2023, Term 2, Week 2

Principal's Message

Dear Families,

Welcome to Term 2!! I trust that you and your family were able to celebrate Easter and enjoy the beautiful weather. Following the holidays the school participated in the Pottsville RSL ANZAC Day ceremony. Many thanks to those families who were able to attend and to the 150 students and 22 staff who marched. In particular a big thank you to Mrs Mathews  who coordinated the school Drumline to play during the march. It is with great pride that the school supports and participates in this significant National event.

A reminder that our Parent Forum meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday 9th May. You are able to participate via Facebook as it is live streamed or you can attend in person. The meeting commences at 6.00p.m. and runs for approx 40 min. If you have an agenda item or a point for discussion, please forward this through to the Parent Forum email :stambrosepf@gmail.com

Kindergarten enrolments for 2024 are now being taken and interviews will commence shortly. If you have a child or know of children, who wish to enrol at St Ambrose - now is the time to put in an application.

During the school holidays the school had some artificial turf laid, this is in the main courtyard of the school. It looks great and provides a mud free area for the children to eat their lunch.

Next week is Mother's Day and we have some wonderful activities planned, including our Mother's Day stall. Please see further details in this newsletter.

Hopefully you are able to enjoy the beautiful weather with your family over the weekend.

Brian Laybutt
Principal

Friday Assembly

Staff Development Days - Pupil Free Days.

Tuesday 30th May is NO LONGER A PUPIL FREE DAY. We apologies for any inconvenience. This staff development day has been cancelled by the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) and will be held in 2024, date TBA. All students attend school as normal. 

We have also been advised by the CSO, that in lieu of the new Syllabus, all Catholic Schools are required to take two additional staff professional learning days before the end of the year. 

As a result, the remaining Staff Development Days (Pupil Free Days) are as follows and are now on the school calendar:

• Friday 30th June (Term 2, Week 10)

• Monday 17th July (Term 3, Week 1)

• Friday 22nd September (Term 3, Week 10)

• Monday 9th October (Term 4, Week 1)

• Monday 27th November (Term 4, Week 8)

Religious News

First Holy Communion – Term 2
A REMINDER: Year 4 students who completed the Sacrament of Penance in Term 1 will now prepare for the Sacrament of the Eucharist, their First Holy Communion, this term.
You will need to attend a parent/child meeting next Monday 8 8th May at 6:00 pm at School (or if you are unable to make it this night there is a meeting Wednesday 10th May at St Anthony’s School in Kingscliff at 6:00 pm).

Mother’s Day - Sunday 14th May 
Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of
thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

Blessings to all the women in our lives.

Christian Meditation
Here at St Ambrose many of our teachers have completed professional development in this area and the children experience
meditation regularly.

There is now consistent evidence across studies that meditation in schools:
 Improves: Attention, Mindfulness & Cognitive function
 Reduces: Depression, Stress, Anxiety

On Friday 12th May following The Mother’s Day celebrations, Helen Hunter from the Lismore Diocese, Catholic Schools Office will conduct a 30-minute session on the benefits of meditation for your child from scientific research developments and spiritual prayerful experiences.
(Please refer to information on COMPASS as this could be a very beneficial experience for you).

Sports News

Cross Country Results

What a fantastic and hot day it was for our school Cross Country Carnival. A huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered to be course judges, and to all the staff who worked so hard to make it a wonderful day for all students. A note has been sent out to all parents of students who have made it through to represent St Ambrose at the Zone Cross Country Carnival in Murwillumbah on the 5th May next term. Good luck to all of those students! 

 Further congratulations to our age champions on the day!

History was also made on this day by the Purple House winning the overall point score of 209pts! The Gold house finished in 2nd place, followed by the Teal house in 3rd and White in 4th.

Congratulations PURPLE!

Polding AFL
A huge Congratulations to Jacob who has been selected on the Polding Team to play AFL at the NSWPSSA Championships this Month. Jacob will be playing against schools/teams from all over NSW. We wish Jacob the best of luck for his competition.  

Polding Swimming
Brax traveled down to Sydney in Week 9 to compete at the Polding Trials. Brax represented not only St Ambrose but the Lismore Diocese and raced in the 9yr 50m Freestyle. 

Brax swam a 2sec PB and finished in 13th place. Congratulations on an amazing effort!

Parents/Carers Are Our Learners’ First Teachers.

You are critical partners in your child/ren’s learning, and thus you have a hugely influential role in supporting learning outcomes. To create opportunities for informative conversations with your child/ren, these are 5 questions you can ask:

1. What did you learn today?

2. How did you do?

3. What did you do if you didn’t understand?

4. How can you improve your learning? 

5. What are you most proud of? 

Chelsea Carter
Assistant Principal- Learning & Teaching

Kimberley Mathewson
Leader of Pedagogy

WE’RE TAKING IT IN OUR STRIDE ON FRIDAY 19 MAY 2023

Emergency Preparedness in Schools

Mini Vinnies 2023

Mini Vinnies are volunteers from Years 5 and 6 who get together to help those in need within our school community. Mini Vinnies introduces children to social justice issues, to the St Vincent de Paul Society and to living faith through action. The group meets regularly and sets goals on what they want to do and achieve. The group is responsible for the organisation of fundraising events at school for our local community. 

We are all very proud of these student volunteers who are currently organising the Winter Appeal at school for those who are less fortunate in our community. Each classroom will have a basket for donations to be collected. We greatly appreciate your support with helping those in need. 

Upcoming School Events

Apple Technology

Tell Them From Me Parent Survey

Please take a short amount of time to fill this survey out, your input is important to our School Community.

This survey closes in one week’s time, Friday 12th May.

Parents are asked to provide feedback on their experience of our school using the online
survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning
process. We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in
Learning survey.

As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would
greatly appreciate your feedback.

The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in
partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Ambrose Catholic
Primary School.
 
The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able
to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:

www.tellthemfromme.com/stambrose2489
 

ACEN ebook of the Week

Parent Forum Meeting

Live Life Well @ School