Dear Parents and Carers, 

Today we celebrate Harmony Day, a time in which we acknowledge and celebrate Australian multiculturalism. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world, from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own cultural and religious traditions, as well as taking on many new traditions. Collectively, these traditions have enriched our nation. In celebrating, we strengthen our resolve to foster a nation founded on inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.

Loving God,
you created humanity in your image and likeness. We pray that we may open our eyes to see your face in our brothers and sisters of different cultures, races and religions. May we focus on what binds us as a people rather than what separates us. We pray that we may follow your example and embrace the unique qualities that each of us possess, so that we may bring about harmony on this earth.
Amen.

(Developed from Carita Australia)

Last Saturday, eighty-four children from across the parish completed their first confession with Fr Joe and Fr Hung. Congratulations to all the children for their commitment to the Reconciliation workshops and for the reverence and respect displayed throughout the Sacrament. The children were well prepared and understood the importance of acknowledging their sins before seeking forgiveness.

This week’s historical fact surrounds the naming of the Sport House Groups, which is timely with the school cross country carnival this Friday.  The Sports House Groups were named after significant locations within Jesus’ life. These groups are:

• Bethlehem (Red)
• Galilee (Green)
• Jerusalem (Blue)
• Emmaus (Yellow)

This Friday, the children are encouraged to come to school in their house colours. Alternatively, students can wear their school sports uniform.  

The Parents and Friends general meeting will be held tonight, Thursday 21 March, all parents / carers are warmly invited to attend. One item on the agenda will be the organisation of the end of term disco. The meeting will commence at 7:00pm in the school library, I look forward to seeing you there. 

This Sunday, the church celebrates Palm Sunday, which marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the commencement of Holy Week. As Catholics, we are Easter people and with each celebration of the Resurrection, we are drawn deeper into the mystery, that is the foundation of our faith. Jesus was born, died and rose again, bringing eternal life for each of us. As a school community we will gather for the Stations of the Cross at 11:15am on Thursday 28 March, parents and carers are most welcome to attend. The All Saints Easter mass times are as follow:

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Mr Matt Downes 

(Acting Principal)

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Congratulations to the students of Year 3 who last Saturday entered into the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Students were exemplary in their preparation, attending workshops and mass throughout the past few months.  All students were shown that God is love and that in mercy He is always ready to forgive, no matter what the wrong.  It assured them that God already knows the secrets of our hearts, but sometimes we need to name these aloud in order to prepare our hearts to renew the experience of God's love and forgiveness.  It is a timely reminder that we should all be looking to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to cleanse ourselves from sin and start anew with a renewed focus on Christ and grow deeper in our faith. 

Stations of the Cross

Next Thursday (Week 9) Year 5 will be presenting Stations of the Cross in the Church at 11:15am commemorating Jesus’ passion and death on the cross.  There are 14 stations retelling a story: a prayerful participation in the event that lies at the heart of Christianity – Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. We invite all families to join us in preparation for the holy weekend ahead.

Wednesday Mass and Faith & Learning visits

This Wednesday (Week 8) Year 3 will be attending mass at 9am and then will have their classroom visit with the parents directly after.  Next week (Week 9 ) Year 6 and Year 1 will celebrate Wednesday mass with Year 6 parents being invited back to the classroom to join their children and see the wonderful work they are doing.  We look forward to seeing families join us for mass and then a visit to the classroom afterwards. A big thank you to the parents and families who do come along.

Project Compassion Boxes

Please send your Project Compassion boxes to school next week so that they can be then taken up to the church. All money raised will go to Caritas Australia to bring justice and dignity to those in poverty.  If you are at mass this weekend you could, instead, take them to church with you and leave them on the table in the foyer.  Thank you for your generosity.

All mass times can be found in the All Saints Parish Bulletin and all other important information. A link can be found on the Parish Website:  https://www.dow.org.au/parish/all-saints-catholic-parish-shellharbour-city

4R has been learning about the season of Lent. We have explored the three main themes of Fasting, Almsgiving and Prayer. Students have also identified the sorts of choices we make and how we can live like Jesus during this time.

3H have had a great start to the year. We have been preparing for NAPLAN assessments and many of us also made our First Reconciliation. In Mathematics, we have been learning about addition and subtraction strategies and place value. In English, we have been learning about writing narratives and persuasive texts. We have also loved reading our serial reader “Gangsta Granny” by David Walliams. Here are some things we love about 3H:

William - I love that we have good rewards and sticker charts. 

Reevie - I love that we work on our writing and read “Gangsta Granny”.

Adam - I love that we have Sport and Art on the same day. 

Claudia - I love that we do lots of fun activities and read good books. 

Hugo - I love that we learn about Maths and play Maths games.

Dylan - I love that we go for a run in the morning so we are ready to learn. 

Please refer to the following protocols regarding communication between home and school;

• COMPASS is the “font of all” information - please refer to it regularly.

• The school newsletter is also a valuable source of information (if you are reading this now, you’ve probably already figured that out!)

• If you haven’t already done so, please follow our social media sites. 

• If you need to contact the school urgently or in a time-sensitive way, please phone the school office.

• If you have a question or concern, you can call to speak with one of the staff in the office, or please email the school office at info@nscdow.catholic.edu.au. A response will be delivered by either return email or phone call when the intended addressee is available.

• You are able to organise a meeting with your child's teacher by phoning the office, emailing the office, or sending a note to school with your child. 

