Prayer for the Week. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY. Tuesday, 8 th October, 2013 This is the 24th Week in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Transcription

1 Tuesday, 8 th October, 2013 This is the 24th Week in Ordinary Time (Year C) Prayer for the Week. We ask You to bless all who teach and learn. Through Your Holy Spirit, guide us as we grow in faith and love and give us the courage to be more like Your Son. We ask this, in Jesus' name. Amen. Welcome Back to Term 4 A prayer for the beginning of term: God, our Father, Creator of all good things in the world and within our St Patrick s school community: We thank you for the gift of this day, for our families and friends and for this safe place to learn and grow. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Monday 7 th October Labor Day Holiday Tuesday 8 th October Pupil Free Day Wednesday 9 th October Students return to school Thursday 10 th October School Council Meeting Tuesday 15th October P&F Meeting Wednesday 16 th October Year 5 Excursion to Ballarat Friday 1 st November All Saints Day Mass 9.15am With a spring in your step, it is a delight to see all the happy faces of our students as they returned to school. This term, like no other will be a busy term with our Dance Concert being a showcase for the term. To assist you in your planning and as part of our commitment in communicating to you, I will personally write to all parents this Friday highlighting the events and activities that will occur this term. It is my intention to write to you on a monthly basis, as I recognise the vital and ongoing role our families at St Patrick s play in their child s education. These letters will also be posted on our school website for further reference under School Profile School and Family Relationships. On behalf of all the staff, I look forward to another successful term where we continue to make a difference by providing a high quality and caring Catholic education in partnership with you and in an environment where St Patrick s is more than a school, it is a community! Welcome back! Changed Circumstances As we have completed the first phase of our class lists for 2014, I am seeking requests that if your circumstances are likely to change next year that you would inform me either in writing or simply by booking an interview. I am committed to our open and honest relationship ensuring that your family transition to another Catholic School. As part of our enrolment process, last term, the school sent home an updated note seeking your personal details such as mobile phone numbers, addresses and contacts. It would be appreciated if you could forward your details to us by the end of this week. I have included a copy of the form in my letter to you.

2 Update on Traffic Conditions around the School The concern for student safety around St Patrick s during drop off and pick up times is paramount in our ethos and duty of care. I seek your support to continue to talk to your son/daughter about appropriate safety during pick and drop off times. The areas for pick up and drop off are the car park on Noorebar Avenue and street access on Warrambool Street. Although we support families and students who walk or ride to school, I encourage parents to talk to their children daily about road safety. I recommend that students who walk home cross at the supervised crossing on Kooba Street. A teacher on duty walks the students to the crossing. Students who ride to and from school or who walk home towards the hospital/town area might like to wait until the traffic has subsided. Miss O Connor will supervise this area, meeting the children under the covered area beside the parish hall. However, she will not walk the children across the road. Parents please be diligent about road safety regarding your children. I have included further in the newsletter the areas in and around our school that are supervised for your information. Thank you for your continual support in keeping our students safe. Have a great week and keep a look out for the October Parent Letter that will be provided to every child this Friday. May the Lord bless you and take care of you; May the Lord be kind and gracious to you; May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace. David From our Assistant Principal NAPLAN Update On Thursday 5 September ACARA identified an error in the placement of the national average markers on the Years 5 and 7 NAPLAN Student Reports for Language Conventions. Importantly the NAPLAN student data is correct. ACARA made the immediate decision to halt any further packaging and distribution of NAPLAN reports while options regarding the distribution of correct NAPLAN Student Reports were considered. ACARA is working closely with Test Administration Authorities (TAAs) in every state and territory to ensure correct reports are distributed. This matter may result in the delay of the distribution of student reports, possibly to the week of 13 October, however ACARA and TAAs will seek to minimise the delay. We will you keep you up to date. Playing on Playground Equipment After School The children are reminded that there is no play on equipment after school and are asked for safety reasons to move to the pick-up area as soon as possible. Students waiting for buses need to sit and wait for their bus on the seating near the 100 Block. We all need to think about care and safety for everyone. All students need to adhere to any safety requests of the teachers on duty at all times. Parents please ensure that your child understands the importance of these requirements. Notes for further attention Parents I have included in this newsletter below a canteen roster for the term and a calendar for the term. Enrolments Now Open Years 1-6 We are now accepting enrolments from Year One through to Year Six. Parents, if you know of families who are moving to Griffith or who are considering an enrolment in a Catholic school, please direct them to the school office on for an information package. Our school website and Facebook page are an excellent referral in order to gain an understanding of our Catholicity, education and sporting achievements, resources, facilities and grounds. 2 P a g e

