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Carpark Safety

Mrs Michelle McDonnell - Principal
We continue to work together to ensure safety for all staff, students and their parents/carers in our carpark. 
 
To ensure this is the case, please note the following:
  • Traffic is not able to line up in either lane of the the school driveway prior to 3.00pm to enable access to the front of the school by emergency vehicles should the need arise.  With the exception of those requiring access to our disabled car parking, no car should drive around the A-frame which is placed across the driveway until 3.00pm each afternoon. 
  • During peak times (8.15am-9.00am and 3.00pm-3.30pm) cars should only enter the School drive way in a single file from the left hand lane of Howe Street.  Once in the School car park, those accessing the Primary pick up via the church driveway (afternoon only) may move into the right hand lane.
 
Thank you for your understanding of these guidelines.
 

Welcome Back - Assembly and Chapel

It has been wonderful to have parents/carers at our Assemblies and Chapels over the last two weeks.  We love to be able to share these special times with our families.  
 
Thank you for understanding that at this point, we are still required to limit the number of additional adults in our hall due to physical distancing requirements and that only one parent/carer per family may attend a Chapel or Assembly.  
 
Junior Primary Chapel (Tuesday) / Primary Chapel (Wednesday) 
Invitations to register for Chapel will be sent to families each Thursday.  
 
Junior Primary Assembly - Invitations will be sent to families of the class running the Assembly as well as students receiving awards.
 
Primary Assembly - Invitations will be sent to families of students receiving awards.  Once this number is determined, a small number of additional places will be opened up.  Once these are allocated via registration, this document will close.  We acknowledge that there will be disappointment for those who are unable to attend, however, we ask that if you have attended an Assembly, you refrain from registering from the following one to allow all parents the opportunity to attend, should they desire. 
 
Whole School Assembly (Term 1) - Invitations will be sent to families of students receiving awards.

Intumbane Movie Day

Our annual fundraiser for Intumbane will be a Movie Day on Wednesday, 31 March.  
 
For a number of years, St. Peter's has worked in partnership with Intumbane Primary School in KawaZula Natal, South Africa. Our fundraising efforts have enabled them to build and stock a library and install a water pump. Our efforts also allow St. Peter's to contribute to the employment of a VBLS (Values Based Life Skills) Counsellor. The VBLS program helps students grow with improved self esteem, social skills and competencies necessary to make healthy life decisions. 
 
The partnership of our two schools has enabled Miss Bongi, one of the teachers and now the Deputy Head to visit our school and we are hopeful for another visit once travel restrictions allow.  
Some of our St. Peter's staff have visited in the past, taking with them school resources and sharing ideas with the Intumbane staff. Indeed some of our current staff had planned to visit Intumbane in 2020.
 
As a school community, we have had communication with the students of Intumbane via letters and our students have developed a greater understanding of the life of children in another country.
 
Our recommended donation for our Movie Day is $5.00 per student.  Donations will be collected by our student leaders at the tunnel gates. Students will watch an age appropriate movie in their stage group, and have the opportunity to visit the 'Candy Bar' for some treats.  The movie being watched by each stage will be communicated to parents via the SeeSaw App.  
 
Our Coffee Cart will also be open on this morning, with all profits going towards our fundraising efforts.
 
As this is Sport day, students will wear their Sports uniform as usual.
 
We are looking forward to a fun end of term activity for our students while also raising funds and awareness for our friends in Intumbane.
 

Uniform Matters

With the beginning of Term 2 comes a change in uniform.  From Tuesday, 20 April 2021, all students must wear their full Winter Uniform to school.  This includes the school blazer which is worn to and from school each day.   Appointments are available during the holidays for Kindergarten families and other families new to St. Peter's in 2021.  These families have been sent an email or contacted directly with details for booking appointments.
 
We have had some cooler weather over the past few days, please ensure your child has their cardigan or jumper available to wear each day and that these are labelled. 
 
Please note that girls may not wear tights or leggings under their summer uniforms.  Bike pants / shorties are fine.  In winter, girls may wear long grey socks or grey stockings which are available from the Uniform Shop.  Other grey stockings are not acceptable.
 
With the exception of long sleeve white shirt under the sports t-shirt, students requiring an undergarment for warmth should ensure this can not be seen around the neck or sleeves.
 
