Newsletter 139- June 20th 2024
Prayer of the Week:
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A Prayer for Wellbeing
Loving God,
We thank you for the gift of life.
We also thank you for the gift of all the wonderful people who accompany, inspire, stretch, challenge, love and encourage us on our journey.
Bless them with good health, peace and joy.
We ask this through Christ our Lord,
Amen
Principals Report:
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Dear St Patrick’s community,
As the winter chill sets in, it's important to ensure our students are dressed warmly. While it may be trendy to wear shorts with jumpers and jackets, I urge you to prioritise comfort and warmth by insisting on pants for our students. Many are braving the cold with bare legs tucked into their jumpers, which isn't ideal. Therefore, I kindly request that on days cooler than 15 degrees Celsius, students wear pants.
To support this, the school has beanies and scarves as part of its uniform, so we kindly ask that no other types be worn during school hours; any brought to school will remain in bags until day's end.
In the days ahead, I'll send a survey via Dojo regarding school jackets—whether we should introduce them and what type. This is potentially as an option for 2025, pending feedback from families, students, and staff.
Pulse Student Check-Ins have been underway since April, offering valuable insights into student wellbeing. These weekly surveys help identify students who may need additional support beyond the classroom, ensuring no one slips through the cracks. Please take a moment to watch this brief video explaining the survey's purpose and questions: http://videos.familyzone.com/watch/xP6niqcpia15H3TFnW5Qcm?
Based on recent data, our upcoming Wellbeing Day on Tuesday will address areas showing declines since April. Activities will include sessions on healthy eating led by Lauren Dempsey, active outdoor play, mindfulness exercises, and stress-relief activities like creating stress balls. These days are an opportunity to break from routine and enhance our students' wellbeing.
Keep an eye out for the Term Three Key Events calendar coming out on Dojo in the coming week. We’ve added some events to early next term- a Kindness Day and the St Patrick’s Olympics which we welcome families to enjoy with us.
With Kind Blessings,
Bettina
From the Office:
2025 Foundation Enrolments
Preparations are underway for our 2025 Foundation class with enrolment interviews due to take place early in Term 3. Accordingly, we remind all new and existing families with children due to commence in 2025 to please return your completed applications to the office as soon as possible.
Please also remember to register your interest in our Ready, Set, Go! transition to school program by contacting the office on 5358 2493 or email office@spstawell.catholic.edu.au
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School Fees
As we approach the end of Term 2, a couple of friendly reminders regarding school fees;
- For families making repayments per School Term, please ensure your Term 2 instalment is made before 28th June 2024.
- For families on School managed fortnightly direct debits, a reminder that payments will continue as scheduled throughout the School Holidays
- For families paying 2024 School Fees in full, payment is due in Term 3.
To make payment by Electronic Transfer, our details are:
National Australia Bank
Account Name: St Patrick’s Primary School Stawell
BSB 083-408
Account: 873223326
Please remember to include your surname as a reference for receipting purposes.
If you have any queries regarding your account, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Anna Wadge
Business Manager
Wellbeing:
The Power of Kindness and Volunteering
A HUGE shout out to our Grade 6 students who volunteer each Tuesday and Thursday with our breakfast club. In my absence over the past three weeks while on Long Service Leave, I was informed by other staff members that the Grade 6 students managed everything almost entirely on their own with minimal assistance.
Upon my return this week, I observed them in action. The confidence they exhibit while serving breakfast is remarkable, and they return to class with a sense of pride, knowing they’ve contributed something special by volunteering their time to support our school community. Their kindness through volunteering not only benefits our community but also leaves them feeling incredible, knowing they have made a real difference.
Reflecting on this, I was reminded of the profound impact of acts of kindness and volunteering. I recently read an article titled "Doing Good Together." You can read the full article here Doing Good Together. In a nutshell the article includes the following ideas:
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1. Nurture Everyday Habits of Kindness:
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2. Reflect Together:
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3. Read Together:
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4. Finally, Volunteer Together
Volunteering time by our parents, grandparents and friends, is consistently modelled throughout our school community in countless ways, including; Sports Days, donating slices, classroom helpers, working bees, excursions and camps, and the breakfast club (and many more) . Our Parents and Friends set a wonderful example, and now our students are following suit, volunteering with the same enthusiasm and feeling terrific about their contributions.
Everyone wins!
We welcome Lillie Marshman back next week as she resumes her role as Wellbeing Leader.
Fiona Harney
Teaching and Learning:
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School Assemblies: Our assemblies happen each Friday afternoon starting at 2:50pm in the school hall. Students are dismissed from the hall on this day. We invite all our community to come along.
