St Lawrence & Mary Immaculate Parish Balcatta:

Parish Priest Fr Irek Czech SDS, Assistant Priest Fr Mariusz Adamczyk SDS

Some Special Christmas Gift Suggestions: A warm smile to the disheartened.

A respect for the dignity of others.

A kind word to a lonely person.

A sincere concern for someone troubled.

A Merry Christmas to all.

KINDY NATIVITY PLAY

I had the pleasure this morning of presenting all Kindy

students with their Kindergarten Graduation Certificates.

These were presented following a beautiful and entertaining

Nativity play from all our Kindergarten students. Thanks to

the many parents and grandparents who attended this moving

re-enactment of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus. Thanks to Mrs

Covich, Mrs Thompson and Mrs Seragusana for preparing

all the students.

SACRAMENTAL DATES

The school recently met with the Parish and has finalised all the Sacramental dates for 2015. Attached

are the dates with today’s newsletter. Thanks to Melinda Italiano who has organised these dates. We

are fortunate in 2015 as our Year Six students will be receiving the Sacrament from Emeritus

Archbishop Hickey.

STAFF FAREWELL

I would like to thank Mrs Michelle Rushton who has been a valued staff member at St Lawrence for the

last 18 years. Michelle has worked in a variety of roles including teaching each year group from Pre

Kindy to Year Six. Michelle was also Assistant Principal for two years. We congratulate Michelle who

will be working at St Stephen’s in 2015. Michelle will be dearly missed by all staff and students.

St Lawrence Primary School 386 Albert Street Balcatta WA

Telephone: 9344 4944 Fax: 9344 5099 Email: admin@stlawbal.wa.edu.au

Home Page: www.stlawbal.wa.edu.au

Newsletter No 39 3 December 2014

School Vision Statement The vision of St Lawrence Catholic Primary School, Balcatta

is to share the message of God’s love and friendship in a community of learners, developing the full potential of each child.

GRADUATION

A reminder that the Year 6 Graduation Mass will be held on Thursday 11th

December at 6.00pm.

The St Lawrence Awards for children in Years 3 – 6 will be presented at this ceremony. It is

compulsory for all children in Years 3 – 6 to attend.

ST LAWRENCE MEDAL CRITERIA

The St Lawrence Medal Criteria that the staff use each year is the following:

Based upon the School Vision Statement students who receive the St Lawrence Medal should

consistently demonstrate throughout the whole year their ability to share the message of God’s love and

friendship to all students. If a student has received the award in Years 1 – 3, they are eligible to receive

it again in Years 4-6.

SWIMMING

It is great to see all the students participating in their swimming lessons as they prepare for their

summer holidays. Swimming concludes on Friday 5 December.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAYS FOR 2015

The Professional Development days for 2015 are Monday March 16, Friday 29 May, Friday 31 July,

Friday 25 September and Monday 12 October.

SCHOOL FEES

All school fess should now have been settled for 2014. Any outstanding school fees need to be paid as

soon as possible.

PARISH CAROLS NIGHT

On Friday 12 December the St Lawrence Parish will be holding a Carols by Candlelight. All families

are most welcome to attend. Please see flyer attached to the newsletter.

With God’s Friendship and Love we Grow

John Rose

Principal

At a glance……

Thursday 4 December: Year 5 Class Mass – 9am Church

Year One Incursion

Friday 5 December: Pre Primary Nativity – 8.45am Hall

Year 5 Excursion

Monday 8 December: Advent Assembly – 2pm Church

– Years 1 & 2

Year 3 Excursion

Tuesday 9 December: Years 1 & Year 2 Excursion

Wednesday 10 December: Year 4 Incursion

Year 5 Excursion

Thursday 11 December: Graduation Mass – 6pm Church

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

ADVENT ASSEMBLY

The Year 1 and 2 Advent Assembly will take place at 2pm on the 8th

December in the church.

The St Lawrence Awards for children in Years 1 and 2 will be presented at this assembly.

