Newsletter 2 June 2023
Principal's Message
Wonderful Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod results!
Basketball NSW Tournament winners!
Friday 2 June 2023 - Term 2 Week 6
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are incredibly proud of our Music program, and this week we were fortunate enough, for the first time post-Covid, to head back to the School’s Eisteddfod. Mrs Wendy O’Sullivan, Mrs Maria Woods and Mrs Tracey Backhouse had prepared our Years 3-6 choir students, and they did not disappoint! Each choir placed in their Division, with Year 4 1st place ahead of Year 3 in the same division and our Year 5/6 choir narrowly coming in at 2nd place. We are very proud of our choirs. Mrs O’Sullivan commented that the results were exceptional for such large choirs and that the students exceeded our expectations.
We’ve had success this week with our senior girls basketball taking out the Basketball NSW Tournament in Penrith. Thanks to coaches Kiah Bowen and Brent Roulstone for coaching the girls. The team went undefeated and showcased their impressive skills on the basketball court. Well done to all!
Today's Years 3-6 Athletics Carnival was a fantastic school display of sportsmanship, courage and tenacity. Not everyone is a confident athlete, but our students supported and nurtured each other, and we had a wonderful day with many children braving the 100-metre sprint for the first time. Congratulations to Blue House for taking out first place. I’m sure patients in the hospital nearby enjoyed hearing our deafening war cries and cheering all day.
A massive thank you to the Parent Forum and St Augustine Trivia night committee, who hosted our Parents and Friends trivia night for the second year. We had a wonderful evening of laughs and fun for everyone who attended. Thank you to those who came along and supported the school.
All school events must be approved by parents and carers on Compass. We ask families to approve the event on time. If you know your child will not be attending, please decline the event to avoid office staff having to chase up late approvals. Students can not participate in an event without parent permission.
Kind regards,
Naomi Loader
Acting Principal
Faith and Mission News
Pentecost Sunday/Multicultural Mass
Last Sunday, for the feast of Pentecost, many families from our school contributed to a wonderful celebration of cultural diversity in our parish. Children carried flags from their culture and read prayers in their first language. Hymns were sung in many languages and many wore their traditional costumes. After the Mass, the celebrations continued at the Curran Centre with sharing of food, song and dance.
Sacramental Program 2023
Sacrament of Confirmation - For baptised students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
Please note that it is very important for the ‘White Card’ to be completed (on both sides) and returned to school by Friday 9 June. If you wish for your child’s photo (flame) to be displayed in the church for our parishioners to pray for them, please also return it by this date.
Reconciliation Times in our Parish are as follows:
Coffs Harbour, St Augustine’s Church : Saturday 9:30am-10:30am and 4:30pm -5:30pm
Woolgoolga, St Francis Xavier’s Church : Sunday 8:15am - 8:45am
Dominique Montford - Acting Assistant Principal Mission
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation
Learning and Teaching
Parent Storytelling Term 2
Our parent storytelling initiative is about parents reading to students in small groups. We want to make reading a fun and enjoyable experience for parents and students alike. This is voluntary for parents. You may be able to make it one week but not the other or not at all due to work commitments. That’s ok. Toddlers are welcome and can sit with the parents/children during the storytelling time. Please click the link to register your interest.
| Week 7 | 9 June | Kindy |
| Week 8 | 16 June | Year 2 |
| Week 9 | 23 June | Year 1 |
Kinder Parent's Coffee Morning
Calling all Kinder parents!
On behalf of the Parent Forum, all Kinder parents are warmly invited to come and linger over school drop off on Friday 9 June, have a coffee on us, chat and mingle with other kindy parents.
A coffee van will be onsite from 8am in the gardens area (Albany St), so bring the kids and have a coffee and chat before the rest of the day's commitments.
(This also coincides with the next Kindergarten storytelling morning so any available parent/friends are encouraged to stay)
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Wonderful Eisteddfod Results!
It is with much joy that our St Augustine's Choirs returned to perform at the Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod after a Covid induced hiatus - our last eisteddfod performances were back in 2019!
Congratulations to our Year 4 Choir who placed 1st and Year 3 who placed 2nd (to Year 4) in their section, and our Years 5/6 Choir came 2nd in their section. Simply beautiful singing! Many thanks go to our amazing Choir teachers - Mrs O'Sullivan, Mrs Woods and Mrs Backhouse - for giving our students this wonderful opportunity.
Adjudicator comments:
"A lovely gentle tone achieved and very accurately performed. Great diction!" [ Year 3 ]
"Beautiful phrasing and sustained notes at the end of phrases.
Thank you for such a confident and well-rehearsed performance!" [ Year 4 ]
"Good commitment and energy from every member of the choir.
A fun, lively performance!"
[ Year 5/6 ]
Don't miss our eisteddfod rehearsal videos (see below).
