Newsletter 50 - April 1st 2022
Prayer of the Week:
Principal's Report:
Welcome
The community atmosphere of St Patrick's is one of the things that makes it such a special school. The way in which our students, staff, families, and the wider community work together is constantly inspiring.
On Friday evening, we had a great turnout of families to our Harmony Week celebrations. The student performed some wonderful dances from different cultures and as a community, we were able to gather and celebrate our diversity.
This week we held our annual Cross Country Carnival at North Park. This is also a wonderful community celebration. It was great to see so many parents and grandparents on hand as spectators and volunteers. Our Parents and Friends association did a fantastic job feeding all the students with hot dogs.
A reminder that the Parents and Friends Association is holding a meeting at the Brix Hotel on Monday, April 4th at 6:30 pm. The association does a wonderful job supporting the school and is always on the lookout for new members.
Currently, the Parents and Friends are running the annual Easter raffle and students should have received a book of tickets to sell. Small donations to go towards the hamper prize are also being sought and can be dropped off at the front office.
It has also been so great that we have been able to have classroom helpers back at the school. Our dedicated team of classroom helpers plays a very important role in assisting students with their learning. If you or someone you know may be interested in becoming a classroom helper please contact the school.
With Faith in our Future
Chris McAloon
A Word from the Office:
Foundation 2023
Do you have a child due to start Foundation in 2023? If so, please contact the office as soon as possible to add their details to the waiting list.
Whilst enrolments are not due to open until Term 2, siblings of current students are prioritised and this early information assists the School in forward planning for the 2023 school year.
Wellbeing:
Reminder of our school values: As we reach the end our busy school term it is important that we all remember to be respectful, learners and safe.
Teaching and Learning:
Assembly:
How exciting - Assemblies are back for grade level only. At this stage, we are only able to have parents & friends of students in the grade who are hosting the assembly. Visitors to school buildings and assemblies will also need to provide evidence of vaccination and wear a face mask. Classrooms that are not presenting assembly will be able to watch the assembly online.
Assembly roster for term 1:
Week 9 1st April Grade 3/4
Week 10 8th April Foundation
NAPLAN: In May every year, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). This year we will administer the NAPLAN tests through the Online National Assessment Platform. The year three Writing test is the only test that will continue as a pen and paper assessment this year. More information regarding NAPLAN Online will be communicated via the newsletter in the coming weeks.
On Thursday students in Years 3 and 5 took part in a practice NAPLAN test online. This test is a combination of both literacy and numeracy and gives students the opportunity to practice in an online mode.
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.
Harmony Day is a day where we celebrate our cultural diversity, it is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.
Melbourne based dance company 'Footsteps' worked with each class throughout the day culminating in an evening concert celebration. Junior grades learnt the ‘Matariki’, which is a Maori inspired routine, learning for the day was focussed on New Zealand. The Middle classes focused on India and learnt the ‘Chammak Challo’, a Bollywood inspired dance. Senior students learnt a Billy Baker Indigenous inspired rap routine called ‘Marryuna’. They learnt about the Indigenous culture.
Middle Classroom News:
We’ve had a wonderful start to the year in Grade 3/4. All the students have been working hard with their learning and have been demonstrating a great positive mindset.
In Reading, we have been working on finding the main idea and supporting details in a text. Students have learnt how to read a short text and identify what it is mostly about.
In Writing, we have been learning how to write a narrative story using short animations as inspiration. Students practised retelling the story orally, before building their vocabulary and finally writing their own version of the story. It was fantastic to see the use of interesting language to help build a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.
In Writing, we have also started to learn about persuasive texts. Students have come up with a law that they would like to introduce into the community and are beginning to write persuasive texts to back up their thinking.
In Grade 4 Maths, we have been learning about multiplication and division strategies. Students have also been working hard with their fast recall of addition and multiplication facts.
In Grade 3 Maths, we have been learning about data and graphing. Students have collected data using a tally chart and then transferred the data into a colourful column graph.
