Newsletter 2022/11 ~ 29 April 2022

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.

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

Prayer for the Start of Term Two 

Dear Lord, help me to live each day 

quietly, easily. 

To lean upon your strength 

truthfully, restfully. 

To wait for the unfolding of your will 

patiently, serenely. 

To meet others 

peacefully, joyfully. 

To face tomorrow 

confidently, courageously. 

Amen.

Welcome back to the start of Term Two.

I hope all families had a wonderful Easter break. I hope that you were able to find the time to relax and that you had the opportunity to recharge both physically and mentally for the term ahead and for the changing weather that awaits us. 

I look forward to catching up with you all over the coming weeks of this term.

RECENT EVENTS

School photos

School photos have been sent home with your children this week.  If you have any questions or concerns about your photos, please contact Andrew Dumesny on 0417538633.

ANZAC Day

Thank you to all students and families who were able to join in the ANZAC Day march on Monday.  It was pleasing to see a good representation of students from our school involved.

As we commemorated the ANZACs and their spirit, mateship, courage and sacrifice, Stella represented our school community by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on our behalf.

Several of our students were also members of the combined schools’ choir who sang two hymns during the Commemorative Service.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Karen Rintoule who was recently awarded Life Membership of Lowan Squash and Racquetball Club.  Karen has been a valuable member of the club as both a player and administrator for many years.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Athletics

The Interschool Athletics Carnival for students in Years 3-6 has been postponed until Monday due to the wet weather forecast for today.  Students will travel by bus to Nhill College on Monday morning after the class rolls have been recorded.  Students will return to St Patrick’s School at approximately 3pm for dismissal. 

Please refer to the note that was sent out with details of what to take on Monday.

Mother's Day

We wish to honour our mums next Thursday afternoon with a Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea.  Invitations have already been sent out and we are hoping that we may be able to have all families represented.  The afternoon will commence with activities involving the students and mums.  This will be followed by afternoon tea which will lead into our Thursday afternoon assembly.  Please send back your RSVP by Wednesday to allow for sufficient catering.

NAPLAN

Students in Years 3 and 5 will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests in Week 3 of this term.  Testing will be conducted on Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11, Thursday 12, Tuesday 17 May.

A reminder that if parents do not wish for their child to participate in the NAPLAN testing, you need to advise me prior to their commencement.

Library News

BookClub Issue 3 is out now 

Catalogues have been sent home with your children.  Orders are due by Wednesday 11 May.

To encourage family reading and kick-off this exciting issue, families registered with LOOP will be emailed with an offer for $5 off when they use promo code FAMILY22.  Valid on Issue 3 orders placed before midnight, Friday 29 April.

National Family Reading Month

National Family Reading Month is coming up in May, and is designed to get more kids reading with their families.

Throughout May, our school will be participating in the 26th annual Scholastic Read More In May challenge, where we will all read for fun for at least 10 minutes every day. To help bridge the class to home reading connection we hope your family will get on board as well! We know that reading role models and shared reading time are critical to a child’s learning and literacy development. In fact, research shows that family reading time is one of the best ways to grow a child’s interest in the wonderful world of books.

To participate at home and take the reading challenge, your child can record their daily reading by colouring the Sea Creature Reading Log for each day they read in May. The reading log can be found on the back of Book Club Issue 3 (or contact us for a copy). Plus there are 5 Book Packs worth $200 each to be won by signing up for the challenge on the National Family Reading Month website.

Visit www.scholastic.com.au/nfrm for all the details, plus there’s a whole heap of handy resources such as tips for family reading and fun downloadable activities.

I hope your household is filled with hours of delight as you experience the pleasures and benefits of reading every day during the month of May, and beyond.

Good luck and happy family reading!

School fees

Thank you to those families who have paid or are making regular payments.

If payment of your fees becomes an issue for your family, please do not hesitate to contact me and arrange a suitable time to discuss alternative payment arrangements.

Our Diocesan Community - No. 66 April 2022

Your news from around the diocese.

Visit https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/news-events/odc/

Condolences

We offer our thoughts and prayers to Andrea Cox and her family following the recent passing of Andrea’s mother.  Andrea, who is Principal of Ss Michael & John’s Primary School in Horsham, was a great help to St Patrick’s School in late 2019 as she filled in here one day per week following the mid-year departure of our former Principal Kathryn Bendall.

