2021, Term 4, Week 2 Newsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been sensational to have each class group attending in some capacity this week, seeing some faces that we have not for a long while was an absolute delight and the highlight of the term so far. The program for this week is repeated again next week and we are still on track for everyone returning to school on Tuesday, October 26th. 

This week’s newsletter has a lot of information and I have chosen to give each topic its own section to hopefully make this easier to read. Please take the time to read this important information.

Enjoy a safe and happy weekend.

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

Employment updates

Leadership and Teaching

It is with great pleasure that I announce Ms Tegan McDonald has been appointed as a classroom teacher and to the school leadership team at St. Patrick’s commencing in the 2022 school year.

Tegan comes to St Patrick’s with a great deal of knowledge and experience as both a teacher and a school leader. Tegan is currently working at St. Joseph’s Warrnambool as a Foundation Teacher and Foundation Learning Leader. Tegan has also previously held a Religious Education leadership position at St. Joseph’s.

Tegan’s bright and enthusiastic personality will complement and be an asset to our existing team. We will make time for Tegan to visit the school this year and meet staff, students and the community. 

Trainee Positions 

I am delighted to announce the appointment of two Education Support Officer Trainees for 2022 at St Patrick's Koroit. Due to government funding in the trainee sector, we have been able to offer two positions for next year. 

We congratulate Monique Brown and Ella Lewis who have both been successful.

We can't wait to welcome both girls to our school and we look forward to the support they will provide to our programs in 2022.

There will also be further advertising of a part-time teaching position appearing in local media in the coming weeks, this is to ensure that school programs such as Hand on Learning continue to run in 2022. 

Students of the Week

Room 3

Mavrik Cuolahan for the responsible way you have persisted with your reading goals! It is fantastic to see you using different reading strategies when reading. You are a champion Mav!

Xander Perry for the responsible way he has continued to work on his handwriting during our writing sessions. Xander has persisted with writing on the lines properly and ensuring that he has formed his letters correctly. Keep up the great work Xander!

Room 4

Tayla Millward for being a responsible and respectful member of our class who always helps others do their best, uses her manners, shows kindness to all and uses the 6 L’s of learning constantly. Congratulations Tayla on your exceptional results in reading and using a variety of strategies to decode unknown words. Great work Tayla! 

Carter Quarrell for the respectful and responsible way she has participated in classroom and swimming activities this week. Carter has been an enthusiastic learner working hard on set tasks in literacy and maths, regularly answering questions and always listening respectfully to her swimming teacher.

Room 5

Will Lane - for the respectful way he has worked with teachers and other students this week. Well done Will.

Billy O’Connor - for the responsible way in which he presents his best effort in the classroom tasks that he does. Thanks Billy for your hard work.

Pen Licence - Myra Quill has shown that she can write neatly in joined writing when completing any written activity.

Room 7

Grace McMahon for being a studious role model to all the class. Grace has responsibly settled into onsite learning with a ‘can do’ attitude working independently and utilising her time effectively. Her positive mindset has enabled Grace to complete tasks with accuracy and seek assistance when unsure.

Arli Langdon for her responsible and focused mindset towards onsite learning. Arli demonstrated outstanding times table knowledge in Mathematics this week, accepting the challenge of skip counting from irregular starting points and finding the pattern that makes her so efficient in this skill.

Hall 

Neve MacDonald for being a truly thoughtful and responsible member of our class. Neve is always doing considerate things, and her acts of kindness are greatly appreciated by her classmates and teacher.  Thank you Neve.  

Nina Quill for being a responsible worker during remote learning. Nina you organise and use your time effectively to achieve success in all work tasks. Well done and thank you for your positive attitude towards remote learning.  

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Tayla Milward who is celebrating a birthday at this time.

Dates to Remember!

Friday 29th October:

Child Safety Day for Daniel- wear something red, gold coin donation to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation

Tuesday 2nd November:

Melbourne Cup Dress Up Day

Friday 5th November:

Socktober Fundraiser- wear crazy socks, gold coin donation to Catholic Mission Australia.

Parents and Friends Meeting 

Wednesday 20th October at Duke’s Commercial Hotel, meeting to start at 7.30pm, 6.30pm if you are wanting dinner prior to the meeting. Please RSVP to Tammy Langdon on 0428 466 129 as we have restricted numbers due to COVID guidelines.

