Dear Parents and Carers, 

Last Wednesday, the Nazareth community celebrated Grandparents’ Day with mass, morning tea and open classrooms. It was a beautiful event, and the staff and students enjoyed sharing their classrooms with the many parents, carers and grandparents who attended. Thank you to Fr Joe for leading the celebration of the Eucharist and Mrs Mammone for her support in preparing the mass.

On Thursday and Friday last week, the Year 6 students had the privilege of an overnight excursion to Canberra. It was a wonderful educational experience for the students to learn more about our Nation’s history, while enjoying time away with their peers. Once again, the children were outstanding ambassadors for our school. A special thank you must go to the staff; Mr Messner, Mrs Carlon, Mrs Rowles, Mrs Johnson and Mrs Warfield for the additional time and care they provided the students of Year 6, without their support and the volunteering of their time these overnight excursions would not be possible. 

This week is Bullying No Way – National Week of Action. The theme for 2024 is 'Everyone belongs'. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It's about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness. Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We're encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued. This week there have been many conversations about what this looks like, in our classrooms, playgrounds, online and at home. For further support and advice go to Bullying No Way for Families. If your child is experiencing bullying please contact their classroom teacher or a member of the school leadership team so it can be dealt with in a timely manner. 

One of our school priorities this year is to review and realign our vision, mission and core values. The purpose of this review is to ensure that everyone associated with the school are clear about our purpose and direction, so that we are providing the best possible Catholic education for your child. Mr Gary Quinn, CEDoW Leader for Staff Spiritual Formation and foundation Assistant Principal of Nazareth, has been engaged to work with our school community to comprehensively review the school’s mission, vision and core values. To assist in this process, we encourage all families to complete the Vision and Mission Parent Feedback Survey. It will only take a minute or two to complete and all feedback is greatly appreciated.  

A reminder to all families about the collective responsibility that we all share in relation to road safety in and around the school precinct. Please ensure that speed limits, parking restrictions and road rules are always adhered to. When arriving at and leaving the school site please ensure you do so safely. That includes accessing the supervised pedestrian crossing on Glider Avenue when crossing the road with your child. Attached to this newsletter you will find some road safety reminders from the NSW Government – Keeping Our Kids Safe Around Schools. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Mr Matt Downes 

(Acting Principal)

This week in Religion we have been learning about saying sorry and asking for forgiveness. Peter had to ask for forgiveness when he made a sad choice and turned his back on Jesus. 

We have been thinking of times when we have had to ask for forgiveness. Some of the times were:

• When we hurt someone's feelings

• Say naughty words 

• Are rude to our friends

• When we don’t listen to mum and dad.

Jesus tells us that it takes courage to say sorry and ask for forgiveness. He told us that God will always love and forgive us just like when he forgave Peter.

During this term, 3L have been learning about what it is to be called a saint.

Students have been identifying in their experience, people who demonstrate holiness in love and service to others.

Over this past week, students have been learning about the canonised saints - those whom the Church has declared saints and set before us as models of holiness.

Below are some images of the students' creation of holy cards of a saint of choice.

Rugby Union Knockout- Chris Gangemi Cup

On Monday August 12 Nazareth sent the Senior Rugby Union team to the Chris Gangemi cup in Hunters Hill. We were fortunate enough to get a wild card entry into the event after our loss to Ss Peter & Paul in Kiama. There was a huge amount of talent at the knockout event with schools from across NSW taking part in the event. The team won 1 out of 4 games on the day, placing us 4th in our pool. Thank you to the team who attended the knockout, even though it was the pupil free day. A big thanks to the parents/carers for transporting the children to and from the event as it was an early start. Once again we thank Dean Wheeler & Geoff Hicks who have prepared and coached the team for these Rugby Union events. 

South Coast Athletics

Congratulations to the Nazareth Athletics team for representing Nazareth so well at the South Coast Athletics event on Tuesday August 13. It was a wet and cold day to be taking part in Athletics events but the students tried their hardest. A big congratulations to the students who have made it through to the Athletics Selection Trials being held next week on August 20. Thank you to Mrs Smith & Mrs Ottaway for attending and supporting the children. A special mention must go to the following students;

Ziggy E - 3rd place in Junior Boys Division

Aubrey P - 2nd place in Junior Girls Division

Oliver S - OVERALL CHAMPION in his category

These children have made it through to the selection trials next week:

• Ziggy E
• Aubrey P
• Morrison C
• Matilda M
• Saxon R
• James W
• Amelia P
• Milla F
• Ana K
• Raven N
• Jack K

Please see Compass for details for the Athletics Selection Trials

Upcoming Events:

Athletics Selection Trials- August 20. Children who are attending this event placed top 4 in their event at the South Coast Athletics events or had their 1500m nomination accepted. Please see Compass for further details. 

Soccer Gala Day- August 23. Please note that the venue for all students will be Terry Reserve in Albion Park. Transportation is to be arranged by parents/carers for their children. The Compass event will be released shortly. Please read the section on uniform/footwear requirements. 

Basketball Gala Day- September 19 & 20. Please note that expressions of interest for this event have now closed. As the venue for this event is small, we are not able to enter many teams. The event convenor will need to confirm our teams prior to us determining how many students we can send from the list of expressions of interest we have received. More information to follow on Compass. 

2025 Sports Nominations

In the coming months we will begin to provide information regarding the 2025 Diocesan Representative Trial nomination process. This is for children in years 4 & 5 this year who will be in years 5 & 6 next year. Nominations for Basketball, Tennis & Cricket will close first in early November with all other sports closing towards the end of November. Please continue to check the newsletters & Compass for any information that is distributed regarding this nomination process. 

NAZARETH AWARDS

Jason Miller

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Emilia Dimovski

Chloe Capelo

MERIT AWARDS

Macey Santos, Molly Bronish, Hugo Sewell, Alexander Popovski, Gabriella Campos, Ruby Evans, Archie Squires, Cristian Banovic, Lilijana Tivey, Jacob Sekulovski, Saxon Rogers, Taylan Yasar-Pfeiffer, Luke Norris, Salome Smith, Beau Smith.

During Week 4 our PB4L focus around the school is ‘How to be a Good Friend.’ As part of being a good friend students will engage in activities which promote how pupils can best respect other’s space, property and ideas.

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/