Week 7 Term 3 2018

Fathers / Special Friend's Breakfast & Gift Stall

This morning was the Year 6 Father's / Special Friend's breakfast. A HUGE thank you to the mums who cooked up a feast this morning - Natalie, Julie, Emma and Jade.

Thank you to all of the mums who prepared and helped with the gift stall this morning.

We wish everyone a joyful celebration on Sunday.

Here is a beautiful prayer sourced by Nicole O'Halloran from the Catholic Prayers link.

God our Father, we give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.
We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; may they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.
We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering; may they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow.
We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice.
We remember fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.

Amen

CONCERT TICKETS

Just a reminder that tickets for the concert are selling FAST so don't forget to jump onto TRY BOOKING and secure yours.

POPE (Parents as Partners in Education) Morning Tea Tuesday 11th September 9-10am
New Prep parents and other new families are invited to a special morning tea and catch up. It is an opportunity to come together to get to know each other and find out more about the Learning Community Site and education at St Pat's. I look forward to hosting this event in the staff room. Please RSVP principal@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au

The Blobs by local author Christian der Kinderen
Christian came and shared his book The Blobs and held a writing workshop with the Year 2's last week. The Blobs is a children's picture book aimed to teach children about refugees and celebrate cultural diversity. The book is on sale in the office until Monday - Soft Cover $17 and Hard Cover $25

Congratulations 

Congratulations to James H (6O) who has been training extremely hard with the U12 Victorian Hockey team. They recently participated in the School Sport Australia Hockey Championship in Newcastle. James' team played against other state teams and was delighted to score 2 goals in the tournament. After a successful week the Victorian team were awarded the gold medal!! We are extremely proud of his performance, both on and off the field. An outstanding achievement- congratulations James!

Collecting Preloved children and baby PJ's supporting families in need.

One of our school mums, Lisa Gordon, is co ordinating donations of baby and children's PJ's for the St Kilda Mum's Charity. Collecting all sizes from infants through to size 12. Lisa will leave a collection box in our office. You can contact Lisa on her mobile 0414 586 708

School Holiday Program

You can access a flyer with full details about the exciting holiday programme at this link.

 

Are you ready to take on a part-time critical administrative role, for a leading local Kindergarten, making a positive difference to children’s lives?  Hughesdale Kindergarten is a not for profit kindergarten, with a rating of exceeding and has been instrumental in the local community for over 70 years. It focuses on preparing 3 to 5 year old children for school and life. If you're interested click on the link https://www.hughesdalekinder.com.au/employment

Important Term 3 Dates:

Full dress concert rehearsal      Wed 5th September

Dendy Hoop time                      Fri 7th September

SCHOOL CONCERT               Mon 10th September

POPE Meeting  @ 9am            Tues 11th September

Disco Bingo Social Event         Fri 14th September

End of term 3                            Fri 21st September

Week 6 Term 3 2018

Principal News Jenny Hawkins

Messages from the Parish, Archdiocese and Catholic Education Office
Here is a link to the weekly Parish Newsletter and the First Pastoral Letter from Archbishop Peter Comensoli.
Here is a statement from the Catholic Education Office with regards to Father Paul : "The investigation is still in the hands of the Archdiocese and the community will be updated on the outcomes when it is finalised".

Book Week

Special thanks to all of the parents who helped to prepare wonderful costumes for their children and to Bernadette Wood and the staff for an engaging week of literacy activities. We will share some photos on the school Facebook page very soon.

Niels Van Hoeve's book My Strong Mind is available for $12.50 online at this link.

Another author, Christian der Kinderen, author of The blobs will be working with the Year 2's on Tuesday. You can read more about Christian's visit and his book at this link. Copies of The Blob will also be available at school.

NAPLAN Online School Readiness Test Tuesday morning.
Our school has been asked to trial an online School Readiness Test with a Year 3 and Year 5 class in readiness for NAPLAN online testing in 2019. Both Lisa Maraschiello and Nicole O'Halloran have attended the training to lead NAPLAN at St Patrick's for 2019 and so 3O and 5M will trial this test using the school chromebook devices. Any questions please contact me.

SRC Leaders

Our SRC are working with Angela Yates to prepare child friendly Child Safe guidelines. These Student Reps came to interview me during the week about the procedures we follow to ensure our staff are fully aware of the school Child Safety policy and guidelines.

School Concert "Meet Me at the Drive In"

The concert is drawing closer and we are all very excited. We have so much talent to share. There will be a notice going home with further news early next week.

Staff Professional Development

You can keep up to date with our latest staff professional development by reading Conference to Reality; Shift happens together on my blog at this link. 

