Newsletter 2 August 2024

Principal's Message

Friday 2 August 2024- Term 3 Week

Dear Parents and Carers,

Just for something a bit different, I thought I would share some tips for parenting by John Marsden              (author of ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ and founder of a wilderness school and an arts school). You may not agree with all of it but there’s some gold in there:

1. Give children space. Back off. Let them roam. Let them be bored. Don't over-plan their lives. Cut way back on the after-school activities programs.
2. Keep away from all those ghastly, soulless, sterile playgrounds. Keep away from shopping malls. Look for real places. Wild places.
3. Be an adult. Say no to your children at least once a day. If the role of Adult in your family is vacant, then one of your children will fill it. And it won't be pretty.
4. Don't take up all the space. If you are dominating, loud, forceful, your children are highly likely to become passive, lacking spirit and personality … and/or sullen.
5. Believe about 40 percent of the dramatic stories your children tell you of the injustices, corruption and satanic practices happening at school.
6. Teach them empathy. For example, after their jubilant victory celebrations when they win a sporting match, remind them that their jubilation was only possible because someone else – the losers – have been made to feel awful.
7. Help them develop language skills. Don't finish their sentences for them. Don't correct them when they mispronounce a word – they'll work it out sooner or later. Ask them open-ended questions that need a detailed answer, not Yes/No questions.
8. Make sure they have regular jobs/duties at home and that those jobs are done to a consistently high standard.
9. Don't whinge endlessly about the miseries of your adult life. A lot of children now are fearful about growing up because their parents paint such a grim picture of the awfulness ahead.
10. Teach them to be very wary of people who Absolutely Know the Absolute Truth about Absolutely Everything! The colour of truth is always grey. Extreme positions are for the ignorant. Every creature, every person and every situation is complex. The universe is a wonderful mystery.

Grace and peace,

Peter Watts

Principal

Faith and Mission News

Sacrament of Confirmation

This weekend over 100 students from our school and other schools in our parish will receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Our Bishop, Gregory Homeing will be with us to confer this sacrament. Please pray for these children and their families.

“Holy Spirit, strengthen our students with your gifts so they may serve as disciples of Christ. Grant that they may grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ. Fill them with the joy of your presence. Increase in them the fruit of your Spirit. Help them to experience and trust your dwelling within so that they can count on your guidance today and every day. Show us the way to help one another become better disciples of Jesus Christ, sharing your love with our world and with each person we meet. Come, Holy Spirit! Come!”

CSYMI

St Augustine's Primary School is proud to be part of the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International (CSYMI) initiative. Our CSYMI club began in term 2 and has been well attended by a very enthusiastic group of students from years 3-6. The club offers games, songs and fun activities for students to learn and express their faith. Each week we have a new theme. The club meets each Thursday lunchtime in the hall. New members are always welcome.

Caritas - Tapitas      

Our ‘Stop Motion’ made it to the Caritas website! Here’e the link if you’d like to see it again.

Naomi Loader - Assistant Principal Mission
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation

Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

If you have any concerns about your child’s well-being, next week’s parent-teacher meetings are a great opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher. The document below outlines the process for seeing support at school. We have an active and highly skilled Pastoral Care Team that supports our students to be at their best. 

Please contact your child’s teacher or Naomi Loader at naomi.loader@lism.catholic.edu.au if you would like to seek help for your child. 

K-2 Parent Storytelling 2024

Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal

St Augustine's School Mini Vinnies kicked off their Winter Appeal this week with three different ways to help others in need this year.

1. Jumper Drive: The jumper drive will take place next week. Please donate any good, second-hand, clean jumpers to be hung on the school fence next Thursday. 

2. Great Cohort Coin Challenge: Cohorts are collecting silver coins for the Great Cohort Coin Challenge. Please help by clearing out your spare change to donate and help your child win the movie and popcorn afternoon. 

3. 100 Club raffle: Buy a number in the 100 Club raffle to win a beautiful handmade quilted blanket donated by one of our Parishioners. The numbers will be $5.00 each, sold during August at the Father's Day breakfast and drawn after the Colourthon.

Please help out in one or more of these ways if you can.

Colour-Thon 2024

On Friday, 30 August, we will hold our annual Colour-Thon. Each student will be encouraged to walk as many laps of our school oval as possible in approximately an hour and a half, raising funds for our St Augustine's Parent Forum. There will be colour, music, and lots of fun! Weekly and overall fundraising prizes will be awarded to the highest fundraisers.  

Each student will create an online sponsorship page, allowing them to collect sponsors via Chuffed.org. Students will join their class team, and each week, prizes will be awarded to the class that raised the most money. 

The overall highest fundraiser will win an amazing SPENDING SPREE valued at $300. Prizes will also be awarded to the next five highest fundraisers across the school and the best-dressed group or individual in each cohort.

The instructions attached outline how you create your child's online fundraising page linked to the St Augustine's 2024 Colour-Thon chuffed.org page. Use this link to get started.  

https://chuffed.org/project/111513/signup

Once students have created their online page, they can collect sponsorship by sharing their individual link with family and friends. In sponsoring a student in our Colour-Thon, you directly support our Parent Forum, which uses the funds raised to improve facilities at St Augustine's.

Any student or family who requires technical assistance to set up their online page shouldn't hesitate to contact the school for support.

