Newsletter 103 - August 3rd 2023
Prayer of the Week:
Ever-generous God,
You inspired St Mary MacKillop to live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be constant in bringing hope and encouragement to those who were disheartened, lonely, or needy. We ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit so that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust, and openness. Ever-generous God, hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen
Acting Principals Report:
Dear St Patrick’s community
What a busy week it has been. A big thankyou to our team at St Patrick’s for an early start and a long day of learning on Friday in Ballarat. Thanks to St Francis Xavier for their hospitality. I was so proud of our staff's commitment to develop their understanding of new approaches to teaching literacy. New learning often poses more questions than answers and this is where we are at, at the moment. Developing our understanding of how we can implement more evidence based literacy practices across the school is ever evolving. I’m very grateful we have a staff that embraces new learning and always tries to improve their craft which ultimately has a higher impact on our students.
Fiona Harney, Melissa Bonney and I were in Horsham on Wednesday being trained in a new set of procedures and measures for assessing literacy skills - DIBLES. We are keen to put some of our new learning into practice. This is another step in ensuring we are adapting to a Science of Reading model across the whole school.
Next week on Tuesday is the Feast day of Mary Mackillop and we will be celebrating this day with a whole school liturgy which you are all welcome to come along to. More details follow on the newsletter.
We wish Kerrie Ryan (Junior R) a lovely break as she has started two weeks of well deserved long service. Thank you to Celine Bush who is covering Kerrie whilst she is away.
With faith in our future
Maryanne Comitti
Insight SRC survey: can I please ask that if you can find 15 mins to have a cuppa and fill in the survey taht came home earlier in the week with a link and individual code, we would be most grateful, it is one of the tools we use to shape the future of the school for the next 5 years. Your input is crucial and we are grateful for the feedback. Staff and students also take the survey so we can see what you want and need from the school and where we can improve. Thank you.
Wellbeing:
Concussion – Important information
If your child has experienced concussion, it is important that you follow recommended medical advice. Returning to school can be a graduated approach with the aim of increasing tolerance to a full day, the same situation could occur with sport. It is always important to check with your doctor and seek medical treatment after a child sustains a concussion.
It is important to inform the school if your child has sustained a concussion outside of the school setting so we can monitor for ongoing symptoms and adapt activities if required. Less than 5% of head knocks result in unconciousness and symptoms of a concussion may not be evident for hours.
This factsheet link below from the Royal Children’s Hospital is valuable to read and understand.
https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Head_injury_return_to_school_and_sport/
There is also a great evidence-based app from the Murdoch children’s research institute that walks you through what to do in the result of a concussion.
Teaching and Learning:
School Assemblies: Our assemblies are led by a different class each week and will happen on Friday afternoons starting at 2:50pm in the school hall. Students are dismissed from the hall at 3:15pm. We invite all our community to come along.
Week 4: Junior F
Week 5: Foundation
Week 6: Senior M
Week 7: Book Week
Week 8: Junior R
Week 9: Middle C
Week 10: Whole School Assembly 1:50pm
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 which may result in classroom teachers being out of the classroom.
Junior F:
Writing: For the last couple of weeks we have been learning about procedure writing. We had to make a fruit salad recipe. A procedure text is something that has steps for you to follow. We also made a fruit salad recipe book.
- Daniella and Edwina
InitiaLit: For reading we have been learning about finding the main idea and inferring. When you infer you have to be like a detective and find the clues in the text and use what you already know. Finding the main idea you have to look at the title and pictures, read the first and last sentence and look for repeated words. In InitiaLit we have been learning about silent w, b and k in words like writing, knee and lamb. We also learnt about the letter ‘c’ making a /S/ sound and the letter ‘g’ making a /j/ sound. We learnt a song to help us remember.
- Isaac and Arli
Maths: We have been learning about addition and subtraction on number lines. We have have been learning about finding the difference between two numbers, we can do this through subtraction and addition. The number lines have been challenging because they don’t have every number marked.
- Mason and Lucas
Art: In art we have been learning how to sew, we got a wooden board and you had to go up down and up down with a stitch. After that you got a silk piece of paper and you had to sew it. We also had to sew a fabric pizza. It was challenging because I accidentally didn’t leave enough string to tie 5 little knots. I think learning to sew will be a great skill because if a hole appears in something we now know how to sew it.
Sport: In sport we have been learning about different types of catches. There is chest marking, overhead, and catching low. We have also been learning how to throw, we have done a shoulder pass on the side to get more power, an underarm throw, an overhead throw and a chest pass.
- Marianne and Edie
Inquiry: We have been learning about media arts. We learnt that photos are a type of media art and we took some funny photos with different effects. We have also been learning our dance for the school concert. We are really excited about the school concert in Grade two. We will keep practicing so we can blow you all away at the concert.
- Jack and Mac
Science: In science, we have been learning about light sources, we learnt about light form nature and light that humans make. Some light sources made by nature are sun, fire, anglerfish, glowworm, lightening, and the moon. Some light sources made by people are phone light, t.v light, torches, lamp and street lights.
- Oscar and Emila
Religion: In Religion we have been learning about the time of Jesus, we also learnt that Jesus called his first disciples. They left everything they knew to follow Jesus, they also left their families. We are learning about call. We learnt different ways of call. We also learnt that Jesus lived in Jerusalem and we also learnt about the Sea of Galilee.
- Johanna and Aliva
Chinese: We have been learning how to say people’s names and different colours.
We also had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Duxsons new pup Charlie. A few pics from week 4:
Structured Literacy - last Friday 28th July, 2023
At the start of the year St Patrick’s commenced our journey as part of the SunLit Project which is a Diocese led Structured Literacy Professional Development Project. On Friday we traveled down to St Francis Xavier in Ballarat for Professional development and discussions around how at St Patrick’s can we continue the great work we are doing in literacy.
