Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday, 8 May, white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, marking the conclusion of the papal conclave and the election of a new pope. It was announced that Robert Prevost, born in Chicago, has been elected as the 267th Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV’s missionary background and commitment to service offer a fresh perspective to the Church's leadership. His appointment ushers in a new chapter for the global Catholic community, and we pray that Pope Leo XIV will be a source of unity and compassion for our world.

National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week

National Sorry Day is observed on 26 May to acknowledge and raise awareness of the history and ongoing impact of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from their families, communities, and culture. It also marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June), a time to reflect on and strengthen the respectful relationships shared between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians. On Monday, 26 May, we will commemorate National Sorry Day and the beginning of Reconciliation Week with a special service at 8:30am following the morning assembly. Parents and carers are warmly invited to join us for this important occasion.

Winter Uniform Reminders

Thank you for continuing to support our uniform policy by ensuring students arrive each day in their full winter uniform. As the weather becomes colder, we kindly remind families to check and relabel all items of clothing, especially school jumpers and hats.

School Cyclic Inquiry

On Wednesday, 28 May, the school leadership team will present its self-review report to a panel of educational experts. This panel will help identify strategic priorities for the next four years. As part of the review process, the panel will return on Wednesday, 4 June to engage with the Nazareth community—meeting with parents, staff, and students, and conducting learning walks and discussions. The insights and recommendations gathered during this process will be presented to the Director of Schools and will help shape the school’s future strategic direction.

Road Safety Reminder

We remind all families of the shared responsibility we have in ensuring road safety around the school. Please observe speed limits, adhere to parking restrictions, and follow road rules. For the safety of our school community:

• Do not use the bus bay or staff car park as drop-off or pick-up zones.
• Always use the supervised pedestrian crossing on Glider Avenue when walking with your child.

Thank you for your cooperation and ongoing support. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

Kind regards, 

Mr Matt Downes 

(Principal)

Confirmation

If your child is in Year 6 or older and you are planning to bring them forward to celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation, you will have already enrolled your child. This weekend, at all of the masses, books for workshops will be distributed to all candidates. Workshops commence on Tuesday, 27 May and they will be held in the Year 6 rooms. Remember, your child must bring the booklet to all workshops, only complete the ‘Home Activity’ before the workshop and to remain with your child throughout the workshop so that you can complete the activities together. It is an important time to share memories and experiences with your child relating to their upcoming Confirmation.

Laudato Si Anniversary

The global Catholic community is celebrating Laudato Si’ Week, marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ which Pope Francis signed on the day of Pentecost, 24 May, 2015.

This special week commemorates Pope Francis' landmark encyclical on climate change and care for our common home—rooted in centuries of Church teaching on creation. With this year’s theme "Raising Hope", we come together in faith and action, continuing the legacy of Pope Francis and renewing our commitment to ecological justice and a sustainable future for all.

Wednesday Faith & Learning 

This week there will be no Faith and Learning visits due to the whole school mass on Friday. Next week, in Week 5, students from Year 1 will have their Faith and Learning visit. All family and friends of Year 1 students are warmly invited to attend mass with their children and we look forward to seeing as many family and friends as possible. The children really get a buzz out of sharing their learning experiences with family.

Whole School Mass

This Friday, 23 May we will be celebrating the feast of Mary, Help of Christians. All families are warmly invited to attend mass with their children. The celebration of the feast day of Our Lady Help of Christians in Australia traces its roots back to 1821, yet actually stretches as far back as the 1500s. 

The establishment of the feast has an interesting history, and a unique place in the Catholic history of Australia. Australia was the first country to choose Mary as its patron under this title. 

During Napoleon Bonaparte’s tumultuous reign, Pius VI was unjustly imprisoned and died in captivity in France. Several years later his successor, Pope Pius VII, was captured and facing the same fate. In a pledge to God, Pope Pius VII vowed to establish a special feast in honour of Mary, should he be restored to the papal seat. He asked all Christendom to pray the rosary to Our Lady Help of Christians for this intention, a task the Irish willingly obliged.

Eventually, military pressure compelled Bonaparte to release the pope. He returned triumphantly to Rome on 24 May 1814 and officially decreed the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians to be observed on this date a year later. Mary Help of Christians is the Patroness of Australia. The feast focuses on Mary’s help to those in need through her intercession to confront sin and to stand against anti-Christian forces.

In 3L we have been learning about a very significant time in the liturgical calendar, the Easter season. The Easter season has provided opportunities to reflect on Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. We have also explored the viewpoints of the disciplines once Jesus rose from the dead. In addition to exploring the Easter liturgies and services unique to Easter. 

