Term 3 Week 10 - 2023
Where did those 10 weeks go?
It seems like it was only last week that Mr. Galvin was heading away on his European vacation. He will be back as Principal in week 2 of Term 4, and I am looking forward to hearing some amazing travel stories.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and encouragement this term as I stepped into a very daunting role. It has been challenging and rewarding, and I wouldn't want to work anywhere else. Like I always say, it's the people that make the school.
Our school is full of joy and learning and our students and staff are amazing. Walking into Kindergarten to read their writing, hearing year 1 sing for prayer, watching year 2 dive deeply into their maths, seeing how year 3 uses their success criteria to make their work better, observing how year 4 have become confident in performing, and taking year 5 & 6 on camp have been some of the biggest highlights for me this term! Then there are all the other activities from Term 3: Dance and Drama events, the soccer world cup days, STEM clubs, Sports Carnivals and Gala days, Knitting Nanas, LEGO masters, Grandparents Day, Confirmation, Fathers Day, Todd Woodbridge and family bingo night. And that's just some of them. We couldn't do all of this without the Office Staff, Teachers' Assistants and Teachers who give so much to our school.








Thank you also to our parents for your passionate support of our school. We are aiming to grow by another 12 students in 2024, and the way you promote our school in the community is tremendous. Our P&F and all our parent and community volunteers are unstoppable. Thank you for the enormous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in events, fundraising, class social events and to everyone who encourages such a positive vibe in the school. Relationships like these make our school a very special place.
Mrs Keogh and Mrs Hurrell stepped in to fill teaching roles for Term 3 in Mr Galvin's absence and have done a wonderful job engaging our children in quality learning. We have been able to secure some extra funding so they can stay with us until the end of the year and continue some of the extra extension and intervention work in classrooms.
Please have a good read through this week's newsletter. We have included 10 weeks of dates for Term 4, 2023 and have also added key dates for 2024 to help families with their planning.
Have a wonderful break with your families, and I look forward to seeing you all back on Tuesday 10th, October.
God Bless,
Maria Wilson
Term 4 Week 1 2023 |
School Events |
Monday 9th October |
Staff Development Day |
Tuesday 10th October |
Students return to School 8:30-10:30 am Uniform Shop Open Year 1 & 2 Library |
Wednesday 11th October |
Brass Lessons Kindergarten Library |
Thursday 12th October |
Sports Uniform |
Friday 13th October |
Year 3 & 4 Library NRL Sport Polding Athletics Canteen 2:30-3:30 pm Uniform Shop Open |
Upcoming Events |
Sat & Sun 14th/15th October - Camden Haven Show - Choir Perform Sunday Term 4 Week 2 Monday 16th October - Parent Evening with Angela Lockwood 6pm Tuesday 17th October - Exuro - Youth Hub - selected year 5 Thursday 19th October - 3-6 Elective Sports Term 4 Week 3 Thursday 26th October - Bravehearts Ditto Show K-2 1:50 pm Friday 27th October - Daniel Morcombe Awareness Day - Wear Red or Blue -P&F Disco |
Future dates can also be found on our school website: https://sjpslaurieton.schoolzineplus.com/calendar
For more information about activities and clubs available at school, please scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for the timetable.
As we wrap up another busy term filled with learning and engagement, we would like to take a moment to celebrate some of the highlights and upcoming events at our school. Firstly, we want to congratulate everyone who participated in Monday's dance-off. It was a fantastic event, with the whole school, parents, and staff joining in to showcase their moves. A huge congratulations to our dance teams that performed at the Glasshouse last night. Bringing home two highly commended awards is an outstanding achievement; we are proud of you all.
























