Newsletter 19th February Term 1, Week 4

Principal's Message

Dear Parent/Carer

It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to meet so many families in my first weeks at St Therese’s. As they do, the children of St Therese’s have been their bright, open welcoming selves and most seemed to have been happy to return to their new grade and teacher/s and are settling in well.

 We offer a special welcome all our Kindergarten students and their families who began school on Thursday 6th. It was all school business after the bell for these three classes – the journey begins!

Our Kindergarten children are settling in happily and I thank our Kinder teachers and Learning Support Assistants who are helping the children make a smooth transition to school. Having taught Kindergarten for many years, I can tell you these early weeks are just as tiring on the kindergarten staff as the children!

We look to seeing our Kindergarten parents tonight from 6pm for their annual information night.

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2026 are now open. Enrolment tours for any family/friends interested in possibly enrolling at St Therese’s will be led by some of our year 6 children on Monday 24 February 2:30pm and Thursday 13 March 9:30am.  Please make any family/friends/neighbours aware of this if they are still considering school options for their child starting Kindergarten in 2026.

This week I have started enrolment interviews and tours with those families who are seeking an enrolment in kindergarten 2026.

 I look forward to meeting more families at the first Parent Engagement Group meeting (PEG) for 2025 on 25 February at 5pm in our Catherine McAuley Centre. I would particularly invite our new families to join us, as the PEG forms an important part of our school community, and its fundraising initiatives are of great value to the school. You are very welcome to bring your child/ren along if this assist you in being able to attend.  Zoom is also an option, and the invitation details are contained in this Newsletter.

I have been made aware of the wonderful fundraising undertaken by this group in 2024 to help see a long-held plan of sail shades at the front of the Catherine McAuley Centre come to fruition. I have contacted the diocesan Property team to meet with me at school in March to investigate options for this structure. I will keep you updated on this progress.

School Improvement Plan 2025
St Therese’s school improvement goals for 2025 fit into the following three areas:

Catholic Identity: In 2025, we will establish pedagogical practices that improve student religious literacy and provide opportunities for encounter with Christ.

Learning: In 2025 we will establish effective and consistent pedagogical practices for all students by all teachers.

Wellbeing: In 2025 we will establish a school-wide common language in Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L) incorporating our Mercy pillars.

Contacting Teachers
The best outcomes occur for our children when school and home works together. We look forward to continuing to build the strong links between families and school. Your child’s teacher is obviously an integral part of this and there may be times during the year, aside from our scheduled parent interviews in terms 1 and 3, that you need to contact your child’s teacher. If so, contact can be made via the school’s administration email to admin@newlambton.catholic.edu.au.

These emails will be forwarded to the relevant teacher by myself or Kaylene Maretich (Assistant Principal). Teachers will respond to your email within 2 business days and during the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm. You can also contact your child’s teacher through our office, by leaving a message for them. They will return your call as soon as possible. As you can appreciate, teachers are very busy during the school day so any ‘urgent’ messages for your child regarding travel arrangements, medications, lunches etc. should be made by calling the office.

Helping your child settle into the new school year (Source: Beyond Blue) 
Occasionally feeling scared or fearful is all part of growing up. But some kids find it much harder to manage stressful situations and the world can be scarier for them than for other kids their age. 

A particularly stressful situation is when children start kinder or primary school. Separation anxiety refers to the fear kids have when being separated from their parents or caregivers. It’s very common in early years. The Australian Parenting Website has some great tips for helping a child deal with starting childcare, kinder or school: 

• Help your child adapt to a new setting by spending time at the new place with them before the separation. If you’re there when your child is introduced to their teacher or caretaker, they’re more likely to develop trust quickly. 

• If your child is feeling very upset and showing signs of separation anxiety before you arrive, have a chat to the childcare centre or the school so they’re aware of the situation. 

• Tell your child when you’re leaving and when you’ll be back. Sneaking out can make matters worse. At the same time, don’t drag out your goodbye. 

• Keep a calm and cheerful manner when leaving. If you look stressed, your child will likely pick up on this and get upset. 

• Don’t use negative phrases like, “stop being such a baby”. Instead, reinforce positive behaviour by complimenting them when they are behaving well. 

