St Therese’s Newsletter 15th May 2018 Term 2 Week 3

Our Vision: “To Bring Christ and His message, in all its richness, into the hearts and lives of all.”

Principal’s Message Dear Parents, Staff and Students Survey Results Recently I received the results of the survey that was sent out last term. I’d like to thank you for your honest and supportive feedback. With 231 replies it was an excellent opportunity to gauge how the school is performing in a variety of different areas. I have analysed the results with the staff. Over all 93% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the school was performing well in areas identified. 7% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed. From the information gained the following recommendations will be addressed; Feedback and communication to parents and students, Ensuring higher expectations for students in the academic fields, the use of assessment, review and discuss consistency of behaviour management strategies across the school. Website link listed below. Mothers’ Day Breakfast My thanks to the staff and the P&F and in particular Belinda Palmer for the excellent morning tea. I wish all mums, grandmothers and carers a happy belated Mother’s Day and hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the year. Enrolments for 2019 If you have not yet put in your enrolment form please do so ASAP. If you know of anyone wishing to enrol at St Therese’s please tell them to contact the office and get an enrolment pack. Afternoon Pick-up Parents please be mindful of neighbours and the traffic rules. As I have said on many occasions there is no need to rush to be here at 3.15pm your children will be well looked after until you arrive. Parents remember if you are coming the way of Burke Street make sure you have your surname clearly displayed on your windscreen. Medical Alert Several cases of vomiting have occurred at school recently and I would advise all parents of the requirement to keep your child at home for 48 hours after the last vomiting episode. This consideration prevents the spread of germs and keeps everyone at school safe. Duilio Rufo Principal

Survey Link:

http://www.newlambton.catholic.edu.au/uploads/1/9/1/6/19161767/parent_survey_summary__1_.pdf

Burke Street (PO Box 321) New Lambton NSW 2305 49574922 or 49562156

Fax 49521637 :admin@newlambton.catholic.edu.au

http://www.newlambton.catholic.edu.au

Parish: Sunday Masses St Therese’s 9.15am Parish Contact: 49608010

Dates: 15 May) 16 May) NAPLAN Yrs 3 & 5 17 May) 16 May McDonalds Fundraiser Book Club orders due 18 May Walk safely to School 8am Kindergarten Multicultural Lunch 22 May Dio Cross Country 25 May Athletics Carnival 29 May Senior Rugby League 30 May Pizza combo – Yr 6 fundraiser 1 Jun Polding Touch Trials – Parkes 5 Jun World Environment Day 6 Jun Book Parade 13 Jun Waste Free Wed 14 Jun Boys Soccer Gala Day 17 Jun Movie night – Yr 6 fundraiser 21 Jun Girls Soccer Gala Day 21/22 Yr 4 excursions

Assistant Principal’s Message Mathematics Teachers and students have been working on problem-solving tasks in class as a way to ensure students not only know about Math, but also how to do and think mathematically. Children of all ages and mathematically ability often find it difficult to know how to go about solving a problem. The BUCK strategy last week is a great starting point, another way you can help your child is to use Newman’s Prompts by asking your child the following 4 steps:

1. Can you read the problem and work it out on your own? 2. Can you tell me what the question is asking you to do? 3. What could you do to work out the answer? (e.g. draw a picture, guess & check and trial and error are great strategies) 4. Try to solve it, and as you are working tell me what you are thinking

Math trivia: a number is divisible by 9 if the sum of the digits adds to 9 e.g. 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 63, 72, 81, 90 … Kaylene Maretich - Assistant Principal

RE News

From Pope Francis @ pontifex. “ Mothers are the strongest antidote to individualism!... a world without mother’s would be inhumane, because mothers always know how to give witness...even in the worst of times..to tenderness,dedication and moral strength.” Thank you to all mothers and I hope every mum had a lovely day on Sunday! Commitment Mass Please join our families of children preparing for Confirmation at Sunday Mass, 9:15 am on Sunday 20, the Feast of Pentecost. Please return the Invitation to be involved In the Liturgy of the Mass if your child can assist on Sunday. Mass and Liturgy of the Word Thank you to parents who joined Year 4 students at Mass last Tuesday and the Infant grade children today at their Liturgy of the Word celebration. Vickie Pettett - Religious Education Coordinator

