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Dear Parents and Carers,
Pope Francis has proclaimed that 2025 will be a Holy Year of Jubilee, a special year of grace and conversion, involving prayer, pilgrimage and sacramental repentance, ordinarily held every 25 years. The goal of a Jubilee year is to inspire and encourage holiness of life among the faithful and therefore to strengthen the Church’s witness to God’s loving mercy in and for the world.
The spiritual theme for the 2025 Holy Year of Jubilee is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.
In choosing the motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ for the Jubilee, Pope Francis noted that ‘We must fan the flame of hope that has been given to us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.
Meet and Greets
Thank you to our teachers and parents who have actively participated in the Meet and Greets. These sessions are an essential part of building the partnership between home and school. They provide parents the opportunity to share key information about their child with the teacher, ensuring that we can work together to foster the growth of all students in faith, learning, and well-being. Our shared commitment to nurturing the holistic development of each child is at the heart of our school community as we strive to 'form hearts and minds to make a difference'.
Information Night
Last Monday evening, Mr Jarrett, Mrs English and I presented an information session for parents. We are grateful to the parents who attended the session and provided valuable feedback. The information shared is important in keeping everyone informed and engaged in the educational journey of our students. Your involvement and suggestions help us improve and cater to the needs of our community.
One of the items on the agenda was our Vision for Learning. The values of High Expectations, Engagement in Learning and Dynamic Learning Environments underpin our agreed position on and understanding of learning and growth in student faith, engagement and well-being at St Clare's.
Opening School Mass
We are looking forward to celebrating our Opening Mass today, marking the start of a new school year as a Catholic community. Parents and carers are invited to join us in this special celebration. However, due to limited seating, we kindly ask that you wait outside or in the chapel area until we invite you to take any available seats. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation, as it ensures that all students can participate fully in this sacred gathering.
Let us come together in prayer and reflection, asking for God's blessings on our school year. May we continue to support each other in faith and unity, fostering a community where everyone feels valued and respected.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community.
Yours in partnership,
Marg Foldes
Principal
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the entire school community for welcoming me with such warmth and support. It has been a wonderful experience working alongside staff, students, and families to ensure that our students have the best possible start to the school year. As I reflect on the many positive memories of students returning to school, I am reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein:
"Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think."
This quote speaks to the heart of what we strive for each day – to foster an environment that encourages growth, curiosity, and success. I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you, supporting our students as they reach new heights.
Emergency Evacuation Drills
As part of our school’s annual Work Health and Safety (WHS) requirements, we are required to complete a minimum of one lockdown and one evacuation drill throughout the year. These drills are essential for ensuring the safety and preparedness of all staff and students in case of an emergency. The following dates have been scheduled for these drills:
- Evacuation Drill: Monday, 24 February
- Lockdown Drill: Wednesday, 9 March
NAPLAN 2025
NAPLAN 2025 is fast approaching, taking place from 12th March to 24th March. We are working closely with our Year 3 and Year 5 students to support and prepare them for this important assessment window. The timetable for the NAPLAN assessments is as follows:
- Wednesday, 12 March: Year 3 & 5 Writing
- Thursday, 13 March: Year 3 & 5 Reading
- Friday, 14 March: Year 3 & 5 Language Conventions
- Monday, 16 March: Year 3 & 5 Numeracy
Note: Any student who is absent on the days listed above will sit the missed assessment the following day.
A reminder that all students are required to bring a pair of headphones that are compatible with their device. Year 5 students, specifically, must ensure that their iPads are fully charged for all of these assessments.
Below is an information fact sheet from ACARA about NAPLAN for your reference.
Mr Joel Jarrett
Assistant Principal
Sacrament of Penance Program
Families with children in the Sacrament of Penance program need to complete Chapter 2 of the Workshop books this week. The chapter is from pages 10 to 15 every puzzle and activity must be completed. Assistance sheets will be distributed, and attendance at Mass also needs to be recorded.
A reminder that the Prayer Assessment evening is planned for Tuesday 11 March at 5pm and Wednesday 12 March at 6pm, children will be asked to recite the Hail Mary, Our Father and the Act of Contrition.
Caritas Australia's Project Compassion Appeal
On 4 March Ms Foldes and I, along with two of our Year 6 school leaders, will attend the Diocese of Wollongong's Caritas Launch for Project Compassion, 2025 at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School at Warrawong.
Project Compassion is Caritas Australia's annual Lenten fundraising and awareness-raising appeal, where we come together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice, uphold dignity, and be a source of hope to others. The theme of Project Compassion is ‘Unite against Poverty’, working in unity for the freedom of the oppressed and the renewal of creation.
