NEWSLETTER 38 - 29th November 2022

Sunday just gone marked the beginning of Advent. The liturgical colour purple is used during this special time, as it is a time for us to prepare. The same colour is used during Lent as we prepare for the death of Jesus, but instead of preparing through penance, in Advent, we are encouraged to wait expectantly with hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation. It is a time for us to welcome God into our hearts every day so that we can be truly joyful in a way that allows us to share this joy with everyone around us. The lead up to Christmas is an extremely busy time for most of us and in many ways, we lose our joy during this special time, whether it be through the mad rush of Christmas shopping and preparation, trying to reach deadlines for work, or worrying about seeing that family member that you only see once per year. Therefore, don’t neglect the preparation that you need to do in your mind and heart that will allow you to experience the joy that can be found even in the midst of all the busyness that comes as we approach Christmas. 

The joy that can be found during this time of year is evident on the faces of our Prep students as they prepare for their upcoming Nativity Play. The Prep teaching team works incredibly hard to prepare the students for this wonderful performance, yet it is evident that they too find joy in the small steps along the way as the class shares in learning about and re-enacting this special event. And, we very much look forward to seeing the joy on the faces of parents and family members when the time comes to appreciate the performance of their child and the other members of our Prep class.

Some of our students are also extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the Second Sunday of Advent Mass at St Patrick’s Catholic Church this coming Sunday. Some of our students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 will be singing the entrance song and the song after communion with accompanying actions. We also have a number of our Year 3 and Year 4 students that will be reading Prayers of the Faithful during this special Advent Mass. I am extremelly appreciative of those family members attending and I hope that this offers another opportunity of joyful preparation for Christmas.

If you had not already guessed through my use of the word over and over again in the above paragraphs, my hope is that you all experience joy in bountiful quantities by sharing joy with others over the coming weeks. The below ‘Advent in 2 Minutes’ video may give you some inspiration to make this a reality.

Kind regards

Kurt Atkins

Acting Principal

2022

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

2023

Term 1 - Friday 3rd February - Thursday 6th April

Term 2 - Wednesday 26th April - Friday 7th July

Term 3 - Monday 24th July - Friday 29th September

Term 4 - Monday 16th October - Thursday 14th December

*Student Free Days Monday 24th April, Monday 24th July, Monday 16th October.

School Office Reopens 

Monday 23rd January 2023 (Office hours 8.00am - 4.00pm)

Closed - Thursday 26th (Public Holiday) & Friday 27th January.

Uniform Sales 

Monday 30th January  - Thursday 2nd February 

December 

January

Below is a list of the classroom teachers for 2023. 

We are extremely fortunate to have two new teaching staff starting next year.

Mrs. Downward will be sharing our Year 1 class with Mr. O’Brien. Mrs. Downward has been the Education Officer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education over the past few years and will bring a wealth of knowledge from this area to the classroom.

Mrs. Woodcock will be sharing our Year 5 class with Ms. Moore. Mrs. Woodcock has taught at St Brendan Shaw College for a number of years and we are excited to welcome her to the Year 5 Team.

Our Year 4 class teacher is unconfirmed at this stage. We will be interviewing for this position shortly and will notify parents once a teacher is appointed.

Classroom Teacher Assistants will be announced at a later time.

To help us in our planning for 2023, could any families that may be intending to unenroll their child/ren for any reason please contact the office on 64261626 or email stpatslat@catholic.tas.edu.au at your earliest convenience. Thank you. 

This year our classes will again be involved in Kris Kringle gift giving. Class teachers will allocate your child/ren Kris Kringle recipients on Monday next week. Gifts should cost no more than $10.00. Students should place their Kris Kringle gifts under the classroom tree. Gift giving will be done on the second last day of school which is Wednesday 14 December.

If you do not wish for your child to participate, please write a note in their diary stating this on or before Friday 2 December.

Christmas in Prep! 

On Monday, Year 6 had the privilege of Mitch’s presence and of him sharing his passion for the Gospel values. Mitch initially addressed the whole school during Monday morning’s assembly. Students were given the opportunity to ‘feed their positive spirit’ by making eye contact with the person next to them, and then smiling, winking, high-fiving, and doing a thumbs-up and an elbow tap with the person they chose. The positive spirit was obvious for all to see. Once back in the classroom the Year 6s thought about and recorded three things that make them a better ‘Team-player At Home’ (TAH) and a ‘Team-player At School’ (TAS). These actions make everyone a better version of themselves. It is the little things, that we say and do every day, that make a difference. Finally, students looked at many of the values highlighted in their MJR books. Two important questions were posed in readiness for journaling;

“I saw the Spirit Of Jesus (SOJ) today, when (insert a name) either encouraged or welcomed”.

“I saw the SOJ in me when I did one of the following, included others, said sorry, or was thankful for something”.

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

Prep: Casey Youd for making relevant and meaningful contributions to our class discussions in Geography.

Year 1: Mark Hingston for the outstanding effort with completing your Oxford 500 Words. Great work Mark.

Year 2: Fraser Smith for his improved concentration when completing tasks at his desk.

Year 3: Meg Kelly for her hard work and application towards completing tasks and for always looking to help others.

Year 4: Leon Garrad for his application of the division strategies we have explored to solve worded problems.

Year 5: Rose Evans & Amaja Scott for working collaboratively to produce an outstanding salt dough model of the United Kingdom.

Year 6: Thomas Marshall for his persistence with the detailed elements needed to creativity produce an animal collage in Visual Art. 

Congratulations to our House Raffle winners this week: 

Dooley -  Fern Gardner   Martyn - Ross Crawford

Byrne - Jayce Jarman

Jackson Ryan-Woodhall has lost his woolen school jumper. It is size 8 or 10 and is named, if found can you please return it to Jackson in Year 2. Thank you. 

Parents are welcome to contact Mr Atkins, Mrs Marshall or Mrs Badcock at any time to discuss issues relating to their child’s education. It is important for parents to always make contact with the leadership team (Mr Atkins, Mrs Marshall & Mrs Badcock) or their child’s teacher if they require elaboration or clarification on any issue. Contact to the school can be made by either phoning the office between 8.00am - 4.00pm (after-hours phone calls will now go to the school message bank) your child's diary, or by making an appointment. 

Student End of Year Reports will not be printed this year and instead will only be available via Compass. Reports are easy to access via Compass and instructions for this will be made available in future newsletters. We will however print reports if requested by parents/guardians. This can be requested after the reports have been made available on Compass. Please note the reports from previous years and the Mid Year Report from this year can also be accessed via Compass (either in the App or the web version).

Please contact the school office if you are unable to access Compass or do not know your login details. 

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.