Newsletter 2022/32 ~ 28 October 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.

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

Today is World Teachers’ Day Australia. We celebrate all involved in the educational endeavour in our schools and thank God for their contribution. We pray for all those who educate our young people.

Giver of all wisdom and greatest of all educators,

Look upon our teachers and educators with love,

Grant them the resolve to nurture our students’ eager minds and to never give up on those who fall behind.

Bless their hearts for they rejoice when young people succeed and encourage them when they fail.

Kindle a spirit and passion in them that ignites the love of learning,

Help them see the potential in each student,

Instil in our educators a commitment to keep on learning so as to model not to fear new knowledge and experiences.

Inspire them to touch the future,

Let the light of your loving example shine upon all who work with young people in our schools,

To build up with their words,

To love with their mind,

To share with their heart.

It is to the first and greatest educator that we make this prayer, 

Amen

CURRENT & RECENT EVENTS

Auslan

On Wednesday afternoon we were very fortunate to have Buffy Harrison visit each of our classes for ‘in-person’ Auslan sessions.  Buffy spent approximately half an hour with each class which gave everyone an opportunity to demonstrate how much they have learnt as well as allowing Buffy to check our signing is being done correctly.

Staff Retirements

It is with great sadness, and complete understanding, that I have been advised of the pending retirements of two of our staff members at the end of this school year.

Mrs Ann Munro has been a member of St Patrick’s School staff for the past 32 years.  Working in the administration area of the school she has spent many years as a welcoming face for those entering our school.  Ann has been the St Patrick’s Parish liaison for many years and has led many of our students in their Sacrament programs over the years.

Mrs Lisa Creek has worked at St Patrick’s for the past eight years filling a number of teaching and leadership roles.  Most recently, Lisa has been the teacher of our Junior class as well as being the Learning Diversity Leader.

We will recognise both ladies more formally at the end of the school year.

School Wide Positive Behaviour 

During play times, staff have been monitoring for students demonstrating aspects of Respect, Responsibility and Safety within the school yard.  Names are collated and shared during our weekly assemblies.  Names are drawn randomly for each category and that student’s House receives a token for their House jar.  The House with the most tokens later in the year will be rewarded.

Congratulations to all children who were recognised for their positive actions around the school this week.  Elvi (Patrick) and Daniel (Patrick) were randomly drawn from the names listed for Respect and Responsibility, and have added tokens to their respective Houses' tallies.

Australian Catholics Magazine

The Summer 2022/23 Schools Edition of Australian Catholics Magazine is available at the school.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Student Free Day

Reminder - Monday 31 October is a Student Free Day as staff continue their SWPBS learning.

Senior Camp

Our Senior students will head off on camp next Wednesday morning.  The Year 4-6 students will travel to Anglesea and then return on Friday afternoon.  We ask for God’s blessings that the children and staff enjoy safe travels and enjoyable and memorable experiences during their camp.

Penola Excursion

All students will be travelling to Penola on Tuesday 8 November to visit the Mary MacKillop Centre.  This visit is part of the students’ studies in the Religious Education classes.  Notice have been sent home this week regarding the excursion (PAM or hardcopy).  Please complete these by next Tuesday.

Kinder Visits - Forward to Foundation

The transition program for kinder children will commence next Friday.  

The 2023 Foundation students are invited to join our Forward to Foundation Transition Program on Friday 4 November at 8.55am until recess (11.00am). 

Session dates and times are as follows:

• Friday 4 November 8.55am to 11.00am
• Friday 11 November 8.55am to 1.00pm
• Friday 18 November 8.55am to 3.15pm
• Friday 25 November 8.55am to 1.00pm
• Friday 2 December 8.55am to 1.00pm

A notice has been sent to all Kinder children with detailed information about the Forward to Foundation transition program.

