Term 4 - Week 6

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

The term is quickly flying by, it’s the end of Week 6 already! We are very excited about our Rainbow Run tomorrow and fingers crossed the weather holds out for us. Our BBQ lunch will start at 12pm so please come along to celebrate as a school community.

Mrs Liz Walker is very busy preparing the students for our Christmas carols on Friday 1^st December. I have heard a whisper that Santa will be making a special appearance! Make sure you check the flyers in the newsletter and on Facebook for details of upcoming events.

Today we had another great morning with our Kinder 2024 students for their 3^rd visit to St Patrick’s. Their last visit this year will be for the Buddy Picnic on Thursday 30^th November. Our Year 4 students are doing a marvellous job helping their little buddies settle into the school environment.

It is a very busy time of year for everyone so please take some time out to connect with family and friends.

Have a wonderful weekend and great week ahead.

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Welcome

Our enrolments continue to grow! This week we warmly welcomed the Keller family- Rebekah, Seth, Braxton (Year 2) and Koda (Kinder) to our school community.  Thank you for choosing St Pat’s!

Other upcoming events

Term 1 Week 7

Term 1 Week 8

Message from RE Coordinator

Year 5 Leadership Day

Next Wednesday 22^nd November, Year 5 students from the three parish schools will gather at St Patrick’s Primary School for a leadership formation day in preparation for their Year 6 leadership in 2024. 

The program forms the students in servant leadership.  Servant leadership is about leadership for others.  It’s about focusing on the positive impact we can make, rather than on what we get out of it for ourselves.  It is about making a contribution, lifting other people and doing good.  Often, this will come without recognition. Servant leaders use their strength for others.  It is not about power and control. It is about influence and service.

This program focuses specifically on building upon students understanding of ‘servant leadership,’ which is grounded in the life and mission of Jesus Christ.  This formation opportunity enables all participants to engage in dialogue with their peers, work in a team, and builds confidence in the leadership space.  Through the activities and content, students will gain a deeper understanding of teamwork, leadership and commitment.

Wishing Tree

As we enter the festive season, it is important to remember that not all families in our local area are as fortunate and may be struggling over the Christmas break.  The Swansea Vinnies Conference assists many families in a number of different ways.  To assist the conference, we are setting up a Wishing Tree for families to donate small gifts that can be given to these families at Christmas.  If you would like to donate a gift, we ask that it be wrapped, with a label indicating the gender and the intended age range.  Gifts can be placed under the Christmas tree in the office.  Thank you for your support of this initiative

Mr Daniel Lockwood
RE Coordinator

Assistant Principal Message

Rememberance Day

At 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month each year we remember the moment in 1918 when World War I came to an end. On Remembrance Day, we remember Australian men and women who have served in war and peacekeeping activities. Remembrance Day does not glorify war – it honours the memory of all those who laid down their lives for Australia. As a mark of respect to those who have served, we stop to observe one minute’s silence. This year marks the 105 Anniversary of the Armistice, which ended the First World War.   

Last Saturday, two of our Year 6 students, Elijah Munster and Alana Lackey, represented our school at the Remembrance Day service held at Swansea RSL. Elijah read beautifully and both students reverently placed a wreathe to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Thank you to Elijah and Alana for representing St Pat’s so respectfully, and their families for generously giving up their time.

Vivace - 2023 

ASPIRE CONCERT BAND are hosting the first Concert Band showcase featuring Primary and Secondary school bands from across the Diocese.  

WHEN: Friday 24th November 

TIME: 6pm 

WHERE: Newcastle City Hall 

290 King Street Newcastle 

BOOK ONLINE AT: Civic Theatre Newcastle 

Mrs Janine Schneider
Acting Assistant Principal

Save the Date

From the Diverse Learners Team

Learning Support – Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

DLD is a brain difference that makes talking and listening difficult. It is 50 times more prevalent than hearing impairment and five times more prevalent than autism (McGregor, 2020).  The disability affects 7.5% of grade 1 children. Teachers, need to know about this hidden but common disability because, in a class of 30, two children will have DLD (Norbury et al., 2016).

A person with DLD may struggle to follow instructions (i.e. “Before you get your English book out, put your pencil case on the desk”) and use shorter and simpler sentences when speaking (i.e. “She kick ball” instead of “She kicked the ball”).  They are six times more likely to have reading difficulties and four times more likely to struggle with math. (Young et al., 2002)  This can lead to low self-esteem or behaviour concerns.

People with DLD are as intelligent as their peers, but may experience difficulties with:

• understanding instructions
• answering questions
• learning new words
• putting words together to speak in sentences
• reading
• writing sentences
• playing with others

In the classroom, we can make adjustments such as 'chunking' information (presenting it in small parts), checking in with the student to make sure they understand, repeating instructions and supporting them with visuals (dot points, pictures, graphic organisers).  It might also mean that students get a variety of options in how to present their learning – not just through writing, but use of technology, graphics, role play or models.  If your child needs the support of a speech therapist, we will use any recommendations that these experts can provide to improve learning for students who may have a language difficulty.  Sharing reports and feedback from a speech pathologist is part of building a strong team around the child.

For more information, visit Developmental Language Disorder | DLD (thedldproject.com)

Mrs Simes
Learning Support Teacher

Aboriginal Education – Bahtahbah excursion

Some of our Aboriginal students enjoyed a highly informative and FUN excursion to Bahtahbah Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Our workshop leader, Kentan Proctor, invited a student to do the Acknowledgement of Country and Cooper did an amazing job. The teachers were so proud of him!

