Newsletter 26 November 2021
- Principal's Message
- Faith and Mission News
- 2021 Upcoming Events
- Sport News
- Learning and Teaching
- National STEM Award Winners!
- Canteen Roster
- Little Archies 2021
- School Fete
- Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal
- Yearbook Order Form
- Out of School Hours Care - OSHC
- Amber Lockdown
- Parenting Ideas
- Community Notices
Principal's Message
NATIONAL STEM AWARD WINNERS - Congratulations Malia, Harper and Maggie!
Friday 26 November 2021 - Term 4 Week 8
Dear Parents and Carers
Wonderful news! Three of our talented students Maggie, Malia and Harper were crowned one of the National STEM MAD winners at the awards ceremony in Melbourne. They designed and made a device that detected levels of sound in a classroom setting that gave visual feedback via a traffic light system to help students self-regulate noise in their classroom. Well done girls!
Next week we say our official farewell to retirees Ross Kelly and Annette Hogan. Ross has worked here for nearly 25 years and Annette is closing in on 34 years of service to the school and most important to the students. Ross has worked tirelessly to clean, mow, garden, catch snakes, dogs, cats and rats and fix everything you can think of in that time. The high quality look of the school is in no small part due to his industry. Annette has had a massive influence on her students and regularly teaches the children of her early pupils. In these years Annette has taken on a leading role within staff, nurturing early career teachers and always displaying a high degree of professionalism. I especially have appreciated her wise counsel on whole school matters. Both of these good people will be greatly missed.
The school reports will be going home on Thursday 9 December via an envelope in each child’s bag. Condensing 12 months of work into a few sentences and gradings is challenging but I am confident that your child’s teacher knows them very well; the good parts and the interesting parts, as they have journeyed with them over the year. If family arrangements have recently changed and you would like multiple copies sent to different parties, please let us know.
Misuse of technology continues to be a headache for all schools and your support in this regard would be appreciated. It is very important that children know that going online, especially in group chats with friends, is not anonymous and every person is responsible for their actions. Please monitor group chats, and if you see any breaches of unacceptable behaviour, take a screenshot, block and report.
There will be fantastic fun at the Fete on Friday 10 December. Rides, stalls, a haunted house and plenty of food will keep the children well fed and active. The event will be held in school hours, with no need for school uniform on that day, with children leaving on the buses at 3pm. We’re asking for donations of wrapped lollies or small toys and there are order forms for the pie drive and showbags which are due no later than Wednesday 1 December. Any assistance is appreciated and all funds go to the new shelter area near Albany St as a project of the Parent Forum.
Grace and peace
Peter Watts
Principal
Faith and Mission News
St Augustine’s Parish Mass
Last Sunday, the St Augustine’s school community contributed to all the ministries at the special feast of ‘Christ the King’. There was a grand procession of children holding banners and a golden crown as they led Fr Shabas into the church. Many of our students who had only just completed their second ‘Altar Server’ training session were very helpful to Fr Joy and Fr Shabas. Our Ukulele players accompanied the singers and students from Year 1 up to Year 6 did a wonderful job with the readings and Prayers of the Faithful. The many children who attended Children’s Liturgy in the Curran Centre had a great time honouring Christ as our King by making crowns and decorating them.
Advent Wreath Artwork by Nicholas, 2M
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 this as a family over the month of December as we wait and prepare for the coming of Jesus.
Advent at St Augustine’s Parish
Advent is the season for preparing for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. The St Augustine’s Parish Community is providing families with an opportunity to visit the church to experience some special Christmas signs and symbols and hear adults and children perform some Christmas carols.
From Monday 6 December, the church will be open before school (8:30am to 9:00am) and in the afternoon(2:30pm to 3:30pm) so families can visit during these times.
The things you can do on your visit are:
- Listen to Christmas carols being sung and played by children and adults from our parish while looking at the special Nativity display set up in the Pius Goods shop (on the northern side of the church).
- Take a close look at the enormous Advent Wreath that is set up in the church near the altar.
- Reflect on the Christmas story as you look at another beautiful nativity scene that is set up in the church near the Christmas tree.