Project Compassion

Final call for return of Project Compassion boxes.  Thank you to our families for generous contributions to this worthy cause.

Sunday's Gospel Reflection 

John 20:19-31

Sunday’s Gospel tells of Jesus appearing before the disciples after His Resurrection.  Thomas, one of the disciples, was not present at this time and when the others told him what they had seen, Thomas replied, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” Jesus appeared before the disciples again eight days later and invited Thomas to touch his hands and side.  Jesus then said to him, “You believe because you can see me.  Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

This Gospel points out an important reality about Jesus’ Resurrection.  People often need some proof to really believe in His Resurrection.  Thomas was similar to us all. He found the disciples’ story hard to believe until Jesus appeared and showed him his wounds. Some people become convinced about Jesus’ victory over death because of Catholic heroes.  Jesus’ wounds can be seen in every person who sacrifices time, sweat, or blood to ease suffering or stand for good. 

This Easter season we need to reflect on whether a doubting Thomas could see the resurrected Jesus in our daily lives. Could someone come to believe in Christ by watching how we treat family, friends, and classmates? Would someone praise God because of how we sacrifice for the poor? Would someone believe the Gospel’s message because of how we take risks to do the right thing?

The final words of Jesus in this Gospel reach past Thomas to us, as Jesus pronounces a blessing for those who do not see and yet believe. The Easter gifts of peace and the Spirit are available to all, and blessed indeed are those who believe.

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.

Classroom and Student News

Junior Class

Mrs Creek

Welcome back. The students have settled back well into school routines after the holidays.

Our Big Book shared story for this week is titled The Bear Who Wouldn’t Share by Jonathen Allen. Bear’s grandma makes him a special cake to share with all his friends. Unfortunately he doesn’t want to share and he comes up with a plan. All the students inferred how greedy he was. As the story ends, Bear has eaten all the cake and he realises that friends mean more than cake. Our focus for Mathematics is the concept of addition. For Religion the students listened to the story When I’m Feeling Loved by Trace Moroney. By knowing love, we can begin to understand God’s great love for us.

Middle Class

Miss Williams

Welcome back to Term 2! This week has flown by and already feels like our break was so long ago.

Year 3 students are off to Athletics on Friday and hopefully it won’t have to be postponed this year! We also held our first assembly for this term on Thursday and everyone in the Middles did a wonderful job!

In Reading this week we are focusing on the book Do Not Open This Book Ever by Andy Lee and have had a focus on the purpose of the text and the ways in which that is achieved. We have been convinced at times to turn the page even though this persuasive narrative wants us to not do it.

In Writing we have written persuasive texts in line with our Reading focus book, attempting to convince others that holidays should go for longer. However, we do have a couple of students who are trying to convince us that holidays should not go for longer! We have had some wonderful reasons for and against, and the argumentative statements have been awesome.

In Maths we are learning about addition, and we have already had some breakthroughs with some students realising that different adding strategies can be what works best for them and they are now challenging themselves to add two 4-digit numbers together.

We have started a new unit in Religion - Love - and some of the students were able to guess straight away that that would be our topic when we were discussing how this new unit links to last term's unit on Relationships, as it is something we can develop and show through our relationships with others.

Senior Class

Ms Murphy

It has been pleasing to see most Seniors settle back into the swing of classroom life with ease and a positive mindset. Welcome back to everyone, I hope you all had some rest and relaxation over the holidays. We started our term off looking at what we are learning throughout our various subject areas. During Integrated Studies this term we are looking into the unit of study, Think Global, Act Local! With a focus on sustainability, geography and meteorology we will bite into weather and find connections to our local farming area and investigate further how weather shapes what we can and can’t do with the land in our local environment.

During Religion this term we are thinking about the concept of Unity and how, as members of the St. Patrick’s Nhill community, we can show this through action. Once again we will focus locally on how our actions as members of the St. Patrick’s Nhill community can impact on the lives of those who face hardship, poverty, war and suffering.

This week during Maths we have focused on time, 24 hour clocks, digital clocks and the dreaded … analogue clock! Many students would benefit from looking at an analogue at home where possible. While most of us have access to digital watches and devices these days,  it is very important that students are able to tell the time using an analogue clock. Not only a useful everyday device for learning five times tables and fractions, an analogue clock assists students to become aware of the passage of time!

A reminder to parents and caregivers that students are expected to return their diary to school each day, thank you.

