Newsletter 77- November 18th 2022

Feast of Christ the King 

This Sunday marks the Feast of Christ the King; it is the last Sunday of Ordinary time, and the last Sunday of the Catholic Church’s year. It leads into Advent, which is the period leading up to Christmas and an important time to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus

Dear God

Thank you for being the kind of King who doesn't want gold and power and treasure, but a King who wants our hearts and love. Thank you for being a King who wants to give everything that is good to his people, and to us, his little children. Thank you for having Christ the King go to the cross for each one of us, to wash away our sins. And thank you for the home he is preparing for us in heaven. 

Amen

2023 School Fees
Please see attached information regarding 2023 School Fees.
For families on direct debit or standing EFT arrangements and those with students starting or finishing at St Patrick's next year, please consider whether your current payment arrangements will need to be amended.  
Please do not hesitate to contact me in the office should you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Anna WadgeBusiness Manager

Emerging minds: 

Emerging Minds 

Podcast Link: 

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)

Assembly:

It is fantastic to once again have our Friday school assemblies happening. Assembly starts at 2:50pm every Friday afternoon in the hall. All family and community members are welcome. 

Assembly roster for term 4:

Week 7 - Junior R

Week 8 - Senior M

Week 9 - Middle B

Week 10 - Middle H

Week 11 - Buddy & Foundation

Professional Development:

At St Patrick’s Primary School we are committed to the 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 8

14/11/22    Miss Kerrie Ryan            Offsite 

14/11/22    Mrs Judy Giles                 Offsite 

18/11/22    Ms M Comitti       8-10am    The Writing Revolutionary 

I presented Mahli with another prize for the Water Week Poster comp, this time it was for the prize for winning at the state level. She received a book voucher worth $100.

Reports 

Teachers are busy assessing and preparing student reports.  Reports provide us with the progress students have made to date and give us information on how to best support them going forward.  Reports will be sent home on Friday 9th December, 2022. They will provide parents/carers with valuable information on their child’s progress throughout the year. If you would like to speak to your child’s classroom teacher about your child’s report please contact your teacher for a meeting in Week 11 (12-16th December, 2023).  We at St Patrick’s are committed to working in partnership with our parents/carers as we know when we work together we achieve the best outcomes for our children. 

End of year celebration - Save the date

Wednesday 14th December, 2022.  

Our next community celebration where we can come together will be to celebrate our end of year and Grade 6 Graduation.  It will be an evening to celebrate learning, strive for personal excellence and celebrate our achievements. It will also be a chance to say goodbye to our grade 6 students and families that will be leaving at the end of 2022.  

Students will begin working on a classroom Christmas presentation that they will perform on the night.  We hope you can join us in celebrating a terrific year of learning and teaching and growing together as a community of learners. More details to come. 

It is hard to believe that the year is drawing to a quick close.  Grade 1 are deep in completing assessment activities and I could not be more proud of what every child has achieved throughout the year.

For Reading, Grade 1 have finished the majority of our InitiaLit program.  We have been spending time revising skills learned throughout the year, particularly reading with fluency.  For the remainder of the year we will be focussing on spelling tricky words and working hard on transferring this into our writing.  We also have some Storybook activities to finish.  We have been reading Little Dog and the Summer Holiday and next week we will read Isabella’s Bed by Alison Lester.

Last week we completed our cold write.  This is a writing sample we do each term to look at the progress we have made in our writing.  This week we are completing a 30 day Writing Challenging and also writing some 'What am I’s' that some of us will be sharing at assembly this Friday.

Some of our Maths activities have been a little challenging but all students showed persistence and should be proud of their work.  We have been learning about equality, solving word problems, one-half and one-quarter, reading and writing o’clock and half-past time on analogue and digital clocks and using number lines to solve addition problems.

Science has been one of our favourite subjects.  This week we learned the different sources of water and what might happen if we experience drought and flood, very relevant at this time.  We then conducted an experience where we had some salt water and turned it into fresh water.  We will also be sharing this at assembly Friday.

In Religion we have moved on from Mission and are now learning about different celebrations. We have looked at celebrations we have been a part of such as birthdays and Christmas and will now look at celebrations in our Church such as liturgies and Masses.