At home, you can work together with your child to develop coping strategies for their anxiety. Here are six great ways to get on top of it: 

• Slow down. This is always the best place to start. Take some slow, deep breaths together. Breathe in for three seconds, hold for three, then out for three. Once they're feeling a bit calmer, you can talk through what's worrying them. 
  
• Think positive. Remind them of times they've dealt with similar issues. “Remember the time your friend Andy didn’t play with you at lunch, you played tiggy with Keely and Matt and had a great time.” 
  
• Help them to challenge the scary thought with facts. “Sharks can’t live in a swimming pool.” “Every time Mum goes out for dinner, she comes back.” Make a plan together for what to do if things don't go as they'd like. “If you forget your workbook, it’s okay, just borrow a piece of paper to write things down and we can glue it in later when we’re home.” 
  
• Have a go. Kids often worry about making mistakes. This can lead to them avoiding situations or activities. Encourage your kid to give new things a try and let them know that it’s about fun, not being perfect.  
  
• Check yourself. Try taking a step back and wait before you jump in to help your child. Figuring things out for themselves, learning to problem-solve, is an important step and will help them to be a resilient adult. Over-protective family members can reinforce a child’s fears that the world is a dangerous place and that they can’t handle it. 
  
• Be the example. Be a model for your child. Kids pick up signals from adults, so by showing calmness in dealing with stressful situations, you are showing them the way.  

St Therese’s is truly a unique School and Parish community with an inclusive and nurturing atmosphere where we learn together and enrich the lives of each other. I am very much looking forward to continuing to work with you, your children, and the staff this year to ensure that every child at St Therese’s thrives in 2025! 

Kind regards,  

Sallyanne Stanbridge
Principal

Assistant Principal's Message

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)

Our whole-school framework to promote a positive culture at St Therese’s is known as Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L), this was previously known as Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).  PB4L focuses on our four Mercy Values of Respect, Care & Compassion, Integrity and Inclusivity, so that “We are RESPECTFUL, CARING and COMPASSIONATE learners and we are INCLUSIVE people of INTEGRITY”.  Throughout 2024, a staff team worked together with Craig Moore, psychologist with Catholic Schools – Maitland/Newcastle Diocese, to review PB4L and develop a Behaviour Matrix, which you can see below.  This ensures all students learn and demonstrate expected behaviours, to ensure everyone interacts positively with each other. PB4L focuses on reinforcement of positive and negative behaviours.  We are using "Positive Behaviour" chronicles, which are sent home via email and SMS to parents.  Please discuss these with your child and celebrate positive incidents that have occureed at scool.  When children make beavioural errors, we will work with them to rectify these behaviours and encourage them to make positive behavioural choices.  There will be times that children may also have consequences for their actions such as community service, time off the playground etc.  These are discussed with children to ensure the consequence of the behaviou, is relevant to the behavioural errors, as well as being age-appropriate.

Wellbeing – SchoolTV
As we settle into the school year, we have seen some verbal interactions between children that are not always positive, including swearing and name calling.  SchoolTV has an excellent video for parents that discusses this topic, called Respectful Language (click to access).

CyberSafety
At St Therese’s we are committed to working in partnership with parents/carers to ensure that our children are safe online.  The eSafety Commissioner, has excellent resources and advice for parents/carers to help you to navigate through the online world.  When your children are on their devices please ensure:

• They are in a public space in your home e.g. lounge room, dining room – do not allows children to use devices in their bedrooms
• Ensure you know who your children are talking to or interacting with online
• Have a curfew each evening when all devices (including adult devices) are switched to silent or off
• Only allow children onto age-appropriate sites (these can be found on the eSafety Commissioner website)

Please also be aware of the Internet User Agreements, and behaviour expectations when students are using their devices at school.

Mobile Phones and Smart Watches
If children bring a mobile phone to school, it must be placed on their teacher’s desk at the start of the day and can then be taken home at the end of the day.  If parents need to give a message to their child during the school day, it needs to be done by calling the school office.  Parents are not to call or text their child’s mobile phone.  If children wear a watch to school, it is strongly recommended that these are simple analogue or digital watched.  Smart Watches are not encouraged, as they are very expensive, and the school cannot take responsibility for any damage to the watch.  If your child has a Smart Watch, it is to be turned to school mode, so it cannot take photos, call or send messages.

