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This week, I attended the Association of Catholic School Principals (ACSP) in NSW Conference. We reflected on the theme " Living Waters: Leading with Hope, Inspiring Faith Communities”. It was a valuable opportunity to connect with other leaders and focus on how we can continue to build strong faith communities within our schools. The keynote speakers focused on nurturing the spiritual, social, emotional, and intellectual well-being of each child, ensuring that they are well-prepared for the future. I look forward to bringing back the valuable insights and strategies to further enhance our school's mission and practices gained from this professional learning and networking opportunity.
This week, some of our students and staff attended the CeNet Future: Forward - AI in Catholic Education conference, where our students shared their experiences with AI technology in education. This reflects our commitment to embracing innovation and highlights the great work of our Apple Coaches and teachers. More will be shared via our Social Media platforms.
Over the last four weeks, along with my leadership team, we have interviewed for Kindergarten 2026 placements. It is wonderful to hear from new families about the wonderful reputation we have as a school. This is a combination of the parent and school partnership that we continue to build as we journey together in supporting all learners to achieve excellence.
In the spirit of community, I want to highlight the beautiful work of our Care Committee. Our volunteers, under the guidance of parents like Christine and grandparents like Bev, work in our Pre-Loved Uniform Shop. The funds raised go towards thoughtful gestures such as gifts for new babies in our community and providing meals for families needing support. This embodies our Catholic ethos of service and compassion. If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful group, volunteering your time, or if you know of a family who could benefit from their support, please don't hesitate to reach out to me or Chris Mills in the front office. This caring support network is a unique, long-standing and cherished part of our St. Clare's community.
Yours in partnership,
Marg Foldes
Principal
Tell Them From Me Parent Survey
Parents are able to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.
We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Clare's.
The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL linked here
Reporting and Parent Teacher Conferences
All of the staff at St Clare's Catholic Parish Primary School are in the process of preparing reports for parents to be released at the end of this term. The reports will be available and published in COMPASS for parents on Friday 27 June (Week 9).
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held in Week 10 between Monday 30 June and Friday 4 July. Parents will be able to book these sessions with teachers via COMPASS from Monday 16 June.
Grade Newsletters
The Grade newsletters for Term 2 have been published to families in our community. These newsletters provide an overview of the curriculum for each year group, along with important details. For your convenience they also have been linked here:
Staff Development Day
SCNV wanted to provide you with advanced notice of a staff development day that is scheduled for Tuesday 10 June. On this day there will be no students at SCNV, as teachers take the time to engage in professional learning that is aligned with our current annual improvement goals.
Mr Joel Jarrett
Assistant Principal
On Sunday Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass formally inaugurating him as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, telling world leaders, the assembled hierarchy of his church and more than 100,000 faithful, gathered in St. Peter's Square, that his vow is to work for unity so that the Catholic Church becomes a sign of peace in the world.
As a Catholic school we look forward to the teachings and leadership of our new pope and hopefully as the REC at St Clare's and with the support of our wonderful community of staff, students and parents we can assist him to spread this message of peace.
At St Clare's, Miss Carter and I have recently been spending some time with the students talking to them about the millenial saint - Saint Carlos Acutis. Carlos was deeply devoted to the Eucharist, creating a website to document Eucharistic miracles. A skilled computer programmer, he used technology to spread the Gospel. Known for his love of saints, especially St Francis of Assisi, he was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020, becoming the first millennial to receive this honour. He enjoyed playing soccer with friends and volunteering at soup kitchens. He was scheduled to be canonised during the Jubilee of teenagers in April 2025 however due to the passing of Pope Francis this has been pushed back to later in 2025 where he will be canonised by Pope Leo.
“For the first time in history we will see a saint dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweater. This is a great message for us, we can feel holiness not as a distant thing but as something very much within everyone’s reach because the Lord is the Lord of everyone.”
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mrs Jennifer English
Religious Education Coordinator
Walk Safely to School Day – Friday 16 May
Last Friday, 16th May, we celebrated Walk Safely to School Day at St Clare’s. It was wonderful to see so many students walking to school with their families. There were lots of happy faces as children enjoyed the fresh air, got active, and learned about road safety.
Thank you to everyone who took part and made the day so special!
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 a 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
Term 2, Week 5 & 6, Fortnightly Focus is "I can respond respectfully.'