Week 10: Junior FB
Week 11: Foundation
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.
Week 11: NIL
School closure day Monday 15th July, 2023
Professional Development - Education is a never-ending process.
On this date we will work with a wellbeing leader from Catholic Education Ballarat to further develop our skills in School Wide Positive Behaviour.
At St Patrick’s we are committed to staff Professional Development to ensure the best learning outcomes for our students. It is through continual education that staff can improve their skills and become more proficient in their professions.
Middle FB:
Junior FB have been working really hard on finishing their learning modules and completing all relevant assessments. We are all looking forward to a well earned break.
The students should be proud of their achievements this Semester.
The students have reflected on their learning, what they are proud of this semester and responded with a one sentence comment.
Nathalia - I am proud of my learning.
Georgia A - I am proud of my writing because I liked writing about my dream pet, a unicorn.
Georgia C - I am proud of my spelling learning.
Dixie - I have enjoyed writing. I am great at hand writing.
Saviero - I am proud of my addition and subtraction and I am good at it.
David - I have been enjoyed subtraction.
Evie - I am proud of my number line work.
Jarli - I can count by 2’s
James - I am getting good at Think Tank.
Jai - I have really liked my maths learning on Prodigy.
Khoor - I like counting the blocks in maths.
Max - I am proud of my writing.
Ace - I am really enjoying writing about my family and friends.
Harry - I am proud of my writing.
Deliah - I love Maths and am great at it.
Henry - I really like doing my drawings in mindfulness.
Ted - I am proud of how I have made good friends.
Hunter - I am proud of my work in my stepping stones book.
Bonnie - I am proud of my story writing.
We are all looking forward to our assembly on Friday. We hope to see as many of you there as possible.
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Structured Literacy
Last week you may have heard that the Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll announced a policy mandating that all Victorian government schools students from Foundation to Grade Two will be taught using a structured phonics approach, with a minimum of twenty-five minutes daily of explicitly teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness from 2025.
Here at St Patrick’s we began our Structured Literacy journey back in 2019. After a number of years researching evidenced based approaches to literacy learning we commenced with implementing our intervention programs, MiniLit and Macqlit in 2019.
MiniLit:
MiniLit is based on the latest scientific research and evidence based on effective reading instruction and intervention. Specifically aimed at Year 1 and 2 students who require intensive support to develop decoding skills. MiniLit is delivered 4-5 times per week, for 45 minutes per lesson in a small group.
MacqLit:
MacqLit is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of older low-progress readers. It has a comprehensive sequence of lessons that includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
In 2021 we implemented our InitiaLit program, which is again an evidence and research based program. An overview of the program from Foundation to Grade Two follows:
IniaLit Foundation
What is InitiaLit–Foundation?
InitiaLit-Foundation, or InitiaLit–F, is a literacy program for all children in their first year of school to ensure that all children get off to the best possible start. It has been developed by MultiLit, a research-based initiative of Macquarie University.
What does InitiaLit–F do?
InitiaLit–F teaches children how to read and spell through daily lessons, using research-based teaching methods. It also uses a range of good quality storybooks to develop children’s vocabulary and oral language.
How does InitiaLit–F teach reading and writing?
InitiaLit–F teaches children that words are made up of sounds and sounds are represented by letters. Unlike learning to talk which children pick up naturally, children do need to be directly taught the relationship between sounds and letters.
IniaLit Grade 1
What is InitiaLit–1?
InitiaLit–1 is a literacy program for all children in Year 1. It has been developed by MultiLit, a research-based initiative of Macquarie University.
What does InitiaLit–1 do?
InitiaLit–1 teaches children how to read and spell through daily lessons, using research-based teaching methods. It also uses a range of engaging storybooks to develop children’s vocabulary and oral language.
How does InitiaLit–1 teach reading and writing?
InitiaLit–1 teaches children that words are made up of sounds and that those sounds are represented by letters. Unlike learning to talk, which children do without formal instruction, children need to be directly taught the relationship between sounds and letters. In InitiaLit–1 children will build upon the knowledge of the alphabetic code that they gained in Foundation. They will learn that a letter or letters can make different sounds, and that two or three letters together can make a sound. They will also learn key terminology such as ‘vowel’, ‘syllable’, ‘phoneme’, ‘grapheme’, and ‘digraph’.
IniaLit Grade 2
What is InitiaLit–2?
InitiaLit–2 is a literacy program for all children in Year 2. It has been developed by MultiLit, a research-based initiative of Macquarie University.
What does InitiaLit–2 do?
InitiaLit–2 teaches children how to read and spell through daily lessons, using research-based teaching methods. It also uses a range of engaging storybooks to develop children’s vocabulary, oral language and writing.
