NEWSLETTER 19 - June 29th 2021

Acting Principal's Reflection

Term 2 can be a challenging term in many ways. It is, of course, the only term where we are heading into winter as the term progresses. The days get shorter, colder, wetter and frostier. Students (and everyone else) are usually tired at the end of any term, but the wintery aspect of Term 2 seems to exacerbate the situation. Having said this, the students at St Patrick’s have really done a fantastic job of "holding themselves together". For the most part, they continue to exhibit the Mercy and WEST values that we promote at St Patrick’s. Nevertheless, I hope that they have a chance over the two-week break to rest and recuperate, ready for an exciting Term 3. Term 3 is really the opposite of Term 2, in the sense that we start off in a wintery space, but then grow into the beauty of spring, which always lightens moods even if we are feeling tired or overburdened.

As the term comes to a close I have had many students and parents asking what Mr. Linhart’s intentions are for the remainder of the year. Thankfully, I am able to share a statement with you from Matt Jones (Director School Services: North - Catholic Education Tasmania).

I am able to now confirm that Mr. Rod Linhart will return from his leave from the start of Term 4 this year.  The period of leave has and is providing Rod with the time needed to continue leading St. Patrick's Catholic School Latrobe in the last term of this year and into 2022.  I wanted to communicate this to the school community as soon as possible so that everyone knows what is happening so that the question of Rod's return is not unanswered.

Catholic Education Tasmania would like to acknowledge Kurt's work as Acting Principal and Tina’s work as Acting Deputy Principal this term. They will both continue in these roles for Term 3 while Rod remains on leave. We will communicate further information where needed as we get closer to the end of Term 3 and the transition of Rod returning from leave."

Matt Jones

Director School Services: North

I am sure you all share our excitement regarding Mr. Linhart’s return, and we look forward to welcoming him back at the start of Term 4.

You will notice that in this week's newsletter there is a list of upcoming events. This will be a standing feature in all of our newsletters moving forward as we are aware that many people read the newsletter from a smartphone, which doesn't show the upcoming events on the left-hand side as it does on a computer (to see upcoming events on a smartphone you can tap on the three lines in the top left corner and select calendar). Hopefully, this new section will make it more user-friendly to see future events on smartphones. I would like to also remind parents that this coming Friday 2 July is a Student Free Day.

Finally, I would like to wish all members of the St Patrick’s School Community a wonderful and safe winter break for these holidays.

Kind regards

Kurt Atkins

Acting Principal

Upcoming Events

JULY

Thurs 1st

• Last Day of Term 2 
• School Counselor available

Fri 2nd

• Student Free Day 

Mon 19th

• Term 3 Starts 
• Morning Assembly - All Welcome

Tues 20th

• Kinder & Prep Excursion
  

Staff News

We would like to offer our condolences to Mrs. Jak and her husband, Andre, for the recent loss of Andre's Father. Mrs. Jak will be away on Thursday as she will be taking Compassionate Leave on this day - Miss. Mayne will teach Prep on Thursday.

Mr. O'Brien was away Monday and Tuesday - Mrs. P taught Year 1 on Monday and Miss. Brown Taught Year 1 on Tuesday.

Miss Newell was away on Monday and Tuesday at a professional learning course - Mr. P taught Year 2.

Mrs. Temple is still on medical leave - Mrs. Mac will be teaching Year 5.

Canteen Menu - Thursday 1st July

Please note due to the last day of term 2 Mrs. Davis will only be offering a limited menu. Please see below a copy of the menu for this week only. 

Mid Year Parent-Teacher Meetings

Parent-teacher meetings will be held today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday) after school. If you missed the booking cut off, please contact the school office and we will try to slot you in if possible. Alternatively you may wish to book a meeting for early next term. Please feel free to bring your child into the meeting. This can often be beneficial for the student moving forward.

Lost Property

Please be aware that our lost property box will be cleared out at the end of the term. Please look in the lost property box before the end of the term if your child is missing any items.

2021 Mersey Leven Catholic Parish

Preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation and Reconciliation is Family Centred, Parish Based and Catholic School Supported.

FAMILY CENTRED - The family is the setting where children first learn about God. At Baptism, parents make a commitment to bring their children up in the practice of the faith. The family is the central support for children preparing for the Sacraments.

PARISH BASED - The Parish is the local church community where the children celebrate their initiation. We aim to make the children feel welcome and develop a sense of belonging to our parish community.

SCHOOL SUPPORTED - Catholic schools support the Sacramental preparation through the Religious Education curriculum which is based on the RE Framework, ‘Good News for Living’. Catholic schools teach about the Sacraments, but do not initiate the children into our faith community. This is the role of the family, in the parish setting.

