Newsletter 117 - November 24th 2023
Prayer of the Week:
Feast of Christ the King: This Sunday marks the Feast of Christ the King; it is the last Sunday of Ordinary time, and the last Sunday of the Catholic Church’s year. It leads into Advent, which is the period leading up to Christmas and an important time to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Dear God Thank you for being the kind of King who doesn't want gold and power and treasure, but a King who wants our hearts and love. Thank you for being a King who wants to give everything that is good to his people, and to us, his little children. Thank you for having Christ the King go to the cross for each one of us, to wash away our sins and thank you for the home you are preparing for us in heaven. Amen
Principals Report:
Dear St Patrick’s community
After interviewing and looking into solutions for staffing in 2024, I’m happy to announce that we’ve reached our placements for next year.
Foundation: Lillie Comitti. Lillie will be replaced by Celine Bush in Term Two whilst Lillie takes leave.
Grade 1: Kerrie Ryan
Grade 2: Zara Fraser (3 days) and Celine Bush (2 days)- coverage for Celine’s two days in Term two will be organised closer to the date.
Grade 3/4: Melissa Bonney
Grade 3/4: Josh Cunningham
Grade 5/6: Leon Moloney
Grade 5/6: Fiona Harney
Support, Boost, and Specialists: Maryanne Comitti, Judy Giles, Lynette Cox-Hayward.
Over the next few weeks, class groupings for 2024 will also be finalised. Again the needs of our students will be at the forefront of these decisions. All students will take part in a transition day on Tuesday, December 12th where they will spend the day in their 2024 class with their 2024 classroom teachers.
Semester Two reports will be made available to parents and carers via PAM on Thursday, December 6th. This will allow parents and carers a chance to discuss the reports with teachers before the end of the school year.
With Kind Blessings,
Bettina
A word from the office:
2024 Planning
As we approach the end of the school year, not only are we busy preparing for all the fun and festivities that happen during Term 4 but we are also right in the thick of planning for next year!
Our 2024 Foundation Transition program has kicked off, and we are also preparing to welcome new students across other year levels in Term 1 next year.
*With this in mind, we ask that any current families whose children will not be returning to us in 2024 notify the office as soon as possible. Much of the School’s resources for 2024 are ordered this term and we are grateful for your early notice which allows us to plan our classrooms accordingly.
Please review your School Fee Account
A friendly reminder to families as we approach the end of the school year to please review your current school fee account balance.
For those paying via Direct Debit or recurring Electronic Funds Transfer, please ensure your current contribution is adequate.
School managed fortnightly Direct Debits will continue to run throughout the holiday period and any credit accumulated will be applied against next year’s school fees. *If you have paid off your account and would like to stop or reduce your direct debits over the holidays, please notify the office before Wednesday 13th December 2023.
If you require a copy of your Statement or have any account queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Anna Wadge Business Manager
Wellbeing:
Emotional intelligence (otherwise known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. Emotional intelligence helps you build stronger relationships, succeed at school and work, and achieve your career and personal goals. It can also help you to connect with your feelings, turn intention into action, and make informed decisions about what matters most to you.
Emotional intelligence is commonly defined by four attributes:
Self-management – You're able to control impulsive feelings and behaviours, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.
Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behaviour. You know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.
Social awareness – You have empathy. You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organisation.
Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.
Building emotional intelligence:
The skills that make up emotional intelligence can be learned at any time. However, it's important to remember that there is a difference between simply learning about EQ and applying that knowledge to your life. Just because you know you should do something doesn't mean you will—especially when you become overwhelmed by stress, which can override your best intentions. In order to permanently change behaviour in ways that stand up under pressure, you need to learn how to overcome stress in the moment, and in your relationships, in order to remain emotionally aware.
Emotional intelligence is a skill that we try to teach to all of the students at St Patrick’s so that they can succeed not only in social situations but also progress within their learning and academic success. We believe that it is important to understand the things that we can and cannot control. This way we can attempt to keep our emotions ‘in control’ and progress forwards instead of ‘sitting in the past’.
Bushfire Classification:
Department of Education (DE) has recently advised the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) of the revised Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).
As was the case last year and because of this review, St Partick's Primary School, Stawell will stay listed on the 2023-2024 BARR. This will require our school to close on Catastrophic Fire Danger Rated days in our fire district. In the event of such a day, notification will be sent out through the school Dojo.
Teaching and Learning:
School Assemblies: Our assemblies are led by a different class each week and tomorrow's assembly begins at 2:50pm. Students will be dismissed from the hall at 3:15pm. We invite all our community to come along. Week 8: Foundation
Week 9: Middle B & C Week 10: Junior R & F Week 11: Grade 6 Week 12: No assembly
Professional Development:
At St Patrick’s Primary School we are committed to Professional Development of our team. At various times staff members will be working off site or online which may result in classroom teachers being out of the classroom.