We have noticed a number of students who are wearing sneaker-style black shoes.  Please note these are not approved school shoes.  Students who are wearing these will have a reminder sticker placed in their diary over the following two weeks, with the expectation that students are wearing correct shoes by the beginning of Term 2.

Donations Wanted

Our Sick Bay is in need of spare uniforms to loan to students on occasion.  If you have any uniform items that are not able to be resold, please consider donating them to Sick Bay.  In particular, we would love red sports shorts and tracksuit pants and small boys khaki and grey shorts.  
If you have had clothing items loaned to your child, please wash and return these. A reminder that underwear must be replaced with new underwear.

da Vinci Decathlon

The da Vinci Decathlon is an Inter-School Academic Gala Day conducted in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon. The Illawarra Grammar School and The Illawarra Christian School have partnered with Knox Grammar School’s Da Vinci Program to offer this competition.  

Two teams of 8 students have been selected from Years 5 and 6 to participate in this event. Each team of eight students will compete in ten disciplines:

Mathematics – problem solving, number patterns and logic puzzles

English – spelling, word origins, definitions, analysis and response tasks

Science – students are provided scientific concepts and tested on their ability to apply them

Code Breaking – students decipher various codes in the spirit of World War II

Engineering Challenge – a building task to test creativity and ingenuity

Ideation – unleashing your skills of creativity, critical problem solving, collaboration and communication to solve real-world problems

Creative Producers – create and perform a 60 second drama or 30 second commercial 

Art and Poetry – develop an original poem and a connected art work on a given theme

Cartography – reading, interpreting and designing imaginative maps

Legacy – a study of significant people, inventions and events from the past and the present.

All tasks in the da Vinci Decathlon emphasise higher order thinking skills – assisting students to develop their abilities in analysis, synthesis and creativity.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the world’s great thinkers and scholars. His career spanned visual arts, architecture, cartography, poetry, academics, anatomy, mechanical and military engineering, mathematics and astronomy. Leonardo demonstrated a superior ability to perceive the interconnected nature of knowledge and he maintained a lifelong passion to discover the unknown. His intellectual legacy sets a permanent challenge for leaders and thinkers in the twenty-first century.

We wish our teams well as they attend this exciting event.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

We are pleased to announce that we will be running the Premier’s Reading Challenge again this year. By the end of Week 9, all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 will be issued with a sticker in their school diary with the PRC website, start and finish dates, username and password. If parents are willing for their child to participate, they need to enter reading records online. The rules and processes for the Challenge are available on the PRC website. Please log-in as soon as possible after receiving the username and password to check it accesses the PRC website correctly. If you have difficulties logging on, please contact me by emailing administration@stpeters.nsw.edu.au with the subject line 'Attn Mrs Nash PRC' with your child’s details, and I will reset the password.

We will also be holding the St. Peter’s Challenge where students read books beyond the required number for the official PRC. Paper copies of the St. Peter's Reading Record are available from the School Library, Office, or your child's teacher. Please do not include the 20 or 30 required books for the official online PRC completion in the St. Peter’s Challenge list.

Happy reading, and thank you for your support of the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Year 6 - Taste Of High School

On Monday, 8 March 2021 our Year 6 students went to Broughton Anglican College for their 'taste of High School'. They were split into classes and participated in a Science lesson, a Cooking class, a TAS lesson and a PE lesson. The students were extremely well-behaved and had a great time learning a bit more about the interesting things that they can do in High School. 

NAPLAN 2021

Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in NAPLAN testing in Week 4 of Term 2.  As a school, we will participate by using the online version, of which has been successfully implemented for the last few years. The online platform is a tailored (adaptive) test design, meaning that the questions each child sees fits best with their individual learning progress.
 
In order to prepare students for this, practice sessions will be held in Week 9 of this term.  Year 5 will participate in two sessions (Writing - Monday, 22 March, Omnibus - Thursday, 25 March) and Year 3 will participate in one session (Omnibus - Thursday, 25 March). These sessions are designed to familiarise students with the platform prior to the official tests. Please note that no academic data is retained from these practice sessions. (Results from the official test should be available mid - late Term 3).
 
