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,

As we approach the end of what has been a very busy and rewarding term, I would like to take a moment to congratulate all of our students on their efforts and achievements. It has been a long term filled with rich learning experiences, and our students should be incredibly proud of all they have accomplished.

One of the highlights of my role is visiting classrooms in the mornings. It is always a joy to see the engagement and enthusiasm for learning across all year levels. Whether it’s students working collaboratively, developing new skills, or confidently sharing their ideas, there is a wonderful sense of purpose and growth in every classroom. It is clear that our students have come so far already in this first half of the year, and I commend them and our dedicated staff for their hard work and commitment.

Updated School Pick-Up Procedure

As our school community continues to grow, it is important that we work together to ensure a safe and efficient pick-up process for all families. We kindly ask all parents and carers to be courteous and mindful when using the Kiss and Ride area.

To help improve traffic flow and ensure the safety of our students and other road users, a revised pick-up process will be in place from Term 3. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation as we work together to reduce congestion and improve safety around the school.

Important reminders:

🚗 Vehicles must enter the school from the lane closest to the school and follow the designated pick-up route for their child’s surname group

🟠 A–L Surnames
Please follow the Orange Route through the school pick-up lane.

🔵 M–Z Surnames
Please follow the Blue Route around the Church.

🚫 Right-hand turns into the school from the opposite side of Albert Street are not permitted. Vehicles approaching from this direction must continue and join the pick-up queue in the correct lane.

🚫 Please do not block traffic. This creates congestion, prevents other road users from moving safely and can create unnecessary safety risks.

🚫 Please do not skip the queue.

✅ Please be patient and courteous!

The revised system has been designed to keep traffic moving efficiently while ensuring all families can access the school safely.

Thank you for your patience, cooperation and support as we implement these changes. By working together, we can make school pick-up safer and smoother for everyone.

Newsletter Update

Please be advised that starting in Term 3 our school newsletter will be sent out to our school community on Thursday mornings.

Thank You

As we come to the close of the term, I would like to thank our entire school community for your ongoing support. I wish all families a wonderful end to the term and a safe, relaxing winter holiday break.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for Term 3.

Warm regards,

Mrs Sarah Williams

Principal

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

Term 2

• Monday June 29 - Yr 3 - 6 Incursion
• Wednesday 1 July - Kindy 'Bug' Dress Up Day
• Friday 3 July - End of Term 2, Reports live 4pm
• Monday 20 July - First Day of term
• Thursday 23 July - Grandparents Mass and Celebrations 9am - 10.30am
• Friday 24 July - Yr 3 - NAIDOC Week Assembly 8.45am - 9.15am
• Wednesday 29 July - Kindy Parent Meeting Take Home Story Books 2.20pm - 2.40pm
• Thursday 30 July - Year 1-3 attend Mass 9am
• Thursday 30 July - PK Parent Meeting Take Home Story Books 2pm - 2.30pm
• Thursday 30 July - Friday 31 July Yr5 AQWA Camp
• Friday 31 July - Leadership Assembly 8.45am - 9.15am
• Friday 31 July - P&F Quiz Night 7pm - 10.30pm

Year 3 and 5 Religious Education Assessment

In Catholic schools throughout Western Australia, students in Years 3, 5 and 9 complete a system-wide online assessment in Religious Education (REA). This assessment is designed to evaluate students’ understanding of the prescribed content in the Religious Education Curriculum.

Assessment items for each year level are created by the Religious Education Directorate at the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia. These items include a combination of multiple-choice questions, as well as short and extended written responses. It is important to note that the REA does not assess students’ personal faith.

REA reports are provided to schools in Term Four and are intended to support and complement school-based Religious Education assessment programs. As a system-wide initiative, the REA offers teachers, school leaders and system leaders a snapshot of student achievement at a specific point in time. Over multiple years, it also provides valuable insight into student progress in Religious Education.

28 July – Profile and Practise
29 July – Equating Assessment
5 August – Religious Education Assessment

Grandparents Mass and Morning Tea

Dear Grandparents,

We warmly invite you to join us for a special Grandparents' Morning Tea to celebrate the important role you play in the lives of our students.

The morning will begin with a beautiful Grandparents' Mass at 9am in the St Lawrence Church, followed by Classroom visits, where you will spend 30 minutes with your grandchild/ children taking part in a fun activity, and finally Morning tea with coffee and cake in the school hall.

We look forward to sharing this memorable morning with you and showing our appreciation for everything you do.

Date: Thursday 23rd July 2026
Time: 9am
Location: St Lawrence Church

Mid-Year Reports
Reports will be available to families via SEQTA on Friday, 3 July. If you are a new family and have not yet activated your SEQTA Engage account, please contact the office for assistance.

The Mid-Year reports offer a detailed summary of your child’s learning progress and are the result of significant work by our teaching staff. The report provides parents with a ‘snapshot in time’ of how their child is progressing in relation to the end-of-year achievement standard for each learning area for their year level. The grade provided is taking into account the curriculum that has been taught and assessed to that point in time.

NAIDOC Week

We are looking forward to celebrating NAIDOC Week at St Lawrence on Friday, 24th July 2025 (Term 3 Week 1).

While NAIDOC Week falls during the school holidays, we are excited to mark this special occasion with our students at the start of the term three.