Sport News & Sport Calendar
May 2023
| 29 May-2 June | NSWPSSA Hockey (Tamworth) |
| 30 May-2 June | NSWPSSA Basketball (Tamworth) |
June 2023
| 2 June | Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival (Stadium) |
| 13 June | CPS Cross Country Cahmpionships (Eastern Creek) |
| 16 June | Rugby Union 10's Gala Day |
| 19 June | Rugby 7's Regional |
| 21 June | Rugby 7's Regional Final |
| 25 & 26 June | NSW CPS Rugby (Forbes) |
| 29 June | Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival |
July 2023
| 21 July | NSW PSSA Cross Country Championships |
| 25 July-27 July | NSW PSSA Netball |
Lismore Diocesan Cross Country
Last Tuesday St Augustine’s was represented by 17 students at the Lismore Diocesan Cross Country held in Grafton. Being the same course as Zone, our students were well aware of the toughness of the course and a lot of athletes were busy training in preparation for the big day. As a result many PB’s were achieved and once again St Augustine’s students showed great pride in supporting each other as they sprinted their way to the finishing line. We would especially like to congratulate Hugh Morgan and Hannah Burton, who both came 4th in their divisions, earning themselves a place in the Lismore Diocesan Team which will compete in Sydney on the 13th June!
NSWPSSA Touch Football
Last week Tillie Riebelt attended the NSWPSSA Touch Football Championships in Sydney. This was a four day tournament involving the best Touch Football players from NSW. Tillie’s team had some very close games, missing out on the finals, but developing some excellent team work and outstanding skills along the way. Congratulations Tillie on making it so far in your chosen sport!
NSWPSSA Basketball and Hockey
This week Archie Shannon and Grace Davis attended the NSWPSSA Basketball Championships in Tamworth. Both teams have had some outstanding results against the very best in NSW. Grace has been a strong player in the side, and has been further developing an already impressive set of skills in basketball, while Archie continues to impress the selectors with his experience and skills. The tournament wraps up today. We are looking forward to hearing how their teams finish up in an outstanding field of state level basketball.
Arlo Dent also attended the NSWPSSA Hockey Championships this week. This tournament will also wrap up on Friday. Arlo has been strong in defence for his Polding team who have posted some impressive scores against some top quality sides. We look forward to hearing the final results of the tournament after today. Congratulations Arlo!
Basketball NSW
On Wednesday a team of 10 girls from St Augustine's travelled to Penrith to compete in the U12 Division of the Basketball NSW Tournament. The girls showed dominance early in the day defeating St Mary’s Dubbo 27-0. They then went on to defeat Hammondville Public School 30-2, with the only 2 points scored accidentally by us for the opposition! The girls then went on to the finals round, defeating St Joseph’s Primary Leeton 12-6 and then going on to win the gold against St John XXIII Catholic College in a nail biter. Final score 15-12!!
This is the first time St Augustine’s has been able to compete as a team at any tournament in basketball. It is a big commitment driving all the way to Penrith. A huge thank you to all the parents for supporting the side and especially to coach Kiah Bowen and assistant Coach Brent Roulstone for making all of this possible.
Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival
Today we held our Years 3 - 6 Athletics Carnival. The weather has been kind and the students are all extremely excited to battle it out to see which house will take out the 2023 place on a brand new Year 3-6 Athletics Trophy! A full report will be included in our next newsletter.
Elective Sports (Years 3-6)
Elective Sports selections via the Google Form closed yesterday. Confirmation of your child’s allocated sport as well as payment details will be sent out via the Compass event shortly. Please accept permission and finalise payment as soon as possible to secure your child’s sport.
Canteen News
Canteen Roster
Week beginning 5 June
- Monday - M Mainey
- Tuesday - C Williams, C Burbridge, M & M Black
- Wednesday - C Jones
- Thursday - J Murphy, D Kelly
- Friday - W McLean, K Cochran, L Horne
Week beginning 12 June
- Monday - Public Holiday
- Tuesday - G Lee, M & M Black
- Wednesday - P Duffy, B Symons
- Thursday - C Williams
- Friday - L Knight, W McLean, G Dodd
Notices
School Holiday fun at the Jetty Theatre
Looking for something fun to do with the kids these school holidays? The Jetty
Theatre has two wonderful performances coming to town.
TIPTOE GIANTS
WEDNESDAY 5 JULY AT 10:30AM
Do you have a favourite colour? Do you have a favourite song? Come sing, stomp, dance, tiptoe and colour the world with ARIA and AIR Award- nominated indie-kindie band, Tiptoe Giants. And join Lee, Vee and Meg as they open their ears, eyes and minds to take you on an epic musical adventure to explore and discover some of the beautiful things that make the world a
colourful rainbow.
A LITTLE BIT OF BLUE
WEDNESDAY 12 JULY AT 10AM & 1PM
THURSDAY 13 JULY AT 10AM
A Little Bit of Blue is an interactive environmental detective story, told with puppetry. As well as unravelling a mystery, kids will learn all about the unique habits of an extraordinary Australian animal, the Satin Bowerbird, and their fascination for the colour blue. It is a fun frolicking mix of Detective Noir, slapstick, combined with learning about this intriguing creature.
