Newsletter 2022/20 ~ 15 July 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

Welcome back for the start of Term 3 and Semester 2.

I hope that all families had an enjoyable break during the school holidays and that families were able to take the opportunity to spend quality time with each other.

It was pleasing to see most of our students return on Tuesday morning, however we also extend our best wishes to those who are struggling with coughs and colds and other illnesses at this time and we look forward to you joining us again soon.

This term will be another busy one with productions and presentations, Parent-Teacher Interviews, Grandparents and Elderly Peoples’ Day, Father’s Day, sports carnivals, Science Week, and more.

CURRENT & RECENT EVENTS

Staff Professional Learning

School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support

Staff attended a Professional Learning Day on Monday at Murtoa’s Our Lady Help of Christians School where staff continued the journey of implementing SWPBS across our school.

During first semester we formed a matrix around positive behaviours at St Patrick’s School. This matrix is on display in each of the classrooms and in various points around the school.  It is shared here as well.

The matrix highlights expected behaviours of all students across all areas of the school and also when representing the school off-site.  Our three key foci are Respect, Responsibility, Safety.

These three foci and the associated behaviours are discussed explicitly during class time and in assemblies.

Staff will continue to develop frameworks around monitoring and the reinforcement of these expectations.

Positive Partnerships

Four staff members - Mrs Creek, Ms Murphy, Mrs Dickinson and myself, will be attending a Positive Partnerships workshop in Mildura on Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Positive Partnerships is a national project funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment through the Helping Children with Autism program and is delivered by Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect).

Positive Partnerships works in partnership with families, educators and communities to strengthen positive outcomes for young people on the autism spectrum in order to create connections and opportunities for an inclusive culture where autistic students belong and thrive.

Through our involvement in the workshops we are looking to strengthen our capacity to support and advocate for young people on the autism spectrum.

School Reports & Parent-Teacher Interviews

All families should have received their child(ren)’s end of semester reports by now.  These can also be accessed digitally at any time via the Parent Access Module (PAM).  

Two nights have been marked for Parent-Teacher interviews to allow you to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss the reports and your child’s progress.

Please open the Parent-Teacher tab on PAM to book interview times for either Monday 1 August or Tuesday 2 August.  Interview times are between 3.30pm and 5.30pm each afternoon.  

Interviews run for a maximum of eight minutes each.  Should you require more time, please make arrangements with the teacher to meet at another mutually convenient time.

Long Service Leave

We wish Ann Munro well as she enjoys some well-earned Long Service Leave over the next few weeks.  We are sure that Ann and Don will enjoy the opportunity to get in some travelling and visiting family members who they have not been able to catch up with for the past couple of years.  May God bless them and keep them safe in their travels.

School Nurse

Following the School Nurse’s visit to the Foundation students last term, a written report has been provided for each family.  These have been sent home with the children so please check that you have received them.

Book Club Issue 5 Out Now

GROW YOUR HOME LIBRARY (& INDEPENDENT READERS) WITH THE FREE BOOK OFFER!

Every child deserves access to quality and affordable books, and Scholastic Book Club offers great prices with Value Books as low as $3 on every issue of Book Club. Best of all, if you order on Issue 5 you can select FREE BOOKS!

Place your Issue 5 order on LOOP to select up to 3 FREE BOOKS. To qualify all you have to do is spend over $30 and you can select 1 FREE book, or spend over $50 and you can select 2 FREE books or over $70 and you can select 3 FREE titles from a special online list. The list will display after you create your order and head to the checkout. See www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP for more information.

Did you know that 20% of your Book Club order goes back to our school in Scholastic Rewards? These Rewards are redeemed on Books and Educational Resources which helps stretch our budget further.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Meerkat Productions

Meerkat Productions adaptation of Stellarphant by James Foley will be presented to all students on Monday 25 July from 9.15am.

This production group has visited our school over several years and we look forward to this year’s presentation.  Children will be making double-sided face masks in class to wear during the presentation.

World Day for Grandparents and Elderly People

Pope Francis has decided to institute the Church-wide celebration of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.  Starting this year, it will be held on the fourth Sunday of July (Sunday, 24 July 2022), close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

Staff and students of St Patrick’s School cordially invite our grandparents / elderly friends to join us as we enjoy Meerkat Production’s adaptation of Stellarphant by James Foley, followed by some activities in the classroom/playground and morning tea, on Monday 25 July 2022 from 9:15 am.

Invitations have been sent home with students. Please return completed RSVP forms by Thursday, 21 July. Places are limited to up to 4 guests per family.

School Advisory Council Meeting postponed

Due to my being in Mildura next week, the School Advisory Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed until Tuesday 9 August.

Sunday's Gospel Reflection

Luke 10:25-37

In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan.  You may recall that in the story a Priest and a Levite ignored the man who had been beaten and robbed by brigands and left half dead.  The Samaritan traveller who came upon the man was moved with compassion when he saw him.  He tended the man’s wounds and arranged payment for his stay in an inn until he recovered.

Of the three travellers, the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan, it was the Samaritan who proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands' hands.

Jesus asks for us to go and do the same.

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

Welcome back to Term 3.