This year’s theme is: “50 Years of Deadly”

This theme celebrates the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week, recognising the strength, resilience and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over the past five decades. It reflects on the progress made through culture, leadership and community action, while looking ahead to the future

To help us celebrate:

• Children are encouraged to wear First Nations colours – black, yellow or red. (If you don’t have these colours, the sports uniform is just fine!)

• The day will include meaningful and fun activities with their buddies.

First Holy Communion

Next term, our Year 4 students will begin their Sacramental journey towards receiving the Eucharist. They will celebrate the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time on Saturday, 29 August at 4:00pm. This is a very special occasion for both the students and their families.

A Parent Information Session will be held in the Church on Thursday, 6 August. At least one parent or guardian of each child is required to attend.

To help prepare for this important milestone, students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday, 26 August and participate in a Retreat Day on Thursday, 13 August.

We pray that, as they receive their First Holy Communion, they grow closer to Jesus and continue to live as children of God.

St Lawrence School Feast Day

The school will be celebrating St Lawrence Feast Day on Friday 7 August. The Feast Day is an opportunity to celebrate our Patron Saint, but also an opportunity to continue his work by donating funds to those most in need in our community. Money raised will be donated to the Kora Centre run by the Servite Sisters. Children will be participating in games and purchasing yummy goodies from our stalls.

Monday 24th August

Friday 20th November

Ms Kathleen Tranquille & Mrs Gabrielle Brennan

Assistant Principals

Mrs Mayo

Finance Officer

Our new garden is already being utilised.Year 5 students enjoying the sunshine while reading and some of our netball girls working hard on their strategies. Exactly why it was built this way!

This term, students have engaged in a range of exciting learning experiences while developing important skills across all learning areas. In Inquiry, they explored and discovered different types of minibeasts, building their curiosity and understanding of the natural world. In Numeracy, students worked on measuring and weighing objects, recognising and creating patterns, and using positional language to describe the location of objects. In Literacy, they focused on identifying initial sounds in words and practised writing and correctly forming letter sounds. Through Talk for Writing (T4W), students enjoyed learning and retelling stories such as The Tiny Caterpillar and The Lazy Ladybird. Throughout these learning experiences, students have shown enthusiasm, grown in confidence, and created many wonderful memories with their friends!

Mrs Preston, Mrs Seragusana and Mrs Thompson

WINTER CARNIVAL

Please note the Winter Carnival has been postponed until Tuesday, 30th June.

We will be playing against St Denis, St Gerard's, Our Lady of Lourdes and Majella in netball, soccer and basketball. The aim of these fun matches is to:

1) Promote fitness and enjoyment

2) Provide children with the opportunity to participate in sporting events within the wider Catholic School Community

3) Foster a positive attitude towards physical activity within a healthy, competitive environment

4) Develop netball, soccer and basketball skills.

TIME: Students will travel by bus to and from the venue. They will leave school at approximately 9.00am. The matches will start at 10.00am and conclude approximately at 2:30pm. Students will arrive back at school by 2.45pm to be picked up as normal. Please allow for possible delays due to the weather.

CLOTHING: Children in soccer and basketball are to wear their sport uniform - yellow St Lawrence sports shirt (no graduation shirts), red shorts/skorts, tracksuit and school hat. Girls playing netball will wear their St Lawrence netball dresses. I also strongly recommend bringing a warm waterproof jacket for between games. Soccer and basketball teams will be provided with playing shirts. Students will be allowed to wear their own sports shoes for the matches, but are NOT permitted to wear any sports shoes with spikes or studs.

PROTECTIVE GEAR: If soccer players would like to wear mouth guards or shin pads, this is their choice. Shin pads will require long socks (red would be best)

WEATHER: As this is a winter competition, students will be required to play in the wet weather. (Basketball is played indoors) The event will not be cancelled unless the weather is too severe for the students to participate. Principals from the various schools will make the decision to cancel the event based on updated weather forecasts.

FOOD AND WATER: Students need to bring their morning tea and lunch with them, including a full water bottle. I recommend using the St Lawrence backpack as there will be room for their warm jacket as well.

It would be great to see any parents who are available to come along and support on the day.

Many thanks for your continued support and cooperation.

Mrs Claire Major

Physical Education Teacher

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/

ST LAWRENCE COMMUNITY QUIZ NIGHT
Get your friends together and join us for a fun adults-only night of trivia, laughs, prizes, and great company!

*Only 38 tickets remaining – please secure your ticket early to avoid disappointment!*

Friday 31 July
7:00 PM – 10:30 PM
St Lawrence School Hall

Light refreshments will be provided on each table, and you’re also welcome to bring along your own food/snacks for the evening.

Alcohol available for pre-purchase or purchase your alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the night. Strictly no BYO.

TICKETS:
• Table of 10: $175 (best value — gather your team early!)
• Individual tickets: $20 each

https://www.trybooking.com/DMFSY

We’d love to encourage early bookings so we can make this a fantastic night for everyone.
Come along for a relaxed and fun night while supporting our school community

Please use the link to secure your tickets!

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

Updated School Pick-up Procedure

The junior oval is now closed for the winter to alow the grass time to grow and recover, as per the agreement the school has with the Church. Please find alternative parking during the closure period.

Please note : the school has announced it’s intention to update the pick up procedure as of Term 3, please familiarise yourself with the new procedure to ensure a safe process is followed.

P&F TEAM

Free to our school community – Student desks – suit older children. Available now. Please email Mrs Mayo at alica.mayo@cewa.edu.au to register your interest.

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.