2022, Term 3, Week 4 Newsletter

Acknowledgement of Country

St. Patrick's School acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, the Koroitch-gundidj people of the Maar Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. 

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the 4th newsletter of Term 3.

As I include this prayer, I think of and pray for the students who are preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time. May we all keep these students in our thoughts and prayers as they embark on an important part in their faith journey.

Eucharist

See below for some key dates. If anyone has any questions regarding the modules or working through them from home, please contact Tegan McDonald tmcdonald@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au

• Week 1  - 25th July Module 1 Theme: Celebrating Being Christian 

• Week 2  - 1st August Student photos displayed at parish Masses, Module 2 Theme:  Remembering Jesus 

• Week 3 - 8th August Module 3 Theme:  Jesus Present 

• Week 4 - 15th August Module 4  Theme:  Called and Sent Out 

• 19th August Liturgy practice (S)

• 21st August Celebration of First Eucharist  - Sunday 21st 9.00am

School this week

This week the Year 3 and 4 students had the opportunity to go to Hooptime in Warrnambool (photos later in the newsletter). We are grateful for the parents who volunteer to coach and score at events such as these which create wonderful memories for our students.

At assembly today, we had the exciting school launch of "Picnic in the Paddock" a community event to be hosted by St Patrick's on October 30th.  Make sure this date is in your diary for lots of family fun. (Again, see further details below).

DOBCEL School Closure

A reminder that school will be closed Friday 12th and Monday 15th August.

Assembly Change

Due to the school closure next Friday, the Room 4 assembly has been rescheduled to Friday 19th August.

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

Students of the Week

Room 1 &  2

Ella Van Rysingen for her wonderful reading this week and getting all of her speed sounds mastered! Well done Ella.

Tilly Van Rysingen for being a great role model and leader to her information report group. Keep up the good work!

Eleanor Huckstepp for exhibiting the SWPBS values of respect , responsibility and safety in all aspects of the school day. She arrives at school each day full of enthusiasm and ready to learn.

Room 4

Carter Quarrell for having an enthusiastic attitude towards all aspects of her school life. Carter loves to improve her skills both inside and outside the classroom through her school work and sporting teams. Carter is a very responsible member of room 4. Keep up the great work, Carter!

Jordie Quarrell for the courage, resilience and commitment you displayed through stepping up into a new age group to play in the Junior Hoop time carnival. Jordie, you are an amazing sports person who displays the “I can’ attitude. Congratulations!

Room 5 

Zoe Dobson for continually working hard and giving her best efforts to learning tasks and group work.

Zahlia Monnier for always giving her best effort to class activities and producing work at a high standard.

Room 7

Bel Dwyer for being a responsible and organised learner. Bel, your writing tasks and the effort you have made in maths demonstrate the effort you are making. Well done. 

Grace McMahon for being a respectful leader in our classroom. Grace, you always try to do your best work, you are organised and you ask thoughtful questions.  Thank you for the contributions you make to our class. 

Will Foster for the respectful manner you have listened to instructions to do your best in work tasks. Will, you have been making great progress in Maths in particular, well done. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to  Lachlan Gallogly, Oliver Van Kempen and Ellie Dobson who are celebrating their Birthday at this time.

Little Learners

Today our Little Learners were excited to participate in a PMP (Perceptual Motor Program) with Mr Varley and Ella. The Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) is a movement-based program which helps younger students improve their eye/hand and eye/foot coordination, fitness, balance, locomotion and eye-tracking skills. Well done to them all, please see some pictures of the fun that was had below!

Grade 3 and 4 Hooptime

Our Grade 3 and 4 students had a great day out on Tuesday at the ARC for Hooptime.

We had 3 teams competing - Girls All Stars, Boys All Stars and Mixed Future Stars.  All teams did well on the day and the Girls All Stars were successful in winning their division and advancing to the next round in October.

Many thanks to our parent coaches Warwick McEachern and Kate Dobson (Ellie) and all the parents who came and scored and barracked on the day. 

Picnic in the Paddock

Preparations are well underway for the innaugural Picnic in the Paddock, hosted here at St Patrick's.  If you haven't already, jump on and follow the event on Facebook and Instagram.