Kitchen Update News 

I am pleased to confirm that the upgrade of our hall kitchen will begin to take shape very soon. I recently met with Bishop Elliott to discuss a way forward with the kitchen project. 

Bishop Elliott gave his blessing for the refurbishment of the kitchen to go ahead. I anticipate the work will commence at the end of this term. Parish funds from the 2016 and 2017 fete set aside as promised by Fr Barry and Fr Paul will cover the costs of the upgrade. 

School Maintenance Update

Robert our school handyman has been working hard to maintain and improve our grounds and building. There are numerous jobs that Robert has actioned for us. Some of these include:

• Regular clear up of weeds around the school grounds
• Topping up the soft fall in the playground
• Removing old planter boxes outside and furniture inside
• Cutting back the overgrown hedges at the church end of the school
• Clearing the area at the back of the school beside the bicycle
• Repairing damage to the stage and repainting the stage walls
• Repairing and painting corridor walls downstairs

Important Term 3 Dates:

Fathers/Special Friends Breakfast   Fri 31st August

Full dress concert rehearsal      Wed 5th September

Dendy Hoop time                      Fri 7th September

SCHOOL CONCERT               Mon 10th September

P&F Disco Bingo Social Event Fri 14th September

School Disco                             Thurs 20th September

End of term 3                            Fri 21st September

Week 5, Term 3

Principal News Jenny Hawkins

School Mass
We were fortunate that Bishop Elliott celebrated a whole school mass with us on Wednesday for the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. During the homily Bishop Elliott asked us to pray for Father Paul. We will continue to keep Fr Paul in our prayers whilst we wait for an update from the Archdiocese.

Family Mass

Unfortunately our RE Leader Anne Mullan has been unwell for the last few days. This has made it difficult to plan and prepare for our weekend family mass. As a result we are postponing this weekend's family mass until further notice. Please don't let this stop you from attending mass with your family. We hope that Mrs Mullan gets well very soon.

Congratulations

Congratulations to our Year 6 leaders, Conor and Ted who were selected to represent St Patrick's at the recent Parliamentary Convention. They travelled into the city with their teacher Mrs Pratt to contribute to a debate on the introduction of the sugar tax.

It's also lovely to celebrate our children's successes with extra curricular activities. Thank you to Abigail and Charlotte for sharing your good news with me. They both performed very well at a recent Cheerleading Competition. Abigail from 2T came second and her sister Charlotte from Prep Y came third. Well done girls. We are proud of you.

Concert housekeeping

Reminder that tickets go on sale at 12 noon on Monday 20th August though TryBooking (see the Flexibuzz notification sent out earlier this week).  Don't forget to return your DVD envelopes if you are wanting to order a lasting reminder!

St Patrick's takes 3rd Place at the Dendy Athletics Carnival
Last Friday, 75 children from Years 4-6 represented St Patrick's at the Dendy Athletics Carnival at Lakeside Stadium. There was great excitement and a few nerves as the children sat in the grandstand waiting for their track and field events. On a particularly blustery day and very challenging conditions, our team's support and encouragement for each other didn't waiver. We are very proud of all the children who 'had a go' for the first time and of those who have consistently worked hard and have been part of athletics events.
We were delighted to finish the day in 3rd place! Congratulations to those who were placed with a ribbon- students who qualified for the Beachside Division Aths will be notified soon.
We would particularly like to thank the parent helpers who volunteered their time and expertise on the day. Your assistance is very much appreciated.

And finally, we thank Michelle Barclay for coordinating our participation in the Dendy Athletics and our staff for their support.

Parent Education Evening

Thanks to the many parents and staff who supported the education evening. There were a number of  key messages from both presentations around the role parents can play in supporting their children's well being and safety. You can view both presentations via the links below.

Thanks to Niels Van Hoeve and our Year 3 teachers Nicole and Sara

Here is a link to Mental Toughness slide show from Niels Van Hoeve  Self- published author Niels Van Hoeve will be our guest author during Book Week. Niels will run a worksop with all classes. Niels will have some autographed copies of My Strong Mind available for sale on Monday morning. They cost $15 each.

Thanks to Marty and Carley McGauran 

Here is the link to the Cyber Safety slideshow from the Marty and Carley McGauran One important message from this presentation was for parents to take charge and set firm boundaries.

Book Week Parade this Monday 20th August

To launch Book Week at St Patrick's, all children are asked to dress up in a favourite book character, or to reflect the theme "Find you Treasure". There is no requirement to spend money - just use whatever you have at home. Weather permitting, the children will gather in the front yard at 9am (or in the hall). Parents are very welcome to attend.

