2023, Term 1, Week 3 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

Welcome 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

I was extremely pleased and delighted at last week's Friday assembly. I spoke with the students about SWPBS in our school. I displayed our SWPBS Matrix to our students and asked them if they had seen any of these behaviours being demonstrated at St. Pat's. What followed was sensational, many students were able to name their peers and concrete examples of what they had seen their friends doing that were respectful, responsible and safe. An awesome start to 2023. 

St Pat’s Folk Festival BBQ - We need your help please!

We are currently busy organising, thanks to Trish Watson,  the St Pat’s Folk Festival BBQ and we need your help! As one of our major fundraising events for our school your contribution would be greatly appreciated by the P&F and the whole school community.

Volunteering at the Folkie BBQ means you get a FREE ticket to the festival which allows you to attend when not doing one of your two requried shifts. 

The atmosphere in the BBQ  is very energetic and fun with all volunteers having a great time while supporting both St Pat's Koroit and St Pat's Port Fairy primary schools. 

 This fundraising event is a very big part of our PnFs annual contribution to our school and your support would be greatly appreciated. Please see the information futher in this newsletter to see how you can sign up to help.

Parent / Teacher Interviews

Parent / Teacher Interview bookings opened this week and are available through PAM. Interviews are Tuesday 14/2 and Wednesday 15/2 after school.

The purpose of these interviews is for parents/carers and teachers to meet and discuss anything that your child's classroom teacher needs to know to help your child/ren experience success in 2023. Teachers may also provide some general feedback about any recent assessments conducted. Meetings run for 10 minutes. Parents/Carers with multiple children please allow time in between bookings to allow for a transition period.

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

AWARDS

ROOM 1

Whole class for your amazing first 7 days at school! You have all transitioned to big school incredibly and are inquisitive little learners! I have loved the growth mindset you have shown and your resilience! Keep up the great work.

ROOM 2

Octavia Bidmade for settling into St. Pat’s with ease. You have demonstrated what it means to be respectful, responsible and safe through your behaviour both in and out of the classroom. We are so excited to have you in our class this year and can’t wait to see what you can achieve! 

Banjo Milward for settling into St. Pat’s with ease. You have demonstrated what it means to be respectful, responsible and safe through your behaviour both in and out of the classroom. We are so excited to have you in our class this year and can’t wait to see what you can achieve! 

ROOM 4

Tayla Millward- Welcome back to St Patrick’s Koroit Tayla.  You have made an excellent transition back into our school. I commend you on your respectful attitude in our class, your responsible learning habits and being open to making lots of new friends and joining in with your old friends too. Well done!

Sam Mahony- Welcome to St Patrick’s Koroit Sam.  You have made a wonderful transition into our school. I commend you on your respectful attitude and maturity shown in class, your responsible learning habits and being open to making lots of new friends. Well done!

Jonty O’Keefe- Welcome to St Patrick’s Koroit Jonty. You have made a very good transition into our school. I commend you on being open to making lots of new friends and being focussed and responsible in your learning habits this week. You have  asked great questions if you were unsure about anything and led discussions with your knowledge. Well done!

ROOM 5

Josie Foard for being respectful when talking to teachers and other students, and being responsible by taking care to produce her best effort when working on her tasks and completing a good amount of work during each lesson. Well done Josie.

Layla Smits for being respectful when talking to teachers and other students, and being responsible by taking care to produce her best effort when working on her tasks and completing a good amount of work during each lesson. Well done Layla.

ROOM 7

Elise Mahony for being responsible in getting to know her new class, teachers and routines and for being respectful to all of the new people she has met at her new school.

Jaxon Leishman for being a respectful and responsible learner by following all instructions, asking questions to clarify his understanding and completing all of his work with enormous care.

Yearly Calendar

We will soon be sending home a paper copy of our school yearly planner for all families to assist with planning your 2023 year with school events in mind. Please keep an eye out for this.

We are waiting on confirmation from two professional development facilitators in order to finalise our remaining closure days for 2023. We will continue to have this calendar in DRAFT format on our school newsletter until these specific dates are confirmed. 

School Advisory Council (SAC)

We thank Erin Holscher for her time with our SAC. Erin's period of service is complete and we are currently looking for one parent/carer from our school community to join our School Advisory Council (SAC). Our school's SAC is a representative body, bringing together in a formal way all parties connected with the school. Some key roles of the SAC are to offer ongoing advice around the alignment of the school vision with the school’s plans for improvement and growth and provide strategic advice and support to the principal on matters relating to school operations and ongoing improvement. 

Our current members staying on are: Emma Arthur (Chair), Paul Andriessen, Clinton Perry, Josh Porter, Ms. Tegan McDonald (staff representative) and Nick Murrell.

If you are interested in joining our SAC or would like to know more, please contact Nick at school or via email principal@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to  Lincoln Arthur, Sachnoor Kaur and Maya Lilley who are celebrating their Birthday at this time.

