Dear Parents and Caregivers,

A warm welcome to all our families, especially those joining Nazareth Catholic Primary School for the first time. We are delighted to have you as part of our school community. The children, especially Kindergarten, have quickly settled into their new classrooms, adapting well to school-wide procedures and expectations. 

We appreciate your efforts in ensuring that your children arrive each day in the correct school uniform, well-prepared and ready for learning. Starting a new school year brings many exciting opportunities as well as challenges, including new faces, routines, and expectations. As your child continues to settle in, we encourage you to support this transition by:

• Making time for them to share their experiences
• Speaking positively about school
• Keeping teachers informed of any changes to their routine

By working together, we can maintain a supportive and positive school environment—one that fosters spiritual, academic, social, and emotional growth for every child.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher via the school office.

Annual Improvement Priority 

At Nazareth, we are committed to continuously improving the learning experience for our students. As we enter 2025, we are excited to share our annual improvement goal:

“Through quality differentiation and feedback, students will be actively engaged and challenged, experiencing growth in learning.”

This goal reflects our dedication to ensuring that all students receive instruction tailored to their unique needs and abilities. By differentiating learning experiences, we aim to provide appropriate challenges for every student, fostering deeper engagement and a love for learning. Additionally, we recognise that meaningful and timely feedback plays a crucial role in student success, helping them understand their progress and areas for improvement.

We believe that strong partnerships with parents and guardians are key to student success. We encourage you to support this initiative by discussing learning with your child, celebrating their progress, and maintaining open communication with teachers.

Jubilee Year of Hope

2025 is the Jubilee Year of Hope for the Catholic Church. It serves as an important opportunity for us to reflect on the role of schools as beacons of hope. St Thomas Aquinas describes hope as being born from the desire for something good that is “difficult but possible to attain.” Hope requires companions, people who want our good and who help us along our way. There is no clearer expression of this understanding of hope than in a Catholic school.

As a Catholic school community, we are called to invite students to find purpose and make sense of their world. In the words of the now Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP, teaching is "a beautiful expression of our hope for the young. Teaching recognises the dignity of the young as truth-seekers [and] embodies our hope for their future." Our Catholic school is a place of hope.

This year, in the spirit of the Jubilee, we will be encouraged to fan the flame of hope that has been given to us to help our community "gain strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision" (Pope Francis: 2024). 

Parent Information Website 

Over the past few years, we have evolved how we share key information with parents to make it more accessible. This year, we have introduced the Parent Information Website, designed to provide essential information in one convenient location.

We strongly encourage all parents to take a few moments to explore the website and review the information relevant to their child. The website includes:

• A welcome message from each class teacher
• Curriculum outlines for each grade, including key information and important dates for the term ahead
• General information about school processes and procedures

We hope this platform enhances communication and keeps you informed throughout the school year.

Link to Parent Information Website

Parents are Partners Feedback Form

At Nazareth we believe that parents are partners in the holistic education of their children, and as such we welcome the opportunity for you to share information about your child at the beginning of the year to set them up for success. We encourage all parents and carers to complete the Parents are Partners Feedback Form so that you can share any important information that you think is relevant for the classroom teacher to know. This information also helps the classroom teacher get a more holistic understanding of your child and how we can best meet their needs this year.

Induction of School Leaders

On Wednesday 12 February, there will be a whole school mass at 9:00 am at which the 2025 student leaders will be officially inducted. Morning tea will follow in the hall for the families of the 2025 leaders. All parents and carers are warmly invited to attend the opening school mass for 2025.

Return to School Sausage Sizzle

All families are warmly invited to attend our Return to School Sausage Sizzle on Thursday 27 February from 4:30pm to 6:30pm on the Nazareth school grounds. All families are encouraged to bring a chair or picnic blanket to sit on. The canteen will be open on the night for anyone who wishes to purchase drinks. Please remember that this is a school event, therefore an alcohol free event.

