Newsletter 35 - November 5th 2021
Prayer of the Week:
A Catholic Prayer in Praise of the Saints November 1st:
How shining and splendid are your gifts, O Lord
which you give us for our eternal well-being
Your glory shines radiantly in your saints, O God
In the honour and noble victory of the martyrs.
The white-robed company follow you,
bright with their abundant faith;
They scorned the wicked words of those with this world's power.
For you they sustained fierce beatings, chains, and torments,
they were drained by cruel punishments.
They bore their holy witness to you
who were grounded deep within their hearts;
they were sustained by patience and constancy.
Endowed with your everlasting grace,
may we rejoice forever
with the martyrs in our bright fatherland.
O Christ, in your goodness,
grant to us the gracious heavenly realms of eternal life.
Unknown author, 10th century
Principal's Report:
Welcome
Transition Sessions
It was wonderful to have our Foundation class of 2022 onsite this week for their first face-to-face transition session. It was a great opportunity for the children to meet their teacher for next year, Mrs Lauren Sharp. The children were also able to become more familiar with each other and the school environment. The school currently has 20 Foundation students starting their school journey with us at St Pat’s next year.
The Foundation class of 2022 will be back for another transition session in two weeks, more details will be shared with families closer to the date. Then on Tuesday December 7th all students will take part in a transition session where they will spend the day with their 2022 class and teacher.
School Photos
Sixth times a charm! After booking and rebooking our school photos numerous times this year finally we are able to go ahead with this week. A big thank you to our Business Manager Mrs Anna Wadge and the team at MSP Photography for their tireless work to ensure the photos would happen this year.
Mental Health in Primary Schools Pilot Program
We are very excited to announce that the school will be involved in the Mental Health in Primary Schools Pilot in 2022. The MHiPS Pilot is a Victorian Government initiative, designed to promote a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The Pilot provides the school with funding during 2022 to employ a teacher-qualified professional as a Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator who will lead a whole-school approach to mental health prevention and early intervention approaches that are embedded in the classroom.
School Closure Day
A reminder that the school will be closed on Friday November 12th for a staff professional development meeting. The staff will be working with the team from MultiLit Australia to further our understanding of the science of reading. MultiLit is behind the IntiaLit program that the school has introduced in our junior classrooms this year. All of MultiLit’s programs are research and evidenced based.
With Faith in our Future
Chris McAloon
Wellbeing:
Hi all, welcome back to another week of wellbeing. It has come to my attention that many of our students are struggling with the thought of coming to school. Below I am going to provide you with some suggestions of conversation starters you may like to use.
Conversation starters:
Talking to your child about how they’re feeling can be tough, especially if you’re concerned that they’re having a hard time. You might not know what to say, or feel worried about how your child will react. It doesn’t matter what topic the conversation starts with - it’s about the opportunity it gives you to talk about feelings and provide comfort.
What’s the best way to encourage your child to open up?
Here are some things you could ask to get the conversation started:
- What was the worst bit of your day?
- What did you do today that made you proud?
- How are you feeling?
- What would you like to talk about?
If your child is having a hard time, you can try to find out how they like to be supported by asking gentle questions like:
- How can I support you through this?
- Do you want to talk about what's going on?
- Is there anything you need from me? Space, time to talk, time to do something fun?
- What was the biggest problem you had today? What helped?
“Is there anything you need from me? Space, time to talk, time to do something fun?”
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you require any support or guidance within the morning. Regards, Lillie Comitti - Wellbeing officer.
Teaching and Learning:
1/2 R:
Welcome to Hump Week! We hope you are all keeping well and enjoying this warmer weather, let’s hope it hangs around! As we get to the middle of Term 4 we have been very busy doing as much learning as we can before the end of the year.
Grade 2’s have been reviewing a lot of learning in InitiaLit. We have been continuing to spell words with the /or/ sound and learning when to use or, ore, aw or au. In comprehension we have been learning about the 7th and final reading strategy - monitoring. This helps us to ensure we understand what we read. We need to stop, retell and if our retell does not make sense we need to define any unknown words. We have been writing imaginative text and looking at the difference between a fragment and a sentence as well as using conjunctions to make our sentences better.
Grade 1’s have also been very busy during InitiaLit. They have been focussing on spelling words with the trigraphs 'tch' and 'dge'. They have also been working towards reading more fluently which means we read like we are talking and also learning different contractions in sentences. They are currently writing an imaginative story that has a beginning, middle and end.
Grade 2 students have been working so hard in Maths! They have been learning how to round 3-digit numbers. Their main focus has been on using effective strategies when adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers.
Grade 1 has been busy learning about equality in addition situations. We have been using a balance beam to make both sides of an addition fact equal the same amount. We have also been learning about one-half and one-quarter and telling half past and o’clock times on analogue and digital clocks.