CANTEEN 

Wednesday 20th October - Kate Dobson

Friday 22nd October - Mallory Cuolahan

Week 3 Learning and Teaching Program

Please see the timetable below for next week’s teaching and learning plan. 

Onsite Supervision Requests Week 3 - Click this link

Printed Learning Planner requests Week 3 - Click this link

2021 Camps and Excursions

The last two years have been very challenging for us to book and provide these fun and educational experiences for our students.

The 3/4 camp that was booked for next week, is obviously not going ahead. The current school operations guide states that camps, excursions or incursions are not able to take place at this time. This year we have booked two camps for our Yr 5/6s that have been cancelled and two camps for our Yr 3/4s that have been cancelled. 

Where to now?

F-2 Program

We are intending and hopeful that the F-2 extended day will still take place in Term 4. This will be comprised of an extended school day for Year F-1 students and Yr 2 students will stay for a sleepover at school. Date to be announced.

3/4 and 5/6 Program

We are going to have a third attempt at booking a camp experience for our Year 3/4 and 5/6 students if restrictions allow us to do so. 

As a backup plan, we have a booking at Adventure Park Geelong for Year 3-6 students for a special day in lieu of camp, if camps cannot take place. This day is booked for Thursday, November 30th. We are also on a waiting list with Sovereign Hill, hopeful for a possible excursion there too.  

We will keep families informed as information becomes available. We are very aware of the lack of opportunities in 2020 and 2021 and are trying our best to make something happen, however, we are governed by restrictions. 

Parent/Teacher Interviews (3-way Conversations)

Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th October

Bookings for parent-teacher interviews will be made available early next week. We are allowed to conduct these onsite and in person, which is our preferred method. This year we are trailing a 3-way conversation format that will involve the student, parent/carer and teacher, all in the classroom and in conversation together. There will be strict guidelines surrounding this process. Parents/Carers will be required to check-in upon entry to the school grounds and provide a valid COVID-19 Vaccination certificate to attend the conversations. This can be done by showing your phone with a valid certificate upon check-in or providing paper or digital evidence of your first vaccination upon entry. See the Volunteers / School Helpers section for more information. 

We understand that this may cause an inconvenience to some parents, carers of families. If you are unable to provide this evidence we can arrange for your child’s classroom teacher to arrange a phone call or google meet in place of the in-person interview. 

Volunteers / School Helpers

All staff/volunteers/program support workers are required to have their first COVID-19 vaccination by October 18th or have an appointment for their first dose by October 25th. 

The school requires evidence of this first dose or the appointment in order for you to be onsite after October 18th. Unless a medical exemption applies (please see Nick if this applies to you). 

This does not apply to school pick up or attending the school office - only volunteers and school helpers on-site for a longer period of time e.g. canteen and lunch orders.

The deadline for being fully vaccinated (two doses) is November 29th. As above the school requires evidence of this in order for you to be onsite after November 29th. Unless a medical exemption applies (please see Nick if this applies to you). 

What evidence do we need? For approved evidence see the below statement

“Vaccination information may be recorded in a variety of documents, such as a letter from a medical practitioner, a certificate of immunisation or an immunisation history statement obtained from the Australian Immunisation Register.”

School Uniform update

Since our focus group meeting earlier this year we have contacted a number of local uniform distributors and we have narrowed this down to one potential distributor, who is currently preparing St Patrick’s specific samples for our inspection. This distributor has come highly recommended from other schools and industries in our district. Our current supplier is currently fulfilling an order to ensure our stocks are adequate for 2022 orders. Once a final decision is made we will inform the school community. 

Cows Create Careers program

Our Term 3 Cows Create Careers was a great success and would not have been possible without the support of Leah and Daryl Brown. This support from the Brown family has continued this week with another act of generosity and kindness to our school. Dexter and Dixie were sold (and are staying together) for a very handsome price and the Brown’s are donating 100% of the sale to St Patrick’s. Our school students will have the opportunity to decide how the funds are allocated, however, we are hopeful that the students will accept Daryl and Leah’s offer to make this program an annual event and put the funds towards creating a calf rearing area here at school. This is an exciting opportunity for the school and would complement the ongoing school curriculum advantageously. Thank you once again to the Brown’s. 

Grade 6 Hoodies

Second Hand Uniform Policy

Dad's Catch Up

Koroit Basketball AGM

Girls Football