The P&F tea towels went home this week. A hug thank you to Chaney Boyle who spent countless hours putting the design together. It is a very special moment to keep for a long time.
Looking ahead to next term, we have included lots of dates below. In particular, we have some exciting choir performances lined up. Save the dates for the Camden Haven Show on Sunday, October 15th, and Harmony on the Haven on Saturday, October 21st. Please keep an eye out for the Compass notification for more details and to confirm your attendance at the Camden Haven Show. These should go out over the holidays.
Just a friendly reminder as we head into term 4 that daily attendance at school is such an important aspect of a child’s education. We wish to remind all parents and carers that if you are having difficulties getting your child to school, we are here to support you in any way we can. Please contact Rick Galvin, Jess Koenig, Maria Wilson, or your child’s classroom teacher if you would like support. We remind all families that we are legally required to monitor student attendance, and whilst we appreciate that there is a wide range of reasons for absences, the law requires us to provide you with information regarding your child’s attendance once they reach a certain amount of absences.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community. We wish you all a restful and enjoyable break. See you next term!
Best wishes from the leadership team
Acting Principal Maria Wilson |
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Acting Assistant Principal - Mission Kristan Nichols |
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Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching Jessica Koenig |
Please see the following dates for Term 4. We try to get these dates out early to support families to plan, however, sometimes these dates may change. Please check the newsletter weekly for updates. Call the office if we have omitted any key dates.
Week |
Date |
Event |
1
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Monday 9th October |
Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day |
Tuesday 10th October |
Students Return |
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Friday 13th October |
National Rosary Day Polding Athletics Carnival
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Saturday 14th October |
Camden Haven Show |
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Sunday 15th October |
Camden Haven Show 9–1 pm School Stall 11 am Choir perform
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2 |
Monday 16th October |
Angela Lockwood Parent Night 6 pm |
Tuesday 17th October |
Exuro Port Macquarie - Selected Students |
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Thursday 19th October |
Elective Sports |
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Friday 20th October |
Socktober Fundraising and Shootout 10 am NRL Sports
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Saturday 21st October |
Harmony on the Haven TBC |
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3 |
Thursday 26th October |
Elective Sports Bravehearts Ditto Show K-2
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Friday 27th Oct |
Daniel Morcombe Awareness Day - wear Red NRL Skills P&F Disco
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4 |
Wednesday 1st Nov |
All Saints Mass |
TBC |
Year 5 Exuro Leadership Retreat |
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Thursday 2nd November |
Kinder Billabong Zoo Outdoor Classroom Day TBC
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5 |
Monday 6th - Thursday 9th |
Intensive Swimming
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Tuesday 7th November |
Infants Excursion to Glasshouse |
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Wednesday 8th - Thursday 9th November |
STEM MAD Team travel to Melbourne |
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Thursday 9th November |
Joey's Juniors Transition 9.15 am |
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Friday 10th November |
10:40 am Remembrance Day Liturgy Captains to Cenotaph - Saturday TBC
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6 |
Monday 13th- Thursday 16th November |
Intensive Swimming |
Thursday 16th November |
Joey's Juniors Transition 9.15 am |
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7 |
Monday 20th November |
Staff Development Day Student Pupil Free Day Stage 3 Todd Woodbridge Cup - State Finals
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Wednesday 22nd - Thursday 23rd November |
Year 5 Wildfire at St Joseph's Port Macquarie |
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Thursday 23rd November
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Joey's Juniors 9.15 am Elective Sports |
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Friday 24th November |
Year 6 Transition Day and Mass with all Hastings schools
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8 |
Tuesday 28th November |
$20 Market Boss Day TBC |
Thursday 30th November |
Joey's Juniors 9.15 am Elective Sports |
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9 |
Sunday 3rd December |
Children's Liturgy - Kendall - Morning Tea |
Thursday 7th December |
Elective Sports |
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Friday 8th December |
End of Year Mass 12 noon |
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10 |
Monday 11th December |
Pool Day TBC |
Wednesday 13th December |
End of Year Awards TBC |
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Thursday 14th December |
Graduation Night - LUSC |
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Friday 15th December |
Last Day of School Ring the Bell for Yr 6 |
Todd Woodbridge Cup Finals
Stage 3 Todd Woodbridge Cup Team, please complete the Google form sent to you. If you do not have it, please follow this LINK
Wellbeing
As our Term comes to an end, we have reflected on how we went with our Whole School Expectations, which are ‘When we are Respectful, Responsible and Resilient, we help to live out our school values of Courtesy, Faith and Diligence.’
The areas of focus that our students and teachers believed we needed to all focus on this term were:
- To show kindness
- To show Good Sportsmanship
- To care for our school environment
- To Respect others
As a school, everyone has been trying hard to ensure we are living up to these expectations. We recognise that we all can make mistakes at times, which we use as a learning point on how we can make better choices for next time. We look forward to continuing our learning in Term 4 with new focus areas.













Knitting Nanna's
This term, our Kitting Nannas have been hard at work. We can not thank our grandparents, parents, and parishioners who came to our school to impart their knitting expertise to students. This year, our focus was on preemie babies, for whom we knitted cosy beanies to help keep them warm during the chilly weather. The dedication of our students and adults has resulted in the creation of numerous beanies, offering comfort to many small babies in need.




Lego Masters
Congratulations to all our Lego Masters! This year, students were challenged to build a project designed to fit the theme of 'land, sea or sand.' Forty-three students participated, producing 20 projects altogether. The winning teams were announced at the Thursday afternoon assembly.




