Newsletter 26/02/2024 Term 1 Week 5

Our Prayer

From the Principal

Dear parents and carers,

Swimming lessons conclude for Grade 3 to 6  today. The carnival last Friday was a wonderful day with children enjoying the opportunity to compete and have fun in the water. Well done Tom on coordinating the day and to all the staff and parents who helped with the many aspects of the day. Our Grade 5 students are getting excited about going on camp this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It is a busy, fun-filled agenda and we pray for a safe and enjoyable experience for all. 

Bushfire Threat

With the severe weather conditions forecast for tomorrow, we are closely monitoring the fire danger rating. If they are elevated from the current "Extreme" to "Catastrophic" it will impact on bus travel to and from school and our Grade 5 camp. We will keep parents informed of any changes in light of the weather conditions tomorrow.

P.A.M Outage

Our Parent Access Module app is undergoing considerable maintenance and will be offline for some time yet. If you need to let us know about student illness or absences, please call the office directly. We will inform you when the service is back online.

LEARNING AND TEACHING

Production News (Save the Date)

Our production this year will be held in the final week of Term 2. The venue will be the Mercy stadium and the performances will be on the following dates:-

Matinee - Tuesday 25th June
Evening 1 - Wednesday 26th June
Evening 2 - Thursday 27th June

If you intend to be away on these dates for any reason, please contact the school office.

3-6 Swimming Program & Carnival

Our Grade 3-6 Swimming Program concludes today.

Our Swimming carnival was a great success on Friday.  Congratulations to our age champions;

9 year old              Female -  Ruby G                            Male - Joshua Mc

10 year old            Female - Emma L                           Male - William S

11 year old             Female - Essi M                               Male - Liam P

12 year old            Female - Etti G                                Male - Harry S

Grade 5 Portsea Camp

Our Grade 5 Portsea Camp will be held this week, on Wednesday the 28th,  Thursday the 29th of February & Friday the 1st March.

Three notes have been sent home to all of our participating families already so if you have missed any of these, please contact the school office.

St Patrick's Day Picnic

We are excited to be hosting a family picnic on Friday 15th of March to celebrate our patron saint, St Patrick. The actual feast is Sunday 17th of March. The picnic will be from 6pm to 7pm on the school grounds, so save the date and join in an afternoon of fun and community connection.

The Week Ahead

Teaching and Learning at St Pat's

Wellbeing

CATHOLIC SCHOOL CULTURE

Parish Bulletin

LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

Outside School Hours Care

St Patrick's School  and TheirCare are seeking interest in a Before & After Care Program to commence mid 2024. The program would run at school and would include a range of fun activities with a healthy breakfast and afternoon tea provided. It is expected the average out-of-pocket expense will be less than $3.00 after government subsidies. Could you please help us determine the viability of the service by responding to the questions below.

Change to School SMS number

A notification has been sent to all contacts with an updated phone number for SMS notifications sent from school. This is only for SMS messages sent from the school to you, you can reply on this number but it can not be used for phone calls. The school landline number remains the same, so for any phone communication please contact us on 55931962. 

Meet Your SAC Members

We begin 2024 with a new-look School Advisory Council with 3 new members joining the group. This is a brief biography and photo of the whole team. Our next SAC meeting will be held on Tuesday 5th of March.

Xan Colman (Chair)

I am a director and producer in the performing arts, and a strategic consultant working across corporate and community sectors. My practice background is in law and languages. My daughter Scout is in Grade 5 at St Pats, and my son Juri is due to start Prep in 2025. Together with my partner Tamara we are based on the family farm up at Lismore. The SAC is an important forum for parent input into school governance, to which I’ve been pleased to contribute since 2021.

Andre Martin (New)

Grateful to be a part of the SAC, I look forward to being more involved with the local community with my spare time. A Parent to Billie-Violet and Jude Martin, residents of Camperdown since 2020 and currently working as a Wind Turbine Technician out at Berry Bank wind farm.

Katie Mahony (New)

Katie and her husband Chris are both Cobden locals now living at Laang with their three boys. Seb their oldest is in Grade 2. Katie is a local lawyer who on her days off enjoys going on adventures with her kids as well as a hot cuppa with a good book.

Ashley Couch (New)

A little bit about me is that I am a father of two - Eleanor (7) and Fred (4). I am married to Sarah and we both have small businesses locally and I also work two days a week at Mercy Regional College as an LSO which I really enjoy. I joined the SAC as I thought it would be a great opportunity to have a positive impact on the school and greater community.

