Term 2 - Week 4

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to the Term 2 Week 4 newsletter.

This week marks Catholic Schools Week, a time that recognises and celebrates the distinctive qualities of Catholic education. Catholic schools stand as lively Catholic communities of faith and learning, committed to delivering excellent education that empowers every child to find purpose and meaning in their lives.

The theme for Catholic Schools Week this year is ‘Follow Me!’ This is an invitation to step out of the familiar confines of our personal "boats", the routines and securities we cling to, and embrace a life marked in trust, faithfulness and love. Jesus epitomised serving every individual, irrespective of creed, background, faith, social status or age, demonstrating the compassionate, courageous and forgiving character of our loving God through tangible actions. He didn't merely espouse His faith through words; rather, He lived it out, serving as a perfect example for us to follow Him in our own lives. As a community of St Patrick’s, we strive to strengthen our commitment to serving all those in our community with humble hearts and generous spirits. This week provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our school’s Vision and Mission statements.

OUR VISION STATEMENT: “Learning, loving and serving together through Jesus”.  

OUR MISSION STATEMENT  
We will:  

• Challenge and support one another to succeed through innovative, adaptive and holistic learning. 
• Promote and celebrate the uniqueness of each child as a gift. 
• Embrace our Josephite foundations by seeing a need and always taking action. 
• Acknowledge and honour our indigenous cultures. 
• Serve one another and be generous with love.

St Patrick’s Primary School, Swansea is a proud Catholic school.

Thank you for helping to build our wonderful school community.

Have a great week.

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Welcome

We warmly welcome the Ruhl family – Catherine, Mathew and Billy (Year 5) and the Neupane family – Bijay, Sita and Aayan (Year 6) to the St Pat’s community. Thank you for choosing St Pat’s and we hope you very quickly feel at home.  

Biggest Morning Tea and Coins for a Cure

Today we came together as a serving community to raise money for the Cancer Council through a Biggest Morning Tea and Coins for a Cure Day. Sadly, last year we lost our much-loved crossing supervisor, Mark, to cancer. Many of us have loved ones who have been impacted by cancer and today’s fundraiser helps make a life-changing difference. Thank you to Mark’s wife Karen for hosting the Biggest Morning Tea and for allowing us to help support a great cause.

Congratulations to Imogen Walker for bringing into action her research on ‘giving’ through her Coins for a Cure Day. A beautiful example of seeing a need and doing something about it! Imogen not only raised awareness of the work of the Cancer Council but she also raised $344.60 towards much needed funds.

Winter Uniform

Students will need to be in full winter uniform by the first week in June (Week 6 Monday 3^rd June).

Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Survey

In the coming weeks we will be inviting students, teachers and parents to provide feedback on their experience of our school using an online survey. The surveys are an important part of our whole school evaluation and planning process.

We would like to invite you to complete the Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Partners in Learning survey. As we value the role of parents and carers within our school community we would greatly appreciate your feedback. The information you provide will be used to maintain our commitment to working together in partnership to further improve student learning and wellbeing at St Patrick’s.

The survey is anonymous and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. You are able to access the parent survey on your computer or mobile device by using the URL below:

http://tellthemfromme.com/x9r8y

Attendance Award Feedback

Many thanks for your feedback regarding the Attendance Award. We had 46 people respond to the survey with some similar yet contrasting themes and opinions across each question. The results could not have been more evenly spread. I have provided a sample of the responses that were alike in content and frequency. Not all responses are being provided due to maintaining people’s anonymity. I greatly appreciate and respect the opinions offered and will discuss the feedback with members of the leadership team at the CSO.

The results are as follows:

Similar responses for the question about the positives associated with having an attendance award, included:

• Rewarding students for attendance encourages them to come to school.
• Promoting the importance of attending school for those students who may have a poor record.
• Reinforces that attendance at school and education is important.
• Kids are encouraged to turn up to school/ avoid “fake” sick days plus they learn that they can’t always win an award.
• Creates positive future work ethic and ensures they are not missing important class time work.
• Not just taking days off school for the sake of it. I know of a few examples where days are taken off because people don’t like coming to school in the rain for example.
  

