Newsletter Term 4 Week 8

Dear Parents

It’s hard to believe the end of the year is just around the corner and we are beginning to look towards Christmas. Advent commences this weekend and is the preparation season leading to the first coming of Christ, his entrance into our world through his birth in Bethlehem, which is what we celebrate at Christmas. But Advent is even something more. It is also a reminder that there will be a second coming of Christ at the end of this world as we know it, when “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end”. This is a fundamental belief of Christianity. Advent is a time of hope. After the past couple of years and all the difficulties we have faced, let us look forward in hope that things will improve in our world, that there will be a little more kindness and that we will look out for one another. Students have been learning about the importance of Advent during Religion lessons. Symbols such as wreaths, candles can help children focus more on this season.

Reports for this second semester will be finalised over the next week and will be available the following week for parents. We will advise you when they are ready. This will be the first time that they will be sent electronically via COMPASS. You will be able to print them or you may ask us to provide you with a hard copy from school. More information will be provided at the time.

Photo day will take place on Thursday 2nd December, next week. We ask that all students wear their dress uniform on this day, not sports uniform. This will apply particularly to Years 3 & 4 who would normally be wearing their sports uniform on that day. We are very fortunate that we are getting photos done at all and we are grateful that the company was able to squeeze us in as it wasn’t looking promising for a while. Only class photos will be taken, and families I believe, but there will be no whole school photo, staff photo or group photos. Unfortunately that is the way it is. Hopefully photos will be back before school finishes.

We will farewell Year 6 with a Parish Mass and celebration in the church from 5pm on Thursday 9th December to which their parents are invited. We are grateful to the Parish and Fr Paul in assisting us with this. Year 6 students will have a couple fun activities away from school to celebrate the end of their primary years. Unfortunately they didn’t get to do the Sydney/Canberra trip nor a camping experience this year but we are glad they will get to do something!

The refurbishment of the K-2 toilets is almost complete and they are looking fantastic – fresh and new, with a hand-washing station and new bubblers. We reclaimed some space behind the toilets to create a new room which the two adjacent classrooms will have access to next year.

There was a nice roll-up of parents at the Parent Forum meeting the other evening. It seems so long since we met. Thank you to the Forum for committing $20,000 towards the new playground which is to be built early next year. The Forum is also keen to organise some fundraising events next year and to get back into finding ways to strengthen our community. Please consider being involved with the parent forum next year.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us with paying their fees this year. We know that times have been tough for so many but we do appreciate how people do make us a priority and do their best to keep on top of things. Having said that, we are here to also help if families need it. No child will be denied a Catholic education because people find it difficult to pay. Please remember that.

Let’s all try to get through the next few weeks in a peaceful way amongst all the busyness and try to reflect on the great joy that Christmas should be.

The most beautiful things in life are not things. They’re the people and places and pictures and memories. They’re feelings and moments and smiles and laughter. Let’s count our blessings.

God bless

Lynne

An Advent Prayer for The Lord to Come

This Advent, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Fill me with Your presence from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays and gifts to be given,
Remind me of the gift You gave when You sent Your Son from Heaven.
The first Christmas gift, it was the greatest gift ever.
You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
Waiting to be opened, to reveal Your love to me.
Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus' birth,
When He left the riches of Heaven and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Emmanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night.
And angels announced, "Into your darkness, God brings His Light."
"Do not be afraid," they said, to shepherds in the field.
Speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to Your call.
Setting distractions and worries aside, to You I surrender them all.
Surround me with Your presence, Lord, I long to hear Your voice.
Clear my mind of countless concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, let me not be in a rush.
In the midst of parties and planning, I want to feel Your hush.
This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart.
Invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me, as I unwrap Your presence each day.
Keep me close to You, Lord. It's in Your wonderful Name I pray.

~Renee Swope, “The Manger of My Heart” 

Term 4 2021

Thursday, December 2nd - School Photo Day

Monday, December 6th - Year 6 - Movies

Monday, December 6th - Sacrament of Confirmation Celebration at 6pm St Anthony's Church

Tuesday, December 7th - Kindergarten Orientation morning 9am to 10.45am

Wednesday, December 8th - Kindergarten Orientation morning 9am to 10.45am 

Wednesday, December 8th - Year 6 BIG DAY OUT

Thursday, December 9th - Year 6 Parish Graduation MASS at 5pm

Wednesday, December 15th - Last Day of School for 2021

Term 1 - 2022

Tuesday, February 1st - Years 1-6 Students return 

Tuesday, February 8th - Kindergarten commences school

Child Protection Policy can be found on our School Website under Information/School Policies: St Anthony's Primary School Website or in the following link: https://www.kngplism.catholic.edu.au/school-policies/

WEEKEND MASS TIMES
NO BOOKINGS REQUIRED

VIGIL: KINGSCLIFF 6:00pm
SUNDAY:POTTSVILLE 7:30am
KINGSCLIFF 9:00am

WEEKDAY MASS TIMES
NO BOOKINGS REQUIRED

TUESDAY: POTTSVILLE 9:15am
WEDNESDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am
THURSDAY: KINGSCLIFF 9:00am
FRIDAY: KINGSCLIFF 8:00am

RECONCILIATION TIMES

SATURDAY: KINGSCLIFF 5:00—5:30pm
SUNDAY: POTTSVILLE 7:00—7:25am

Current Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9am-3pm

PARISH NEWSLETTER LINK: http://stanthonysparishkingscliff.org/news-events/

Something to think and pray about this week

Stepping Beyond

First Sunday of Advent:  Sunday 28th November

On the First day of Advent we celebrate the beginning of the Church’s Liturgical Year. We have a different set of readings each liturgical year. After Vatican II, the lectionary was divided into three years (A, B, and C) in order for Catholics to hear as much of the Bible as possible. This year we’re entering Year C, which focuses on the Gospel of Luke.

