Newsletter 143- August 1st 2024
Prayer of the Week:
Winter in all of Our Lives
There is a winter in all of our lives, a chill and darkness that makes us yearn for days that have gone or put our hope in days yet to be.
Father God, you created seasons for a purpose.
Spring is full of expectation buds breaking frosts abating and an awakening of creation before the first days of summer.
Now the sun gives warmth and comfort to our lives reviving aching joints bringing colour, new life and crops to fruiting.
Autumn gives nature space to lean back, relax and enjoy the fruits of its labour mellow colours in sky and landscape as the earth prepares to rest.
Then winter, cold and bare as nature takes stock, rests, unwinds, and sleeps until the time is right.
An endless cycle and yet a perfect model.
We need a winter in our lives, a time of rest, a time to stand still, a time to reacquaint ourselves with the faith in which we live.
It is only then that we can draw strength from the one in whom we are rooted, take time to grow and rise through the darkness into the warm glow of your springtime to blossom and flourish and bring colour and vitality into this world, your garden.
Thank you Father for the seasons of our lives.
- Author Unknown
Principal's Report:
Dear St Patrick’s community,
Earlier this week I posted on Dojo that we are thrilled to announce that St Patrick’s School will soon be undergoing an update to buildings. With the State government grant of $2.4 million, we will build a new general learning area and add more amenities. This development will be our Foundation Learning hub, providing a modern and dynamic environment for our students to thrive.
Attached, you will find an image of the area that is set to be updated. We are eager to see the transformation and the positive impact it will have on our school community.
Stay tuned for more updates as we embark on this exciting journey together!
Last week, as part of our Kindness Day activities, we hosted a delightful movie night. It was wonderful to see our students come together, enjoying social time and building stronger bonds within our school community. The evening was filled with laughter, popcorn, and camaraderie, making it a memorable experience for everyone involved.
A special thank you goes out to our "vacuuming fairy" who tested their new Dyson on Saturday morning, ensuring our space was spotless after the event. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!
Have a great week,
Bettina
The Budja Budja Youth and Medical Team are currently taking their mobile van out to primary and secondary schools to do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Checks on students. If any eligible students would like to take up the offer, please get in touch with the office so we can book the van.
From The Office:
Wellbeing:
Circles of wellbeing
Take a look at the circles of wellbeing and the responsibility in ME, YOU and US!
Improving our own personal wellbeing and school wellbeing begins within yourself, those around you and us as a whole school community. Please don’t forget to reach out if you need any support or guidance with your child/rens wellbeing.
Update on Power a_head consulting - Cathy Grace
Cathy has a high number of referrals which is wonderful to see that people are reaching out for help and support; however I just wanted to take this time to remind everyone that Cathy can only see the children within her allocated working day (Wednesday). Cathy currently does 20 minute sessions per child, these sessions are on a rotational basis due to her increased number of referrals. If your child/ren doesn’t see Cathy on a Wednesday for a 1:1 session they do get the opportunity to join her for yoga in the afternoon.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Cathy on the following number - 0474268133.
Please ensure that if you text/call Cathy you include your child's first and last name as well as the school they attend as Cathy works across multiple schools.
If you’re interested in Cathy’s service please fill out the form attached below and return it to the box out the front of the office or give it to your child to pass onto me (Lillie Marshman).
2024 Power A_Head Consulting Referral form.pdf
Thank you for your endless support,
Lillie Marshman
Kindness Day:
What a great day we all had on our Kindness Day last Friday. Our kindness day encompasses all areas of our Catholic Social Teachings. These areas are: Human Dignity, Care for Common Home, The Common Good, Solidarity, Subsidiarity and Participation and Preferential Option for the Poor. Throughout their journey with us at St Patrick’s our students are taught about Catholic Social Teaching and how we are called to love and serve. Throughout Friday and everyday at school we strive to ensure our students are aware of all of these areas which they take out into the world, recognising the positive difference they can make in the world, however big or small.
A big shout out to our dedicated group of twenty-nine Mini Vinnies students who put time, effort and thought into making sure the day ran smoothly.
Our activities included the following:
Mini Vinnies group walked to IGA and each student selected a variety of non-perishable food items to purchase within their set budget. A total of $484.80 was raised on our last day of Term Two from our casual clothes & hot dog day. This money was used to purchase groceries which will be donated to the Stawell Cottage.
Each class was assigned a community group that they made Thank you cards for. Mini Vinnies also made 300 biscuits with all students within the school icing a biscuit. These were distributed to our volunteers and organisations that we made thank you cards for.
Each student within the school made a bag of dry dog or cat food which will be donated to the Stawell Cottage which will be available for those people that may be having difficulty buying their pet food.
Our Foundation and Grade One students made 50 mens toiletry packs which included a soap, toothbrush and razor. The Mini Vinnies group are working on including a handwritten note and inspirational quote to go inside the pack. These packs will then be donated to the Stawell Cottage for distribution to those in need within our community.
Some Grade Six students visited Green Fingers Nursery and worked alongside the supported employees.
