Newsletter 2024/36 ~ 29 November 2024

As partners in Catholic Education and open to God’s presence, we pursue the fullness of life for all.

St. Patrick’s School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all students.

St. Patrick's School is a child safe school.

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Victoria and pay respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples. 

This newsletter comes to you from the lands of the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk Nations.

From the Principal

This Sunday marks the commencement of Advent.

Advent is a time for us to prepare for Christmas.  Despite the fact that we tend to be rushing more to try and get things done before the end of the school year, or before Christmas arrives, or before the holiday season commences, Advent is a season of waiting - a time for us to slow down and reflect. It is a time for us to think about the coming of Christ.

Advent is a season with its own special colours, sounds, words and joys.  Unlike Lent which is a season of penance, Advent is a season of joy.  The church is dressed in purple and so will be our classroom prayer tables.

CURRENT & RECENT EVENTS

Portable Classroom Update

This week saw the impact safety film applied to the windows of the portable building and the installation of the internal blinds.  This room is almost ready for us to start using on a regular basis.

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School Captain Interviews

Yesterday we held the interviews of our nominees for 2025 School Captains.   Congratulations to the six students who submitted applications for the roles.  Thank you to the SAC members and Ms Farnham who were on the interview panel.  The feedback to me was that the students each presented themselves and their ideas very well indeed.  I will announce the 2025 Captains at our Graduation Ceremony on 18 December.

Opening Doors Foundation

The Opening the Doors Foundation provides grants to families to assist with the extra costs incurred in the schooling of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary or secondary school students. The 2025 Grant Round is now open, with a closing date of 14 March 2025. For students to commence the 2025 school year with the necessary items, the ideal time to apply is now or before the start of Term 1.

The criteria and guidelines are outlined on both the Opening the Doors Foundation website and the Opening the Doors Foundation Application. 

Please contact the Foundation (details listed below), Helen Christensen (0467 415 768) or Jeanette Morris (0408 360 098) for further information.

Pertinent information:

Website links: Opening the Doors Foundation;  Foundation Application Criteria and Guidelines

Application Form link: Opening the Doors Foundation Application

Phone: 0401 487 414 or 1300 236 356

Email: applications@openingthedoors.org.au

Closing date: 14 March 2025 (applications will not be accepted after this date)

UPCOMING EVENTS

SAC Annual Meeting

A reminder of our SAC Annual Meeting on Monday, 2nd December at 6.30pm.

Nominations for vacant positions closed last week and we have received enough nominations to fill the vacancies.

All parents/guardians/carers are encouraged to attend. We expect that the meeting should not be longer than an hour.

Junior Excursion

Mrs Kupper has been busy planning the Junior Excursion. This will be on Monday, 9 December. Further details will be advised once organisation is finalised.

Transition Program

Year 6 to Year 7

• The four Year 6 students who are enrolled at St Brigid’s College for 2025 will have a transition day next Tuesday, 3 December.  The bus will depart from the front of St Patrick’s School at 7.30am. 
• Year 6 students who have enrolled at Nhill College for next year, will have a transition week at the College from Monday 9 - Friday 13 December.

Kindergarten to Foundation

• Kinder students will have one more visit to school on Friday, 13 December.

All year levels

• All students will be involved in transition activities on Friday, 13 December, where they will spend the day in their next-year’s classes.
• The Year 6 students who are attending St Brigid’s College in 2025 will still attend St Patrick’s on that day.

Nhill Carols

The Nhill Town Committee Carols will be held at Jaypex Park on Saturday 14 December.  Students are currently learning three songs for the evening.  It is hoped that as many students as possible are able to attend on the night.

School staff may be present at this event but as this is not an official school activity all children are the responsibility of their parents/carers.

Sunday’s Gospel

John 18:33-37

In Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus stands before Pilate, who questions Him about being the King of the Jews. Jesus explains that His kingdom is not of this world; if it were, His followers would fight to prevent His arrest. Instead, His mission is to testify to the truth, and those who listen to the truth recognise His voice. Pilate, grappling with this enigmatic answer, does not understand the full meaning of Jesus' words.

