St Lawrence & Mary Immaculate Parish Balcatta:

Parish Priest: Fr Emil Ciecierega SDS Assistant Priest: Fr Adam Babinski SDS

Dear Parents and Friends

Wellness Week

“Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

- Matthew 11:29

During Wellness Week I prayer that you will all find time to rest, to move

away from the demands of deadline, of the need to rush here and be

there. Instead, make time to be with your children, make time to visit

your loved ones, share the joy of just being together. Turn off the TV and

other devices, read, sit, talk, walk, cook, garden, play…just be at peace

with each other.

Inspiring Christ-Centre Leaders.

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION THURSDAY 15 AUGUST: The Feast of the Assumption is a Holy

Day of Obligation, where all the Faithful are expected to celebrate Mass. This morning there was a

whole school mass for all the community at St Lawrence Church in the morning. Mary was a very

special person in every sense of the word. She was the Mother of Jesus and as such was born without

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. 24 15 August 2019

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.

original sin. As a fitting reward for the life she dedicated so wonderfully to God, she was taken up to

Heaven, body and soul, when the course of her life on earth was finished.

‘Almighty, ever-living God, you raised to eternal glory the body and soul

of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Your Son. Grant that our

minds may always be directed heavenward and that we may deserve to

share her glory.

Amen’.

Catholic Schools of Excellence

On Tuesday we welcomed Mr Peter Yensch, the Deputy Executive Director of Catholic Education, to

St Lawrence. The Executive Leaders of Catholic Education try to visit all schools on an annual basis.

These visit are a great way for the Executive to see the schools in action, meet children and staff and

other members of the community.

Dear Year Two and Three Parents,

In 2020, St Lawrence will continue with their Bring Your Own iPad Program for Year 4 students and

will also introduce this program into Year 3.

An iPad information night has been planned for Tuesday, 27th August at 7pm in the Year 3 classroom

to make it an easy transition to the BYO program.

The night will include a representative from IT Dynamics to run through the Mobile Management

system, ZuluDesk. This is an easy to use tool to allow teachers and parents full control over how a

student’s iPad is used. A representative from JB HiFi will also explain the School Portal where you

will be able to purchase iPads at a discounted educational price. We encourage all families to attend

this information session to make the most of the expert help.

Accessible, Affordable and Sustainable

Thank you to all community members who have paid their fees. The school relies on income to

function and fees form a part of that income. We plan our yearly spending around the income we

receive from Federal and State grants and fees collected.

If you are having any problem meeting your obligations please make an appointment to meet with me

to discuss our options. Again thank you to all who have and continue to meet their commitments.

Catholic Pastoral Communities

Wellness Week

Our Wellness Week is about taking a rest, time to be with your families and an opportunity for you to

focus on your personal wellness. We hear a lot these days about wellness and ways we can build on

our own sense of being well. The school cannot make for any individual to be well, but we can build

structures and supports into our processes and procedures to support each other in enhancing our own

wellness. I strongly encourage all to embrace the essence of wellness week.

Spending time together as a family does not have to be expensive. Research indicates spending time

together as a family can actually improve your overall health and wellness – it all depends on what

you do. Here are some more suggestions which are affordable wellness activities you can do as a

family.

Head to the playground If you have young kids, a great way to stay active with them is by taking them to the local playground.

Playgrounds are natural obstacle courses, with wellness opportunities for both parents and kids alike.

You can get a quick arm workout by pushing your kids on the swing for a turn, or squeeze in some

lunges and squats while waiting to play. When all else fails, just embrace your inner kids and play – it

is one of the best physical and emotional wellness acts you can take!

Go on a nature walk Another great way to spend time together as a family is to go on a nature walk. In addition to being

healthy, this is also a very flexible activity option, since you can do it pretty much anywhere!

As you walk, point out different trees, animals, sights and sounds to combine exercise and education.

You can also use this time to subtly show your family how important it is to stay active – These will

help create healthy habits for your kids as they grow, and also instill a love of being outside.

Take a road trip, no matter how far You won’t get any health points for sitting in the car and driving, but taking a road trip as a family is a

great way to spend some quality time together, and go on an adventure. Your road trip can take you as

close or as far from home as you’d like to go. Drive to Kings Park and watch the sun set or the night

lights of the city come on. It’s that easy!

Go for a swim…

Most pools are now heated and open at night…parking will be easy at this time of the year!

Cook dinner together It’s important to treat your body well on the outside, but it’s also important to fuel your body from the

inside out with good food and nutrition. A great way to teach your kids the value of good food is by

cooking dinner with them. You can even go through the process of going to the shops together,

picking out healthy ingredients, and then turning those ingredients into a delicious dinner. This is a

great way to spend time together and teach your children new skills and healthy habits and skills that

they can use throughout their lives.

