St Patrick's Primary School Swansea eNewsletter

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy Week 6!

Life at St Pat’s continues to be going at full speed. This week has been particularly busy with visitors to our school. On Wednesday we welcomed Lisa Tierney, Chief Operating Officer and about 11 CSO and Shared Services staff for our Annual School visit. The visit is designed to gain a clear understanding of our improvement journey together and to ensure alignment of all support services provided to schools by the Diocese. The day was very positive and productive. It was a wonderful opportunity to share the great things that are happening at St Pat’s from parent engagement, enrolments, technology, Catholic Identity, property, to student learning and wellbeing. The team visited every classroom and were impressed with the warm welcome given to them by our students. Our unique setting also left our visitors quite amazed. I did try hard to promote the benefits of a school jetty!

Today Bishop Michael visited St Pat’s on his tour of the East Lakes Parishes. Bishop Michael met with staff over recess before chatting to the students. Some of our Year 6 students proudly took Bishop Michael on a tour of our school.

Next week is shaping up to be even busier with school photos, Father’s Day stall, breakfast and liturgy, Kinder 2024 interviews, an art incursion and a visit from Yasmin Catley with our Stage 3 leading up to their Canberra excursion in Week 8.

On Sunday with have two teams of students from Years 4, 5 and 6 participating in Tournament of Minds. We wish Cooper Brown, Billie Joyce, Bethany Newell, Imogen Walker, Sophie Hill, Sienna Parker, Chelsea Wilks, Jack Ayshford, Aiden Bowmaker, Arielle Chestney, Shyanna Henderson, Ashley Newell, Sienna Reddie and Lukah Thornton all the very best! Huge thank you to Mrs Liz Walker and Miss Wiseman for the massive support they have given to the students in the lead up to the tournament.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Photo Day

A newsfeed reminder went out yesterday about School Photos on MONDAY. Students need to be dressed in their full winter uniform. Please order photos through the Compass Portal. Sibling photos are also available to order through Compass and must be ordered  before midnight prior to photo day.

Ordering Photos

Your 2023 school photos are now ready to order through the Compass Portal. To place your order, make sure you have your login details handy!

Click here to get started!

Once you've logged in, you'll need to follow a few easy steps!

Click here for our simple, online ordering guide.

Please remind your child that they are having their photos taken. If they are having a sibling photo, all siblings will need to be ready for their photo at the allocated time set by the school.

Please note that after 11/09/2023 an archive fee of $20.00 will apply.

If you have any questions regarding the photography service or packages available for purchase, please contact our friendly team on 02 4966 8292 or by email orders.hcc@msp.com.au

Get your smiles ready!

Father’s Day Stall

Our Father’s Day Stall will be held Monday 28th August. Students will be able to purchase gifts between $2 and $5. CASH ONLY.

Father’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy

Don’t forget our St Patrick’s Father’s Day Breakfast is on Friday 2nd October from 8:00am. Please RSVP on our QKR app.

We hope all our dads and grandads will be able to stay for our Father’s Day Liturgy following breakfast.

Welcome

This week we warmly welcomed two new members to the St Patrick’s community. Mrs Penelope Hale joins us as Library Assistant replacing Mrs Fiona Phillips who recently retired. Year 6 numbers continue to grow with the arrival of Enakie. We sincerely hope Mrs Hale and Enakie feel welcomed and enjoy their time at St Pat’s.

Disco & Parent Engagement Evening

A disco for the students is planned for Tuesday 12th September from 5.30pm - 7.00pm to accompany a parent engagement opportunity on Smiling Minds and ESafety. Futher information to come.

Spring Fair Flyers

Preparations for the Spring Fair are well and truly underway. Congratulations and thanks to all our families including our students who delivered approximately 5000 flyers throughout the community. Excitement is building!

Term 3 Week 7

Term 3 Week 8

Inservice Day

A reminder that the school will be closed for an Inservice Day on Friday 8th September.

Attendance

If you are planning a holiday during school terms and the duration is 10 school days or more you are required to submit and application for extended leave prior to travelling.

Message from RE Coordinator

Welcome Bishop Michael

Today we welcomed Bishop Michael to St Patrick’s. The students were excited to meet our new Bishop to the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese. Bishop Michael was able to talk to the students about his childhood, early career as a Teacher and his role as the Bishop of Maitland/Newcastle Diocese.

We would like to thank Bishop Michael for taking the time out of his busy schedule to introduce himself to our school community. He will be saying mass over the weekend at the usual Parish services. I encourage each family to attend one of the masses and introduce yourself to the bishop.

Father’s Day Liturgy

On Friday 1^st September, we will be celebrating our fathers or significant male figures in our lives with a breakfast and liturgy.

For this special event we would like to put together a photo presentation of our students with their grandparents. If you would like to send in a photo, please email directly to: Daniel.lockwood@mn.catholic.edu.au no later than Monday 28th August.

To ensure that all photos are received, a receipt email will be sent acknowledging the delivery of your photos. If you don’t receive a receipt email within 48hrs of sending your photo, can you please contact the school office.