After our Ash Wednesday Mass, each class will receive a Project Compassion box to keep in their prayer spaces for the duration of Lent. This money box serves as a reminder to us all to keep our brothers and sisters from around the world in our prayers and to think about what money we can go without in order to support them. Should you like to keep a Project Compassion box in your homes during Lent, these are available from the church from this weekend. For those willing to make online donations to Caritas Australia, please go directly to the website:
https://www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion/donate-now-irene/
Opening School Mass
We are looking forward to coming together as a community to celebrate The Opening School Mass at St Paul's Parish Camden tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. Parents and carers are most welcome to attend however please be advised that there is very limited seating.
Have a wonderful week.
Mrs Jennifer English
Religious Education Coordinator
St Clare's is excited to be participating in Clean Up Australia Day next Friday 28 February! This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to work together to care for our environment by cleaning up our school grounds. Throughout the day, children will be collecting and properly disposing of rubbish, helping to create a cleaner and safer space for everyone. It not only encourages pride in our school but also supports understanding our environmental responsibility and sustainability. We look forward to working together as a school community to make a difference.
St Clare's Prayer Box
Last year at St Clare's, we introduced a Family Prayer Box for families to use in their homes.
The box includes a white cloth, coloured ribbons, a flameless candle, a cross, prayers, and a workbook for personal reflections. To set it up, simply cover the box with the cloth, arrange the ribbons based on the Liturgical season, and add the candle, cross, and prayers. Feel free to include a family photo or flower to make it personal.
Praying together strengthens family bonds and deepens your relationship with God, supporting your child's spiritual growth and your connection to faith. Thank you to the beautiful families who have sent through some photos of the prayer space set up in our homes.
We would love to see your home prayer space set up! Please feel free to share a photo by sending it to info@scnvdow.catholic.edu.au so we can celebrate it with the wider community.
Kind regards,
Miss Ally Carter
Catholic Life & Mission
Each fortnight we focus on a particular area of our school expectations. Students and staff collaborate on ways to support each other in meeting these expectations. Thank you for supporting us in helping our students to be the best they can be. To begin our year in 2025, our fortnightly focus for Term 1 - Weeks 5 & 6 is 'I can use kind words, hands and feet.' Please take some time to view the table below so that as parents, you have a full understanding of what is expected of students, teachers and parents this fortnight. When we all work together, we achieve great things.
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2025 |
Any additional dates will be updated on the Compass parent calendar and future newsletters |
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February |
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Friday 21 |
Opening Whole School Mass at St Paul's Camden 11.30 a.m. |
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Monday 24 |
School evacuation drill |
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Thursday 27 |
Primary Western Region Swimming Carnival Magdalene Annual Open Afternoon 3.45 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. |
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Friday 28 |
School Cross Country Principal’s Awards 1.45 p.m. in the school hall Schools Clean Up Day |
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March |
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Tuesday 4 |
Shrove Tuesday Caritas Project Compassion launch at Warrawong P & F Annual General Meeting in the hall at 7 p.m. |
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Wednesday 5 |
Ash Wednesday |
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Thursday 6 |
Chris Lawrence 7's Rugby League Gala Day at Kirkham (Years 3 - 6) |
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Friday 7 |
Primary Swimming selection trials |
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Wednesday 12 – 24 |
Naplan for Years 3 & 5 |
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Monday 17 |
St Patrick’s Day |
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Wednesday 19 |
Feast of St Joseph |
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Thursday 20 |
National Closing the Gap Day Open afternoon for prospective enrolments (2.30 - 4.30 p.m.) |
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Friday 21 |
Harmony Day |
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Friday 28 |
School Photographs |
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April |
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Friday 4 |
Principal’s awards in the hall at 1.45 p.m. |
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Sunday 6 |
Daylight Saving ends |
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Monday 7 |
School photographs back up morning |
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Wednesday 9 |
School Lockdown drill |
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Friday 11 |
Last day of term 1 |
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Friday 18 |
Good Friday |
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Saturday 19/Sunday 20 |
Easter Saturday/Easter Sunday |
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Friday 25 |
Anzac Day |
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Monday 28 |
Staff Development Day (no school for students) |
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Tuesday 29 |
Term 2 commences |
CENTRALISATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL FEE MANAGEMENT - ADVICE TO FAMILIES
From the commencement of the 2025 school year, the management of certain aspects relating to school fee accounts in Primary Schools has been transferred to the School Fees Liaison Office at the Catholic Education in Wollongong.
What does this mean for families:
- Your school’s administration office is your first place for enquiry regarding school fees. School staff will provide information regarding instalments, methods of payment, giving access to an Application for Fee Concession and attend to other general enquiries.
- If you are experiencing financial difficulty or need to make an arrangement for payment of your school fee account, please email sflo@dow.catholic.edu.au with your name and the school in which your children are enrolled. The School Fees Liaison Office will then contact you directly to offer assistance.