Dates to Remember

REMINDERS

February

14th - Hockey Clinics

21st - Shrove Tuesday

22nd - Ash Wednesday / School Mass 10.00am 

24th - Moyne District Tennis W'bool Lawn

March

2nd - Division swimming Aquazone W'bool

7th - Lions Eye Testing

9th - WPH Division Tennis W'bool Lawn

10th -13th Port Fairy Folk Festival

13th - Labour Day Holiday

16th - School Photos

17th - St Patricks Day

21st - Harmony Day

30th - School Athletics Sports Day

April

3rd - Easter Arts Show 5:00 – 6:00pm

6th - Last Day Term 1

7th - Good Friday

9th - Easter Sunday

School Fee Direct Debit Payments

If you currently have a direct debit payment plan set up for 2022 it will automatically continue for 2023 unless you notify Bronie in the office. Payments will begin next Thursday 9th February with the final fortnightly payment being on the 14th December. If you would like to start paying your fees via direct debit please complete and return the attached direct debit form or call into the office.

Family Fee Assistance

In 2023 the Catholic Education Office Ballarat will still be offering the Family Fee Assistance program. Families that qualify for the scheme will pay $520 per annum ($10 per week) for primary school tuition fees. The discounted fee covers tuition and capital fees only. It does not cover additional charges such as camps, book hire, subject levies.

The State Government will also be offering the Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund (CSEF) of $125 per student.  These support funds are available to Health Care Card Holders only.

Please contact Bronie in the office if you have a Health Care Card  ph: 55658208

BLACK SCHOOL SHOES

As we are moving towards a more consistent supply of school uniforms we will be enforcing school uniform more actively. Starting with school shoes and socks. 

On all school days except Wednesday (Physical Education Day) students are required to wear ALL BLACK SHOES. These can be leather style school shoes or all black runners. 

ALL BLACK SOCKS are part of every day uniform regardless of school day. These socks should not have brand names printed in them. ALL BLACK. 

I understand that many families have recently purchased new school shoes and some of these are not all black, I ask that upon your next purchase of school shoes, you ensure you purchase shoes that are all black. 

I have provided an example of all black runners below. Note they do not have white or coloured writing or soles. 

All black runners above

These are not all black runners above. 

Hockey Victoria Roadshow

We are excited to welcome the Hockey Victoria Roadshow to our school!

Students are being given the fantastic opportunity to try out the exciting game of hockey! They will  learn the skills of the game through exciting game-based activities suited to every year level and ability.

Hockey Victoria will be sending their amazing Participation Officers to our school Tuesday 14th February to provide an engaging, fun, and safe hockey experience for everyone.

At Hockey Victoria they pride themselves in providing an enjoyable experience for every student, so  keep an eye out and see if you can spot one of their coaches at school!

If your child/ren enjoyed the session during school, you can continue with their hockey experience by joining a  local Hookin2Hockey program  (www.hookin2hockey.com.au.) With programs all over the state you can find a local program that will suit.

Cyber Safety user agreement

PLEASE GIVE YOUR CHILD PERMISSION VIA YOUR NEW PAM ACCOUNT.

In accordance with St Patrick's Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement, it is a requirement for parents/carers to discuss the attached agreement with their child/ren and accept the terms. This agreement is to ensure that all students that have access to the school’s digital resources are aware of their responsibilities and agree to abide by the school’s Acceptable Use and Cybersafety Agreement. The following agreement covers the student’s use of technology equipment (such as computers, chromebooks, macbooks, hand held devices, camera, printers), and digital platforms (such as Internet, networks and email. social media, apps, and software). Permission is required for each child in your family from Foundation to Year 6.

Catering Volunteers

Cake Raffle

Food Bank

Canteen Helpers

Port Fairy Folk Festival 2023

It that time of year again and folkie will be upon us in no time.
This year we are encouraging junior tickets for working age teenagers, these tickets are for 2x 2.5hr shifts, we ask that the teens have a parent/friend/adult that knows them to work and watch over them during their shifts.

We are also no longer doing setup on the Thursday morning.
Koroit St Pats will be doing pack up on the Monday afternoon from 2:30pm, we need at least 6 men to help with some heavy lifting, 3 or 4 ladies for lighter packing and 3 trailers for moving equipment back to the shed at St Pats PF, if you could spare a couple of hours on the Monday arvo it would be greatly appreciated and the time will be credited to your volunteer levy.

Please could you return your folkie volunteer forms to the office or text me on 0435779853 if you’re interested in help out with one of our main fundraisers of the year, Thanks to anyone who has already returned their forms.

Thanks
Trish Watson

SIMON Everywhere

Please see the below details if you require more information on setting up your account within SIMON everywhere.

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN is in Term 1 in 2023. Year 3 and Year 5 students at St Pat's will undertake NAPLAN in the week 20-24 March. Below is some information about NAPLAN. 

Community News

The Community Movie night at Koroit and District PS advertised last week, has been postponed.