Mr Daniel Lockwood
RE Coordinator

Save the Date

27th August Tournament of the Mind Competition
28th August School Photos
28th August Father's Day Stall
30th August Art Incursion
1st September Father's Day Breakfast 7:30am, Liturgy 9am
4th September P&F Meeting 6pm
4th September Year 6 Religions Literacy Test
5-7th September Stage 3 Canberra Excursion
8th September PUPIL FREE DAY
13th September Kinder 2024 Parent Information Night 6pm
15th September Kinder Excursion
16th September Spring Fair
22nd September Last day of Term 3
9th October First day of Term 4

From the Diverse Learners Team

Gifted Education – Regional Public Speaking Competition

Last Thursday, Jude, Imogen and Blake represented St Patrick’s at the Lakes Region Public Speaking competition. Mrs Walker reported back that ‘they all did so well and were wonderful representatives of the school.’ The Stage 1 topic was ‘favourite things’ and Jude did a great job.

The Stage 2 impromptu topic was ‘recycling’ and the prepared speech was on ‘sport’. Imogen was the Stage 2 winner, and Mrs Walker thought ‘Blake must have been very close to placing. I thought he was excellent and was surprised he didn’t medal. He spoke so strongly and had a wonderful presence.’

Huge congratulations to all three finalists.

Learning Support – Learning difficulties v learning disabilities

Many students find it difficult to learn the foundational skills for successful reading, writing or number achievement. While these students don’t necessarily need a different way of learning, they do require many more exposures and repeated practice - some may need 20 times more practice, yet others might need 100 times before they have mastered the skill.

The following information is taken from the AUSPELD parent guide https://uldforparents.com/

A Learning difficulty may occur because of a number of factors impacting the student that is making learning hard, e.g.

English as a second language or dialect (ESL or ESD);
high absenteeism;
sensory impairment (weaknesses in vision or hearing);
severe behavioural, psychological or emotional issues;
ineffective instruction; or, inadequate curricula.

These children have the potential to achieve at age-appropriate levels once provided with programs that incorporate appropriate support and evidence-based instruction.

A Learning disability is where students have unexpected and persistent difficulties in specific areas and that the difficulty continues to exist, despite appropriate instruction and intervention.

Children with a learning disability:

have underlying difficulties in a key academic skill which have a lifelong impact;
do not perceive or process information as efficiently or accurately as children without a learning disability;
often have a family member with learning difficulties;
do not respond to appropriate intervention in the expected way;
do not have an intellectual disability and may have highly developed competencies in numerous areas.

These students all benefit from

high-quality, evidence-based programs and teaching strategies, including explicit instruction and dual coding (the simultaneous presentation of verbal and visual information).
More time and repetition to master skills

We use a number of evidence-based programs at St Patrick’s, including InitiaLit in Kindergarten to Year 2 (whole class), MiniLit and MacqLit as small group interventions, Reading Freedom, and Phonics UK to name a few. If you are concerned about the progress of your child, please speak with their class teacher. Homework can be one of the key strategies for providing the practice children need to build their reading, writing and number skills.

Mrs Simes
Learning Support Teacher

Library News

We had wonderful celebrations to mark Book Week at our school. We had Kirrili Lonergan, a local illustrator, come to the school and run some workshops with the students.

Our week culminated with a beautiful celebration which included the Book Parade, Grandparent’s liturgy and morning tea, science exhibitions and the Book Fair. Thank you to all the families who supported our Fair, we earned a generous commission which will be used to build our library collection.

"Persuasive Writing Adventures, Young Scientists/Mathematicians and a new friend: A Peek into Year 1's Learning..!"

The past few weeks in Year 1 have been filled with exciting learning journeys and wonderful connections. Our young learners have been diving into the world of persuasive writing. After reading the book 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,' they embarked on a creative adventure to write their own stories titled 'Don't Let the Pigeon Fly the Plane.' They did a wonderful job and came up with some very clever, funny and creative examples of persuasive techniques! Year 1 were so proud of their work and excitedly shared their stories with Kindergarten during fruit break time.

Year 1 learners have been exploring the fascinating world of 'living things.' They've embraced the role of caretakers with great dedication, nurturing their grass heads and observing the incredible growth of our silk worms. The silk worms have been on a hearty diet of mulberry leaves, resulting in remarkable growth that has left our young scientists in awe!

Our little mathematicians have also been working very hard to form, regroup, rename numbers to a thousand using place value and use counting sequences of ones and tens flexibly.

Welcoming a new member to our learning family! Year 1 have shown beautiful St Patrick’s spirit in the way they have welcomed Mrs Hanrahan to the class. Mrs Hanrahan will be with us for 3 more weeks and has some exciting learning experiences planned for the students.

Mrs Stewart
Year 1 Teacher

Sport News

Matildas Fever!

