Newsletter 152- October 17th 2024
Prayer of the Week:
Almighty God, it is difficult to see people suffer from hunger. We pray for You to give the hungry daily bread today and end their persistent hunger. Provide the food children need to grow and thrive. Pour out Your grace on hungry families, especially parents straining to feed their children despite dwindling resources
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.”
—Matthew 25:35 (NIV)
This week is World Food day.
The world's farmers produce enough food to feed more than the global population yet, hunger persists. Around 733 million people are facing hunger in the world due to repeated weather shocks, conflicts, economic downturns, inequality, and the pandemic. This impacts the poor and vulnerable most severely, many of whom are agricultural households, reflecting widening inequalities across and within countries.
Food is the third most basic human need after air and water – everyone should have the right to adequate food. Human rights such as the right to food, life and liberty, work and education are recognised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and two legally binding international covenants.
Taken from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Principal's Report:
Dear St Patrick’s community,
Staffing 2025
We are excited to share that our recruitment process for 2025 has been a great success! It is with great pleasure that we announce the successful appointment of Lauren Broadbent. Lauren is an experienced junior years teacher from South Australia, and we are thrilled to have her join our school community. Her philosophy in visible learning, expertise in Structured Literacy and passion for early primary years education will be a fantastic asset to our school.
In light of Lauren's strengths and experience teaching junior years, it has been decided that she will be teaching Foundation in 2025, instead of Fiona Harney as communicated earlier this year. This adjustment will allow us to fully utilise Lauren’s skills in this important area. With the Foundation students in capable hands, Fiona is taking the opportunity to enjoy some Long Service Leave in 2025. Fiona will assist us in the second half of the year with some casual days here and there.
I hope to have a full list of the teacher placements available in a future newsletter.
Proactive Policing Presentations Monday
This Monday and Tuesday, we will be holding special presentations from the Proactive Policing Unit on stranger awareness. These sessions are designed to educate our students on how to stay safe in various situations, and we encourage all families to attend. It is crucial for our school community to work together in fostering awareness and reinforcing important safety practices at home. I want to draw particular attention to the Year 5/6 presentation that includes the online element.
Did you see the news last night? In the past 12 months, there has been a staggering 1400% increase in sextortion cases across Australia. Criminals are now using AI technology to generate fake nude photos of victims and then demanding money, threatening to distribute the images if their demands are not met. This alarming rise in online exploitation makes it more important than ever for families to be informed and engaged with the platforms and websites that our children are using. We strongly urge parents and guardians to join us for these presentations, as your involvement plays a vital role in reinforcing critical safety messages. Together, we can help protect our students and keep them safe online and in the real world.
A reminder that the times for the presentations are:
Monday, 21st October 2024- School Hall
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Years 5 & 6 - Think U Know (Online Safety)
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Years 3 & 4 - How to be Stranger Smart
Tuesday, 22nd October 2024- School Hall
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM: Years 1 & 2 - How to be Stranger Smart
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM: Foundation - How to be Stranger Smart
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend with heaps of much needed rain!
Have a great week,
Bettina
Wellbeing:
A new mental health podcast for Australian parents
For the past five years, Emerging Minds has been creating podcasts for professionals that explore effective ways to support infant and child mental health. Now, the new Emerging Minds Families podcast aims to do the same for parents and families.
Over the past 12 months, Emerging Minds has been working with families across Australia to learn more about the kinds of resources they need to best support their children’s mental health. These conversations, along with insights from practitioners and researchers, have guided the development of Emerging Minds Families: an online resource hub designed to help families better understand and support infant and child mental health.
As part of this program, the Emerging Minds Families team will be delivering a fortnightly podcast, starting 22 November 2022. Parents, families and practitioners will discuss infant and child mental health, offer advice, debunk myths and provide understanding for families who are striving to do the best for their children.
In this episode, you will meet the hosts of the Emerging Minds Families podcast: Ben Rogers, Alicia Ranford and Nadia Rossi. They will share how they’ve spent the past 12 months working with families to develop this podcast series, what they learned during this process, as well as the important role of co-design in developing resources for families. The team will also describe the ‘knowledgeable best friend’ approach that guides their work, how it evolved, and how it will support both families and practitioners.
A new mental health podcast for Australian parents
In this episode:
- Find out how the Emerging Minds Families podcast came about and what listeners can expect to learn (1:34)
- Unpack the ‘knowledgeable best friend’ tone and how it was developed as a way to help families consider their child’s mental health support needs (2:49)
- Hear some examples of the podcasts that will be delivered through the Emerging Minds Families channel (11:23)
- Discover the importance of helping families to attempt strategies to help their children, but also to seek help from professionals where they need extra support (14:29)
- Learn why it’s important to create content that benefits all families, including those that are currently facing adversity (27:20)
Other episodes:
https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/podcast/
Lillie Marshman - Wellbeing Leader
Teaching and Learning:
School Assemblies: Our assemblies happen each Friday afternoon starting at 2:45pm in the school hall. Students are dismissed from the hall on this day. We invite all our community to come along
Week 2: Junior R
Week 3: Senior M
Week 4: Foundation
Week 5: Middle C
Week 6: Junior B
Week 7: Senior H
Week 8: Middle B
Week 9: Junior R & Junior B
Week 10: Grade 6
Week 11:
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 3- Nil
Junior R:
What a fabulous start Grade One has had for Term Four! The September break was much needed in our class with lots of illness and tiredness, including myself and Mr Gehan, but we have certainly hit the ground running these last two weeks.
