Ss Peter and Paul's Parish Primary School

TERM DATES 2023

TERM 1 - 31 Jan - 6 April

TERM 2 - 26 April - 30 June

TERM 3 - 18 July - 22 September

TERM 4 - 10 October - 15 December

Term 1 - Canteen orders cut off at 9am

Summer Uniform - Orders sent home and shop open Tuesdays 9-9.30am

Week 2 - Monday 6 February - Friday 10 February

Thursday

P&F Meeting, 7pm in the Staff Room - ALL WELCOME!

Friday

5/6HM Performance Assembly, 2pm in the Hall

Week 3 - Monday 13 February - Friday 17 February

Tuesday 14

Opening School Mass, Years 1-6, Ss Peter & Pauls Cathedral
Welcome BBQ & Open Classrooms, 4-6pm
Kinder Parent Info Talk, 6pm in the Hall

Wednesday 15

Kinder Rest Day/Best Start Assessments
Mackillop Touch Trials, Yass

Thursday 16

SCC Meeting, 7 pm in the Staff Room - Please contact the school if you are interested in attending

Week 4 - Monday 20 February - Friday 24 February

Monday 20

Canteen Red Day

Tuesday 21

Shrove Tuesday

Wednesday 22 - Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Mass, Years 3-6, Ss Peter & Paul's Cathedral

Thursday 23

NR Swimming, Yass

Friday 24

Year 2 Performance Assembly, 2pm in the Hall
Mackillop Basketball and Tennis Trials, Wollongong

Welcome back everyone to 2023. Our new Kinder students are settling in well as are our other new enrolments across years 1-6. To help make our new families welcome, we are having a Welcome BBQ between 4-6pm next Tuesday 14 February. We will run a free sausage sizzle for students and their families, and we hope you will call in at any time that afternoon to meet the teachers & other parents and have a look around the school. This year we have 13 classes and 287 students enrolled. Despite this we still have some spaces in our K-4 classes, so if you know of families looking for a school in 2024 encourage them to go onto our website and follow the enrolment link to apply.

NEW STAFF

A special welcome to our new staff: Mr Owen Gerrard teaching 5/6, Miss Esther MacGregor teaching Year 4, Mrs Emma Huggett in Kindergarten, Mr Roger Myers teaching 5/6 & library. We also welcome Mrs Emily Delaney 2 days a week as a permanent relief teacher and Mrs Sophie Brown is returning from leave 1 day a week on Year 1. Mrs Lauren Whalan has joined the staff 3 days a week as a Classroom Support Assistant. Finally, welcome to Madelyn Burns who is our new school counsellor and will be at the school on Mondays. Further information about the counselling service is in this newsletter.

SCHOOL DETAILS

School hours are from 9.20am to 3.20pm. Staff supervision begins at 8.30am, with car line supervision until 3.45pm & bus line until the last child is picked up. If you need your child to be here outside of these hours please ring the office to make a reasonable arrangement.
Please take care in the car line and be aware of the rules that apply to traffic on Princes Ave. Many people received traffic fines in that area last year. Later in the newsletter there is a diagram to study about traffic & parking restrictions in that area.
Please ensure your child brings a hat for outside play and a full water bottle for the day to limit their contact with the school bubblers.
I encourage you to keep in touch with your child’s teacher by email. You can find this in Compass by:
- opening the app and tapping 'more'
- choose 'open in browser'
- select the link 'send email to child's teachers'
Please be respectful of staff hours and allow a period of time for teachers to reply. If the matter is urgent let the office know and they will bring it to the teachers attention.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

We have begun the school year with a strong push for children to be sun safe & wear their hats, hence “No Hat, No play”. Those students without a hat will be limited to a small shaded area, so please make sure your child has a school hat with their name clearly on it.

Last year some students started wearing parkas & over-coats that were not school uniform. This is not acceptable.

Students in Year 6 can only wear their special jerseys on Thursday & Friday; we will let you know when the order arrives.