This passage reminds us of Jesus’ humility and divine purpose. His kingdom is spiritual, based on love and truth, not earthly power. For us, it’s a call to live as citizens of His kingdom, prioritising faith, truth, and service over worldly ambition. 

The Gospel challenges us to consider what truth means in our lives and whether we listen to Jesus' voice in a world full of competing messages. 

How will we live out this truth daily?

Our Josephite Heritage

The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the "Josephites" or "Brown Joeys", were founded in Penola, South Australia, in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and the Rev. Julian Tenison Woods. In 1949, three Josephite sisters arrived in Nhill to open St Patrick’s School. In 1978, the Sisters of St Joseph informed the Nhill Parish that they would no longer be able to maintain their role within the school.

We endeavour to honour our Josephite heritage through the regular presentation of the Little Joey awards at our assemblies. In support of this we also include a reflection from Mary MacKillop on our newsletter each week.

By the Numbers

117 - The 117-Storey Treehouse is a children’s novel by Andy Griffiths.

Classroom and Student News

Senior Class News

Wow! Time flies and the end of term will be here before we know it! Two and a half weeks left and the countdown to Christmas has begun.

This week, the Seniors have been hard at work. In Literacy, we have continued our work on the characteristics of writing and exploring different techniques. We have continued to work on crafting high quality sentences - using editing and proofreading techniques to refine writing. We have been practicing fine-tuning our writing at sentence level as well as working on different ways to incorporate vocabulary. The students have continued to look at the four different types of sentences: declarative - the basic sentence; interrogative - the question sentence; imperative - the command sentence; and exclamatory - the emotional sentence; and looked at which sentence is appropriate for the writing requirements.

In Maths, the students have been looking at data and all the many ways it can be represented, collected and examined. We have looked at the ideas and skills required for chance and probability and explored all the ways we can visually represent our data sets. We have looked at various types of graphs, including bar; column; pie and line and have completed some activities that require plot points on Cartesian graphs. We are also looking at 3D shapes and area, length and width that will also be part of next week’s content.

In Sport and Art, the Seniors are continuing to work on their skipping skills in time for the planned Skipping Showcase towards the end of the year and they have also been working really hard on learning different types of stitches in preparations for the creation of their own soft toy that will be made in the next two weeks.

Additionally, in Integrated Studies, the Senior class is also continuing to explore ideas and concepts around the Australian Political System and finalising the research activity they did around the Purple Poppy and commemorating the animals that died in war.

As we head into the end of the year, the Seniors are also preparing for 2025. The Year 6 students will have their Headstart Week at Nhill College from 9th to 13th December and the Year 6 students heading to St Brigid’s have their Headstart Day next Tuesday, 3rd December. The Year 5 students have had their School Captain interviews this week and we wait excitedly for an announcement as to who will lead us in 2025!

Best wishes for all families in the next couple of weeks and hang in there!

Regards,

Ms Farnham

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support SWPBS

Throughout the day, staff monitor for students demonstrating aspects of Respect, Responsibility
and Safety within our school. Students are issued a ticket to place in their classroom container. During assemblies, a draw takes place and those who have their ticket drawn out are invited to place a marble in their House container. The House with the most marbles at the end of each term will be rewarded.

Congratulations to all children who were recognised for their positive actions around the school. Students who were randomly drawn from the nominations for Respect, Responsibility and Safety, and have added tokens to their respective Houses' tallies, were Olive, Jody and Douglas.

Little Joey Awards

We continue to acknowledge the significant role of the "Brown Joeys" in the establishment of St Patrick's School, and recognised Daniel P with a Little Joey award.

Our Little Joeys receive a certificate, sticker and a voucher/goods donated by a local business.  We are very grateful for the contributions from our local businesses. 

