NEWSLETTER 13 - 10th May 2022

“Us-Them; You-Me”. We see it in sport, in politics, in fashion and taste – it can be good-humoured, or it can be bitterly divisive. If our relationships were displayed in a Venn diagram that highlights those values that are unique to ‘me’ compared to those values that are unique to the other person, the ‘You’ in the equation, I would have an educated guess that the part that is unique to each person – the values or qualities that each person does not share with the other person – would be extremely narrow, with very few disparate values or qualities. I was in a few classes last week asking them to name four values or qualities that they currently appreciate in their mates or would look to see in potential friends, and I don’t think it would surprise you to know that the same fairly centrally-focused values or qualities were listed both individually and commended by the class as a whole: kindness, resilience; positiveness, being merciful/forgiving, displaying good-humour, not being self-centred. It was interesting that no-one highlighted subjective qualities such as good looks, physical prowess or the appearance of intelligence, yet in our competitive culture, it is often such superficial qualities that impress and influence, if only for a transitory period of time.

Our prejudices are often formed, unfortunately, on the basis such superficial impressions, rather than allowing a deeper relationship to reveal the qualities that we appear to universally agree-upon to be more endearing, enduring and influential. A quote regarding prejudices from Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre is illuminating from this perspective: “Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones”. I am a great fan of classical literature not because it is ‘escapism’, but because it illuminates human nature and exposes us all as people with great needs and expectations. For many of us, our needs are relatively simple – good health, time with friends and family. However, it appears that a significant source of both inner conflict and a further wider conflict with ‘the world’ occurs when our own expectations are not met due to our prejudices.

With the commencement of any new school term, there tends to be numerous conversations that are aimed to challenge and support some members of the school community regarding their unrealistic expectations of the values inherent in others. Sometimes, conflicts that arise can be traced back to an intolerance of others, a feeling that one’s own needs and expectations are more important than another’s needs and, most importantly, rights. In investigating conflict, I find I have an increasing respect for the vast majority of members of our school community who appreciate that there will be challenges in being part of a school community that brings together such disparate needs, abilities and aspirations and who ‘rise to the occasion’ by displaying tolerance in the face of the differences in others and who learn to listen to each other in becoming better people from each encounter; there are many lessons from the broader community to remind us of the dangers of continually considering past injustices and letting prejudice hinder growth in relationships and the chance of productive, reasoned discussion.

Clear expectations are expected of any person participating in our school and the consideration for the rights of others to learn is reflected in legislation that governs our school and which supports our ‘Behaviour Management Policy’. As a staff and in classes, we have been discussing the difference between annoying behaviour, teasing and bullying. There is an expectation that children gradually become more resilient when they find people who are occasionally are annoying, however, behaviour that is constantly inconsiderate to the extent that it hinders the academic and social development of a child is serious and does have consequences for the perpetrator.

Thank you to all in our school community who support our WEST principles (Welcoming, Encouraging, Sorry, Thanking) and Mercy Values (Mercy, Respect, Compassion, Hospitality), aspects of our school culture as important as our Chromebooks, desks, chairs and other learning resources in helping create a safe learning environment, and are values and qualities that appear to be acknowledged and appreciated by all who are prepared to put another person as being equally important.

 Regards,

 Rod Linhart

(Principal)

Term 1 - Thursday 3rd February - Thursday 14th April

Term 2 - Monday 2nd May - *Friday 8th July

Term 3 - Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September

Term 4 - Monday 17th October - Thursday 15th December

*Student Free Day Friday 8th July 2022

May

June

Literacy-The Big 6

Research has shown that there are six key components that contribute to successful reading and because of the importance of these components, they have become known as the 'Big Six’: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. The reading components of our school reading program focus on the Big Six.

Phonological Awareness

How does phonological contribute to reading success?

