Dear Parents and Carers,

Today is R U OK? Day, an annual event dedicated to promoting mental health and encouraging people to check in with one another. The day aims to foster a culture of care and support by prompting individuals to ask their friends, family, colleagues, and others if they are okay. By asking "R U OK?" and engaging in meaningful conversations, individuals can help others feel valued and supported, potentially making a significant difference in their lives. Asking "R U OK?" should be an everyday practice, not just limited to R U OK? Day. Life’s challenges and triumphs happen daily, and keeping up with regular, meaningful conversations helps build trust and normalises discussions about feelings. This way, when someone in your life faces difficulties, they know they can turn to you for support. A simple conversation can make a significant difference.

On Tuesday, 10 September, our school counsellor, Melina Altman, led a valuable session for parents on 'Managing Big Emotions’, a CatholicCare initiative for National Child Protection Week. Melina spoke about how emotions influence our daily lives while providing strategies to assist parents in regulating and managing intense emotions in their children. A key take away was that parents sometimes need additional support. If you find that your child needs additional support in dealing with complex emotions, consider reaching out to the following:

• NSW Parent Helpline: 1300 1300 52
• Kids Helpline - Anytime, any reason:1800 55 1800
• School Counsellor: Please contact me or your child’s classroom teacher 

Remember, reaching out for help is a sign of strength and a step towards better managing emotions for both you and your child. 

Today I had the privilege of attending the Diocesan Launch of Catholic Mission Month at St Michael’s Thirroul with Amelia and Isaac from our Year 6 School Spirit Team. Pope Francis recently published his World Mission Sunday message with a key theme from Matthew 22:09 of “Go and invite everyone to the banquet". This message of inclusion raises the question of what unites us all and presents a valuable opportunity for growth and unity, as it requires everyone to open their hearts and minds to each other. The Gospel is made to gather and not divide, to invite and not to exclude. This is the message Pope Francis shares, reminding everyone of the importance of sharing the Gospel and, above all, reaching out to all by inviting them to be part of the celebration we call life. Amelia and Isaac will share the key messages from the launch with the school community in the coming weeks. 

The next P & F general meeting will be held on Wednesday 18 September. All parents and carers are warmly invited to attend. The meeting will commence at 8:30am in the school library, I look forward to seeing you there.

Please note that the term will conclude for students on Thursday, 26 September. Friday, 27 September will be a pupil-free day as the staff will be engaged in reviewing and reflecting on our school’s priorities and performance in line with the ACER School Improvement Tool.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Mr Matt Downes 

(Principal)

First Holy Communion

This weekend at mass, preference forms will be handed out to parents to select the weekly workshop that best suits you and your child to attend. Remember, these workshops are an integral part of the sacramental program and are an opportunity for you and your child to sit and have a conversation over the weekly workshop activities and to ask any questions that you may have.  It is important for you and your child to attend  each of the four workshops with the student workbook.

Reminder: First Holy Communion will be held on Sunday, 24 November 2024.

Wednesday Mass and Faith & Learning visits

This week Year 5 attended mass at 9am on Wednesday and next week, in week 9, Year 6 will be going to mass. All parents and families were invited to the Year 5 classrooms after mass on Wednesday and they helped their child to make a nature mandala by going out into the playground to collect objects from creation to create their mandala. We now know where our students get their creativity from as many parents and grandparents helped their children with some outstanding mandalas! 

There will be no classroom visit for Year 6 next week, only mass. All families are very welcome.

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

During our Religion lessons, 6U have been looking at how to be active participants in our society. A few weeks ago, students watched the iconic, “I have a dream,” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

Students were then challenged to think about what dreams they had for society going forward in Australia. Each student placed their dreams for us in a cloud artwork which was accompanied by a written reflection of how these dreams can make our country a better place. 

Some of the dreams included:

• Stamping out racism;
• Holding people accountable for excluding others and committing crimes; 
• Ensuring that all Australins have access to fresh water and nutritious food sources; 
• Implementing harsher consequences for acts of bullying; 
• and many more. 

Mrs Carlon and Mrs Rowles are proud of all of the dreams that were included and will continue to speak with Year 6 about how we can start to implement some of these dreams at a school level. 

KN are having a busy term! We are learning about God’s Creation and how to take care of the wonderful things God made. We are also learning about how people, animals and seeds grow and change. We know that the weather plays an important role in how things grow. We love being meteorologists each day. We hope you like our daily weather updates! 

The highlight of our term was definitely our excursion to Shoalhaven Zoo. We had the best day feeding the animals and learning how they live and survive.

We have also improved so much in our English and Maths skills! Here are some photos of our recent learning.

Congratulations & Good Luck

Congratulations & good luck to Leo & Morrison who have been selected in the Illawarra Rugby Union under 12s team to travel to New Zealand to play in an International Rugby Tournament. We can’t wait to hear about your trip and the tournament results. 

Good Luck 

Good luck to the Nazareth Cricket team for their second round match of the Mark Taylor Shield this coming Friday. Thank you to Mr Messner for running training sessions and taking the team to this event. 

2025 Sports Nominations

Parents of students in Year 4 & 5 this year (Year 5 & 6 in 2025) are to check their Compass news feed for information regarding the 2025 Diocesan Representative Trial nomination process. Nominations for Basketball, Tennis & Cricket will close first in early November with all other sports closing towards the end of November. Please ensure you have read the nomination procedure and have provided as much information as possible when nominating your child. 

Upcoming Events:

Mark Taylor Shield- September 13. Please ensure you have read the relevant information on the Compass event. 

Basketball Gala Day- September 19 & 20. Please note that these events have been published on Compass. Consent is due Friday September 13. 

NSWCPS MacKillop Athletics Trials- Wednesday September 25. This event is for a small number of students who have been selected to participate as part of the Diocese of Wollongong Athletics Team. Please note that parents/carers were required to register their child using the CSNSW portal with the relevant information on their child’s selection letter. 

Cricket Gala Day- October 17. Please note that this event is for students in year 5 & 6 only. Please note that we will be opening up expressions of interest for this event next week (week 7). This event will be held at Thomas Dalton Park in Fairy Meadow.

NAZARETH AWARDS

Mason Sangiuliano

Lukas Sarin

Ayden Lees

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Maci Mackaway

Livia Benavente

Cristian Sangiuliano

Zen Nguyen

MERIT AWARDS

Mila Dimitrievski, Mia Gutierrez, Ava Sirijovska, Kayden Moyo, Willow Ross, Mia Capelo, Andres Scarone, Dylan Clapham, Morrison Cocksedge, Adelise Mayfield, Lucas Sangiuliano, Kaley Allison, Iyla Leitao, Miyah Wilkinson, Oliver Sandona

During Week 8 our PB4L focus continues to be ‘How to be a Good Friend’ with emphasis on ‘Doing the right thing’. We will explicitly teach friendship skills to develop and foster peer to peer respect between students.

Classroom staff will teach, praise and reinforce students showing respect to their peers through friendship qualities. Playground staff will remind students before and during play, and will hand out playground tokens to students demonstrating target friendship skills.

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/