Newsletter Week 4, Term 2 2022
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
Last Sunday (May 15th) the Parish held a Parish Picnic which brought together all members of the Parish (schools and parishioners). The picnic was held at St Anthony's Primary School and it was wonderful to see so many families in attendance. On the day our school choirs, drumline and school band all performed. A big thank you to Mr Cenda for organising our school groups and to the "army" of parents who assisted in transporting and setting up the equipment.
This week our School Leaders attended a leadership day at Twin Towns (GRIP). Schools from all over Northern NSW and Gold Coast attend. Thank you to Mr Lubans and Mr Bottle for coordinating this.
Our Walk to School Day on Thursday was significantly affected by wet weather. Thanks to the hearty souls who walked and a big thank you to Mr Bottle for coordinating the day.
Don't forget election day tomorrow - St Ambrose is a Polling booth. The school will not be running a barbecue as unfortunately, volunteers were very light on, which is understandable with weekend sporting commitments.
Our netball teams have been posted for next Thursday. The school now has a Sports Noticeboard (located just past the school office) whereby students and families can be updated with upcoming events and team lists. Many thanks to the 12 parents who volunteered to help at this coming Thursday's Netball Gala Day. St Ambrose will be sending 6 teams thanks to your help!
Have a great weekend.
Regards,
Brian Laybutt
Principal
STUDENT BIRTHDAYS
A number of parents are sending birthday invitations into the class teacher and asking them to hand them out. Unfortunately this places the teacher in a very awkward position, as the children often interpret this as though the teacher is doing the invitations. I would ask that in future parent's do this in a subtle way either before or after school. As you can imagine, it is very disappointing for children if they see others getting an invitation if they don't!
LOST PROPERTY
Our lost property bins are overflowing. 99% of items have no names on them, obviously, it is impossible to find the owners. Please label all clothing.
Year 2 Teal Assembly
Religious Education News
Incitãre
On Friday the 13th of May some students from year 6 were selected to go to a religious retreat day at Murwillumbah called Incitãre. When we got there we got lanyards with our names on them and split into our groups and each group had a year 10 student from St Joseph's College ministry class. We then did our first session which was about what we valued in life. We wrote what we valued in our lives and what we couldn't live without. We also had to write ways we could show that we are Christian. In session 2 we watched a video about courage then wrote ways we can show courage in pictures of mountains. We then did a christ-like zone activity, we needed to make our idea into two scenes: the first scene showed the negative thing happening and the second scene showed somebody stepping in against this action to create a 'Christ-like zone'. To finish the day we mixed up our groups and prepared a prayer service. The prayer service was fun and ended with our group leader putting oil on our hands and then giving us a bookmark, badge, and token with a prayer on it. We had an amazing day and thank everyone who put it together.
Harper Harris and Bodhi Foster
Yr 6 Students
To view the latest news and events from our Parish please click here
Weekly Award Winners
Student News
Yr 4 Excursion Gracemere Farmstead
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to hold a fluffy, baby chicken? Or perhaps you're wondering how goats are useful on a farm? Last Friday the 13th of May, Year 4 set off on their first excursion for the year. After a cancellation last term, due to the weather, they were very much looking forward to it. Leaving school early at 8 am they had a 2hr drive ahead of them to Yorklea. On arrival at Gracemere Farmstead, they were met by farmer Stephen and his daughter who were their tour guides for the day. Learning about how egg-laying chickens are bred and meat-eating chickens grow, Year 4 ventured around walking all over the farm. They got to hold many different animals and learn a variety of interesting facts. We want to thank the ‘Kids to Farm’ program for providing us with a grant to attend this excursion.
Year 5 Green Innovations awards with Together Pottsville
Together Pottsville, a group of Pottsville mums, is teaming up with some nominees from year five for the green innovation awards. This year our entry will be about Simply Cups.
Simply Cups is a company that recycles coffee cups into useful products. These things include car stops, outdoor furniture, fancy garden beds, coat hangers, and even bricks. This project will not only keep waste out of landfill, but also reduce the use of other natural materials in the creation of these items.
Did you know that each week Pottsville alone disposes of over one thousand coffee cups!
By just putting some Simply Cup collection tubes around Pottsville we will save over one thousand coffee cups each week from being trashed in landfill! These cups can take thirty long years to biodegrade.
This initiative doesn’t just benefit our school. If the project is successful, other schools will hopefully be influenced by our acts and we can contribute to a better future for all.
Some of the St Ambrose students will be promoting our idea to the community by entering into the 2022 Green Innovation Awards.
We would appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to do the attached coffee habits survey. Feel free to share the link with local friends and family who would like to help with this project.
Written by Bronte Brown 5G
This Thursday was National Walk to School Day. Thank you to the St Ambrose families and students who chose to walk, ride or scoot/skate to school. It was great to see lots of students and parents choosing to ride and walk together safely.
Sports
Diocesan Cross Country
We wish all the Diocesan cross country carnival representative runners all the best for their event next Tuesday in Grafton! Good Luck!
NOMINATING FOR SPORTS EVENTS:
A friendly reminder that all events, especially sporting, will have online permission/nomination through Compass. It is vital that you if you wish your child to be involved in particular events, must consent within the given timeframe.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Event | Date |
Diocesan Cross Country Carnival | Tuesday 24th May (Week 5) |
NSW Schools Cup Netball Gala Day | Thursday 26th May (Week 5) |
AFL StreetSmarts AFLQ Schools Cup | Tuesday 31st May (Week 6) |
Hockey Gala Day (Years 5 and 6) | Trials: N/A (must have own equipment) Comp: Friday 17th June (Week 8) |
St Ambrose Athletics Carnival | Monday 20th June (Week 9) |
Rugby League - NRL All Schools Competition | Tuesday 9th August (Week 4, Term 3) |
Wellbeing
The Winter Appeal
St Vincent de Paul works really hard to provide emergency accommodation, meals and everyday essentials to people in need. We want to show care and hope for these people too.
This year the Mini Vinnies group is asking all families to donate clean blankets and toiletries to show our compassion. For the next month, we are collecting soap, body wash, tissues, toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, deodorant, socks and blankets. The Mini Vinnies will then create care packs to be distributed by the St Vincent de Paul volunteers. Each classroom has a basket for donations to be collected. We appreciate your support.
Parent Forum
Community News
Crossing Supervisor
The SCS role St Ambrose Primary School - Pottsvile - Election Commitment for is now live. Please click here to view the advert and share with your network.
Internal Link – https://performancemanager10.successfactors.com/sf/jobreq?jobId=58601&company=TfNSW
External Link – https://jobs.transport.nsw.gov.au/job-invite/58601/