Newsletter 11/11/2024: Term 4, Week 6

Week 6 Prayer

From the Principal

Greetings everyone and welcome to a new week.

Principal Appointment: This week we will welcome Darren Lloyd to our school to meet staff and our new Foundation students. We look forward to welcoming him to our community.

End of Day Collection Arrangements: A key point of concern for children each day is how they are getting home, when children are unaware of this it can cause great anxiety. A reminder that if your child's usual end of day arrangements change, for example, if they are not to go home on the bus, it is essential that you inform the school of these changes. The easiest way to do this is via the PAM app or via a phone call to the school. If we have not received a notification from you, your child will be required to go home via their normal method.

2025 Foundation Transition Visit: It was brilliant to meet with our newest students and their families over the last week. We look forward to their next day with us on November 14. 

2025 Class Structure: In 2025 we will be operating 11 classes with the following structure, classroom teachers will be assigned to these classes in the next few weeks. 

• 2 Foundation Classes
• 1 Gr One class
• 2 Gr Two Classes
• 3 Grade 3/4 classes
• 3 Grade 5/6 classes

2025 Class Preferences: Class Placement refers to the placement by staff of each child into an appropriate classroom for 2025 based on learning levels and needs, social development, and classroom size.
The guidelines staff use for student placement at St Patrick’s include academic levels, individual social/emotional/behavioural needs and peer relationships. Other practical factors to impact on the placement will include teacher recommendations, class size, groupings available, and a range of abilities in each class group. 

Families are able to contribute to this process by informing the school of any specific requests or thoughts regarding class placement for your child/children. These requests are to be emailed to principal@spcamperdown.catholic.edu.au no later than Monday November 18th. Any considerations provided after this date will not be taken into consideration. 

In all these processes, professional, respectful co-operation and student welfare will be upmost in all our minds; we thank you in anticipation of your considered support. 

Enjoy the week ahead, Ben.

Parent Feedback - We want your Thoughts!

We are asking for parent feedback on the following items. 

Naming of the New Building: As has been tradition in the past, areas of our building have been named and as such, we are open to naming the new building which the Gr 5/6 children will move into shortly. If you have any thoughts regarding this, please feel free to email Ben on principal@spcamperdown.catholic.edu.au

Graduation Celebrations: In previous years, the Graduation ceremony has seen siblings requested not to attend. We are looking at this requirement and asking families for feedback regarding this. If you have an opinion, then please feel free to email Ben on principal@spcamperdown.catholic.edu.au

Student Leadership Positions: For some time now, staff have been discussing the composition of the Student Leadership groups. In the past, positions have been based on gender rather than the best 2 or the best 4. The specific question we are asking is should the positions be based on gender or simply numbers?

Again, we are interested in parent opinions, feedback can be provided to principal@spcamperdown.catholic.edu.au

Permission Reminders

We have a number of school activities coming up including the Grade 3 Camp, Junior Swimming and the Foundation Excursion.

If you have not already done so, can you please log into PAM and give consent for your child/children for these activities.

Can parents also return the junior swimming form that was sent home last week as soon as possible so that groupings can be organised.

Sam Walsh Visit

We were lucky enough to have alumni Sam Walsh who plays for Carlton Football Club come and visit our school last Thursday.

Sam spoke to the Grade 5/6 cohort first, followed by the whole school in the big room. The children had an opportunity to ask some insightful questions to Sam.

We thank Sam very much for his visit to St Patrick's.

Remembrance Day

Monday November 11 is Remembrance Day, our chance to remember and say thank you to all who have served for our country. Today our School Captains have joined the service at the town memorial, whilst our staff and students gathered with those from MRC to pause and reflect. 

Parents & Friends AGM

The Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting will be held tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th of November at the Hampden Hotel commencing at 7pm.

Christmas Disco

Our thanks to the Year 10 students from Mercy Regional College who put on the the Christmas Disco held last Friday- the kids loved every minute of it.

Our thanks to the families for their support of this event. 

Grace Brown Visit

We are lucky enough to have Olympic gold medalist Grace Brown visiting St Patrick's next Friday the 22nd of November. Grace will be here for our school assembly at 2.15pm.

We invite all families to join us!

Nativity Scenes Visit

MAKING A SCENE AT CHRISTMAS is a display of over 100 Christmas Nativities from more than 40 countries.

The nativity scenes will be at our school on display from November 20th - 22nd.

Members of the public are welcome to come and browse the collection on Thursday the 21st of November from 3.30pm until 5.00pm. Entry will be by a gold coin donation.

Children can see and smell real frankincense and myrrh.

• See coins minted around the time the census was called that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.
• See cultural nativities from Australia, Africa, Asia, North & South America, & Europe
• Nativities that prize social justice and the environment

Container Deposit Scheme

This is a friendly reminder that you can donate your money from the cans and bottles you deposit to our school.

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:
1-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.

LEARNING AND TEACHING

The Week Ahead

Wellbeing

Parish Bulletin

CATHOLIC SCHOOL CULTURE

LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

Known Dates

Below is a list of known dates at this stage for the rest of this year.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

TheirCare

Theircare has now commenced at St Patrick's School and it's not too late to enrol.

We are excited to announce that we have now partnered with an independent Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) provider called TheirCare.

TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. During sessions, children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence, and creativity through play-based programs.

For further information, visit www.theircare.com.au or call our support office on 1300 072 410

Community Events

Birthdays

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

Nate P, Charlotte T-L, Bailey F, Sophie P & Rubi B

MRC Car Raffle

Cricket Blast - Pomborneit

Graze the Day