In Writing, we have been learning to write a recount. We wrote about our holidays and published them so some of us can share them at assembly on Friday. I was very impressed with the detail in their writing and their ability to include adjectives and conjunctions. The progress they have all made since the beginning of the year is incredible.
We are nearing the end of our InitiaLit lessons with roughly 20 lessons to go. We have been revising digraphs (two letters that make one sound), bossy ‘e’ and verbs as well as learning more complex topics such as adverbs, contractions and trigraphs (three letters that make one sound). The tricky words we have been learning are only, great and their and this week can’t, don’t, didn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t and shouldn’t will be introduced to link with our learning on contractions.
In Maths, we were a little stumped when we were first introduced to Fact Families however after a few lessons we can now complete these easily. We have a couple more lessons on Fact Families before we move on to subtraction and then measuring length, volume and capacity.
We continue to love Auslan and it has definitely been easier for the students to learn than it has been for me! We learned the signs for have, pencil, eat, help me, slow, finish, can, I, again, understand, work and drink. This week we have a Zoom lesson with Jane to help us continue to learn new signs.
In Religion, we started a new unit on Celebrations. We have been discussing different celebrations people participate in and what celebration is our favourite and why. This has been relevant as October is a busy month of birthdays in Grade One.
In Inquiry, our unit is about different places. While we have not got too far into it we will be looking at natural and man made environments as well as looking at places that are special to us and how we can care for them.
As we head towards the end of the year we will begin assessment time. I cannot wait to see the growth each student has made. It has been an absolute pleasure to teach every student in Grade One this year and I will be very sad to see it come to an end.
Miss Kerrie Ryan
Students of the Week:
Jye Friend - For the sensational work you’ve been doing working on your reading fluency. I am very proud of the way you’ve been taking on feedback. Keep it up.
Judd Savage - For the incredible job you did this week working on your letter formations and sentence structure, keep taking on feedback Judd. You’re doing a wonderful job. I'm very proud.
Nasar Werry - For the self-motivation and effort you are putting into your writing. The adjectives and humour you are including help make it a pleasure to read. Keep up the great work!
Archer Cooper - For the wonderful start you have had to Term Four. You are using all your Super Powers and putting a lot of effort into all areas of your work. Keep it up!
Mason Scott - For being such a positive, collaborative and resilient student. Well done on working so hard at all times and for always giving your best.
Jai Hine - For the wonderful start you have made to Term Four. I am very proud of the way you have been working so positively each day.
Fletcher Jones - For your excellent participation and enthusiasm in our writing activity about words other than 'said'. Keep it up!
Aaliyah Carlsen - For the fantastic self-motivation you have shown towards learning your multiplication facts in Maths. You're on your way to achieving your mini goal. Well done!
Oscar Erwin - For the self-motivation and positive attitude you have been showing towards your learning in all areas. Keep up the fantastic work Oscar!
Tamieka Austin - For the wonderful work you have been putting into your Literacy and being a risk-taker and accepting challenges to help your learning. Well Done Tamieka!
Archie Coxon - For your excellent comprehension and participation during our class novel 'Trash' - Well done Archie!
Kobe Power - For always displaying kindness and compassion for those around you. Thanks for being such a thoughtful class member Kobe!
Ella Tyler - For being a risk-taker across all subject areas. Keep it up Ella!
Vibeesh Ranjay - For seeking out feedback to consolidate your knowledge of using dialogue in writing. Well done Vibeesh!
Living in Faith:
Fundraising:
From this Friday (11th October) each Friday till the end of the year our MiniVinnies group will be selling Zooper Doopers for $1.00each. 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.
Why do we at St Patrick’s raise money for the poor?
Catholic schools participate in the Church’s mission “to bring the Good News to the poor” (Luke 4:18). In partnership with parents, parishes and other agencies within the Church and the broader community, Catholic schools are called to give witness to a faith which does justice with love. All have a responsibility to read the signs of the times and to respond with love and compassion, ever seeking to protect human dignity and serve the common good. The Catholic Church teaches that the poor represent those who are marginalised in society. Jesus himself taught the importance of helping those who are poor and need help.
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
Why do we have a Mary Mackillop award?
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.
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: Beau Cullen
For showing great kindness and going out of his way to help a fellow student who was upset on the playground.
Thank you for your kindness.
Parents & Friends:
Birthdays:
Congratulations to these students who celebrated their birthday this week:
James, Augus, Evie F & Thomas
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.