IMPORTANT DATES

TERM 1 MARCH

Tues 24th

Tweed All School Rugby

Carnival

Wed 25th

2nd

Rite of Reconciliation (6pm)

Fri 27th

School Assembly (Yr. 5)

School Disco 6-8pm (Yr. K-5)

Sun 29th

Palm Sunday

Mon 30th

Easter Bonnet Infants Parade

APRIL

Thu 2nd

School Assembly

Stations of the Cross (9.30am)

Last Day of Term 1

HAPPY EASTER

TERM 2 Mon 20

th Pupil Free Day – Staff Day

Tue 21st

First Day of Term 2

Dance Fever - Gymnastics

Fri 24th

ANZAC Assembly 2.15pm (Yr.

4)

Sat 25th

ANZAC DAY – March at 7.30am

Mon 27th

Parent & Child Confirmation

Meeting

MAY

Fri 1st

School Assembly (Yr.3)

Zone Cross Country

Sun 3rd

Confirmation Commitment

Mass

7.30am

Mon 4th

Catholic Schools Week

Tue 5th

Mass (Yr. 5)

Thu 7th

Mother’s Day Stall

Fri 8th

Open Day – Lunch on the Lawn

20th March 2015 Term 1, Issue No.4

Dear Parents, Wednesday the 11th March was a historical day for the school and the wider community, as it was the Official Opening and Blessing of St Ambrose Primary School. The ceremony commenced with a procession of School Captains and Principals from neighbouring Catholic Schools. This was followed by a Welcome to Country, the singing of our National Anthem and an Official Welcome, by Fr Paul McDonald. Fr Paul spoke of the history of the Parish and the school as well as the symbolism of our school crest. The Director of Catholic Schools, Mr David Condon addressed the audience, followed by the Hon. Geoff Provest Member for Tweed who read a letter on behalf of the Hon Bill Heffernan who was unable to attend. Mr Provest with the Most Rev. Geoffrey Jarrett, Bishop of Lismore unveiled the plaques. The Bishop then proceeded to bless the school.

In my address I acknowledged that in 1819 Fr John Therry in Parramatta established the first Catholic School. Now, nearly two hundred years later, the journey of St Ambrose, Pottsville is about to unfold. The once United States President, Woodrow Wilson once wrote:

The flower does not bear the root, but the root the flower

The flower is merely the evidence

Of the vitality of the root. As a flower is to a plant, so is a student to a school. The success and vitality of any student at a school is a product of the infrastructure and the support mechanisms around them. St Ambrose has been designed to provide contemporary learning and architecturally incorporates the natural landscape. St Ambrose has been both progressive and bold in implementing innovative thinking and ideas. The school has commenced the journey of developing traditions and creating a culture that truly reflects a Catholic School. Through the contemporary pedagogical approach that this school has taken, combined with the selection of outstanding teachers and staff, a supportive and enthusiastic parent body it is envisaged that this school will truly be a shining light within Catholic Education and a school that this community will be very proud of. Simply, St Ambrose has been designed to provide an education that is reflective of today and prepares students for tomorrow.

The construction costs of the school totalled 6.5million dollars. 2.92 contributed by the Australian Federal Government under the Capital Grants Programme, 1.5 million dollars contributed by Kingscliff Parish and 1.98 million dollars contributed by the Diocesan Schools Grants Assistance Scheme within the Lismore Diocese.

There were obviously many people to thank. In particular I thanked you the families of St Ambrose who have entrusted your children to this school and the Parishioners of Pottsville who have supported and embraced the concept of the school being part of the Parish. Most importantly, I thanked the students of St Ambrose who wear their uniform with such pride, as it is the children of this school that drives the pursuit of excellence in all that we do!

Our students finished the ceremony by singing Hearts on Fire and by letting off a colourful display of streamers. Finally, a very BIG THANK YOU to all those parents and friends of the school who helped with the organisation of the day. Our opening was a huge success but most importantly it truly reflected the wonderful community that is St Ambrose. Have a great week

Brian Laybutt

(A full transcript of the principal’s address can be found on the School Web

Small $5

Large $8

OFFICE HOURS School Administration Office is attended

Monday – Friday 8.30am - 3.45pm

P: (02) 6676 0099 E: sapot@lism.catholic.edu.au PO BOX 326, Pottsville 2489 W: www.sapotlism.catholic.edu.au

OMNIA CHRISTUS EST NOBIS - TO US CHRIST IS ALL

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

Mass Times

Weekend Mass times St Anthony’s Church, Kingscliff

Saturday 6:00 pm

Sunday 9:00 am

Sts Mary & Ambrose Church,

Pottsville

Sunday 7:30 am

Weekday Mass times Sts Mary & Ambrose Church,

Pottsville

Tuesday 9:15 am

St Anthony’s Church, Kingscliff

Wednesday 8:00 am

Thursday 9:00 am (except School

Holidays at 8:00 am)

Friday 8:00 am

For the latest Parish News click here

ALTAR SERVERS

If your child has made their First Holy

Communion and would be interested in

altar serving at Masses you may leave

their name at the School office or email

sapot@lism.catholic.edu.au. Practise for

this takes place during school hours for a

short time each Tuesday.