The students of 3L have some of their own personal comments to share:

William - “Easter Sunday is the day Jesus rose from the dead”

Bonnie - “Easter is a time of year when we celebrate Easter eggs but it's not just about Easter eggs it's about Jesus' time when he gave his life for us and then rose from the dead. Easter eggs represent new life”

Hunter - “It's a time when Jesus rose from the dead and he died for us, so we could live and it's not just about Easter eggs”

Mia G - “On Easter Saturday the lights go out in church to represent Jesus’ death”

Reign - “Palm Sunday is a day Jesus came to Jerusalem” 

Henry - “ When people give Easter eggs it represents new life”

Patch - “ People celebrated when Jesus came to Galilee and chopped palms off trees to welcome Jesus”

Zoe - “The will burn the leaves from Palm Sunday this year to make the ashes for ash Wednesday next year”

Beau - “Easter to celebrate when God sacrificed his son for us”

In Kindergarten this term we have been engaging in a Catholic Care program, run by our school counsellor Mel, called ‘Kindy Kids Connect.’ We have explored the Zones of Regulation, recognising the signals that our body gives us when we are in each of the zones: green, yellow, blue and red. This week, we learnt all about the animals in our brain and how they all need to work together to ensure we are calm, regulated and learning in our green zone. Mel also shared some techniques and strategies we can try when the animals are not working together such as race track breathing, 5 finger breathing and using our 5 senses to help ground us. We thoroughly enjoy our sessions with Mel.

This term in Science, we are learning to investigate what happened to Humpty Dumpty and what we could do to help him. This week, we are Investigating push and pull and how we can move the broken humpty. We learnt that objects move and change their position when a force is placed on the object. A force is a push or a pull that puts an object in motion or changes its position. To explore this, we engaged in a challenge where we used a force (push or pull) to move the stone across the paper without touching the stone. We were given some materials to use. We enjoyed exploring this challenge in small groups. Some of us were very creative with inventing ways to move the stone with the materials provided. 

Congratulations:

Congratulations to Ziggy E who has been selected in the MacKillop 11s Rugby Union Team, we look forward to seeing you trial at the NSW PSSA Rugby League Trial. 

Well Done:

A huge well done to Eli B who attended the NSW PSSA Hockey trial this week. They battled with terrible weather and some cold conditions but Eli and his team have performed fantastically with many goals scored and games won!

Weekly Training:

The Nazareth Rugby Union team will be training each Wednesday morning from 7.45am. The hall/car park gate will be open for children to access the oval. Children will need to wear clothing appropriate for training including football boots and a mouth guard. Children will change into their school uniform at the end of the training session before going to class. 

Upcoming Events:

Cross Country Selection Trials- Tuesday May 27. This event is being held due to the cancellation of the full Cross Country Championship event. A select number of students were nominated by parents & carers and approved by event convenors to attend the selection trials. Please check Compass for further details and to provide consent.

Sam Bremner Girls Rugby League Tackle Gala Day- Tuesday June 17. Expressions of interest have closed. Please see Compass for further details and to provide consent for your child to attend. 

Nazareth Athletics Carnival- Wednesday June 18. This event is compulsory for all students K-6 to attend. Children 8 years and up will be able to enter competitive track and field events. A Compass event will be released in the coming weeks for consent and nominations. 

Rugby Union Knockout- Friday June 20. This event is for the senior Nazareth Rugby Union side. More information to follow on Compass. 

Netball Gala Day- Tuesday June 24. Expressions of interest have closed for this gala day. Boys and girls from Year 3-6 have been invited to attend. Please see Compass for further details and to provide consent for your child to attend. 

During Week 4 our PB4L focus continues to be on ‘RESPECT’ with particular emphasis on 'E' empathy. During the week 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.

One way we can follow our respect school rule at Nazareth is by being a good friend to our peers. Revise what being a good friend looks, sounds and feels like. Students give examples of when they’ve noticed others displaying friendship qualities.

NAZARETH AWARDS

Kobe Z

Christian B

Brody J

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Stella M

Grace M

Hank J

Rennan R

Miyah W

Robbie O

William L

MERIT AWARDS

Rafa N, Reevie R, Abigail S, Kyran B, Katherine T, Clara A, Isabella B, Javae V, Patrick B, Harper R, Evie R, Chloe H, Charlie R, Arthur K, Yazmin G, Ethan W.

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/