Week 1, Term 3, 2018

Principal News Jenny Hawkins

Welcome to Term 3. We are looking forward to a busy term, especially as we prepare for the school concert on Monday 10th September.

This week at assembly, we watched this video about the letter from Pope Francis to all of us to take care of our world. Please read the letter below from the staff and our children about how we wish to make a difference for caring for creation at St Patrick's School.

Catholic Social Teaching leads the call for a sustainable and just future with its emphasis on the dignity of the human person, solidarity, the common good, the preferential option for the poor and our responsibility to be stewards of creation.
In the Shamrock on the 11th May, the Yr 1 classes shared how they were piloting 'nude food' as part of their science learning around sustainability. You can read more if you scroll down at this link. At the end of last term, the SRC asked the whole school to trial 'nude food'.

Dear Parents,

This year, many classes have been learning about sustainability in Science. Through classroom activities, our Monday morning assembly and the Pope’s message on caring for our Earth, the children have learnt how the decisions we make can impact our world, particularly our environment and animals.

Children identified the actions they can take at home and school to conserve resources, for example, turning off dripping taps, switching off lights when they are not required and the 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

As a school,we want to take action! We have decided not to contribute to the waste generated at school, by having a waste free lunch box, otherwise known as ‘nude food’. This entails food not being in disposable wrappers, but rather in reusable containers. If this is not possible, children will be asked to take all their rubbish and food scraps back home in their lunchbox. This is also an ideal opportunity for parents to see how much of the fruit/ sandwich the children are eating, as currently our bins are full of half-eaten lunches. Please do not admonish your child for failing to eat all their food. If they do not eat it all it is not due to lack of time. It may be that it is too much, or they do not like it, or they are simply not hungry.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping our children to learn how to play our role in caring for our environment.

The St Patrick's Staff and SRC

Reconciliation 

Year 3 parents have already been notified of the request to combine both 3N and 3O classes on the evening of Tuesday 31st July. This is due to the Liturgical Reception and Solemn Mass for the

Ninth Archbishop of Melbourne, Most Reverend Peter A Comensoli. Bishop Elliott will lead the Reconciliation with supporting priests.The children will wear their school uniform with their stoles.

100 days for our Preps 

Congratulations to our Preps who celebrated 100 days at school on Wednesday !!

Safety in the Playground

Please be aware that we have a number of systems and actions in place to support our children to be safe in the playground during morning play and lunchtime. We have a minimum of four teachers on duty. The teachers wear hi-vis vest and carry clipboards and medical kits. The clip boards are used to track and monitor different children at different times with photos and notices for teachers and relievers to be aware of. We encourage children or their friends to let the teachers know of any concerns as soon as possible to ensure they can be actioned and dealt with at the time that they happen. Our Student Support Policy is available to read on our Learning Community Site at this link. Please contact me directly if you wish to understand more about how we keep our children safe in the playground.

Parent Education Evening - Mental Toughness and CyberSafety Thursday 16th August

We have two informative sessions planned for parents on Thursday 16th August. The evening will commence at 6:15pm with a presentation from Mental Toughness Coach and children's author Niels Van Hove. Neils has been working with our Year 3 teachers around a St Patrick's pilot mental toughness/ resilience programme for the children. Neils is the author of My Strong Mind, a children’s book he wrote and illustrated to teach 5-8 year olds about confidence, resilience and a growth mindset. Neils is also our guest author for Book Week.

James Peterson Psychologist and CEO of Stress Master International says in response to the book:
"I believe you’ve created a real “gem” of book that is a must read for any child but in particular for those who are struggling with the challenges of growing up. It communicates the principles of how to be psychologically hardy and resilient under any stressor situation". 

The second part of the evening will start at 7pm and is a Cyber Safety session to inform and empower parents. It is led by Education Consultant & Google Certified Trainer Martin McGauran and Psychologist Carley McGauran. This session will cover social media, apps, trends in online behaviour, managing devices and conflict around these, parent-child communication, balancing screentime and where to find helpful information. You can read more in the flyer below.

School Closure Day

There is a school closure this term on Friday 24th August.

Important Term 3 Dates:

Reconcilation                           Tues 31st July

Dendy Athletics                       Fri 10th August

Parent Information Night         Thurs 16th August

    "Mental Toughness"

Book Week commences           Mon 20th August

School Closure Day                 Fri 24th August