Some groups also visited Aussie Kindies and Marrang Kindergarten. Students read a book and helped the children with a colouring activity after the book was read. Some of our Grade 5 & 4 students welcomed a class from Skene Street School who took part in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities in the hall.
As a whole school each student has made or is working on designing and drawing a placemat for our Meals on Wheels recipients and Eventide Cottages residents.
Thank you to our community representatives who were able to attend our assembly. We had representatives from the Police, Fire Brigade, SES, Grampians Community Health and St Vincent de Paul. Ambulance representatives were unable to attend on the day, but we will invite them along at a time when they are available.
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped us throughout the day. Todd (Charlie's Dad- yr 2), Kate (Evie yr 2 & Lenny yr 4 Mum), Renee (Adas Mum- Foundation) and Sue and Dennis (Evelyn's grandparents- Foundation) . Thanks also to Narelle from Petstock for donating dry dog and cat food for us to bag up. We truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come along and support us.
Teaching and Learning:
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 3: Middle B
Week 4: Junior FB
Week 5: Foundation
Week 6: Senior M
Week 7: Book Week
Week 8: Middle C
Week 9: Junior R
Week 10: 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.
Term 3 Week 4- NIL
Middle B:
Middle B have bounced back into Term 3 with great enthusiasm and self motivation for their learning.
Our learning goals currently are:
Writing
We are learning to write a detailed information report
Maths
Grade 3
We are learning about number patterns, measurement and area
Grade 4
We are learning about area and graphing
Digital Technologies
We are learning about peripheral devices
Reading
We are learning how to improve our fluency and accuracy.
We are learning about cause and effect and compare and contrast comprehension strategies.
Religion
We are learning about Respect
Auslan
We are learning to shake our head to show the opposite of a sign as we sign it
Morphology
We are learning about prefixes
Inquiry
We are learning about Australia
Handwriting/Touch Typing
We are learning how to join letters
We are learning how to touch type
Superpowers
We are working on our collaborative and resilient learning superpowers
Aaliyah - I am proud of my maths. My goal was to round 3 digit and 4 digit numbers and I have achieved it.
Alivia - I am proud of my math and Auslan.
Boston - Im proud of my math and my Auslan!!!
Emila - I’m proud of maths because I learnt how to convert cm and mm.
Fletcher - I'm so proud of my maths, doing cms and meters I have been doing in term 3.
Henry - I’m proud of my math and my writing.
Jack - I am proud of trying my best in kahoot.
Kayde - I am proud of my Religion because I am doing a Respect poster of where we have to put what we think Respect is and I am proud because of how much work I have put into it and inspiration from Miss Bonney.
Lenny - I am proud of my kindness poster that were doing. I am also proud of my maths.
Lexie - I am enjoying some lovely sunshine and warm weather.
Lilly - I’m proud of my reading. We are learning about accuracy.
Mac - I am proud of my maths and my respect for the poster.
Mason - I have really improved in my math.
Peter - I am really proud of my maths when we are adding and subtracting.
Prithvi - I am proud of my work in religion drawing.
Sophie - I’m proud of my math because I am trying to do my best. I am also proud of my writing because I’m improving and Miss Bonney is challenging me in my writing. It has been a good term so far and I like that Miss Bonney is back and feeling better.
Tahlia - I am proud of my math because whenever I ask a question I always get it right. It makes me happy and welcomed into the class and I also like the people that care for me and I'm pretty sure that I have gotten really confident at it.
Willow - I’m proud of my math because if I asked a question I would go up to the board and I will write on it and everyone is happy for me because I got it right and Mr Cunningham gives me a hi-5.
Melissa Bonney
On Wednesday and Thursday we welcomed back Shane Crawford, our Education Consultant. Shane has been working with us for several years supporting our staff with how we can continue to improve our student learning outcomes.
This week we have been learning about the importance of goal setting for our students.
Setting learning goals is important for our students for multiple reasons, some of which are: Goals create a focus for our students' efforts on a specific object that they are trying to achieve. Research supports that clear goals can improve students' motivation and agency in their learning. Setting goals is a crucial strategy for our students' academic success and personal growth.
Book week this year runs from August 17th to August 23rd, 2024. During this time all classes spend time each day celebrating books, Australian children's authors and illustrators. The theme for book week this year is: Reading is Magic.
“We're celebrating reading stories and their amazing power to transport minds. We are encouraging kids to be curious about the wonders in our world. It is a positive and affirming message for our young people. The magic of reading also lies in its power of enticement; a good story provokes conversations. Talking about the stories with others connects the reader with other readers. Wrapped around all of this are the "tricks" and skills of our amazing writers and illustrators, as they use all their powers of language and illustration to engage the reader in this world they are building.”
The Children’s book council, Australia.
The highlight of book week is on Friday 23rd August where students are invited to dress as their favourite book character with a whole school parade where our community is able to attend. After the parade our community are invited into the classrooms to join in some of the book week activities. This is then followed by a cuppa in the Hall.
Students of the Week:
Rhylen Mullane - For the incredible number knowledge you’ve been displaying throughout maths each lesson. I am very proud of you Rhylen, keep up the great work!