Harmony Day
Harmony Day is on Friday 21 March 2025; at St Therese’s we will hold our Harmony Day activities on Friday 28 March.  Thank you to Mrs Brymora and Mrs Fletcher for organising the day.  We invite parents/carers/grandparents who are from a cultural heritage, other than Australian, to come in to share a story or experience from your culture, with your child’s class.  This will be around 10-15minutes.  Please contact alina.brymora@mn.catholic.edu.au or Lainie.fletcher@mn.catholic.edu.au, with the following:

• Your name
• Your child’s name and class (if you have more than one child, please include this in the email)

More details will be sent in the coming weeks.

Kaylene Maretich
Assistant Principal

Topic: St Therese's New Lambton PEG
Time: Feb 25, 2025 05:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android:
https://mncatholic.zoom.us/j/67326856688
Password: 230880

Catholic Identity & Curriculum

Faith Formation: Francis' Focus – For those of you who are new to our school community, this section of the newsletter is designed for you – the adults and carers in the lives of our students – and for your own spiritual reflection and contemplation. Who better to help guide us in the true depth and meaning of our Catholic faith than the charismatic and authentic leader of our Church, Pope Francis. Below, Pope Francis reflects upon Sunday’s Gospel and the challenge that Jesus’ sermon on the mount and His beatitudes present to us in this modern world:
We cannot be authentic followers of Christ if we adore riches to the neglect of the poor.
Followers of Jesus, Pope Francis reflects, ‘do not find their joy in money, power, or other material goods; but in the gifts they receive every day from God: life, creation, brothers and sisters, and so on.’
In fact, he adds, true disciples of Jesus are ‘content to share even the goods they possess, because they live according to the logic of God.’
The Beatitudes, the Pope explains, ‘may sound strange, almost incomprehensible to those who are not disciples.’ But as challenging as they are, they ultimately ‘define the identity of the disciple of Jesus.’ For Christians, they are non-negotiable.
What the Beatitudes do, the Pope suggests, is remind us that ‘disciples allow themselves to be challenged, aware that it is not God who must enter into our mindset, but we into his.’
‘Disciples,’ the Pope reminds us, ‘in the end, are those who let themselves be led by Jesus, who open their heart to Jesus, who listen to him and follow his path.’
Such a path involves openness to the joys of the present, wherever we may find them. It also involves a readiness and willingness to become Christ’s blessing to others.

Religious Education
This section in each newsletter will be dedicated to what our students are learning across the school in the key learning area of Religious Education. This is an essential wellspring of our Catholic Identity as a school and one that allows our students to not only learn about religious knowledge, other faiths, and the Catholic Tradition as an authentic subject within the curriculum, but also provides opportunities for students’ hearts to be opened to an encounter with God through the presence and transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Below is an overview of RE across the year for all grades. Each subsequent newsletter will give a more in-depth look into what specific grades are learning in regard to each topic.

Prayer, Celebration & Mission
Finally, this section will provide details regarding the faith life and mission outreach of our school community. Keep an eye out here for all the dates and logistics regarding upcoming masses, liturgies and mission day events.

Opening School Mass & Leader’s Badge Presentation
Last Friday, 14^th February, our school community celebrated the beginning of the 2025 school year as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ in a mass led by our Parish Priest, Fr Velerian. Unable to fit all our students and parent attendees in the church, the Eucharistic celebration was held in the school Hall which was beautifully decorated by each classes prayer cloths. At the conclusion of mass, Fr Velerian blessed the leadership badges for 2025 and these were presented to some of our Yr 6 students by their parents. Some photos of the morning are included below.

Family / School Masses
As mentioned in my recent Compass post, this year, Fr Velerian has expressed a desire to build stronger connections between our families, school and the wider St Therese's parish. As such, we will be having two Family / School Masses per term throughout the year. The first of these will be this Sunday 23rd February at the regular parish mass time of 9:15am. It would be wonderful if you as parents, or your children, would be able to fulfill any of the regular ministry roles such as - welcomer, reader (Primary age students or older), prayers of the faithful, offertory, etc.
If you can attend and have an interest in fulfilling any of these ministry roles, please email me directly by 4pm this Wednesday so that I can ensure all roles are filled prior to Sunday. For those who have a reading I will send a copy of these home with your child on the Thursday to practice: luke.smith@mn.catholic.edu.au

The next Family / School Mass will be – Sunday 23^rd March at 9:15am.