3 Teaching Peers about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Anna Tullemans, author and consultant in ASD will be attending St Pat s on Monday 14 th and Wednesday 16 th October. She will be conducting peer support sessions for children in Year 4 over these days. The program will encourage understanding, tolerance and acceptance of differences for children with ASD in the classroom and playground. Complaints Procedure As a community who work closely with parents and students, we acknowledge that an employee, student, parent or community member may at times have a complaint about any decision, behaviour, act or omission that they feel is unreasonable. In such instances the following procedure should be used. 1. Initially take the complaint to the person concerned. 2. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, or if the complaint is of a serious nature, take the complaint to the Assistant Principal. 3. If the issue is still left unresolved and progress is not being made at a school level, the complaint should be taken to the School Principal. For further details about our complaint procedure please visit the school website. Medication Parents, under a directive from the Catholic Schools Office, we are unable to administer un-prescribed medication to the children in the school. Such medication includes Panadol, cough mixture, aspirin and so forth. If you wish your child to be given prescribed medication at school a special medication form must be completed. Children who require asthma medication must have a special form completed by the parent /guardian. If your child needs to have medication administered please ensure it is prescribed by your doctor. Your attention to this matter will ensure that our duty of care is not compromised. Where is Supervision Provided Before School? Each morning Mr. Adams-Jones and Mr Wedesweiler will be on playground duty down at the 100 block and the bitumen area behind the 600 block. This has multiple benefits. It provides time for the teachers of each grade to meet and plan learning experiences, it also gives us a chance to meet parents and finally it means we have all the children in two confined areas, should an emergency arise. The children are asked to drop off their bag at their classrooms in the morning, put their hats on and then make their way down to the 100 block (years 1-2 area) and the bitumen area behind the 600 block (years 3-6) where they will gather before going out to play. At 8.50am the bell will ring and the students will be lined up in class in their respective areas in preparation for class. The classroom teachers will meet the students at the two designated areas. Where is Supervision Provided After School? The bell goes at the end of the school day at 3.10pm. All students know and are expected to exit the school grounds as soon as possible. There are two exit points where supervision is provided. Car Park: 3 teachers are on duty at the car park from 3:10pm until the last student leaves by car. Walkers are then taken across the road with 1 teacher. Bus Lines: Teachers are on duty from 3:10pm until last bus leaves, about 3.50pm. This exit point is known as the Bus Lines Area. Students who go home via a bus are expected to go directly to this exit point as soon as the school day finishes. Walkers are given a designated area to meet and taken across the road by 1 teacher. The shaded area in front of the 100 block, the Kinder block and the grass area in between the 600 and 700 block are areas where parents may wait to meet their children at the end of the school day. The wellbeing and safety of your students when they are in our care is a major commitment of the school. We ask that parents take note of the information provided here and I encourage you to seek further information from the front office. Maintain and share your awesomeness, Alan 3 P a g e

4 Pastoral Care Corner It's hard to believe that we are in the last leg of what is proving to be an amazing scholastic year. Last week we celebrated the special day of the holy Guardian Angels. The Old Testament mentions the Archangel Michael as Guardian of Israel and refers to angels as guarding patriarchs and individuals. In the book of Exodus, the Lord promises us this I myself will send an Angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place I have prepared. With such comforting words, let us place our trust in our Guardian Angel for protection and guidance as we go about serving the Lord and others. All my best wishes for a great term ahead. Cath Catanzariti. Pastoral care coordinator. P&F Information SAVE THE DATES FOR TERM FOUR *19th and 20th October West End wines Spring Family BBQ Cellar Door tasting, all day BBQ and Entertainment by the Glee Club. St Patricks P and F will be catering for this event. Volunteers are needed to help at this event which will run from 10 4 pm both days. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Please the office on info@spgww.catholic.edu.au if are able to help on either day. Alternatively, let the P and F committee know on *21 st November - Volunteers appreciation afternoon Tea in the Father O Dea Hall from 2.15pm. *5 th December- School Disco Our Next P and F Meeting is the 15 th of October in the upstairs boardroom For those parents in Year One positions will become vacant at the end of the year. If you are interested in joining our P and F next year come along to the meeting and share your ideas and see first hand what it all involves. Hope to see you there! Sarah O Sullivan, P&F President School Sports News NSW PSSA Athletics Next week we have Noah and Sara Negus heading to the NSWPSSA Athletics Carnival along with our Senior Boys Relay team more details next week. Junior Cricket All boys and girls from Kindergarten to Year Five who want to play cricket of a Saturday morning should have registered by now. If they haven t they can still get forms from Sportspower or give their name to Mr Ross on Thursday. The team lists and rosters will be given out at the Junior Coaching clinic at the Exies Oval this Sunday (13 th ) from 9.30am until 11.00am. Games commence on Saturday October 19 th. 4 P a g e

5 2014 Diocesan Basketball, Tennis, Cricket & Softball Trials Diocesan Sports Trials for Basketball, Tennis, Cricket & Softball for boys and girls for 2014 will be held this term. The reason we hold them at this time is because the MacKillop Trials are in term one 2014 and we need to be organised and have our Diocesan Trials started or completed this year. The students can attend the Diocesan Trial would more than likely be in Year Five in 2013 and should be playing a local competition to a high standard. Year Six students in 2013 are not eligible as they will be high school next year. Diocesan Trials are not come and try days. Forms are now available. Please see Mr Ross or Mrs Cavanagh if you still need a form. Community News 5 P a g e

