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Principal: Mr Paul Brady

Our Vision: Reverence the Story of All People

Stella Maris Catholic

Primary SchoolOur Vision:

Reverence the Story of all PeopleP.O. Box 4126

Shellharbour 2529 (02) 4296 4606

Fax: (02) 4295 1885www.smsdow.catholic.edu.au

7 February 2013 02/13

STELLA TELLER

Dear Parents and Friends of Stella Maris,

Jumping to conclusions can be a bad exercise

Author unknown. Unfortunately, we have allengaged in this type of exercise at some stage in ourlives and so will be able to empathise with theperson in the following story.

In Germany there are fast food places where onemay stand at high tables to eat. A woman goes intosuch a place for a quick lunch. She buys a bowl ofsoup and a sausage sandwich which she carefullycarries to an empty table. She places the food ontothe table, hangs her purse underneath, and thenrealizes that she has forgotten a spoon. She returnsto the counter to pick up a spoon and a serviette,which she has also forgotten. When she goes backto her table, lo and behold, a stranger is happilyspooning her soup. He doesnt look like a German;his dark complexion suggests an origin in Italy,Greece, or perhaps Turkey. And that man is eatingher soup!

First, she is flabbergasted. Then, seconds later, anenormous anger takes hold of her; she could havekilled him on the spot! Another ten seconds later,

she has pulled herself together and decides: he isbrazenwell, so am I! She resolutely strides to theopposite side of the table and starts eating from thesame bowl. One would expect that the man wouldapologize and disappear. Far from it. He quietlycontinues to eat, smiling. Apparently, he does notunderstand German, so verbal communication isimpossible. But he is extremely friendly and hissmile is his weapon. He is not in the least bitintimidated. The strongest provocation comes whenhe offers her half of her ownsandwich. At theendof this awkwardly shared meal, he even extendshis

hand to her. By now she has calmed down enoughto accept his handshake. He leaves, and she reachesfor her purse. It is gone! She had known it from thebeginninghe was a thief, and had even stolen herpurse. She runs to the door, but he has disappeared.She finds herself in a very hopeless situation; hercredit cards, drivers licence, and her money wereall stolen. Helplessly, she scans the room and thendiscovers, at the adjacent table, a bowl of soup (bynow cold), a sausage sandwich (untouched) and herpurse hanging underneath! During all that time ithad never occurred to her that it might be possible

that she, not he, was mistaken. Author unknown.

No doubt the woman would have felt the blush ofembarrassment but what was she thinking? Iwish, perhaps! I wish I had made an attempt tocommunicate in some way, maybe by pointing atthe food then at myself to express ownership. Thenthe man might have had the opportunity to point tomy food on the next table. Oh, I wish!

So how can we teach our children not to bejudgemental of other people? Well, the first thingwe can do is to be careful about the way we talkabout the behaviour of others. When we are not in

possession of all the facts and simply rely on whatwe suppose, we are in no position to express ajudgement. Likewise, our children will learn fromus by the manner in which we deal with theirsituation. Will we simply take their word whenanother child is involved or will we bother to seekthe other side of the story? Will our children learnthe honour of truthfulness and fairness from us?Will they be able to rely on us as a worthybenchmark for their own behaviour?
http://www.smsdow.catholic.edu.au/http://www.smsdow.catholic.edu.au/http://www.smsdow.catholic.edu.au/

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There is another exercise more worthy thanJumping to conclusions; its called, Seeking thetruth.

Great Spirit,

Help me never to judge another person without

having first walked in his moccasins for twoweeks. - Soiux Indian saying.

Peace and Best Wishes

Religious Education NewsGospel for today Daughter, your faith has madeyou well; go in peace, and be healed of yourdisease." [Mark 5:34]

All Saints Catholic ParishShellharbourMass times: All Saints ChurchCollege Ave, Shellharbour City

6:00pm Saturday Vigil 9.00am Sunday, 6.00pm

Ash WednesdayAsh Wednesday marks thebeginning of the Season of Lent. It isa season of penance, reflection, andfasting which prepares us forChrist's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, throughwhich we attain redemption. On this day, thecanteen will not be selling any meat products.This year Ash Wednesday falls on 13 February.Children in Years 1-6 will be celebrating Mass at

Stella Maris. Mass times are:9.30amBlue Classes (Yrs 1-6)12.00pmGold Classes (Yrs 1-6)Parents are welcome to join us.

Beginning of the Year LiturgyWe will be having a Liturgy to celebrate thebeginning of the Year and to induct our SchoolCaptains on Tuesday 19 February at 9.00am underour COLA. All families are welcome to join us.

