Newsletter 20 May 2022
Principal's Message
Parent Forum Trivia Night
K-2 Carnival - go BLUE!
Friday 20 May 2022 - Term 2 Week 4
Dear Parents and Carers
In Mr Watt's absence, I write to you about our recent and upcoming happenings. Our school is a wonderfully vibrant place and this year we are feeling especially blessed to have our families able to join us on-site for many of these.
The sun was shining yesterday for our K-2 Athletics Carnival. Our little people ran their hearts out and were super supportive of each other's successes. It was so wonderful to have our families here to enjoy a great day after a number of years of restrictions. A huge thank you to Mrs Butcher and Mrs George and all of the staff for making it such a well run and enjoyable day.
Years 3-6 families, please note the change in date for the Years 3-6 Athletics Carnival. A note has gone home today with the new date Monday 30 May. Parent helpers and spectators are most welcome. Say a prayer that the sun shines for us on this day as well!
Next week we are all geared up for our Arts Festival, Firefly. It promises to be a fantastic community event and a place where the arts are celebrated. Our students are very excited to have their art projected all around the school. Friends and family are all welcome for a fabulous evening. Tickets are available at the school office or on the night. Sausage sandwiches and all sorts of sweet drinks and food are on offer, so save cooking and have dinner and a treat at the event. Please complete the form here if you can help out for a short time.
This morning's Kindergarten Parent Storytelling was a great success and kinder loved listening to various stories read by parents. The Learning and Teaching section of this newsletter has photos and more information regarding how you can be involved.
The safety of our students and families is paramount and we endeavour to ensure that both Gordon Street and Albany Street kiss and drop drive through areas run as smoothly as possible. Ideally, parent and carers do not exit their cars in these areas and children can independently get into their vehicles. Please be mindful when queuing of the road rules in place.
Finally, a thank you to our Parent Forum for hosting a terrific Trivia Night last Friday. It was well attended by our parent community and appears to have been marked as an annual event. Check out the St Augustine's PS Parent Community Facebook page for photos.
Kind regards,
Naomi Loader
Assistant Principal Mission
2022 Upcoming Events
May 2022
| 25 | FIREFLY Art Festival 6:15pm-8:30pm |
| 30 | Years 3-6 Athletics Carnival (Coffs Stadium) |
| 31 | Sausage Sizzle Day - Years 3 & 4 |
June 2022
| 2 | School Assembly |
| 3 | Year 1 Excursion Butterfly House/Botanic Gardens |
| 7 | First Eucharist Family Preparation Evening 6:30pm - 7:30pm |
| 8 | Musica Viva |
| 13 | Public Holiday |
| 14 | Sausage Sizzle Day - Years K - 2 |
| 16 | First Eucharist Retreat |
| 18-19 | First Eucharist Parish Masses |
| 22 | Opera Australia |
| 24 | School Assembly |
| 27-30 | Naidoc Week Celebrations |
| 29 | Naidoc Week Assembly |
July 2022
| 1 | Canteen Special - End of Term Hot Dog Day |
| 1 | Last Day Term 2 for Students |
Faith and Mission News
Multicultural Mass - Pentecost Sunday
Please click HERE for more detailed information about how your family can take part in this special Mass.
Project Compassion Appeal 2022
So far, our donations to Project Compassion total $1956.35. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
It’s not too late to return your Project Compassion box if you haven’t already done so.
Sacramental Program 2022
The Sacrament of First Eucharist is coming up and students will soon be beginning their preparation in class.
Since the parent information meeting last term, there has been a change to the Mass times on a Sunday morning. Families are asked to decide which Mass they will be attending on the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 June and inform us by filling in the Google Form by Monday 23 May. As there are no Covid restrictions in place, there is no limit on the number of family members who can attend.
