2021 - Term 1, Week 8 Newsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Masquerade Party

This coming Wednesday, March 25th 5.30-7.30pm, is our school's Masquerade Party. This event is a celebration of the amazing Arts program that your children have been engaged with this term and is the culmination of a great deal of work from your children and our Arts leader and teacher Mrs Anna Schlooz. This Arts program endeavours to offer our students opportunities to extend their understandings of 

Arts Learning beyond the classroom. Welcome to Country will be led by Indigenous Elder Lochie Eccles and the Masquerade Party will be officially opened by past student and local artist Lucy May (McLaren). Students will each be involved in a performance with their class group and parents, carers and guests will participate in a Mask Gallery Walk through the classrooms to learn about the Arts learning process and learning intentions that shaped the Term 1 Arts program. We encourage as many families to attend as possible as this promises to be an amazing celebration of the Term 1 Arts program at St Patrick's. Families will have also received packs this week with resources to help everyone have a mask and be involved on the night! Any mask or no mask is fine for visitors. Students can wear casual clothes, however, Room 7 students are asked to wear a black top and their black school shorts (if you don't have a back top, wear the closest item you have to this). If families would like to bring some food along they are welcome to, however, if you choose not to, this is ok too. We look forward to seeing you there. 

Learning Walks

This week we conducted our second opportunity for a Learning Walk this term. The walk involved parents coming into the school during the maths teaching block to engage live with the learning and teaching. Each parent was asked to pick a focus point for investigation prior to the walk and given an iPad to take pictures to help explain the answer to their focus at the conclusion of the walk. I thank all parents who made the time to come along and participate. We will continue to offer these throughout the year. Please, if you can, take the time to ask a parent who has participated in a learning walk, what they took out of the experience? I highly recommended all parents and carers try to make the time to come along to a future learning walk. Some feedback from the walk was that learning at St Pat's was versatile, had many opportunities, was well thought out and planned and was tailored and flexible to student needs. Some parents were interested as to how we cater to students' needs in multi-age class settings? Parents who came along found that the activities were designed to allow students to engage at their own level, there were structured activity groups at the students' point of need and that learning topics were consistent through the different class groups. Parents were also surprised by the number of hands-on learning activities there were in the maths lessons. We thank our visiting parents for their participation and valuable feedback. 

St Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day this Wednesday was an amazing experience and display of our St Pat's culture. Our school liturgy, led by Mr Lloyd, was a reverent and prayerful experience for our whole school community, including visitors. It was a fantastic opportunity to utilise our beautiful outdoor gathering space for this event. Green Faces was a tremendous display of the creativity, talent and courage that our students possess. The variety of acts was impressive and I congratulate all who participated. Special mentions go to Isla, Ada, Remi, Josie, Jordie, Poppy, Carter, Ava and Tayla who took out first prize with their Doctor, Doctor jokes, apparently these were a vast improvement on Friday assemblies! We thank all the parents (Kim Hedger, Jane Martin, Ash Porter, Layla & Bec Smits and Kate Dobson) who helped bake and deliver our traditional green cupcakes to our students for a delicious green snack at recess time. Special acknowledgement also to the Year 6 students who took time out of their lunch break to run an 'Obstacle-a-thon' for students younger than themselves. Just another demonstration of Peace, Love and Respect on the day of our Patron Saint. 

Student Leaders

On St. Patrick's Day, we presented the 2021 School Leaders with their badges for the year. We wish our leaders all the best as they continue to lead our school with pride, strength and compassion. Our leaders have already demonstrated excellent leadership by leading our school assemblies fortnightly with organisation and commitment. Thank you and congratulations to Mitchell Lumsden, Ellie O'Connell, Neve MacDonald, Cruz Perry, Georgia Arthur and Milla Gleeson. 

SWPBS - Technology

This week our Year 4 - 6 students brought home a Chromebook information booklet to keep at home and our school's Digital Technology and Cybersaftey Agreement to discuss with parents and carers, sign and return to school. The purpose of this process is for all students and families to understand how we safely use technology. The is part of the Chromebook induction program for students. It is upon completing this program that Chromebooks will be available to bring home for educational purposes. Please see how technology and SWPBS interrelated in the poster displayed below. 

Enjoy a great weekend, we will see students on Tuesday.

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

Learning Walks

SWPBS - Technology

Students of the Week

PEACE LOVE RESPECT AWARD:  

Tayla Milward for demonstrating respectful, responsible and safe behaviour at school.  Tayla helped a Foundation student who was hurt in the yard, caring for them and bringing them to the teacher.  Tayla then helped the Foundation student to tie up their shoelaces, to keep them safe.   Well done Tayla.    

Room 3:

Tilly Van Rysingen for the responsible way she completes set tasks. Tilly always takes to her learning with an enthusiastic attitude and will always try her best even if the concept is new to her. Keep up the great work Tilly!