News from the Classroom Gardening Club Infants had a wonderful time at Gardening Groups on Friday, and it was so fantastic to have some beautiful new Kindergarten students join us for the very first time! Thank you to all the students who came and planted new potted colour in the raised garden beds outside of the Kindy classrooms. Everyone put in such an amazing effort and all of the students really enjoyed digging, planting, watering and having lots of fun in the sun. Have a great week! Mrs Lunn

Library News BOOK CLUB – Issue 3 Closing date for orders from Scholastic Australia – Issue 1 is tomorrow, Wednesday 16th May. Please ensure that your order form has been filled in and placed in an envelope with your child’s name and class on the front. Remember to enclose the CORRECT money or cheque made payable to Scholastic Australia. OR you may order through ‘LOOP’ which is on-line order and payment, with your purchases delivered to the school. Please note: Late orders for ‘LOOP’ may incur a delivery fee if order is posted to your home. Library pick-up is always available for discreet orders such as Christmas, birthdays, rewards etc. Clearly mark the order ‘Library pick-up’ and add a contact number. ‘LOOP’ also has an option to tick a box for ‘gift orders’. REMEMBER: All orders earn valuable resources for our school.

School Community Notices McDonalds Fundraiser -16 May Please support the Year 6 fundraising effort by purchasing a meal at McDonalds Broadmeadow on Wednesday 16 th May between 6-7pm. 10% of drive thru and in store purchases will be donated to the Year 6 fundraising during that time.

School Athletics Carnival- 25 May Year 6 parents are running the canteen at the athletics carnival. They need 12 more helpers to help pack the students sausage sizzle lunch on the day. Please contact Gemma Thorpe to put your name down to help on 0419 230 572. If you would like to order lunch on the day you will be able to order through Flexi schools from the 14 May. If parents would like lunch as well, please place an extra order using your child’s name on Flexi Schools. Lunch is a sausage on a bread roll, juice and freddo for $5. All families are asked to bring in a donation of cakes/slices on the day. Please drop your cake directly to athletics canteen if you are attending, alternatively please drop into front office on the day. Many thanks in anticipation. There will also be a coffee van at the carnival for your enjoyment. Pizza Combo Day – 30 May Wednesday 30 May is Pizza Combo day at the canteen. Please purchase through Flexischool from 14 May. Your choice of Hawaiian or meatlovers pizza with a Freddo Frog and choice of juice or water. Gluten Free available (+$1.00) Orders close Monday 28 May at 9pm and orders are not transferrable. Movie Night- 17 June Year 6 are also organising a movie night at Events Kotata- Sunday 17 June at 6pm to see Incredibles 2- Tickets can be purchased through Flexischools after 14 May. Tickets are $12 each and children must be accompanied by an adult. Thanks Year 6 Fundraising Committee

Eco Warrior Challenge - Waste Free Wednesdays - Several years ago St Therese’s regularly participated in “Litterless” or “Waste Free” Lunches. Somewhere along the way this faded out and we now seem to have more rubbish than ever polluting our school. We would like to reinstate this practice for the betterment of both our school and the more global environment. Waste-free lunches benefit the environment by reducing packaging waste, which in turn reduces energy and resource use. Participating in a waste-free lunch activity also promotes sustainability awareness among students, parents and school staff. Waste-free lunches tend to result in reduced litter and they encourage healthy eating. Often, highly processed foods are packaged while unprocessed snacks, such as fruit and vegetables, are not. We are going to take things slow, and introduce just two Waste Free Lunches this term to start.

Both dates are on Wednesdays - the dates are: Week 7 - Wednesday June 13 and Week 10 – Wednesday 4 July. On these days, students will be encouraged to bring a waste free lunch box. There will be no bins on the playground at all on these days, so any rubbish from lunch boxes or from the canteen must go back into students' bags to go home. We are hoping that following success of these days, we are able to increase the number of "Waste Free Wednesdays" in Term 3. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Julia Briggs & The Environmental Team

Entertainment Books

We have 10 hardcopy entertainment books left for sale at the office. However there is no limit on the digital copies available which can be used on more than one device. To purchase online go to; https://www.entbook.com.au/340x66

School Photos For those of you who wish to order specialty photos (eg, school captains, sport captains, band etc) you will need to go online at Newcastle School Portraits and quote the specialty code- 47616CM, Password 47616CM Vicki McSpadden Playgroup - Friday 18th May

Last week at playgroup the children had a wonderful time making lovely craft and gifts for Mother’s Day. This Friday Playgroup is on in the school hall from 9.15am until 11am for some more fun play time for the children. Cost is $3 per family with morning tea provided for parents. Please bring a drink and snack for your children. Please contact Kate if you have any questions about playgroup on 0414952491.

