrencesprimaryschool 

Download the SZapp app to your device as a one stop shop for all your school information. (Code - 2733) 

• Newsletter 
• Absentee Form 
• Website 
• Facebook 
• Seesaw 
• Calendar 
• QuickCliq Canteen 
• SEQTA Engage 

Happy Days

David Tunchon 
Principal

Religious Education

Fruit of the Spirit 
"What the Spirit brings is different; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22 

Our 'Fruit of the Spirit' focus for this fortnight is 'Peace'. 

The fruit of peace is displayed when we are not anxious or disturbed, it is seen as a person being content. Peaceful people reflect a sense of being calm and happiness in their dealings with others. 

Year Three Reconciliation  
Our Year Three students began their preparation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week by attending a Retreat Day at Stow Gardens today. They worked through various activities that taught them how to be sorry for actions that they do that may cause harm or hurt to others and hence damage their relationship with Jesus. Thank you to Miss D'Souza, Miss Burro, Mrs Waldock and Mrs Proudlove for all the work they did to make this event a memorable one for our year three children. 

The children who will make their First Reconciliation later in the term (Baptised Catholics) are asked to attend one of the weekend Parish Masses at St Lawrence's to confirm their commitment to receiving this Sacrament with their families. Each child will be given a Reconciliation Commitment Card to complete and hand to Father Gerard at one of the St Lawrence weekend Masses. Saturday Feb 19 – 6:00pm in the Undercover Area or Sunday 9:00am in the Church. Please remember to use the QR Code sign in and to sanitise your hands. 

Class teachers will send out a timetable for parents to select a time for their child to make their First Reconciliation with Father Gerard on Saturday March 26. Each student will fill out an appointment card reminder to take home when their time has been confirmed. (3:00-5:30pm) 

Sacrament of Reconciliation for Year Three Students: Saturday 26th March: 3:00 –5:30pm, St Lawrence's Church, Bluff Point 

Parish Masses
Our Years 3-6 classes have begun to attend the 10:30 am Parish Mass on a Wednesday as their Class Mass. Classes are rostered on throughout the year and this information can be found on the school calendar. 

Ash Wednesday
Our Year Six students will celebrate Mass with Father Gerard in the undercover area on Ash Wednesday. (March 2nd) Unfortunately we will not be able to have parents or parishioners attend this Mass.  All other year levels will celebrate Ash Wednesday with their own class liturgy and distribution of ashes led by their classroom teacher. 

Year One News

Administration News

Scholastic Book Club - Issue 1
Due to the recent transportation and freight issues affecting WA, the Scholastic Book Club Issue 1 brochure has been delayed. To view the Issue 1 catalogue and place orders please click on the following link:

https://scholastic.com.au/media/6622/bc122_web.pdf

Netball Club
STLPS Netball Club information notes were sent out last week to children in Years 2-6. If you haven’t already done so, please return these to the office ASAP. For Facebook users, please head over to the St Lawrence’s Netball 2022 page for up to date information. Thanks, Katie Paul and Aimee Exten.

2022 School Fees
All school fee accounts for 2022 will be emailed out this week. There will also be a payment plan option included and these will need to be returned to the office by the due date shown on the account, regardless of your preferred payment method. If the payment plan provided doesn't suit your needs, please contact our office for an alternative arrangement. 

3 Yr old Enrolments
We are now accepting enrolments for our 3 Yr Old Kindergarten program for 2023. Please get your enrolments in as soon as possible as places are filling up fast. 

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  

NAPLAN 2022 
Testing for NAPLAN 2022 for Years 3 & 5 has been set for the following dates:  
24th March-Practice Test (Load testing the system)  
10th-20th May-ONLINE TESTING (Years 3 & 5)  
10th May-PAPER TESTING (Year 3 Writing only)  
Further information will be made available in future newsletters and other communication mediums.  

Nut Aware School  
Please note, that due to the prevalence of nut allergies in our community, St Lawrence’s is a nut aware school. Therefore we ask that you:   

• Refrain from sending foods containing nuts for your child’s morning tea and lunch.   
• Ensure any foods sent in to be shared for birthdays or other celebrations do not contain nuts  
• Foods that may contain peanuts and tree nuts include:     
  - Peanut butter   
  - Nutella   
  - Nut bars   
  - Muesli Bars   
  - Biscuits  

Thank you for assisting us with this request.  

Data Collection Notice
Please click the link below to read the Collection Notice for Parents and Guardians, outlining the student information we are required to provide to the Department of Education.

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

Halle C,  O'Shea T,  Troy G,  Nate J,  Will G,  Leo T,  Macie N,  Scarlett J,  Jacob O,  Maia C,  Nala C,  Frankie K,  Digby W,  Kai W,  Amelia H,  Charlie O,  Noah G,  Hunter R,  Michael Mc,  Makai U,  Jack T,  Aaliyah F,  Fox O,  Charlee J,  Summer K,  Charlee M & Hattie M.

Water Bottles
A reminder that we no longer keep any disposable cups at the office for students who have forgotten their water bottles. Please ensure that students bring their own water bottle with their name on it every day. If your child forgets their water bottle, we will call parents/guardians and request they bring one in. 

P&F News

2022 P&F Executive update
On Monday 7^th February, our first meeting for the year, we elected a new member to the position of Vice President. Thankyou to Vanessa Heinrich who nominated for the position and was elected unopposed. Some background on our current Executive team: President, Julie O’Malley – Mum of Wesley Year 5; Treasurer, Margaret Devine – Mum of Michael Year 5; P&F Representative to the School Advisory Council, Nicola Tropiano – Mum of Edie Year 6 and Charlotte Year 2; and Vice President, Vanessa Heinrich – Mum of Asta Year 5.  We still have one more position to fill – Secretary. If you would like to nominate for the position, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Easter Raffle 2022
Sarah Murray and Heidi Teakle will coordinate the subcommittee for the Easter Raffle this year. You will hear from Sarah and Heidi later in the term with details of how you can contribute to our first fundraiser. Keep a look out in the Parent Information Facebook Page and SeeSaw.

Below is a timeline to help you prepare for donations and ticket purchases.

There will be reminders of this timeline attached to the return envelope and raffle book. Tickets will be $1 each or $10 for the book. There will be one book distributed per family and if you are wanting more tickets to sell there will be spare books for sale – cash and carry only – from the Front Office. If your family does not want the raffle book then please return as soon as possible back to the Front Office. This will enable another family the opportunity to purchase more tickets. Please do not throw it out, as books that remain unsold we carry over to the next year – we can do our bit for the environment. Just a reminder also that there is an 8 day turn around for this raffle. Keep an eye out for posts form Sarah and Heidi closer to Week 7.

Disco Term 2
At this stage we are going ahead with our event planning and we have set a date for the Disco to happen on Thursday 2^nd June. As per the school calendar, the next day is a Pupil Free Day leading into a Long Weekend. Thank you to Nadine Smith and her team who have come forward to coordinate this event again this year. We will provide information well in advance if plans for the Disco are impacted by COVID restrictions.

Next Meeting – new time
Monday 21^st March in Week 8 at the new time of 5.30pm is our next scheduled P&F Meeting. Note the new time. We have considered the feedback from our survey and are trialling a new time to enable more of our members to attend. We hope you can make it. Please be aware that our meeting may be impacted by COVID restrictions as things are changing daily, we will advise of any changes or impacts prior to the date.

Kind regards,

Julie O’Malley
President

Community Notices