Similar responses for the question about the challenges associated with an attendance award, included:

• It disadvantages or leaves out the children who are physically unwell and can’t or shouldn’t attend school, or those children who take travel (holidays).
• The award encourages children to attend school even when they are sick, which increases the chances of sickness spreading throughout the school and the wider community.
• Sometimes attendance is out of the child's control whether it be family issues, illness or even mental health issues/neurodivergence.
• Some missed days are unavoidable, such as planned doctor visits, surgeries, or unexpected family emergencies. Not receiving the award under these circumstances might be perceived as unfair.
• Exclusion of children who have legitimate or non-negotiable reasons to be absent from school.
• Sometimes the child isn’t the reason they aren’t at school and so this award isn’t a true reflection of the child’s intentions for their attendance.
  

Similar responses for other suggestions, included:

• As an alternative, you could give 80% attendance awards to allow for students who may have a couple of sick days.
• Perhaps the attendance award could be based less on a numerical value e.g. 100% attendance during the term, and rather focused on ‘excellent attendance to the best ability of the child’.
• Maybe an end of year good attendance achievement award.
• Maybe instead of 100% it's over 90%? Or perhaps 100% with no unexplained non-attendance?
• Still give them if they were only absent because they were unwell.
• Award consistent efforts for those struggling in areas over attendance.

Advance Notice

PUPIL FREE DAY - Monday 22nd July.  School resumes for Term 3 Tuesday 23rd July.

Week 5

Week 6

Message from Assistant Principal

3-Way Parent Teacher Conferences

To encourage our students to become more autonomous learners we are focusing on students identifying goals for improving their learning in Mathematics and working to achieve these goals. Through individual conferencing with teachers and teachers providing descriptive feedback, students can clearly understand the next steps in their learning. During Week 10 this term we will hold 3-way conferences (parents, teachers and students) and look forward to hearing our students share their learning goals in Mathematics with you.   

School Athletics Carnival

Our athletics carnival will be held on Monday 3^rd June at Fearnley-Dawes Athletic Track, Newcastle. We would love some parent volunteers to help on the day. If you have your CSO Volunteer Clearance and would like to help, please email Mrs Browne: claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au. Please see the Compass event to give consent for your child to attend the carnival and for detailed information about the day.

Janine Schneider
Assistant Principal & Pedagogical Mentor

Save the Date

From the Diverse Learners Team

Learning Support - NCCD and supporting students

What is the NCCD?

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for students with disability (NCCD) is a Government process that takes place annually in all Australian schools.   It enables schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students and how they can be best supported at school.

‘Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards), Australian students with disability must be able to access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers. To ensure this, students with disability may receive adjustments to access education, based on the professional judgement of teachers, in consultation with the student and/or their parents, guardians or carers.’ (https://www.nccd.edu.au/wider-support-materials/what-nccd)

 Recognising that a child has a disability means that we need to understand how particular students may learn differently.  It means providing adjustments at school that include academic, communication, mobility, safety or social supports to ensure each child can access the curriculum.  The child does not need to have a diagnosis to receive learning support, but it is a legal requirement that we provide adjustments that enable them to learn. 

At St Patrick's, these adjustments are recorded on a Personal Plan or a Learner Profile.  These documents are updated twice a year to reflect any changes in support and are shared with the student’s parents and all teachers.  This is a collaborative process and we value the contributions of parents in helping us to provide the best support for their children.  If you have any concerns around the learning needs of your child, please contact the class teacher who can then make a referral to the Diverse Learners Team if necessary.

Further information about the NCCD, including what information is collected and how it is used, can be found in the Fact sheet for parents, guardians and carers or the links above.

Gifted Education

A group of stage 3 students have been entered for the 2024 Maths Games contests organised by the Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO).  The aim of this program is to develop student understanding of a variety of strategies to promote collaboration, flexibility and creativity in problem solving.  Grounded in the 'real-world' application of problem-solving, the program highlights the fact that there are multiple ways to reach a solution.

Students have already completed the first of four contest papers with a focus on the strategies of 'Guess, Check and Refine' and 'Draw a Diagram'.  Our next set of strategies are ‘find a pattern’ and ‘build a table’, so we will be practicing to solve questions using these strategies through whole class learning and small group collaboration.  Unlike Maths Olympiad , Maths Games do not compete against other schools.  'The primary focus of the program is to build student confidence and allow them to develop their skills in a non-competitive environment' (https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-games-years-5-6/). 

