2021, Term 1, Week 1 Newsletter
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the 2021 school year. It is with great hope, optimism and enthusiasm that St. Patrick's welcomes you to another school year and the many exciting opportunities it will bring our students, families, staff and wider community.
The purpose of this week's newsletter publication is to provide some brief curriculum, operations and community updates that will hopefully provide our school community with some clear direction and information as we 'hit the ground running' next week.
As many of you may have already seen, our school is entering an exciting transformation with demolition and building works commencing on January 12. These are certainly invigorating advancements for our school and our students learning opportunities.
I would also like to thank our families for their understanding over the past few weeks with our inability to communicate as frequently as we'd like due to the current demolition works that have recently taken place. Today we have had many technolocal services restored, which is fantastic.
It has been sensational to see and hear our school humming with students attending their literacy interviews this week. Hearing tales of the summer holidays, the excitement of seeing peers after and long break and hearing that Santa came! Our teachers are also very excited and ready to get into our learning program for 2021.
SWPBS
Accompanying our learning program in 2021 is the introduction of SWPBS (School-wide Positive Behaviour Support) at St Pat's. The primary objective of this program is to define, teach and support behaviours that create a positive school environment. Your children will be learning about this framework regularly throughout this year and the years to come. Please see the flyer attached to this newsletter as it clearly states our school's three main SWPBS objectives: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe. We will continue to provide opportunities to engage parents and carers with the core elements and understandings of this framework as the year progresses.
Welcome Assembly
To welcome our new and existing school community families to the beginning of the 2021 school year we extend an invitation, for those who are able, to attend to a short assembly on Monday, February 1st at 9am. This assembly will be held at our outdoor assembly area at the rear of the school. Enter from Anzac Avenue. At the conclusion of this assembly parents, carers and friends are invited to a cup of tea in the Church's gathering space across the road.
We wish all our school families a fantastic start to the 2021 school year.
Kind regards,
Nick Murrell
Principal
School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support
Please see the flyer below introducing SWPBS (School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support) to our St Patrick's community this year.
Parish Message
Fr. John Fitzgerald and Fr. John Corrigan have written to our school this week to inform and invite us to the Infant Jesus Parish Koroit and welcome our Parish to the new "Ministry District". Please see their letter attached below.
School Operations
Below is some information that is hopefully helpful to our community as we enter 2021 in an altered and temporary school site and are continually governed by COVID guidelines and restrictions. We have listed some dot points that are aimed to help our community navigate our school safely.
SCHOOL ENTRY
We ask that all students/parents/carers/visitors enter or school from Anzac Avenue this year. Our Queen Street frontage will be a busy area with many tradespeople and machinery coming and going and it will not be a particularly safe area for families to be navigating through.
SCHOOL OFFICE
This year our school office is located in Room 6. To visit the school office please enter the school from Anzac Avenue, walk towards the basketball court and walk up the first flight of concrete steps on your right. We are in process of updating our school signage.
To see Bronie walk through the foyer area into Room 6, Bronie is located in a temporary office space. Of note, this year Julie Bartlett (Compliance Officer) will be in our school office on Mondays and Bronie Moloney (Bursar/Administration Officer) will be in the office Tuesday - Friday.
PICK UP and DROP OFF
As we will be using Anzac Avenue primarily as our access point this year, it is a timely reminder to any parent/carer who is parking on the opposite side of Anzac Avenue at pick up and drop off times to get out of your car and safely escort your child/ren across the road. Last year our staff witnessed many 'close calls' at these times, we ask families to be vigilant. STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, THINK.
COVID SAFE
We ask that any parents/carers/visitors to the school site practise social distancing (carry a mask in case this is not possible) and practise good hand hygiene. To support contact tracing we must keep a record of all visitors who attend on-site for more than 15 minutes. To assist with this procedure there will be a QR code placed around the school that you can scan with your smartphone camera to sign in. If you do not have a smartphone, please use the paper sign in at the school office.
SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
We are hopeful that school assemblies will resume this year and are exploring the possibility of using our Parish Church for these gatherings. We are also looking to adjust our school assembly timetable and the frequency to which each classroom presents. There will be more information about school assemblies to follow in future communications.
School Uniform
Last year we conducted a uniform survey in response to our new uniform arrangements. We thank you all for completing your uniform feedbacks and can confirm the following changes/alterations:
- Konqa have sourced alternative fabric for our jumpers, the new fabric is much more similar to the old Lowes jumper and has more stretch for play and thickness for warmth.
- Konqa have also sourced an alternative fabric for the polos which will be more fade resistance and durable.
- Grey shorts and pants will have an extra layer of stitching and alternative fabrics are being looked at.
- Sizing of garments will be adjusted given the small sizing of items, so moving forwards a size 12 garment will be a 10, a 16 a 14 etc so that the sizes are more reflective of the actual sizes here in AUS.
- Both the jumper and the green polo fabrics have been reviewed and subsequently approved, these will be made available from our next order period, the grey shorts and pant samples are to be received.
- Regarding the delays in orders and stock availability, the school will hold additional stock and Konqa have agreed to do the same, so as to try and fill orders at all times outside of the order period.
- Orders are to be made via CDF Pay ( this is available in the new school app, but if you need any assistance please contact the office).
- We appreciate everyone’s support as we try and iron out these issues.
We sincerely thank Emma Arthur for her time and coordination of this process.
Thank you, Emma.
Schoolzine app (SZAPP)
As mentioned in previous newsletters we will be using one parent platform (app) to streamline communication, school newsletter, school ordering, school calendar and other items in the one place. It is called Schoolzine. Please see this link for the information required to download the app. The code for our school is 4129. Of note, this will see Skoolbag and Caremonkey being retired.
Obviously, you are reading this information via the app and communication system now! If you are speaking with other parents and carers who may still be unaware of this transition, please make them aware of the above information. Thank you.
South West Academy of Sport (SWAS)
SWAS (The South West Academy of Sport) is pleased to announce several 2021 programs are now open and receiving applications.
With a tough 2020 for all and the reduced sporting opportunities that normally permit scouting of future athletes, we are hoping to work with schools with the hope of support in the form of nominations and internal advertising to attract applicants in 2021.
We are asking if possible for schools to help identify potential high performers and forward and share our basic flyer style advertisements as well as our links to applications and contact information and we thank you in advance.
We are currently looking for applications for our Clay Target Shooting and Football (Soccer) & Futsal - Development & High-Performance Programs as well as our SWAS x NETFIT Academy.
Please find flyers attached and links as below
Clay Target Shooting - South West Academy of Sport
The South West Academy of Sport (SWAS) 2020 Clay Target Shooting program, proudly supported by the Victorian Clay Target Association (VCTA) and the Victorian Institute of Sport, provides coaching, training, competition support and education sessions designed to complement athlete’s daily and weekly training environment. The program aims to bring together the most talented junior players...Read More https://swas.org.au/academy-
Football & Futsal - South West Academy of Sport
Commencing in 2021 the new Football (Soccer) & Futsal Youth Development & High-Performance Program aims to support both football and Futsal players of all abilities with general to high-performance development and education. The program is designed to compliment and excel players transitioning into and pursuing Regional, State, National, Semi-Professional and Professional Pathways.... Read More https://swas.org.au/
Academy - South West, Victoria - NETFIT Netball
South West Victoria Academy South West Victoria Academy Applications now open Apply Now With Netball as the vehicle, we will build mental and physical strength through courage; We will grow... https://netfitnetball.
We thank you once again for your support in 2021
Kindest regards,
Tim White
Communications Officer
South West Academy of Sport