All the students had lots to say about their holiday experiences, whether at home with family or away. On the first day back, my students were surprised by the rearrangement of our room. “Where is the …?” were the cries. By the end of the day, they knew where to find their chair, the taskboard, their lockers and the teaching table. Our shared story is the traditional tale The Three Little Pigs. There is a lot of repetition and acting out. Our Mathematics focus wall shows skip counting by 1’s, 2’s 5’s and 10’s, which we are practising. Clever writers are checking their words and sounds. We are all re-reading to check if it makes sense. Religion has started with a call, 'cooee', and understanding how messages are communicated. Our Assembly presentations showcased patterned writing from the book Rumble in the Jungle and the song Walking in the Jungle.

Middle Class

It has been wonderful to see everyone back at school and looking refreshed after the break. We have started off this term by looking at our behaviour expectation matrix and seeing how we can be earning Dojo points in class.

In Religion we have begun a new unit - Call. We started the unit on Tuesday afternoon out in the yard learning about a 'cooee'. We stood on opposite sides of the oval and called out to each other using the word 'cooee'. When we returned to the classroom we discussed how it’s a way to communicate and gain the attention of another person. We then related this to our own names. We have begun a display of our names and on Friday will be looking at their meanings as well as the meaning of 'cooee'. The word 'cooee' comes from the Dharug language. The Dharug people were the original inhabitants of Sydney and 'cooee' means 'come here'.

In Maths we are revisiting subtraction and using strategies we know to help us solve subtraction problems. We have worked on solving worded problems and what to look for when working on them. We have also shown how we remember and feel confident with the partitioning strategy, where we break each number into hundreds, tens and ones and then subtract the ones, then the tens and finally the hundreds, before adding those parts together to get our final answer. 

In Writing we have been going over narrative stories and have been writing a narrative recount about something that happened on the holidays. This has been a great way for us to discuss and tell others about what we have been doing in the two weeks that we were away from school.

In Reading we are looking at the book As I Grew Older. This book has a wonderful perspective of an indigenous boy and what his life was like growing up with his family and the things that they did together. This book is a wonderful precursor to some of the information and things we will cover in the coming weeks in our Religion unit about different ways different cultures communicate and pass messages on to each other.

Senior Class

Report by Lexi and Sienna, Year 5

This week we have had Monday off, beginning our school term on a Tuesday. In the Senior class we have been learning about dialogue and quotation marks, for our reading focus we have been reading Wonder. In Maths we have been learning about shapes and geometry, for the first assembly the F-1 class displayed what they have been learning about in the first week. We are all looking forward to the excitement of Term 3.

Reading Achievements

The following students were recognised this week for their reading achievements:

50 nights - Freddie, Jody.

 75 nights - Freddie, Jack, Liberty, Caleb, Jody.

125 nights - Claire, Sophie.

150 nights - Tyler, Kelsey, Lexi, Stella.

Important Dates and Reminders

Term Dates

Term 3 11 July to 16 September

Term 4   3 October to 20 December

School Calendar

JULY

Mon 25

Incursion: Meerkat Productions performance & World Grandparents Day celebration 9.15am 

AUGUST

Mon 1

Parent-Teacher Interviews 3.30-5.30pm

Tue 2

Parent-Teacher Interviews 3.30-5.30pm

Tue 9

School Advisory Council Meeting 7.30pm

Fri 12

School Closure (Circuit Breaker Weekend)

Mon 15

School Closure (Circuit Breaker Weekend)

Reminders

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.

Wimmera Bakery has advised that they have recently reviewed their prices, and the price of some items will increase in the near future.  We will provide an updated price list when this happens.

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 - Term 3 update

Rapid antigen testing

• The Victorian Government is providing up to three further deliveries of rapid antigen tests in Term 3 and again in Term 4 to schools.
• It is recommended that rapid antigen tests are used by students and staff when symptomatic.
• Household contacts are required to test negative using a rapid antigen test on at least 5 out of 7 days if they are attending or working at a school onsite.
• If staff or students receive a positive test result at any time, they must report this through the Department of Health system (a link is provided below) or via the coronavirus hotline at 1800 675 398.
• Students (or their parents) must also report a positive result to their school by phone or written notification; this is so the school can support them, record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.
• Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, have completed their 7-day isolation period and are subsequently asymptomatic do not need to undertake surveillance testing for twelve weeks.

Face masks

• Current advice from the Victorian Government on the wearing of face masks is available (see the link provided below)
• Wearing a face mask can help protect you and those around you. Face masks stop droplets spreading when you talk, cough, sneeze and laugh, which lowers your chance of spreading or catching the virus.
• The advice also strongly recommends the wearing of face masks in indoor settings (noting that exceptions to the recommendation apply to teaching circumstances when clear enunciation or visibility of the mouth is essential).
• Household contacts attending school who are over 8 years of age are required to wear face masks indoors unless they have a valid exception. 
• Everyone including students aged 8 years and above must wear a face mask when travelling on school buses, public transport, taxis or rideshare vehicles.
• If face masks are required, they should be worn for up to four hours and replaced after this time.

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.

Stay home if unwell

• 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

Tuesday, 9 August 2022, 7.30pm

Our Mission