Year 6 started off Book Week on Thursday with a visit from Bernadette O'Brien, self- published author of the Kong Meng Legacy. O'Brien's story evolved from a Master's Thesis she completed about Lowe Kong Meng, a wealthy Chinese - born merchant who lived in Victoria in the 1800's.

The Year 6 focus this term has been Narrative writing and they have spent a lot of time breaking it up and developing the students voice, sentence structure and writer's craft. There are some quite accomplished writer's in Year 6 and they were inspired by author B.T.O'Brien.

Teeth on Wheels
Exciting news Teeth on Wheels will be coming out to our school and conducting children’s dental visits. Please note this service is optional and is not a free service. Children will only visit Teeth on Wheels if you complete the consent form. It is an opportunity for the children to have a convenient, educational and positive dental experience during the school day.
Please follow the link below to complete your child’s consent form. It only takes 5 minutes to complete and by reducing the amount of paper being used we are helping the team out by being more environmentally friendly.
https://teethonwheels.com.au/consent-eform
The date of the children’s dental visits will begin on Monday the 3rd of September 2018, so please ensure you have submitted your form by the 22nd of August 2018.
If you have any questions regarding the consent form or your child’s dental appointment please don’t hesitate to contact the Teeth on Wheels team on (03) 9338 1191.

Team Kids

Feedback so far about Team Kids is overwhelmingly positive. They will be open on our school closure day this Friday 24th August. They will also run the holiday programme at the end of the term.

You can access a flyer with full details about the exciting holiday programme at this link.

Preloved baby PJ's supporting families in need

One of our school mums, Lisa Gordon, is co ordinating donations of baby and children's PJ's for the St Kilda Mums Charity. Lisa will leave a collection box in our office. You can contact Lisa on her mobile 0414 586 708

Important Term 3 Dates:

Book Week commences            Mon 20th August - Book Character Dress up day

School Closure Day                  Fri 24th August

Fathers/Special Friends Breakfast   Fri 31st August

Full dress concert rehearsal      Wed 5th September

Dendy Hoop time                      Fri 7th September

SCHOOL CONCERT               Mon 10th September

P&F Disco Bingo Social Event Fri 14th September

End of term 3                            Fri 21st September

Week 4 Term 3

Principal News Jenny Hawkins

School Mass Wednesday 15th August

Thank you to Bishop Peter Elliott who will celebrate a special whole school mass this coming Wednesday 15th August for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary at 9:10 am. Parents are welcome to join us.

Assembly

This Monday 3N will be presenting their learning at assembly at 9am. We will also be having a visit from the Teeth on Wheels team to tell us about their clinic on wheels coming to our school in September. You will have access to the online consent forms next week. Meanwhile you can learn more on their website www.teethonwheels.com.au

Parent Education Evening - Mental Toughness 6:15pm 
and CyberSafety 7pm this Thursday 16th August
You will have read the details around the Parent Education Evening in the last few Shamrocks. Please keep this Thursday 16th August free to come along. You can read more if you scroll down at this link.

Learning Community Site

You can access class timetables, newsletters, curriculum plans for Term 3 and Semester 2 on the Year Level and Curriculum tabs at this link on our Learning Community Site. Click on the arrow to the left of each Year Level to view details.

School Concert Details

Thanks to all of our parents who are helping to prepare the costumes for our school concert on Monday 10th September. Tickets will be on sale on Monday 20th August.

P & F Semester 2 Update from Bree and Annie

Hi Everyone, here’s what is going on, we have an exciting second half of the year! We would love some help to get some of these great ideas up and running… so if you have been waiting for the opportunity to get involved….. here it is! Looking forward to creating fun and laughs for the kids (and the parents) over the next few months 😊. Bree and Annie

 Disco Bingo

Get ready to dance the night away………. Friday September 14th. Try bookings is up and running so book your ticket to the major fundraiser of the year. It will be a brilliant night! Here is the link https://www.trybooking.com/XFEF

Kids Disco 

We didn’t think it fair that the parents have all the DISCO FUN….. so….. we are in the planning phase of the KIDS DISCO. It will be on Thursday 20th September in the school hall. We need some amazing people to help with this event…. most of the hard work is done so here is your chance to take all the glory!! If this is an event you would like organise/run/develop please come and chat with us and we will hand over the planning folder (from Janine Moulton so you can be assured it’s seriously well organised!)

Footy and Fairy Day 
The kids love this day! It will be on the last day of this term, Friday 21st September. We will be having Pies/Pasties and the Grade 6’s will be creating an afternoon of fun activities for the rest of the school. Details will be sent out shortly.