Advent is a special time of waiting and preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Advent Wreath is a circle of evergreen which symbolises God’s everlasting love for his people, a love, which gives us Jesus so that we may know the extent of this love. 

The four candles represent the four weeks before Christmas, and one more is lit each Sunday, reminding us to shine with hope, love, joy and peace because Jesus will soon be here. Three candles are purple. The candle for the third Sunday is pink.

1st Sunday of Advent - In this Gospel reading Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 speaks of the importance of watching and waiting for the Lords coming.

All classes Religious Education Programs will focus on the Advent Season, the preparation and waiting for the coming of Jesus, over the next 4 weeks. 

Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal

This year St Vincent de Paul has requested that if possible, we assist by donating in two ways:

• Sending in gifts for children aged 0-16. They ask that presents are not wrapped. They can be placed at the base of our Giving Tree in the school front office area.
• Donating to our Christmas hampers. Please send any non-perishable items, such as tins of ham, puddings, bob-bons etc to school with your child. They can be placed into a hamper in their classrooms.

Next Friday 3 December is 'Wear Your Own Hat Day.' Students may wear any sun safe hat of their choice on the playground, and in return they are asked to donate an item for the Christmas Hampers. 

As always, we appreciate your support in this worthy cause.

St Anthony’s Staff

Sacred Prayer Space

Purple representing the Advent Season and Christmas items, staff supporting Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

Primary Swimming

During Week 7, Stage 2 and 3 participated in one off PE swimming sessions at the Kingscliff pool. The students worked in small groups and rotated around a range of water activities including: water ball games, novelty relays, kickboard and swimming drills and water safety. 

So much fun was had by all students who participated and all need to be congratulated on their behaviour and enthusiasm. 

IM Nominations for Tweed Zone Swimming Carnival 2022

The following is important information for competitive swimmers in Years 1-5 who will be turning 8 or older in 2022. 

If your child/children are interested in submitting a time for consideration in the Individual Medley event for 2022, for the Tweed Zone Swimming Carnival they will need to provide a certified time to Mrs Croker by Week 1, Term 1, 2022.  

The top 8 times for each age group from the Tweed Zone will be invited to compete in this event at the Tweed Zone Swimming Carnival on the 11th February in Murwillumbah. 

Please email your certified time, name and DOB to sapkings@lism.catholic.edu.au

*The St Anthony’s Primary Swimming Carnival 2022 will be held on Friday 4th February at the Kingscliff Pool. 

*The Tweed Zone Primary Swimming Carnival 2022 will be held on Friday 11th February at Murwillumbah. 

Tennis

Week 8 has been the week of tennis! Shannyn, Amber and Lucas who are our superstar tennis coaches from the Kingscliff Tennis club came to run some fun activities during all PE lessons from Kinder to Year 6. Not only are the sessions fun but the students have been learning and developing important gross motor skills and coordination.

Kinder took part in the ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Racquet Roadshow where 30 000 racquets have been provided to foundation schools across Australia, thanks to ANZ and Tennis. We were lucky to be one of 774 schools to receive racquets for all our Kindergarten students and take part in the Activation Sessions. It was a great opportunity to get the children participating at school and hopefully then outside of school. The students were also given special certificates to take home and celebrate their new tennis racquets.

Most parents of the 2021 Year 6 cohort will now be aware of our new laptop purchasing portal system, which replaces payment of laptops via school fees at Mt St Patrick College. This is just a friendly reminder for parents that the portal is now open for purchasing. Ideally payment should be made before December 8th, 2021 so that the school can have the devices imaged and ready to roll out for the first day of school in 2022. The latest date for up front payment or a payment plan to be enacted is January 26th. The links and instructions for purchase are below. Feel free to contact me on natalie.webster@lism.catholic.edu.au if you have any issues with the portal or questions regarding the new system. I really look forward to meeting you all and supporting your child on their technology journey at Mt St Patrick College next year. 

Payment portal parent instructions

ASI Payment Portal Link

Essential Assessment

You may have heard your child mention “Essential Assessment” over the past few weeks, this is because we have been testing out and trialling this online platform. Staff and students have been very impressed and we will be implementing it in 2022 to support individualised learning. 

In a nutshell, Essential Assessment is a comprehensive teaching, learning and assessment platform designed to support student engagement,  individualised learning and student growth. 

It allows teachers to pre-assess each student within each strand or sub-strand of the NSW Syllabus. Student results are then automatically compiled advising the teacher of each student’s current understandings and misunderstandings. Teachers can then further differentiate to the needs of each student through providing ongoing personalised learning and assessment to grow their knowledge from current understandings.

In addition to this, based on a students misconceptions a personalised online learning space called My Numeracy and My Literacy are created where students can watch learning videos, practice skills and play interactive games to reinforce concepts. 

We are very excited about implementing Essential Assessment as we believe it will help us to further cater for individual learning needs and support students to set learning goals and experience growth and achievement. 

COMPASS

Thanks again to everyone for your support in the transition to COMPASS. We only have a small number of families who are yet to activate their accounts so thank you. This platform will be how you receive your child/ren's school reports this year so if you are yet to download the app and activate your account I encourage you to do so. This is where all whole school notifications and communication is now being sent and you don’t want to miss out on important updates and info regarding your child/ren, their class and the school. 

Lauren Magnus

Leader of Pedagogy

Preschool Program

Our unique style Preschool program is specifically designed for children the year before transitioning to formal schooling (Kindergarten).

https://www.madsports.com.au/preschool.html

Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)

https://www.madsports.com.au/outside-school-hours-care-oshc.html

Do you want the confidence of knowing your children are being entertained in a nurturing and inclusive environment.