Plant a garden Speaking of healthy foods, another great wellness activity that you can do as a family is starting your

own garden. The act of gardening is also linked to stress relief and higher levels of self-esteem, both

of which are crucial elements of emotional and mental wellness.

Implement family quiet time

Equally important to physical wellness is mental wellness. In the hustle and bustle of our busy days,

it’s easy to lose focus on how important it is to take some down time for yourself – and to encourage

this recognition in your kids and family as well.

To teach the importance of quiet, reflective time, set some designated periods of quiet time in the

home. Get some coloring books or sketchpads out for the kids, or a book for them to read – something

that they find enjoyable. (Yes, comic books and age-appropriate magazines count! Reading is reading)

Then, get out a quiet activity of your own and spend shared time doing your activities together in

silence. Maybe put on some music, but make sure the TV stays off!

In line with our pending wellness week, our Holy Scripture reminds us all of the importance of a

Sabbath, sabbatical, a time of fallow. ‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so

that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded

everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet

throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its

inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your

own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself

or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you.

Accessible, Affordable and Sustainable.

A reminder that we now have a vest option available as part of our school uniform range. I’ve seen

some students already wearing the new vest and it certainly looks smart. The trial of the vest option is

as a response to feedback regarding the school jumper. The jumper will remain the correct school

uniform and must be worn at all formal events, eg school photos, public performances however the

students may opt to wear the vest when weather conditions suit.

I leave you with a very interesting reflection about the questions we ask our children when they come

home from school….

“Izzy, did you ask a good question today?”

The question that the mother of 1944 Nobel physics laureate Isidor Rabi asked him every day

when he got home from school – quite different from the query of most other mothers in his

neighbourhood: “So? Did you learn anything today?”

Rabi says that his mother’s daily prod made him a scientist.”

Quoted in “The Role of Questioning and Deep Thinking in the Learner-Ready School Library” by Kathryn Roots Lewis in Knowledge

Quest, January/February 2019

God bless each and every one of you.

Sheldon Carey. M Ed, B Ed, Grad Dip

Principal

PASTORAL CARE

We pray for all families, children and staff involved in the sacramental programs. May this journey of Faith be

rewarding and help lay the foundations for a lifelong love of Christ and commitment to His Church.

Learning at Home Tips:

Model Good Behaviour “You are your child’s best teacher,” says Mary Mackrain. “Be a positive role model and offer children opportunities to observe you being a kind and caring person.” She adds that it’s important for children to see adults taking care of themselves, too. “You can only give what you have,” she says. “Find ways to build your personal joy, get rest, and model for yourself what you want for your own child.” Sage advice for all parents to hear. Our children see all we do. How we respond to other when driving, at the shops or the conversations we have on the phone…the list is endless. They are watching, learning, modelling and fine tuning how they will respond to others. Take care with how you behave and what you say and how you say it when in front of your children.

PARISH CHILDREN’S LITURGY

Our next children’s mass will be on Sunday the 25th of August and the parish looks forward to having

the children read prayers of the faithful and sing in the choir. Please keep the date in mind and

encourage your children to participate. Mrs Tucker will distribute prayers of the faithful at the

beginning of next week so let her know if you are available. We are planning a movie night for Friday

the 6th of September, so keep this date in mind as well. Thank you all for your constant support.

Mrs Toni Mattiaccio, Children’s Liturgy Co-ordinator toni.mattiaccio@cewa.edu.au

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

CAMP

We wish our Year Sixes well as they prepare to head off on their long awaited camp next week. We

know they will have a marvellous time and make some very special memories with their friends.

ASSEMBLY

Our Year Ones will be leading Assembly on Friday, all families are very welcome to attend.

FACTION SHIRTS

Children are to wear their coloured faction shirts on their designated Sports days from

Monday 19 August. Faction shirts are available from the uniform shop for $12 each.

SPORTS DAY CHANGE – PRE PRIMARY – YEAR 2

Next week, our Pre Primary, Year One and Year Two students will be having their regular Tuesday

sports lesson on Monday as Mrs Major will be heading off to camp. Children are to wear their sports

uniform (with faction shirt) on Monday and Thursday next week.

TEDDY BEAR HOSPITAL

We are very excited to have the Teddy Bear Hospital visiting our Pre Primary and Year One students

on Wednesday 21 August. The Teddy Bear Hospital is a community medicine program run in

conjunction with the University of Western Australia that aims to overcome children’s fear of doctors

and promote healthy lifestyle messages. This is achieved through involving children in a pretend ‘visit

to the doctor’, where the child takes their teddy to visit a medical student or ‘Teddy Doctor’. This

promises to be a special day of learning for the students involved.

YEAR TWO LITURGY

The Year Twos will be celebrating a liturgy in the Hall on Thursday 22nd August commencing at

8.50am. All Year Two families are invited to join with the children in prayer.

