St Patrick's School Nhill eNewsletter

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

150th Anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat

The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat is acknowledging its 150th Anniversary during 2024.

The logo for the 150th Anniversary of the Diocese of Ballarat incorporates the diocesan logo and the bough of a tree drawn by Sr Anne McMillan rsm in 1985. The words Anne had used with this drawing were, “If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come”. It is an old Chinese proverb, which could be interpreted as a reminder to keep hope alive and a call to open our hearts to all. The bough of a tree symbolises growth, interconnectedness and life. The leaves could symbolise the communities, the parishes, the people of the diocese.

The text Communities: Remember, Revitalise, Hope reflects various aspects of the anniversary.

The word “Community” highlights the fact that a diocese is essentially a community drawn together by Christ, a large community made up of many local communities. The word “Remember” refers us to the history of the diocese. In this remembering, we acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of that history, celebrating the achievements and recognising the failures to live our Christian faith to the full. The word “Revitalise” calls us to invest ourselves in bringing new life to the community today. The word “Hope” encourages us to look forward to the future with confidence in God.

The Scripture verse chosen for our 150th anniversary year reflects various elements of our vocation as a Christian community. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). The words are drawn from a passage in St Paul’s letter to the Romans in which the apostle lists qualities appropriate for a community inspired by Christ. As the years go by, the community experiences times of trial as well as times of gladness. Through it all, their trust in Christ makes them joyful in hope and patient in affliction. They recognise that they need God’s help in all they do and so they are faithful in prayer, seeking God’s help day by day.

CURRENT & RECENT EVENTS

SAC Meeting

On Tuesday we held the first SAC meeting for 2024. Our 2024 SAC members are: Bec Curtis, Emily Gladdis, Moo Khu James, Zanny McEldrew, Michaela Koop and Ashleigh Meyer. Our SAC are already working on plans for a fun family evening on Friday 15 March - stay tuned for more information. We will survey all families about assisting at various events this year.

Swimming Sports

Well done to all of our Years 3-6 students who swam in the sports on Tuesday. Our ‘team’ finished third overall and there were some very good personal results as well with our students coming away with 13 Firsts, 12 Seconds and 11 Thirds.

Congratulations also to Tessa, Max, Daniel B and Declan who were the Individual Age Champions.

Best wishes to those who have qualified to swim in Horsham at the Little Desert Championships next Wednesday.

Swimming Program

Our Swimming and Water Awareness program continues next Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and culminates with our Swimming Carnival on Thursday 29 February from 1pm. Parents and friends are invited to come along and support the children next Thursday. This will be a coloured clothes day and children are invited to wear their house colours on Thursday.

Assembly this week

Due to the swimming program this week, our assembly will be held today at 2.45pm. All welcome.

Forms for parent signature & return

This week students have been sent home with the following 2024 school year notes -

Photograph/Recording Permission Form
Please complete and sign where indicated
Digital Technology: Acceptable Use & Cybersafety Agreement
Parents are asked to sit with your child/ren and discuss the contents, before signing at the places indicated on page 2.

Please return all forms to school by the end of next week.

BBQ refunds from the re-scheduled swimming sports were attached to these documents.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Student Free Day on Monday

A reminder that Monday is a student free day. All staff will be involved with professional learning for the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Program (SWPBS).

Swimming Program continues

The swimming program continues on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, culminating in our Carnival on Thursday afternoon. Parents and other family members are encouraged to come along and support our students.

Parents and students are reminded to bring swimming gear on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - we have had to make a number of phone calls this week because of forgotten gear.

Assembly next week

Due to the swimming program next week, our assembly will be held on Friday, 1st March, at 2.45pm. All welcome.

Get To Know You Meetings

Our Get To Know You meetings will take place on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 March. Please watch for an email in the next few days with details on how to book times to see your child(ren)’s teacher.

World Day Of Prayer 2024 Palestine

World Day of Prayer - Palestine. A special service will be held in St Patrick’s Catholic Church on Friday 1st March at 7pm.

Australian Catholics Magazine

The Autumn 2024 edition of the Australian Catholics Magazine is available to collect at school or read it online here:

Australian Catholics Magazine - current issue

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.

“May our good God grant you all a holy and truly happy Christmas. We can all meet together in spirit at the Crib of our loving infant and pray for one another. I wish you every grace and blessing of this holy time with fondest love.” Mary MacKillop, 1881

By the Numbers

85 - The smallest number that can be expressed as a sum of two squares, with all squares greater than 1, in two ways -

Our thoughts are with all those who are affected by the recent and current fires. We also offer our thanks to the firefighters, emergency service personnel and others who are providing support or assistance. May you all stay safe.

God Bless you all.