Diocesan Jubilee Year Launch
This year, Pope Francis announced a Jubilee Year – ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. As a school community we invite you and your children to join in our official diocesan launch of this year as per the details below. If you want to find out more about Jubilee, please enter the link below into your browser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oruV5XWUI2M

8:00am – Pilgrim Prayer at Nobbys Beach (Foreshore Park) – keep an eye out for the St Therese’s staff who will have our school banner.
8:15am – Pilgrimage along the Harbourfront (Honeysuckle) – please wear casual clothing (students included), with appropriate footwear to walk the few kilometres.
10:00am – Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral
11:00am – Festival in the Cathedral Precinct with the 2025 Launch of  Caritas Australia's Project Compassion Lenten Appeal.

Bishop Michael Kennedy is inviting all communities of the Diocese to come along with their flags and banners as we celebrate and share with the Newcastle CBD the hope we bring to our part of the world.

Lent – Commences on Ash Wednesday, 5^th March. We will celebrate with another whole school mass in the school hall starting at 9:30am. All are warmly invited to attend.

Luke Smith
Religious Education Coordinator

School Community News

Volunteering
Throughout the year, we welcome all parents/carers to volunteer at the school. To volunteer, you must complete the volunteer's induction. This process can take up to 6 weeks, so you are encouraged to complete this early.

Gifted Education News Term 1 2025

Knowing your child and where they are at in their learning is vital for their success. Our teachers work collaboratively to create programs and learning activities for our students that are highly engaging and challenging for all students, including those that are gifted and talented. Teachers use questioning techniques and class activities that encourage critical and creative thinking skills. Staff monitor student work samples, contributions in group discussions and specific data to ensure each student is working to their true potential.

Developing a Growth Mindset
Learning behaviours and thinking are key to students being motivated and positive about their learning. At school, we teach students to have a Growth Mindset. This is a way of thinking that encourages us to try new learning opportunities. When you have a Growth Mindset, challenges are seen as learning opportunities and mistakes are embraced as part of the learning journey.
Learners with a Growth Mindset can:

• Learn from their mistakes
• Use feedback constructively
• Be challenged
• Persevere with learning
• Use effort and a positive attitude for all learning tasks

The Virtual Academy Program 2025
This specialised program which is unique in the Catholic School’s Office for Stage 3 gifted students is focussed on students exploring a real-world problem and providing solutions based on data collection and comprehensive research. Students present their research in Term 4 across the Virtual Academy community of schools. Congratulations to the following students who have been selected for the Virtual Academy Program; Mabel C, Ava H, Vincent N, Jackson F, Noah M, Ignatius P and Santiago P. We look forward to following their journey.

Poetry Club
This is our third year of Poetry Club at St Therese’s! Poetry Club meets every second Wednesday (odd weeks) and are a group of students who love words, writing, being imaginative and expressing their thoughts and ideas. It is welcome to all students from K-6.
Susan Sheridan, a parent volunteer and expert on Poetry and Mrs McNeil both work together to introduce different poetic forms and techniques which inspire the students to be creative. It’s very informal and a great chance for those enthusiastic writers to finesse their craft. Our first session is on Wednesday 26th February at 8:00- 8:45 in our school library. Please note Poetry Club is before school.
If your child is interested in joining Poetry Club for 2025, you will need to complete the following form (even if your child participated last year, please complete the form)
https://forms.office.com/r/wf3zepLM6n

Interested students will receive a permission note for Poetry Club which needs to be returned to the front office. We can’t wait for a wonderful year of Poetry Club.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on the following email address if you have any enquiries about the above information.
patricia.mcneil@mn.catholic.edu.au

Patricia McNeil
Gifted Education Mentor

School Badges
School badges are available for sale at the office for $5.

Wellbeing

Save the date- Authentic Connection Webinar for Parents and Carers with Hugh! 11/3/25 AEDT 6:30pm. Click the following link to register.

https://forms.theresilienceproject.com.au/single-event-confirmation/?event_id=418211



Melissa Pyers
Primary Coordinator 

Stage 3 Police Visit- Cyber Safety
On Thursday the 27th February from 9:30-10:30am, an incursion has been organised for our Stage 3 students. A local police officer will visit St Therese’s to speak to our students about the laws in relation to social media use.