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognise and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words. Examples include being able to identify words that rhyme, recognising alliteration, segmenting a sentence into words, identifying the syllables in a word, and blending and segmenting onset-rimes. The most sophisticated — and last to develop — is called phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This includes blending sounds into words, segmenting words into sounds, and deleting and playing with the sounds in spoken words.

Phonological awareness (PA) involves a continuum of skills that develop over time and that are crucial for reading and spelling success, because they are central to learning to decode and spell printed words. Phonological awareness is especially important at the earliest stages of reading development — in pre-school, kindergarten, and Prep for typical readers.

Phonological Awareness at school

Instructional approaches to develope phonological awareness at school include the following:

• Word awareness-listening for words in spoken sentences.
• Syllable awareness-the speech sound “building blocks” of words.
• Rhyme-words that sound the same in the middle and at the end.
• Alliteration-words beginning with the same sound.
• Isolation-listening for the first, second, last sound.
• Segmenting-stretching out the sounds heard in words.
• Blending-converting sounds to words.

What can parents and caregivers do at home to encourage phonological awareness?

Phonological awareness skills start early as young children listen to and repeat rhyming texts and participate in word play.

Here are some ways parents and caregivers can encourage phonological awareness:

• Encourage your child to listen for words that rhyme when you say them aloud, such as fun, sun; hat, cat; and fish, wish.
• Classic Mother Goose rhymes can be fun to recite and sing. You can sing the rhymes, read nursery rhyme books, and use finger plays to act out a rhyme (i.e. The Itsy Bitsy Spider).
• Read rhyming books to and with your child. Many children’s books are filled with rhyming words and reading them aloud can help your child hear and recognise words that rhyme. Books by Dr. Seuss, Mem Fox, Julia Donaldson are excellent examples or stories such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
• Sing songs with your child. Songs like Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Hey Diddle Diddle and The Name Game are fun to sing with your child.

Students in Years 3 and 5 have today started NAPLAN Testing for 2022. The majority of these tests are conducted online, apart from the Year 3 Writing Test which is still completed on paper. Students have been provided opportunities to familiarise themselves with the testing format for NAPLAN. The testing schedule for both Year 3 and Year 5 students is below:

Writing - Tuesday 10 May

Reading - Wednesday 11 May

Conventions of Language - Thursday 12 May

Numeracy - Friday 13 May

Any student who misses a test due to being absent will be given the opportunity to do a catch-up test on the next available day if it is within the testing window which is Tuesday 10 May until Friday 20 May.

Staff and students in Years 3 to 6 voted last week for School Captain for term 2 after initially listening to some speeches from the candidates. As a result of these votes, we welcome Tyla O’Toole to the position of joint School Captain with Ruby Anthony, A copy of Ruby's speech is included in this Newsletter. Student leaders for term 2 are:

School Captains: Ruby Anthony, Tyla O’Toole

TERMS 1 & 2

Martyn House Captains: Ryan Jackson, Claire Simpson.

Dooley House Captains: Ekam Gill.

Byrne House Captains: Thomas Marshall, Suraya Khan.

Student Representative Council: Lakyn Dezoete, William Hawkins, Melia Sesara, Livai Sesara, Harrison Fawkner

Ruby Anthony’s nomination speech: ‘Good morning parents, teachers and students, today I will be running for school captain. Last term I had the opportunity to be a school captain and I am willing to take on that role again. Last term I believe I was an approachable leader to other students and a good role model to younger students. If I am elected school captain again this term I have already reflected on the things I can do better such as being more organised and speaking slower and clearer in front of people. I will participate in all sporting carnivals to represent our school and try to make a ‘colour run’ and an ‘idol day’ sometime this term. Thank you for voting for me last term and I hope that I will be successful again this term. So please vote for me, Ruby Anthony for school captain and thank you for listening.’