Nicole Foster

I have had five children go through St Patricks, including Bryce who is in grade 6. I am a Registered Nurse in a local hospital, with post graduate studies in Family Violence Prevention. My passions are diversity and inclusion of marginalised people. In my down time I love to be active in nature.

Nina Pasque

Hi, my name is Nina Pasque and I'm mum to Essi (Yr5), Roux (Yr3) & Orla (Yr3). From my Primary School teaching background I feel strongly about Education and Staff & Student Wellbeing. I see being on the School Advisory Council as a privilege and a confidential link between families and the school.

Hollie Theodore

I have a daughter, Charlotte, who is in grade 2. I have worked at St Patrick's since 2020 as an LSO. Through this, I have had the pleasure of working across all areas of the school. I am also a pre-service teacher, studying a Bachelor of Education Primary.

Paula Atkins

A teacher at St Patrick's School since 2007. I have been a classroom teacher at most levels and a specialist teacher in the Library, Science and now STEM subject area. The wonderful thing about being a specialist teacher is the opportunity to build relationships with every child in our school.

Building Program

The capital works project is progressing well as the excavation works to level the block will be complete this week. As yet, the school yard has not been interupted but shortly areas of our playground will need to be fenced off to allow the builders to construct a compound and a track will be built to facilitate the transport of materials to the site. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

P&F Fundraising Events 2024

After our first meeting of the year, the St Patrick’s Parents and Friends have created an outline of the fundraising and community events for the 2024 school year. There has been a change to the structure of events away from just one per year level to two activities for our Junior, Middle and Senior years. Each of these requires some parents from that level to either coordinate or volunteer to help on the day. If you can spare some time for any of the following fundraisers that would be great!

Junior School Activities

1. Easter Raffle - Each family is asked to donate some easter eggs (1 per child) to be made into raffle prizes that are drawn on the last day of 1st term (Thursday 28th March)

Thanks to Claire Harkin who is taking on the role as Co-ordinator. Pru, Laura & Belinda have put up their hands up to be her trusty helpers.

2. Father’s Day Stall - On Friday the 30th of August parents are needed to sell presents to the students to give to  their father’s or significant others on Father’s Day.

I volunteer to be:

The Co-ordinator -

A helper -

Middle School Activities

1. Major Raffle - St Patrick’s is planning to begin an annual raffle to assist with our fundraising needs.

Thanks to Rochelle & Laura who have put their hands up to coordinate this event. We still need some helpers please.

2. Movie Night - We will be hosting a Movie Night to see Minions 4 at the Capital Cinema in Warrnambool on Wednesday 3rd July.

Thanks to Belinda who is coordinating this event. She will need some helpers please.

Senior School Activities

1. Trivia night for an evening of fun and quizzes later in the year.

We still need a co-ordinator.

Thanks to Sarah Dennis who has offered to help so far. We will also need some more helpers please. 

2. Mother’s Day Stall - On Friday the 10th of May parents are needed to sell presents to the students to give to  their mothers or significant others on Mother’s Day.

Thanks to Nina Pasque and Jess Rye for putting their hands up to co-ordinate this event.

They are still in need of some helpers!

If you can help in any of these positions, please contact the school office.

Container Deposit Scheme

We have registered our school for the container deposit scheme that has now commenced in Victoria. The nearest deposit machines are located at Cobden, Timboon, Terang & Warrnambool.

How to claim your refund at a CDS VIC Return Point;

Charity Donation
You can donate some of your 10c refund directly to St Patrick’s School.
You can donate via:
 -the CDS Vic West app
– select your preferred “Charity” as your active payout
– scan your app barcode at the machine
– insert your 10c drink containers and select “Transfer” directly on the screen of the machine when finished. 100% of the donated refund will be transferred to the donation partner you selected within the next 5 to 12 days.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate their birthday this week.

Jobe K, Alice D & Roy T

Community Events

Spriggy Canteen Ordering App

This is the new app to order online from the Mercy canteen. It takes a moment to sign up for the process, however it is quite easy to use. When registering, please search for St Patrick's Primary School, Camperdown and select your child's class.

Parenting 101

Free Parenting Session at 7:30pm on Monday 4th March in an online format. This was to be a session at school but it has moved to an online presentation. Simply scan the QR code below and register for the event. 

Corangamite Lions FC