Week 4 Newsletter, Term 3 2025

Principal's Messages

It’s been a busy time at Corpus Christi including our Feast Day celebrations for the Feast of St Dominic.  

Water Safety 

On Wednesday, our students in K–6 took part in the City of Newcastle’s Water Safety Education Program. Local lifeguards visited classrooms to share important reminders about staying safe at the beach, the pool and around rivers and lakes. 

The program is designed to give children the knowledge and confidence to make safe choices around water, especially as we head into the warmer months. 

We are looking forward to celebrating Grandparents and Friends Day. This is always a busy day, especially with our Liturgy, Book Parade, class activities and Book Fair. We know that many grandparents live far away and cannot always be with us on these special occasions, but they remain an important and cherished part of our school community. Grandparents are special because they share their wisdom, stories, and love. We also warmly welcome aunties, uncles, and special friends to join us in celebrating this special day together. 

Play Equipment Update - Nearing Completion! 

 We’re excited to share that our playground works are close to completion! It’s been a journey of patience and planning this year, as we carefully scoped the project, sourced parts from the UK, and coordinated various trades to complete each stage. 

 There’s just one final piece of the puzzle to be installed, which we hope will be completed in the coming week. It has been a long time without our play equipment, and we truly appreciate the flexibility and patience of our students, staff, and families throughout this process. It’s always challenging when aspects of a project like this are out of our control, we can’t wait to see the excitement of the students when we can open this space.

Creative Arts Update 

Ma Emma Davies has been working with our students on Wednesdays and Fridays in preparation for our upcoming musical. Costume requirements will be published tomorrow, and ticketing information will be available by the end of Week 6. 

Staffing 

We would like to share that a permanent classroom teaching position will be advertised at Corpus Christi. This opportunity arises following Mrs Shafren’s leave for 2025 and subsequent retirement.  A merit selection process will take place over the coming weeks.  

Looking forward to a great two weeks,

Katie

Faith in Focus

Last week, we gathered as a school community to celebrate St Dominic’s Day with a beautiful Mass led by Fr James. During his homily, Fr James invited our students to reflect on the lives of the saints, especially St Dominic.

Our students shared thoughtful insights, recognising that saints are kind, bring people together, follow God, teach others, live in community, love one another, pray for others, and even perform miracles. They also acknowledged that we pray to saints for guidance and support.

Fr James challenged us all to consider how we can be like saints in our everyday lives. What a powerful and inspiring reflection from our students—reminding us that faith is not just something we believe, but something we live out through kindness, service, and love.

Feast of the Assumption

Each year on August 15, the Catholic Church celebrates a very special day called the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It’s a joyful occasion that honours Mary, the mother of Jesus.

For the Church, The Assumption refers to the belief that Mary was taken up—body and soul—into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. Catholics believe that Mary was assumed into Heaven because of her deep connection to God and her role as the mother of Jesus. 

This Feast Day emphasises Mary's role as a model for Christians, highlighting her humility, service, and praise of God. It honours Mary’s faithfulness: She said “yes” to God throughout her life, and this feast celebrates how God honoured her in return.

How Do We Celebrate?

• Our Stage 3 classes will celebrate Parish Mass tomorrow at 9:15a.m for The Feast of the Assumption.
• All Classes will mark the day an opportunity for classroom prayer to honour Mary, her humility and service.

Year 3 Mini Vinnies Say NO to Bullying!

Our entire Year 3 group have formed the Term 3 Mini Vinnies team. It is fantastic to see so many of our students willing to make a difference in our school. Our Year 3 students participated in a workshop this week, led by our Year 6 Environmental and Service Leaders.

This week is National "Bullying No Way" Week. The theme is BE BOLD, BE KIND, SPEAK UP. Our Mini Vinnies Year 3 Team have a mission to make a difference in our school by contributing to a positive, welcoming and inclusive environment.

Connor, Ruby, Genesis and Sam led the Mini Vinnies group in discussions about how to create safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces in our school. Year 3 identified how important it is to feel safe and respected in our community and brainstormed ideas to make our environment welcoming and inclusive. Our Year 6 leaders displayed great listening and organisational skills to run their groups. 

We look forward to sharing how our Year 3 Mini Vinnies are taking this message of compassion and spreading it to other classes throughout the term. 

Bullying No Way

Grandparents Day and Book Week Thursday 21 August

Join us on Thursday 21 August from 9:00am for Grandparents and Friends Day, featuring a Liturgy, Book Week Character Parade, and fun classroom/playground activities with our grandparents, parents and friends.