Term 4: Week 9 28/11 Miss Ryan Offsite 30/11 Mrs Cox-Hayward Offsite
This time of year is great to get our students to reflect on their learning journey throughout the year. Here’s a quick snapshot from some of our children:
"I am most proud of writing because it’s fantastic."Foundation Scarlett
"I am most proud of my writing because I am getting neater and making lots of sentences that make sense. " Grade 1 Max
"I am most proud of my inquiry learning and how I was able to build a car ramp." Arli Grade 2
"I am proud of all my scores I have achieved on my reading tests. I have moved up five levels and I am still going." Texas Grade 3
"I am proud of my maths learning with being able to count money." Nate Grade 4
"I am most proud of maths and that I am able to do all my work." Jackson Grade 5
"I am most proud of my reading and comprehension because I’ve finished everything I need to do."Zach Grade 6
Foundation:
Happy Friday everyone! Who can believe that we’re already over half way through Term 4 of 2023. How quickly the year has flown by. It has been a delight teaching in Foundation this year, myself, the students and the Learning support Officers have had a wonderful year! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents for a sensational year. I have appreciated all of your guidance and support.
In reading time, we have been focusing on reading fluency and plurals. The students have all done a brilliant job this Semester at being self motivated and resilient learners. We are all loving sharing our talents in reading with the class and reading just about anything we see pop up! Throughout our InitiaLit teacher instruction we practise our reader fluency through reading sentences, the underlined words are our ‘tricky words’.
Throughout writing time we have been focusing on Sentence structure and Story writing. Each week we alternate between sentence structure and story writing. This week we completed our cold write for reports. The students did a sensational job writing about a Dragon and a Crayn. I was very impressed with how the students went with their writing.
In maths we have been focusing on groups and arrays. This has been very entertaining watching the students ‘row’ their arms to discover how many rows there are in specific groups. The children have loved getting to do some hands-on activities for this and create groups for other students to work out. We have also been focusing on our counting forwards and backwards to ensure that we have established all of these skills.
In inquiry we have been learning about special places and how to take care of them. The students watched many funny videos of small children cleaning up their house as it was their special place. It was nice to see a wide range of ‘special places’ come up in discussion throughout the last few weeks. Some included, school, home, the park, the farm, the church and many other brilliant and special places.
Throughout Religion we have been looking at the jesse tree. A Jesse Tree represents the family tree of Jesus Christ. Each ornament represents a story from the Bible that tells about God's people before Jesus was born. Each Story shows God's salvation plan and tells how he guided humanity to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. This has been a very fun and interesting process as we have been colouring the ornaments to see them come to life.
Thank you for another wonderful week. We look forward to continuing on our journey together next week and for the remainder of Term 4.
Thank you Foundation and Co.
Second hand uniforms: At this time of year please consider if your child’s uniform is too small and donate it to the second hand uniform bank. Likewise if you need a new uniform for next year please call into the office as we have a large amount available.
*If you are able, uniform purchase is a gold coin donation.
End of school celebrations:
End of school whole school mass:
When: Wednesday 13th December
Time: 9:15am
Where: St Patrick’s Catholic Church - Community cuppa to follow in the school hall. All Welcome
End of Year celebrations - Grade 6 graduation liturgy
When:Thursday 14th December, 2023
Where: St Patricks School Hall for Grade 6 families only. Details to follow.
Time: 5:30pm
Followed by -
Whole school - Family Carols on the Green:
When: Thursday 14th December, 2023.
Where: St Patrick's Primary School Oval
Time: 6:30pm Gates open
Catering: To be advised
BYO: chairs/picnic blanket
Carols: Each grade will present a Christmas Carol throughout the evening
Our end of year celebration is where we can come together to celebrate our school year and the Grade 6 Graduation. It will be an evening to celebrate our learning, our achievements and our personal growth. It is also a chance to say goodbye to our Grade 6 students and families that will be leaving at the end of 2023. We hope you can join us in celebrating a terrific year of learning, teaching and growing together as a community of learners.
Living in Faith:
Fundraising activities this term: Non Perishable food drive: The Stawell Inter Church Council welfare Cottage is struggling to keep up with the demand for help and they are seeking grocery donations to help them help those in need. They are particularly looking for donations of canned items like stew, soup, tuna, vegetables, spaghetti sauce, soaps, toothbrushes, shampoo, clothes washing powder and dishwashing liquid. We realise there is significant extra pressure on our families with cost of living prices, however if you feel able to, could you please buy an extra item or two when you go grocery shopping. Donation tubs are in each classroom and we will present our donations to Mary-Rita Thomas (St Vincent de Paul rep) at assembly in a few weeks. There are many in our town and region who are having a hard time making ends meet.