Little Joey Awards

This week we continue to acknowledge the significant role of the "Brown Joeys" in the establishment of St Patrick's School, and recognised Elvi 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 this week for their reading achievements:

25 nights - Marnie

50 nights - Nile

Important Dates and Reminders

Term Dates

Term 2

26 April to 24 June

Term 3

11 July to 16 September

Term 4

3 October to 20 December

School Calendar

Reminders

Parent Access Module (PAM)

We strongly encourage parents to use the Parent Access Module PAM (SIMON Everywhere) to inform us of student absences. These notes can be set in advance (if, for example, you know that your child will be absent a week in the future). Notes written in the diary are for communicating with teachers. Absent notes need to be directed to the office.

Please speak with office staff if you have any questions about PAM.

Simon Everywhere

The Simon Everywhere app delivers instant notifications to parents' mobile phones, delivering the functionality of PAM (SIMON Parent Access Module) in an easy to navigate app.  

We request that all parents please download the Simon Everywhere app, add St Patrick's School, Nhill and login using your existing PAM credentials.  

We will use Simon Everywhere for all important notifications.  

You will be able to manage all your day-to-day school needs from the Simon Everywhere app - notify us of absences, view the lunch orders menu, read the newsletter ...

Please contact the office with any questions.

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 -

• calling our school office 53911575
• sending an email to principal@spnhill.catholic.edu.au or krintoule@spnhill.catholic.edu.au
• use the Bus Change Notification Form on their website - this is a quick and easy process on your mobile phone (hint: add this as a quick link on your phone's home screen)

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.

Coronavirus information

Face masks

• Face masks, while recommended, are not required in any school setting. This means students in Years 3 to 6, staff and visitors in primary schools are no longer required to wear face masks. 
• Any student or staff member who wishes to wear a mask may, however, do so.
• Everyone over 8-years-old must wear a face mask when travelling to and from school on school bus services,  public transport, taxis or rideshare vehicles.

Screening requirements

• Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, and have completed their 7-day isolation period, now do not need to undertake rapid antigen test (RAT) screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. This was previously 8 weeks.

Household contacts

• Students and staff who are household contacts of a COVID-19 case are no longer required to quarantine. They can return to school as long as they undertake rapid antigen tests (RAT) 5 times within their 7-day period and wear face masks indoors if they are aged 8 and above unless they have a valid exemption.
• Household contacts are required to inform the school that they are attending during the 7 day period.   
• If any household contact returns a positive RAT result during this period, they must isolate for 7 days and not attend school.
• Students who report a positive result must isolate for seven days and not attend school during that period. 
• If a student tests positive or is a household contact of someone who tests positive, the school must be notified as soon as possible. They must also  follow the Checklist for COVID cases.

Vaccination requirements for visitors to schools

• Parents, carers and other adult visitors (not performing work) are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.  

RAT screening program extension

• Students and staff are to continue with Rapid Antigen Testing twice weekly (recommended to be the first school day of the week and Thursday mornings). 
• The supply of RATs will continue for the first 4 weeks of this term.

Practise good hygiene

• 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 is available at entry points to classrooms.
• Sharing of food is not permitted.

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.

School Advisory Council

Parent Representatives

Helen Cannell

Moo Khu James

Zanther McEldrew

Emily Gladdis

Nathan Wheeler

Appointed Representatives

Ann Munro - Parish

Ex Officio

Mons. Glynn Murphy - Parish Priest

Kingsley Dalgleish - Principal

Next Meeting

Wednesday, 4 May 2022, 7.30pm

Our Mission

Community News

Come & Try Squash

Get fit, meet new people and have fun

Looking for something to do on Wednesday evenings?  

Free!!  Come and try squash.  Learn how to play squash, in a fun active environment.

If you are looking for a great way to get fit, meet new people, and have fun, squash or racquetball could be the sport for you. To get started all you need to do is turn up. We provide the racquets and ball free of charge.

Squash provides an intense cardiovascular and muscular workout – perfect for burning calories. Players can burn around 1000 calories per hour.

Come join us on Wednesday evenings 7.00pm.  We welcome players of all shapes and sizes, ages and abilities.  No prior experience required.  Generally we are finished before 8.30-9 o'clock, so it's not a late night.

Who: Lowan Squash & Racquetball Club

Where: Lowan Sports Centre, Whitehead Avenue, Nhill

When: Wednesdays 7.00pm

Contact: Karen Rintoule 0427523721 lowansquashclub@gmail.com