Newsletter 9 - 13th June 2024

COVID / Colds and Flu

 

Staff or students who test positive or who display acute COVID-related or cold and flu symptoms are not to enter a school until their symptoms have gone or have significantly resolved e.g. they have not had a fever (or signs of fever such as chills or night sweats) for at least 24 hours.

Staff or students with respiratory illness symptoms should stay home and test for COVID-19. If the initial test result is negative and symptoms continue, staff and students are advised to take a second test the following day. 

Staff or students with the following symptoms should stay home. 

Symptoms include: 

• Fever
• Runny nose 
• Coughing
• Sore throat

Speak Up and Stay Chatty

This Friday, we will be hosting a 1 hour interactive session called GritFit Kids. GritFit Kids is centered around mental wellbeing and resilience for year 6 students.

Delivered by two Stay Chatty facilitators, this evidence informed, clinically endorsed program provides students with foundational information, tools and strategies across the following topics:

Mental Health

• What is mental health?
• Depression and Anxiety – Exploring the differences between healthy anticipated emotions/experiences and what to look out for in yourself and others when it comes to anxiety and depression.

Brain Ways

• Resilience – why is it important and exploration of how we build resilience.
• Tools – how do we develop ways to boost our mental wellbeing and help release feel-good chemicals in our brains/bodies.

Kindness

• The importance of building a kindness culture and how we can participate in it.
• Mental Health Services available to support anyone working through a tough time.

Tolerance

Whilst children are curious or fascinated by differences, they learn prejudice from others. Underneath intolerance is a little vulnerability where people are frightened or misinformed. We recognise parents as the first educators of their children. Parents have a great influence over how their children react to a variety of cultures, ethnicities or disabilities. Just for this week, notice how you talk about others.

• What language do you use?
• What words do you use and in what tone of voice?
• What beliefs and values are you passing on to your kids?
• How do you explain people’s different customs, hairstyles or clothing to your kids
• If you were a detached observer what messages are your kids picking up consciously and unconsciously from you?

Teaching tolerance is an ongoing process. Teaching your children from an early age to ask questions rather than judge when they see something that looks different is a great way to encourage curiosity.  Trying to answer their questions with facts, rather than judgments of your own, is also a great way to help them embrace diversity. Teaching Tolerance - Sue Atkins The Parenting Coach

What We Do In Our School

Student Support - Melisssa Marshall

The Student Support Coordinator, Melissa Marshall, is part of the teaching team and aims to facilitate a whole school commitment to inclusion of all students. She promotes an inclusive educational environment through coordination, oversight and monitoring of all students with particular focus on students with disabilities or learning support needs. Melissa works in collaboration with school leadership, classroom teachers and teacher assistants to provide support for students. She implements screeners, assessments and helps create individual adjustments based on screener/assessment results, and implements the recommendations made by external agencies such as Speech Pathologists, Psychologists and Occupational Therapists. Melissa develops positive working partnerships with students, parents, and staff to support and improve students’ learning. 

Melissa Marshall will be presented an award at the Catholic Education Commission Tasmania Recognition Awards during Catholic Education Week in August. We congratulate Melissa on her commitment and dedication to Catholic Education Tasmania and St Patrick’s Catholic School.

Have a great week

Carmen Aylott

Principal

We have had such a fun term already.  In Science and Technology, while investigating energy, we made popcorn and designed solutions to "save the chocolate" from melting in the heat. We enjoyed the design process so much, that we found another task where we designed undies after reading Aliens Love Underwear.

We loved the visit from Uncle Hank and all the students were so respectful. We have been praying to God to say thank you for all our strengths. We are currently making word problem books in Math and are looking forward to an excursion at the end of this term to Home Hill to consolidate our understanding of the past.

Emilia, James and Harry competed in the Devonport Cup over the long weekend representing the Devonport Junior Soccer Association. Emilia was part of the U12 girls team who won their division. James and Harry were part of the U12 boys team who also won their division. Both teams are going to Queensland in September to represent their club in the Premier Invitational. 

Our Soup Day was a great success.  Thank you to Mr Tim for growing and harvesting the tomatoes and pumpkins from the school garden, thankyou to Mrs Harris for assisting with soup making, Mrs Adams & Mrs Anthony who assisted with serving.  

Our next fundraiser for St Vincent De Paul will be the "Cans for Casual Clothes Day" on the last day of this term. Details of this fundraiser are to follow.