We also celebrated Harmony Day last week. Students learnt about India and created their own Google Slide presentations to share their knowledge. They also learnt about Diwali, the festival of lights, and made some paper elephants and lanterns as well as creating their own Rangoli art designs.
Senior 5 and 6 Gallery
Cross Country:
On Wednesday, all our students travelled by bus to North Park to compete in our annual cross country carnival. In sunny, but blustery conditions, students ran a variety of distances ranging from 500 metres for our youngest students, to 3 km for our oldest students. Although many were exhausted and red faced after their race, they quickly recovered to watch and cheer for their peers as they too travelled the terrain through the North park precinct. A big congratulations must go out to all our students who competed to the best of their ability while also being wonderful sportspersons. A special thankyou to Mrs Gehan and Mrs. Stevens for their work in the scoring/timing tent, all the teachers for their help on the day, the ladies in the P&F for their work organising lunches and last but not least, all the parents, grandparents and friends who came and supported their children on the day.
Overall House Winner:
1st - Barrett 83 points
2nd - Mackillop 67 points
3rd - Joseph 60 points
Age Champions:
12 Year Old Girls 1st - Isabelle Thomas 2nd - Eedie Hanns 3rd - Grace Monaghan | 12 Year Old Boys 1st - Ryder Sullivan 2nd - Archer Crouch 3rd - Tom Ross |
11 Year Old Girls 1st - Matilda Egan 2nd - Laura Martin 3rd - Torah Pickering | 11 Year Old Boys 1st - Ethan Jones 2nd - Callum Reading 3rd - Eddie Redford/Jobe Allen |
10 Year Old Girls 1st - Greta Thomas 2nd - Maddison Prydderch 3rd - Serena Daniel | 10 Year Old Boys 1st - Jackson Notting 2nd - Archie Macpherson 3rd - Jack Sullivan |
9 Year Old Girls 1st - Diana Daniel 2nd - Charli Pickering 3rd - Mia Bailey | 9 Year Old Boys 1st - Luke Fulton 2nd - Awuom Kur 3rd - Ethan Parker |
8 Year Old Girls 1st - Tahlia Darker 2nd - Sophie O’Callaghan 3rd - Harper Bibby | 8 Year Old Boys 1st - Tanner Freeland 2nd - Fletcher Thomas 3rd - Jack Wadge |
7 Year Old Girls 1st - Alivia Rolph 2nd - Keesha O’Kwor 3rd - Akech Kur | 7 Year Old Boys 1st - Mac Bibby 2nd - Mason Whitfield 3rd - Jack Driscoll |
6 Year Old Girls 1st - Bonnie Wickham 2nd - Delilah Terwisscha Van Scheltinga 3rd - Georgia Aird | 6 Year Old Boys 1st - Max Lasslett 2nd - Isaac O'Callaghan 3rd - Alfie Freeland |
Cross country:
Living in Faith:
PLEASE CONSIDER ETHICAL PURCHASING OF EASTER CHOCOLATE In 2015, Pope Francis said that “every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.”
Cocoa is a key ingredient of chocolate. Much of the chocolate sold in Australia is made using cocoa beans picked by children, many of whom have been enslaved, or forced to work in exploitative conditions. Most of these children have never even tasted chocolate.
To buy slavery - free Easter chocolate look for any of these three certification symbols on the wrapper:
Thankyou to those parents who last year completed the Enhancing Catholic School Identity survey. Our school had the highest number of parents complete the survey in the whole diocese. A great achievement. Well done St Pats parents!
We Pray For Peace
Click on link for a song praying for peace written by Timothy Hart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAOTQAmkDXk
We think of our Islamic faith friends who begin their holy month of Ramadan on Monday 3rd April, 2022 to 2nd May, 2022. Ramadan begins with the first light of dawn commemorating the revelation of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad. Throughout this month Muslims fast during daylight hours, celebrate an evening meal with family and friends, pray fervently and show charity to the poor.
