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Dear Parents and Caregivers of Good Samaritan,
Next Monday we celebrate the Feast of all Benedictine Saints. We have claimed this feast day as our own following a formation and discernment process that led us to ground our school in the Benedictine charism.
The charism brings with it values that are particular to our school. On Monday we will be celebrating the values of:
Love of Christ & Neighbour
The call to love and support others is first and foremost a response to God’s astonishing love for us as humans. This is a love revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Passion for God and compassion for the other is so important in our community and is shown to us through many Bible stories. The Love of Christ & Neighbour is essential to building a positive school community.
Community
Community is what helps us form really good relationships in our school. Being a part of a community is about selfless participation in all opportunities and events. It is about having concern for the wellbeing of all people. We do this through our service to one another and our school. St Benedict helps us to understand that in our school there is a place for everyone - all are included. In community we work out how we are connected to God, to one another and to ourselves.
Hospitality
Hospitality is being open to each person and recognising that within each person we can see Jesus. Hospitality is about acceptance of others and creating a space that is welcoming of everyone no matter who they are, where they come from or what they are able to do. Hospitality is about being transformed by one another to become better people whilst we are together. When we are hospitable, we are showing the responsibilities we have toward others. A blessing always comes with the offering and the receiving of hospitality.
Stewardship
When we understand Stewardship we understand that the earth and all its goods are sacred and not to be neglected. Stewardship is the first part of respecting all of creation in its beauty and proper use. If we are good stewards we recognise creation as a gift from God that is to be used correctly and responsibly for all people. Stewardship is about caring for people as well as resources and it extends to everything and everyone.
As time goes on our students will come to understand these values - their simplicity and their complexity and how these values support them to live their lives together. This is what St Benedict sought in his Rule, a wisdom text of the 6th Century.
Thank you to our P&F for their generous support of our Feast Day.
Enjoy the week ahead,
Toni Sillis
Principal
How are classes formed each year?
Attached to the newsletter this week is the Formation of Classes Policy and Procedure. This policy is used to direct the process of class formation each year. This is a lengthy process that works towards ensuring that every child’s needs are considered. The process begins throughout Term 4. It is important that parents are aware that the teachers know the students within the school - classroom and playground - environment exceptionally well and always put the best interests of every child first.
Please take time to read the policy. This will give you some indication of the process. Whilst parental requests are considered, there is never a guarantee that they will be granted. If you plan to make a request, particularly about your child being placed within a friendship group, please be aware that there may be circumstances surrounding such requests that prevent it from being granted.
Often there can be experiences where children are placed in classes with friends upon parental requests. The children have then encountered difficulties with the friendship causing awkward situations for all involved that could possibly have been avoided. In addition, parents have requested that their child not be with a particular child/ren and the concern rests more with the adults than the child/ren involved.
Please remember that, first and foremost, Good Samaritan is a place of learning. Learning involves academic achievement as well as learning how to work effectively with a range of people including peers, teachers and school support officers.
Classes will be finalised on Monday 27 November.
No further changes to classes will be made beyond this date.
Keeping Children Focused in Term 4:
As this term progresses the children will become excited about the approaching Christmas season. It is very important that the children remain focused and settled throughout Term 4. When the children begin to bring Christmas cards, candy canes and the like to school too early they tend to ‘tune out’. It is for this reason, and the fact that waiting is a part of our Catholic Christian tradition with the season of Advent, that the children may begin to bring Christmas cards, candy canes etc for their classmates from the end of Week 9 – Friday 8 December.
New Year! New Class!
Last year Good Samaritan ran a most successful transition program for all students that introduced them to the changes to expect in the new school year. This program will be run again this year as we work our way through Term 4 in readiness for the new school year.
The program consists of four sessions that will address common concerns experienced by students as they face the changes of a new school year and provide strategies to overcome these.
The session topics are:
- I Can Try New Things: Here we talk about things that will be the same and those that will be different moving into a new grade.