What a supportive group of soccer fans our students are! Last Wednesday St Pat’s wore green and gold to support the history making Matildas in their World Cup semi-final. Throughout the day students participated in soccer games and penalty shootouts and wrote messages of support to the Matildas on a graffiti wall.

Even though the Matildas didn’t come away with the win, it is easy to tell that the children at St Patrick’s have been inspired by their heroic efforts.

Go Matildas!

Stage 2 has been invited to participate in the Lakes Region Mixed Netball Gala Day on Thursday 7^th of September. Thank you to all the families that responded. We’re looking forward to the event!

Pathways Sport

Catholic Schools NSW offers many sporting pathway opportunities for talented athletes. If your child is an aspiring athlete, you might like to familiarise yourself with the CSNSW Sport web page here: https://csnsw.sport/

Sport information specific to our Diocese can be found on the Maitland Newcastle Diocese tile on the CSNSW Sport page https://csnsw.sport/maitland-newcastle/primary/home

Any registrations on these pages must first be approved.

Weekend Sports Star

If your child is a Weekend Sports Star or extra curricular activity, please email details and a photo to claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au so we can celebrate their success in our next newsletter.

Mrs Claire Browne
Sports Coordinator

P&F

Spring Fair

Our Spring Fair planning is on full motion at the moment with the count down to the event just 3 weeks away!

Thankyou to everyone who took the time to complete our online survey, it has been a huge help collating all the information regarding donations and time everyone is willing to give. Also a big Thank You to everyone who walked around our local area doing letterbox drops. We’ve had some amazing feedback from other members within our community.

We are finalising all of the information received from the survey, and an email will be sent out by the end of this weekend with a full roster for our volunteers required for the day. It’s still not too late to offer your time as we have a number of vacancies available to run our stalls from 11 am until 2 pm. Please email StPatricksPF1@gmail.com if you are also able to assist on the day. Grandparents, mums, dads etc are all welcome to help out!

We are seeking donations of the following if you are able to assist

- Share packs of chocolate eg freddos, Mars bars etc

- plastic table cloths & party decorations (left over/recycled decorations also welcome!)

- small prizes ie pencils, rubbers etc to be given as prizes

If you’re able to assist with any of these items, we ask that they are put in the bright green bin located in the front entry of the office by Friday September 8th. This will allow our committee to collate anything extra we may need to buy.

We are also seeking Cake Stall donations (which are required to be handed in the day before) cake boxes will be sent home the week of the spring fair for you to fill and return.

If you haven’t seen it yet, we have created an event on the St Patricks Facebook page which you can follow along to see what’s happening on the day. We have some great market stalls and entertainment lined up! Please share with all your friends!

There will also be drawing a Matt Hall racing gift voucher at 1 pm on the day of our spring fair. Tickets are $10 each with all profits made going directly back into our school! Tickets can be purchased from now on Qkr! Or on the day. They will also be available this Friday at our Father’s Day breakfast and every other day from the front office.

P&F news

Our next P&F meeting will be held on Monday, September 4th at 6 pm in the school library. We would love to have as many people as possible come along as term four is looking like a big term for our committee with the exciting events we have planned for our school and we would love to have you join in planning these with us! This meeting is also available to watch via zoom. Children are always welcome to come along also.

In the meantime if you ever need to reach out to our committee you can do so by emailing the following..

P&F executive
Stpatrickspf1@gmail.com

Treasurer
StPatsPFTreasurer1@gmail.com

Canteen
StPatscanteen1@gmail.com

Uniforms
Stpatricksuniformshop1@gmail.com

Thanks Everyone

Elise Moncrieff
President
On behalf of St Patrick’s P&F committee

Raffle

Who wants to win something exhilerating!? Our P&F Committee are excited to give some lucky person the chance to win a Matt Hall Racing Joy Flight gift voucher worth $489!Tickets are $10 each and are on sale now via Qkr! to everyone in our school community. …See more

Canteen

Uniforms

The uniform shop is open on each Monday during the school term from 2.00pm - 3.00pm.

Orders can be placed on the QKR app. The cut-off for orders is 12pm on Monday.

Leisha and Natalie can be contacted via email at stpatricksuniformshop1@gmail.com to answer any questions or to make alternate fitting arrangements.

Thank you
Leisha & Natalie

Office News

For those that have settled their fees in full we thank you for your ongoing support. For families whose fees are in arrears, we request prompt payment. Please continue to make your nominated payments to be fully finalised by the 30th November 2023.

Our preferred method of payment is either BPay or direct debit. For Fee Payers wishing to establish a new Direct Debit, or adjust their existing direct debit, please complete the form on the Catholic Development Fund website www.CDFmn.com.au.

For those families experiencing financial hardship, or wishing to discuss other payment arrangements, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment with the Principal.

Schools will now commence the school fee management process if there has been no contact with school office or no initial payment received.

An event for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution has been created, this is a voluntary fee that assists the Diocesan Pastoral Support Programs, you can elect to pay or decline via the Compass Parent Portal.

Rachelle McKenzie
Senior School Officer