Also, the organising committee are seeking some help from arty or handy people who may be able to assist them with some promotional material - see information in the image below.

There were lots of excited children when Amy Atwell, Chairperson of the Picnic in the Paddock organising committee launched the event with a flurry of confetti!  Over the coming weeks, there will be a draw for each class to select a lucky winner of a rides wristband.  Congratulations to Arli Langdon from Grade 6 who was our first winner.

NCCD Information

Please see the attached Parent and Carer Information sheet about the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) that schools complete annually.

COVID - 19 Updates

Masks in schools 

We are once again asking for the support of students, families and staff to ensure that we are remaining as safe and healthy as we all can be during the winter period. A joint education sector statement released (please see below) this week is strongly suggesting that students aged 8 years and above wear masks when inside the school. We are asking all students in this age bracket, staff and visitors to our school to wear a mask. 

Reminders for us all to be COVID safe

- Wearing a mask indoors

- Practising thorough hand hygiene

- If you are a household contact, ensure you test daily prior to attending school. 

- Communicating to the school about any student COVID cases. 

- Working in well-ventilated areas where appropriate. 

Reduction of Testing and Isolation Exemption Period.

The period of time when someone is considered a recently confirmed case and therefore exempt from testing and isolation requirements has been reduced to 4 weeks. Previously, this period was 12 weeks.

This means, staff or students that have recovered from COVID-19, are not required to get tested or isolate/quarantine again if they are re-exposed to a case within 4 weeks of ending the isolation period.

After 4 weeks, the relevant advice must be followed depending on the type of contact.

Additionally, where a student or staff member who is a household contact wishes to attend school (and not isolate for 7 days) they must:

• Continually test negative using a rapid antigen test, on at least 5 days out of the 7-day period (ensure tests are spaced at least 24 hours apart)
• wear a mask indoors when outside your home (for those over 8 years of age)
• notify their employer/school, and
• not visit hospitals or care facilities.

Rapid Antigen Tests

RATs will continue to be provided to the school for the remainder of Term 3. We will distribute these to families as they arrive at school. 

Dim Sim Day (P&F)

Be sure to get orders in (via CDF Pay) for Dim Sim Day next Wednesday, 10th August.

Cake Raffle Roster

Thanks very much to those who have already provided Cake Raffle during the first half of the year where I had been asking directly week to week.  I finally got myself organised to write up the roster for the rest of the year during the holidays!

If the nominated week doesn’t suit you, please try to arrange a swap with someone else.

Remember - no pressure! It doesn’t have to be fancy or even anything homemade - the cake raffle is something fun for the kids.

Thanks again,

Kate Dobson

0408 399 144

OSHC Changes - TheirCare

Our out of school hours care program has changed to ‘TheirCare’ which is held at Koroit and District Primary School. From Monday 18th July, the school bus will stop at St Patrick’s first (3.30pm) to accommodate this change. The bus will drop our out-of-school hours care children to ‘TheirCare’ at KDPS. All families who currently utilise this service already have been notified of these changes. If you wish to enrol in this service going forward, please visit www.theircare.com.au and register by clicking on the blue ‘book now’ button. If you would like assistance, don’t hesitate to contact the school office. The service offers before and after school care as well as holiday programs.

Thank you.

P&F News

Dates to Remember

REMINDERS

August

5th - Dad's night @ Duke's

10th - Lion King Performance - Brauer College

10th - Dim Sim Day (P&F) 

12th - 15th - Circuit Breaker long weekend

16th  - Grade 5 & 6 Moyne Hooptime

19th - Little Learners 10.00-11.00am 

19th - Assembly - Room 4 (Rescheduled due to DOBCEL closure)

26th - School Closure Day

31st - Parents & Friends Meeting  7.30pm

September

12th - 14th - Grade 5/6 Roses Gap Camp

16th - Footy dress up day

Last day of Term

CANCELLED - Koroit Saints Community Round

Unfortunately, the planned Community Round at the local football this week has been cancelled.

The club are hoping that they will be able to schedule a Community Round in 2023 so we will be sure to let you know details.

South West Volunteers Expo

Folk Festival Camping