Please pay attention, both boys & girls, to having hair tied back out of your eyes if it is shoulder length or longer. It also helps stops nits spreading.

SCHOOL FEES

School fee statements were emailed to families on Tuesday; please contact the office if you didn't recieve it. A reminder that when you enrolled your child at our school you signed an agreement stating that you agree to pay all school fees, levies and surcharges while your child was enrolled. The enrolment form also states no student will be refused enrolment because of inability to pay, which is distinctly different from a parent or guardian's unwillinginess to pay or meet the fee commitments. Please contact the school if are having financial difficulties. If repeated requests to make arrangements for paying fees are ignored, this could result in using outside agencies to collect the fees (adding extra costs) or a reason to cancel a child’s enrolment. I urge you to take this matter of school fees seriously.

We are looking forward to a great 2023 and please keep safe.

Late Drop Off/Early Pick up

Please remember to come through the office when dropping off late and picking up early to sign your child/ren in or out
BELL TIMES - Please come outside of these times if you need to collect your child early:
- School Start 9.20am
- 1st Break (lunch) 11.25am-12.05pm
- 2nd break (recess) 1.25pm - 2pm
- School Finish 3.20pm

Compass Absentee Forms

Any unexplained absence reminders will be emailed to families on a weekly basis. Please ensure you complete the Compass absentee form for any whole day absenses in a timely manner. It is a legal requirement that any absence from school has a satisfactory explanation.
Please only submit whole day absences via Compass (i.e. do not change the time in the absentee form). If you are dropping off late or picking up early you do not need to complete the absentee as you are required to sign your child in/out at the front office.

Personal Items, Mobile Phones, and Devices

Children SHOULD NOT bring toys, personal and valuable items to school.
Any mobile phones or personal electronic devices need to be handed in to the office before classes start and collected at home time.

Uniform and Equipment

HATS ARE COMPULSORY IN TERM 1 & 4.
Please pack a water bottle for your child/ren. Bubblers are available.
Please ensure that your child/ren's belongings are labelled clearly
Lost property is located in the front office

Car Line & Parent Parking

For safety reasons it is recommened that children being dropped off and picked up by car arrive via the car line area off Prince Street (see map below).
At the end of the day when you are lined up on the road at pick up time you are only permitted to be stopped for 2 minutes. If the line is not moving, advice from NSW Police is that parents and carers should drive around the block until they are able to enter the school grounds.
Please also remember that student supervision at car line is until 3:45pm, so arriving around or after 3:30 will help to ease the congestion at this time. It is not essential that you are at car line before 3:20pm (school finish time).
Please also remember to leave neighbours driveways clear when waiting to pick your child up at the end of the day, especially if you are waiting behind the bus stop area.

2023 SWIMMING CARNIVAL RESULTS

Thank you to all the parents, carers and staff that assisted with this week's swimming carnival. It was also lovely to see so many parents, grandparents and friends cheering on the children. Our Yr 3's were especially brave attempting new events in the 'big' pool. Well done to our House Captains for your leadership and enthusiasm.

Congratulations to those students that have progressed to the Northern Region Carnival in Yass!

Champion House	House Boat Relay	House Challenge Relay	Staff/Parents v House Captains
1st - McCauley	1st - McCauley	1st - McCauley	1st - Staff/Parents (Mr Brown, Mrs Harris, Mr Collinge, Mrs Whalan,
2nd - Blake	2nd - O'Brien	2nd - Blake	Trudie Turner, Claire Smith & Belinda Boniface)
3rd - Patrick	3rd - Patrick	3rd - O'Brien	2nd - House Captains (Patrick Turner, Amelie Dale, Aiden Jakovljevic, Millie Webster,
4th - O'Brien	4th - Blake	4th - Patrick	Taavi Kearns, Ella Webster, Rihanna Butler & Hunter Metz)

Age Champions

8/9 yr: Astrid Schmidt (P) & Huxley Smith (M)

10yr: Miah Sonnex (M) & Charlie Hallam (B)

11 yr: Harmony Payn (M) & Odin Schmidt (P)

