St Patrick's School Camperdown eNewsletter

Our Prayer

From the Principal

Dear parents, carers and community members,

We are nearing the end of a very long first term of school for 2022. It has been a time of increased opportunities and freedoms as we learn to operate as normally as possible in a very abnormal environment. The prevalence of covid in the school is still a challenge for students, staff and families and we will continue to take measures to limit transmission. We are asked to continue to limit the number of adults on site, however, if you have an important issue to discuss with your child's teacher, please call the school office to organise a time to meet. You are asked to come through the front entrance to share your vaccine certificate with our office staff before heading to the classroom.

Staffing Update

We have a number of changes to staff at St Patrick’s at the moment. Nora Bone has commenced long service leave this week and will be away from her position in FDB for an extended period of time. Sharna Anderson finished working at our school last Friday and we are seeking replacement staff for both of these positions. Sara Pope has also decided to finish up at St Patick's at the end of this term to focus on other elements of her life. We thank Sara for her dedication over the last 10 years and wish all ladies the best for the future.

Woolworths Offer

We have had an offer from Woolworths to supply free ingredients for parents to cook some meals that can be kept in our Food Bank at school for needy families in our community. We are asking for a parent to volunteer to coordinate this initiative and to liaise with Woolworths and our parents to get the idea off the ground. If you are able to help, please contact the school office.

Bus Travel

Over the last few weeks there have been some instances of inappropriate behaviour on our school buses and we have dealt with each individually with the children and their families. We have also spoken to all our bus travellers as a group, reinforcing our expectations on the bus and the consequences of not following these. We ask parents to support this by discussing at home what safe and courteous behaviour looks like when we are travelling to school.

Sports Carnival - March 25th

Last Friday, we held our school athletics carnival for all children, it was a great day and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Thank you to the Mercy students who helped run the events on the day, also to Leah Cheeseman, Steve Sinnott, Jo Lillie, Laura Woodmason, and Shari McConachy who's help was much appreciated as well. A big thank you to the grade 1 parents who ran the canteen and provided lunch for all.

32 students will head off to District Aths this coming Friday, at the Frederick St Oval, Camperdown. We wish them well for their day. We will require parent helpers, so please phone the office if you can help on the day, thank you

Congratulations to Harry Sinnott for producing a new school record in the 200m sprint event, Harry completed the run in 32.82 seconds!

Congratulations also to Nazareth House for being overall winners on the day and congratulations to all age champions.

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day this year falls on the Monday of the first week of Term 2. As this is a public holiday, school will resume on Tuesday the 26th of April. The children are invited to join the march as a school at 10.30am at the war memorial. Students are asked to wear their school uniform and gather as a group around our school banner.

The RSL have, once again, provided us with ANZAC badges and items for the children to purchase. Our school captains will take these to the classrooms in the final weeks of this term.

Easter Raffle

Our much anticipated Easter Raffle will be held Thursday April 7th, the last day of term 1 for children. The raffle tickets were sent home last week and we are already receiving sold books back at the office. We ask those families who are yet to supply eggs to drop them in at the office this week. The Easter Raffle is one of our major fundraisers for the year and is a highlight for the children.

SAC Meeting

We will hold our second SAC meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday the 29th of March. The meeting will be at school beginning at 7:30pm.

School Closure Day

We will have a school closure day on Friday 8th of April, where staff will work through professional development training opportunities. This means that Thursday the 7th of April will be the students last day of term and will conclude at the normal time of 3.15pm. Last day of Term 1 1

Transition Opportunity

Next Monday the 4th of April Mercy Regional College are offering an opportunity for parents to pick up their Grade 5/6 child from school and visit the Noorat campus where there are staff available to run tours of the facility and view the school in operation. Tours will run between 2:30pm and 4:30pm. If you wish to take up this offer, please contact the school office.

Catholic School Culture

Confirmation

Please continue to pray for the children who are preparing to make the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday 29th of April at 6pm; Alexis Barake, Millie Bourke, Brodie Burkett, Theo Cheeseman, Matthew Cridland, Tommy Fox, Isabelle Gordon, Alexander Huggins, Lucy Kleinhenz, Max Lucas, Abby Mulholland, Liam Pascoe, Evie Wagner, Flynn Wagner, Clancey Wagner, Sydney Wagner. Notes for these children were due back at school on Friday - if you missed this deadline, please get it in asap. Thanks.

Project Compassion (4th Week of Lent)

Caritas Australia are working with Caritas Ukraine to provide support in the form of food security; water, sanitation and hygiene; shelter, health care outreach and education support for the most vulnerable during the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.

This week through Project Compassion we learn about Rosalie, who lives with her husband and seven children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Forced to join the army when she was just 15-years-old, Rosalie experienced significant trauma and hardship during her years in the military. After she was demobilised from the army, Rosalie, like other ex-combatants, was left to fend for herself in the community.

With your generous support and through Caritas Australia's partners, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and Caritas Bukavu, Rosalie was able to connect with other members of her community and participate in business skills training to help her to reintegrate into society.

She joined a savings group which helped her with a loan to start her own small business selling second-hand shoes and natural remedies.

“I can eat, dress, maintain my health and help others. My children study and manage to eat twice a day. I have learnt to work hand-in-hand with other members of the community. Really, there is more joy in sharing with others.” - Rosalie

Watch a short film about Rosalie’s story here.

Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au or send in coins to the donation boxes at school – thank-you!

Parish Bulletin

4th_SUNDAY_of_LENT_27_03_2022.pdf

NAPLAN

The annual NAPLAN Testing for Grade 3 and 5 will take place this year in May. Students will once again complete Writing, Reading Comprehension, Literacy Conventions and Numeracy assessments.

Thursday 24th March was a nation wide Coordinated Practice Test Day. Grade 3 and 5 participated in an Omnibus Practice Test online (a combination of literacy and numeracy questions), whilst Grade 5 also participated in a Writing Practice Test online. Parents can view the format on this website https://nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

Below is information for parents. If your child is in Grades 3 or 5 please read and if you have questions which need clarifying contact your child's teacher or Mel Fox .

naplan.pdf

Resilience Project

Through our work with The Resilience Project they are providing more with Project+. This year Project+ will focus on supporting the wellbeing of parents and carers.

Parent_Carers.pdf