NOV 30 2023 NEWSLETTER

CHILD SAFETY STATEMENT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and Carers,

I can't believe how quickly the last couple of weeks are flying by...and so much still to do.  

Congratulations to the year 5/6 students and teachers, particularly Antonia Balmer, for the wonderful play they produced this week.  It has taken months of preparation as you can imagine but was so worth while.  

The following parents are joining the School Advisory Council for 2024. Liam Currer, Elle Seath, Myra Murrihy and Elise Ploenges. Nicole Elliott and Jo McKenzie are parents who are remaining on the SAC for another year.  Zeb Armstrong will be the Parents and Friends Representative.  This completes our SAC Team.  I look forward to working with this group to represent the parent community. 

I hope to see all of our families at our Picnic Tea and Carols night to celebrate the end of the year.  At this evening we will be drawing the Christmas Raffle and farewelling any families who are leaving our school. Besides that, what better way to finish off our St. Patrick's School year.  If the weather is not kind, we will set up in the hall and change the time to accommodate the carols only.  Let's hope that isn't necessary, if it is, we will notify everyone during the day.

Olga Lyons (Principal)

FROM THE RE LEADER - ELIZA DWYER

2023 Graduation

Our 2023 Year 6 class will graduate next Thursday December 14. 

The Graduation dinner for parents and the graduating students will begin promptly at 6.00pm in the school hall. 

Due to the ceremony being held in the Open Learning Space we are not able to invite extended family members.  Therefore, we will be live streaming the ceremony on facebook from 7.00pm.

The ceremony is followed by a dance for the students and parents in the hall. 

New Literacy Curriculum Focus

We are thrilled to announce that our school has joined the Diocese of Ballarat's Structured Literacy Project. In 2024 we will be taking the first steps towards a renewed, evidence-based approach to Literacy instruction through participation in this award-winning research partnership with La Trobe University.

The Sciences of Reading and Learning tell us that a systematic, explicit approach to the teaching of the alphabetic code and the grammatical rules that underpin written English offers our students the best chance at becoming confidently literate. The approach we are strategically adopting is called Structured Literacy, which is the approach endorsed by the International Dyslexia Association, the International Literacy Association and the Australian National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy.

Our whole staff group will be working closely with the Structured Literacy team from the Catholic Education Office over the next few years, to learn more about the principles, elements and characteristics of a Structured Literacy approach. This is a substantial change that will take time to achieve. However, we are assured by the results achieved in the pilot schools and the endorsement of the La Trobe University researchers.

We will strive to keep you updated on the progress of this important project, but for now you may wish to watch this short video from the DOBCEL Structured Literacy team to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLLrFOqmg7k

AWARDS

LEARNING: Ruby Lilley for consistently deomstrating her best efforts in all tasks with a smile on her face. Jonty McCosh for applying his best effort in literacy and remaining focused. Liam Jackson for excellent bird watching skills and enthusiasm. Angus Down for leading his inquiry team during 'Helping Hands'. Poppi Sproal for reading with confidence in front of the whole class. Keely Parkinson for writing an excellent story about camping. Braxton Shiells for working well in maths. Laura Murrihy for learning the 300 Magic Words. 

5TH STAR!

After a mountain of work put together by Mr Sanderson and Mrs Lane, past and present Sustainability Leaders and all of our school community, we have just received our 5th star renewal, which means we are officially a 5 Star Sustainability School!

Over the last few years we have successfully run days with our four core modules as a focus; (Energy, Biodiversity, Water and Waste). We have learnt through teachings and activities from local experts from our community. We have also been lucky enough to have our Year 6 leadership group take us for Kids Teaching Kids.

Some of our achievements over the last few years have been:

• Awarded runners up for both ResourceSmart School of the Year as well as Resource Smart Student Action Team of the Year at the MCG
• Embedding termly Sustainability Days 
• Jye and Mr Steere on the local radio promoting our schools sustainability
• Our partnership with Port Fairy Coastal Care Group with our monthly beach monitoring sessions
• And last but not least, retaining our 5th star!

ST PATRICK'S CHRISTMAS CAROLS

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

LAST DAY OF TERM

Our last student day is Friday December 15th.  We finish at the normal time of 3:20pm. 

A T-Ball match between the Year 6 students and teachers will begin at 12:40pm.  This is only for St Patrick's students and not past students as in previous years due to the large cohort of students in Year 6. 

Our final assembly will begin at 2:30pm in the school hall.  Year 6 parents are especially welcome. 

2024 CHANGES TO START TIMES

Earlier this year, the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) and the Independent Education Union Victoria (IEU) reached an agreement on the terms and conditions of a new multi enterprise agreement for teachers.

This agreement has had a significant impact on how schools operate. 

Our school times will be slightly adjusted. In 2024 supervision before and after school and bell times will be from 8.40am as our current practice. Parents will need to set their alarm for 6 minutes earlier. 

• Music 8:52am – Students move into the school building to unpack bags
• First bell 8:55am – Students move into the classrooms for the daily roll
• School starts 9:00am
• School ends 3:20pm
• Supervision until 3:40pm

Supervision of children after school will be from 3:20pm-3:40pm, with the exception of those attending Sporting Schools on designated days.

OUR DIOCESAN COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

Please find below the link for the November 2023 edition of “Our Diocesan Community”.

P & F NEWS

COMMUNITY NEWS

MOTHERS WHO PRAY FOR THEIR CHILDREN

This prayer group for mothers is held each Friday at the Infant Jesus Church in Koroit at 10.45am.  All are welcome!