6 Extend OOSH at St Patrick s Primary School Welcome back to Term Four! We hope you all had a happy, safe and fun filled holiday break. The Extend team are ready for Term Four with lots of fun activities planned. Watch this space for regular updates. ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE: ST PATRICKS CANTEEN ROSTER TERM FOUR MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER 10 OCTOBER 11 OCTOBER 4 NOVEMBER 2 DECEMBER 5 NOVEMBER 3 DECEMBER 6 NOVEMBER 4 DECEMBER 7 NOVEMBER 5 DECEMBER 8 NOVEMBER 6 DECEMBER K Yardley B Aventi R Carlon 14 OCTOBER 11 NOVEMBER 9 DECEMBER D Salmon J Tran K Beltrame 15 OCTOBER 12 NOVEMBER 10 DECEMBER K DeMartin S Bell-Smith C Snaidero 16 OCTOBER 13 NOVEMBER 11 DECEMBER K Adams-Jones 17 OCTOBER 14 NOVEMBER 12 DECEMBER J Murray L Campbell R Savage 18 OCTOBER 15 NOVEMBER 13 DECEMBER V Rizzeri E Andreatta K Andreatta 21 OCTOBER 18 NOVEMBER 16 DECEMBER G Rowe S Fanani J Cavallaro 28 OCTOBER 25 NOVEMBER A Smith M Dalo J Gulielmini B Serena 22 OCTOBER 19 NOVEMBER 17 DECEMBER M Andreazza S Trotter 29 OCTOBER 26 NOVEMBER A Barbaro C Musolino J Sergi J Salvestro T Feltracco G Parisotto 23 OCTOBER 20 NOVEMBER 18 DECEMBER A Woodhouse M Harrison R Vecchio 30 OCTOBER 27 NOVEMBER D Della Franca J Calabria N Codemo A McGibbon A Thomas 24 OCTOBER 21 NOVEMBER J Davidge S O Sullivan 31 OCTOBER 28 NOVEMBER D Taylor M MacRae S Martinello T Barbaro N Agresta 25 OCTOBER 22 NOVEMBER K Salvestro V Forner L Salvestro P Minato 1 NOVEMBER 29 NOVEMBER S Sergi M Sergi L Sergi A Sergi We urgently need volunteers for the days with few parents. Canteen duty commences at 9.00am and finishes at 11.20am. If you are unable to do your duty please try and find a replacement and inform Lisa on You are entitled to a cup of tea or coffee or a cold drink, also a biscuit/cake any other food will have to be paid for. 6 P a g e

7 S t. P a t r i c k s G r i f f i t h C a l e n d a r, T e r m 4, Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1 7 October Pupil Free Day Labour Day Holiday 8 October Staff Development Day Pupil Free Day 9 October Students return to School 10 October 7.30pm School Council Meeting 11 October Year 4 Vision Testing 12 October 13 October 2 14 October Police attending Assembly 15 October 7.30pm P&F Meeting 16 October Year 5 Excursion to Ballarat 17 October Year 5 Excursion to Ballarat 18 October Year 5 Excursion to Ballarat 19 October P&F Westend Wines 20 October P&F Westend Wines 3 21 October 22 October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26 October 27 October 4 28 October 29 October 30 October 31 October Dance Concert Theatre 1 November All Saints Day Mass 9.15am Whole School 2 November All Souls Day 3 November 11.30am Parish Fete Dance Concert Theatre 5 4 November 6 6pm Dance Concert 5 November Year 6 Iceblock Stall 6pm Dance Concert 7.30pm P&F Meeting 6 November 6pm Dance Concert 7 November 6pm Dance Concert 11November 12 November 13 November 14 November 7.30pm School Council Meeting 8 November 9 November 10 November 15 November 16 November 17 November November 19 November 20 November 21 November 2.15pm Volunteers Thank you Afternoon Tea Fr. O Dea Hall 22 November SFC Year 7, 2014 Orientation Day 25 November 26 November 27 November 28 November 29 November 2 December 3 December 7.30pm P&F Meeting 4 December 5 December 5pm P&F Disco SPG Kindergarten, 2014 Orientation Day MCC Year 7, 2014 Orientation Day 23 November Year 6 Fundraising Carwash 24 November 30 November 1 December 6 December 7 December 8 December 10 9 December 9.30am The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mass Whole School December 17 December 10 December 11 December 12 December 6pm Year 6 Graduation Mass followed by supper 18 December 9.15am Thanksgiving Mass followed by Class Awards 12pm Major Awards Assembly Whole School 3.10pm Term 4 concludes 7.30pm School Council Meeting 13 December 3pm Semester Two Reports distributed 14 December 15 December 19 December 20 December 21 December 22 December 7 P a g e

8 8 P a g e

9 9 P a g e