In order to be successful for NAPLAN, students will require a set of headphones, a good night's rest and a healthy breakfast! We believe that NAPLAN is just one small piece of a child's academic profile and recommend families to simply encourage their child to do their best on the day. 
If you require any further information, please visit the Parent / Carer support page: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

STEAM

Mrs Samantha Edmunds - Dean of Inquiry

“But I don’t understand. I thought you said in STEAM, we would think like Scientists?” a young boy in Kindergarten asked. It was his first week at school and his first STEAM lesson. He looked around at the blocks, lego, and loose play materials and the challenge to create something that Charlie the Chimpanzee, Miss Oberle’s trusty companion in STEAM, would need or want at school. With the challenge at hand, the young boy joined a group of other students using Lego and magnetic tiles to create a playground that had a racecourse built through it. The children worked collaboratively to balance all the different pieces, tested the ramp, and made adjustments as they went.

Even though the young boy didn’t realise it yet, he was thinking like a Scientist. His curiosity was being sparked. He was problem-solving and working as part of a team. He was taking thoughtful risks as a critical and creative thinker. This interdisciplinary inquiry is what STEAM is all about. 

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics and is a new specialist subject that is being offered to St. Peter’s students from Kindergarten to Year 6. It is an opportunity for students to learn and apply the interdisciplinary concepts explored in their Units of Inquiry and has a focus on hands-on learning by solving real-world problems. For example, Year 5 students have been intrigued by the recent landing of NASA’s Perseverance on Mars but questioned how the samples that are collected during this mission will be returned to earth. In STEAM, students are designing the next Mars rover and designing the instruments it will need to complete its mission and return to Earth. They will create a prototype of their rover which will lead to exploring block coding and robotics. The ability to think creatively and critically is the basis of innovation and ensures that one day, these innovative thinkers will have the skill set required to change the world. 

STEAM allows students to take risks in their learning and develop resilience in their problem-solving skills. Kindergarten students recently inquired into an important part of their school, the playground. In one lesson, students built climbing frames using plasticine and matchsticks. They tested their structures to see if it could hold weight and a majority of the time, the structures would collapse. But what was exciting was that no student gave up, they continued to collaborate to try again and refine their designs. Within our STEAM classroom, we value mistakes as part of the learning process and integral to the path towards in-depth learning and ultimately, success. 

During STEAM, students are learning skills that they can use in the real world and the importance of technology in our rapidly changing society. Students will have the opportunity to learn robotics, the language of coding, experiment with 3D printing, and build projects such as towers and bridges. They will create using a range of software and utilize their skills to solve problems. Technology will continue to evolve in the years to come; however, St. Peter’s students are adaptive learners, willing to embrace new technology and innovative ideas.

But the most important thing that is happening within all the STEAM classes, from Kindergarten to Year 6 is the spark of curiosity and a passion for learning. All students are engaged, willing to participate, and work with one another. They are engaged in discussions about applying knowledge and refining ideas. They are excited to learn about the amazing world God has created. And each week, they are learning to think like creative scientists and engineers, becoming the innovators and the change-makers of tomorrow. 





Positions Vacant

We are currently advertising for the following positions:
  • Bus Driver (Permanent & Casual)
  • Classroom Teachers (Casual)
  • OSHC Assistant (Casual)

Please visit our School Website to apply: https://www.stpeters.nsw.edu.au/discover/employment/

School Shop Hours During The Holidays

Just a reminder that with the winter uniform changeover coming in Term 2 and with children who tend to keep growing, now is a good time to try on existing uniforms to check for fit and length.  The School Shop is open limited hours during the break for purchase of uniforms. 
The shop will be open for the school community to make appointments on the following days: 
* Friday, 16 April from 8.30am to 3.30pm  
* Monday, 19 April, 12.00 noon to 3.00 pm
* Tuesday, 20 April, 8.10am to 11.00am
 
If you are confident in your sizes and needs, please feel free to email the School Shop directly at: shop@stpeters.nsw.edu.au to have your order ready for pickup on Monday, 19 April between 2.00pm and 4.00pm, or from Tuesday, 20 April onwards.
 
As you consider your needs for Winter, remember we stock other accessories that go along with the uniform such as gloves, stockings, and hair accessories. 
 
We look forward to seeing the children looking very smart in their winter gear.
 
