Newsletter 2022/33 ~ 4 November 2022 edition (published on 7 November)

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

Many people think that as the end of the school year approaches, things start to slow down in schools.  This is far from the reality.

In the past week we have had our Year 4-6 students enjoy their camp at Anglesea and on Friday our 2023 Foundation students spent the morning at St Patrick’s School.  This week we have a whole school excursion to Penola to visit significant locations of Saint Mary MacKillop’s life; we have Auslan in The West visiting on Thursday, together with Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School from Murtoa; our Kinder children will visit again on Friday; and students will also be completing PAT Testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

We also have staff participating in Professional Learning and a number of internal and external meetings throughout the week. 

There will also be plenty happening in the classrooms throughout the week as well.

CURRENT & RECENT EVENTS

All Souls Day Liturgy

Wednesday 2nd November was All Souls Day, however we held our Liturgy for this day on Tuesday morning given that the Senior students would be leaving early the following morning for their camp.  All Souls Day is a day for us to pray for everyone who has died, especially members of our own families as they are placed in God’s loving hands.

November is a time for us to remember the dead and to offer prayers and thank God for their lives.

Melbourne Cup Day

On Tuesday we celebrated the Melbourne Cup with some races in the Hall in the afternoon followed by watching the race on the large screen.

Each House had six runners drawn out and first and second place-getters went through to the final race.  In the end it was Jack C who came first, Declan was second and Jack M finished third.

Senior Camp

Our Year 4-6 students had a most enjoyable and memorable camp at Anglesea from Wednesday to Friday.  Many photos were shared via our Facebook page and these can be seen by clicking the link below.

Please see the Senior Class Report further on in this newsletter for a student perspective on the camp.

Thank you to Miss Williams, Mrs Emma Dickinson and Mr Keller for their attendance and support during the camp.

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.  Link (MacKillop), Jody (Patrick) and Daniel (Patrick) were randomly drawn from the names listed for Respect, Responsibility and Safety respectively, and have added tokens to their respective Houses' tallies.

RAT kits

Another batch of RAT kits were sent home earlier this week.

Australian Catholics Magazine

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

UPCOMING EVENTS

Penola Excursion

On Tuesday we will be travelling to Penola to visit the historical sites of Saint Mary MacKillop’s early years and the birthplace of the Josephite Sisters. Thank you to Miss Williams for her planning towards this excursion.

Auslan

Auslan in The West will be at school on Thursday to work with our students, and those of Our Lady Help of Christians, Murtoa, in further developing their Auslan signing skills.

Darren and Briana, founders of Auslan in The West, are the people who have developed the course outline and videos  that we are following across all classes.

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

It was our turn for Assembly last week, with Miss William’s class whilst the Seniors were on camp. We showcased our patterned sentences from the book Seagull by Danny Snell, and demonstrated our learning on chance and data. Our shared Big Book story for the week, titled What noise does a giraffe make?, had our students joining in with the sounds and repetitive questions within this story. It has a funny ending. And of course, we had the first of our Kinder transition visits. 

Senior Class 

Camp by Stella

During camp we enjoyed going back to our cabins and spending time hanging out with friends (who we shared our cabin with) and talking. The late night talking may have involved some of us staying up for most of the night, (I was in a cabin with Jet, Sienna and Lexi).

On Thursday we went to the surf carnival at around about 1:45pm. During the surf carnival we all went boogie boarding and learned how to save people or call out for help when we were in trouble. After our lessons we went back to the sand banks and played a game called “Trenches”, we had to dig trenches in the sand then hide in them before the people who taught us turned around to see us. A bit like red light, green light. It was fun but very sandy! 

All in all we all really enjoyed camp and we thank all the teachers and staff that joined us.

Archery by Jody

On Thursday the 4/5/6’s did archery, there was a man named Josh and he taught us how to use a bow and arrow.         

He said one hand on the handle and your other hand make a peace sign,  pull the string back to your chin, let it go and try to aim at the target.

It was fun but tricky. Miss Williams got it on the bullseye.  

Camp fire fun by Tom

I went through a bush. There was absolutely no reason for this. It happened when we were around the campfire. Then we cooked marshmallows and ate them.

School Camp  by Riley

We went to an Ampol for a bathroom break while Mr Dalgleish fuelled the bus up with ridiculously priced diesel. While I was in, the food and drinks made me thirsty and hungry. The Ampol we stopped at was on the side of the highway but after I came back to the bus we had our lunch.

BREAKFAST - I had some strawberry jam and butter toast, it was a FEAST. I really liked it while some of the other kids had some cereal.

The Climbing Wall by Sophie

At camp we got to try all sorts of activities like the huge six metre climbing wall.  We had to get hooked up and the man Josh reminded us to get the hook on. We had to push,twist and pull. I had the best fun and at the top were squeaky chickens and l was going up and down. After that my hands were sore! 

Camp  by AJ     

Last week on Wednesday my class went to camp. We went to the beach on Thursday. We had to wear wet suits on top of our swimming trunks.

After we did our life saving activities we did the boogie boarding. They told us how to do it, we had to jump on the top of the board. We also needed to wrap a velcro strap around our wrist so we didn’t lose the board.

We rode some big waves and triple and double waves and we went so fast. They also showed us some tricks to make us go faster.

Going to the beach by Declan

We drove down in the bus to the beach. It was little. We walked to the beach and we played beach flags. To play beach flags you need as many flags as people, minus one. Each round you take one pole out and someone gets out each round. Riley won. I was one of the first people out. Next, we learnt how to use a rescue aid. When I got to be rescued I went under a wave. Luckily I closed my eyes and my mouth. After that we went boogie boarding and had a snack. We learned about safety and we learnt some tricks. 

Camp by Jonas

At the camp, Josh was the person who showed us the way all around the hotel. He showed us the games rooms, the games room has two air hockey tables, two ping pong tables, two foosball tables and two pool tables. We went walking up a hill, the hill was very high. When you get to the top it was very high up. When we got there we didn’t see a whale.

Flying fox by Ma Thay Thay

At the camp,we went to the flying fox. We put on the helmet and we put on the safety harness on our legs. We climbed up the ladder and the guy clicked the rope onto our harness.

We went back to the swing and I screamed so loud! 

Leap of faith by K’lu Doh Soe

Last week on Wednesday we did the leap of faith. I was the second to go up, I put my suit on and put on my helmet and climbed up the log when I wanted to go down. It was 8 metres down from the top of the platform. When I was at the ladder, I said “I’m ready to jump” and then I jumped. When I was down I was scared and said "it’s high".  

Cooking by Georgia

The Year 2s and I made Quiche and the Year 3s made Rice Paper Rolls. The quiche was disgusting. The rice paper rolls were delicious. We used eggs, spinach, capsicum, cheese and milk to make the quiche. We used lettuce, chicken, carrot,  rice and capsicum to make the rice paper rolls. I had fun.

Dancing for PE by Kaw Mu

Dancing with Mrs Dickinson on the Wednesday. We danced for a long time. Mrs Dickinson is a good dancer. I didn't like dancing. No one was tired after dancing.

Reading Achievements

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

125 nights - Jack M

150 nights - Gu Thay Paw

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

NOVEMBER

Tuesday 8

Whole school excursion to Penola

Friday 11

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

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

Tuesday 29

Gifting Mass 2.00pm

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