Kingsley Dalgleish

Principal

Classroom and Student News

Junior Class Report

What an amazing start to the year the Foundation and Year One students have had. They have hit the ground running and have shown amazing growth in just four weeks. The Year F/1 students have been working hard in their Literacy groups. Green group have been focusing on rhyming words and syllables in words. Blue group have been revising their letters and sounds, looking at vowels and learning tricky words. In Maths, all students in F/1 are focusing on Number and Place Value. The Foundation students have been creating quantities of objects to represent numbers and creating groups of objects to match verbal and pictorial quantities. The Year 1 students have been revising numerals and number names and have been a great support to our Foundies.

I am so proud of the effort all students are putting in with their readers and remembering to bring their diaries and change their books every day. I really encourage parents to read with their children and discuss stories read as it has a significant positive effect on their reading skills and cognitive skills.

This week, we read ‘Monster Feelings’ and looked at the different feelings we can feel. The students then had a lot of fun creating their own feeling monsters! Have a look at their amazing creations! You should have received a note home with a QR code recently to join our class Dojo. I am still learning how to navigate this site, but I hope you are enjoying the pictures that are being added of your amazing little humans.

We have also had our swimming program going on and it has been wonderful to watch all the students develop their skills. Their confidence continues to grow and we are excited to see you all next Thursday for our school’s swimming carnival.

I have been loving getting to know your cherubs and look forward to meeting with you at our Getting to Know You interviews on March 4th and 5th.

Have a fabulous weekend! 🙂

Cheers,

Mel Kupper

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. Last Friday, Jewel, Eliza and George were randomly drawn from the nominations for Respect, Responsibility and Safety, and have added tokens to their respective Houses' tallies.

Little Joey Awards

We continue to acknowledge the significant role of the "Brown Joeys" in the establishment of St Patrick's School, and last Friday we recognised Katherine 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.

School Advisory Council

Parent Representatives

Rebecca Curtis
Emily Gladdis
Moo Khu James
Michaela Koop
Zanther McEldrew
Ashleigh Meyer

Ex Officio

Mons. Glynn Murphy - Parish Priest
Kingsley Dalgleish - Principal

Meeting Dates

Tuesday, 30 April 2024, 7:30pm
Tuesday, 23 July 2024, 7:30pm
Tuesday, 15 October 2024, 7:30pm

Dates and Reminders

Term Dates 2024

Term 1 29 Jan (Staff) 31 Jan (Students) to 28 Mar

Term 2 15 Apr to 28 Jun

Term 3 15 Jul to 20 Sep

Term 4 7 Oct to 20 Dec

School Term Dates & Holidays in Victoria

*All calendar dates are available on PAM (SIMON Everywhere)*

School Calendar

February

Fri 23 - Assembly 2.45pm

Mon 26 - Student Free Day - staff PD

Tue 27 - Swimming Program 1pm

Wed 28 - Foundation Students Rest Day

Wed 28 - Swimming Program 1pm

Wed 28 - Little Desert Swimming Carnival Horsham

Thu 29 - Swimming Carnival 1pm - parents welcome

March

Fri 1 - Assembly 2.45pm

Mon 4 - "Get To Know You" meetings 3.15-5.00pm

Tue 5 - "Get To Know You" meetings 3.15-5.00pm

Wed 6 - Foundation Students Rest Day

Mon 11 - Labour Day Public Holiday

Wed 13 - School Photos Day

Wed 13 - Senior Class Iona Excursion

Fri 15 - St Patrick's Day Mass 12.00pm

M-W 25-27 - Senior Camp

Thu 28 - Last Day Term 1

St Patrick's Nhill

Church Times

Mass is held every Sunday at 11.00am

Our Mission

Child Safe Standards

All students enrolled at St Patrick’s School have the right to feel safe and be safe. The safety and wellbeing of children in the school’s care will always be our first priority and the school will not tolerate child abuse. The school will create a child-safe and child-friendly environment where children are free to enjoy life to the full without any concern for their safety. Particular attention is paid to the most vulnerable children and young people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, those from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, children with a disability, children who are unable to live at home, international students, and LGBTQIA+ students. The full policy can be accessed via our school’s website: https://spnhill.catholic.edu.au/policies-procedures

The school’s Child Safety Officer is the Principal, Mr Kingsley Dalgleish.

All parents and volunteers that are onsite when students are onsite, or attend school events, are required to hold a Working with Children Check (WWCC) and sign the school’s Child Safety Code of Conduct. If we do not have a current copy of your WWCC, please present your card to the office for photocopying. We will endeavour to get all families to sign the code of conduct in the very near future.

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and well-being and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures, and practices. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, please contact the Principal either by phone or email principal@spnhill.catholic.edu.au

SchoolTV

Friendship & Belonging

“The ability to obtain, maintain and retain friendships is, according to all the childhood psychologists in the whole wide world, the greatest predictor of wellbeing. Having a rich repertoire of friends is a true indicator of whether your child is travelling ok.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

SchoolTV - Friendship and Belonging

SchoolTV

Reminders

Parent Access Module PAM / SIMON Everywhere

The Parent Access Module PAM (SIMON Everywhere) 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

Nhill College Bus Notes

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.