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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MAY |
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Friday 23 |
Flame Awards Years 3 - 6 in the hall at 8.30 a.m. |
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Monday 26 |
National Sorry Day |
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Tuesday 27 |
Primary Diocesan Cross Country in Nowra Australia's Biggest Morning Tea for Cancer Council 10.15 a.m. |
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Tuesday 27 - 3 June |
Reconciliation Week |
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Friday 30 |
Flame Awards K, 1 & 2 in the hall at 8.30 a.m. Principal's Awards 1.45 p.m. in the school hall |
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June |
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Tuesday 3 |
Mabo Day |
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Thursday 5 |
World Environment Day |
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Friday 6 |
Flame Awards Years 3 - 6 in the hall at 8.30 a.m. |
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Monday 9 |
King's Birthday Public Holiday |
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Tuesday 10 |
Staff Development Day - no school for students |
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Friday 13 |
Flame Awards K, 1 & 2 in the hall at 8.30 a.m. |
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Friday 20 |
Athletics Carnival at Narellan Athletics Hub Flame awards to be confirmed |
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Thursday 26 & Friday 27 |
Year 6 Canberra excursion |
| July | |
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3 - 10 |
Naidoc Week |
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Friday 4 |
Principal's Awards 1.45 p.m. in the hall Last day of Term 2 |
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Monday 21 |
Staff Development Day (no school for students) |
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Tuesday 22 |
Term 3 begins |
For extended absences (of more than 5 school days) due to travel, parents must submit the Notification of Extended Absence form along with relevant travel documentation. This documentation should include: Dates, locations of travel, purpose and reasons for travel outside school holidays.
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new online Notification of Extended Absence form. This user-friendly form simplifies the process for parents, eliminating the need for printing or downloading documents. Now, parents can conveniently complete the application entirely online.
Parents can also notify multiple schools simultaneously with a single upload of supporting documents. Parents are also required to notify your school if their student has siblings attending other CEDoW schools.
How This Benefits Parents
If you wish to apply for an extended absence, please email the office on info@scnvdow.catholic.edulau and a link will be sent to you or if you add the absence in notes on Compass and it is over 5 days - it will automatically direct you to the link.
The URL for the new online form is https://forms.dow.catholic.edu.au/to/yVv9DA.
Acknowledgement of Extended Absence
After considering the explanation for the extended absence the school will issue an Acknowledgement of Extended Absence to the parent, regardless of whether the
explanation for the absence is accepted or not accepted by the Principal. The acknowledgment may include agreed matters relating to the student’s learning and well-being. Accepted extended absences will be recorded as explained and unaccepted absences will be recorded as unjustified.
Extended absence fact sheet
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:
Congratulations to the following students who were awarded a Flame Award, presented to them by Ms Foldes on Fridays 9 and 16 May. These students were able to submit 5 Spark Awards.
| Charlotte R 3B | Leah P 3B | Olivia P 3B (x3) | Olivia W 3B |
| Ava K 3G (x2) | Charlie C 3B | Ellyra D 3G | Georgia M 3G |
| Henry Z 3G | Isabella L 3G | Katelyn T 3G (x2) | Ethan A 3W |
| Jagger F 3W | Alethea A 4B | Caitlyn M 4B | Tatum B 4B |
| Alannah C 4G | Aydin U 4G | Daniella R 4G | Harper C 4G (x2) |
| Micah F 4G | Nicholas G 4G | Theodore F 4G (x5) | Charlee C 4G |
| Abanoub B 4W | Annabelle D 4W | Harper V 4W | Scarlett D 4W |
| Jake Z 5B (x2) | Grayson B 5B (x2) | Zander F 5B | Emilia H 5B |
| Hrithvi M 5B | Aprilia D 5G | Darci S 5W | Orlando C 5W |
| Ronan P 5W | Christopher H 5W | Emmerson P 5W | Eva K 6B |
| Elijah C 6G | Tony A 6W | Amelia R 6W (x2) | Hendrix F 6W |
| Leah D 6W | Isaac C 6W |
| Aoife C 1B | Grace B 1B | Ivy G 1B | Isla G 1B |
| Leonardo D 1B | Mia S 1B | Averyl A 1G | Emily B 1G |
| Grace O 1G | Georgina M 1G | Katarina P 1G | Nate T 1G |
| Ruby D 1G | Stacey D 1G | Nicholas C 1R | Henry J 1R |
| Matilda P 1R | Paige G 1R | Samantha B 1R | Tobias S 1R |
| Harper C 1W | Nixon D 1W | Pia K 1W | Peyton S 1W (x3) |
| Stella D 1W | Alessia M 2B (x2) | Elsie O 2B | Isabella P 2B |
| Mackenzie A 2B (x3) | Marcel B 2B | Alexandra M 2G | Deegan K 2B |
| Ethan T 2G | Finley P 2G | Kiara A 2G | Lukas W 2G |
| Pearl M 2G | Rylee S 2G (x2) | Theia G 2G | Ava D 2W |
| Grace F 2W | Lily S 2W | Tom M 2W | Elijah G KB |
| Ethan M KB | Ezekio C KB | Harlow W KB | Lennox D KB |
| Zachary N KB | Audrey R KG | Bodhi S KG | Capri V KG |
| Luca C KG | Sadie C KG | Selena P KG | Tia C KG |
| Zachary G KG | Zoe B KG | Adrian L KR | Alice S KR |
| Ava B KR | Charlotte C KR | Harlie F KR | Louka R KR |
| Ariella M KW | Bianca L KW | Bronson T KW | Camille B KW |
| Dominic W KW | Emilia S KW | Hallie C KW | Margot M KW |
| Olivia M KW | Tony K KW |
St Clare’s Biggest Morning Tea 2025
Date: Tuesday 27 May (Term 2 Week 5) at 10.15am in the hall. Parents are invited to join us for our annual morning tea. However, if you are unable to join us, please feel free to donate to this cause. You can do this any time from now by going to our St Clare's Biggest Morning Tea page and making a donation.
