Newsletter 1 December 2023

Principal's Message

 Friday 1 December 2023 - Term 4 Week 8

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we approach the end of the year, a special season unfolds before us—one that invites us to slow down, reflect, and celebrate the beauty of anticipation. Advent, derived from the Latin word "adventus," meaning "coming," marks the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a time of preparation, a season of hopeful expectation leading up to the joyous celebration of Christmas.

Advent reminds us to embrace hope in the midst of darkness. The lighting of the first candle on the Advent wreath at Mass this weekend symbolises hope, and as we watch the flame grow brighter each week, we are reminded that even in the darkest moments, there is a glimmer of hope that can light our way. In a world that often feels chaotic, Advent calls us to find hope in the promise of a better tomorrow.

Students will continue to learn more about Advent over the next few weeks in preparation for Christmas, when Jesus, our saviour, was born. Classroom prayer cloths will be changed to purple in anticipation of the coming King.

The last nine days of school will be filled with special events and school traditions, and whilst we enjoy this time of year immensely, it can seem overwhelming with so much on so in the interest of clarity, I thought I would outline each day below:

Week 9

Monday 4 December

• Normal school day - students are to be in full uniform for the remainder of the term. Alternate shoes are not acceptable. 
• A reminder to return your library books to the LARC this week.

Tuesday 5 December

• Year 2 Land of Stories Day

Wednesday 6 December 

• Year 6 Camp (be at school at 6:30am for a 7:00am departure). Parent Forum has kindly booked a coffee van for Year 6 parents and carers at this time. 

Thursday 7 December

• Year 3 Breslford Park excursion
• St Augustine’s Parish Carols evening 5pm Mass followed by Carols in the Church. All welcome.

Friday 8 December

• K-2 Christmas Parent Storytelling 9am + coffee van in the Gardens Area from 7:45am. Hot drinks are offered to adults only. 
• Year 6 Camp (ETA will be communicated to parents once Year 6 has left camp. Expected to be approximately 6pm)

Week 10

Monday 11 December

• Students can begin to bring Christmas cards and/or candy canes for their friends or classmates this week. Santa hats are also allowed however, if playing in the sun, a school hat must be worn. Please avoid sending cards, canes or hats to school in Week 9.
• Whole School Assembly 2pm. The last Principal Awards will be presented along with a farewell to Kevin and Sue Wilson, who are retiring this year.

Tuesday 12 December

• St Augustine’s School Nativity 9am in the top area. All welcome.
• Reports go out on Compass today.
• Step Up Day - students spend 11:40am-1:40pm with their 2024 teacher and class in their new classroom.

Wednesday 13 December 

• Annual Awards Day 9am. The parents of all award recipients have been notified by email. 
• Year 6 Graduation Liturgy 5:30pm in the Church, followed by dinner at the CeX Club.

Thursday 14 December

• LAST DAY for students

Friday 15 December

• Staff Development Day - no students attend

Week 11

Monday 18 December

• Staff Development Day- no students attend

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you require further information on any of the events listed above. 

Kind regards,

Naomi Loader

Acting Principal 

School Traffic Zones

Police are asking parents to be careful at drop off and pick up times and to ensure that they are obeying the road rules and parking signs.

Faith and Mission News

The Season of Advent is Upon Us

This Sunday we enter into the season of Advent, the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is an opportunity for a spiritual reset of sorts. As we anticipate Jesus’ birth, we have a period of Advent to invest in our relationship with the Lord.

Advent Calendar for Families

You may wish to use the attached Advent Calendar as a family over the month of December as we wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus.

Parish Nativity Window

Some of our students have been helping prepare our Parish Nativity window. A big thank you to all the students who helped contribute by decorating different items to display during their lunchtime. 

Be sure to stop by the Parish Gift Shop window to have a look at the end product. 

Advent at St Augustine’s Parish

Sing Christmas Carols, Dress as a Nativity Character, Food and Games with Fr Joy, Come and join in the Christmas Spirit and the fun at the Parish Carols 7 December, 5:30pm.

Singing of Christmas Carols in the church, followed by food to share and games for the children at the Curran Centre.

Our students from Kindergarten to Year 3 are learning some carols with Mrs O’Sullivan in Circle time and are invited to lead the audience on the night. Please see the flyer for details.

Parish Luncheon

On the 3rd Wednesday of each month, a social parish luncheon is held in the Curran Centre at 12 noon. Everyone is welcome to come along and meet some other parishioners and have a chat. A plate to share is welcome, but not essential. Pop in for a quick cuppa if you don’t have time to stay for lunch.