REPORTS

End of year reports will be sent home with your child on Friday 12 December. Your child’s class

teacher will be available for interviews on Monday 15 December.

Parents please note the wording for the grades allocated in your child’s report. Your child will also

receive an effort mark for each Learning Area. The achievement descriptors for each grade are listed

below:

Achievement descriptor A

Excellent

The student demonstrates excellent achievement of what is expected for this year level.

B

High

The student demonstrates high achievement of what is expected for this year level.

C

Satisfactory

The student demonstrates satisfactory achievement of what is expected for this year level.

D

Limited

The student demonstrates limited achievement of what is expected for this year level.

E

Very low

The student demonstrates very low achievement of what is expected for this year level.

MASS ATTENDANCE BOOKLETS

All children in Years 3, 4 and 6 who will be participating in a sacrament in 2015 will be receiving their

Mass Attendance Booklets today. These booklets will commence in January 2015. It is expected that

your child will attend mass at least once a month in preparation to receive their sacrament. The

Children’s Masses each month have been highlighted in the booklet. Please read the accompanying

letter from Fr Irek. Many thanks for your ongoing support for your child’s sacramental preparation

which begins at home.

BOOKLISTS

Please remember to place your order for the items on the booklists by the 19th

December 2014 to ensure

delivery before Term 1 2015. Orders placed on or before the 19th

December will incur a delivery fee of

$8.95. Orders placed after this date will incur a delivery fee of $18.90.

Miss Angela Leddin and Mrs Gabrielle Brennan

CLASS NEWS

PRE KINDY

Well only two more Pre Kindy days and then it is time for a break before Kindy begins for all our

children. We are having fabulous days with our friends, learning so much and becoming so grown up.

This week we will watch the story of Jesus’ birth and we have already made a Nativity scene which is

on display in the class. Thanks to the wonderful mums and dads who have been coming on roster to

share time with us.

Mrs Kaylene Bozich, Pre Kindy Teacher

KINDERGARTEN

The Kindy concert was fabulous and I am very proud of the children as they did such a wonderful job.

The end of school is so close. Thank you parents for all the wonderful food you have written on the list

for our shared party lunch on the last day. Please bring just a small plate as there will be so much food.

A reminder if you can spare some time to help us clean the classroom on Wednesday 10th December

around 1.00pm, it will be much appreciated.

We have the children's library bags here at school ready to pass on to Pre-Primary for you.

Have a wonderful weekend. Mrs Simone Covich, Kindergarten Teacher

PRE PRIMARY

The Pre-Primary students are very excited about our Nativity Play on Friday 5th

December. We hope

you can join us for this special celebration and stay for morning tea in the Pre-Primary playground.

We are also very excited about our final Pre-Primary excursion to Wanneroo Rotary Park. Please

remember to return your permission slips as soon as possible. This week we will also be writing letters

to Santa, so the children will be eagerly awaiting their response in the mail! We are enjoying our

Christmas activities and the children are looking forward to taking home their special crafts to share at

home. During Religion we have also been talking about special memories and the children have written

a memory to share with you. Please return your memory heart this week so we can add it to your child’s

portfolio. Have a great week!

Miss Emma Reid, Pre Primary Teacher

YEAR ONE

In Year One we have been continuing to learn about Australia and in particular we have been learning

about Australian animals! We are really looking forward to our incursion on Thursday where we will

get to meet some Australian animals in our classroom! We are almost finished our two weeks of

swimming and it has been extremely enjoyable. Thank you to our Year 6 buddies who have been

helping us get organised each day for swimming! We are continuing to practice our skip counting. If

you have time at home or in the car please focus on skip counting by 2s.

Miss Edel Murray Year One Teacher

YEAR TWO

The Year 2's have been working very hard, preparing for the Nativity Play and the Advent Assembly.

The Nativity Play is on this Friday at 8:45am, while the Advent Assembly is on Monday 8th December

at 2:00pm in the Church. Thank you for your assistance with costumes. Please remember that the

students will need to bring the costume in their bags on Monday, as they will be changing after lunch.