- Please note that each school has a dedicated School Fees Liaison Officer to provide a personalised service to individual families. This Officer will also have a close relationship with your school. Our school fee officer is Kyeen McPherson.
If you require further information about this initiative, please do not hesitate to contact your school’s administration office.
UPDATED MEDICAL PLANS
Please note that if your child has a healthcare plan (medical plan) e.g. Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Allergy, Emergency Medical these need to be updated annually. If you have an updated healthcare plan, can you please send a copy in to school so we can update our records as soon as possible. If your child requires medication at school e.g. Ventolin, you will automatically receive a notification via Compass when it has reached its expiry date.
VOLUNTEERS IN OUR SCHOOL
The Catholic Education Office has introduced a new onboarding system for volunteers and contractors supporting our school. If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, we encourage you to complete the new process in advance. This will ensure you are ready to help whenever needed!
For more information or to begin the onboarding process, please refer to the instructions below. Once you have completed the onboarding process you need to follow the instructions also included below.
Thank you for your willingness to contribute to our school community!
SCHOOL STUDENT TRAVEL FOR 2025
BUS COMPANY & RELEVANT TRANSPORT INFORMATION
Transit Systems phone number is 02 9123 8620 if you have any inquiries.
OPAL CARDS
If you are applying for an Opal Card you need to add Transit Systems as your bus company.
A reminder from Transit Systems
Please help us supply appropriate bus services by reminding students to tap on and tap off with their School Opal cards.
I am writing on behalf of Transit Systems NSW, the bus operator that provides your school bus services, regarding student use of the School Opal card.
It is a condition of the use of a School Opal card that students must tap on at the beginning of a trip and tap off at the end of a trip at an Opal Card Reader, when they travel to and from school. Please refer to the Transport for NSW website for further details: https://transportnsw.info/school-pass-terms
Opal data gathered by tapping on and off is used to determine demand for bus services. If students fail to tap on and tap off, services for your school may be reduced or even cancelled due to the lack of recorded patronage.
With this in mind, we ask for your assistance in reminding your students that tapping on and off at the beginning and end of each trip is one of the conditions of using a School Opal card.
CURRENT TIMETABLE INFORMATION can be found below:
FLAME AWARDS
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded a Flame Award, presented to them by Ms Foldes on Friday 14 February. These students were able to submit 5 Spark Awards.
| Cali D 1B | Lyla M 1B | Cora L 1B | Isla P 1G |
| Katarina P 1G | Owen C 1G | Alena A 1R | Alexia Z 1R |
| Astan S 1R | Cooper W 1R | Gabriel A 1R | Malachi F 1R |
| Samantha B 1R | Alaric M 1W (x3) | Elsie O'R 2B | Isabella P 2B |
| Oliver P 2B | Summer D S 2B | Sofia Amelia T 2B | Adam G 2G |
| Anna P 2G | Deegan K 2G | Finley P 2G | Harper E 2G |
| Jack H 2G | Aubrey M B 2W | Lily S 2W | Layken C 2W |
| Tom M 2W | Yasmina C 2W | Zara M 2W | Luca Z 3B |
| Natalia S 3B | Ellyra D 3G | Leo B 3G (x2) | Abigail P 3W (x3) |
| Liliana K 3W | Olivia S 3W (x2) | Joshua P 4B | Maddison D 4B |
| Mahalia R R 4B | Olivia R 4B (x2) | Tatum B 4B (x4) | Violet S 4B |
| Alethea A 4B | Annabelle C 4G | Aydin U 4G | Charlie W 4G |
| Cian O'N 4G | Charlee C 4G | Adrian A 4W | Matilda M 4W (x2) |
| Olivia D 4W (x3) | Sean G 4W | Suzy M 4W | Grayson B 5B (x4) |
| Hunter P 5B | Emilia H 5B (x3) | Henry K 5B | Amelia M-S 5B (x5) |
| Oliver O'N 5B | Porsha W 5G | Nate D 5G (x2) | Zachary P 5W (x2) |
| Lachlan T 5W | Thomas M 5W (x3) | Alisha McA 5W | Emmerson P 5W (x2) |
| Emily C 6B | Marley R 6B (x2) | James G 6B | Luis B 6B |
| Henry W 6B | Maddison D 6B (x4) | Benjamin G 6B | Sienna C-Z 6B |
| Fletcher M 6G (x2) | Hayley C 6G | Layla W 6G | Sienna H 6G |
| Anthony B 6G (x3) | Mikayla G 6W | Ava W 6W | Evangeline B 6W |
GO 4 FUN
YERONGA SCHOOL UNIFORMS
The accompanying link can be used to order uniforms, online, at Yeronga School Uniforms:
https://www.yerongauniforms.com/product-category/schools/st-clares-narellan-vale/
Western Region Swimming Carnival - Thursday 27 February 2025
The 2025 Western Region Swimming Carnival is to be held on 27 February 2025. A compass event with further information regarding events and relay teams has been sent home to successfully selected students.