How does InitiaLit–2 work?
By the time children are in Year 2, they have learnt that words are made up of sounds represented by letters. The focus now moves to reading comprehension and spelling. There are four main teaching components in InitiaLit–2 spread across the week. • Comprehension and fluency • Spelling • Grammar • Vocabulary (using children’s literature)
At St Patrick’s we are continually researching the best evidence based approaches to all curriculum. We are proud of the commitment of our team at St Patrick’s as we consistently strive to ensure all students are provided with the best possible learning opportunities.
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Students of the Week:
Leon Prockter - For the commitment and self-motivation you are showing to care for the beautiful world God has made for us. I was so impressed to see you watering the plants in the school. Thank you!
Ada Baulch - For the wonderful self-motivation you showed to create a journal of your recent holiday. It was absolutely fantastic and we were all so impressed. Congratulations and thank you!
Oliver Prockter - For the amazing iMovie you made when retelling the story 'Gold'. I was so impressed. Keep working hard!
Finn Greenhalgh - For using your superpowers of self-motivation, resilience and risk taking in Reading and Writing. I am so proud of what you have achieved this term. Keep up the hard work!
Harry Sutherland - For being a self-motivated learner, always listening and making the most of his learning time.
Bonnie Wickham - For the excellent writing you have been producing.
Boston McGaffin - For being a great role model during group activities. You always make sure everyone is included and listened to. Well done!
Mac Bibby - For the great efforts you have been putting into identifying the features of a recount and recognising adverbials in texts.
Lucas Papadopoulos - For the hard work you have put into learning about suffixes this week. You have been on fire! Keep up the hard work Lucas!
Oliver Sutherland - For the fantastic self-motivation you have been demonstrating in your Writing this week. You are a superstar Ollie, great work!
Emily Nutting - For consistently using our school super powers to enhance her learning in all areas. Keep working hard Emily!
Jett Virgin - For being such a self-motivated and curious learner resulting in excellent assessment results this term. Well done Jett!
Andy Papadopoulos - For being a collaborative learner this week during our small group discussion on our class novel 'Two Wolves'.
Beverly Parkin Alamo - For the outstanding writing pieces you have produced in Terms 1 and 2. Everyone is always amazed when you share what you have produced with your peers.
Living in Faith:
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Next Friday last day of term is casual clothes day
Gold coin donation
Hot dog lunch available to purchase $3:00 (no order required purchase on the day)
All money raised will go towards Mini Vinnies Winter Food Appeal
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There will be a meeting with Fr Andrew for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist and Confirmation on Tuesday 30th July, at 3.15pm or 5:30 pm in the Middle/Senior hub.
Thank you to those parents who have expressed interest in the Sacraments.
If you would like any information regarding the Sacraments please contact me.
Maryanne Comitti
Religious Education Leader
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Winter Food Appeal
As the winter season approaches, we are reminded of the importance of community support and solidarity. Many families in our community struggle to provide enough food during the colder months, and your generosity can make a significant difference.
Our Mini Vinnies group is organising a non-perishable food appeal for those in our community who are in need. If you are able we would appreciate any donations of non-perishable food. Each classroom will have a tub where donations can be put. These donations will be collected by a member of our St Vincent de Paul society from our parish and will be donated to the Stawell Cottage for local distribution.
Let's come together to make this winter a little warmer for everyone in our community. Thank you for your generosity!
Maryanne Comitti
Religious Education Leader
Do you or someone that you know need some help?
If you need help with groceries and shopping vouchers go to -
The Cottage 20 Sloane St Stawell. Open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 10:30am and 12:30pm.
In out of hours emergencies ring 0408 038 949.
If you need help with fresh fruit and vegetables go to -
Stawell Neighborhood House 42 Sloane St. Open Mondays – Fridays 9am -5pm.
If you need help other than groceries and food, contact –
Stawell St Vincent de Paul Society – 0437 344 323 and leave a message. They will contact you within 24 hours.
Mary Rita Thomas
Sec. and Public Officer, Stawell Inter Church Council (welfare Cottage)
President, Stawell conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society
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. “When I could not see my way God kept my heart full of trust to make all come right” Saint Mary MacKillop
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Congratulations to this weeks award recipients: Jayde Lowe and Mackenzie Farrell
For willingly and confidently giving up their time to provide breakfast for our school community.
Thank you for your kindness.
Birthdays:
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Congratulations to these students who celebrated their birthday this week:
Jett & Monti
Diocesan/Parish news:
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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
Around Our Community:
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Please follow us on instagram; stpatsstawell
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Upcoming Events:
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Our Vision and Mission:
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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.