St Lawrence Primary School

386 Albert Street, Balcatta 6021

Phone: 08 9344 4944

admin@stlawbal.wa.edu.au

https://www.stlawbal.wa.edu.au/

The vision of St Lawrence Catholic Primary School, Balcatta is to share the message of God’s love and friendship in a community of learners, developing the full potential of each child.

Dear Families,

This Saturday at 4:00pm, a number of our students will celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, an important milestone in their faith journey. We congratulate all of the children as they prepare to receive Jesus in the Eucharist and thank their families for supporting them throughout this special time.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our teachers, Ms Tranquille and Mrs Major, along with our Parish Sacramental Coordinators, Jo and Lorraine, for the care and preparation they have provided for our students. Their dedication and faith-filled guidance have ensured that the children are well prepared for this significant sacrament.

Loving God,

Bless the children receiving their First Holy Communion this weekend.

May they always feel Your presence in their hearts and continue to grow in faith,

hope and love.

Amen.

Changes to the Junior Oval Kiss and Drive

The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority. Following a review of our afternoon pick-up procedures, we have made a change to the Junior Oval Kiss and Drive (for families with surnames L-Z).

From now on, students will no longer walk through the line of cars at pick-up time. Instead, they will wait safely behind the Junior Oval gate before being escorted to their vehicle by staff. From a parent perspective, the process will remain much the same, with cars continuing to line up as normal at the Junior Oval.

Families will notice that we have now installed a covered waiting area at this location. This addition will provide protection from both the sun and rain while students wait to be collected after school.

To help ensure the process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible, we ask that families display their name signs clearly in their car windows when using Kiss and Drive. This greatly speeds up the collection process and assists the teachers on duty, particularly staff members who may not yet know which vehicle belongs to each family. Having your sign visible allows us to safely and quickly match students with the correct vehicle and helps reduce waiting times for everyone.

We hope this new system will improve the safety for our students.

Welcome Mr Brennan

We are delighted to welcome Mr Brennan, who commenced with us this week as Assistant Principal, working alongside Ms Tranquille.

Mr Brennan has already enjoyed meeting students, staff and families and is looking forward to becoming an active member of our school community. Over the coming weeks, you will see him around classrooms, the playground and at school events as he gets to know the many wonderful people who make our school such a special place.

Catholic Performing Arts Festival

Our school choir truly shone at the Catholic Schools Performing Arts Festival on Tuesday afternoon at the Vasto Club in Balcatta. Under the direction of Mrs Tolich, the choir delivered a phenomenal performance, showcasing beautiful harmonies, confidence and stage presence. They looked and sounded the part, representing St Lawrence with pride. The adjudication report was fantastic! Congratulations to Mrs Tolich and all choir members on this outstanding achievement. We also wish Ellie (Year 6) the very best of luck as she performs in the Vocal Solo section on Friday. We know you will do us proud, Ellie! 🎶

Warm regards,

Mrs Sarah Williams

Principal

Introducing the Parent and Carer Code of Conduct

We are committed to building a school community where every child can flourish. The new Parent and Carer Code of Conduct articulates our shared expectations for respectful engagement, safety and support. By working together in partnership, families and staff help create a welcoming environment where all students are valued and empowered to succeed.

2026.07.20 CEWA and CSPWA Code of Conduct Letter to Parents.pdf

Please note: All dates and events are subject to change.

Term 3

• Friday 28 August - Leadership Assembly 8.45am - 9.15am
• Saturday 29 August - First Holy Communion 4pm - 5.30pm
• Wednesday 2 September - P&F Father's Day Stall 8.30am - 10.30am
• Wednesday 2 September - Kindy Donuts for Dads Day
• Thursday 3 September - Mass Yrs 4-6 9am
• Thursday 3 September - School Advisory Council Meeting 2pm - 3pm
• Friday 4 September - Father's Day Breakfast & Yr 1 Assembly 7.30am - 9.30am
• Monday 7 September - A Stitch in Time Incursion Yr4 - Yr 6
• Wednesday 9 September - DEAR Buddy Book Week Activity Whole School 9am
• Wednesday 9 September - Parent Teacher Meetings 3pm - 5.30pm
• Thursday 10 September - Parent Teacher Meetings 3pm - 5.30pm
• Friday 11 September - Leadership Assembly 8.45am - 9.15am
• Wednesday 16 September - St Lawrence Sports Carnival 7am - 3pm
• Thursday 17 September - Water Corp Incursion PP & Yr 1
• Wednesday 23 September - Kindy Farm Dress Up Day and Farmyard Incursion
• Wednesday 23 September - Pre Primary Fairytale Ball
• Wednesday 23 September - Yr 2 Excursion
• Thursday 24 September - School Disco
• Friday 25 September - End of Term 3

Parent/Teacher Meetings

End of Term 3 Parent/Teacher Interviews will be held on Wednesday 9 September and Thursday 10 September. These meetings provide an important opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss each child's progress, celebrate achievements and identify goals for continued growth.

