Newsletter 2025/06 ~ 14 March 2025

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

St Patrick's Prayer

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Amen.

RECENT & CURRENT EVENTS

St Patrick’s Day Family Fun Night

TONIGHT!!

In Our Thoughts

Mrs Rintoule and her family remain in our thoughts and prayers.  Following the passing of Mrs Rintoule’s mother last week, her father also passed away on Monday of this week.  This is obviously a very distressing time for the family and we continue to pray that God will wrap His arms around the family at this very sad time.

NAPLAN

Our Year 3 and 5 students have been busy with NAPLAN testing this week.  Results will be shared with parents when they have been received by the school.

Project Compassion

Toefuata'iga - (Toy-foo-ah-tah-ing-ah) is a 13-year-old primary school student from Samoa. Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.

Toefuata’iga’s school community struggled without reliable access to clean water, which impacted students’ education and hygiene. Teachers often had to leave the school to fetch water from nearby homes, disrupting lessons and adding strain to the community. When the water ran out at the school, students were sent home which meant they missed out on valuable learning time.

Thanks to the support of Caritas Australia in partnership with Caritas Samoa, Toefuata’iga’s school now has a 10,000 L water tank through a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program. Teachers and students are now able to focus on education and improved hygiene.

“Now that we have the water tank, things are so much better, we can stay at school all day, and I get to spend more time learning and playing with my friends. I’m happy that we don’t have to go home early anymore.” – said Toefuata'iga.

This transformative story is just one example of how Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion creates waves of change around the world.

Watch Toefuata'iga’s story here.

Will you stand with students like Toefuata'iga this Lent? 

You can support Project Compassion 2025 through the donation boxes that were sent home.

Or online at: caritas.org.au/project-compassion
Or by calling: 1800 024 413

Thank you for standing with us, as we Unite Against Poverty this Lent. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

ST PATRICK'S DAY

St Patrick’s Day is on Monday and we will have a Green Dress Up Day for the occasion. 

Fr Sajan will also lead us in a St Patrick’s Day Mass from 12pm.  Families are welcome to attend the Mass in the church.

Science and Engineering Challenge

On Wednesday our Year 5 and 6 students will combine with Year 6 students from Kaniva College and Our Lady Help of Christians School, Murtoa, to compete in the Science and Engineering Challenge.  The challenge will take place in the Alan Heard Pavilion at Longerenong.

We trust that the students will have a great day and enjoy the challenges as much as our Year 6 students did last year. Hopefully we may even bring the shield back with us again!  Thank you to Mrs Bell for coordinating our entry for this event.

"Tough Talks" Parent Information Session

Have you booked your spot yet?  This is a wonderful opportunity for parents/carers of our Years 5 and 6 students.

• Where: Nhill College (Administration Building) 
• When: Tuesday, 25 March, 5:30pm

The session is titled ‘Tough Talks’ and is based on tips in how to talk with our tween-teen(s). Each presenter aims to provide parents/carers with the confidence and resources to start conversations around the uncomfortable topics of drugs and alcohol, social media, mental wellbeing, relationships and sex.

We strongly encourage parents/carers of our Years 5 and 6 students to attend. Please RSVP to Nhill College on 53912111 by 18 March.

Classroom and Student News

Middles' News

We’ve unbelievably come to the end of another week. Week 7 has been short, but busy. We’ve had school photos, our Grade 3s and Grade 5s have undertaken NAPLAN and we’ve fit some learning in as well.

In Literacy we have been learning all about persuasive texts. We have been learning about the purpose and features of persuasive texts and what an opinion is. Our Middles have been learning to identify the difference between an opinion and a fact, and have been practising sharing their own opinions as well.

In Maths, we have continued our unit on Place Value. We’ve been practicing our counting and pattern skills, so that we can easily calculate ten more and ten less. We have also been working on expanding our Maths vocabulary so that we can understand what a Maths question or problem is asking us to do and we’ve also learnt a new skill - rounding.   

In Art we’ve continued our exploration of colour and have been learning about value as well. In Religion we have been reading the scripture story of Zaccheus and learning about what it means to live in a Right Relationship with God and others.

The Middles are especially excited about our St Patrick’s Day celebrations - both our Family Fun Night this evening and our green dress day and Feast Day Mass next week. 

We hope everyone has a restful weekend and look forward to seeing you all for many more learning experiences next week!

Warm Regards,

Margaret Attard

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 Sophia, Elvi and Caleb.

Little Joey Awards

We continue to acknowledge the significant role of the "Brown Joeys" in the establishment of St Patrick's School, and recognised Kyan 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:

25 nights - Charloote K, Meena, Hannah E, Hannah G, Xavier M, Kyan, Zion, Xavier H, Sophia

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Sophia for this week.

School Advisory Council

Parent Representatives

• Clint Beattie
• Rebecca Curtis 
• Emily Gladdis
• Bonnie McEldrew
• Zanther McEldrew
• Ashleigh Meyer
  
• Courtney Taylor

Ex Officio

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

Dates

• Meeting - Tuesday 6 May 2025, 5:30pm

Dates and Reminders

School Calendar

March

Mar 14 - 6pm St Patrick's Day Family Fun Night

Mar 17 - 12pm St Patrick's Day Mass

April

Fri 4 - Last Day Term 1 - dismissal time 2:15pm

St Patrick's Nhill

Church Times

11:00am Mass each Sunday

Our Mission

Child Safe Standards

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

School Office Hours

• M 8:45am - 4:15pm
• T 8:45am - 4:30pm
• W 8:45am - 4:30pm
• T 8:45am - 4:30pm
• F 8:45am - 1:00pm

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