Newsletter 12 September 2025
Principal's Message
Year 6 Speech Competition winner and runner-up, Georgia and Juno!
R U OK?
'Book an Adventure'
Friday 12 September - Term 3 Week 8
Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended our recent School Community Open Forum Meeting. It was wonderful to see such community involvement. We discussed a diverse range of important topics, including the transition to high school, exciting partnerships with local businesses, learning additional languages, and managing school events. Your input was invaluable, and the minutes from the meeting will be shared with you next week.
St Augustine’s has been chosen for a School Safe Access Project. It aims to identify preferred entrances and exits for parents and students, key walking and cycling routes to your school, and interactions with the bus stops and school drop-off/pick-up areas at the school. Garry Murray from Redbelly consultants will be around school getting feedback so don’t hesitate in having your say.
As previously advised, the discos/school socials have been cancelled this term. Instead, we are planning a fun function during school hours, potentially on Fete Day in Term 4 — stay tuned for confirmation on this!
A huge thank you to Mrs Butcher and Mrs George for their fantastic organisation of our elective sports program this term. With a wonderful variety of sports available to Years 3 to 6, nearly 400 children have been travelling around town to experience new and exciting sporting activities. It’s been great to see so much enthusiasm and participation! Friday 19 September marks the last day of elective sports.
Please save the date for our much-loved Grandparent’s Day, which will be held on Friday, 17 October, the first week back next term. We look forward to welcoming grandparents and special friends to celebrate with us.
Lastly, I want to address a serious concern that has come to our attention. There have been reports of children sharing TikTok videos outside school hours, including on the bus. I strongly encourage all parents to have open conversations with your children about the content they view and share. Unfortunately, some of the material on social media platforms is not suitable for children, and once seen, it cannot be unseen. If your child has a phone, please consider removing social media apps or feeds to protect them from inappropriate content. Awareness and communication are crucial as we work together to keep our children safe. There is also an upcoming ban on some platforms that will assist with this important issue.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in nurturing a safe, supportive, and joyful learning environment.
Grace and peace,
Peter Watts
Faith and Mission News
Father’s Day Liturgy
What a wonderful celebration of fathers and father figures in the lives of our students. This year, during the ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ jubilee year, the students reflected on how these special men in their lives give them ‘hope’ and love. We pray that through the blessing given by Fr Joy to those dads present and our prayers for all dads brings them peace, hope and love.
St Augustine’s Feast Day
On Sunday 31 August, our parish held special celebrations to celebrate the feast of our patron saint, St Augustine. Click HERE to see a short video.
St.AY n Glow
St.AY n Glow is a lunch club for Year 6 students where they develop youth ministry skills and their faith. Run by Christa Morrow, the Youth Coordinator in our parish, the students are working on making videos. We are excited to see what they create!
Family Matters
‘Pilgrims of Hope’
Many classes have begun their ‘pilgrimage’, working through the activities on the poster below. This pilgrimage will take almost all year to complete and we look forward to sharing some of the experiences that bring us closer to God.
Naomi Loader - Assistant Principal Mission
Maria Woods - Leader of School Evangelisation
Year 6 Speech Competition
If the future is in their hands, we're in very good hands! Our Year 6 students absolutely wowed us this week in the Year 6 speech competition - wit, wisdom and words well beyond their year. Congratulations to everyone who participated, especially our winner and runner-up, Georgia and Juno!
A big thank you to the teachers from SJPC who had the tough job of judging the speech competition.
CANTEEN SPECIAL - LAST DAY OF TERM
GRANDPARENT'S DAY - SAVE THE DATE
Pastoral Care
Short Courses that may interest you:
ADHD: This short course was developed with the help of Parents for ADHD Advocacy Australia (PAAA). This course is aimed at supporting the parents and carers of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Other people may also find it helpful, such as other relatives, teacher assistants, and teachers.
Autism: This short course is directed at parents and carers of children with autism. Other people may also find it helpful, such as other relatives, teacher assistants, and teachers.
Parents of children who’ve been identified on the autism spectrum have been interviewed to identify the issues that concern them the most. This is reflected in the videos throughout this short course.
Please find more information about the courses on the OLT platform linked here.
K-2 Parent Storytelling 2025
Week 8 - Year 2
Week 9 - Kindy
News from the LARC
Overdues
Students will be receiving overdue notices in LARC lessons this week and next. These are a friendly reminder of books that they need to find and return. You do not need to pay for the book if you are able to return it.
