2024, Term 2, Week 10

Principal Message

Dear Families,

As we draw to the end of the Term it is a time to reflect and celebrate.

St Ambrose is a vibrant community that provides real learning experiences beyond the classroom and continually looks at extending students learning, e.g. in the last week of this term we held our Public Speaking Finals, had our choirs and rock band perform at the Tweed Shire Music Festival (Eisteddfod), our Yr 6 students held their Asian Trade Fair, Parent / Teacher interviews are occurring and we are concluding the week with the Yr 5 assembly and our drama winning performance!!

In this week's newsletter I have outlined a significant change to the Parent Forum structure. While the mechanisms of the newly created - School Community Group - have changed, the function and purpose remains the same. Please read through this, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the School Community Group (SCG) committee on stambrosepf@gmail.com.

In addition to this I have also outlined modifications made to our school reporting procedure. While the format of the report is mandated by the Catholic Schools Office we have managed to modify the release time of the reports and provide additional opportunities for Parent / Teacher contact. Once again if you require clarification or have any questions please either contact the school office or the School Community Group (SCG) on stambrosepf@gmail.com.

Thank you to those families who completed the "Tell Them From Me Survey". 26% of our families responded. The school staff will review this data, and responses to survey inquiries / trends will be published in upcoming newsletters.

In Week 2 of next Term, the school will participate in a school review. This review will be conducted by an independent body - Australian College of Education Research (ACER). They will use a tool called the "School Improvement Tool" to gather information and provide feedback to the school and community so that we can develop a Three Year Strategic Plan.

As always I would like to thank the staff for their continued hard work, professionalism and commitment in ensuring that we provide a high quality education for all our students. Thank you to the families who offer our school support and encouragement. Finally a big shout out to all the students at St Ambrose, who continue to live out our school values of being respectful, responsible and courageous - have a wonderful holiday!

Warm Regards,

Brian Laybutt
Principal

School Reporting Changes

Hopefully you have received your child’s school report and if required, you have made an appointment time to meet with your child’s teacher.

The school has been reviewing its school reporting procedures and have sort information through a Parent Survey that was issued recently and consultation with staff.  As result we have produced the following guidelines:

TERM 1
Meet and Greet Parent / Teacher Meeting
Show case afternoon

TERM 2
Show case afternoon
Week 7 - School Reports issued to families
Week 7 -10 Parent / Teacher Meeting

TERM 3
Showcase Afternoon

TERM 4
Week 5 School Reports issued to families
Week 6 - 8 Parent / Teacher Meeting
Showcase Afternoon

Please Note:

1. The format of the school report is mandated by the Catholic Schools Office and is unable to modify or change
2. Through a parent survey issued to the school community and consultation with Staff, St Ambrose will be issuing school reports:

• Term 2 Week 7
• Term 4 Week 5

The spacing of the reports is approx 17 weeks apart:

• Beginning of the Year to Week 7 Term 2 = 17 weeks
• Report 1 to Report 2 =  17 weeks

The reports are "progress reports" and NOT end of semester reports. This means information presented is to a specific point in time and not to the end of the Semester (Term)

3. Following the distribution of both school reports, time slots will be made available for parents to have a meeting with the class teacher regarding their child's progress.

4. Following the Term 4 Week 5 report, each child will be given specific goals to work on up until the end of the year and into the following year. These goals will be in direct response to areas for development as indicated in the school report.

5. Seesaw will continue to be used by teachers as a source of sharing student's work with families.

As always, meetings are available with the class teacher / Leadership team as requested by parents / families.

Term 2 Recap: Celebrating Growth and Learning

As we conclude Term 2, we reflect on the incredible growth and achievements of our students. This term has been filled with exciting learning opportunities, community engagement, and moments of pride.

Students impressed our leaders from schools across the diocese by articulating their learning processes and goals through the 5 key questions: What are you learning and why? How are you going? How do you know? How can you improve? Where do you go for help? This event was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the wonderful things happening at St Ambrose and to celebrate our students' ability to reflect on and value their learning.