Mrs Jo Simes 
Learning Support Teacher

Mrs Anne Turner & Mrs Karen Devlin
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Library News

Thank you!

A massive thank you to the P&F Committee who generously provided our library with some funding to purchase new books.  The library team chose a mixture of resources that included some of this year’s shortlisted Children’s Book Council of Australia books, gaps we’d noticed in series for example having books 1,3,4 and 6 in a series that needed to be read in order and also some student requests.
Many of these brand new books were borrowed this week with more available for borrowing next week.
Below are just some of the 60 new books made possible by the P&F’s school fundraising efforts and your support of those initiatives.

Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker

This past few weeks we have asked students from K-3 to bring in a small bag of ‘blue things’ from around the house in preparation for National Simultaneous Storytime.

Mrs Devlin read the book to kindergarten and then it was time to get busy decorating some nests with blue items.

Mrs Karen Devlin
Teacher Librarian

Mrs Penelope Hale
Library Assistant

Kindergarten News

Kinder’s ‘Take 10’ Art Exhibition

Kindergarten have been busy this Term, working towards their Maths Goals. This week, they showcased their knowledge of number, shape, line and addition in their ‘Take 10’ Art Exhibition. The Exhibition was a culmination of student learning in Math combined with learnings about collage in Art and a study into the Artist, Theo Van Doesburg.

Kinder were very proud of their efforts and it was wonderful to listen to them explaining their learning to students, staff and families. Thank you to everyone who came along to view the exhibition!

Mrs Claire Browne
Kindergarten Teacher

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Sport News

Athletics Carnival

We are looking forward to our Athletics Carnival at the Fearnley Dawes Athletics Track on Monday the 3^rd of June. Please refer to Compass for further details.

If you are a registered volunteer and able to assist on the day, please indicate in the question section of the Compass Event.

We will not be running a 1500m race or a high jump event at our carnival. If your child turns 8 years or older in 2024 and does these events at Little Athletics, please send me a copy of their official times/heights and they will be added to our system if they qualify for the Regional carnival.  Discus is run only at a Polding level, information regarding Discus will be sent later in the Term. We will inform parents of any students who have progressed for these events. 

Cross Country

Last Wednesday Mrs Ogden and our Cross Country Team Bonnie Anderson, Cooper Ballard-Totten, Alex Batchelor, Neve Bowmaker, Evie Buchanan, Oscar Claydon, Florence DeChamplain Sophie Dunn, Ruby Hansen, Charli Hill, Jude Mulder, Beth Newell, Sienna Parker, Drew Torzillo, Vinnie Walker and Chelsea Wilks, attended the Diocesan Cross Country in Maitland. All of our athletes put in 100% effort and displayed commendable sporting spirit, cheering each other on. Congratulations to Vinnie Walker who came 2^nd in the 8/9yrs Boys event and will now compete at the Polding Cross Country Championships in Sydney.

Tennis

Last week Tyla Hope competed as part of the Polding Team in the NSWPSSA Tennis Tournament, we are extremely proud of his achievements, as were the Polding Team Managers.

I’d like to share some words from Team Manager, Adam Foley:

Tyla is to be commended for the fantastic way that he played tennis, singles and doubles and the excellent sportsmanship he showed whilst playing his tennis as part of the Polding Tennis Team at the Championships.

Tyla’s efforts helped the Polding Tennis team achieve the excellent result of 6th place overall out of 13 regional teams that were participating at the PSSA Championships. Thank you Tyla for your excellent efforts and leadership whilst playing at the PSSA Championships, great work! 

Tyla, you are a superstar!

Touch Football

Congratulation to Oscar Claydon and Cooper Brown who attended the Diocesan Touch Football Trials this week. We are very proud of the sportsmanship and fair play both boys displayed.  Well done to Oscar who was selected to attend Polding trials, we look forward to hearing of his achievements.

Pathways Sport

If your child attends a Pathways Sport or Trial, we’d love to see your photos and include them in our next newsletter.