Dominique Montford - Acting Assistant Principal Mission
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation

Nativity Liturgy Tuesday 12 December

Learning and Teaching

Changes to K-6 Semester Two Reports

There have been some changes to the K-6 Student Reports Semester 2, please find some information regarding this attached.
Our Semester Two reports will be available digitally via the Compass platform (web browser or app) on Tuesday 12 December 2023 after 3pm

'SMART City' STEM EXPO

On Friday 24 November our school hosted the 'SMART City' STEM EXPO with students from Ulong Public School, Clarence Valley Anglican School and Westlawn Public School attending, together with our own Year 5 & 6 HPL students.

The 'SMART City' project is designed to help students explore the world of electronics with a focus on home automation. Students were required to collaborate and work together to problem solve. They researched, designed and coded automated lights, fans, elevators, water fountains, traffic lights, police sirens and railway crossings to name just a few. All students had fun learning new skills associated with technology and observed how our world is moving forward in this area.

It was great to see the ways in which students from other schools had applied the same technologies to their SMART City projects.

Little Archies 2023

Proudly presenting our Little Archies Winners and Highly Commended Artists and Artworks for 2023

Our theme for 2023 was 'Famous Faces' and the judges were amazed at the variety of subjects chosen by the students - an array of Taylor Swifts, Billie Eilishes and Ed Sheerans, as well as everything from Albo... to The Matildas... to The Queen... to Frida Kahlo... FANTASTIC!

Congratulations to the winners for their impressive skills and unique perspectives. Their art not only demonstrates technical skill but also a flair for the creative, capturing the character of their subjects, thus aligning with the Archibald Prize tradition. The highly commended artists deserve special recognition for their outstanding contributions, making judging incredibly hard this year! We extend our appreciation to Ms Perkins for her leadership and our teaching staff for fostering this program. Thanks also to the judges (whose task gets harder every year) and particularly Mr Wilson for the toughest job of all - selecting the Packing Room Prize!

We are very proud of the effort and love that each and every child put into their portraits this year. Have a close look at your child's artwork when it comes home... definitely something for the wall rather than the fridge.

Winners

Highly Commended

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Year One Spotlight

Our Year One cohort have been busy creating Christmas Cards for St Joseph’s Aged Care Coffs Harbour this week. The students were inspired by reindeers, Christmas trees, Christmas stockings and Santa’s hat. We look forward to bringing some Christmas cheer and festive spirit to the residents.
Mrs Dobbs

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Christmas Storytelling Friday 8 December

Year 5 $20 BOSS Market Day

SAVE THE DATE
Year 5 $20 BOSS Market Day - Wed 6 December 2023

Support our Year 5 entrepreneurs on their Market Day!

See flyer below for details

Year 5 families - more information will be sent home next week

On Country Cultural Camp

Wow! What an amazing couple of days our Yuggirr Year 6 students had attending the annual 'On Country' Cultural Combined School Camp. We met with Year 6 students from Mary Help of Christians and St Mary's of Bellingen. We spent our first day at Arrawarra, where the students learnt about the local history of the area, fish traps and beach worming, ochre sites, bush food and how to make traditional tools.

Our second day was spent at Red Rock. Even the rain, gusty winds and thunder didn't stop our students from having the most amazing time. The boys learnt to play the Didgeridoo with Uncle Ray and Manduaway while our girls sat with Aunty Deb and learnt weaving and felting skills. We even managed to fit in a couple of casts of the fishing line!

The students absolutely loved their time on Country and learning about their Culture, whilst making new friendships for high school next year. It is so amazing that we can offer this to our students and we loved seeing them immersed in and proud of their culture. We are definitely looking forward to doing it all again next year.

Miss Lauren and Miss Bree

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Mini Vinnies

Term 4 Canteen Specials

Sport News & Sport Calendar

Lismore Diocese Summer Sports Trials

Congratulations to the following students who have been successful in selection at the Lismore Diocese Summer Sport Trials to attend the Polding Summer Sports Trials next year:

Touch Football

Pippa Keshk, Tillie Reibelt, Ariana Yaya, Tahina Yaya

Cricket

Daniel Martin

Tennis

Riley O’Brien

Basketball

Chella Burke Dixon, Grace Davis, Grace Duede, London Lacey, Coby Miller, Cleo Rooney, Tahina Yaya

St Augustine’s Representative Swimming Trials 

Today 46  students attended the St Augustine’s Representative Swimming Trials at the Coffs Harbour War Memorial Olympic Pool. Congratulations to all of the competitors on their outstanding efforts. A full report will be included in the next newsletter. 

Canteen News

Canteen Roster

Week beginning 4 December

• Monday -  L Seccombe
• Tuesday -  C Williams 
• Wednesday -Help Needed
• Thursday - J Ward
• Friday -  W McLean, K Cochran 

Week beginning  11 December 

• Monday - D Budden
• Tuesday - E Taylor
• Wednesday -  C Jones, N Oakland
• Thursday - C Williams
• Friday - L Knight,  W McLean, L Lawler, K Cochran

Notices