Pa

St Joseph (19th March) – Solemnity

Yesterday, March 19th was the principal feast day of St Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and stepfather of Jesus.

St Joseph is patron of the Universal Church as well as being Patron Saint of many

religious institutes, parishes and schools.

MINI VINNIES What is Mini Vinnies? Mini Vinnies is a group of primary school students who get together to help those in need within their school and local community. Mini Vinnies introduces children to social justice issues, to the St Vincent de Paul Society and lining faith through action. What does a Mini Vinnies group do?

Mini Vinnies is about doing good works in the community, but it is also about young people meeting to talk, to share ideas and concerns, to have fun and to support each other. The model of See, Think, Do is a great way to get young people thinking and talking about their spirituality; by connecting their beliefs and values with service activities and issues in their community, they can help to make their faith real, meaningful and relevant.

Recognising student involvement

We encourage students to take pride in their involvement with the St Vincent de Paul Society. Each student who commits to their Mini Vinnies group is known as a ‘member’ and will be presented with a certificate and metal badge during a commissioning ceremony.

If you are in grades 3,4 or 5 and are interested in becoming a Mini Vinnies Team Member, please place your request in writing, stating why you would like to be part of this team and what could you offer in supporting the Mini Vinnies many causes. Letters are to be addressed and given to Miss Werner in year 2 by Friday 27th March.

SCHOOL NEWS

A love of reading is a love for life

One particularly common area of need, working with school communities in the past couple of years, was that of reading, essentially home reading. In the last 12 months of my previous role, I travelled to various schools to present some home reading sessions to parent groups I found that these sessions were a time of great value spent refocussing on the goals, resources and strategies to support successful home reading. As a lover of books and reading, I was shocked to hear some many stories of children disliking reading and avoiding it wherever possible.

Reading should be an active involvement with a text, which results in the reader developing a thorough understanding of the events, characters, themes and messages contained within that text. Reading should leave the reader feeling something about the experience of enjoying the text. Too often we can focus so intensely on simply decoding the text that any chance for comprehension and enjoyment is lost – reading then, becomes mechanistic and dull. How could we ever possibly fall in love with characters, genres and storylines if we are simply reading in order to finish the book? Readers should have the time and space to absorb themselves in their favourite genres, authors, and styles of writing. They should feel emotions as they journey through stories - a great book will capture the imagination and evoke the senses. A great book will leave you wanting more. To support comprehension and reading skill, utilise some strategies: Before, During and After the text.

Before reading, students can: • Activate prior relevant knowledge by looking at the title, cover and pictures.

(Predict what the story might be about: what words / characters / places might be in it.) • Ask questions that they would like answered by this text – (Who is the Prisoner of Azkaban and what

do they have to do with Harry Potter?) • Plan how to read the text – look through the book to see what’s in it.

While reading, students can: • See whether their predictions were right. • Answer the questions they had asked, and ask more questions. • Check whether the story is making sense. • Retell the main points of the story so far and think about what they already know through pictures and title. • Reread or read ahead to gather meaning. • Visualise what the story describes.

After reading, students can: • Check to see if their questions have been answered. • Silently retell the whole story and ask: did it make sense? • Think about the difference between their predictions and the story. • Think about how the story connected with prior knowledge. • Think how they would have reacted if they had been in the story.

If they come to an unknown word, students can: • Guess a word that does make sense. Check if it’s correct. • Reread or read ahead and guess the word. • Check if they can find words within the word that they do understand (eg word is a compound word, or has a prefix or suffix that they can remove). • See if the word looks like a word that they already know. Check if it’s correct.

Developing a tool box of effective and efficient reading skills is a lifelong investment. Sustaining a love of reading and refining the patience to explore each story for comprehension, intent, style and message is invaluable and will determine our relationship with text and literacy throughout our lives. Visit www.readingrockets.org to find some great information, new ideas and helpful resources to foster a love of reading in each child and strategies to support reluctant readers.

To Learning, Living and Growing!