12/13 yr: Willa Reynods (O) & Tyler Toparis (B)

Junior Champion (8-10 yr): Miah Sonnex (M) & Huxley Smith (M)

Senior Champion (11-13 yr): Harmony Payn (M) & Tyler Toparis (B)

SPP NR Team

Harmony Payn, Tyler Toparis, Miah Sonnex, Patrick Turner, Lucy Boniface, Huxley Smith, Freyja LaPrade, Sebastian Martin, Astrid Schmidt, Will Harris, Sophiah Chant, Zach Anderson, Hannah Pollard, Toby Boniface, Ava Cosgrove-Bowden, Oliver Keast, Alina Peaty, Tobias Loberg, Willa Reynolds, Charlie Hallam, Astrid Schmidt, Carter Beardmore, Molly Dillon, Austin Cosgrove, Rihanna Butler, Odin Schmidt, Georgia Brown, Kieran Holmes & Flynn Keast.

SPP Rugby Union & Rugby League Yrs 3 - 6

A note went home this week to gauge the standard and interest of our school Rugby Union and League players, so that we can plan accordingly with the carnivals we enter this year.

It would assist us greatly if the form is completed and returned by Friday 17th February, especially if your child is interested in the tackle competition.

If you missed the note, please see Mrs McCarthy or your class teacher.

2023 SPORT TRIALS

Information and registration for individual trials is through the following website >> https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/

The dates of the trials will be publicised on the webpage and the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn FaceBook Page.

These trials are for Yr 5 & 6 students or outstanding Yr 4 students.

Sport	Trial/Championship Date	Nominations Open/Close
Netball 2023	Tuesday 14th March 2023	Individual trialists - Open Closes - Monday 6th March
Rugby League (11's & Opens)	Tuesday 14th March 2023	Open Closes - Monday 6th March
Hockey 2023 (Boys & Girls)	TBA	Open Closes - Friday 10th March
Football (Soccer) 2023 (Boys & Girls)	Monday 3rd April 2023	Open Closes - Monday 27th March
Rugby Union 2023 (Size & weight guidelines)	Monday 15th May 2023	Open Closes - Monday 8th May
Girls Rugby 7's (Size & weight Guidelines)	Please note. Girls can trial for both the fullside rugby team and the Rugby 7s	Check the CSNSW Sport website
Basketball 2024 (Boys & Girls)	Friday 1st December 2023	Not Open Yet
Tennis 2024 (Boys & Girls)	Friday 1st December 2023	Not Open Yet
Touch Football 2024 (Boys & Girls)	Friday 24th November 2023	Not Open Yet

Please note the new phone number for the Parish office is 0403 631 797.

SACRAMENTAL DATES 2023

Sacramental_dates_2023_.pdf

Last year there was a large amount of forgotten lunches and unpaid IOU's which places a huge strain on the canteen and office manually and financially. Please read the below procedures to avoid this:

How to Order – place order on the Qkr app or write order on a paper bag with cash inside.
- Qkr orders close at 9am daily; please ensure that you place your child's lunch order prior to this time (remember that you can order up to a fortnight in advance). Also check that you have selected the correct day.
Cancelling Qkr Orders
- If you have placed an order and your child is not at school that day, you can cancel your order prior to 9am and recieve a credit note on Qkr by:
  - tapping on the three lines at the top left of the home screen in the app
  - Tap "My Receipts"
  - tap on the order you wich to cancel
  - tap the minus button next to your child/ren's name
- If you need to cancel the order after 9.00am, please call the office or text Di Bennett, Canteen Manager on 0493 599 046 ASAP.
- If the order has already been prepared you may not receive a credit.
No Lunch - if your child realises that they don’t have lunch before 9.30am a phone call will be made to parents asking for lunch to be brought to school. If lunch cannot be brought up to school, then the canteen can make lunch and an IOU slip will be sent home. Please note, only a sandwich will be made from the canteen - no hot food.
IOUs – If your child brings a canteen IOU slip home, please remember to pay ASAP, either on Qkr (in the canteen 'extras' tab) or in cash. Please check your child's school bag for these, or you can contact the canteen to get your balance.
There is a $10 limit for over the counter purchases at the canteen; please don't send your child with more than this

Canteen_Menu_Summer_2022_2023.pdf

We currently have a shortage of size 2-8 blue socks & unfortunately we don't expect them before March. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Summer Uniform in Term 3!