Fundraising:
Each Friday lunchtime during Term 1 our Social Justice group will be selling Zooper Doopers $1.00. The money raised will go towards St Vincent de Paul Sponsor a Student program and Project Compassion. Thankyou for your support.
Harmony Day: Thank you to all our school community! It is truly heartening to see the many ways which parents and carers support our school. It was wonderful to see so many families come out and support our Harmony Day Celebrations.
Parents and Friends News:
St Pat’s Parents and Friends – March 2022 Report
Thank you to all the wonderful parents and friends for your ongoing support. If your business would like to support some up-and-coming events, please contact Libby or Nicole. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.
Easter Raffle
This year we will be running an Easter Raffle. Any small donations would be greatly appreciated and can be dropped off at school up until Monday 4th April. Prizes will be drawn on the last day of the Term.
Next Meeting
If you would like to help with the parents and friend committee please contact Nicole Osborne, Libby O’Callaghan or you could attend our next meeting on:
Date:Next Monday 4th April Where: Brix Hotel,Barnes St Stawell Time: 6.30pm
Students of the week:
Khoor Kur - for his excellent participation in the cross country sports.
Charlie Matthews - for using his sounds to sound out words and put them back together.
Lexie Bailey - for being willing to take risks in your learning. I love how you always have a go at new things. What a great learner you are!
Lucas Papadopoulos - for the effort you put into writing and publishing your descriptive text on koalas. You should be very proud of your work!
Tahlia Darker - For working hard and concentrating during all tasks.
Willow Boylan - For great reading during guided reading and for cheering and encouraging all classmates at the cross country.
Zarli Nicholson - for displaying the virtues and values of our school. Your kind and helpful nature make you an asset to our classroom.
Archie MacPherson - for your willingness to keep trying and not give up. This perseverance has helped you to shine in Maths and Religion this week. Keep it up!
Riley Carlsen - For your work in writing this week on persuasive texts. You showed a passion for the topic which resulted in a well constructed introduction. Keep up the excellent work.
Emily Nutting - For your focused and hard work in writing this week. You have written a well structured introduction for your persuasive writing text. Keep up the wonderful work.
Thomas Ross - For your willingness to share your learning and ideas with the class and your positive outlook.
Maddison Prydderch - For the hard work you have been doing across all learning areas and for speaking up when needed
Isabelle Thomas - for your amazing running in our school cross country carnival. Congratulations Isabelle!
Matilda Egan - for the effort you put into your cross country running at our carnival on Wednesday.
Birthdays:
Congratulations to our students having their birthday this week :
William St Clair
Laura Martin
Aaliyah Carlsen
Aiden Guerrero
Ethan Prydderch
Around Our Community:
Please follow us on instagram @stpatsstawell
Parish Bulletin:
St Patrick’s Parish mass times for Holy Week are as follows:
Psalm Sunday 10:30am Stawell
2nd Rite Reconciliation Wed April 6, 5.30pm Stawell
Holy Thursday 7pm Mass Ararat
Good Friday 3pm Passion Stawell
Easter Sunday 8.30am Ararat // 10.30am Stawell
Upcoming Events:
Monday 4th April - Parents and Friends Meeting, Brix Hotel 6:30 pm
Monday 4th - Wednesday 6th April - Senior 5/6 F and 5/6 M Urban Camp to Melbourne
Friday 8th April - End Term 1 - Please note 2:15pm finish,
- Foundation Assembly 1:50pm
Tuesday 26th April - School closure Day - Whole Staff First Aid Training
Wednesday 27th April - Start term 2 for students
Friday 6th - Black Ranges Cross country
Sunday 8th May - Mothers Day
Monday 9th May - School Athletics Day
Monday 23rd May - Catholic Education Week
Wednesday 25th - Senior 5/6 Winter Sports Day
Friday 3rd June - School Photos (TBC)
Acknowledgement of Country:
We acknowledge the Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land. 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.