A booking link will be sent to parents shortly to select a suitable interview time. Each interview will run for 10 minutes, with sessions commencing at 3:00pm and concluding at 5:30pm on both days.

Interview Locations:

• Kindy to Year 2: Interviews will take place in the Learning Centre. Parents are asked to enter the school through the Junior Oval gate and wait in the Undercover Area.
• Year 3 to Year 6: Interviews will be held in the Library. Parents are asked to wait on the veranda outside the Library.

We look forward to partnering with families as we support every child's learning journey.

Father's Day Celebrations

We are looking forward to celebrating the special fathers, grandfathers and father figures in our school community during Week 7.

Father's Day Breakfast

Friday, 4 September | 7:30am

All fathers, grandfathers, and father figures are warmly invited to join us for our annual Father's Day Breakfast. This is always a wonderful opportunity for families to come together and celebrate the important role these special people play in the lives of our students.

Other Father's Day Events

• P&F Father's Day Stall – Wednesday 2 September
• Kindy Donut for Dad Day – Wednesday 2 September
• Year 1 Father's Day Assembly – Friday 4 September

We wish all of our dads, grandfathers and father figures a very Happy Father's Day and thank them for the love, guidance and support they provide every day.

St Lawrence Feast Day

Thank you to our wonderful school community for your generosity and support during our St Lawrence Feast Day celebrations.

We are delighted to announce that $2,217.10 was raised. The funds will be donated to the Kora Centre, which is run by the Servite Sisters. Our Faith Leaders will visit the centre next term to present the donation and learn more about the valuable work being undertaken there.

This incredible result reflects the spirit of compassion and service that is at the heart of our St Lawrence community. Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped make this fundraising effort such a success.

What an amazing effort!

Ms Kathleen Tranquille & Mr Reuben Brennan

Assistant Principals

Farewell, Mrs Pizzo

The past six weeks have been so special in Year One, as we have had the pleasure of welcoming Mrs Pizzo into our classroom. Mrs Pizzo has brought so much fun, enthusiasm and a love of learning to our days.

Our time together has gone by so quickly and it is hard to believe it has come to an end. We know that Mrs Pizzo will be a wonderful teacher and we hope that she has enjoyed learning alongside us in our busy classroom as much as we have enjoyed learning with her.

Thank you, Mrs Pizzo, for everything you have done. We will miss you and wish you all the very best for the future.

Goodbye and good luck, Mrs Pizzo!

“My favourite thing with Mrs Pizzo was making the clay sea creatures.” – Finn

“I liked when we went out to sport to play the flag game with Mrs Pizzo.” – Mia

“My favourite thing was doing Italian with Mrs Pizzo.” – Cindy

“I liked that Mrs Pizzo was creative and fun.” – Giordana

Mrs Angela Carnevali

Year One Teacher

Year 3 Scitech Excursion

Miss Natasha Galley

Year Three Teacher

Year 6 Camp

The Year 6s had a wonderful time at Camp in Waroona.

Mrs Roselyn Pizzino

Year Six Teacher

Book Week

This week is officially Book Week, but we will be celebrating our Book Week during week eight of this term so that Kindy can join in the fun.

This year’s theme is Symphony of Stories. Our main event will be happening on Wednesday 9 September. At St Lawrence, we only have a dress-up every second year, so this year’s celebration event will be a DEAR Buddy activity. DEAR Buddy stands for Drop Everything and Read with your Buddy.

It will take place in the school hall commencing at 9am. Staff and students are invited to wear their pyjamas to school on this day. Pyjamas need to be school and weather appropriate attire, along with appropriate footwear (no shoestring straps, no midriffs, leggings under shorts etc, if they are not long, no thongs or slides will be permitted). Students are also welcome to wear Oodies or onesies. Appropriate footwear, such as sneakers, will need to be worn to school so that students can still play safely on play equipment at both recess and lunch.

Soccer tops, basketball singlets, AFL guernseys etc, are not permitted to be worn on this day.

Students who do not wish to wear their pyjamas on this day will be required to wear the correct school uniform.

Students will be advised during upcoming library sessions of the event and of the dress standards required.

***Please note this will be a staff and student only event due to the hall capacity restrictions**

There will also be Book Week activities held in the Library during lunchtime on Friday 11 September.

Scholastic Book Club

Book Club brochures have gone home this week. All orders are due back by 3.30pm Tuesday 1 September.

