NEWSLETTER 9 - 13th June 2023

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Student Use Agreement 

Recently, an  Information Communication Technology (ICT) Student Use Agreement was sent home for children who are enrolled at St Patrick’s. The ICT Student Use Agreement is implemented across schools in Catholic Education Tasmania and other jurisdictions across Australia. Access to ICT devices and Digital Technology resources are provided to students at our school to support and enhance their learning, as well as ensuring that all students benefit from learning about, and working with, traditional, contemporary and emerging technologies through the Australian Curriculum. 

The ICT Agreement describes the programs and processes our school has in place to support students to be safe, ethical and responsible users of digital technologies.  Safe and responsible use of ICTs' means that children are able to fully engage with the multitude of positive opportunities they present, while employing sensible safeguards to protect themselves and others, in the context of informed parental guidance and appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure the appropriate use of these devices and resources are practised, thus protecting continuous access for students. 

After discussing the agreement with your child, you and your child are asked to sign the agreement and return it to the school office. Some feedback has been provided by parents on the content of the ICT Agreement and this will be taken into consideration for 2024.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

This year, our Librarian, Mrs Melissa Carter will register students online for the Premier's Reading Challenge. The challenge is about encouraging children to develop reading for life. The challenge runs for 10 weeks and students can read a range of different things including home readers, fiction, non fiction, blogs, comics magazines, poetry etc, it all counts. For families, you can help your child get involved in the challenge by reading with them, talking to them about what they are reading and providing lots of encouragement! We would like to see as many students as possible participating fully in this challenge!

Lockett Sensei

At the end of last year, Mrs Kayla Lockett, aka Lockett sensei applied for a grant which is a six-week program in Urawa, Saitama, Japan that is designed to provide an opportunity for improving Japanese language skills necessary as a teacher. 

We are happy to announce that she was one of 31 teachers from around the world who received this grant.

So from the 6th of June until the 22nd of July Lockett sensei will be studying Japanese language in the morning and cultural studies in the afternoons. She will be touring schools and bringing back many cultural experiences to share with the students and enrich their language learning.

We look forward to following her journey and that this will be an amazing experience. During Lockett’s sensei time away, Ms Therese Dennis will be teaching specialist lessons in Japanese instead. 

Have a great week

Carmen Aylott

Principal

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 25th April, Monday 24th July, Monday 16th October.

2024

Term 1 - Monday 5th February - Thursday 11th April 

Term 2 - Monday 29th April - Friday 5th July 

Term 3 - Tuesday 23rd July - Friday 27th September 

Term 4 - Tuesday 15th October - Wednesday 18th December 

*Student Free Days Friday 12th April, Monday 22nd July, Monday 14th October.

(Easter Break - Good Friday 29th March, Easter Monday 1st April, Easter Tuesday 2nd April. Return to school Wednesday 3rd April.)

June

July

Our Parent/Teacher Meetings for Mid-Year will be held on Tuesday 4 July and Wednesday 5 July. Bookings for these are now open on the Compass App and will close on Friday 30 June at 3:00 pm.

To book a meeting follow the below instructions.

1. Open the Compass App

2. Tap on 'More'

3. Tap on 'Conference'

4. Tap on the child for which you would like to make the meeting

5. Tap on the teacher

6. Select the time you would like under the date you would prefer

7. Review the details and then tap on 'Confirm Booking'

8. Repeat for extra children

In week 6 this term, (27th May - 3rd June), the students at St Patrick’s Catholic School had a big week celebrating Reconciliation Week with the theme 'Be a Voice for Generations'. Students from Prep to Year 2 looked at the importance of relationships and celebrating other cultures. They also learnt about the Story behind Paul Kelly’s song ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ - the story of Vincent Lingiari and the Walk off at Wave Hill. Students from Years 3 - 6 learnt about some significant figures and events in history that have helped to make positive steps towards reconciliation including Vincent Lingiari, Eddie Mabo and Kevin Rudd’s apology. They then carried out a task in response to these historical heroes. 

We were also very fortunate to have Uncle Hank come and visit our school and work with each of the classes. Uncle Hank is a highly respected elder and has visited our school on a number of occasions. Students enthusiastically participated in the various learning opportunities that Uncle Hank provided including looking at; bush tucker, bush medicine, sustainable technologies, and  the importance of Country. The students at St Patrick’s should be very pleased with their work and engagement during Reconciliation Week. 

In Prep, we explored and discussed European settlement. We then read the story of Vincent Lingiari and sang the song 'From Little Things Big Things Grow' by Paul Kelly.  We talked about Reconciliation and what this means.  We had a class chat about relationships and completed an activity listing the actions and attitudes we need to demonstrate to care for others with the goal of maintaining friendships. 