Ted Porter for the respectful way he treats his peers. He is a great friend to all and always goes out of his way to help others when they need a hand. Ted is a fantastic classmate to have in Room 3. Keep up the great work Ted!

Room 4

Josephine Foard-for a responsible attitude in always trying her best and taking great pride in the presentation of her work. Josie has a beautiful creative flair that shines through in her bright colourful drawings. Well done Josie!

Poppy Martin- for being a respectful member of our class who always helps others do their best, uses her manners, shows kindness to all and demonstrates the 6 L’s of learning consistently.   Well done Poppy! 

Room 5

Miah Van Kempen for the responsible way she is organising herself to prepare for her learning. Miah gets her books ready as soon as she is told what we will be working on and she gets on with her task without fuss. Well done Miah.

Indiana Cuomo has an incredibly respectful personality. She speaks politely to students and teachers and she is always willing to help others in a caring and respectful manner. Well done Indi.

Room 7

Tessa Byrne - For the responsible way that she takes initiative when preparing food and cleaning up at Hands on Learning. Tessa listens well and always aims to give her best.

Benji Holscher- For the helpful and respectful approach he takes towards learning, always trying his best to be ready and organised for each lesson. Benji demonstrates leadership skills by working well in teams and listening to his peers.

Hall:   

Ellie O’Connell for demonstrating a responsible attitude towards all learning tasks, confidently organising her time to complete work to a high standard.  Excellent work Ellie.  

Mitchell Lumsden for his respectful approach to everyone in our school community. Mitchell, you inspire others to follow the excellent example you set in how you treat others and the achievements you make in your work. Well done.  

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Savannah Wood and Charlotte Wright who are celebrating a birthday at this time.

St. Patrick's Day

See images below from our St Patrick's Day celebrations on Wednesday. 

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School Leaders 2021

Masquerade Party Invitation

Closure Day Reminder

Monday, March 22nd, is a school closure day. There are no students on this day.

Staff will be participating in Professional Development with Dan Petro. Dan is an expert in the area of student wellbeing, Dan will be 'Zoom'ing in from the US. Our school is very fortunate to be working with such a highly regarded expert in this field.

The professional development will also be supported by Catholic Education Ballarat staff, Danielle Buzaglo, Education Psychologist and Kate Sadler, Learning Diversity Officer. This professional development will assist our school with continuing to 'roll out' our SWPBS framework. 

Parents and Friends Meeting

A reminder that there is a Parents and Friends meeting this coming Tuesday, March 23rd at 7.30 pm in the Parish Centre (across from the school).

We would love to see as many interested people as possible attending. Thank you. 

Easter Raffle

Everyone should have received their Easter Raffle Tickets, please return the tickets to school by Monday 29th March, winners will be announced at school assembly on Thursday 1st April.
Good luck and thanks for your support.

P & F Catering Volunteers Needed

Our St Pat's catering team has previously brought in funds external of the school and contributed significantly to funds raised by the P & F whilst allowing families to work off their levy. Our quality of catering always gets great reviews and is a service that has a long history within our school community.

If you are looking for a way to get reimbursement towards your levy (up to $250). Here is an option! Family life is busy and we need to look at ways that give people options to be involved. This has led to the introduction of providing grocery items and produce. Whatever you spend on groceries you can claim +15% on what you spend eg. spend $15 for a $17.50 levy claim. You will be advised what grocery items to purchase. Prepared food eg sandwiches, slice etc are itemised with values on the levy claim form (available at the office), based on the cost of ingredients. Preparation time is considered an in- kind donation.

Please respond using the link below or print off the paper copy attached. Alternatively, come into the school office and collect a paper copy to fill in. Thank you in advance. 

BULLYING. NO WAY! Friday 19th of March

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA) is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to bullying and violence.  St. Patrick's registers for this event every year, referring to it as 'Bullying. No Way! Day'. 
The theme for the NDA 2021 is Take Action Together. This theme aims to elevate student voice, empowering young Australians to join the conversation. 
Our Year 6 students have worked to organise a Trust Maze activity for each class and a Friendship Treasure hunt for the junior classes today.  Classes have been exploring how to be good friends with each other and how to recognise bullying and take appropriate steps.  
This teaching and learning connects directly to the learning that has been occuring as we implement our School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports (SWPBS).  One of our school rules is to BE SAFE.  We investigate the impacts of bullying and how to be safe and help others be safe in our school, recognising and celebrating this work on days such as Bullying No Way Day.  
For further information on strategies and supports, please take the time to visit the national website for the prevention of bullying in our schools. https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/preventing-bullying/national-day-of-action-against-bullying-and-violence

Dress As Your Hero Day

Dress as you Hero Day is Tuesday March 30th and is a gold coin donation. 

Warrnambool Gymnastics Holiday Program