FEBRUARY 1 2024 NEWSLETTER

CHILD SAFETY STATEMENT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and Carers,

2024 has begun smoothly!

Welcome back to our returning students, families and staff!! We look forward to the creative energy you bring to our school community. Your achievements and contributions continue to inspire and support us. 

A heartfelt welcome to our new students, staff and families! We are thrilled to have you as part of St Patrick's school community and I hope that you enjoy it here as much as I do. As you settle in, please know that you have a community of supportive teachers, staff and fellow students ready to welcome and support you. 

One of the charactistics that defines our school is the way parents contribute to it's vibrant and welcoming community culture. I encourage parents to consider how they are going to volunteer their time throughout the year, in particular to the busy Term 1 events, to help our Parents and Friends group to raise much needed funds for our school or to simply enhance family connections.  

Communication is key to a successful partnership between the school and our families. Throughout the year, we will keep you informed about important events, school updates, and opportunities for involvement through regular newsletters, our school Facebook and Instagram sites and the Seesaw app.  

This week we are well on the way with our Learning to Learn program and assessement tasks in the classrooms.  These activities assist to set up our collaborative learning expectations and provide the teachers with timely insights into each child's learning abilities, interests and needs. 

This term we have our Athletic Sports for Years 1-6 on Wednesday February 21st at the Port Fairy Showgrounds.  Families are welcome to join us as spectators on the day.  A coffee van will be there to keep us going with our dose of caffine. Please see the rest of the Term 1 PE dates in this newsletter. 

Our First Parents & Friends meeting for 2024 will be held next Wednesday February 7 at 7.00pm in the school boardroom or library. I hope to see all of our event volunteers there to map out dates for our 2024 events. New comers are most welcome. 

Olga Lyons 

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS - 2024

Term 1  - Thursday February 22 - Structured Literacy PD 

Term 2  - Monday April 15 - ReLATE Wellbeing PD 

Term 3  - Wednesday August 21 - Structured Litercy PD

                 Thursday 19 & Friday 20 September - RE PD

Term 4  - Thursday December 19 - Camp TIL Aquital Day

BEGINNING SCHOOL PRAYER

2024 CLASS GROUPS

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Naomi Harman and Ryan Watts on the birth of their daughter, Layla Sarah.

NEW STAFF

We welcome the following staff members to our school.

OPENING SCHOOL MASS & COMMISSIONING

Our Opening School Mass will be held at St. Patrick's Church at 12.30pm on Friday Febryary 9th.  Families are welcome to join us as we commission our school leaders and celebrate the beginning of the school year. 

Leaders to be commissioned...

School Leaders: Ivy Condon; Sam Porter; Billy Wagg; Ruby Connellan

House Leaders: Polding - Matthew Greene; Samaritan - Dan Kelly; MacKillop - Royce Sheehan; Winnen - Jacob Murrray

Mini Vinnies: Eadie Archbold, Claudia Williams

Sustainability Leaders: Ben Mirtschin, Kolo Sakate

Fire Carrier Leaders: Maeve Wright, Katie Keane

CATHOLICCARE

We are very happy to continue our partnership with CatholicCare and have Brooke Coleman supporting our students' wellbeing needs this year.  Private counselling referrals are available from the school office on request. Students who have previously worked with Brooke will continue unless otherwise advised by parents.  

LIBRARY HELP NEEDED!

We have purchased a new series of decodable texts for classroom use.  We are planning a working bee of parents/grandparents in the library at 2.00pm next Monday Feb 5th to stamp them with our school stamp to make them ready for use.  Please complete the form below if you are available to attend. 

GENERAL WORKING BEE

Each year we involve parents in 2 working bees to help keep our school community functioning and looking it's best.

Our first working bee in Saturday February 10th starting at 9.30am until 12.00pm.  

The main task will be to move and clean out the chook pen. There will be general weeding and gardening tasks as well. 

PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK TO FILL OUT THE FORM IF YOU ARE ABLE TO ASSIST

STUDENT BROADBAND INITIATIVE

To boost education opportunities and narrow the digital divide, the Australian Government is providing up to 30,000 eligible families with school age children with no internet at home, access to free NBN under the SSBI.

Access to the SSBI will become easier, with the announcement of a National Referral Centre that parents/carers with school students can contact directly to check their eligibility.