Celebrations of Learning

Celebrations of Learning will take place most Friday afternoons in the school hall. During these gatherings, a class will showcase their learning, and we will present weekly merit awards to selected students from each class. Parents will be notified on the Wednesday prior if their child is receiving an award. Our first Celebration of Learning, hosted by 4A, will be held on Friday 21 February, at 1:50 PM. We warmly invite parents and carers to join us in celebrating our students’ achievements.

Parents and Friends (P&F) Annual General Meeting 

The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held in the Library on Friday 28 February at 8:45pm. The primary purpose of the P & F is to provide an opportunity for parents to be involved in the school through social events, fundraising and supporting various school initiatives throughout the year. At the meeting, all positions will be declared vacant and an election will take place. If any parent wishes to nominate themselves or someone else for any of the positions, please complete the nomination form by Monday 24 February.

We look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Kind regards, 

Mr Matt Downes 

(Principal)

Fletcher H, Lucia L, Khaya M, Mbali M, Emmanual W, Max M, William L, Isabella B, Mason H, Soul E, Ziggy E, Savannah U, Zavier V, Yusur A, Scarlett M, Martin M, Noah Y, Addison H, Luca H, Charlotte L, River W, Abigail B, Travis B, Lyla E, Remy B, Aston D, Izaak J, Jedd K, Ivy H, Jason M, Saffiah W, Saxon B.

Welcome back for 2025

Welcome back for the 2025 school year at Nazareth Catholic Primary School. There are a lot of exciting sports opportunities happening this year and we cannot wait to see and hear all of the wonderful achievements of our Nazareth students.

Upcoming Events:

Nazareth Primary Swimming Carnival - Friday 14 February. This is a compulsory event for children in Years 3 - 6 to attend with 8 year old students from year 2 who can confidently swim a minimum of 50m invited to attend. Please see the Compass events for all information regarding this event and student race nominations.

Swimming South Coast (select students)- Tuesday 4 March. This event is for the children who are selected in the Nazareth Swimming Team after the Nazareth Primary Swimming Carnival. More information to come via Compass after the Nazareth Swimming Carnival. 

Nazareth Cross Country Carnival- Friday 21 March. This event will be held at school. More information to come via Compass in the coming weeks. 

Important Notices:

Mark Taylor Shield - we will be taking expressions of interest from students in Year 5 & 6 to join the Nazareth Cricket Team for the upcoming Mark Taylor Shield NSW Knockout. More information to come. 

2025 Representative Trial Nominations

We are still waiting for final confirmation for the lists of children who have been invited to trial for a range of representative sporting teams. We will communicate all of this information via Compass when it is received. 

2025 Event volunteers

If you are interested in volunteering at any of our sporting events throughout the year, please scan the QR code below and register.

EXISTING FAMILIES IN OUR SCHOOL WITH INSTALMENTS
If you are currently paying by instalments there is no need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment as your
request carries over from year to year unless you wish to amend the frequency of your payments eg Weekly to FortnightlyEXISTING FAMILIES IN

OUR SCHOOL WITHOUT INSTALMENTS
If you would like to pay school fees by instalments in 2025 and have previously not taken up this option for payment, please
complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available on the school’s website or from the school’s
administration office. On completion of the request either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.au or submit at the
school office. Following receipt of the request, instalments will be generated on your school fee account during the process
of invoicing 2025 school fees. Your school fee statement will provide a list of scheduled payments and their due date
depending on the frequency you have chosen eg Fortnightly, Monthly, etc.

IMPORTANT: Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying
by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment. The instalment
request carries over from school to school with the same frequency of payment eg Weekly, fortnightly, etc.

Home/School Communication

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.

Wet Weather Dismissal Procedures 

On wet weather afternoons parents will be notified via Compass of the following changes to dismissal procedures:

Kinder / Year 1: Parents may enter the building from 2:35pm (normal dismissal is 2:45pm) and collect students from their classrooms.

Year 2: Students are collected from the COLA near the canteen (as per normal dismissal).

Year 3: 3H students are collected at the Year 3 foyer door. 3L students are collected at their external classroom door. 

Year 4/5/6: Parents may enter the building from 2:35pm and collect students from their classrooms.

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/