- How Do I Feel? Identifying feelings and what we can do to keep calm.
- What Is It Like? Current students speak to participants about their experiences in that grade.
- I’ll be OK: Students complete An ‘All About Me’ sheet to provide information about themselves to their 2024 teacher.
Upon completion of the sessions, participants will meet their teacher for the 2024 school year. As a focal point for this meeting, the student will share some information about themselves with their new teacher.
Autism Workshop
Positive Partnerships Parent/Carer workshops provide the opportunity for participants to learn and share with and from other parents and carers of school-aged children on the autism spectrum. The workshops are designed to help you understand your young person and foster productive school, family and community relationships.
For more information on a free workshop please refer to the flyer HERE
Opportunity for families to apply for free NBN services
To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, is working with NBN Co to provide up to 30,000 families with no internet at home free NBN for 12 months.
The process for families to apply for the initiative is as follows:
- Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610 (10 am - 6 pm AEDT Monday to Friday)
- The National Referral will determine the family's eligibility
- Once eligibility has been determined they will issue the family with a voucher for 12 months of free NBN Internet to be used with a carrier of choice
- More information can be found at https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet/
To be eligible, a family must:
- Have a child living at home enrolled in an Australian school
- Have no active broadband service over the NBN network
- Live in a premise where they can access a standard NBN service
- Not have had an active NBN service during the previous 14 days.
Mini Vinnies Christmas Appeal
Hamper Donations
As a school community, we will be collecting non-perishable food items from the list below. Donations are due by Friday 17 November (Week 6)
Christmas Mufti Friday 24 November
Students and teachers are encouraged to come to school dressed in your green, white and red Christmas clothes. Students will be asked to contribute a gold coin donation. This money will be used to add to hampers or buy small gifts such as soft toys, books, or beach towels.
Christmas Cards of Hope Lunchtime Club
Each Tuesday in Weeks 4-8 students are invited to join the Mini Vinnies team in the STEM ROOM to make Christmas Cards that will be added into the hampers. Students are to bring their pencil cases with scissors and glue.
There is lots to look forward to at this time of year and Miss Rae, Mrs Apolloni and The Mini Vinnies team thank you for your support.
PARISH CONTACT DETAILS:
General enquiries
Lumen Christi Catholic Parish, Wollongong
Diocese of Wollongong
PO Box 874 (36 Harbour Street)
Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia
Ph: (02) 42 110500
Email: wollongong@dow.org.au
Office hours: Monday to Friday (9:00am–1:00pm)
News from Amaroo Gold
We have had a great start to Term 4 in Amaroo Gold. The students have loved being part of lots of interesting and exciting learning, and fun days like the Colour Run.
Religion:
In Religion this term we have been learning about the Creation Story and how God created the world in seven days. We painted and drew pictures to show all the wonderful things that God created for us.
We have also been learning about Noah’s Ark. Noah did what God asked him to do and saved the life of all the animals from the flood. We drew what happened in each part of the story and painted our favourite part.
Geography:
In Geography this term we have been learning to describe and predict the weather in our local area, and how the weather can influence people and their activities.
Science:
In Science this term we investigated changes that occur in the sky and on the land. We looked at the Sun’s path in the sky and the appearance of the Moon and stars at night.
We are also observing and recording daily weather changes and identify how these changes influence our lives.
More snapshots of our Amaroo Day:
Tennis Sporting Schools Program
Over the last few weeks Year 1 - Year 5 have completed a Sporting Schools Tennis Program with Coach David, Coach Ryan, Coach Bianca and Coach Brody from The Illawarra Tennis Academy at Fairy Meadow. Our students have had so much fun learning new skills of forehand, backhand, volleys, serving and scoring in Tennis. Thanks so much to the coaches for coming and sharing their skills with us.
If your child would like to attend a free group tennis lesson or attend a school holiday program see details below.