• See-Saw is a fabulous tool that is used to show-case and share the learning that takes place in your child’s classroom. We ask that you please limit your use of See-Saw to comments on their work. It is not intended to be used as a two way communication tool, as the teachers are teaching throughout the day and do not have the ability to read and respond to messages sent directly to them.

The NSW Premier's Reading Challenge is now open and Nazareth is excited to be participating!

What is the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge?

The PRC is a statewide Challenge that encourages students to develop a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students and enables them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition, but a challenge to encourage each student to read, to read more, and to read more widely.

All students who complete the challenge and have their reading record validated by the school’s PRC coordinator will receive a certificate signed by the Premier of NSW.

How many books do students need to read?

Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 are challenged to read or experience 30 books. These books will be read aloud and logged for the children then submitted by the coordinator.

Students in Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 20 books independently. At least 10 of these books must be from the relevant Challenge booklists, and up to 10 books can be personal choice books.

If a book is from an approved PRC series, students can enter up to 5 books as Challenge books, and can read up to 10 other books from the same series as Personal Choice books. More information on the rules of the Challenge can be found on the PRC website.

Books must be added to a student’s online reading record by Friday 23 August 2024 in order for their reading record to be validated and receive a certificate. This will be done by the Library Manager.

How can students find books on the NSW PRC challenge lists?

Books are clearly marked in our Nazareth Library and have codes supplied in the front cover of each book.  If you choose to read books from outside our school library they will need a PRC code found on the PRC website

PRC Coordinator - Michelle Crinnion

IGNATION MEDAL

Romeo De Ornelas

NAZARETH AWARDS

Siena Pacheco

Aria Vengetas

PRINCIPALS AWARDS

Isaac Ezquerro

Jagger Onorato

Charlotte Lang

MERIT AWARDS

Brody Jolliffe, Marlow Quinn, Aiden Wotton, Isabelle Sekulovski, Lily Reitsma, Clayton McNamara, Kalahni Diaz, Lennox Wheeler, Sonny Dafkovski, Finn O'Brien, Mason Hatkic, Mason Moreira, Christelle Dela Cruz.

Representative Sport

The additional nomination time for the Dioceasn Rugby Union trials has closed. Information will be available via Compass in the coming weeks for all those children who have been invited to trial.

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected in the Diocesan Rugby League opens team:

• Matthew B
• Morrison C
• Jack K

Upcoming Events:

Cricket- Mark Taylor Shield, 4th April

More information to come via Compass for those students involved.

Kiama Rugby 7s touch & tackle, April 10th. 

If your child has expressed interest it would be great if they could attend the training sessions each Wednesday morning from 7.45. This will allow students to develop their knowledge and skills of Rugby Union

Community Sporting Opportunities:

In Week 8 our focus switches to our playground reward system where students will be awarded a token for following school and playground rules at break times. They can also earn white tokens by picking up litter around the playground, ensuring our school environment is being looked after. The tokens with which children are rewarded go towards the weekly House Point tally which is announced during assembly on Fridays. To remind us of our token system and how our students can earn them, please watch the following video created by our SRC team last year. Link

The “NSW Police Legacy Child Safety Handbook” is a comprehensive and free resource to assist parents, carers as well as teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety.  

The updated digital edition (link below) includes important content updates from: Fire and Rescue NSW (home fire safety), Transport NSW (school bus and seat belt safety), NSW Department of Communities and Justice (keeping children safe), eSafety Commissioner and NSW Rural Fire.

Please click on the cover below to view the digital handbook:

Child Safety Handbook https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__click.icptrack.com_icp_relay.php-3Fr-3D64889265-26msgid-3D871673-26act-3D5867-26c-3D320518-26pid-3D3608801-26destination-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fissuu.com-252Fassociatedmediagroup-252Fdocs-252Fcshb-5F2024-5Ffinal-253Ffr-253DsYzg3NTcxODI1MDA-26cf-3D95201-26v-3D0572565184723db9ffab91af2b0fc07b0eb9201c8ab67a87c158acb3764336f4&d=DwMFaQ&c=Ab0QvlN45UpQ9yLFxAXiOFnCOCfqvrLLi5_qZ1-2704&r=QCy5jRkusPCftmQvvR9I_yGS1aXU4Mvai0ejFg6kvmzR8KaE0AmQwpMPjd4n2nZl&m=tf4SYS1vsNdNUqmcPhzfKA8LKfRdW0YOM7_AqPaXjcw2nmIPkk-eF4sIvKkICxmz&s=go_Pz4Gx5Lu-fpj1-ICsjfdAHFR522152iSLezigveo&e=

Child Safety Handbook 2024 March Edition.pdf

Child Safety Handbook 2024 March Edition _pdf 675.76 KB

Shell_Cove_VAC_Program_April_2024.pdf

Shell_Cove_VAC_Program_April_2024 _pdf 1.21 MB

Shellharbour_Swans_Rego_1_.pdf

Shellharbour_Swans_Rego_1 pdf 226.61 KB

Wollongong_Lions_Rego.pdf

Wollongong_Lions_Rego _pdf 282.64 KB

NAZARETH PROMOTIONAL FILM

The film captures a day in the life of a Nazareth student.
Click https://youtu.be/olug9FWvZQI to view the film

FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PAGE FOR NAZARETH

If you haven't already please follow our school pages to keep up to date with events at school and for photos and updates from across the school. 

Please click on the direct links to follow our pages:

www.facebook.com/nazareth.shellhabour

www.instagram.com/nazareth.shellharbour

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 

Please click on the below link for a direct link to the social media policy.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/policies/social-media-policy/