QR code for our page:
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/
Updated Price List
CONGRATULATIONS
On Friday 9 May Fletcher M and Mitchell B represented the Wollongong Diocese Rugby League team in Canberra. A further congratulations to Mitchell B who was selected as part of the Mackillop Boys Rugby League Team.
Congratulations to Emily C who has been Selected in the MacKillop girl's Rugby 7s Team.
YEARS 3-6 ATHLETICS CARNIVAL- 20 JUNE 2025
A compass event will be sent home tomorrow with the following information.
All children from Years 3 to Year 6 will participate in our St Clare’s Athletics Carnival on Friday 20 June at Narellan Sport's Hub. The carnival will run over the full school day. Students will be transported by bus from school to the stadium and back to school. The buses will depart St Clare’s from 9.15 am and will return in time for afternoon dismissal. Please consent for your child to attend this carnival.
This year, students who are turning 8 in 2025 in Yr 2 and display a high level of speed are able to opt in to compete at this carnival via the Compass questions. The main purpose of this is to select the two fastest 8 year old children to represent St Clare's at the Western Region Athletics carnival in the event of the 100m sprint. Unfortunately, those students who turn 7 in 2025 and are in year 2 are not eligible to compete or attend. All of Year 2 will attend the Infants Sports Carnival in term 3
The events of 200m, shot put, discus, long jump, high jump and 800m are classified in the following age group divisions:
Seniors - 12 year old
11s- 11 year old
Juniors- 8, 9 and 10year old
Due to the Junior age category comprising of children aged, 8, 9 and 10 years old, students who are in the 8yr age group are highly unlikely to be selected in these events.
During Sport and Fitness lessons this term, Mrs Parkes and the classroom teachers have been recording, measuring and timing the students in the events of shot put and the sprint races. Students will be placed in order based on their abilities.
Students who wish to be selected in the St Clare's team in the events of long jump and discus will need to be nominated via the questions in this event. Students who are nominated must display a high level of skill in these events (e.g. compete in little athletics).
The events of 800m and high jump will be held in the morning prior to the commencement of the carnival. Students who wish to compete in the 800m race and/or high jump will firstly need to nominate via the questions in this event and secondly students must be transported to the athletics track to be ready to compete at 8am.
Students wishing to be considered for 1500m, please answer the questions in the question section. Please provide proof such as a photo of your Little Athletics results to be considered for these events? Results can be emailed to info@scnvdow.catholic.edu.au and attention to Megan Parkes before the Athletics carnival.
The Western Regional Athletics Carnival will be held at Campbelltown Athletics Track on Friday, 8 August 2025. After the Carnival, we will add students to a compass event who meet qualifying standards and have been selected as part of our school team.
It is essential that students who are nominating for Long jump, discus, high jump and 800m are nominated on this compass event, by the due date. Unfortunately, nominations on the day of the carnival will not be able to be accommodated.
We are looking forward to a great day.
WESTERN REGION NETBALL GALA DAY
The Western Region Netball Gala day will be held at the Minto Netball courts on Thursday 26 June. The day is an opportunity for students to learn how to play netball in a friendly gala day environment. Boys and girls from years 3-5 have nominated themselves to trial for the teams. Trials will continue to take place next week during lunch times due to the wet weather this week. Students are encouraged to wear their sport uniform on the day of their trials. Teachers in charge of the trials will communicate the new trial days to the students.
AFL CLINICS
During week 6 sport lessons, development officers from AFL will be teaching skills and playing fun games with the students. The AFL will be running after school clinics from week 7 onwards on Thursday afternoons at Liquidamber Reserve. Students attending the after school clinics will need to be collected by parents and taken to the reserve after dismissal at 2.35pm. There will be no access to the field via the back gate. Students who attend ABLE will be taken to the Reserve by the Able teachers. There will be no supervision by St Clare’s Staff members. Please find more information below in the flyer.
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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Cross Country Selection Trials - |
27 May |
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Netball NSW Cup - Camden (Years 5/6) |
19 June |
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St Clare’s Athletics Carnival (Years 3-6 plus nominated 8 yr old students from yr 2) |
20 June |
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Netball Gala Day (Years 3-6) |
26 June |
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Infants Sports carnival (Kinder-yr2) |
1 August (week 2 Term 3) |
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
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.