St Clare’s Cross Country Carnival- Friday 28th February
When: Friday 28 February (approximately 8:30am- 11:45am)
Who: All St Clare’s students K-6, running in age based races.
Where: The school grounds and the Liquidamber Reserve.
Length (approximate):
Students who are 5-6 years old will run a 780m course.
Students who are 7-8 years old will run a 1.1km course.
Competitive 8 year olds, 9 and 10 will run a 1.6km course.
Students who are 11-12 years old will run a 3km course, however, as this is composed of 2 laps, they will have the option to run just one lap (1.6km)
The students will be training with their classroom teachers and sport teacher before the event.
Competitive 8 year olds: We are inviting Competitive 8 years olds to run in the 9s age division. This is a combined age group where both 8 and 9 year olds will compete against each other. This will only be for those 8 year olds who would like to try to be selected into the St Clare’s Cross Country team which will compete in Nowra in May. An Insight survey is available on Compass to nominate your child.
Walking Event: Please note that there is a walking event for those children who cannot run in their age races due to a medical condition. Please notify us, via email info@scnvdow@dow.catholic.edu.au (attention Ann Madsen) if your child is unable to compete, in their age group, for medical reasons. Please supply your child’s name, class and reason for participating in the walker’s event. This will strictly be a non-competitive, walking event without any places awarded. The participants will still earn points for their House.
What to wear: Students may wear a coloured T-Shirt on the day representing their House Team, along with their school sports shorts and school hat. Please ensure they bring a safety pin for their name/age tag.
Family Involvement: Families are welcome to come and cheer on the students, anyone attending will be asked to sit on the grass area in front of the school as this is where the finish line will be. The toilet facilities in the hall will be available for adults and toddlers. Please note that the school carpark will not be available after 8am on this day as the carpark will be used for the track and parent seating. We ask that you do not park in the carpark at the shops neighbouring the school.
Urgent request: For our carnival to run, we need many volunteers to act as marshals. If you or a family member can assist please complete the Insights survey that will be available on Compass later this week or email the school info@scnvdow@dow.catholic.edu.au (attention Ann Madsen and Megan Parkes)
Thank you to the parents who have filled out the Insight and have volunteered their time. Any parents who have volunteered could you please meet Ms Ann Madsen at the canteen gate at 8am on the morning of the cross country for a quick meeting and job allocation.
Upcoming Carnival Dates
All primary sporting event information and dates can be found on the Sport Events - Primary website- https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/student-experience/sport/primary-sport-events
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Western Region Swimming Carnival |
27 February |
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St Clare’s Cross Country Carnival |
28 February |
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Touch Football Boys and Girls Selection Trials (Approved students only - no new nominations) |
11 February |
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AFL Combined Wollongong, Canberra/ Goulburn Selection Trials (Approved students only - no new nominations) |
18 February |
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Hockey Selection Trials Boys and Girls (Approved students only - no new nominations) |
24 February |
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Netball Selection Trials (Approved students only - no new nominations) NRL Chris Lawrence Gala Day |
6 March |
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Swimming Selection Trials |
7 March |
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Cross Country Championships |
6 May |
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St Clare’s Athletics Carnival |
20 June |
FRESH START CANTEENS
Fresh Start Canteens run our school canteen. Details are included below.
Please ensure you have changed your child's class to their 2025 class, in Flexi Schools.
Tips for a smooth start:
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Update Your Child’s Details: Please take a moment to update your child’s Flexischools profile with their new class or year for 2025. This will ensure that any orders or payments are processed correctly, and orders go to the right place.
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Order in Advance: Plan ahead and use Flexischools to order lunch or make payments for upcoming events or uniforms in advance, saving you time and hassle during the busy school mornings.
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Explore Our Features: Flexischools offers plenty of great features designed to save you time. From automatic topping up of your parent wallet, to placing multiple orders in one go, make sure you take full advantage of everything Flexischools has to offer this year.
NOTICE OF P&F ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held on:
Date:Tuesday 4 March 2025.
Time: 7pm – 8pm
Venue: School Hall
We invite all parents and members of the school community to join us.
The 2025 Committee will be elected at this meeting. If you are interested in joining the P&F Committee please complete the nomination form attached to the newsletter and return to the School Office or email@scnvpf.com
CLOTHING POOL
The clothing pool opening hours:
Monday: 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Thursday: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Eftpos facilities are available
CLICK & COLLECT