Afternoon opening hours
The LARC is open until 3.30pm each afternoon for families to come in and borrow together. We would love to see you with your children choosing books to share. Students will only be allowed to come if they have an adult with them.
Kindergarten 2026 preschool borrowing
If you have a child enrolled to start Kindergarten in 2026 please bring them into the LARC to borrow a Preschool Pack which contains seven books for you to share with your child. You are welcome to return and borrow these as regularly as you would like.
Happy Families
Sport News
Term 3 2025 | ||
Week 8 | ||
Fri 12 Sep | NSW CPS Athletics | Newcastle |
Fri 12 Sep | Year 3-6 Elective Sports | Various |
Week 9 | ||
Fri 19 Sep | Year 3-6 Elective Sports | Various |
Week 10 | ||
Wed 24 Sep | Diocesan Football and Netball Knockout | Grafton |
Term 4 2025 | ||
Week 2 | ||
22 - 23 Oct | NSW PSSA Athletics Championships | SOPAC |
Week 3 | ||
30 Oct | Basketball NSW Regional Tournament (BOYS) | Sportz Central, Coffs Harbour |
31 Oct | Basketball NSW Regional Tournament (GIRLS) | Sportz Central, Coffs Harbour |
Week 7 | ||
Fri 7 Nov | Diocesan Summer Sports Trials (Cricket) | Lismore |
Wed 25 Nov | Diocesan Summer Sports Trials (Tennis & Basketball) | Lismore |
Thu 27 Nov | Diocesan Summer Sports Trials (Touch Football) | Lismore |
Week 8 | ||
Wed 3 Dec | St Augustine’s Representative Swimming Trials | Coffs Olympic Pool |
NOTE: Clarence Zone Summer Sports Trials dates are to be advised (Years 4 & 5 ONLY). These could take place in Week 3, 4 or 5 and are held after school.
Barney Barselaar
Congratulations to our football team who last week competed in the 15th Annual Barney Barselaar Cup at Woolgoolga and finished Runners Up!
Well done to all our students who played with great skill and sportsmanship:
Lola Bjorksten, Harley Brian, Maxwell Cochran, Harrison Deans, Sienna Forbes, Charlie Maxwell, Logan McLeod, Bentley McLeod, Hope Mengel, Max Murphy, Michael Nuhma, Luke Sakaki, Jack Tyler, Darby Wall, Ariana Yaya.
Thank you to Darren Brian for helping coach on the day.
Zone Football and Netball
Both our girls and boys football sides had a fantastic day on the pitch last Wednesday in Yamba. Our girls team made it to the final and battled it out against a highly skilled Woolgoolga side. The score at the end of the game was a draw but Woolgoolga were the winners at the end of the day from a countback of pool games. Our boys side absolutely blitzed in their pool games and they waltzed through the semi final to then face the home team, Yamba in the Grand Final. Yamba used that home ground advantage and pulled out an incredible Grand Final win over St Augustine’s. We are incredibly proud of both teams for making it through to the finals. Once again we are very grateful to Darren Brian for generously giving up his time to coach the boys.
A big congratulations to our netball team for their success at the recent Clarence Zone Netball Knockout! The girls came away with the win and qualified to compete at the Lismore Diocesan Netball to be held in Grafton in Week 10. Well done girls and thank you to Mrs Robyn Warren for coaching the team.
Rugby Friendly
Last week, our Father’s Day celebrations wrapped up with our annual Rugby Friendly against Mary Help of Christians School. Our players put on a real show with plenty of runaway tries, busting tackles and perfect conversions.
By half time the score was 42-0. After which some jersey swapping saw Mary Help scoring two tries ending in the final score 42-20 to St Augustine’s.
We thank Mary Help for coming out and giving our team a final opportunity to play on their home field. We would also like to thank Paul Butcher and Darren McCarthy for coaching the team in their last stint with St Augustine’s Rugby.
NSW Primary Schools Touch Football
Year 4 students enjoyed a wonderful day of Touch at the NSW Primary Schools Touch Football Gala Day held in Woolgoolga. Well done to all players for their exceptional sportsmanship and behaviour. Thank you to our Year 4 teachers for their organisation and support on the day.
CANTEEN NEWS
Canteen Roster
Week beginning 15 September
- Monday - Help Needed
- Tuesday - K Hunn
- Wednesday - C Jones
- Thursday - J Murphy, D Kelly
- Friday - W McLean, L Horne, Dinah
Week beginning 22 September
- Monday - C Skewes
- Tuesday - A Jurkovic
- Wednesday - C Jones
- Thursday - L Hardaker
- Friday - Pupil Free Day
Notices
