Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to settle into the new school year. Kindergarten have been very impressive in how quickly they have adapted to the expectations and routines of ‘big school’. On Wednesday 12 February, they gathered with the whole school community for our beginning of the school year mass. Thank you to Fr Joe and Mrs Mammone for the beautiful celebration. At the conclusion of mass, we announced and formally congratulated the Year 6 student leaders for 2025. The student leadership roles play a crucial part in fostering a positive school environment, encouraging teamwork, and promoting the development of leadership skills among students. 

Congratulations to the following student leaders for 2025:

On Friday 14 February, the students in Years 3 – 6 participated in a very successful swimming carnival. It was great to see all primary students enjoying the day. The high level of participation contributed to a great carnival atmosphere that was thoroughly enjoyed by the students, parents and staff. Thank you to Mrs Mobberley and the Swimming Carnival Committee for the time and effort that went into planning and running the carnival.

Our new families may be wondering about the naming of our newsletter as ‘Crossroads’. In the Year 2000, during the first year of operation, the name ‘Crossroads’ was selected for the school newsletter. The name reflects the symbol of the crossroad on the school crest. This symbol came about because Nazareth (Jesus’ place of childhood) was the crossroad of the ancient world. The Australian Nazareth is symbolised by the Southern Cross, a crossroad where families, staff, parish and community come together to nurture and educate the children within our school.

Last newsletter, we launched the Parent Information Website. The website is designed to provide essential information for the beginning of the year in one convenient location. If you haven’t had the opportunity to explore the website and review the information relevant to your child, we strongly encourage you to so via the link below:

Click here to access the Parent Information Website

All families are warmly invited to attend our Return to School Welcome BBQ 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.

The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held in the Library on Friday 28 February at 8:45am. 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.

Wishing all families a wonderful week ahead, 

Mr Matt Downes 

(Principal)

Reconciliation

For Year 3 parents who have enrolled their child in the program for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, below is the timetable of information for the coming weeks. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated by the children on Saturday, 5 April at 11am. If you have any questions, please direct your enquiries to the Parish Office.  Please be aware that the time for collection of names for Reconciliation has now closed.  

Wednesday Faith & Learning 

The first Faith and Learning visits will take place on Wednesday of this week when Year 4 will be attending mass at 9am. Following this, parents are invited back to the classroom to have the opportunity to see what their child is learning in their classroom. Next week (Week 5) Year 5 will celebrate Wednesday mass. 

We look forward to seeing families join us for our first Wednesday mass of 2025 and then a visit to the classroom afterwards. 

Whole School Mass

Last Wednesday Nazareth celebrated the opening of the school year with a whole school mass.  It was wonderful to see so many families come along and attend mass with their children.  

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

The season of Lent is almost upon us. On Tuesday, 4 March is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day. More details to follow about this day. Wednesday, 5 March is Ash Wednesday. On that Wednesday, there will be a mass with students from Years 3-6 where students will receive the ashes and all parents are warmly invited to attend. Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 will have a liturgy to receive the ashes at school.

Project Compassion

The launch of Project Compass will take place on Tuesday, 4 March at St Francis of Assisi Warrawong.  Two students from the School Spirit team will accompany Mr Downes to this launch.

During Religion, 1H have engaged in a two-week unit focusing on Ignatian Spirituality and the School History of Nazareth.

This unit provided a wonderful opportunity for students to connect with the teachings of  St. Ignatius of Loyola and the relation to Nazareth Catholic Primary School. 

Through learning about St. Ignatius' life and spirituality, 1H were able to identify how his mission of service, reflection, and faith aligns with the vision and mission of their own school community. 

Exploring the school's logo, feast days and identifying the significant people our buildings are named after allowed students to see the rich history and tradition that informs their learning environment. 1H identified that their classroom is within the Mary Ward building.

Some of the facts we have learnt are:

• St Ignatius was a priest like Father Joe

• Jesus’ mother Mary was from Nazareth

• the Examin is a prayer from St Ignatius

• our library is called the Loyola Library

• Year 3, Learning Centre and the art room are in the Mary Aikenhead Building

• Years 4, 5 and 6 are in the St Francis Xavier Building

We have had a very exciting start to year 5. We are absolutely loving the use of our iPads in the classroom, and exploring new ideas and apps that support our learning. 

We have been experimenting with AI generators and learning the positives and negatives of this technology. Recently we used an AI generator called Adobe Firefly to help us generate ideas and images while we were creating our own robot drawings. 

These drawings will become our writing stimulus, inspired by our current text: The Wild Robot. 

Check them out!

Nazareth Swimming Successes:

Congratulations to the following swimming age champions from our Nazareth Swimming Carnival last week. 

8 Years- Rafa N & Everlyn B

9 Years- Arthur K & Abigail B

10 Years- Lennox W & Raven N

11 Years- Cohen GV & Abigail S

12 Years- Eli B & Iyla H

The following children will attend the South Coast Swimming Event on March 4 at Corrimal pool as part of the Nazareth Swimming Team:

Abigail B, Everlyn B, Eli B, Cohen GV, Kaley G, Henry H, Iyla H, Hank J, Ana K, Arthur K, Lincoln M, Matilda M, Shayla N, Rafa N, Raven N, Aubrey P, Saxon R, Van S, Abigail S, James W, Lennox W, Violet F, Scarlett B, Taj S, Brody J & Hayden R. 

Congratulations to Bethlehem for being the winning house at the Nazareth Swimming Carnival. 

Bethlehem 1st

Jerusalem 2nd

Emmaus 3rd

Galilee 4th

Upcoming Events:

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. 

Catholic Wollongong Legends Gala Day- Thursday 10 April. This event is for boys Years 3-6 and girls in Years 5 & 6. Boys in Years 3-6 will play tackle Rugby League with girls in Year 5 & 6 playing League Tag. More information and sign ups to come in the following weeks. 

Important Notices:

Mark Taylor Shield - expressions of interest are currently being taken. Children in Year 5 & 6 who are interested in joining the Nazareth Cricket Team are to record their name on the sign up sheet in the stage 3 building. 

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. 

Evelyn M, Mahalia R, Raven N, Ruby C, Billie K, Eloise D, Tommy D, Ana K, Zayn E, Archie W, Henry H, Isabelle C, Boston H, Felix F, Ethan C, Evelyn S, Jude C, Blake B, Olivia W, Christopher O, Isla T, Riley M, Samual B, Cohen GV, Ariana G, Bonnie S, Sebastian M, Harrison L, Bowdi B, Raphael S, Kodi H, Marko V, Selene T, Aisha F, Michaela S, Cruz K, Hendrix M, Hugo G, Matilda M, Treazure W, Nate R, Hudson H.

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/