Over the next few weeks Grade 1 has a lot happening.  We have swimming and Mrs Harney, Miss Comitti and myself are busy planning an excursion.  We will let you know all about it when it is finialised. Information and permission forms will be sent home when it is all sorted.

Looking forward to seeing you at assembly Friday if you can make it.

Kerrie Ryan

Fundraising: Every Friday our Social Justice group will be selling Zooper Doopers for $1.00 each at lunch time.

October is World Mission Month, a month dedicated to the life-giving work of missionaries around the world.  This year Catholic Mission is raising money for local communities in Ethiopia to help provide life-changing opportunities to those most in need.  

If you would like more information or wish to make a donation please visit:

https://www.catholicmission.org.au/worldmissionmonth

Below is an extract from Catholic Mission and their current work in Ethiopia. 

We are currently supporting a range of mission development programs in Ethiopia addressing malnutrition, the lack of access to education for young children, and the vulnerable position of women in society.

In the rural region of Emdibir, where 70 percent of families struggle to put food on their tables, we are working towards providing them with a sustainable source of nutrition by building a goat rearing centre. The resources produced through the Centre will help fight malnutrition, a phenomenon that contributes to 50 percent of child deaths. 

In the capital, Addis Ababa, the life-giving work carried out by our local partners is helping children access education.

We are also supporting women in the town of Meki to learn skills and gain financial independence by providing access to vocational training, which can help them secure employment or start their own businesses. 

As always we thank our St Patrick’s community for your support. 

Maryanne Comitti    Religious Education Leader 

Georgia Aird - For being a brave learner, especially this week when using your letter sound knowledge to write new words. Keep up the awesome effort Georgia!

Bonnie Wickham - For being a kind and inclusive classmate, who always has a smile on her face. You brighten our day and bring joy to our classroom, Bonnie! Thank you!

Mac Bibby - For the wonderful reading you have been doing, I am so impressed with your fluency. You are a superstar!

Curtis Calantog  - For all the hard work you have done since returning from your holiday in the Philippines’.  You are such a hard and responsible learner.  Keep up the hard work!

Tanner Freeland - For achieving excellent results during Mathematical assessments. Well done Tanner!

Boston Mc Gaffin - For writing an excellent imaginative text about ' the middle of the night'. Great usage of talking marks and imagination! Well done Boston!

Jack Duxson - For having a go and showing courage while attempting the Giant's Ladder on camp. Well done!

Zarli Nicholson - For overcoming your fears and demonstrating resilience and bravery while tackling the Giant's Ladder. I'm very proud of you.

Liam Cameron - For your positive attitude and excellent behaviour choices during school camp. Keep it up Liam!

Noah Dunn - For your bravery and enthusiasm completing activities during school camp. Awesome work Noah!

Lillian Smart - For your growth in confidence with your learning and for seeking assistance when needed. Keep up the hard work.

Liam Nicholson -  For always displaying the attributes of a respectful learner. I am very proud of the hard work you have been doing.

Kaleb Carlsen - For always ensuring that your peers feel included and valued in the classroom. You are such a role-model for those around you.

Grace Oram - For experimenting with different writing styles and using more complex language in your recent cold-write. It was amazing to listen to you reading what you wrote.

Dear school community

Once again Stawell Inter Church Council welfare Cottage will be providing an extra Christmas distribution to those in need in our community.  Last year we helped 94 households made up of 296 people – 142 were adults, 36 were kids aged 14 – 19 and 118 were children aged 13 years and younger.  

Do you or someone that you know need help this Christmas?  To register for a Christmas grocery shopping voucher please come to “The Cottage” at 20 Sloane St. Stawell during November.  We are open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10:30am and 12:30pm.  Distribution will be on Tuesday 13^th December.

 My thanks,  Mary Rita Thomas

Sec. and Public Officer, Stawell Inter Church Council.

Congratulations to these students who are having their birthday this week:

William (Bill) Lasslett

Alfie Freeland

Grace Abraham

Monica Abraham

This time it will be held on a Sunday

27 November   North Park     Families welcome

Better weather!!! fingers crossed

A big thanks to Shev at Stawell and Ararat Cross Country for guiding the new group of GYE’ers with planning for this event.

We look forward to seeing many of you there.