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

The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland is our interesting shared Big Book for this week. The four friends, Moose, Zebra, Sheep and Lion, suddenly realise there is a bear in the cave they have decided to shelter from the cold in. What happens next is rather funny! This book has lots of rhyming words and we are getting better at recognising them in a story. Isabella is pictured below reading the diary that she wrote about her road trip to Ballarat on the weekend. Thank you Isabella. We all love to write in the F-1 class, and every person is endeavouring to try to extend their ideas into a story sequence. I am very pleased with their efforts. Maths is chance and data. And don’t be surprised if they start asking you questions to record in a graph.

Middle Class

This week we have been reading a book called Ride, Ricardo, Ride, learning about the ways in which sentences are created using conjunctions. This gives us either a complex or compound sentence depending on what follows the conjunction in the sentences.

In Writing, we have been using our skills and knowledge on narrative writing to create a written piece. Students are challenged to remember all elements that are needed for our best piece of work.

In Maths we have started to look at fractions. We have been dividing collections of objects and shapes into halves, quarters, eighths, thirds and fifths. We have been working hard on creating fractions of collections, because we are finding it a bit more tricky compared to shapes.

This week in Religion we are learning about the different invitations to participate in different types of prayers. We had Father Matt visit on Tuesday afternoon and he led us in two different prayers and talked to us about what is prayer and how we can be respectful to others during prayer time.

In Art we completed our stop motion videos. There are some pretty impressive videos and the class were very excited to share some of them in yesterday's assembly.

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 Amity and Jack M with Little Joey awards.

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:

75 nights - Elvi

125 nights - Hannah E, Tegan

150 nights - Daniel, Tessa

200 nights - Claire

Important Dates and Reminders

All calendar dates are available on PAM (SIMON Everywhere)

Term Dates

Term 4   3 October to 20 December (Students' last day is Friday, 16 December)

School Calendar

OCTOBER

Monday 31

Student Free Day - Staff Professional Development

NOVEMBER

Wednesday 2 - Friday 4

Senior Class Camp

Friday 4

Forward to Foundation (Kinder) Transition Program 8.55 - 11.00 am

Tuesday 8

Whole school excursion to Penola

Friday 11

Forward to Foundation (Kinder) Transition Program 8.55 am - 1.00 pm

Tuesday 15

Gifting Mass 2pm

Friday 18

Forward to Foundation (Kinder) Transition Program 8.55 am - 3.15 pm

Tuesday 22

SAC Meeting 7.30pm

Friday 25

Forward to Foundation (Kinder) Transition Program 8.55 am - 1.00 pm

DECEMBER

Thursday 1 - Friday 2

Middle Class Camp

Friday 2

Forward to Foundation (Kinder) Transition Program 8.55 am - 1.00 pm

Tuesday 6

SAC Annual Meeting 7.30pm

Friday 16

Students' last day (dismissal time 3.15pm)

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.

You can find the lunch orders menu in PAM (SIMON Everywhere): - >Home, scroll down to >Knowledge Bank, >Parent Documents, >Action, >Preview

Parent Access Module PAM / SIMON Everywhere

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.

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.

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, 22 November at 7.30pm
• AGM Tuesday, 6 December at 7.30pm

Our Mission

Community News

Links / Information

COVID-19 Update

Changes to Pandemic Orders (from 12 October)

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the pandemic declaration and associated pandemic orders. New settings will apply from 11.59 pm on Wednesday 12 October 2022.

Isolation & reporting requirements

Parents/carers should inform the school (by phone 53911575 or 0419929271, or in writing principal@spnhill.catholic.edu.au)

Students who test positive for COVID-19 -

• should stay home and isolate for a minimum of 5 days
• should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic, e.g. runny nose, sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, or sweats
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should be collected by their parents/carers and undergo testing for COVID-19.

COVID-19 reporting requirements

• Report a positive RAT to the Department of Health online (link is provided below)
• Inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household.

Face masks

• School-aged children are encouraged to wear face masks indoors in a public space or outside in a crowded place where they can't physically distance. 
• Face masks will continue to be available for staff, students and visitors. 

The Department of Health recommends that 

• masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home. 
• masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home. 

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 will continue to be available for staff, students and visitors.

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.

Links