The Parish organises the following Sacramental preparation programs to support parents in handing on their faith to their children. 

Reconciliation Preparation Dates for 2021

Parent Meeting :  27^th July 7:00pm Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Stewart Street, Devonport.       

As parents guide their children through the preparation it is essential that parents attend this meeting. If parents are unable to make this date, an alternative time can be arranged. Please call to make an alternative time.

If you have any questions about the Sacramental preparation program, please contact:
Sacramental Coordinator - Fr Steven Smith mlcpsacraments@aohtas.org.au

Parish Office 6424 2783

Or you can speak to myself at the school or at helen.halley@catholic.tas.edu.au

Year 6 News - Mrs Kingshott

Below are some snippets of what the Year 6 students enjoyed doing at SBSC's Taster Day.

Adam - My favorite part of St Brendan Shaw College was MDT which is woodwork and stuff when we got to make a wooden car and learn how to use a drill pressTully - I saw many faces that I recognised. The giant climbing thingy was one of my favorite bits of the school! Charlotte - I did know a few people that went to the school. The teachers were really nice, they seemed kind and welcoming. I enjoyed going there! Eamon - I enjoyed making the car for MDT because you had to drill in the holes and sand it down and laser the writing on it. 

Gideon - I enjoyed science, most specifically chemistry. I loved checking how strong the acid was in stuff and mixing up liquids to make it fizz up.

Jaxon - The thing I enjoyed about SBSC was the kitchen because we can learn to cook and open new pathways for when you're older.

Jess - I enjoyed creating my own wooden toy car from scratch and looking around the wood/metalworking rooms. I think it's always good to try something new even if you aren't going to SBSC.

Josh - One thing I liked about the SBSC taster day was the pizza muffins we cooked. We could put capsicum, bacon and pineapple on the pizza muffin.

Monty - One thing I liked doing at St Brendan Shaw was the woodwork because we got to shape the wood to the right shape and we got to use the laser to write what we wanted on the car.

Luke - My favorite thing at SBSC was the cooking.

Amelia - My favourite thing about SBSC was talking to everyone because I met some of the old Year 6’s. I think it was 10\10 for me.

Nate - I enjoyed wood work at SBSC.

Nathan - I enjoyed getting to meet the teacher at SBSC and getting to do science and woodwork.

Talei - I really liked the woodwork because it was so much fun using the tools (drills, laser gun and sandpaper) to make cars. We also got to engrave our names into the car and it looked really cool.

Liam - In Science we took apart fake human parts and put them on a weight machine that measured how many Milligrams the part weighed.

Georgie - My favourite would have to have been MTD with Mr. Lane as it is something St Pats can’t offer for the students. I loved making our little wooden cars and using the different tools like the drill, drill press, sandpaper and a file.

Keira - My favourite part was woodwork. We first got a base, then we marked out where the holes would go for the window and wheels. Next, we drilled a hole where we had marked for the wheels and used a  drill press to put a hole in it. We sanded it a bit then we got the opportunity to have writing on the side of the car. There was a big box-like thing that would burn the wood to make a word, it was pretty cool.

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Winter Basketball Roster

The Devonport Winter Roster concludes this week.  Thank you to all those who have assisted teams; coaching and completing bench duties.  Your time is much appreciated and students would be unable to participate without your assistance.  There may be an opportunity for a Spring roster in Term 3 as well as the Primary Schools Tournament in the near future.  In the meantime, there are holiday clinics being offered for students who would like to participate.  Please see the below details. 

Another round of the BTAS Macca’s On Your Team Basketball Camps is coming up these July School Holidays!

Our Holiday Camps offer junior basketballer’s the opportunity to develop their skills while having fun, and not to mention all campers receive a Molten Basketball! 

Camp Dates are:

• 2-Day Boys & Girls Camps
  14 & 15 July in Hobart, Launceston & Devonport

The camp cost is $80 per person for the 2-day camps. Checkout the flyer for all the camp details and register online: www.basketballtasmania.com.au

WEST Award

Congratulations to Grace Locke who received a WEST Award during today’s morning assembly. We will continue to acknowledge those students who exhibit WEST (Welcoming, Encouraging; Sorry; Thankful) qualities and Mercy Values (Hospitality, Compassion, Mercy and Respect) by presenting awards at our Monday morning assemblies. 

Student of the Week

Prep: Lily Nichols for being kind and caring towards others and for an excellent attitude and application towards her work.

Year 1: Amir Kahn for his consistent display of WEST qualities.