Reading Achievements

The following students were recognised for their reading achievements:

50 nights - Noah

100 nights -Sophie, Amity

125 nights - Oscar

150 nights - Jesinta, Julian, Daniel P, Matthew, Tessa

200 nights - George

300 nights - Declan

School Advisory Council

Parent Representatives

• Rebecca Curtis 
• Emily Gladdis
• Moo Khu James
• Michaela Koop
• Zanther McEldrew
• Ashleigh Meyer

Ex Officio

• Mons. Glynn Murphy - Parish Priest
• Kingsley Dalgleish - Principal

Dates

• Annual Meeting - Monday, 2 December 2024, 6:30pm

Dates and Reminders

School Calendar

December

Mon 2 - SAC Annual Meeting 6:30pm

Tue 3 - St Brigid's College Year 7 2025 Orientation Day

Mon 9 - Junior Excursion

M-F 9-13 - Nhill College Year 7 2025 Headstart program

Fri 13 - St Pat's Headstart day - Kinder children visiting

Sat 14 - Nhill Carols in the Park

Wed 18 - Last day for students (dismissal time 3:15pm)

Wed 18 - Graduation Mass 2pm

Wed 18 - Graduation & End of Year Presentation Night 6pm

St Patrick's Nhill

Church Times

11:00am Mass each Sunday

Our Mission

Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards began in Victoria in 2016.  The 11 Child Safe Standards are designed to help keep children safe from abuse and harm.  Organisations working with children must comply with these Standards.

The Commission for Children and Young People have produced a plain language guide for the Standards which will be shared through our newsletter.

SchoolTV

School Transitions

“This is a particularly stressful period for both parents and children and it tends to get trivialised. Parents can often transfer their stress onto their child making transitioning unnecessarily more stressful.”    Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Overview of this edition

Whether it is starting school for the first time, moving up to a higher grade or embarking on a journey through secondary school, there is no doubt that any school transition is a very exciting time for children and parents. It means that the children are growing up!

However, for many it may also be a very anxious and stressful time for both parents and children. Parents need to be aware of their child’s feelings during any school transition and minimise anxiety so the process is an enjoyable experience for all. It is important for children to attend transition or orientation programs offered by schools. Familiarisation is often key to reducing stress levels. It is also important for parents to talk to their children about their expectations and being more responsible for their own needs.

Click on the link below for interviews with leading specialists, articles and fact sheets.

eSafety

Social media age restrictions

eSafety welcomes the introduction of the Australian Government’s Social Media Minimum Age Bill setting a minimum age of 16 for access to certain age-restricted social media platforms. eSafety looks forward to working closely with government, industry and the Australian community to ensure the implementation of legislation is effective, enforceable and fair.  

Even with minimum age restrictions in place, it is crucial that we continue supporting parents to play an active role in their children’s online lives. Nothing can replace those vital conversations that help parents stay informed, set boundaries and help when something goes wrong. By modelling good digital practices, parents can lay the foundations for safer and more positive online experiences. 

Cyberbullying support for parents

“Thank you very much for your swift response and for getting the video removed.”

This was the feedback we received from a parent whose child had experienced bullying and humiliation due to a TikTok video. eSafety worked with the family and the social media platform to have the video removed.  

Our research shows that more than half of children have been treated in a hurtful or nasty way online. Importantly, more than two-thirds told us they sought help from their parents when it happened. 

Watch this video to learn more about how eSafety can help if your child is experiencing cyberbullying, including advice in languages other than English.

Free webinars for parents and carers

eSafety’s live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences. 

Our Term 4 webinar dates are now online.  

eSafety 101: How eSafety can help 

• Wednesday, 4 December, 12.30pm AEDT 

Reminders

School Preparations for the Bushfire Season

Each year, the Department of Education runs an annual fire risk assessment of schools and early childhood services. They are allocated a category of risk (categories 0 to 4) and are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).

All schools and early childhood services listed on the BARR list will also close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district.  

When the Bureau of Meteorology provides public fire danger rating forecasts or fire weather warnings, they use fire weather district areas. In Victoria, there are 9 fire weather districts, which are based on Local Government Area boundaries. Our school is in the Wimmera fire weather district.