Save the Date - Father's Day Celebrations

LARC NEWS

To celebrate the Olympics we are having a reading challenge. Congratulations to those students who made the Top 10 list last Friday. Don’t forget to return your record sheet each week to the LARC to be counted. This will continue until the end of the Olympics.

Book Week

Book Week is coming soon! We will be celebrating Book Week on Wednesday 21 August (Week 5) with a parade at 9.10am. All staff are invited to dress up as a character from a book. Please don’t spend any money on your costume, use items you already have at home or get creative and use some cardboard and paints etc to create a costume. You do not need to have the book that you are from. 

The theme for Book Week 2024 is.

Snow White Musical - Save the date (s)

ONLY 6 WEEKS to our FIRST SHOW!

Ticket information coming soon!

MUSICAL COSTUMES DUE WED 14 AUGUST

mailto:sione.george@lism.catholic.edu.au

Sport News

SPORT CALENDAR 2024

Year 3-6 Elective Sports

Elective Sports got off to a great start last Friday! It’s wonderful to hear the excitement from the students as they take part in a wide variety of sports our community has to offer. Next week some students will change their sport if they are part of a ‘package’. Students will be advised via notices on Monday as to which sport they will take part in next. You can also refer to the timetable sent to parents at the start of the term. 

Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival 

On Tuesday, the St Augustine’s athletics team competed at the Clarence Zone Athletics Carnival. It was a very successful day for St Augustine’s, taking out the Clarence Zone Shield, as well as having all four relay teams placing either 1st or 2nd on the day!

Harley Brian, Kai Brian, Chella Burke Dixon, Benjamin Burton, Nate Butcher, Liam Capararo, Jade Causley, Layla Causley, Charlie Chiswell, Ollie Chiswell, Layla Cole, Rylee Cutler, Lucas de Jong, Stella Dobson, Grace Duede, Vinnie Fensom, Blake Galvin, Joey Galvin, Cannon Glover, Yuan Grandeza, Isabella Guthrie, Edison Hay, Ellie Hazel Pickering, Evie Hunter, Noah Keshk, Pippa Keshk, London Lacey, Kobe Lindsay, Hamish Loy, Sut Htoi Hkwan Maran, Beau McMillan, Hope Mengel, Angus Morgan, Hugh Morgan, Bella Noble, Riley O’Brien, Lucy O’Halloran, Tillie Reibelt, Pippa Rowbotham, Emma Sandes, Beatrix Selmes, Cohen Straw, Arlo Tuala, Jack Tyler, Poppy Warren, Sophie Williams, Jack Wilson, Ruby Wykes.

Congratulations to the following students who will now progress to the Lismore Diocesan Carnival to be held in Coffs Harbour on Friday 16th August. 

Harley Brian, Kai Brian, Chella Burke Dixon, Nate Butcher, Liam Capararo, Jade Causley, Layla Causley,  Ollie Chiswell, Rylee Cutler, Lucas de Jong, Grace Duede, Vinnie Fensom, Blake Galvin, Yuan Grandeza,  Evie Hunter, Noah Keshk, Pippa Keshk, London Lacey, Kobe Lindsay, Sut Htoi Hkwan Maran, Louis Davis, Hope Mengel, Hugh Morgan, Riley O’Brien, Tillie Reibelt, Pippa Rowbotham, Beatrix Selmes, Cohen Straw, Arlo Tuala, Poppy Warren, Jack Wilson, Ruby Wykes.

Combined Schools Basketball Championships

This week Grace Davis travelled to the Gold Coast to take part in the Combined Schools Basketball Championships. We are incredibly proud of our NSW representative! It was an extremely tough week for our ‘Girls in Blue’, with dominating performances from the other states, however Grace is thrilled to be playing in a tournament with the best basketballers in Australia, and has come away learning some invaluable skills and making lifetime memories. What an incredible achievement. Congratulations Grace!

AFL Regional Final

On Thursday,  our very talented boys and girls AFL teams competed at a regional final held at Sawtell. Both sides have been training hard before school. We are proud to announce that the girl’s side won the day and will now progress to a state final held in Sydney! The boys also put in an amazing effort, only just missing out on the final. A huge thank you to Mrs Orton, Mrs Parsons and volunteer coaches Jay, Riley and Brooke for expertly guiding our students on the day. 

CANTEEN NEWS

Canteen Roster

Week beginning 5 August 

• Monday -  L Seccombe 
• Tuesday -   M & M Black 
• Wednesday - S Rowan
• Thursday - J Ward
• Friday -  W McLean, K Cochran, L Horne

Week beginning  12 August 

• Monday - M Mainey
• Tuesday - M & M Black
• Wednesday - C Jones
• Thursday - L Hardaker
• Friday - W McLean, K Cochran, C Williams 

Notices

The City of Coffs Harbour Open Day coming up on Sunday 11 August 10am -2pm at C.EX Coffs International Stadium.

The day will have a lot of family-friendly activities and will also double as a chance for young people to be inspired by the diversity of career options available in local government.

Open Day activities: https://www.coffsharbour.nsw.gov.au/Events-directory/City-of-Coffs-Harbour-Open-Day

Open Day media release: https://www.coffsharbour.nsw.gov.au/Your-Council/Newsroom/Media-Releases/Step-inside-City-of-Coffs-Harbour%E2%80%99s-first-Open-Day#:~:text=The%20Open%20Day%20will%20run,fun%20activities%20for%20the%20kids.