Ada Baulch - For the self-motivation and determination you’ve been putting into your sentence structure work each writing lesson. I love seeing the self-pride you show towards your own learning. Keep it up Ada!
Archer Cooper - For your excellent work in making patterns. Well done on being able to identify the part of the pattern that repeats. Keep working hard!
Imogen Nelson - For the excellent fluency you are using when reading. You are definitely reading like you’re talking. Keep it up!
Georgia Aird - For the concentration you are showing towards your learning during maths, you are working so hard to understand new concepts, well done Georgia!
Beau Cullen - For always taking pride in your work and listening to and applying feedback, you have worked so hard this term and should be very proud, well done Beau!
Henry Carter - For the excellent work you have been doing in maths, converting between millimetres and centimetres. Well done Henry!
Alivia Rolph - For demonstrating your resilient and risk-taker superpowers during Maths lessons. Keep it up!
Fletcher Thomas - For the fantastic resilience and self-motivation you have been showing in your Maths lessons this week. Great work Fletch, keep it up!
Daniella Parkin Alamo - For demonstrating self-motivation and resilience and taking on feedback during Maths lessons. Keep it up Daniella!
Luke Fulton - For working so hard in all learning areas and for sharing his deep understanding during our class novel lesson. Well done Luke - keep it up!
Mackenzie Farrell - For your persistence and determination when working on challenging concepts during Maths. You're doing so well Mackenzie, keep it up!
Charli Pickering - For the work you have done this week researching your Olympic athlete. I can't wait to read your biography.
Awuom Kur - For demonstrating the characteristics of a self-motivated learner across all subject areas. You are a great role model for your classmates.
Living in Faith:
Indigenous Book Swap Term 3
Do you have any unwanted books that you could donate to our Indigenous book swap? If so any donations would be gratefully received at the school office.
Literacy is a major issue facing remote Indigenous communities. Being unable to read and write is a significant barrier to education, employment, health and wellbeing. The Indigenous Literacy Foundation works to address this through providing books and literacy resources (some in first languages) to families, schools and service organisations in remote communities; and publishing stories by Indigenous people that are reflective of community life and culture.
Students are encouraged to bring gold coins to purchase books. We have hundreds of books to choose from ranging from picture books to chapter books.
When? Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th August, 2024.
Students will have the opportunity to purchase a book from the book swap throughout the day. Book swap will be open to the public 3:15-5:00pm on Monday 19th August, 2024.
Why? This is a Mini Vinnies initiative and has been co-ordinated by our dedicated group of students that are in our Mini Vinnies team. As a Catholic School as part of our education of the Catholic Social Teachings (CST). CST offers a way of thinking, being and seeing the world. It provides a vision for a just society in which the dignity of all people is recognised, and those who are vulnerable are cared for. Learn more about Catholic Social Teachings at https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst-toolkit/
“Without the right to education there is no real freedom, which allows every person to be the protagonist of their own destiny!”
Pope Francis 2018
Mary Mackillop feast day Thursday 8th August, 2024
Next Thursday our whole school will gather together to celebrate the Feast day of Mary Mackillop with a liturgy in the hall at 8:50 am, all are welcome to attend.
Who was Mary Mackillop & why is she important to St Patrick’s school:
Mary was an ordinary Victorian farm girl who devoted her life to the service of God and did great things for Australian and New Zealand families.
Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day is celebrated on the 8th of August. This is also the date of her death in 1909.
- In 1866 Mary MacKillop and Father Tenison Woods started the religious order of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites) and in 1867 Mary MacKillop became a nun – Sister Mary of the Cross.
- Mary and the Josephite nuns set up schools in Australia and New Zealand.
- They also set up houses for elderly women, young girls and women without jobs. They gave their life to people in need, often giving comfort to the sick and dying and even visiting people in jail to give them whatever help they could.
- At times in her life Mary MacKillop met people who made it hard for her to perform her good works but she never gave up and today the Sisters of St Joseph are still doing the work that she started
- Mary is Australia’s first Saint.
St Patrick’s primary school was run by the Josephite nuns for approximately 80 years. This is why we celebrate Mary Mackillop and the Josephite tradition which has been very much part of our school life.
This year marks 100 years since the Sr of St Joseph first came to St Patrick’s in Stawell, a remarkable piece of history for our school and community.
Click for more information on Mary Mackillop
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
Congratulations to this weeks award recipient: Bill Lasslett
For showing kindness and compassion when helping a younger student.
Thank you for your kindness.
Parents & Friends
Are you needing any uniform items?
Our 2nd hand Uniforms will be in the Hall on a Friday after assembly if you wish to purchase anything. There are many items available for both Winter and Summer accross most sizes. We kindly ask for a gold coin donation.
Birthdays:
Congratulations to this student who celebrated their birthday this week:
Zeke
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
Please find below the link for the July 2024 edition of
“Our Diocesan Community”
This Magazine is a way to share the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the diocese.
https://www.ballarat.
Around Our Community:
Please follow us on instagram; stpatsstawell
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.