Children are encouraged to dress as a favourite book character or in line with this year’s theme, Book an Adventure, with closed-in shoes required.
The Scholastic Book Fair will be open on Wednesday 20 August (3:00pm-4:30pm and Thursday 21 August 8:20am and again after the morning events, with books available for purchase in person or online (cashless payments only).

All sales help fund new resources for our school library – thank you for your support!

Science Week

We celebrated Science Week a little early this year with our DominiQuest. Inspired by St Dominic’s love of learning, we created a science-themed day filled with curiosity, problem-solving and discovery. 

Year 6 students led a series of STEM challenges, guiding groups of students from K–6 through activities such as building structures, testing forces, experimenting with materials, and making predictions and hypotheses. Students then shared their results and reflected on what worked and what could be improved – just like real scientists do! 

A big thank you to Mrs Ayres and Mr Ellis for facilitating the program, and to our Year 6 leaders for their creativity, encouragement and support of younger students. 

Science Week

Positive Behaviour for Learning PB4L - Veritas Values

Our 'Dominican Detectives' this week were Lachlan, James, Bede and Pippa! Our detectives were on the look out for students following the school rule Veritas Values -  Be Respectful - Keep the environment clean and organised.

Our Detectives noticed our school rules being followed and the spirit of Jesus in our school when:

* Kindergareten were lining up straight and quietly after lunch and recess

* Year 3 were first to line up after the end of play

* Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 were quiet in their classrooms and learning

* Students in year 3 and 4 were playing handball respectfully

* Year 4 were good at packing away their equipment after play

* Year 5 and 6 put their lunch boxes away and keeping them tidy and organised while at play.

Great work Corpus Christi!

CCW Father's Day Celebration Save the Date

Sport Update

Diocesan Athletics Representatives

At the recent Diocesan Athletics Carnival, we were proud to have eight students represent our school Lucy C, Harvey, Chase, Knox, MJ, Ruby, Harriet and Denzel. Congratulations to MJ who will  progress to the Polding level for Long Jump – an outstanding achievement! Congratulations to all our athletes for reaching this stage and for the way they represented our school and the North Region with pride.

Soccer Gala Day

We are also looking forward to our Regional Soccer Gala Day in Week 6. This is always a fun and energetic event where our students have the chance to play soccer against other schools from our north region, building skills, teamwork, and school spirit.

Additional Sport Coaching Sessions K-6

In addition to our Friday Physrical Education lessons, students are enjoying Wednesday sport coaching sessions. K–2 are developing their skills in T-Ball and Softball, while Years 3–6 are learning the game of Lacrosse. These activities not only teach specific game techniques but also help students develop coordination, teamwork, and a lifelong love of physical activity.

Kindergarten 2026 Playgroup and Orientation

Canteen - Tuesday Book Week Special

On Tuesday 19th August, there will be a special Book Week Menu:

Possum Magic Box $8.50

• Vegemite Sandwich
• Anzac biscuit, lamingtons and Minties
• Juice Popper or Water
  

Hungry Caterpillar $10

• Cheese and Salami Sandwich
• Mini Cupcake
• Fruit Salad
• Juice Popper or Water
  

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs $10

• Meatball Sub
• Donut
• Juice Popper or Water

There will not be offering HOT FOOD on this day, and students do not need reusable lunch bags on this day.  All specials are now live on Qkr!

Uniform Shop

Uniform Shop is open every Friday from 8:30am-9am.

Online orders via Qkr! close at 8:00am each Friday and will be sent home with your child.

To keep costs low and provide this service to Corpus Christi families, all items are sold close to cost price. If you are available to volunteer on a casual or regular basis, please reach out to admin@waratah.catholic.edu.au.

Parent Trivia Night

Trivia Night Tickets Now On Sale
Purchase your tickets now for the Corpus Christi Trivia Night.

A fantastic night of fun with prizes (including cold hard cash and bragging rights) to be won.

Saturday 30th AugustHamilton North Bowling Club, 6pm star

$20 per ticket, available to purchase on Qkr! or rustle up a team and book a full table of 8.

Fantastic lucky door, raffle and bonus prizes to be won. Bring your gold coins for bonus games. Eftpos facilities available on the night.

This event is open to parents, friends and family of the Corpus Christi Community and is strictly an adult only event. All funds raised are used for the improvement of school facilities and resources. We look forward to seeing you there!