During Reconciliation Week, we were lucky enough to have Uncle Hank visit our classroom.   Uncle Hank talked with us about Reconciliation.  He shared traditional Aboriginal ceremonial culture. We learnt about the importance of rhythm when using the clapping sticks.  The rhythm of the clapping sticks represents different animals.  We also learnt how to dance representing a kangaroo and an emu and that ochre is used to prepare for ceremonies. 

We learnt how to say 'Ya pulingina' (ya pul-ing-i-na). Ya means hello and pulingina means welcome.  Wulika means goodbye.  Both these words come from  Palawa Kani which means 'Tasmanian Aboriginies speak'.  We all had an engaging, informative and wonderful time with Uncle Hank.  Thank you Uncle Hank.

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

Prep

Liam B for great listening and application towards your work. 

Well done, Liam!

Year 1

Fern G for her improvement in learning sight words and her great effort with writing tasks. 

Year 2

Year 3

Tom A for improved application to tasks and for working hard on learning new strategies in Mathematics.

Year 4

Connor B for your intelligent application of feedback to adjust your writing.

Well done!

Year 5

Violet W for giving every task her best effort, always being helpful in the classroom, and working respectfully with her classmates.

Well done Violet!

Year 6

Jimmy T for being a wonderful role model through consistently making good choices in the classroom and within social contexts.

Congratulations to our House Raffle winners this week:

Dooley - Casey Y 

Martyn - Zarna B

Byrne - Dempsey C

Unfortunately, our NW Cross Country team did not get to participate in last Friday's event as it was cancelled due to the weather forecast.

As in previous years, we will be offering students who qualified for the NW carnival the opportunity to participate in the All Schools Cross Country Carnival being held at Symmons Plains on Tuesday 27th June. This course is considerably tougher than our St Patrick's school course and the NW course at Stella Maris, each race has students competing from all over Tasmania and these races can have an excess of 100 students per race. If your child does not want to participate in this event there will be an "opt" out option when the Compass event is sent out to families this week. Registrations need to be finalised/entered for the All Schools Cross Country event next Wednesday 21st June, the compass event permission will need to be completed prior to this date. 

Thank you to all parents who offered their support in the way of coaching and managing teams and for the commitment to your child’s participation. All coaches are required to hold a Working with Vulnerable People registration. If coaches/managers have not yet forwarded these registration details to the school office, please do so promptly.

Unfortunately, we were unable to fill teams in our 1/2 Boys & Girls and 5/6 Boys. 

All information/rosters will be forwarded to families as soon as we receive it. If you have any questions, please contact the school as soon as possible.

This year students have been challenged to set a personal reading goal. If they meet this goal during the 10 weeks, then they will have completed the challenge! Students can decide on a reading goal on their own, or can set one after talking with their classroom teacher or librarian. For some students a challenge may be completing one book, for others it may be finishing 100. Graphic novels, magazines, picture books, text books, novels, even audio books can all be counted!

"Rehearsals are well underway for the College production of Pippin. Students have been working hard on dancing and singing, and things look positive. We have some talented students in the lead roles and supporting players with great vocal talent. The choreography as well is led by some very well-tuned dance students. The sets are being created by a fantastic artistic team and constructed by Bevan Scramm and his crew.

Pippin tells the story of a young man, fresh from his studies at University, determined to live a fulfilling life and do the extraordinary. As he moves through his life, he realises that the promise of an exciting life isn't all it is cracked up to be. With some fabulous choreography and singing, Pippin will be a show you will never forget.

Tickets are on sale now through the Paranaple Arts Centre. Avoid disappointment, don't miss out, and get your tickets early! Adults - $30.00  Concession - $22.00  Student - $20.00

Research shows that the first five years of a child’s life are critical for their development. The experiences they have can shape who they become as an adult. We realise the importance of these years and ensure that our SETUP sessions are full of play-based activities that allow children to investigate and learn in their own way.

Lots of time spent playing, talking, listening and interacting with you helps your child learn the skills they need for life. These skills include communicating, thinking, solving problems, moving and being with other people and children. That’s why our SETUP sessions allow children time for provocative play and exploring both on their own and with other children. We do offer arts and crafts, storytime, interactive games and activities as well as outside play.

Our sessions run every Friday from 9:00 - 10:30 a.m during school terms. Please bring a piece of fruit to share, a hat and drink bottle. Tea and coffee is provided for parents/carers. We hope to see you there!

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.