• Thursday 8 August - Mission Day
• Friday 30 August - School Disco

TERM 4

• SCHOOL PHOTOS - Week 2
  • Thursday 24th October - Main Photo Day 
  • Thursday 31st October - Week 3 - Catch Up Photo Day (ONLY) for children who are unwell on the main photo day

Olympics 2024 - Maker's Empire

In 4/5TJ the students have been designing objects about the Olympics using Maker's Empire.  The students designed medals, podiums and a mascot and are working through different challenges.

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

LEARNING DIMENSION:

Welcome back to Term 3. We hope that you managed to get to spend some quality time with your children. We welcome eight new Term 3 Mid - Year intake Reception students as they begin their learning journey at St Patrick’s.

• Zoey
• Ethan
• Chloe
• Nassata
• Elio
• Angelina
• Harley
• Adol

We also welcome Gurmat who started with us in Year 1 last week, and Jenny Mae in Year 2 this week.  For the rest of our students, we look forward to them building on the learning of the first semester.

• Literacy and Numeracy Focus:

  For the first four weeks of term, classes will be having an extra focus on English and Mathematics; beginning with English in the first week and Mathematics in the second week, alternating until the end of Week 4. Teachers will continue to teach their normal programs while expanding children’s learning experiences in the focus subject. The aim of this exercise is to heighten children’s awareness of the importance of Literacy and Numeracy across all learning areas and life experiences while encouraging their efforts to expand and grow their skills.

Case Management Meetings:

This year teachers have been undertaking case management meetings where teachers meet with the Leader of Learning and members of the Leadership team to discuss children’s learning and development in Mathematics. These will continue across all year levels and student ability this semester. These meetings are to look at ways they can support growth in children’s understanding of mathematical concepts.

Children’s University:

For those children involved in this program, a gown fitting for the graduation event will take place at school next Thursday at 1.30pm. Parents do not need to attend. There are only 9 weeks left for children to gain credits toward the minimum 30 hours required to attend the graduation ceremony. So, if your child has not reached their minimum target, we strongly encourage you to support them in this endeavour. A letter has gone home to parents regarding this.

Soccer SAPSASA:

It was great to see our Senior boys have such remarkable success in the first round of the SAPSASA Statewide Soccer Carnival with a 10-nil win last term. On the 13th August, the boys will compete in the second round, and we wish them well for the tournament.

URSTRONG:

For our new families, please see the information to subscribe to our student behaviour support program - UrStrong Friendology. This will provide you with many resources to support the work being undertaken at school.  

URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, connecting over a million kids, parents, and teachers with a common language of friendship. We are proud to be a URSTRONG School and are committed to empowering your children with friendship skills.

You are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership to access hundreds of resources - including an 8 session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

As a next step, we would recommend:

o    Click here to view an overview of URSTRONG.

o    Activate your FREE Parent Membership and explore all the resources available to your family.

o    Explore the hundreds of resources available to you!

We believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a culture of kindness at our school and we hope that, together, we can support your children to have healthy, feel-good friendships.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIMENSION:

Staffing:

We welcome the new teaching staff that have commenced this term as mentioned in our last Newsletter. Miss Wu in Year R/1AN is replacing Mrs Norman and Mrs Mannella is replacing Miss Smoljan while she is on Long Service leave. Please make yourselves known to your respective child’s class teacher.

Social Work Students:

We have two Social Work students, Monica Pascale and Gillian Sheng, from Flinders University who are completing their Master's in Social Work and are undertaking 500 hours of placement with us.  Their role is to support the social and emotional wellbeing of students across all year levels. Through the implementation of social work theory, they will assist children in learning strategies to resolve issues with friends, increase their confidence and make positive assertive responses when interacting with others. As social work students, they have no legal authority in their involvement with the children. Any concerns they may have will be referred to the principal, who will then contact parents where necessary. You can read about them in their profile attached to this newsletter.