Mr Jacki Tucker and Mrs Gabrielle Brennan

CLASS NEWS

PRE KINDY

Our days at Pre Kindy are always fun. Next week we will have activities

and games working around the theme of Terrific Transport. It won’t be

very long until it is Father’s Day - so we will be talking about that very

soon.

Our children are working hard and we look forward to have parents on

roster with us. Thanks to those who have been able to place their names

on the roster. We look forward to the remainder of the year and seeing

the class grow in happiness, confidence and friendship.

A reminder – please put your child’s green folder with their Take Home Story Books in the basket at

the class entry and we will change their books. These can be changed weekly or every two weeks if

you wish. Any queries, please speak with me and I will try to help.

Mrs Kaylene Bozich, Pre Kindy Teacher

KINDERGARTEN This week we have been learning about Ireland and are revising the sounds we have been learning so

far: s a t p i n. We are looking forward to having Teddy and Charbel’s dads coming in to Kindy to talk

about England and Lebanon in the next couple of weeks. We also have Sophia Martin’s mum visiting

to talk about Brazil soon. This week we are learning about Ireland and we had fun making Boxty (a

traditional Irish potato pancake that contains a mixture of mashed and grated potatoes). They were

delicious!

Thanks to Mr McGuire (Devlin’s dad) for teaching us about Ireland.

Next week we will be focusing on letter sounds Mm and Rr.

A reminder on the even weeks of the school term children will

need to return there take home story book.

The children have been very excited to use their new Learning

Files so that they can practice their letter sound knowledge at

home. Please remember the Learning Files and Library Books

will need to be returned weekly on a Tuesday.

We used green paint to make marble paintings over the

Shamrock shapes. We talked about St Patrick and how the

Shamrock is known of the symbol of Ireland. Each leaf

representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Mrs Rachel Wake, Kindergarten Teacher

PRE PRIMARY

Thank you for all the wonderful donations of cakes last Friday for our St Lawrence day celebrations. It

was a huge success and we managed to sell nearly all of them.

In Pre-Primary we have been talking about our feelings through our protective behaviour lessons. This

week we will be focusing on identifying our bodies Early Warning signs which helps us identify when

we feel unsafe. Children are learning to identify that sometimes that means that their heart begins to

beat faster, they feel butterflies in their stomach and can even feel nausea.

In Mathematics, we are learning to measure the length of objects. We measured our names and

discussed who has the shortest name and who has the longest name. We have had a lot of fun

measuring different objects.

In Science and Religion we have been exploring the variety of living and non-living things and

celebrating God who created all these things. At home, it would be great if you could talk about living

and non-living things and discuss the ways you care for creation at home, for example, feeding pets,

gardening etc.

Reading books will go home next week. The children have been enjoying learning their sight words

and this will help with their reading books. It is wonderful to see their enthusiasm and excitement

towards all their learning.

Thank you for all your support at home. Please do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions.

Mrs Tania Preston, Pre Primary Teacher

YEAR ONE

A big thank you to all parents who donated goods and volunteered on the day to make our Decorate

Your Own Cookie activity in celebration of our St Lawrence Feast Day such a success.

Year Ones are looking forward to their Teddy Bear Hospital Incursion this week, in the school hall, on

Wednesday morning.

Mrs Gloria Edwards, Year One Teacher

YEAR TWO

Our class enjoyed our incursion on Tuesday which delivered a very

powerful message about thinking positively and being strong within

ourselves. We are looking forward to some special activities in the

Library to celebrate Book Week next week, the theme this year is

Reading Is My Secret Power. During our Maths lessons we have

been learning about arrays and how collections can be organised

into rows and columns to help us count efficiently. Mrs Stanton has

been teaching our class about changes in technology in History and,

as shown in the image below, children were asked to order pictures

of kitchens from oldest to newest and to talk through their thinking

with their peers.

A reminder that our Sports days next week will be Monday and

Thursday and children are to wear their coloured faction shirt. We hope you can join us at our Liturgy

on Thursday, we will be commencing at 8.50 am in the Hall.

Mrs Jacki Tucker, Year Two Teacher

LIBRARY NEWS

Dear Parents

We have certainly started our Book Week celebrations in a fantastic way! Mrs Frenzel has outdone

herself again, the library is full of stunning displays that really show the power of reading.

On Tuesday, the children

were completely entertained

by the drama performance

“Big Dreams.” The show

was a great combination of

singing and acting with the

important theme of

following your dreams, and

being strong and brave.

Next week, on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st August, we will be holding a Second Hand Book

Sale in the library. Books will be on sale for 20 cents each. Books will be on sale before school, from 8

am, and then again at lunchtime and after school. Money raised from the sale will be donated to the

Caritas organisation.

This year, we will not be having a book character parade, instead, we will be having art and craft

activities for the children to participate in during their library times and at lunch time.