As a staff we are well and truly in the Learning Pit. The Learning Pit was created by James Nottingham and it is a model used widely to help students articulate their learning progress. Some teachers refer to the learning pit with their students. When students are learning a new concept it is challenging, confusing, or may conflict existing knowledge. Eventually through thinking deeper, practicing, answering questions, students reach clarity and master concepts and climb out of the pit. This is well and truly where we are at the moment. We are up for the challenge and know we are heading in the right direction. At St Patrick’s we are committed to implementing research evidence based pedagogy.
If you’d like more information on the Learning Pit click here: https://www.learningpit.org/
Maryanne Comitti Teaching and Learning Leader
Book week this year runs from August 19th 2023, to August 25th, 2023. During this time all classes spend time each day celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. The theme is read.grow, inspire.
The highlight of book week is on Friday 25th August where students are invited to dress as their favourite book character with a whole school parade at 9am where our community/grandparents day are able to attend.
Great Book Swap - happening at St Patrick’s Primary School 21st & 22nd August, 2023. Literacy is a major issue facing remote Indigenous communities.
This term Social Justice will begin working on The Great Book Swap in support for Indigenous Literacy. The idea is that our school would donate any quality unwanted children’s books, and Social justice will then conduct a Book swap where students are able to purchase any of these donated books for a gold coin donation. All money raised will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. *Please send any donated books (in great condition) into school, thanks to those who have already donated.
Don't forget to get that costume ready about your favourite book/character and bring your grandparents/special people along for the whole school parade!
Friday the 25th August in the hall
Students of the week:
Madilyn Carlsen - For the sensational work you’re putting into all areas of learning. I’m very proud of you Madilyn!
Imogen Nelson - For the hard work and dedication you’ve put into improving your writing skills. Keep up the great work Immy!
Khoor Kur - For always trying your best and being such a happy, kind and friendly student. Congratulations!
Charlie Matthews - For being such a polite, reliable and wonderful student. Well done and thank you!
Jack Driscoll - For the curiosity you have been showing and asking questions to help your learning. Super job Jack!
Lexie Bailey - For always being such a collaborative member of our classroom. Your kindness is greatly appreciated by us all in Grade 2.
Akech Kur - For being a collaborative and self- motivated learner during Performing Arts. Keep it up!
Eleanor Erwin - For the humorous and creative passage you wrote in response to your Cars and Stars comprehension text
Charles Carter - For being a self-motivated learner while you have been completing your explanation text. Great work Charles!
Charli Pickering - For being a self-motivated learner while learning your time tables in maths. Keep up the great work!
Edward Redford - For writing a narrative with complex sentences and impressive vocabulary. Well done Ed!
Maya Sanderson - For being such a super learner in every learning task! Keep working hard Maya!
Logan Piatkov - For the way you were able to use a wide variety of sentence types and detail in your paragraphs. Well done Logan!
Mackenzie Farrell - For working collaboratively with a number of your peers to construct detailed paragraphs with a variety of sentence types. Well done Mackenzie!
Living in faith:
Mary MacKillop Feast Day:
Tuesday August 8th is Mary MacKillop's Feast day. We will celebrate this with a whole school liturgy at 8:45am in the school hall. Please feel free to come along.
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.
- Each week we have our Mary Mackillop award. Mary lived a life dedicated to her faith and serving the needs of others. Wherever and however she could, Mary 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.
Eucharist & Confirmation Sacraments:
We have a number of children celebrating their Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation over the coming months. Please keep them in your prayers.
Annual Fathers day/special persons Celebrations: Our annual Fathers day/special persons celebrations will take place on Friday 1st September, 2023. While Fathers Day is a celebration of fatherhood, it's a time for us to honour, celebrate and to be thankful for all of the men, father figures and male role models in our lives. We recognise the very important role you have in the lives of children.
*We will have an evening bbq and games where we invite all fathers and special male figures in our children's lives to come and celebrate as a community. More details to follow.
Mary Mckillop 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".
This weeks award recipient is Lexie. For her kindness and compassion in helping a fellow student who was having a tough day.
Parents and Friends News:
Fathers day/special persons stall:
Thankyou once again to P&F who will be running a Fathers Day/special persons stall on - Thursday 31st August, 2023. If you are able to help P&F either preparing gifts or setting up and manning stalls please contact Vaughan, Kate R, Libby, Marietta, Erin, Melissa or Kate F.
Gifts will be available to purchase ranging from $1:00 to $ 10:00. The children take such pride and excitement in carefully selecting their gifts for their Father and special person in their life.
Birthdays:
Congratulations to these students who are celebrating their birthday this week: Beau, Georgia C and Oliver S.
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 follow us on instagram; stpatsstawell
Around Our Community:
Re: Flyer above - Don’t forget our upcoming FREE artist workshop at Horsham Regional Art Gallery, August 15 & 16. We are offering Horsham and regional schools the opportunity for groups of students to work with international artist, Gustavo Morales on engaging art and design posters. Ideally suited to upper primary (Yr 5+) secondary students, Art and Vis Comm, school leadership groups etc. Immerse your students in the world of creative design with a purpose, giving voice to young people and social issues including: environment, mental health, diversity and social connectedness.
Find out more about Gustavo Morales graphic design studio Kattattack : www.behance.net/kattattak These 90 minute workshops are on: Tuesday August 15 and Wednesday August 16th 2023.Book online here:https://www.horshamtownhall.com.au/hthevent/social-change-poster-workshops-gustavomorales/
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.