Options are:
Saturday 18 June, 5:30pm
Sunday 19 June, 8:00am
Sunday 19 June, 5:30pm
Other dates for your diary
- Family Preparation Evening Tuesday 7 June 6:30pm (An evening for parents and children to participate in a Passover Meal)
- Retreat for Students Thursday 16 June (Retreat will be held at St Augustine’s School for students making the Sacrament of First Eucharist during school hours)
Naomi Loader- Assistant Principal Mission
Dominique Montford - Leader of School Catechesis
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation
Learning and Teaching
Building a culture of reading at St Augustine's school
A huge thank you to all of our K-2 parents who have volunteered to be part of our Storytelling initiative. This week we welcomed back the Kindergarten parents with their picnic blankets to spend time reading stories to students, traveling with them on their ‘magic carpets’ to magical places through exciting stories.
If you would like more information on how you can be part of this K-2 initiative please follow this link where you will find out details about when, where, and how you can be part of it.
Did you Know?
We know that connecting learning at home and at school is a key dimension supporting growth in all aspects of learning and school life. It forms a key component of the ‘Fullness of Life’ Framework in our diocese. This framework provides guidance towards a way of working in Catholic schools to live and enliven academic excellence and the care of each student and their family.
Southern Cross University Student Placements
We welcome 3 Southern Cross University students on their first school placement: Ms. Shae Baker, Mr. Lachlan Chaman, and Ms. Arnika Jones. We are excited to have them working with and learning from our experienced and skilled teachers. They are with us for 20 days.
Sport News & Sport Calendar
DIOCESAN WINTER SPORT TRIALS - RUGBY UNION
Congratulations to the students who attended the Diocesan Rugby Union Trials in Grafton on Friday 6 May. It was a great day of rugby and all players relished the opportunity to play against the best in the Lismore Diocese. Ruben Simpson, Jed Cruickshanks and Eli Butcher were all selected to represent the diocese at the Polding Trials to be held in Forbes on 27 June. Congratulations boys.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS RUGBY 7’S GALA DAY
On Monday 9th May, St Augustine’s entered 4 teams into the Primary Schools Rugby 7’s Gala Day at Rugby Park, Toormina. It was a great opportunity for players to compete against local schools. Our students are to be commended for their excellent sportsmanship on the day. We were fortunate to have both the U10 Maroon and U12 Maroon sides come away with a win in their finals. These teams will now progress to a regional final to be held in Crescent Head on the 1 June. Students in the Maroon sides will receive notes to be returned next week.
YEAR K-2 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
On Thursday we were blessed with beautiful weather and were able to hold our K-2 Athletics Carnival at school. Students from Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 competed in races, relays, field events and novelties. The house spirit was strong and the war cries could be heard all across the school. The point score was very close but in the end BLUE HOUSE were victorious in winning the house champion trophy. Congratulations! We would like to sincerely thank all the families and friends who came along to cheer on the students. A huge thank you also needs to go to the wonderful teachers who worked tirelessly on the day and were probably just as worn out as the kids!!
K-2 Athletics Carnival
YEAR 3-6 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL - NEW DATE MONDAY 30 MAY
The Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival has a new date of Monday 30 May. It will be held at the Coffs Harbour International Stadium.
Permission notes were sent home with students today. Please return notes to the office by Monday 23 May.
Sport Calendar
| TERM 2 | |
| May 2022 | |
| 24 | Lismore Diocesan Cross Country Trials (Grafton) |
| 30 | Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival (Coffs Stadium) |
| 31 | NSWPSSA Basketball (Tamworth) |
| June 2022 | |
| 1 | Primary School Rugby 7's Regional Final (Crescent Head) |
| 7 | NSW CPS Cross Country Championships (Eastern Creek) |
| 10 | Rugby 10s Gala Day (Coffs Harbour) |
| 26 & 27 | Polding Rugby Union (Forbes) |
Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal
Mini Vinnies launched their Winter Appeal this week with a visit from Dave Tarrant from St Vincent de Paul to thank the team for the wonderful job they are doing and to share some gifts as thanks for their hard work.