Shed completion:

Our new storage shed is now complete, enabling us to house sports equipment, performing arts materials and maintenance workshop. The children now have oval play space returned to them which we are sure they will appreciate, and we thank them for their patience while this work was undertaken.

COMMUNITY DIMENSION:

School Disco:

We remind families about the upcoming school disco on Friday 30^th August. Ticket sales and further information will come out shortly. This year’s theme is the 1960’s in line with our 60^th birthday event later in the year.

60^th Birthday:

Save the date! Sunday October 27 from 10am.  Please look out for information about this significant celebration in the school’s history. Your support and children’s participation in this event is appreciated. We thank members of our Parents and Friends team for organising this event.

OSHC:

Camp Australia, the organization that runs our program, is seeking feedback on the viability of opening at 6.30am instead of 7.00am. If you would make use of this service because of earlier opening hours please return the slip provided next week by Friday 2nd August.  The slip will come home from the teacher via your child's office bag early next week. 

In all things love

Gennaro Mannella

St Patrick’s School Leadership team

Greetings from the Acting APRIM

Jesus distributed food to those who were seated, as much as they wanted.

This speaks of Jesus feeding a huge crowd of people from the small humble offering of a child,

Accepting the child’s generous gift and He shows God abundant gift for all those who were hungry; who came to listen to Him. Jesus also comes to us and offers to feed us with love, grace and whatever we need. We need only ask, seek and knock and He promises we will receive, find and the door of His heart will be opened to us. We can trust that always!

 Excerpts of the Responsorial Psalm from Sunday

Ps 144:10-11, 15-18. R. v.16

(R.) The hand of the God feeds us; God answers all our needs.

1. We shall thank you, O God and speak of your glory (R.)

2. We look to you to give us our food in due time.

You open wide your hand and grant us our desires. (R.)

3. You are just in all Your ways and loving in all your deeds.

You are close to all who call You; who call on You from their hearts. (R.)

SACRAMENTS:  

The following children are celebrating their Confirmation this term:  

• Friday 23 August at 7pm at St Margaret Mary’s Church, Croydon Park -Mattea Casundo and Mikaela Rodriguez  
• Thursday 5 September at 7pm at St Margaret Mary’s Church, Croydon Park - Justin Ngo 
• Friday 6 September at 7pm at St Margaret Mary’s Church, Croydon Park -Light Bautista and Minhlong Vu  

The following children are celebrating their First Communion this term:  

• Saturday 14 September at 6pm at Mater Dei, Woodville Park - Mattea Casundo and Mikaela Rodriguez  
• Sunday 15 September at 8:30am at St Patrick’s Church, Mansfield Park -Justin Ngo and Light Bautista 

Celebration of St Mary of the Cross, MacKillop 

• Monday 5 August at 9am, Mary Hemmings will speak to children   about Mary MacKillop Today, for about 20 minutes in the Chapel  
• Thursday 8 August: There will be a Sausage Sizzle through the Canteen - School pays for this, including for staff. 
• Friday 9 August: 

9.00am                       Prayer Service 

Before Recess           Buddy class activities 

11:40am-12:40pm      Mission Market 

1:40-2:40pm               Music concert TBC                                        

A letter has been sent to families giving information about the Mission Market Friday 9 August.

Community Events coming up this term:

Over the past year we have continued to integrate STEM activities, particularly in Digital Tech at St Patrick’s. Digital Technologies is an important part of the Australian Curriculum and we need to be sure that our students have been exposed to a variety of technologies and integration so that they can be ready for the High School Curriculum in Year 6 where students arrive from a variety of different schools.

This year a highlight was the Space Showcase in the city with the Year 5/6 classes. Through our Design capabilities we showcased our learning alongside several other schools via creating 3D models. Some other activities this year include designing our own characters from a Book study of James and the Giant Peach, Stop Motion Animation movies with a Book study from Storm Boy, Coding using Scratch and Scratch Jr to give age appropriate activities in block based visual coding and BeeBot robots, producing our own Books by adding content and design features such as colour and headings in Book Creator  Green Screen movies to produce short movies of persuasion with professional backgrounds and design activities and challenges around the Olympic Games.