We are looking forward to sharing the love of Australian books with the children.

Mrs Jane Stanton, Teacher Librarian

SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

WOW LUNCH

What a terrific effort this week! We had significantly less rubbish for our WOW lunch and it was great

to see all classes making an effort. It was clear that the lunchboxes with the least rubbish were also the

healthiest lunchboxes – great to see students looking after their bodies as well as the environment.

Congratulations to Kindy, our winning class this week!

The results:

Class Amount of Rubbish

Kindy 0

Pre Primary 15

Year 1 23

Year 2 16

Year 3 19

Year 4 7

Year 5 8

Year 6 20

Total 108

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

SPORTS CARNIVAL

Faction Sports Carnival will be held on Friday, 20th September 2019. Students in Pre-Primary to

Year 6 are to wear their Faction T-Shirt on their sport days from Monday 19th August (Week 5) for

training.

Kindy students may also wear a Faction T-shirt on their sport day.

Please note that Faction T-shirts are compulsory to wear, and purchased from School Uniform

Shop.

Cost of Faction T-shirts are $12.00 each in colors RED, GOLD, BLUE and GREEN. Sizes 4 to 16

are available for purchase. Faction T-Shirt will also be required to be worn on Sports Carnival

Day.

***Please note students in Gold faction should not be wearing their yellow St Lawrence Sport

Shirt or Leaver's Shirt.***

Gold faction t-shirt is required.

SCHOOL VESTS

Uniform Shop is trialing their vest in response to community feedback regarding the school

jumper. The Woollen School Vest is now available for purchase for students Year 1 to Year 6.

Stock is available at the Uniform Shop in Sizes 6, 8 and 10 and selling price is $56.00. The vest may

be substituted or used as an option when weather is not so inclement. The School Jumper is the correct

school uniform for all formal occasions and must be worn accordingly.

School Vests are 80% Wool & 20% Nylon and are machine washable on a wool/delicate cycle.

UNIFORM FITTINGS FOR YEAR 1, 2020 STUDENTS

A roster system will be placed on the Pre-Primary noticeboard in the classroom for your child for

uniform fittings for commencement of Year 1 in 2020. Please ensure you place your name in a suitable

time slot. Fittings commence Week 8 and conclude in Week 9. Pre-primary parents will be sent an

email with all the details.

Uniform Shop Opening Hours

Wednesday 8.30 am to 9.30am and Thursday 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Mrs Angie Miola, Uniform Shop Manager

P&F NEWS

FATHER’S DAY STALL

A reminder that our Father’s Day stall will be held on Thursday the

22nd & Friday the 23rd of August 2019.

The children will be able to purchase gifts ranging in $1 to $5.

FATHER’S DAY BREAKFAST

Father’s Day breakfast will be held on Friday the 30th of August at 7:45am

If our volunteers could all be there from 6:30am to help with the

preparation that would be wonderful – thank you to those who have

generously offered their time.

Please send back your RSVP forms which have been sent home today, for catering purposes.

QUIZ NIGHT

A friendly reminder about our big event for the year.

Note: Date Change to 8 November 2019 - we apologies for any inconvenience.

Any donations for the event would be appreciated as we want this to be a memorable night with as

many people walking away with prizes!

Tickets will be $15 each which will include games, music, a silent auction, nibbles and more. It's going

to be a fun night, so get a team together and come and have a good time and hopefully walk away with

some good prizes.

P&F President and Executive

CANTEEN NEWS

THANK YOU

Firstly I would like to thank all the people that came together to help make Feast Day run smoothly:

- Ken & Kath Tonge for cooking the BBQ.

- Anita C, Nicole T, Linda R, Laura R, Cat D, Fran C for their help in

the canteen

- To Felicia T, Adele C, Penny G and the year 6 students for helping set

up.

- Dino & Nancy D for making sure we had lovely fresh salads

All the parent helpers - there’s too many to name - for helping at the

tables.

FATHER’S DAY RAFFLE Tickets now on sale! $2 each or 3 for $5 drawn Friday 30th August.

Prizes include - The 19/20 Entertainment Book, a bottle of Parliament House

Wine signed by Scott Morrison, a Parma Ham on a wooden block, chocolates,

red wine, a thermos, bowling passes and a Hamper of men’s aftershave.

A big Thanks to our generous donors - Entertainment Book, Vince

Connelly, Iole G and Healthsense Pharmacy Northlands, Linda R, Michelle M

and Tara O!

Birthday brownies & icy poles available for $15 for the class or birthday

cupcakes or choc chip muffins $20.

Last chance to get the 19/20 Entertainment Book as the fundraiser is coming to an end! Why not grab a

digital edition- offers are updated all the time and plenty of great savings!

Please see flyer below.

Christina Russo, Canteen Manager

Frances Caccamo and Antonella Crupi, Assistants

COMMUNITY NEWS