Mr Cunningham is doing Movember:
In case you haven’t seen Mr Cunningham lately he is now sporting a moustache. He is raising money for Movember - a cause which focuses on Mens health.
Mini Vinnies will be selling zooper doopers this Friday and all money raised will go towards this cause. Thanks for your support.
Fundraising: Each Friday till the end of Term our MiniVinnies group will be selling Zooper Doopers for $1.00each at lunch time under the shade sails. The money raised will go towards Stawell Inter church Council Welfare Centre and St Vincent de Paul Sponsor a student program. As always we thank our St Patrick’s community for your support.
*Help is available:
Do you know anyone who is doing it tough at the moment and would like help this Christmas?
Please ask them to come to the Stawell Inter Church Council Cottage at 20 Sloane St during November to apply.
The Cottage is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10:30am and 12:30pm.
Students of the week:
Chizaram Ezeobi - For the incredible work you’ve been putting into maths! You deserved the perfect score you achieved due to your hard work and dedication.
Chelsea Duck - For the phenomenal work you’ve been putting into all areas of learning. I am beyond proud of your achievements Chelsea and you should be too!
Delilah Terwisscha - For the wonderful effort you have been putting into your reading. You are doing a wonderful job of decoding words and retelling what happened in a book you have read. Keep working hard, I am so proud of you!
Saviero Di Pietro - For always being a risk taker and taking on new challenges. You show a love for learning and ask a lot of questions to learn as much as you can. Keep up the fabulous work!
Marianne Duxson - For being one of the most incredible self-motivated, risk taking, collaborative, curious and resilient students that I have had the pleasure of working with.
Jack Driscoll – For being such an honest, curious and self-motivated student. I thoroughly enjoy working with you and you impress me every day with your ideas and knowledge.
Boston McGaffin - For the amazing efforts you have been putting into your narrative writing piece.
Adi Ratcliffe - For the superb effort you have been putting into your narrative writing piece. You have applied the feedback you have received and we all can't wait to read the finished story.
Mia Bailey - For your continued hard work and effort you have put into all areas of your learning and your assessments. You're smashing it!
Archie Coxon - For being a curious learner while you have been completing your country fact file. Keep up the great work Archie!
Zachary Ford - For being a self-motivated learner and thinking ahead, especially when assisting others in need. Congratulations Zach!
Archie Macpherson - For the wonderful growth you have shown in your reading this year! Well done Archie!
Logan Piatkov - For the effort and detail you put into your leadership letter this week. Well done Logan!
Hamish Campbell - For the work you've been doing in Maths to solve order of operations problems. Keep it up Hamish!
Mary MacKillop Award:
Mary MacKillop lived a life dedicated to her faith and serving the needs of others. Wherever and however she could, Mary MacKillop did everything possible to improve the lives of others. This award acknowledges the thoughtful actions of the students at St Patrick’s to help others. “True charitable humility is open. It is generous in its motives. It troubles not about either the esteem or censure of people.”
Congratulations to this weeks award recipient Andy.
For his kind words and very welcoming manner
towards your buddy and their family. Thank you!
Diocesan/Parish news:
Mass Times:
Ararat Sunday 8.30am
Stawell Sunday 10.30am
Lake Bolac 1st, 3rd, 5th Sundays 6.30pm Vigil Sat
Landsborough 2nd, 4th Sundays 12.30pm
Glenthompson (Hamilton Parish) 2nd, 4th Sundays 8.30am
Parents and Friends news:
The P & F are running a Christmas raffle this year with the multiple prizes totalling a value over $1500. Each family will receive a book of tickets to sell at a cost of $2 each. We ask that all sold or unsold tickets to be returned by the 5th December. We thank all the local businesses/families that have donated to this raffle and ask you support these and other local businesses this coming holiday season. Raffle drawn 8th of December.
A special thank you to all those who have kindly donated to our school raffle. If you can please support the business that supports us.
Thanks also to those who have sold raffle books. If you would like any more raffle books please call into the school office. As always we appreciate your support.
Position Vacant:
Around Our Community:
Upcoming Events:
Our Vision and Mission:
Vision Statement: St Patrick's School is a community which reflects and celebrates Christ as its centre point: By honoring our story we value our whole community. By coming together our vision is for a loving, just, compassionate and tolerant world. Mission Statement: In the tradition of St Patrick, we are committed to: Promoting and celebrating a love of God, self and community. Recognizing and enhancing the talents and uniqueness of each person through our vision of Prayer, Care and Learning. PRAYER We nurture and grow our relationship with God as members of a faith community. CARE We foster recognition of difference, compassion for others and the strength to act on our beliefs. LEARNING We develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills essential to reaching our full potential as life- long learners.