Attached to this Newsletter, and available on our school website via the Curriculum tab is an important document that provides parents with information regarding our school Student Online Feedback and Reporting Guidelines, a document that staff have been collaborating on for much of the past 18 months and has been scrutinised by the School Board. More information will be provided to families next week, however, in summary:

1. Teachers will use Seesaw to communicate samples of student work to families through the compilation of online folios that will be accessible to both students and parents.
   • Compass, student diaries and school newsletters will remain the primary communication sources related to school routines, events, policies, protocols, and procedures.
2. The Online Feedback Folio contains samples of work that reflects your child’s performance under certain conditions and at key stages of the year and are examples of a wider body of work produced by your child.
   • Online feedback to parents will offer parents an insight and is not meant to provide the entire student body of work.
3. Online folios are examples of student work (work samples) and performance that reflect the student’s level of proficiency against grade-level criteria and support a teacher’s appraisal of a student’s grades in key learning areas.
   • Teachers will still provide other examples of student work to parents throughout the year, including student workbooks and weekly tests.
4. Class teachers are best positioned to determine the frequency and timing of feedback provided and there may be variation in frequency between learning areas and between different grades as appropriate during terms 1 and 2 for mid-year reporting, and during terms 3 and 4 for end of year reporting, however, all classes will provide families with the same number of examples: 
   • Mid-Year online folios are to contain the following examples of feedback for reporting: 2 Religion; 3 English; 3 Mathematics.
   • End-of-Year online folios are to contain the following examples of feedback for reporting: 3 Religion; 6 English; 6 Maths, 2 HPE (1 Health, 1 Physical Education), 2 HASS (History and Geography), 1 Science, 2 Music, 2 Languages, 2 Arts, 1 Technologies.

Thank you to the many mothers and/or significant mother figures of students who attended our Mother’s Day breakfast last Thursday 4^th May who enjoyed the beautiful weather, some tasty breakfast and were the recipients of a tender prayer and touching song, which was part of this ‘welcoming’ event - your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you to the many staff who assisted and supported this event, and special thanks to Thomas Marshall and Lulu Meech who contributed considerable support.

Thank you, too, to Tameika Anthony, Kirrily Jones and Lorraine Young who offered students the opportunity to purchase a small Mother’s Day gift to students as part of a school P & F initiative. 

Beginning NEXT WEEK FRIDAY 20^th May, School Canteen will be offered both Thursday AND Friday (currently School Canteen is offered Thursdays.) Providing support for the school canteen is one way parents can be involved in one aspect of the school and we are looking for family support on either of these days – the school has committed staffing to ensure the School Canteen can operate on both days, however, we would dearly love some assistance from families such as:

• Assisting with putting stickers on lunch bags for 30 minutes on Thursday and/or Friday mornings, preparing sandwiches and/or some meals, assisting from 11.30 to 1.00pm in heating and packing lunch orders.

If you can assist on any day for any amount of time, please contact one of the school office staff, Tameika Anthony or Mr Linhart – we are sure you will enjoy the experience.

For term 2 Public Health, again in consultation with the education sector, is proposing to move from an outbreak management model to a symptoms-based model. This will mean that the focus for term 2 will be on those persons who are symptomatic to stay away and get tested. Testing of students who are not symptomatic will not be required unless in certain circumstances such as a rapid spike in case numbers.

Students/staff with symptoms will be required to stay home and test daily – Rapid Antigen Tests are available upon request from the school.

• If negative and no symptoms, individuals can return to school.
• If test positive, isolate for 7 days or 10 days if symptoms persist.
• Schools will not be required to notify families on a case-by-case basis; Public Health will work closely with the Catholic Education Tasmania on an individual school-by-school basis when there is concern about significant transmission e.g. 30% of a year level, within a school.
• Schools have been encouraged to focus on regular strong messaging; ‘if symptomatic stay away and get tested’.

As of Term 2, any student who is now treated for First Aid will no longer receive a note in their diary to be sent home. Parents will now receive a brief SMS with the details of the incident included within this message. As per our current protocols, a parent will be notified by a phone call for any head injuries or more serious incidents. 