Trinity Catholic College Adamstown 
Our Open Evenings for prospective enrolments into Trinity Catholic College for Year 7 2026 are rapidly approaching.  We will be holding two Enrolment Evenings on Tuesday 25 February and Thursday 6 March from 5.30pm to 7.15pm  The printed invitations that are currently being letterbox dropped around our local area state the time as 5.30 to 7.00 pm.  

On the evenings, a tour of the school including brief subject talks & exhibitions will be included.  Please note that although these evenings will be of most interest to Year 6 2025 students, all pathway families are invited to attend regardless of Year. 

ROBERT EMERY
PRINCIPAL
Trinity Catholic College
Park Avenue Adamstown NSW 2289
02 4957 1032  |  robert.emery@mn.catholic.edu.au

From the Performing Arts Room
Recess Clubs
The Father Walsh Room will be open to students who would like to explore fun activities in the Performing Arts area. This term's focus is dance.
Tuesday Recess - Infants students
Wednesday - Primary students

Performance Opportunities with Aspire
Aspire is a fantastic Maitland-Newcastle Diocese initiative that gives students in our Catholic schools an opportunity to develop their passion, learning and craft in the Performing Arts. Many of our past and present St. Therese's students perform in the annual production held at the Civic Theatre in July. Our Year 5 ad 6 students see this performance every year, giving them a wonderful chance to experience the joys of live theatre in an iconic Newcastle performance venue.
Aspire offer a range of activities for students wanting to explore their interest in the Performing Arts. Please see below three flyers relating to some of their annual programs:

2025 ASPIRE Song Competition

2025 ASPIRE VoiceWorx

ASPIRE Concert Band

There are a huge range of programs available to students within the diocese. Please click on the following link to see these wonderful Performing Arts opportunities - Programs | Catholic Schools Maitland-Newcastle .

Alina Brymora
Performing Arts Teacher

Sport

Regional Swimming Carnival 
On Monday the 10th February, I was fortunate enough to attend the Central Region Swimming Carnival at Wallsend Swimming Centre. We had 44 students brave wet and wild conditions to compete with pride and passion. There were some exceptional athletes and amazing performances, and I am delighted to announce we have 12 students progressing to the Diocesan Swimming Carnival. 
Benjamin C, Santiago P, Ashton S, Mason O, Caleb P, Mila M, Brooklyn L, Fox C-M, Maisie S, Talulah A, Chelsea S & Emily R. 
These athletes will be representing St Therese’s on Wednesday 26th February at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival. We wish you all the best of luck!  
A huge thank you to the wonderful parents and carers that came along on the day, your support is always appreciated! Also, a big thank you to Mrs. Helmers and Mr. Paton for volunteering on the day too.  

Regional Winter Sports Trials 
Good luck to the students that have progressed to the Regional Winter Sports Trials for Netball & Football (Soccer). These will be held on Thursday 20th February.  

2025 Primary & Infants Athletics Carnival 
Our annual school athletics carnival will be held on Wednesday 7th May (Term 2 Week 2) at the Fearnley Dawes Athletics Centre. More information will be communicated as we get closer to the event. The venue is suitable for all-weather, however, if there is bad weather on the day, Kindergarten and Year One students will not attend the carnival.  
The Central Region Carnival will be held on the 24th of June (Term 2 Week 9) for students that qualify from our school carnival.  

Road Safety  
Term 1 Road Safety Newsletters are linked below for your information. 

 Road Safety Newsletters for Term 1 

Liam Ireson
Infants Coordinator & Sports Coordinator

Canteen

Important Dates

21 Feb -  Yr 6 Spirituality Day, Glenrock Lagoon
25 Feb - PEG 5.00pm
03 Mar - School Assembly 2.30pm Main Hall
04 Mar - Parent Teacher interviews /  Shrove Tuesday
05 Mar - Ash Wednesday
06 Mar- Parent Teacher interviews 
10 Mar - Open Classrooms 9.30am
14 Mar - PUPIL FREE DAY
07 May - WHOLE school Athletics Carnival, Fearnley Dawes Athletic Centre, Newcastle