 

School Calendar

 Term 1

Monday, 29 January 2021 - Thursday, 1 April 2021

Week 9 
Monday, 22 March 2021

Steps Assessment Day - Prep

Tuesday, 23 March 2021

9.00am: Chapel (Kindergarten - Year 2)

Prep Messy Day - Possums & Koalas 

Wednesday, 24 March 2021 

9.00am: Chapel (Years 3 - 6)
 
12.00pm - 12.45pm: Junior Rep Sport 
 
1.30pm - 2.20pm: Primary Rep Sport
 
3.15pm - 4.15pm: Auskick Programme
 
Thursday, 25 March 2021
 
8.30am - 2.30pm: Paul Kelly Cup Gala Day (Selected Yrs 5 & 6 Students)
 
Prep Messy Day - Echidnas & Wombats
 
10.00am: School Tour for new families

Friday, 26 March 2021

8.15am - 10.00am: Coffee Cart

9.00am: Whole School Assembly 

Steps Assessment Day - Prep

Week 10 
Monday, 29 March 2021

Illawarra Regional de Vinci Decathlon 

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

9.00am: Easter Chapel - Whole School

Wednesday, 31 March 2021 

Intumbane Movies @ St. Peter's
 
11.45am - 12.30pm: Junior Rep Sport
 
1.25pm - 2.25pm: Primary Rep Sport
 
Thursday, 1 April 2021
 
Last Day of Term 1 
 
Year 5, 2022 Scholarships Due
 
8.30am - 9.15: Executive Drop In 

Friday, 2 April 2021

School Holidays - Friday 2 April 2021 - Monday, 19 April 2021

Good Friday

Show more

IPSSO Sport

Week 7, games against Wollondilly Anglican College 

Junior Sport: Wednesday, 10 March 2021 

SPORT

RESULT

SPAPS

WAC

Soccer

Loss

0

4

Oz Tag

Loss

6

10

Basketball

Loss

14

18

Cricket

Win

53

0

 Senior Sport: Wednesday, 10 March 2021 

SPORT

RESULT

SPAPS

WAC

Soccer

Loss

0

4

Oz Tag

Loss

2

12

Basketball

Loss

38

4

Cricket

Win

45

29

 Players of the Match: 

Junior Soccer: Ela E

Senior Soccer: Amity-Rose C 

Junior Oz Tag: Florosei M 

Senior Oz Tag: Marlon H 

Junior Basketball: Yishu S 

Senior Basketball: Ahaana K 

Junior Cricket: Harlem K 

Senior Cricket: Adem E 

Prep Messy Day

Prep Messy Day will allow students to explore a range of sensory materials inside and outside the classroom to enhance their learning experience in Prep.

All Prep students are required to wear Mufti or old clothes that can get dirty or ruined. All students must have closed in shoes and covered shoulders. Please also pack spare clothes to change into.

Prep Possums and Koalas: Tuesday, 23 March 2021

Prep Echidnas and Wombats: Thursday, 25 March 2021 

We look forward to a fun day of mess!

Thank You David Busutel

Mr David Busutel retired from our Schools' Council where he has served for almost 30 years, most recently as Chair. Thank you, David for your tireless work.
 
Mr Peter White has commenced as our new Chair.
 

Tennis Coaching

Tennis coaching will return to Wednesday's in Term 2. Sessions will be available during recess and lunch as well as during class time between recess and lunch. Enquire with Jared on 0404 457 088 - www.centrecourttennis.com.au

Harmony/International Day

Yesterday we commemorated Harmony/International Day. This is a day that celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity and encourages a focus on inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. 

Our students shared their cultural backgrounds and as always, it was wonderful to see the diversity we have in our community, as so many arrived in some spectacular traditional dress. 

Respect was obvious and it was good to celebrate in this way, the warmth and support we have as a rich and diverse learning community. 

Staffing Update

This week, we farewelled Mrs Susan Leslie from our OSHC Team. Susan and her husband are relocating to Perth to spend more time for her adult children and grandchildren. Susan has been a wonderful part of our OSHC Team and will be missed. 
 
Mrs Hollis will be taking some long service leave over the last few weeks of term, with Mrs Angela Brown covering her Year 1 class.