Acting Principal's Message

This week we begin the Lenten season with Shrove Tuesday and the traditional serving of pancakes to students by parent volunteers. Thank you for the donations of pancakes which the children truly enjoyed. A special thank you to Mrs Neeson our family educator for organising the event.

As a school community, we marked the beginning of Lent today by attending the Ash Wednesday Mass with the wider parish community. The season of Lent is traditionally one of prayer, penance and almsgiving.

NAPLAN

Literacy & Numeracy

This year, The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) - tests for students in Years 3 and Year 5 will be administered earlier than in previous years. It will be held in March during the period between March 12 and March 24. NAPLAN will be conducted online this year (except for Year 3 Writing) using the school’s devices. Students will have the opportunity to practice using the online testing platform during class time. We use NAPLAN in combination with the school’s assessment data and, as such, encourage students to ‘try their best.’

NAPLAN DATES:

Date	Assessment
Wednesday, 12th March	Writing
Friday, 14th March	Reading
Monday, 17th March	Conventions of Language
Wednesday, 19th March	Numeracy

Welcome Night - Thank you to everyone who organised and attended our P & F Welcome Night on Friday, 28th February.

Wellbeing Sensory Areas

This week we installed some new sensory areas in the school. The children love to stop and take a look in the mirror! or even to touch, walk or squish the walking movement pads.

Idle-off

What is Engine Idling?

Traffic is one of the major causes of air pollution. Reducing emissions from road transport is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve local air quality. This can be done by reducing the use of vehicles, especially older, more polluting vehicles, and by avoiding idling whenever possible.

What?

Definition - Idling refers to cars/buses leaving their engine on when stopped ie at school pick ups.
Idling for only 10 seconds uses more fuel than turning off the engine.
It can also be harmful to the engine over time.
Idle-off means turning off your ignition when stopping at school. (or elsewhere).

Why idle-off?

Idling pollution is equivalent to adults smoking cigarettes around children (and our teachers) in the pick up zone.
School aged children are of particular concern and especially vulnerable given their growing lungs and immune systems. For one example, it can lead to new onset/diagnosis of asthma or worsening of already diagnosed asthma.
Other associated consequences (amongst others) - reduced pupil academic performance, ADHD, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, brain tumours, leukaemia, stroke, dementia.
(A relevant article with a reference to Randwick https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/air-pollution-linked-to-adhd-in-schoolkids-new-study-finds-20230518-p5d9cl.html)
Studies show a 300 per cent increase in local air pollution at school pick-up time.
Anti-idling efforts have been proven to be effective in reducing air pollution around schools.
Also it's been shown to reduce children's exposure to pollution inside the school.
There is no safe level of vehicle-related air pollution. Any vehicle new or old emits pollutants that harm the health of students at schools.
Air pollution ranks higher than second-hand tobacco smoke for premature disease and death in Australia. Motor-vehicle pollution is the biggest contributor because it is in close proximity to us!

Other facts

Anti-idling regulations over 20 years in California USA have led to improved lung development and function in research of school children.
Australia is decades behind other developed countries regarding legally regulating school zone air pollution and vehicle idling. USA and The UK are examples of countries with strict regulations and widespread public health campaigns.
Lane Cove Council is calling on the NSW government to ban the idling of motor vehicle engines at schools.

Interesting links

Though idleoff.com.au has a whole list of interesting links and media included on their home page.

2025 Staff Development Days (Pupil Free Days)

Each year, Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) provides time for Staff Development Days (SDD) which provides professional learning time for all staff. With the introduction of the new English and Mathematics Syllabus' in 2023 (K-2) and 2024 (Years 3-6) and the implementation of other syllabi within the next two years, SCS has provided the following days in 2025.

Term 1
Friday, 11 April

Term 2
Friday, 6 June
Monday, 4 July

Term 3
Monday, 21 July
Monday, 8 September
Friday, 26 September

Term 4
Monday, 13 October

Week 4 & 5 Assembly - Congratulations to the award recipients!

Congratulations!

Oztag Sea Sparks

On the 6th of March, Leila, Elsa, Lilliane, Azura, Waratah, Freya and Lila all participated in the Easts Junior under 11’s girls Oztag grand finals. We played 11 games in total and won 10 of them. Our Team had a lot of fun this season as we learnt teamwork, leadership and bravery and conquered lots of challenges and difficulties throughout this time. We won a gold medal. We had a great time and we can't wait for next season!

Oztag Blaze Runners

Yesterday, the 6th of March we played our third Oztag grand final against the Turbo taggers at Queens park. Everyone agreed that it was very tough and very tense and it definitely was, in our opinion it was the best season we ever had and we can’t wait for next season to come around. But we all had a fun time and we won! It was a very close game but in the end we won 5-2. The last time we versed them we also won 6-2, we were all very nervous and we thought something might go wrong. Two years before we were all in one team together called Rainbow Oz but we had to separate after 5 years because there were too many representative players in the team, and we won all of those games too. In the end we all had a photo together biting our medals and the day was amazing! By Penny & Charlotte

Oztag Turbo Taggers

On Thursday 6th of March we had our oztag grand finals and our team the Turbo Taggers were versing the opposing team, the Blaze runners which Charlotte and Penny were in. We ended up with a score of 5-2 to the Blaze Runners. Although we lost it was a really fun game and we ended up learning a lot from the game! We trained and listened to some energetic music that got us ready for our game. We had versed them in a previous game and had lost although we have grown from our past performance. Our teammates were all supporting and cheering for each other and we are very happy to be a part of a team like that. The team spirit was high and we were extremely proud to be able to bring home second place. After the game, we had pizza and played in the park to celebrate second place! By Sienna & Bianca

Enrolments for 2026

Discover St Anthony's co-educational excellence from Kindergarten to Year 6 at our Term 1 Open Days for 2026 and 2027 enrolments.

For families with young siblings to commence next year, please submit your applications now so we are aware how many positions are required. As existing families, please complete your application through Compass using the Family & Enrolments tab as shown below. To access the Family & Enrolments tab, please open Compass in browser, click on the cog icon on the top right hand side of your screen, then onto the Family & Enrolments tab as shown.