We thank you for your continued support. All Book Club purchases earn the school reward points, which allows us to purchase resources for the school.

Ms Louise Frenzel

Library Officer

STEM SHOWCASE

On 12 August, the Year Fives and Year Sixes attended the CEWA STEM Showcase, held at Mercy College. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to interact and engage with a variety of STEM projects across Catholic schools.

Congratulations to the following Year Six groups that represented our school by presenting their project that they worked on during our STEM lessons (we’ll be on the lookout to see these ideas become a reality one day);

Recyclable Shoe - Ellie and Emilia

So many shoes are thrown out each year, adding to our already overloaded landfill. This shoe is made out of recyclable material, making it a better, more sustainable option for our planet.

Allergy Scanner - Alessandra and Alaina

This contraption scans your food and checks if there is any gluten or other allergens present in food. It is designed to be taken out to restaurants and to test for an individual's specific allergy.

Science Week

In Week Five we celebrated Science Week. The theme being; ‘Seeds of Science: Nurturing knowledge for all'. During our Science lessons, we had a week off from our usual curriculum and took the opportunity to explore interesting facts about seeds, the different types of seeds, what they need to grow and what seeds we eat.

We also ‘nurtured our knowledge’ by running Science based activities during lunchtime. The Year Fives did a fabulous job at running these activities and explaining the science behind them. The students had the opportunity to search for gold in rocks, make rainbows, participate in an ice-melting competition, learn about life cycles, make their own bubble blower and construct a marble run to see how fast their marble could go.

Mrs Lauren Boland

Science Teacher

We have been having lots of fun in playgroup this term, and have welcomed new friends. If you would like any information on our playgroup session, enquiries can be made to gillian.austin@cewa.edu.au.

Mrs Gillian Austin

Playgroup Facilitator

We have an external provider to deliver a lunch service for Thursday & Friday each week.

LunchboxHub will be supplying a variety of healthy lunch options which parents can now access to order school lunches.

Lunch orders need to be placed by 8:30am on Thursday and 7:30am on Friday.

To Order Lunches:

Please visit the following link that will provide you with all the information and an ordering guide:

All you need to know about ordering from Lunchbox Hub and visit: https://school-lunch.lunchboxhub.com.au/ to create your new account.

For further information about our new canteen service please click here: https://stlawbal.wa.edu.au/parents/school-canteen/

Father’s Day Stall

Our Father’s Day stall will run for children in Kindy to Year 6. The stall will be held on Wednesday 2 September.

We are running a physical shop, so that the children can come and make their own selections and purchase “in store”.

We have items ranging from $2 to $6 and children are able to purchase a maximum of three items each.

We would like to thank the Year 2 class for their support in running the stall.

*Please note, besides the Year 2 helpers, this is a child only event.

Father’s Day Breakfast

We would like to invite the special men in our life to the Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday the 4th September 2026 at 7:30am!

Please RSVP via the link below.

There will be a raffle on the day so please be sure to bring along some spare change!

We would like to give a special thanks to our incredible Year 4 class for hosting this event.

https://forms.gle/4ikdHcNoNUP8PKBP9

Wine Fundraiser

On behalf of the P&F, Charlotte P has created a fabulous opportunity to purchase wine from WA Cellars. This is an ongoing fundraiser that you can enjoy throughout the year!

Purchases can be made via the link below:

St Lawrence Primary School Fundraiser - WA Cellars

P&F TEAM

The WA Student Assistance Payment helps parents and carers with cost-of-living pressures associated with sending their children to school.

All Western Australian school students with an active enrolment at a public school, non-government school or registered for home education are eligible for the WA Student Assistance Payment.

You can claim $250 for each secondary student and $150 for students attending primary school or Kindergarten.

The fastest and most convenient way to claim is through the ServiceWA app. More information on how to claim through the ServiceWA app is available at WA.gov.au/WASAP2026

All claims must be received by Friday 25 September 2026.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible students must be enrolled in Kindergarten to Year 12 at a Western Australian public school, non-government school or registered for home education and have a valid WA student number (WASN).

HOW TO CLAIM

Submit your claim through ServiceWA.

WASN (SCSA Government ID Number)

This can be found in SEQTA under the Reports tab.

WA Student Assistance Payment

education.wa.edu.au

CHILDREN'S LITURGY

The Children’s Liturgy is offered at the 5pm Mass on the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of the month, during school term.

At the beginning of Mass, all primary school children are invited to join our Children’s Liturgy team, in the Parish hall, for activities tailored to help them better understand ‘The Liturgy of the Word’. The children return to church when the offertory gifts are taken up. Please encourage your kids to join in.

Visit balcatta.perthcatholic.org.au to read our bulletins and find out more

information about happenings in our parish.