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 Stars  

We are excited to announce that Charli Hall was awarded the Gerry Targett Throwers Award for Little Athletics 2023-2024 at the Eastlakes Little Athletics Presentation. This prestigious award recognises the athlete that achieved the most PB’s for Javelin, Shot Put and Discus across the Season. Amazing effort Charli!

If your child is a Weekend Sports Star, please email details and a photo to so we can celebrate their success in our next newsletter.  

Mrs Claire Browne
Sport Coordinator

Email: claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Office News

If you haven't already commenced weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments as agreed, reminder phone calls and letters will be sent home to these families. Please check your monthly fee statement and process payments as required.

The Diocesan agreement for settlement of school fees requires payments to commence by 31 March and continue with regular instalments each month until fully settled by 30 November each year.  Alternatively, fees can be paid in one payment, due before 30 June.  

Please contact the office if you would like assistance with calculating your weekly, fortnightly, monthly deduction amount. 

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 Community Fund website www.myccf.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.

Please remember to complete the 2024 Fee Settlement Option Event in Compass.

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.

Rachelle McKenzie
Senior School Officer

P&F

Welcome to our latest update from our P&F committee.

We've had a busy term so far, with our Mothers Day brunch & stall welcoming over 100 mums to enjoy a beautiful morning with their children in the school hall for breakfast. We extend a big thankyou to all the school staff who helped make this morning extra special for us mums. 

Our Mothers Day stall was a huge success, with a wide variety of beautiful gifts available for children to buy. With some savvy buying skills we managed to order some good quality products at great prices. We hope you all enjoyed receiving them on Mothers Day. A big thankyou to Cass, Nat, Lee, Jill & Jenna for your help in wrapping gifts & coordinating the stall and Melissa for your donation of the succulent plants. We raised just over $500 this year while still selling all items at really affordable prices for the kids. We are already starting prep for our Fathers Day stall in September as months of planning go into coordinating these events, so stay tuned as it gets closer! 

Coming up this week we are hosting with Karen Gandy, a biggest morning tea in loving memory of Mark, our crossing supervisor who lost his battle with cancer. A donation of $2 per student will be donated to his cause. Please see facebook for further information & times. The P&F will be donating baked goods as well as tea/coffee/juices for the kids. 

Our P&F will be bringing our school canteen to the Athletics carnival on Monday June 3rd. Student & parents orders can be placed on Qkr now and must be in by Midday Friday May 31st. There will be a handful extra hot food items available to purchase on the day for parents & staff as well as snacks & drinks. 

We have our first Family Bingo night coming up on June 22nd at Pelican RSL. We would love for you all to join us for a fun, casual night out with your family & friends. Dinner & drinks are available to order at the club. We have sold over 30% of seats for this event already so please make sure you jump on Qkr! and purchase a ticket so you don't miss out. $10 per person includes a bingo booklet of 5 games. There will be extra games & raffles held throughout the night with all money raised going straight to our P&F to fund new items for our students & school. 

Our Winter Pie drive will be happening again this year with deliveries to the school on Friday August 2nd. Order forms will be sent home at the end of term 2. All profits from our pie drive go directly to covering the cost of our year 6 farewell for our year 6 students at the end of the year, a successful & thoughtful initiative introduced by our P&F in 2023 to ensure our year 6's get a beautiful send off at the end of their primary school journey. 

Our next P&F meeting is on Monday June 3rd in the school library from 6pm. We have had a wonderful turn out this year with a range of parents attending from every class. We would love to have you join us too! 

A big thankyou to everyone's ongoing support for our initiative's this year, without your support we wouldn't be able to do what we do for our beautiful school. 

Elise Moncrieff
P&F President

Athletics Carnival Canteen Menu

St Patrick's Family Bingo Night

Canteen

Uniforms

Preloved Uniforms

We have some uniform supply delays with our transition to Lowes and we are desperately seeking preloved uniforms in good, clean condition. In particular we are seeking:

* Sports shirt Size 8 & 10

* Girls winter tunics Size 10

All hand me downs welcome. If you have any uniforms no longer being used, please drop them off to the front office so they can be put to good use.

Community Notices