Earn and Learn Last year our school took part in the Woolworths earn and Learn program. Last week we received the equipment and music resources that your vouchers entitled us to. The infants classes now have a wonderful range of percussion instruments to enhance their creative art units and to foster music among the school. We also collected enough stickers to purchase some sport equipment which continually tops up our resources in the sport shed. Thank you to Miss Curtain for organising this great program and to all families who collected stickers along the way. Canteen News

Wednesday 16/5 Thursday 17/5 Friday 18/5 Monday 21/5 Tuesday 22/5

Sam Bowen Jenny MacDonald Kate Haberfield

Louisa Boyle Kate Catzeddu

Rachael Hill Natalie Petrohelos Nicole Goddard Val Gent

Mad Standing Natalie Prince Jo Kim

Connie Martinelli Amanda Walton

Belinda Palmer – Canteen Supervisor

Wellbeing Kids Matter - Upstairs and Downstairs Brain Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson have a concept in their book “The Whole-Brain Child” that helps us understand the brain in a simple way. It’s the upstairs and downstairs brain. Picture a brain like a house. Downstairs is where important things live. Basic functions like breathing, strong emotions, and innate reactions to danger, like fight, flight or freeze. It’s like the downstairs of a house, which is where we almost always find the basics—kitchen, living room, bathroom. The upstairs brain is more complex. Thinking, imagining, planning – these things come from the upstairs brain. We use the upstairs brain to think critically, problem solve, and make good decisions. Important to note for those of us working with teens, the upstairs brain is not fully formed until our mid-20s! What do we need to be a highly functioning person in the world? We need both the upstairs and the downstairs brain. We need that downstairs brain to work. It saves us from urgent situations. It loops our feelings into logical equations. It’s what keeps us breathing! But we don’t want it fully in control. We need the upstairs and the downstairs brain to work together. The staircase is one of the most important parts of a two-story house, and that same logic is true for the brain. When the brain’s staircase is built, the upstairs brain can monitor the strong emotions and impulses from the downstairs and make sense of them. So how do we build this staircase? The most important thing is to be attuned to the child and recognize what part of their brain is controlling their actions. A child throwing a tantrum in class because another kid cut in front of her in line at the pencil sharpener doesn’t need the same attention as a child who is so upset that he is finding it difficult to calm down or receive comfort. The first child is in her upstairs brain. The minute she gets to that pencil sharpener, the tears will likely stop. She is in control of her emotions. The second child is in his downstairs brain. He is so upset and angry that he can’t make logical decisions. He can’t think clearly. An attuned paren t, teacher, or therapist might see that he is escalating and connect with him—right brain to right brain. “I can see that you are getting red. You’re really feeling upset about this.” After the child feels understood and comforted, he can then turn to problem solving or making better decisions. The adult can guide him in a breathing exercise or other soothing technique to help him

calm down. Once he is back in his upstairs brain, the issues can be addressed using logic and reason. The mistake many of us make is trying a left-brained intervention (asking a child to reason or problem solve) when what's really called for is a right brained connection ("I see you. I hear you. I care about you.") As we work with children, we need to continually ask ourselves, “Am I engaging the upstairs brain, or am I triggering the downstairs brain?” As adults, we are like the brain’s staircase carpenters. It is up to us to make sure that staircase is working. The better we are able to understand this concept, the better we can help kids during stressful situations, and also during calm, character-building times. Just remember to use your upstairs brain! Julia Briggs – Coordinator PBS This week we continue exploring the virtue of Honesty. Honesty is being truthful and sincere. It is important because it build trust. When people are honest they can be relied upon. Being honest means you accept yourself as you are. When you are open and trustworthy, others can believe in you. Below, are all our award winners from last week:

