NEWSLETTER 13 - May 18th 2021

Acting Principal's Reflection

Acts 1:1-11

Now having met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth.’

As he said this he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. They were still staring into the sky when suddenly two men in white were standing near them and they said, ‘Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky? Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, this same Jesus will come back in the same way as you have seen him go there.’

On Sunday we celebrated the Ascension of the Lord. Putting myself in the shoes of the apostles, I imagine that I would have stood there staring into the sky for quite some time if I had witnessed what they did. However, the question that the Angels pose to the apostles is a question that is worth us all taking the time to consider. Jesus is no longer here on earth, yet, as we say at the end of every peer fitness session on Fridays, we must “live Jesus in our hearts forever”. Hence, we are called to BE like Jesus. We are his face, his eyes, his ears, his mouth, his hands, his heart. And, we are called to see the face of Jesus in others; to put ourselves in the shoes of others, to show compassion, to be kind, to be generous, to be tolerant, to be merciful. This is something that we hope all of our students at St Patrick’s continue to strive towards. To understand that they, indeed all of us, have been given this task in Christ’s leave.

Of course, none of us are perfect, we all make mistakes from time to time, some of us more than others. In part, this is why children come to school, to learn from their mistakes. Through our experiences, we learn how to treat others, we learn to see the face of Jesus in others and we learn how to be like Jesus ourselves. We see the growth from this learning in our students at St Patrick’s. Our older students are often wonderful role models for the younger students in the school, and sometimes the younger students are role models for the older ones. I am often inspired by the way that our students all interact with each other when they are out in the playground, and it is so wonderful to see our Mercy and MJR values in action. It is my hope that this continues to be a key ingredient of the culture at St Patrick’s into the future. 

We hope that you are enjoying the new format of the school newsletter and that the new features are making it easier to read on your phone or tablet. However, if you still wish to receive a hard copy of the newsletter, you can find a link below to request that a copy be sent home.

https://forms.gle/yRMBQJPWdnjBzioJ7

Kind regards,

Kurt Atkins

Acting Principal

School Photo Day - Tuesday 18th May

School photos were taken today. If you did not return your child/rens school photo envelope and would still like to order photos you will need to contact the photographers directly to arrange this. No late envelopes/orders will be accepted at school. 

Pied Piper Portraits - Ph: 6228 6878

After school playground use & childcare

As many parents would be aware, Latrobe Early Learning Childcare uses our playground for after-school care. Due to regulations that they are required to uphold, they can't use the playground while other students not attending after-school care are on the playground. Therefore, we now have an agreement in place where after-school care will not commence using the playground until 3:15 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays, and not until 4:00 pm on Wednesdays to accommodate for families that have students involved in soccer and basketball training. As we have now put this arrangement in place, we kindly ask that parents ensure their children do not play on the playground after these times so that students in after-school care can use these facilities. Thank you all in advance for your cooperation.

Photos of sporting teams

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 

English Books

Your child's English Workbook would have gone home late last week or early this week for you to look at. If you have not already done so, please return these as soon as possible so that your child can continue to work in these in class.

Meeting with teachers

At St Patrick's we encourage parents or guardians to book a meeting with their child's classroom teacher if there is an issue that requires more discussion than a note in the diary can provide. If you wish to book a meeting please contact the school office to arrange a mutually convenient time. We request that parents do not come into classrooms during class time or before school to discuss bigger issues as teachers are either teaching the class or preparing the class for the day. Thank you all in advance for your cooperation.

Emergency Practice

Within the next few weeks we will hold an unannounced emergency practice with staff and students, to test our response to a potential scenario that staff identify as a threat warranting the school to go into lockdown (opposite to evacuation).

Similar to the fire evacuation drills, we recognise the worth in testing this process.

We have plans in place to make this practice as least disruptive as able.

If you have queries you are welcome to call our Safety Officer, Simon Natoli on 0400 105 476.

Staff News

Mr. Broos got a new toy... luckily he read the instructions :)

Pickup/Drop Off - Noone Street

Students who are being dropped off/collected from our Noone Street entrance are reminded that they are not to walk through the staff car park. We also ask that parents please use the entrance gate and do not walk their children through the car park to enter the school building. 

A reminder that students who are still at school after the 2:55 pm bell, must wait at the school office to be collected by their parents. Students that are unsupervised are not permitted to sit outside or play on the playground while waiting to be picked up as there is no direct supervision in the playground at that time. We ask that children are collected from school promptly and if you are running late to pick up your child/ren that you please call the office to advise us. Where students are required to wait at the office on a regular basis (min 2-3 times per week) for more than 15 minutes per day, we now ask that parents arrange an alternative earlier pick up or that students are booked into after-school care.  Thank you in advance for your support.

Student of the Week

Prep: Grace Freeman for giving 100% application towards all of her work, for using her common sense to solve small problems and for being kind and caring.

Year 1: Dexter Eagling for his pleasing effort and attitude, both with his schoolwork and in the classroom. 

Year 2: Peyton Allford for her creative use of warm and cool colours in her artwork.

Year 3: Hamish Crawford for his consistent application to tasks and for always trying his best.

Year 4: Rose Evans for being a responsible learner and for always giving her best.

Year 5:  Tyla O’Toole for her outstanding effort with her narrative writing!

Year 6: Jaxon Boyle for his enthusiasm and engagement when exploring the components of electrical circuits in Science.

WEST Award

Congratulations to Balin Holland (Prep) 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. 

House Raffle Winners

Byrne House:  Eamon Young

Dooley House:  Ruby Anthony

Martyn House: Jason Richards

P&F News - Pie Drive

Our next major fundraiser for the P&F is a Pie Drive. Order forms were sent home with all families yesterday. If you did not receive one please contact the office or you can download one via the link below. Orders will close on Tuesday 1st June with deliveries/pickup on Thursday 10th June. Money must be returned with all order forms. 

Due to the number of families that are here on a Wednesday afternoon with the many soccer teams and basketball training taking place, the P&F have decided to trial run a canteen on a Wednesday afternoon between 3.00pm-4.00pm.  When purchasing from the canteen small change would be appreciated.  A reminder that students do need to be supervised by a parent or guardian during this time.

Book Fair - Tuesday 11th May

Thank you to everyone who purchased from our Book Fair last week. All sales from our fairs go directly towards purchasing/updating new books for our school library. From this fair we were able to purchase $400 worth of new books.  What an awesome effort! 

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.

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.