Our recent Classroom Showcase was a highlight, with students proudly presenting their hard work and achievements. The joy and pride on their faces were priceless, and we were thrilled to have so many family members join us. Your support and engagement play a crucial role in your children's educational journey.

Our use of Seesaw has continued to enhance the learning experience. Students have been actively adding posts to their digital portfolios, allowing families to connect with and participate in their learning journeys. The positive feedback, likes, and comments from families have been invaluable in motivating and encouraging our students.

Looking ahead, In term 3, we are excited to focus on new learning opportunities, setting and achieving goals, and engaging in enriching excursions and camps. Our students will continue to strive for excellence, supported by our dedicated staff and the strong partnership with our families. Save the date on your calendars for our Classroom Showcase on Friday, 20th September, where we will celebrate these achievements and milestones together.

Chelsea Carter -Assistant Principal- Learning & Teaching

Jess Wilson - Acting Leader of Pedagogy

Public Speaking Winners

On Tuesday 2nd July the school held its Public Speaking Night in the school hall. Public Speaking is an activity undertaken by all students within the school. 
We acknowledge that Public Speaking is often a very daunting task and many students (parents) are challenged when asked to complete this task. At St Ambrose, to help children overcome the fear of public speaking  we encourage practice, provide positive feedback, create a supportive environment, use relaxation techniques, and gradually increase speaking opportunities. 
In saying this public speaking skills are crucial for school students as they boost confidence, enhance communication abilities, promote critical thinking, and prepare them for future academic and professional success.
Congratulations to all students who took part in this valuable skill and in particular to those who progressed to the finals. Our Public Speaking Finalists were all amazing!!
Special Congratulations to all winners who will now progress to the Tweed Catholic Schools Public Speaking to be held on Thursday 8th August.

St AMBROSE PUBLIC SPEAKING WINNERS 2024

Early Stage 1 ( Kindergarten )
1st Alaya  -  Soccer
1st Nash -     Alligators and Crocodiles
Runner Up Stella -  Humpback Whales

Stage 1 ( Year 1 & 2)
1st  Markus. -  Pizza
Runner Up -  Ashton  -  Soccer

Stage 2 ( Yrs 3 & 4)
1st  Xander   -     Why the good old days are not so great!
Runner Up.  Emma  -   If I won a million dollars

Stage 3 (Yrs 5 & 6)
1st Madison -  Jellyfish
Runner Up - Annie.   My Heritage

Year 5 Assembly

Drama Assembly

School Family/Parish Mass Celebration

Term 3 Sacrament of Confirmation

A reminder if your child is baptised catholic in years 4-6 and you would like them to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation please contact the school office by 24th July to be added to the compass event.

Parish Newsletter

Embracing Change: Lismore Diocese Renewal Journey

During the first week of June, the Diocese commenced a communications campaign to further share the Journey with the entire parish community. There is a new section on the Lismore Diocesan website and the Diocese will be posting information on their Facebook page. 

Music News

The Winter Appeal

The Mini Vinnies have been very busy this term with the Winter Appeal. It was wonderful to see all of the donations for those less fortunate in our community. We presented our Winter Appeal donations to the St Vincent De Paul committee members on Wednesday and they were very appreciative of the wonderful effort St Ambrose has made towards helping our wider community. We would like to thank everyone who contributed towards this special fundraiser.

Year 6 Jelly Cup Fundraiser

Parent Forum Changes

Dear Families,

Recently the Catholic Schools Office presented all schools with  an overview of Two Models of Parent Representative Bodies that they wished all schools to choose from.

One was the “School Community Forum”  and the other the “School Community Group”.

Essentially the School Community Forum is basically what we currently have and the School Community Group was a less structured group that has no constitution, no formal bank accounts and no treasurer.

Information pertaining to these two models was published in numerous newsletters and following this the school community was asked to vote on which model would best suit our school.