 Christmas Trees 

We are selling Christmas Trees this year! They will be available to pre order in the next few weeks and will be ready for your collection (or delivery) early December. Please look out for the forms in your kid’s school bag in the coming weeks.

Election Sausage Sizzle and Car Boot Sale 
We are running an Election Day Sausage Sizzle, Cake Stall and Car Boot Sale this year. It’s a great opportunity for our school to raise some funds. We would love to create a committee for this. If you would like to get involved, please email pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au and we will facilitate a meeting/coffee to get things up and running!

 Buddy Bench 

The Buddy Bench has been ordered and should arrive at school soon. Congratulations again to 1M for raising the most money in the coin challenge and winning the prize of decorating the bench. If you have some ideas on how we could decorate, please come and chat with us.

Movie Night 
We wanted to get together as a school community for a movie night. This will be in T4 when the weather is a little warmer. We would love someone/some people to take on the organisation for this event. Who’s up for organising the movie night? pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au

 PatCare 
We need a few more people on the PatCare list. This is a community initiative that provides a meal to members of our school community who are suffering. It’s such a beautiful component of our caring community. If you would be willing to cook a meal (one once or twice a year!) please email pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au and we will pass on your details to Paula Sanders our PatCare leader.

Important Term 3 Dates:

Dendy Athletics                        Fri 10th August

Parent Education Night            Thurs 16th August  6:15pm Mental Toughness & Cyber Safety

Book Week commences           Mon 20th August (book character dress up day)

School Closure Day                  Fri 24th August

Special Friends Breakfast         Fri 31st August (please note the change of date) 7:30-8:30am

Full dress concert rehearsal      Wed 5th September

Dendy Hoop time                      Fri 7th September

SCHOOL CONCERT               Mon 10th September

End of term 3                            Fri 21st September

Week 3, Term 3, 2018

Principal News Jenny Hawkins
Reconciliation
Special thanks to Bishop Elliott and the visiting priests who ensured that the combined 3N and 3O Reconciliation evening went so well. Bishop Elliott spoke to me afterwards and commended the teachers and the children on how well prepared the children were. Thank you to all of the families who participated and supported their children. Thank you to Mrs Mullan and the staff who contributed to such a beautiful celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Thank you and POPE (Parents as Open Partners in Education) feedback opportunity
A HUGE thanks to our parents who continually show their support for all that we do at school. We appreciate you taking the time to come and talk to us whenever you have any questions or concerns. We are grateful for the positive feedback we receive. Our staff are continually reviewing practices to ensure our children are: Engaged and motivated learners always faithful to our loving God.

Based on best practice research around collecting feedback (see Schools That Deliver Conference information and video at this link ), I will be getting in touch with parents to arrange a one to one meeting time linked to our vision narrative “We value rich, regular, quality feedback...”

I will be asking, “What is going well at St Pat’s for your child/children ?" This will be personalised according to the year level of your children.

Child Safety at St Patrick's
This is the first of a series of videos I am preparing with our Year 6 leaders. We hope that parents will watch these videos and discuss them with their children as we focus on our role as a Child Safe school. Our aim is to share the systems we have in place at St Patrick's school. Please come and speak with me if you have any worries and concerns or follow the flowchart link below.
You can access our concerns flowchart at this link on our learning site.

Request for parent support with our Nude Food programme
Last year, the children began a compositing programme at school. Unfortunately the parent who was helping us is unable to continue to support this initiative. We would be grateful for any further support from our parent community. Please let me know if you would like to help us.

Special Assembly for semester 2 SRC Representatives
At assembly on Monday 6th August, the Semester 2 Student Representatives will be presented with their badges.  All parents welcome.

Sickness
Recently we have had a few instances of gastro so we have been encouraging the children to follow healthy hygiene habits, especially washing their hands regularly.  If your child feels unwell in the morning, please keep them at home to rest and recover.

Year 7 2020
Applications close for Year 7 2020 at all Catholic Secondary Colleges soon.  If you have child in grade 5, please ensure you have lodged their application.

Social Night

Important Term 3 Dates:

Dendy Athletics                        Fri 10th August

Parent Information Night         Thurs 16th August      "Cyber Safety"

Book Week commences           Mon 20th August

School Closure Day                  Fri 24th August

Special Friends Breakfast         Mon 27th August

Full dress concert rehearsal      Wed 5th September

Dendy Hoop time                      Fri 7th September

SCHOOL CONCERT               Mon 10th September

End of term 3                            Fri 21st September

Community Notices