Purchasing Uniform Items

New uniform purchases can be ordered on Qkr. The order will be filled on Tuesdays and sent home with your child.
If you are wanting to purchase some 2nd hand uniforms please visit the uniform shop during the opening hours. There are good quality pre-loved items at huge discounts available directly from the Uniform shop to cater for all budgets.
Students must wear Summer Uniform in Terms 1 & 4 and Winter Uniform in Terms 2 & 3.

Hi everyone, exciting news. Soccer here we come!!
Opening up earlier this year so we all have time to get ourselves organised.

Follow the link to register - PLAY FOOTBALL

Hello from the School Counsellor... and important information about how to access School Counselling

Hi and welcome back to 2023. My name is Madi and I have been a part of the Catholiccare Student and Family Counselling team since 2022.

I am a Social Worker with a passion for working with children, young people and their families. Prior to this role, I worked in Central West NSW in acute mental health.

In my school counselling work - I provide short term client-centred support to children and their families drawing from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), strengths-based, mindfulness and trauma informed approaches in a developmental context. For more complex issues I provide referrals to additional services. I am available at Ss Peter and Paul’s every Monday.

How to make an appointment

If your child was seen by the School Counsellor last year and you would like them to receive support in 2023, we require you to complete a new counselling registration form. New referrals will also require you to complete the counselling registration form. Questions or requests can be directed to the office, your child’s class teacher or School Counsellor (madelyn.burns@catholiccare.cg.org.au).

Referral Link: https://catholiccare.force.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

Parent consent for counselling continues to be required for all primary school students and will be sought and provided via email or phone call. Where parents are separated, we require the consent of both parents. Once the referral has been received by myself - School Counsellor - I will make contact with parents on my next day at Ss Peter and Paul’s to further discuss the referral.

More about School counselling/how to access school counselling at Ss Peter and Paul’s

As part of the pastoral care program for students at Ss Peter and Paul’s, students have access to a Student and Family Counselling service provided by CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn (CCG). CCG are contracted by the CEO to provide a counselling service to students and their families on site. There is no fee to access this service. The service offers short term counselling support (roughly up to six sessions per referral issue) to children and their families – the counsellor can also provide referrals for more complex issues requiring intensive or long term therapy/support.

The role of the counsellor is to focus on the emotional, social and educational well-being of the students. Counsellors welcome contact with students having difficulty with some part of their life, the problem does not have to be a big one. It is better to seek help sooner rather than later. Some typical concerns that counsellors work with include: anger, anxiety, behavioural problems, low mood, family changes/separation, grief and loss, learning and educational challenges, parenting challenges, peer and other social relationships, school avoidance, stress and study skills. As well as individual sessions with students, counsellors can run groups, consult with parents and teachers and make referrals to other services and supports.

Student and Family Counsellors subscribe to a set of professional ethics that include duty of care and respect for the individual rights to privacy and confidentiality. The counsellors’ obligation is to ensure the safety, wellbeing and confidentiality of the student they are working with. All counsellors are mandated to report any disclosure or sign of abuse (including self-harm) or neglect to Child Protection Services. Outside of our mandated requirements, all counselling sessions are confidential and the details will not be discussed with other parties unless consent is given by the client.

Healthy Lunchbox Week is an initiative of Nutrition Australia that aims to inspire Australian families to create healthy and enjoyable lunchboxes.

Did you know children consume around 30% of their daily food intake at school? Most of this comes from the contents of their lunchbox. What children eat during their day at school plays a crucial role in their learning and development.

Healthy Lunchbox Week helps families prepare healthy lunchboxes by: