Term 4 - Week 2

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to Term 4 Week 2 Newsletter.

I hope everyone had a lovely break and that you are ready for the busyness of Term 4.

We began our term with Kinder 2025 Orientation, welcoming 24 new students and their families to St Pat’s. Our current Kinders entertained us with what life is like at big school. Huge thanks to Mrs McKenzie, Mrs Browne and Kinder, Mrs Ogden and Year 5, and Miss Murray and Year 4 for all their hard work and preparation for the orientation morning. Our Year 4 Big Buddies did an AMAZING job! Many thanks to our current Kinder families for supplying morning tea and special thanks to Mrs Mac, Ebony Blakely and Laura Hobson for serving and cleaning up.

We have many events planned for this term so please check newsfeeds and the newsletter for reminders.

Looking forward to a very productive end of year.

Have a good week.

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Deepest Sympathies

On behalf of our school community, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to Mrs Karen Devlin on the passing of her dad Keith last week. We send Karen and her family our love and support.

Welcome

Term 4 has started with 4 new enrolments! We warmly welcome Tracey, John, Airlie (Year 2) and Oakley (Year 4), Staunton; Tennille, Brad and Ivy (Year 3), Smith; and Rebecca, Ben and Madden (Year 1).

Congratulations

We recently advertised and interviewed for a fulltime permanent teaching position. It is with great pleasure that I announce that Mrs Claire Browne was the successful applicant and has been appointed permanently to St Pat’s. For the past 4 years Claire has been working at St Patricks on a temporary contract covering flexible work arrangements for some of our staff. We are extremely blessed to have Claire permanently. Congratulations Claire!

Welcome Back

This term we welcome back Mrs Cathy Curk. Cathy has returned from maternity leave back into her teaching role two days a week at St Patrick’s. The past two years prior to her maternity leave, Cathy was on a secondment at the Catholic Schools Office as a Project Officer in the area of Gifted Education. Cathy will be using her classroom experience and knowledge of gifted education to provide extra opportunities for some of our students this term.

World Teachers Day 

Today was World Teachers’ Day. I would like to give a HUGE thanks to every staff member of St Pat’s who always go above and beyond for our students. They are the most supportive, dedicated and hardworking group of professionals that I have had the pleasure to work with. Our community is indeed very blessed! Thank you, Team Swansea! 

Year 7 (2025) Orientation Day at St Mary's

The St Mary's Orientation Day for ALL students is on Wednesday 27th November 2024 at 9.00am, gather at The Josephite Centre (Hall).

• Students are required to wear their Primary School SPORT uniform
• Students to be collected at 2.30pm
  

Parent Orientation Information Session is at 9.30am in the The Josephite Centre (Hall).

Building Update

The Admin refurb is nearing an end and looks amazing. Our outdoor learning corridor is well underway with the boardwalk taking shape. All the classrooms and the Library are being re-carpeted in a few weeks time. A real St Pat’s makeover!

Term 4 Week 3

Term 4 Week 4

Message from RE Coordinator

Catholic Mission Socktober Crazy Hair and Sock Day

Socktober for Mission Month encourages us to engage with mission for children by using our heads to enquire about the reality of the world around us, using our hearts to feel empathy for those in situations of great need, and using our hands to take action for them in whatever way we are able.

To acknowledge and support the work of Catholic Mission we held a crazy hair and sock day on last Friday 18^th October.  The students wore their hair in fun and unconventional ways and bright and colourful socks for a small donation, which will go towards helping the people of Mongolia.  Mr Mac and Mr Lockwood challenged the students with their fundraising efforts offering to shave their heads if the school community was able to reach $500.  Congratulations to the students, they have raised in excess of $800 and Mr Mac and Mr Lockwood both had a close shave.

Thank you to everyone that donated to our Catholic Mission Socktober campaign, all the raised funds will support the people of Mongolia.

Sacrament of First Holy Communion

First HOLY COMMUNION PREPARATION PROGRAMME begins next Thursday 31st October 7pm at our Church at Belmont.

This programme is for those children who have already prepared for the SACRAMENT OF PENANCE (CONFESSION) and who have been CONFIRMED.

The meeting will take approximately one hour.

If you can't make it, this programme will be held again next year.

Fr Gerard Mackie

Socktober Soccer Gala Day

This week, the students of Years 3 and 4 represented St Patrick’s at the Socktober Gala Day at Speers Point Football Facility.  All the students represented the school in bringing awareness to the struggles of others across the world and the work of Catholic Mission assisting those less fortunate than you and I.

Mr Daniel Lockwood
RE Coordinator

Save the Date

Message from Assistant Principal

ACER-PAT Assessments

During Week 4 all students in Years 1-6 will complete 3 system-wide ACER-PAT assessments: PAT Reading, PAT-Mathematics and PAT-Grammar and Punctuation. The frameworks for PAT Maths and PAT Reading assessments are adaptive, which means questions will increase or decrease in difficulty depending on student responses, providing valuable information about students’ achievement, and learning progress.

Results from these assessments will identify strengths and weakness in these areas and will be used to guide future teaching programs ensuring students learning is best catered for.

Term 4 eSafety  Webinars for Parents

eSafety are providing the following free parent and carer webinars this term:

 Supporting healthy tech use as your child transitions into high school (30 mins)

Suitable for parents and carers of young people in upper primary school (aged 11-12) and Year 7.

• Tuesday, 29 October, 12.30 pm AEDT
• Thursday, 28 November, 12.30 pm AEDT

eSafety 101: How eSafety can help (30 mins)

Suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and secondary school. An overview of the eSafety Commissioner, and supporting programs and resources for parents and carers, children, and young people.

• Thursday, 24 October, 12.30pm AEDT
• Wednesday, 4 December, 12.30pm AEDT

 Please see attached flyer for further information.

Mrs Janine Schneider
Assistant Principal

From the Diverse Learners Team...

Gifted Education -   Extension Maths

This term, we will continue our focus on extending students’ mathematical thinking and reasoning through the use of problem-solving.  Although the Maths Games program has now finished for stage 3, students can continue flexing their problem-solving muscles using the Extension and Enrichment folder in their classroom.  Some Year 4 students managed to work their way through almost 50 problems last term, learning how to work independently and systematically to reach a solution or find multiple solutions.  I will keep these folders ‘refreshed’ for those who enjoy a challenge or who have already demonstrated mastery of the whole class learning intention.

Here is an example for you to try at home (don’t forget to unpack the vocabulary first!)…

Below is a sequence where each successive pair of numbers has a difference of 6.

5, 11, 17, 23, 29, 35, 41…

Younger students - what are the next three numbers in the sequence?

Older students - what would be the 20th number in the sequence?

Challenge - what would be the 500th number in the sequence?  (Hint - use the strategy of making a table/ diagram and looking for a pattern).

Learning Support – Typing / Keyboarding skills

The use of computers is well and truly a part of our education system, yet there is little time in our curriculum allocated to learning how to type.  However, learning to touch type can increase student confidence (particularly those who struggle with writing) and in some cases can assist with spelling.  Using a free online program such as Dance Mat Typing  can make the learning fun.  Every student at St Patrick’s uses the computer and has to log in each time.  Even a repeated process like this can be very labour intensive for some kids, and that’s before they begin the assessment or task for the lesson.  By Year 5, students are expected to write a narrative or persuasive text for NAPLAN, but doing this on the computer can slow the writing process down if they are not familiar with a keyboard.

Practicing typing at home will reduce the cognitive load involved in writing.  Once you can type at about 35 words per minute, that’s enough speed so that you don’t have to look for the keys on the board anymore. That allows you to use the computer to get ideas down in writing, and take advantage of word prediction, spellcheck and thesaurus.  As with reading and handwriting, short daily practices will have a big impact on building fluency.

Mrs Jo Simes 
Learning Support Teacher

Mrs Anne Turner & Mrs Karen Devlin
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Library News

Book Club

Issue 7 has been sent home this week.  It is a bumper issue with some great books and activity packs. 

Books purchased through Book Club earn reward credits for the school.  So far this year we have been able to use Scholastic Rewards to purchase 62 new books for our school library!  Thank you to all the families who have supported Book Club.

Cyber Safety

October is Cyber Safety Awareness Month. This term, all classes have been learning about cyber safety in their library lessons.  Topics explored include what information you share online, how you use media (including social media) and staying safe online.

The eSafety Commissioner website has lots of great resources for kids, young people and parents if you’d like to explore these topics at home as well.

Mrs Karen Devlin & Mrs Penelope Hale
Library Teacher and Library Assistant

Year 5 News

Year 5

Year 5 have had a busy start to Term 4. They are continuing to be excellent role models for our Kindergarten buddies and enjoyed working together at the Sculpture Workshop creating some amazing sculptures from the sea.

At the end of last term in science, the students were challenged to plan and conduct a Rube Goldberg design, which employs forces concepts and explains how energy is transferred from one object to another. Their designs were very clever and demonstrated the use of force to make an object move.

This term Year 5 are looking forward to Camp in Week 5 and are excited as they begin their preparations to become School Leaders in 2025.

Mrs Cheryl Ogden
Year 5 Teacher

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 15

Next

Aspire News

Sculpture Workshop

Last Tuesday, Lara Crockett, design director from Aspire, conducted sculpture workshops with all the students from K-6. This opportunity was very timely as our students will be exploring and creating sculptures as part of our Visual Arts Program during Term 4.

With only sticks, wire and scrap material, groups of students worked together to create an ocean sculpture. The results were fantastic. Thank you to our stage 3 students who helped the younger students navigate the tricky parts! 

We are very grateful to Lara for inspiring and guiding our students.

Sport News

Regional Basketball

We wish the best of luck to Cooper Brown who is attending the Regional Basketball Trial next Tuesday.

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.   

Save the Date:

Stage 1 League Tag Gala Day

On Tuesday 29^th October, Years 1 and 2 have the opportunity to participate in a League Tag Gala Day at Charlestown. It will be a day based on participation and fun, the children are very excited!

Please refer to Compass for details.

Swimming Carnival

Our school swimming carnival will be held on Friday 13^th December. The day is for all students from K-6. Kindergarten will participate in water fun games and Years 1-6 will have opportunities to compete in races or participate in non-competitive events.

Further details will be published via Compass closer to the event.

Weekend Sports Stars   

During the holidays, Mr Lockwood on competed in the gruelling Coolangatta Gold, a race heralded as one of the most challenging endurance events in surf sports. Mr Lockwood put in a strong performance to finish 4^th in his age group. Congratulations!

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.  

Mrs Claire Browne
Sport Coordinator

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

Office News

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.  

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

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.

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. 

WWCC exemptions apply for volunteers who are a close relative of a student enrolled at the school.  There is a "Statutory Screening Selection Tool" included in the online registration process to assist you with this.

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 News

As we are getting closer to the end of the year we are building momentum on a few of our biggest events of the year for our P&F.

Rainbow Run - Friday November 8th

Only 2 weeks to go!!!

Please ensure you have your children registered on Qkr! by Friday November 1st to allow our committee to arrange all of the supplies. 

We welcome all family & friends to join us on the day to help with the obstacle course or stay with us for lunch. Please come along anytime from 12pm. If you are able to help set up the course, please arrive from 11am. 

Rainbow Run Fundraiser

All money raised as part of our rainbow run, can be handed into the front office anytime up until the time of the rainbow run on Friday November 8th. 

This year, all money raised will be going towards upgrades to our outdoor area coinciding with our new outdoor learning area currently under construction. 

All children who have raised enough to be eligible for a prize, please note that all of the prizes will be handed out to children on the afternoon of Friday the 29th of November at assembly. 

Year 6 Farewell

Parents of Year 6 students who are planning on attending the Year 6 farewell at Belmont Golf Club on December 16th are asked to RSVP on Qkr by the end of November.  Our P&F have again this year committed to covering the cost of each Year 6 student and their teachers in 2024. 

Canteen Volunteers

WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!

We understand we're getting closer to the silly season and our spare time becomes more limited, however our volunteer numbers in the canteen are dwindling this term. If you are able to assist on any Fridays for the remainder of the school term, please reach out to our coordinator Elizabeth via email stpatscanteen1@gmail.com. Canteen volunteers are required to be approved with the front office & have a valid WWCC certificate. The time each week is 9am until 11:30am. 

If we cannot get at least 2 people to assist each week we will close the canteen. 

Upcoming meeting

We welcome everyone in our school community to come along to our P&F Meetings held in the school library. 

Our next meeting is Monday November 4th from 6pm. A Zoom link will also be available and advertised the day of via compass.

If you have any questions for our P&F in the meantime, please send them to stpatrickspf1@gmail.com 

Thankyou

Elise Moncrieff
President
St Patricks P&F Committee

Uniforms

We are phasing out school bags and thermal lunch bags.  There is limited stock available on sale for 50% off.  Orders can be placed on QKR. These items are available until stock sells out.

Preloved Uniforms

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