As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and have conducted other relevant preparedness actions, such as reprioritised any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire and cleared our facility’s grounds and gutters.

What does this mean for our school?

Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is listed on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).

DOBCEL, in accordance with the department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy, requires our schools on the BARR list to close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.

Our school will close on any day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in Wimmera fire district.

Closure of the school due to a forecast Catastrophic day will be confirmed on the day prior and we will provide you with advice before the end of the school day when possible. Any information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by PAM.

Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, even if the weather forecast changes.  This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child/ren.  It is also important to be aware that:

• No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
• All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
• School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

In addition, families are encouraged to action their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days.  On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.

For those of us living in a bushfire prone area, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) advises that when Catastrophic days are forecast, the safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day.

What can families and the school community do to help us prepare?

• Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers. 
• Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, checking PAM, and by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency management plan.
• Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements in the event that our school is learning from home due to elevated fire danger or closed due to a Catastrophic fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
• Action your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. Our school community may be spread out across many areas and some families may be at higher risk than others. Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are actioning your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
• If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan. There is a link below with some activities to assist with this discussion.

You can find more information on emergencies, warnings and preparedness actions here:

• VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
• VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
• Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vicemergency)
• Twitter (https://twitter.com/vicemergency)

ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters

Parent Access Module PAM / SIMON Everywhere app

The Parent Access Module PAM (SIMON Everywhere app) is our "go-to" for all parent information. Download the SIMON Everywhere app from the app store on your mobile phone and login using your PAM credentials.

Simon Everywhere delivers instant notifications to parents' mobile phones, delivering the functionality of PAM in an easy to navigate app. We will use Simon Everywhere for all important notifications.  

You will be able to manage all your day-to-day school needs from Simon Everywhere, including:

• notify us of absences;
• view the school calendar;
• provide permission for student activities;
• update medical/contact information;
• view the lunch orders menu; 
• read the newsletter.

Please contact the office with any questions.

Student late arrival, early departure, temporary absence procedures

All student late arrivals, early departures or temporary absences must be recorded in the Passtab iPad located in the foyer.  Please ask office staff for assistance.

Lunch Orders

Lunch orders should be written onto an envelope with correct money sealed inside.  Please don’t use plastic bags or waxed bags.  The writing wipes off these and the staff at the bakery find it hard to read.

You can find the lunch orders menu in SIMON Everywhere: - >Home, scroll down to >School Links

Bus notes

Parents of bus travelling students please note that Nhill College has requested that any changes to travel arrangements (e.g. if you are picking up your child after school) be notified before 3.00pm on that day.  

You can do this by -

• use the Bus Change Notification Form on their website (link below) - this is a quick and easy process on your mobile phone (hint: add this as a quick link on your phone's home screen)
  • we have put this link onto PAM (Simon Everywhere) >Home, scroll down to >Parent Links
• calling our school office 53911575
• sending an email to principal@spnhill.catholic.edu.au or krintoule@spnhill.catholic.edu.au

Remember to follow us on Facebook

Those who are on Facebook are encouraged to follow our page at St Patrick's School, Nhill.  'Like' our page, enjoy our posts, and share them with your friends.  Stay connected through our Social Media page.

What you need to know about COVID-19 in Victoria

Please visit the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Victoria website (link below) for all up-to-date information about the response to COVID-19.

• All staff, students and visitors to schools should undertake regular hand hygiene, particularly on arrival to school, before and after eating, after blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing or using the toilet.
• Hand sanitiser will continue to be available for staff, students and visitors.
• The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 is to ensure that any unwell staff, parents/carers and students do not attend school sites, even with the mildest of symptoms, and get tested.

*Six simple steps to protect yourself and those most at risk

1. Wear a face mask
2. Take a test
3. Stay at home
4. Meet outdoors
5. Talk to your GP about COVID medications
6. Get vaccinated

*coronavirus.vic.gov.au