Uncle Kentan taught us all about Indigenous artefacts and their uses, how they are made, where they originated and what materials are used. We were privileged to touch and hold some stone artefacts that were tens of thousands of years old – even with fingerprint indentations from thousands of years of use!

Next, Aunty Carol taught us all how to weave a simple bracelet. Everyone learned quickly and made a beautiful accessory to take home, but Miss Harvey and Lucas showed particular talent!

Finally, Uncle Kentan showed us around the bush tucker garden. We learned so much about how different parts of plants were traditionally used. Kentan even told us his special recipe of lemon myrtle and native ginger tea for when he’s feeling a bit off. The students were delighted to taste some of the plants: dianella berries and the fruits of the pig face plant (karkalla) were the greatest hits.

We are so grateful to Uncle Kentan and Aunty Carol and Bahtahbah for sharing their knowledge, wisdom and resources with us. We are hoping to keep building our relationship with them, to expose all of our students (and staff) to more learning about this Country on which we live, work and play.

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Mrs Anne Turner
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Year 3 News

This term the Year 3 students have been piloting a new Religious Education curriculum for the Catholic Schools Office.  This new curriculum is a wonderful opportunity for the children to engage in Religious Education in a new and exciting way. Through this experience it is hoped that the children will encounter the Good News of Jesus Christ in a way that is relevant to their understandings and experiences.

This module is about students learning to be aware of God’s presence in their lives. They have learned about prayer as the "mysterious encounter", the listening and conversing, between God and people. The students have been invited to deepen their relationship with God and with others through prayer. Over the coming weeks, students will learn about how Catholics celebrate the presence of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and learn about the liturgical season of Advent as a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus into our world.

During our English studies, the students have been reading and exploring the narrative structures of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox.  The students have been investigating the characterisation techniques that Roald Dahl uses in his writing and attempting to apply in their own writing.

Mathematics has been stretching our minds, as we have been learning about fractions, what they are, the parts of fractions and how they are used in the real-world context.  We have been playing maths games that help us develop our understanding of how fractions are parts of a whole and how several parts make a whole.

In preparation for Year 4 music, the students have started to explore the ukulele.  They are very excited to learning a new instrument.

Mr Daniel Lockwood & Mrs Liz Walker
Year 4 Teacher

Library News

We are lucky to have so many beautiful books in our library. Many of these books are displayed to celebrate and commemorate the special events happening in our World.

We are happy to see all of the children borrowing each week. Borrowing will finish for the year in Week 8, Tuesday 28^th November.

Book Club

Issue 8 is going home this week.  There are some great books as well as stationery and small toy items.

If any items in your order are Christmas presents, don't forget to mark the order as a gift.  When marked as a gift, we contact you when orders are ready to arrange a sneaky collection rather sending it home with students and potentially spoiling a surprise.

Order on LOOP by Monday 4^th December.

Karen Devlin and Penelope Hale
Library Teacher and Library Assistant

Sport News

Pathways Sport

Congratulations to Tyla Hope and Cooper Brown who have both progressed to Diocesan Trials for Tennis and Basketball respectively. We wish them the very best of luck in their upcoming trials!

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. 

Upcoming Event Stage 1

Years 1 and 2 are registered to participate in a League Tag Gala Day at Parbury Park, Swansea on Wednesday 22^nd of November. The day will be about fun and sportsmanship, our youngest players are sure to have a ball! Please find further details and consent form on Compass.

Weekend Sports Star

Last weekend Khloe and Ruby Hansen competed in the Ninja Parc National Championships in Newcastle. Both girls completed 3 gruelling rounds against male and female competitors in the 7-10yrs age group. They put in a huge effort and their hard work paid off with Khloe achieving 1^st place with the highest number of points and Ruby 3^rd. Ruby also achieved fastest time on course. Their achievements were even reported on NBN news! Congratulations Khloe and Ruby!

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 News

Please join us for our AGM & Final P&F meeting for 2023 on Monday December 4th at Swansea RSL at 6pm.

All positions of our 2023 committee will be declared vacant and be up for re-election on the night for the 2024 year!

We welcome anyone who is keen to be a part of the planning & events we hold throughout the year to come along and take part or share ideas on ways we can help our school, students & community in 2024.

If you can’t make it, but would like to take part, information will be sent out via compass in coming weeks about nominations & voting for committee members.

With only a couple of more events left this year, on behalf of the 2023 committee we Thank every single person & volunteer who has helped make this year an incredible success for our school & students.

Christmas Family Night

Recipe Book

Canteen

Uniforms

Uniform Shop Coordinator URGENTLY NEEDED

We are currently seeking interest for a uniform shop coordinator. The uniform shop hours are flexible and can be changed to work in with your busy schedule.

If you have any good condition preloved uniforms please send them in to the office, we would be most grateful.

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.

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

Thank you 
Natalie

Office News

School fees are to be finalised no later than the 30th November.  Please ensure your regular payments will have your fees paid in full by this date.

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

Volunteering at St Patrick's

We have many events still planned for the remainder of the year.  Please get in early and register so you won't be dissappointed in missing out.

If you would like to register to volunteer at St Patrick's, can you please complete the "Volunteer Registration Form" by clicking on the link here. 

St Patrick's will be notified by the Catholic Schools Office once you are cleared to volunteer.

If you are unsure if you have clearance, please email the office at admin@swansea.catholic.edu.au to enquire.

Community Notices