St Pat's News

Principal: Olga Lyons

Deputy Principal: Peter Sanderson

Parish Priest: Fr. John Corrigan

Phone: 55681371

We Acknowledge the Gunditjmara people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are gathered today.

We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, past, present and future. We acknowledge their stories, traditions and living cultures on this land and commit to building a brighter future together.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Lockdown 7.0 for Regional Victoria is here and we have no way of knowing definitively for how long.  We are however so lucky to have a school community that just gets on with it at a moment's notice.  Our teachers worked solidly on Friday to transfer their curriculum content to the School Learning Portal and plan Wellness Wednesday activities.  We were at a slight disadvantage that we didn't have the children at school Friday to send home their learning materials, so thank you parents for calling by to collect them and the year level learning packs.  If you haven't been able to collect them please give us a call and we can make arrangements to get them to you. 

This time the majority of children onsite are wearing masks and I'm so proud of them for giving them a go.  

I know that providing an Authorised Work Permit from your employer has added an extra level of accountability for all of us but it will be essential that we are able to produce these if we are closed due to an outbreak in our community.  While Dan Andrews clarified that only one permit per household was needed for Child Care facilities, however, schools require both parents/partners for eligibility.  Category B (vulnerable students) do not require a permit.  The number of children with COVID and schools having to close is a growing concern. 

Wellness Wednesday is a day for the children to do fun, relaxing activities with no core curriculum learning.  If category B children can do these at home that would be preferred.  Children onsite on Wednesdays are able to wear casual clothes.

Our Teachers and Learning Support staff are either supporting student learning from home, planning in teams or supervising groups at school.  I ask that parents only make contact during school hours.  They need to be able to switch off at the end of the day. 

Thank you for the many positive and encouraging messages sent to our staff.  We appreciate your dedication to your children's learning but ask that you also remember that their wellbeing is just as important.  

Our thoughts and prayers are with Miss Williams on the passing of her father.  Any death in the family is emotionally difficult but particularly during COVID restrictions. Go gently Hannah. 

Kind regards,

Olga Lyons, Principal

Unfortunately our Year 3/4 camp to Roses Gap has fallen victim to the current Lockdown restrictions.  We know this is a huge disappointment for the children and teachers concerned.

We are on a waiting list for an alternative date in term 4, should there be a cancellation. Fingers Crossed!  

This time will influence the rest of their lives, and yet it is also a time that many parents feel quite lost. Discover how to really support the development of healthy emotional wellbeing in our children during lockdown.Join Dr Arne Rubinstein with special guest Maggie Dent to discover how you can support your children to be motivated, happy and communicative during lockdown compared with angry, shut down and depressed.Free Facebook Live Event Thursday 2 September 7 - 8PM EST. No need to register just follow our Facebook Page and be online for the 7pm start

National Child Protection Week on 5 -11 September, raises awareness about protecting the rights of children and preventing child abuse. eSafety has activities for people of all ages to get involved. 

Our professional learning for educators 'Online harmful sexual behaviours and emerging technology' is running as scheduled and we have tips to support educators during remote learning. 

We also have lesson plans for primary and secondary students and webinars and advice pages for parents and carers.

Support your students and school community by helping them build valuable online safety skills this National Child Protection Week.

During Lockdown I urge parents to pay close attention to what your children are doing online.   With more time on devices, there has been an increase in online bullying and access to inappropriate materials. 

Why Children's Book Week Is Important

Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators.

Book Week 2021 runs from 21-27 August and this year asks your children to embrace the theme 'Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds'. This exciting invitation opens a world full of possibilities when it comes to kids book week theme ideas.

Our annual BOOK FAIR is a fantastic opportunity for your child to celebrate their favourite characters from their favourite books by dressing up. This is an opportunity to escape into another world where your child can be anything they want to be!

Students will have an opportunity to create ‘wish lists’ by browsing the books available for purchase Monday 6th September -  Tuesday 7th September in our school library. St. Patrick's will showcase our students’ in their book character outfits on Tuesday 14th September with a grand parade, following our annual Book Fair.

Stuck for ideas? Look at Pinterest, make your own costume, adapt what you have in your wardrobe. Keep it fun and simple. There will be prizes for creative/homemade Book Week costumes and encouragement awards.  

Celina Brown - Librarian

Children can come to school dress up as their favourite Book Character on September 14 to celebrate the end of our Book Week Fair.  

This week the sustainability group has been busy growing some delicious rhubarb and beetroots.

If you want to get any of these they will be in the staff room. 

If you have any questions you can ask Mr Steere or the sustainability leaders, Jorja and Andrew. 

Congratulations to Emily Leddin of 5/6S, as her artwork was selected for our school garden project. The garden was started last week and the plants will be put by the sustainability team once we are back at school. We will have some progress photos coming soon.

St Patrick's inline with our Healthy Eating Policy & Oral Health Policy would like to make parents aware about food brought into the school for student birthdays.  There is to be no food, cakes or lollies, brought into the school to share with their classmates. We also need to consider the number of children with allergies and the school needs to ensure everyone's safety.

Birthdays will still be celebrated by their teacher and classmates with a birthday song and recognised at our assemblies.

Our school is participating in the Australian Dental Health Victoria program. A dental van will visit the school on Monday November 22. The School Dental Initiative forms were sent home with your child, if this has been misplaced, you can collect one from the office.

This is a voluntary program and if you wish for your child to be part of the program please return your form to your child's teacher by Monday September 6.

Board Game Club is on every Wednesday from 1.45pm-2.15pm in the Library. Students need to write their name on the Sign Up sheet outside the ICT Room. Only the first 25 student will be able to join in.

SPORTING SCHOOLS WILL BE ON WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS FOR TERM 3. THE SPORTS FOR THIS TERM WILL BE BASKETBALL AND GYMNASTICS.

Attendance forms are located on the Skoolbag App. Attendance slips must be filled out by 10am for each day your child is attending Sporting Schools. Any child without an attendance form will not be permitted to attend. 

https://www.moqproducts.com.au/skoolbag/installation-instructions/

We are very disappointed that we need to postpone our annual Father's Day Breakfast. We are hoping to reschedule the breakfast once the lockdown is over and we can be confident of the event going ahead safely. 

For those who have already made an order, we are happy to reimburse you or we can keep the order in CDFpay until a decision has been made regarding rescheduling the event.