- Light a candle in one of the shrines located on the side walls of the church and say a prayer for someone in need.
- Sit quietly for a while and look at the stained glass windows. Can you spot the Christmas star?
- Be still and rest a while in God’s presence. Take a break from the busyness of preparing for Christmas and make a small space for our Saviour in your heart.
We are looking for volunteers (children and/or adults) to perform some Christmas carols while people look at the nativity scene in the shop window (just outside the church). Ten minute time slots can be booked HERE, using SignUp. It doesn’t matter if you repeat the same Christmas carol over and over, or if you only play for a few minutes. Get a group of singers together, play the recorder, ukulele, keyboard....anything to join in the Christmas spirit!
If you require a backing track, Mrs O’Sullivan has offered to put these tracks onto an iPad or computer that will be at the performance site, along with a speaker system. You will need to contact Mrs O’Sullivan by email with your request as soon as possible.
If you have a track on your iPhone, a cord and an adaptor will be available to play your track through the speaker from there.
If you play the piano or keyboard, a school keyboard will also be set up in the performance space for you to use.
If you are joining with other friends to perform at the same time, only ONE entry can be made on the booking website on behalf of the entire group.
Students will need to be under parental supervision. Students who choose to perform during school hours will need to be collected from or delivered to school by their parents.
It will be an outdoor COVID safe event.
RE Spotlight: Year 5
In Year 5 we have been investigating how Mary responded to God’s call and the challenges she had to overcome in order to do this. We studied the signs and symbols that represent Mary and visited the church to look at the beautiful representations of Mary. We then designed and made stained glass windows using images and colours that represent Mary’s sacrifice, challenge and love for us all.
Naomi Loader- Assistant Principal Mission
Dominique Montford - Leader of School Catechesis
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation
2021 Upcoming Events
December 2021
| 2 | K-6 Assembly |
| 6 | St Augustine's Representative Swimming Trials |
| 9 | School Reports go home |
| 10 | School Fete |
| 13 | Annual Speech/Awards Day |
| 13 | Year 6 Graduation (evening) |
| 15 | Last day Term 4 for students |
| 16-17 | Staff Development Days (No students) |
January 2022
| 28 | Staff Development Day (No students) |
| 31 | Staff Development Day (No students) |
February 2022
| 1 | Years 1-6 - First day Term 1 for students |
| 1-7 | Kindergarten Best Start Assessments |
| 8 | Kindergarten's First Day Term 1 |
Sport News
2022 Years 3-6 Swimming Program
Our Year 3-6 Swimming Program for 2022 will commence in early Term 1. Notes have been distributed to students in Years 2-5. Please complete the permission slip and Swimming Program Parent Survey and return to the school office by Friday 3 December.
St Augustine's Representative Swimming Carnival - 6 December 2021
Thank you to those students who have nominated for the St Augustine’s Representative Swimming Carnival. This carnival is for selection of the SAPS Swim Team to compete at the Clarence Zone Representative Swimming Trials to be held early in Term 1 2022.
Lismore Diocese Summer Sports Trials - Basketball and Tennis
Congratulations to the following students who have been selected for the Lismore Diocese Summer Sports Trials in 2022:
Basketball - Aribelle Dawes, Amy King, Coco Chiswell, Layla Woodcock, Max Roulstone
Tennis - Cohen Emery
Learning and Teaching
Exciting things are happening in Music with Mrs O'Sullivan. Years 4-6 are learning to play the ukulele as part of the Music syllabus. There has been such excitement about learning chords and playing pieces of music. If your child is showing interest in ukulele, it may be a great Christmas gift idea!
National STEM Award Winners!
On Tuesday November 16 our three finalists, Maggie, Harper and Malia attended the 2021 STEM MAD National Awards (live streamed) Event. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 restrictions, the girls were unable to attend the awards in person, which were originally to be held in Melbourne, so live streaming was the next best option.