2024 School Fees:
We have been advised of the following regarding School Fees for 2024. There has been a slight increase in fees for the upcoming school year. The following is billed to parents per family.
School Fees are generally due 30 days after invoicing, however, families are provided with flexibility to meet their commitments. To facilitate this flexibility families must complete a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment Form to advise the school of their intended payment option. Once you have completed the Installment form the instalments will show on your fee statements with the amount to be paid each instalment and the date by which it is due. The instalment amount will be calculated so all fees are paid in one school calendar year with an end date the first week in December.
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Primary School Fees Diocese of Wollongong |
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Tuition Fees K-6 (Family Fee Type) |
$1843.00 |
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SEDSO Levy K-6 (Family Fee Type) |
1245.00 |
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GSFM School Resource Fee K-6 (Individual Student Fee Type) |
$215.00 |
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GSFM Carnivals (Individual Student Fee Type) |
$26.00 |
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At Good Samaritan, excursions are billed at the time of the event.
Year 6 2 single day School Camp and annual activities are also included within the school fee structure.
The Canteen will be open Wednesday,Thursday and Friday
CASH ONLY
We will continue to focus on the value of Community and look at the focus of safety before and after school. Students will be explicitly taught the following expectations for before and after school.
What can students do in the morning?
- Students arrive at school each day from 8:20 when playground supervision begins, unless they are enrolled in before school care.
- When students arrive they go directly to their classroom, drop off their bag and move to the playground and stay until bell time. All other areas of the school, including buildings are out of bounds.
- Play games fairly
- Follow school rules
- Use equipment responsibly
- Return equipment to trolley after Stop, Drop and Turn as directed by the teacher
What can students do in the afternoon?
- Students on car lines assemble at 2:55 ready for dismissal.
- Students travelling by bus go directly to bus lines.
- Students on Parent Pick Up wait with their class teacher outside their classroom until parents arrive.
- Students who walk or ride to and from school do so in groups and leave the grounds promptly after dismissal and go straight home.
From the School Handbook
Car Park Safety
Safety within the Parish car park is everyone’s business. Students, parents and staff can only be kept safe if everyone is vigilant about their actions when using this space. It is every parent/carer’s responsibility to exercise safe actions within the carpark. This includes using the car park as indicated below:
- Parents are not to park on school or Parish grounds during drop off (8:20am-8:50am) or pick up (2:30pm-3:20pm) times
- When arriving prior to dismissal at Car Line Pick Up parents are asked to turn engines off once the car is stationary
- A safe speed of 10km/h when driving into the car park
- Do not exit your vehicle when dropping off or picking up students
- Ensure that children are well within the school gate when dropping off before moving off
- Children only exit vehicles when the vehicle is at the front of the queue
- Ensure students have safely entered the car and closed the door when picking up
- There is no pedestrian access to the carpark when car lines have begun in both the morning and afternoon
- Gates into the school are closed and locked from the Parish car park following the morning bell at 8:50am.
Thank you to those parents who continually exercise the utmost care when accessing the school via the Parish car park. Every child’s safety is everyone’s concern.
Diary Dates & Reminders for the week ahead:
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Thursday 9 November |
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Friday 10 November |
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Saturday 11 November |
THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A Keep your lamps burning. We human beings need fuel to keep going. Without food and drink we eventually become weak and die. Our spiritual life also needs fuel, namely the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. We are nourished also by prayer, the Scriptures, the community and by loving others. If we seek this nourishment regularly our light will be shining brightly when Christ comes in glory. |
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Sunday 12 November |
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Monday 13 November |
School Feast Day: 9:15am Whole School Mass (Parents Welcome) Student activity day - sports uniform to be worn |
Mark your Calenders!
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DECEMBER |
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Tuesday |
5 December |
Yr 6 Jamberoo Day Out |
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Wednesday |
6 December |
School Christmas Concert |
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Thursday |
14 December |
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Friday |
15 December |
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The Lord Mayor's Picinic in the Park