The Winter Appeal will run until Wednesday 22 June. Children are asked to bring in donations of new socks and good condition/quality used jumpers and blankets to their classrooms until the day.
We will then culminate our appeal with a Pyjama Day and display of our donations on Wednesday of Week 9. More information will be provided about this at a later date. For now please help us by donating.
A link is also shared below for an optional activity to make a blanket for donating. If you have any questions please contact one of the Mini Vinnies teachers through the school office.
https://youtu.be/4SjnKGlH4Gs
Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal
Parent Forum
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...on behalf of the Parent Forum to everyone who attended and supported our Trivia Night! It was a fabulous success and such a fun night. We are already looking forward to what we hope will be an annual event! A big thanks to Mr Jordan Oppy of Oppy Entertainment who is a school parent and founder of Pub Trivia Australia who generously donated the trivia game and his time to run the trivia. Thanks also to our Parent Forum members and school staff who did a fantastic job running fun games in between the trivia rounds. We are very grateful for the generous support we received from school businesses and other local businesses with over 30 prizes being donated! The Parent Forum is donating proceeds from the ticket sales to flood affected schools/families in the Lismore Diocese. For those that attended, please keep an eye on your emails this week as we would love to hear your feedback on the event and other ideas for the future. With our next Forum meeting coming up on May 31st now is the time to get in touch if you have any questions or ideas you’d like raised at the Forum. You can contact us via the Facebook page or email sapsparentforum@outlook.com. Great to see so many parents at the K-2 athletics today and we look forward to seeing you at Firefly next week!
Take care and God Bless,
Fran Davis
Trivia Night
Firefly Arts Festival - next WED 25 MAY !
Wednesday 25 May 2022 @ 6:15pm - TICKETS ON SALE!
Beat the rush and purchase your Firefly tickets now at the school office. Family tickets are only $10 for a wonderful night of art, dance, singing and family fun. Free glow sticks will be given out on the night. Save the date: May 25. The gates will open and lights will be switched on from 6:15 pm, and closing at 8:30 pm.
Canteen Menu for 2022
- SUSHI WEDNESDAYS
A reminder that we cannot accept sushi orders on Wednesdays - please order by the Tuesday prior - by 2pm for a paper bag order or 8pm for an online order. Thank you. - CANTEEN VOLUNTEERS
We really need help with our SPECIAL LUNCH DAYS which fall on alternate Tuesdays and the last day of every term. Helping in the canteen is a great way to meet other parents, support your child and our school. Please contact the school if you can spare a few hours on these busy days. Thank you.
Canteen Roster
Week beginning 23 May
- Monday - V Wall, A Smith
- Tuesday - M Black, M Black
- Wednesday - P Duffy, B Symons
- Thursday - C Williams - Help Needed !
- Friday - G Dodd, L Knight, W McLean - Help Needed !
Week beginning 30 May
- Monday - L Seccombe
- Tuesday - M Black, M Black, C Williams
- Wednesday - J Martin, N Flintoff
- Thursday - S Crawford, M Van Den Boom
- Friday - P Duffy, W McLean, D McNeill, K Cochran
Week beginning 6 June
- Monday - Help Needed !
- Tuesday - M Black, M Black,
- Wednesday - C Jones, A McCann, E Taylor
- Thursday - J Martin, C Williams
- Friday - W McLean, G Franklin - Help Needed !
Week beginning 13 June
- Monday - Public Holiday
- Tuesday - M Black, M Black, M Mainey
- Wednesday - C Jones - Help Needed !
- Thursday - L Horne
- Friday - P Duffy, W McLean, K Cochran
Canteen News
Canteen helpers are always required, especially on Wednesdays as this is our sushi day, and on Fridays. Help is needed for three hours from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon once every four weeks. Grandparents are very welcome also. If you are able to help in the Canteen on any day please call us on 6652 1204.
Alicia Betland & Rosa Thomas - Canteen Managers
Lunchtime Clubs 2022
Parenting Ideas
Community Notices