Earlier this year the girls won the Diocesan level of the competition, earning them a well deserved place in the National competition along with finalists from other Catholic schools around Australia. The girls are to be congratulated on their project the ‘Commotion Controller’. The team commenced work on the ‘CC’ back in Term 2, producing a prototype which involved developing skills in coding, electronics and programming. The process also involved a significant amount of trial and error to calibrate the arduino and sound sensor accurately to produce the desired effect - a visual cue for students to know when they’re getting too loud in the classroom. Maggie, Harper and Malia also produced a video to explain their invention in detail.
At the STEM MAD event the ‘Commotion Controller’ was announced as a finalist in both the ‘Communications’ and ‘Wellbeing’ categories for Primary Schools.
The girls were thrilled to place FIRST in the ‘Wellbeing Award - Primary School’ and very excited to learn that their invention had placed in the TOP 3 NATIONAL PRIMARY FINALISTS for the 2021 STEM MAD Event! Well done girls, an amazing achievement!!
Many thanks go to Mr Kerr and Mrs Catling for their support of our students throughout the competition. Please watch the girls’ final video submission at the bottom of this article.
Canteen Roster
Week beginning 29 November
- Monday - C Williams
- Tuesday - M Black, M Mainey
- Wednesday - C Jones
- Thursday - C Hyde
- Friday - P Duffy, W McLean, C Rose, D McNeill
Week beginning 6 December
- Monday - C Hyde, V Wall
- Tuesday - M Black
- Wednesday - P Duffy, B Symons
- Thursday - L Rowthorne, K Allen
- Friday - G Dodd, W McLean, L Knight, E Sainsbury
Week beginning 13 December
- Monday - L Seccombe
- Tuesday - C Williams, M Black
- Wednesday - J Martin, M Chau
- Thursday - Staff Development Day - no students
- Friday - Staff Development Day - no students
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
Little Archies 2021
2021 Theme: “Different flowers in the same garden...”
We proudly present our Little Archies Winners and Highly Commended artworks for 2021. [ See the gallery below. ] It is wonderful to see the effort all our students put in to their artworks and how the students' skill levels have grown over these past few years. Many thanks go to Ms Perkins, Mrs Robinson and our teaching staff for fostering this program. Thanks also to the judges (whose task gets harder every year) and particularly Mr Kelly for his very tough job of selecting the Packing Room Prize. The standard of portraiture is amazing and we know you'll love them when they come home later this term.
Little Archies Winners 2021
Highly Commended 2021
Little Archies Winners 2021
Highly Commended 2021
School Fete
Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal
Yearbook Order Form
Out of School Hours Care - OSHC
St Augustine’s Out of School Hours care is excited to disperse the Christmas/New Year Vacation Program.
This program has been designed with all children's interests in mind and will provide a fun, educational learning experience - which in turn will reduce your parental guilt as you spend your days at work.
In line with the service's COVID safe policy, all contractors will have a verified Working with Children Check, double COVID-19 Vaccination and be required to register their attendance on the COVID register using the QR code.
All excursions will be conducted under both the service and the designated locations COVID Safe Policy.
To book, please either email: cofhp-oshc@lism.catholic.edu.au
We look forward to enjoying these experiences with your children and wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.
*Please note: The service will be non-operational from the 20th December - 3rd of January inclusive.
Amber Lockdown
Dear Parents and Carers
In the event that we have a positive COVID case at school, we have a plan for the immediate closing of the school, followed by deep cleaning, as directed by NSW Health. If we receive notice of any child or staff member testing positive we will place the school in an Amber Lockdown (Students will remain in their current classroom and will continue class until the safe and smooth exit of students takes place) and will ask you to come and pick up your child from school. This will be communicated via text message, Facebook and email. Staff will bring your child to your car as you line up, just like in the afternoons. The difference is that if your surname begins with A-K, you will be picked up at Gordon St drive-through and L-Z at Albany St drive-through. This will be indicated in the message sent at the time. If siblings have different surnames, go with the eldest. Similar to an evacuation drill we will also practice this at school next week (wet weather prevented the drill from happening yesterday) so that staff and students are aware of the procedure. The welfare and safety of your children are at the forefront of this planning process and although it is quite unlikely that it will happen, we need to be prepared.
Naomi Loader
Assistant Principal Mission
Parenting Ideas
Community Notices