Our Wellbeing has been centred around the qualities that superheroes have and how we can be superheroes at school. Students suggested helping others when they fall over, sharing resources, saying hello, speaking nicely and many more.
In Religion, students have been learning about how God loves us and how creation is a gift from God. Next week we will be reading The Rainbow Serpent and how we can link all these ideas to be stewards of creation.
Have a wonderful weekend! Miss Ryan and Grade 1/2R
Teaching and Learning:
School wide we have begun our Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) Assessment for Reading and Spelling. These tests measure each individual student’s knowledge, skills and understanding in reading. Teachers work through analysing each individual student's learning journey and what they need to progress. Teachers can also see what students have established and then challenge them at the appropriate level for effective teaching. We are also able to use the data to measure student learning growth over time.
Next week students across the school will work on their PAT Maths assessments.
Students across all year levels will also complete their "Cold Write". A "cold write" is where students are required to write a genre of writing with no support. This assessment is a diagnostic tool which teachers can use to inform planning and students' future learning.
You may remember earlier this year our school undertook our ECSI survey. Every five years Catholic schools across Australia undertake extensive investigations into their religious identity, gathering data from students, parents, teachers and community members. This investigation is known as the Enhancing Catholic Schools Identity (ECSI) Project run in part from the Leuven University in Belgium.
A special thankyou to the thirty families that completed our ECSI survey earlier this year. We are so grateful that you took the time to help us become better at teaching Religious Education at St Patricks.
As part of our commitment to ensure continual professional development and quality religious education teaching we welcomed Fr Andrew Hayes last week to work with staff on Scripture.
Each term during Religious Education we engage regularly in dialogue about one or two pieces of Scripture with children. Scripture plays a key role in Faith and Life inquiry as it allows us to know the Christian story of God and humanity. In a Catholic Dialogue School, the dialogue involves engaging with the Catholic tradition in light of our own interpretations. The dialogue invites each person to reflect on the Christian story and their place in it. We refer to this process of dialogue with children as the Hermeneutical-Communicative Model. It is Hermeneutical as each member of the dialogue seeks to make meaning by interpreting the Biblical text. When we interpret the text we draw upon many parts of our being including our prior knowledge, religious beliefs, cultural and life experiences. Interpretations are not the same and often raise more questions than answers. It is Communicative as adults and children dialogue with each other. We listen to each other’s interpretation respectfully, without judgement. This communication is a process of dialogue, where we draw on thinking including making connections and raising questions.
Maryanne Comitti
Around the town:
Swifts/Great Western cricket club are offering the Junior Blasters program for 5-10yrs it's an introduction into Cricket.
This is the link for registering online....
Swifts - Great Western Cricket Club
The Stawell Little Athletics Season will commence on 11th November. We would appreciate it if you could please provide your students and families through your newsletters the attached information.
Thanks
Kristen Ankerson
Secretary
0429 937 319
Parish Bulletin:
Students of the Week:
Alivia Rolph - For working super hard to write and publish your story about what you would do with a unicorn. Well done!
Mason Whitfield - For working hard to use all your sounds in your writing. Keep up the great work!
Bailey Matthews - for the hard work and effort you have been putting into your reading and writing. Keep up the hard work, you are a superstar!
Nate Jantzen - for transferring all of your learning from MiniLit into your class reading. Keep up the hard work!
Vibeesh Ranjay - for the excellent learning you are doing with your addition and subtraction strategies
Akech Kur - for the hard work you are putting into your reading and spelling
Jack Sullivan - for your fantastic writing during our Cold Write. I am very proud of you. Well done!
Jackson Notting - for your excellent writing piece during our Cold Write. I am very proud of you. Keep it up!
Liam Cameron - For your focus and determination during writing lessons. You have shown so much growth and maturity this term. Keep up the great work!
Milla Woolley - For always giving your best during maths lessons. You are showing more confidence and resilience when completing challenging tasks.
Kaleb Carlsen - for the amazing results you achieved in your recent Reading and Spelling assessments. Great job Kaleb!
Xavier Larkin - for the wonderful result you achieved in your Pat R assessment. Well done Xavier!
Willow Freeland - for always being such a positive member of the classroom and always supporting your peers.
William Evans - for the fantastic work you have been doing across all learning areas and for always sharing your knowledge with the class
Upcoming Events:
November 5th - School Photos are finally happening today! Please ensure your MSP order envelope is sent in with your child.
November 12th - School Closure Day - Staff Professional Development
November 15-17th- 3/4 Camp
November 18th - Foundation 2022 3rd Transition day
December 7th- Statewide 2022 Transition Day
December 8-10th - 5/6 Camp TBC
December 16th- Students final day 3:15pm dismissal
December 17th-Teachers Final Day
Acknowledgement of Country:
We acknowledge Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land on which our school stands.
We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
We thank them for sharing their cultures, spiritualities and ways of
living with the land in this place we all now call home.