From the survey we received 20 responses:

2 - were undecided
9 - wanted to keep the existing model
9 - wanted two adopt the unstructured model.

In considering the split vote and discussing some major contributing factors e.g.

1. The importance of promoting school community
2. Providing opportunities for school engagement
3. Success of class parent reps across all grades
4. Fundraising capacity of the Parent Forum
5. Lack of volunteers coming forward, to be on the Parent Forum Committee

The Parent Forum Committee in consultation with the school have voted unanimously to move into a “School Community Group" with some slight modifications.

These modifications are outlined in the Guidelines below:

GUIDELINES

ST AMBROSE PRIMARY SCHOOL

School Community Group (SCG)

For St Ambrose:

The Parent Forum will change its name to the St Ambrose School Community Group.

Chairperson, Secretary and three committee members will be maintained. One committee member being a Kinder Parent.

Treasurer no longer required, all money transactions, purchases, invoices  and bank accounts are run through the school. Auditing of accounts is facilitated by the Catholic Schools Office.

The St Ambrose Primary School Forum Constitution - Under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009  and associated ABN, as registered 4th Jan 2016 - will be dissolved.

Closure of Parent Forum Bank Account - money “donated” to the school and held by the school.

Any money held by the school on behalf of the Parent Forum can only be used after endorsement from the committee

SCG meet at least once per term to :

• Set Agenda for SCG Meeting
• Bring forward any issues for discussion and clarification as raised by school community.
• Maintain a direct email address for the school community to communicate into.
• SCG consulted by school as required
• Seek feedback from school community as required
• Receive feedback from organised events from Class parent Reps and school community and relay this to school community through either newsletters or Parent Forum meeting

SCG Meeting - live streamed once a term

Class Reps to continue as is - strong emphasis on organising “grade” activities and social activities. Allocated year group events e.g. mothers day stall, grandparents day etc will continue as is.

Special “School” events will be raised with the committee who will advise Principal. For a school event to take place e.g. colour run, movie night, school fair etc a committee of no less than 5 parents will need to be willing to coordinate the event. If the SCG and the school agree to the event, the five organising members of the event will meet with the school to outline the cost/ running / date etc of the event.

The focus of the SCG is building community not necessarily fundraising. Any proposed fundraising event needs to be purposeful and money needs to be specifically directed.

The current committee will roll over into the newly formed School Community Group:

Chairperson -  Jason Arthurton
Secretary - Nicole Adams
Committee Member - Emma Greenhill
Committee Member - Mykaela Condon
Committee Member - Laura Ryan
Class Parent Representatives - continue as is.

Prior to the first School Community Group Meeting held each year, nominations will be called for: Chairperson, Secretary, Committee Members and Class Parent Representatives. The determination of these positions will be held at the first School Parent Group Meeting of each year.

The school contact for the School Community Group will remain the same:

stambrosepf@gmail.com

If you wish to raise any issues, make comment on the new structure or make suggestions please contact the School Community Group Committee via this email address.

Finally can I thank all those parents both past and present who have been on the Parent Forum Committee. The work of all committee members has supported the school in not only providing much needed financial assistance but importantly has fostered and promoted a culture of community, inclusiveness and welcome. I am confident that the new structure that is being implemented will continue this great work.

Athletics Carnival

What a fantastic day it was for our school Athletics Carnival. A huge thank you to all the teachers who assisted to be course judges, time keepers and our wonderful Year 6 leaders who lead our novelty activities. A note has been sent out to all parents of students who have made it through to represent St Ambrose at the Zone Athletics Carnival in Kingscliff on the 2nd August next term. Good luck to all of those students! 

Further congratulations to our age champions on the day!

A huge congratulations to the Teal house for taking first place in the house colour points!

Upcoming Sport Events

NSW PSSA Rugby League Championship

Congratulations to Duke Mactaggart competing in the Rugby League NSW PSSA Championship in Wollongong. The school community are very proud of your achievement Duke.

Wellbeing: Building a Posative Mindset

Riding Safely in the holidays

Music Tutors