Congratulations to the following students who have received Student of the Week.

Prep: Casey Moles for her positive attitude and improved application towards her work. 

Year 1: Milla Rockliff for her fantastic start to term 2. Keep up the good work! 

Year 2: Jackson Ryan-Woodhall for improved concentration and focus when completing tasks. 

Year 3: Kaylee Chappell-Hope for her application towards completing tasks and for the care and kindness she demonstrates towards her class mates. 

Year 4: Liam Becker for consistently applying himself in Mathematics and being a willing contributor to discussions on mental strategies. 

Year 5: Shahad Al-Roubaie for always looking for ways to improve her understanding and applying diligently to all tasks. 

Year 6: Tyla O'Toole for consistently showing perseverance when learning new mathematical concepts.

Congratulations to our House Raffle winners this week: 

Dooley - Jaxon Hampton  Martyn - Anas Abdelgayed  Byrne - Lulu Meech

Games for the Saturday morning Devonport Soccer Association school roster have now recommenced – a reminder for families involved to check the Devonport Junior Soccer Association website https://djsaschools2022.torneopal.com/ for game times and grounds and for any updates regards cancellations. 

Thank you to the following people who have volunteered to support the teams in the capacity of coach/sideline manager:

Currently, our U5 (Kinder) team only has 4 registered players - if any kinder students would like to join this team please contact Mrs Harris in the school office for further information. 

*Training is not compulsory and is only conducted if coaches choose to and have the time available. 

BOOK CLUB Issue 3 is out now! Scholastic has put together a wonderful catalog full of new releases from some of our favorite series'. Make sure you have a look! Orders need to be in by no later than Friday 20th May 2022.

Karlie offers discrete counselling services to students upon both parent's signed request. Request forms are available from the school office or can be downloaded from the school website.

Whole school assemblies have commenced again each morning – parents are welcome; please follow the COVID Safety Plan protocols – sanitize and face masks indoors.

Information regarding our school uniform is in the student diary or available on our school website. Please contact the school office for any uniform needs. Full school winter uniform is expected for all students from the first day of term 2, Monday May 2^nd.

G I R L S - WINTER

• School skirt or pinafore of modest length.
• Green school shirt and school tie (or dark green skivy if cold).
• Navy blue school jumper or Navy soft-shell jacket.
• Navy blue tights or ankle-length navy blue socks.
• Low-heeled black school shoes (no other visible colours) with arch support.
• Green scarf – scarf to be worn outside and during sedentary activities only.

B O Y S     - WINTER 

• Green school shirt and school tie (or dark green skivvy if cold).
• Navy blue school jumper or Navy soft-shell jacket.
• Long grey trousers or grey shorts of modest length.
• Ankle-length navy blue socks.
• Black school shoes (no other visible colour) with arch support.
• Green scarf – to be worn outside and during sedentary activities only.

SPORTS UNIFORM (To be worn Mondays and Fridays)

        . Plain Navy blue track pants or Plain navy blue shorts of modest length or Navy skort

        . Green polo shirt with school logo

        . School rugby top or navy soft-shell jacket

        . Ankle-length navy blue socks and runners with arch support 

House names and colours are:   Martyn - Green   Byrne- Blue    Dooley - Red

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.

‘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.

Latrobe Basketball will be running our first Aussie hoops sessions for 2022, please follow the link to register your child.  Hope to see you there.

Latrobe Aussie Hoops – Term 2

Starting –Saturday the 14^th May (No session on the 11^th June)

10am for 5yrs to 10yrs

Running for 6 weeks

5yrs to 10yrs Aussie Hoops

LBA Aussie Hoops Term 2

For those wanting to use Ticket to Play please contact Kristie before you register.

Any issues/queries please contact Kristie on 0418 385 597 or

juniorcoordinator@latrobebasketball.com.au