Victorian families with students enrolled in Foundation to Year 12, who do not have an active NBN connection (or had one in the previous 14 days) but can access a standard NBN service at their premises, can become eligible with an application to the National Referral Centre.

You can find more information about the NRC on Anglicare Victoria’s website or contact Jordan Smith at the Catholic Education Ballarat Office.

Check your eligibility
1. Contact the National Referral Centre on 1800 954 610 (Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm AEDT) or by visiting
www.anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet.

TERM 1 PE EVENTS

Swimming Trials for Division Swimming - Tuesday February 6

Moyne School Tennis - Tuesday February 27 (some Year 5/6 only)

School Athletics at the Port Fairy Showground - Wednesday February 21

Division Swimming - Thursday February 29

Division Tennis - Thursday March 7

Regional Swimming - Friday March 8

Foundation Athletics - Tuesday March 12 at 12:40pm

2024 JAPANESE TOUR OPPORTUNITY

In September 2024, the Warrnambool Catholic Schools Network hope to take a group of Yr 6 students on a Cultural and Study Tour to Japan for approximately 8-10 days. Students from across the Warrnambool and District Network are invited to come. In November last year, we held an information meeting for parents at St Joseph's in Warrnambool, giving an overview of what students could expect on the trip. Parents then submitted a deposit and confirmed their interest in December 2023. 

This is the last call for any parents who might be interested in their child taking part in the Japan Trip in 2024. Please fill out the attached form by Friday 9th February. You will then be sent information (including pricing) to help you in your decision. You can also email Catherine Lee  (St Joseph's PS)  clee@sjwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au for further information. Confirmation of interest and a deposit, would then need to be submitted by Friday 16th February, so that bookings can commence. 

Catherine Lee

FROM THE OFFICE - JANINE & BEC

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students. Families that have applied for CSEF funding last year do not need to reapply. New families will need to fill in the application form and provide a copy of their current Health Care Card. Forms can be collected from the school office or downloaded from the link below.

DOBCEL Family Fee Assistance Scheme

The Family Fee Assistance Scheme operates across all DOBCEL Catholic Primary Schools. Families who qualify for the scheme will pay $520 ($10 per week) for Primary School Tuition Fees.  Tuition fee discounts are available to holders of a means tested Health Care Card, Pension Card or Veterans Card and must be eligible for the education maintenance allowance.  Eligible families can present their cards to the office and complete an application form.  Forms and information can be downloaded from the link below. If circumstances change at any time the office need to be informed. 

Conveyance Allowance

To be eligible for conveyance allowance you must be travelling more than 4.8km to school or a bus. If you would like more information or a Conveyance Form, please contact the office.

Absences from school

In line with Catholic Education Office requirements, parents will now be contacted on the day if their child is absent from school and we have not received any communication regarding this. We would ask that parents notify us of their child’s absence as early as possible on the day (or earlier if the absence is planned). Our preferred method of notification is through PAM (Parent Access Module) or by ringing the office after 8.30am. Text message are sent to parents if notification of absence has not been received by 10am.

Canteen

The P & F's first canteen day for Term 1 is Friday February 16. All orders are to be done with CDFpay.

All canteen helpers must complete a Food Handling Module. Details have been sent to these parents.

SchoolTV WELLBEING PLATFORM

Because parenting doesn’t come with a set of instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource that can support you in the challenges relating to modern-day parenting.

This award-winning resource helps build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It can assist in starting conversations on topics that are sometimes awkward or difficult to tackle.

Below is a URL link to our St. Patrick's SchoolTV platform. 

SCHOOLZINE

Schoolzine is the platform that St Patrick's uses for our Newsletter, Sporting Schools Form and lots more. There are links on the Home Page to PAM, Latest Newsletter, School Calendar, eForms, Call Us, Website, Policies and Procedures, CDfpay, Newsletter Archive, Facebook Link, Child Safety and Canteen Menu.

To download Schoolzine click on the link below. The passcode to get access to this App is 8137

SPORTING SCHOOLS

Sporting Schools will commence next week, Tuesday February 6th. The program will run for 7 weeks, with the final session being on Wednesday March 20. The program days for Term 1 are Tuesday and Wednesday 3.20pm-4.30pm.  You must register your child via the Schoolzine App. See details earlier in the newsletter regarding the App. Millie Kenna and Radus Mohan will be running the program.

Please only register your child/children the day of or the night before the session they will be attending. Cut off is 12pm.

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