Nic Constable

Assistant Principal and Leader of Pedagogy

SCHOOL NEWS

AWARDS

Amaya Scard – Yr. 4

AWARDS: Term 1 Week 6

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

KH - Harrison O’Brien KF - Ollie Randell 1 - Oliver Stephens 2 - Joshua Hawkins 3 - Arlo Rabe-Tooley 4 - Willow Trimboli 5 - Lilly-Anne Crawford

MOST IMPROVED

KH - Oriana Greensil KF - Millie Corcoran 1 - Lukas Bain 2 - Lakota Sutcliffe 3 - Gabrielle Stella 4 - Kenna Toms 5 - Shernay Seeker

SPEECH & DRAMA

KF - Archie Loemker 2 - Tom Howell 3 - Ella Zoffman 5 - Kalyse Hunter

MUSIC KH - Brodie Mates 1 - Elissa Hawkins 4 - Amaya Scard 5 - Maximo Morrison

ART

KH - Ayla Binns 1 - Cooper Lynch 3 - Anais Prince

BUSY BEES

Archie Loemker– Yr. KF

AWARDS

AWARDS: Term 1 Week 7

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

KH - Max Mathews KF - George Deacon 1 - Lyla Macdonald 2 - Zade Spratt 3 - Hannah Millar 4 - Faith Jennings-Mckay 5 - Kirsty Pierce

MOST IMPROVED

KH - Zaviah Burns KF - Myles Gillard 1 - Marley Ferguson 2 - Ava Singh 3 - Deacon Streader 4 - Tom Ellis 5 - Laila Malloy

ART:

KH - Shiloh Hart 4 - Amaya Scard

BUSY BEES

SCHOOL NEWS

SCHOOL NEWS

OFFICIAL OPENING

& BLESSING

OFFICIAL OPENING

& BLESSING

Congratulations Top 4 Runners

Under 8 Boys 1st - Deacon Streader

Under 8 Girls

1st - Jasmine Roberts

2nd - Gabby Stella

3rd - Ella Zoffman

4th - Ava Singh

Under 9 Boys

1st - Max Crawford

2nd - Cooper Graham

3rd - Arlo Robe-Tooley

4th - Jacob Howell

Under 9 Girls

1st - Amaya Scard

2nd - Willow Trimboli 3rd - Hannah Millar

4th - Poppy Stubbs

Under 10 Boys

1st - Cooper Tate

2nd - Blake Nelson

3rd - Raphael Morrison

4th - Tim Stella

Under 10 Girls

1st - Montanna Carr

2nd - Ella Spratt 3rd - Piper Adams

4th - Chloe Steplens

Under 11 Boys

1st - Bede Curnow

2nd - Darkota Smith

3rd - Maximo Morrison

4th - Edan O’Callaghan

Under 11 Girls

1st - Kelsie Pierce

2nd - Lilly-Anne Crawford

3rd - Kirsty Pierce

4th - Lara Wegemund

Cross Country Carnival Congratulations St Ambrose students, parents and teachers for the first inaugural Cross Country Carnival. What a success it was and what amazing dedication and determination we saw from the students. The day was extremely successful due to the fantastic help of parents. Thank you parents, for your support and willingness to help out, it is greatly appreciated. It was brilliant to see students excited to run through the fabulous Cross Country Track! Congratulations to TEAL for taking out the Cross Country Shield for 2015! The top 6 runners now will move onto Zone Cross Country, which will be held in Term 2 at Murwillumbah. Look out for further information regarding zone in the next week.

Miss Mulder

https://itunes.Sapple.com/au/app/school-

streahttps://itunes.apple.com/au/app/school-

streashjgdm/id6804165448m/ 8

KIDS BITS

Buzz Hub

SKOOLBAG APP IS HERE!!!! If you have not downloaded the new school app please do this ASAP to stay up to date with the latest St Ambrose news & info.

PUPIL FREE DAY 19th March

27th MARCH 2015 6-8pm

ST AMBROSE INFANTS (K-2)

EASTER BONNET PARADE

WHEN: 9AM – 30TH MARCH WHERE: PLAYGROUND

EASTER BONNET QUICK GUIDES:

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=easter%20bonnet%2

0easy

http://www.kidspot.com.au/Easter-Traditions-Easter-hat-

ideas+4675+409+article.htm

http://www.kidspot.com.au/Easter-Traditions-Easter-hat-

ideas+4675+409+article.htm

____________________ family would like Surname

to order ______ Meal Deals. We have Qty

enclosed $___________.

COMMUNITY NEWS & EVENTS

IMPORTANT NOTE TO PARENTS: Parent Surveys for School Improvement This year St Ambrose will be surveying staff, students and parents as part of our ongoing data collection for school improvement. The implementation of the student, teacher and parent opinion surveys to support school improvement has provided a rich source of data for all diocesan schools. The Lismore Catholic Schools Office is committed to continuing to support schools in their ongoing pursuit of improving learning outcomes for all students. The surveys are co-ordinated by Insight SRC and all individual responses from staff, students and parents will be kept confidential and will not be identifiable to any other person or body outside of Insight SRC. There is no way that individuals can be identified from the results or the information provided by the survey consultants. All schools will be provided with the opportunity to survey all staff, a random sample of students in year 5 and a random sample of parents. All staff and student surveys will be conducted online and parents will be provided with the choice to complete either an online or paper based survey. Critical Dates The timing for survey implementation is the 2 week period of 16 March to 27 March. A random sample of parents will be selected to participate in this survey. If you do receive a package, I would ask for your support in this survey phase to contribute to the ongoing development and opportunities that are available for our students here at St Ambrose. Thank you for your support, Regards Brian