Principal Award recipients for this week: Zoe O. (KN), Jiacobbe T. (KN), Annabel J. (KL), Mae P. (2W) and Jack W. (5N),Ellie MacD, Zahlia S, Alexander K,

Luke Smith – Coordinator

Sport Congratulations to the following children who represented our school at the Diocesan Cross Country at Walka Water Works at Maitland last Tuesday May 9. Ayanna F, Hanna A, Delaney T, Jack M, Angus Gray, Patrick B, Jorja M, Abigail A, Ethan O, Noah C, River S, Lucinda P, Madison B, Violet P, Thomas A, Thomas M, Patrick A, Georgia S, Thomas L, James C and Oliver L. Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who supported and cheered on the kids! Well done to Jack M and Lucinda P who have progressed to Polding Cross Country in Sydney. Sara Murdoch

Polding Soccer Congratulations to Hugh B in grade 6 who was successful at the Polding Trials for soccer in week 1 of this Term. Hugh will now play for the State of NSW later in the year. This is a massive achievement and the whole school community is very proud of what Hugh has achieved. We look forward to hearing about his time in the State Soccer team. Softball All notes for Softball trials are due Wednesday 16 May. Please ensure if you have taken a note that you currently play softball or have had extensive experience in the game.

School Spirit Award for demonstrating INTEGRITY through

displaying Honesty.

KN Brock H. & Ly M. KW Eamon D. & Archie L. KL Michael B. & Nash Q.

1N Leila O. & Anna V. 1W Jacob L. & Ivy M. 1L Mikayla F. & Oliver R.

2N Nevaeh D. & Evie M. 2W Nicholas B. & Emily C. 2L Toby E. & Amelia G.

3N Willow B. & Nicholas B. 3W Thomas B. & Daniel J. 3L William H. & Isabella N.

4N Cornelis B. & Samuel T. 4W Hunter D. & Zahli S. 4L Riley M. & Lachlan S.

5N Oliver M. & Violet P. 5W 5L Nash C. & Jack C.

6N Ethan L. & Annelise M. 6W 6L

Walk Safely to School Please remember we will be walking safely to school this Friday. We will meet at the Adamstown train station at 8am. Teachers, please wear your Hi-Vis vests on the walk. All students, parents and families are welcome. If it rains, I will send a push notification out to families early in the morning advising if it is cancelled or not. Auskick Each year the school allows Craig Gollege from Auskick Australia to come and teach students the core basics of AFL. These sessions will begin after school on Wednesdays from 3:25 - 4:25 pm, on 23rd May, week 4. Craig attended our school assembly today and all students will receive further information on these sessions tomorrow from their class teachers. The program is fun and promotes an active lifestyle and healthy habits. It would be wonderful to see as many girls and boys involved in the program as we can. The program is not run by teachers and therefore all responsibility is on parents to ensure their child is safe and picked up on time. No teachers will be supervising the sessions, instead it will be employees from AFL Australia, all coaches have their WWCC. Sessions dates are: 23rd May, 30th May, 6th June, 13th June, 20th June, 27th June. Senior Rugby League Team I am yet to receive the draw for this competition. The team have been given the next 2 training dates and will be coached by Mr Kyle Manak. Parents please start thinking about transport for your child. I will send home a note this week regarding the finer details of this event. The competition date is Tuesday 29 May. Soccer Gala Day Junior and senior soccer gala days are coming up in week 7 and 8 of this term. Boys, senior and junior, will be held on the 14 June. Girls, senior and junior, will be held on the 21st June. The school will gather names of those children interested in participating in this event and also some parents who would be willing to coach a team on the days mentioned above.

Deb Petersen Primary Coordinator

General notices

OOSH

Hello from everyone here at the Y. Well last week was another busy week with many activities and lots of creativity. The children had great fun making Mother’s day gifts including some lovely cards, some repurposed plant pots and some rainbow scratchy door hangers. We also made some slime but that wasn’t for the mums. Indoors we had some Pokémon battles, foam block construction, lots of dramatic play with the restaurant open again and some music and dancing. Outdoors was of course some epic soccer games, truck play in the rock pit and equipment tips.