Newcombe Ball

It has been a busy term for the P and F committee, with the Father's Day stall and raffle, Year 5 and 6 Gala Day and the school tea towel fundraiser. Please find the updates below:
Father's Day stall and raffle:
Once again, the team pulled together a fantastic Father's Day stall and raffle. All families and kids welcomed the new format. Once again, I would like to thank all the volunteers who worked behind the scenes to ensure we had gifts to sell, raffle items and on the stall for the day.
This year, the stall and raffle made a profit of $1605.13
Father's Day Breakfast - $120.63 profit
Year 5 and 6 Gala Day:
Thank you again to all the volunteers who provided baked goods and helped out on the Gala day. It would not have been a success without you all. This year we raised $1363.05
Tea Towel Fundraiser:
This week, we received the beautiful personalised school tea towels. Thank you to both Fiona Haywood and Chaney, who worked so hard to make this possible. I know Chaney personally spent in excess of 25 hours pulling all the pictures together in a format that worked for the publishing company, meaning we saved a great deal of money by not paying the publisher for this task. With this, the tea towel fundraiser made $1231.36
Once again, thank you to all the school volunteers and families who support the P and F fundraisers. So far this year the P and F have purchased tennis equipment for the school and the new pie warmer for the canteen. We will also review further activities for the end of the year, which the P and F committee can support with the funds we have raised so far.
Thanks in advance, Rachel.
Term |
Date |
Event |
Term 1 2024 | Tuesday 30th January | Staff Administration Day |
Wednesday 31st January Thursday 1st February | MAI Testing and Kindergarten Best Start (Students book a time slot; bookings will be available late term 4 2023) | |
Friday 2nd February |
Staff Development Day Pupil free day |
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Monday 5th February |
Years 1-6 Students Commence Term 1 |
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Tuesday 6th February |
Kindergarten Commence |
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Friday 29th March |
Good Friday |
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Monday 1st April |
Easter Monday |
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Tuesday 2nd April |
Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day |
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Friday 12th April |
Last day of Term 1 |
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Term 2 2024 |
Monday 29th April |
Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day |
Tuesday 30th April |
Students commence Term 2 |
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Friday 31st May |
Staff Proclaim Day Pupil Free Day |
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Monday 10th June |
King’s Birthday Long Weekend |
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Thursday 4th July |
Last day of Term 2 for students |
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Friday 5th July |
Staff Spirituality Day |
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Term 3 2024 |
Monday 22nd July |
Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day |
Tuesday 23rd July |
Students commence Term 3 |
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Friday 27th September |
Last day of Term 3 for Students |
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Term 4 2024 |
Monday 14th October |
Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day |
Tuesday 15th October - |
Students Commence Term 4 |
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Wednesday 18th December |
Last Day of Term 4 for Students |
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Thursday 19th December |
Staff Development Day |
Kinder week 10 literacy fun
Year 3 Math - working on their multiplication skills!!
Stage 2 Science
Stage 2 students were challenged to repurpose an old textile item. Some students created soccer balls, soccer gloves and soccer goals! Others made clothing for a friend, pillows and puppets. They had fun attempting to thread sewing needles and using a sewing machine, all in the name of sustainability!
Thank you to the parents and grandparents who generously donated their time to help.



















Monday Dance Extravaganza
On Monday afternoon, our Infants and Primary Dance groups showcased their routines for the school and parents. They all danced beautifully and put so much work into practising. We are so proud of them.
Assembly
Happy Birthday
Lego Master's Awards
Most Popular Vote
Grand Champions
Newcombe Ball Champions
Players of the series
Most Improved
Class of the Week
Date |
Event |
Term 4 Week 5 Saturday 11th November |
Kindy/Year 1 Mums 1-4 pm Barefoot Bowls, Club North Haven. Moo & Bean 4-8 pm. |
Term 4 Week 7 Saturday 25th November |
Year 2, from 4 pm, venue TBC. Dress Christmassy. |
*Further dates will be advised via CompassSchoolzine. Please contact your class parent/s for more social activity information.
Class Parent "Friendraising" Group 2023
K: Bel Davis (Will), Brooke Burgess (Edie), Emma Hockham (Benji), Justine Reedy (Mackenzie), Rachel DeVries (Johannes)
1: Katie Barker (Jasmine), Emily Fogg (Jory), Lauren McNeice (Alyssa)
2: Emma Hockham (Olivia), Katie Barker (Madison)
3: Erin Richards (Jeremy), Bel Davis (Oliver), Lidi Patrzala (Iggy)
4: Emily Fogg (Gideon), Tamara Romer (Lincoln), Rachel de Vries (Willem)
5: Michelle Latham (Zarli), Brooke Hudson (Eadie)
6: Erin Richards (Kynan), Michelle Latham (Jayla)