Thought for the WeekGOD'S TODAY

Don't let yourself be torn between yesterday andtomorrow. Live always and only God's today.Accept surprises that upset your plans, shatter yourdreams, give a completely different turn to your dayand - who knows? to your life. It is not chance,leave the Father free Himself to weave the patternof your days.

Dam Helder Camara, A Thousand Reasons for

Living, DLT, London, 1984

Glory Puljak - Religious Education Coordinator

PrayersPrayers are requested for Mr Leslie Mace, father ofMrs Jane Every, one of our School Support Officerswho predominantly works in the school office. MrMace passed away on Saturday night in England.

WelcomeWe welcome Mrs Ruth Temple who will be workingin the school office and classrooms whilst Mrs Every

is on leave.

Thank YouMrs Vanessa Orlandi has tended her resignation asP & F President. I wish to express my sinceregratitude to Mrs Orlandi for the wonderful work shehas done as P & F President. Mrs Orlandi has been P& F President twice and has been committed tosupporting parents and our school. Until an electionfor President can be held Mrs Tracey Lockeridge, ourP & F Vice-President, has agreed to be ActingPresident. We thank her for her generosity.

P & F Welcome BBQ & DiscoOn Monday you would have received a letter andorder form for the upcoming P & F Welcome BBQand Disco on Friday 15 February from 6pm. Allfamilies are encouraged to join us on this evening towelcome our new families. We would be grateful ifyou could complete and return the order slip whichaccompanied the letter as soon as possible. Thisfunction is a family night and therefore childrenshould be accompanied by their parents.

Kinder Enrolments 2014Application forms for Kinder 2014 will be availablefrom the school office from Monday, 18 February.All forms should be returned by Friday, 12 April.Interviews will be held during Term 2. I would begrateful if you could let other interested familieswho may not currently have children enrolled atStella Maris know about the process and the dates.

P & F MeetingThe first P&F meeting for 2013 will be held on 19

February in the library from 7pm. Nominations arenow being called for the position of P&F President.Nominations should reach the school office byMonday, 18 February.

Parent Information NightsA reminder to parents that the Parent InformationNights begin on Monday and Tuesday evening.Monday 11 Feb: Year 36pm Year 47:15pmTuesday 12 Feb:Kindergarten6pm Years 5, 5/6& 67pm. We look forward to seeing as manyparents as possible on these nights.

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Diocesan Pastoral PlanningOn Monday we will be sending home to each family(with your eldest child) a copy of the DiocesanPastoral Planning Workbook. The workbook entitledParishes working togetherexplains the current andfuture needs of parishes in our Diocese. A letter ofexplanation will accompany the workbook. I wouldencourage you to take the time to read the workbookand respond if you wish through the suggested

contacts. In our parish two education meetings (21February and March 7) will be held and a RegionalConsultation evening will also be held on April 4.

Queensland Flood AppealIn aid of the victims of the recent Queensland Floodswe will be holding a Mufti Day on Friday, 22February. Children who choose to wear suitableclothes are asked to pay a gold coin donation.Whatever is collected with be matched with schoolfunds and a donation sent to the Red Cross.

Safer Internet DayOn Tuesday we celebrated Safer Internet Day withactivities in the classroom. Attached to todaysnewsletter are some tips for parents. I urge you toread this attachment as changes to technology arehappening so quickly we need to be able to keep upwith our children to help keep them safe.

Staff Member of the WeekOur first staff member of the week thisyear is Mrs Glory Puljak. Mrs Puljak hasbeen at our school for three years andthis year is teaching Year 5/6. MrsPuljak is also our schools ReligiousEducation Co-ordinator. Mrs Puljak is a creative andhardworking teacher who brings out the best in herstudents. She also does a wonderful job co-ordinatingReligious Education in our school.

Reading RecoveryReading Recovery is an early intervention forchildren who find reading and writing challengingafter one year at school. It provides intensive

individual assistance (for 30 minutes each day) froma teacher specially trained in Reading Recoveryprocedures. Stella Maris has successfully andcontinuously conducted Reading Recovery since itwas introduced into the Wollongong Diocese in1994. Reading Recovery is supplementary andadditional to Year 1 classroom teaching and childrenview it as something positive, exciting and special.Children on Reading Recovery are given a secondchance at becoming active and independent learners.It is highly successful with most children making theaccelerated progress necessary to place them in the

average group in their class. The process for selectionof students will be explained to parents at the Year 1Parent Information Night on 18 February.Therese Peterson - Reading Recovery Teacher

/Literacy Coordinator

Changes to Partial Attendance RegulationsThe state government has amended the regulationsregarding the marking of attendance rolls in schools.

From the beginning of this academic year studentswho miss two hours of school in a day will bemarked as a half day absence. Students who missmore than four hours in a day will be marked asabsent for the whole day.