Tuesday is our excursion. Thanks to those mums that have volunteered to assist at Scitech, I will be

sending out information shortly. Please return the permission note ASAP if you haven't already.

Miss Anna Brenkley, Year 2 Teacher

YEAR THREE ASSEMBLY

MERIT AWARD WINNERS

CLASS REP NEWS

KINDERGARTEN PARENTS PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE AND VENUE Please note the Kindy dinner has been moved to Saturday 13th December at 6.30pm and will now be at

the Osborne Park Hotel (Main St Osborne Park) Please RSVP by Wednesday 10th December.

(Maria 0419043738) Apologies for any inconvenience.

CANTEEN NEWS

Hello everyone and welcome to the Festive Season!

Raffles

We have two great Christmas hampers to be won. Tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00. Please come

down and support the canteen. It will be drawn on the last day of school.

Sausage Sizzle

Will be held on the last day of school Friday 12 December. For catering purpose, please pre-order by

Thursday 11 December. No other lunch orders will be available on this day.

Morning Tea

There will be a fun Christmas morning tea on Friday 12

December. Christmas goodies for sale.

Pre Primary students may also purchase.

Christmas Competition

We also have Christmas Competitions happening at the

canteen as follows:

Pre Primary: Colouring In

Years 1-3: Colouring In

Years 4-6: Best Fun Christmas Recipe

**Hurry they are all due Monday 8 December

Reminders

Children attending swimming lessons may order as usual. There will be different lunch breaks.

Freshly brewed coffee is now $3.00 each and available on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Drinks and ice-creams are now $2.00 each.

Please check the menu for next year as there will be slight price inceases.

If there is not a particular item on the menu that the children have ordered, we will let them know and

they may choose something else. We are trying to run the food down ready for the holidays.

Please note that there are no sausage rolls or cruiser pies left.

Thank you to Nova for all your help last Wednesday and Nancy for your help last Friday.

Roster for Friday 5 December: Nova.

Hope you all have a lovely week, Mrs Frances Svilicich, Canteen Manager

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

School Socks

The new school socks have now arrived. Should you need to place an order, please do so at the school

office or the Uniform Shop will be open for the last time for 2014 on Wednesday 10 December from

8.30 – 9.30am.

P&F NEWS

Thank you to everyone who attended the Botanica Bar function night on Saturday. Everyone had a great

night. Congratulations to all of the hamper winners.

Mrs Narelle Zaknich, President and P&F Executive

2015 SACRAMENTAL DATES

ST LAWRENCE PARISH

CONFIRMATION

EVENT DATE TIME/LOCATION/PRESENTER

Enrolment Mass Sunday 22 March 6.00pm Mass

Parent Meeting Wednesday 29 April 7.15pm Alverna Centre (Fr Giosue)

Family Workshop Wednesday 6 May 5.30pm AND 7.00pm - School Hall

Retreat Thursday 21 May Sr Chitra – School Hall

CONFIRMATION DAY Sunday 24 May 8.30am Mass

EUCHARIST

EVENT DATE TIME/LOCATION/PRESENTER

Enrolment Mass Sunday 15 March 6.00pm mass

Parent Meeting Wednesday 13 May 7.15pm – Alverna Centre

Family Workshop Wednesday 27 May 5.30pm AND 7.00pm - School Hall

Retreat Thursday 4 June Sr Chitra – School Hall

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION MASSES

Saturday 6 June

Sunday 7 June

6.00pm Mass

8.30am Mass

RECONCILIATION

EVENT DATE TIME/LOCATION/PRESENTER

Enrolment Mass Sunday 26 July 6.00pm Mass

Parent Meeting Wednesday 12 August 7.15pm – Alverna Centre (Fr Irek)

Family Workshop Wednesday 26 August 5.30pm AND 7.00pm - School Hall

Retreat Wednesday 2 September

Schoenstatt Shrine – Sr Lisette

RECONCILIATION NIGHT Wednesday 9 September

6.30pm – St Lawrence Church

Q