Year 2: C.J Porteous for working very hard at sounding out words when he is writing. 

Year 3: Rori Eagling for settling into morning routines and working hard to present neat book work.

Year 4: Amaja Scott for application and enthusiasm towards learning opportunities in Mathematics. Keep up the positive attitude and hard work Amaja.

Year 5:Claire Simpson for a consistently positive attitude towards her learning and her thoughtfulness and kindness to her peers. 

Year 6: Keira Emery for her engagement in learning and applying the concepts and skills to accurately calculate long division using an algorithm. 

House Raffle Winners

Byrne House: Maddy Hawkins

Dooley House: Evie Bracken

Martyn House: Jackson Ryan-Woodhall

Pyjama Day - Thursday 1st July

We are having a cosy, warm PJ Day to raise money for Vinnies winter appeal.

When: Thursday, 1st July - last day of Term 2.

What: PJs, warm clothes, house pants, dressing gowns, onesies, slippers (inside only, bring sneakers for outside) and remember it's okay to have bed hair this day too!  Casual clothes or PE uniform are acceptable if you don't want to wear your pj's.

Bring: Gold coin/s donation. 

All money raised will go to St Vincent de Paul to help with supplying warm clothes, pjs, warm bedding, blankets etc to those who are less fortunate than ourselves this winter time. 

Run by the 2021 Mini Vinnies Kids! 

Catholic Education Transportation Survey

We want to know how to improve student transport.

Please take five minutes to let us know what you think about how students get to and from school.

The review will also be looking at the attitudes families and students have towards bus transportation and reasons why they may or may not use bus transportation.

The survey closes Friday 2 July 2021.

Port Sorell Tennis Coaching

Port Sorell Tennis Coaching has tennis coaching group sessions on Thursday nights for children aged 5-14 years old. Tennis recommences the first week of Term 3
 A group lesson lasts for 35 minutes with children of similar abilities grouped together.
If you are interested please contact Peter Georgiades on 0439637301 or 64287112.

School Holiday Program - Devonport and Ulverstone Libraries

Nut Allergy School

A reminder to parents that St Patrick's is a Nut Allergy School and that we ask that parents not pack nuts or nut products in their children's lunchboxes.

Photos of Sporting Events

If any parents or guardians have photos of students from school sporting teams and would like to see these included in the newsletter, please email them to stpatslat@catholic.tas.edu.au 

Inquiring Minds - Birth to 5 Years

‘Inquiring Minds’ Birth to 5 program - a ‘Set-Up for Success’ Catholic Education Tasmania initiative.
Our ‘Inquiring Minds’ birth to 5 program operates each Friday during school term time from 9.00am to 10.30am. This program involves a considerable focus on communicating to parents the learning intentions of important activities that are associated with early years learning. Mrs Klug will be working to engage parents in early years learning experiences that will ensure children who are enrolling in Kindergarten, will be informed in regards to developing key social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills and understandings. Parents or an adult family member stays for the duration of these sessions; there is no cost, however if you would like to donate a gold coin it would be appreciated. Please feel welcome to participate.

Care and Concern

Please feel welcome to be included in our Care and Concern Volunteer List - thank you to the many school community members who are already on this list and are assisting others: Always please contact your child’s teacher, the office staff or Mr Atkins if you feel we could offer support in any way to anyone in our school community in need.

Check in TAS App

It is now a requirement, as part of our COVID Policy, that any adult that visits the school for longer than 10 minutes must sign in using the 'Check in TAS App'. 

Please view the below PDF for information regarding how to install and use the Check in TAS App.

We have QR codes at the office and school hall that can be scanned using this app when you are visiting the school for longer than 10 minutes.

If you do not have a smartphone or device that will let you install this app, you will need to visit the school office so that we can check you in.

Covid-19 School Safety Protocol

• Adults to please hand sanitise upon entering any school building: the school provides hand sanitiser at school venue entry points or adults may use their own (and be observed to use a sanitiser).
  
• Adults, where practicable, to maintain 1.5m physical distancing, observing seating arrangements as communicated by signage or instruction please: indoor event attendance limited to one person per 2 square metre per indoor space.
• Adults to sign-in, either at the school office or on a list provided at the entry of the school building. The school is obligated to record contact details of visitors to school events held in school venues, with this information stored securely for a period of 21 days.
• Appropriate COVID safe signage is communicated at school entry points. Key message to visitors - if feeling unwell, it is important not to be in attendance; the school will bar entry to people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who are close contacts of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
• Although daily cleaning of frequently touched internal surfaces is undertaken, we ask adult visitors to avoid touching surfaces unnecessarily.
  

THANK YOU