Award AssemblyFriday award assemblies will begin on Friday, 15February. Class sharing will begin the followingFriday.

Principals Awards

Principals awards will be given to students at thefirst award assembly.

Student AchievementLast weekend Sydney B. competed in the SouthEastern Swimming Association (SESA)Championships which comprises swimming clubsfrom Helensburgh to Eden and inland as far asJindabyne. She competed in five events and shecame second in all of them and did four personalbest times. Sydney has now qualified to representSESA at the NSW Sprint Finals at Homebush on

Saturday 9 March 2013. She will be swimming inthe 8 year old 50 m freestyle, backstroke, butterflyand breaststroke. Congratulations Sydney.

School Swimming SquadAs a result of our annual Swimming Carnival heldat the end of last year a Swimming Squad has beenselected to prepare for the South Coast Carnivalwhich will take place on Wednesday 6 March(week 6). Students who have made this squadshould have received a note regarding training

earlier this week.Training begins this Friday and will be held duringPrimary Sport time.

Munch and Crunch

Munch and Crunch time at our school takes placeat the beginning of Recess. The idea of Munch &Crunch is for parents to provide their children ahealthy alternative to commercially producedsnacks because research tells us that eating freshfruit and vegetables is not only healthy but is alsobeneficial for learning.

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What can be eaten in Munch & Crunch Break

ideas on what to packSmall apples, Dried pears, Dried apricots, Banana,Dried peaches, Prunes, Grapes, Carrot sticks,Celery sticks, Pears, Cherry tomatoes, Snow peas,Apricots,thick cucumber slices, Capsicum sticks,Plums, Strawberries or Sultanas.

Healthy Lunch Box Award

The Healthy Lunch Box Award is presented weeklyto the class which shows the greatest commitmentto choosing healthy food for lunch and recess. Thefirst of these awards will be presented next week.

Dragons NRL VisitNext Monday afternoon representatives from the StGeorgeIllawarra Dragons Rugby League Teamwill visit our school. They will be speaking tostudents from grades 4, 5 and 6 as part of theirpromotion for the upcoming season.

Representative SportAll Stage 3 students will soon receive a notedetailing representative sporting opportunities opento them this year. To be considered for nominationto attend representative trials for Diocesan teamsstudents are required to return these notes to schoolby Friday 22 February.Indeed trials for Basketball, Cricket and AFL willbe taking place over the coming weeks.

Wollongong Catholic Education Office Infoline

numberThis year the Catholic Education Office will beproviding a Sports Hotline service that parents mayrefer to when students are involved in DiocesanSporting events. The number and access code listedbelow can be used to gain access to information onsporting events such as cancellations, weatherannouncements, venues and times, results, etc.1902 262 019[1139] Max call cost $1.10 permin (Higher from pay/mobile phones).

Clean Up Australia DayStella Maris will again be participating in Clean UpAustralia Day this year. The date for our Clean Upday will be Friday 1 March. On this day studentswill participate in cleaning up not only our schoolgrounds but also the local playing fields andharbour foreshores. Whilst Shellharbour Councildoes a great job in supporting our efforts byproviding rubbish bags, gloves and a collectionservice it is advisable for students to bring along apair of their own gardening gloves on this day ifpossible.

CANTEEN ROSTER

11 Feb Melissa Nieborak, Dolores Magrin

13 Feb Julie Kitchener, Elizabeth Powers,Polly Metzikis

15 Feb Vanessa Orlandi, Tammy Klein,Michelle McGregor

CanteenOn Ash Wednesday, 13 February, no meat productswill be available. Special items below will beavailable for purchase:Wedges with sour cream & sweet chilli sauce $2.00 Fish cocktails 50c each Spinach & Cheese triangles $2.70 Also salad sandwiches & wraps are available.

All Saints ParishCatechistsAll Saints Parish is looking for Catechists to teachScripture in our local State schools. If you areinterested and can spare around one hour per week,please call Melissa on 0408531974 for moreinformation.

February11 Dragons visit

Year 3 & Year 4 Parent Information Night12 Kinder & Stage 3 Parent Information Night13 Ash Wednesday15 P & F Welcome BBQ

18 Year 1 & Year 2 Parent Information Night19 Beginning of the School Year Liturgy and

Installation of CaptainsP & F Meeting

March1 Clean Up Australia Schools Day11 Catholic Schools Week16 Working Bee19 P & F Meeting23 Autumn Fair29 Good FridayApril

5 School Cross Country Carnival11 End Term 1 for students12 Staff Development Day

Mr Paul BradyPrincipal

Inserts/Attachments: Technology Parenting/P&FNewsletter

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