Upcoming project – Throughout this term the children will be helping to create a new succulent garden. The children will help to prepare the garden, plant the succulents and help with ongoing maintenance of the garden. To help make this happen we would be grateful of any succulent cuttings that children could bring along to get our garden started. Any type and size of succulent would be great thank you.

IMPORTANT – If you have not completed a 2018 enrolment for your child/children please ensure this is done before the new Child Care Package starts at the beginning of July. Go to our website www.ymcansw.org.au and go to your My Family Lounge and submit your existing enrolment. **Just a reminder that we have asked parents/caregivers not to access the staff carpark in their cars when dropping off and picking up. This is to help keep all of our children safe. If you see the gate has been left open it would be very helpful if you could close it for us. Thank you. ** Kind regards,

Christine Morgan

YMCA NSW – Newcastle Region I St Therese’s Primary School,

New Lambton NSW 2305

m 0402 165 617

e oshc.newlambton@ymcansw.org.au w ymcansw.org.au For Sale - girls’ winter uniform tunics, I have a size 6 and a size 10. $25 each. My contact no. is 0497110001 – please text me. Annette

PIZZA COMBO DAY

WEDNESDAY 30th May

5.50

FRESHLY BAKED INDIVIDUAL PIZZA

(Hawaiian or Meatlover)

Freddo Frog

& JUICE or WATER

Gluten Free Available (+$1.00)

Orders via Flexischools Only

Orders Close Monday 28 May 9pm

*Orders are non-transferable.

Broadmeadow

St Therese’s Year 6

Wednesday 16th May

2018

6pm-7pm

Swap It! EASY IDEAS FOR HEALTHIER LUNCHBOXES

Why Lunchboxes?

Our school is committed to supporting all children to live healthy and happy lives. By encouraging healthy foods at school,

together we can make a big difference to a child’s health and their ability to learn.

We understand that knowing what to pack in the lunchbox can be confusing so we have developed this guide to help you.

You might even be packing an everyday lunch already.

Deb Petersen

P & F Mother’s Day Stall and Raffle: A massive $4006.00 was raised from the Mother’s Day Stall and Raffle, this money will be put towards new equipment for the school renovations. Thanks to all the families, grandparents and neighbours who purchased the raffle tickets. A big thank you to the Year 1 and 3 Mums who volunteered their time from stapling and sorting the raffle tickets, counting the money and helping at the Mother’s Day Stall, it was greatly appreciated ! Mother’s Day Stall: Mother’s Day Breakfast and Raffle: The P & F Spot prizes held at the Mother’s Day Breakfast brought smiles, laughter and surprised answers regarding Mum’s favourite colour, flowers, sports, food she loves to cook and especially Mum’s favourite tv show ! To the School Families and Community who kindly donated the prizes for the raffle remaining after the cancellation of last year’s social night, we thank you and hope you can continue to support the P & F in future endeavours. Prizes Winners: 1. $200 Coles Myers Gift Voucher – Donated by Laser Plumbing – Winner: Olivia M.

2. $200 Voucher – Dunns Butchery New Lambton – Winner: Bailey K.

3. $150 Voucher – Artistry @ The Junction – Winner: Sienna McG.

4. Bliss Voucher for Massage, $50 Voucher – The Locale – Winner: Louie B.

5. Basket of Cooking Equipment – Good Guys, Kotara – Winner: Nicole McN.

6. Regenerate Holistic Beauty Therapy Voucher & $50 Voucher – Paul’s Asian Affair New Lambton – Winner: Sam T.

7. Doorstop & 2 x Pillows – Matthew Snell New Lambton & $40 Voucher Floweresque New Lambton – Winner: Jack P.

8. Basket, Scarf and bag – Kate Devine New Lambton & $50 Voucher – Corner Lane New Lambton – Winner: Jackie O.

9. 1.5l Lindemann Sauvignon-Blanc – General Roberts Hotel New Lambton & $50 Voucher – Paul’s Asian Affair New

Lambton – Winner: Isla-Grace B.

10. Family Voucher for Hunter Ice Skating Warners Bay & 2 x $10 Vouchers Sushi for You New Lambton - Winner:

Mary E.

11. 4x Springloaded Gateshead Individual passes & 2 x $10 Vouchers for Sushi For You New Lambton – Winner:

Hailey C.