Jane Edwards

STEM Teacher

We are providing this information to families because of serious concerns the school has around child safety at student drop off and pick up times.

Road rules are very clear about the requirements for drivers in School Zones.

The concerns we have are about parking on both Dudley Street and Haddington Street are

1. How people park their vehicles when dropping off and collecting children

2. Where people are parking when dropping of and collecting children

We worry about the serious risk of injury or death to a child or adult around these times.

We ask you to read this information and follow the directions given within. Please seek assistance If you do not understand or need translation. There are Apps available for your smart phone that can assist.

• You must slow down to 25km/h in school zones, at  children's crossings between the sign posted times when children are present

• This is usually between the hours of 8.30am -9.15am and 2.15pm and 3.30pm or at other times when children are present outside the school grounds.

• If you are picking up or dropping off children, park away from areas where children are moving around. It's always best to be safe, and keep your car as far away as you can from groups of children.

• The following pictures will help you make the correct parking choices around St Patrick’s School.

• When collecting or dropping off your child, you MUST NOT PARK or LEAVE your vehicle on the dotted lines in front of the green fences

• You must not LEAVE your vehicle  if you are parked on the dotted line at either side of the No Parking signs if you are waiting to collect your child

• If you need to collect your child from the classroom, please park away from the dotted line area

• No vehicle must stop or park  after these lines . Parking or stopping across the crossing is illegal.

• If you are unable to move to the other side because cars are parked there, keep moving to the next roundabout and return until you can enter the parking line up.

• Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this important matter.

  PLEASE AVOID HOLDING UP TRAFFIC.  Always check to see if there a cars behind you.

   

You can move throuhg this area to get to the other side of the parking signs

You can move through this area to get to the other side of the parking signs.

Your cooperation and support in this matter is appreciated, thank you.

Our school uniform is an important part of our school culture and identity. The uniform has been designed to wear with any of the following pieces

• Navy shorts with school logo
• Navy trackpants with school logo
• Polo shirt with school logo
• Rugby top or zipped jacket with school logo
• A bucket hat for Term 1 and Term 4
• Beanie for winter is optional, however if your child wears a beanie it must be the school one.
• White socks
• Black or white sneakers

There are children who are wearing coloured skivvies and jumpers under their polo top. This is not part of the school uniform.  If your child is wearing their polo shirt and rugby top or jacket and are still cold, any skivvy worn underneath must be navy and not visible at all. The alternative is to wear a navy jacket with no logo or branding instead.

It is an expectation that your child wears the correct uniform at all times.

We ask that parents support us in this.

Thank you

GILLIAN SHENG

My name is Gillian, and I'm from Shanghai. I'm currently studying for a Master of Social Work at Flinders University. My interests include sports, music, and fashion. I decided to pursue a career in social work because I am passionate about helping people. I chose a placement at a primary school because I love working with children and am particularly interested in the safety protection and protection of children. 

I look forward to the opportunity to working with and supporting staff and children during my time at St Patrick’s School.

Kind regards

Gillian

MONICA PASCALE

My name is Monica. I am a student on placement from Flinders University, studying a Masters of Social Work.?Working with children has always been a passion for me as I find people are at their most vulnerable during their most important developmental stages.?I chose to pursue a career in Social Work with the hope to be able to support people and help them through difficult situations.?My interests lie in many things, being outdoors, writing, reading, watching movies, playing video games and cooking.? 

Kind regards, 

Monica

NUMERACY AT HOME 

Teachers often get asked by parents what they can do to help their children get ahead in understanding different mathematical concepts. So, what can you do at home to support your child’s Mathematical thinking?

You can follow the interactive guide online below to find more information:

 Click here to access the Interactive Online Guide: 

• explains the difference between numeracy and mathematics
• helps your child to learn numeracy and mathematics at home
• identifies and talks about some common myths about maths
• suggests helpful activities you can do with your child.

There are also a range of fun activities that you can try together based on your child’s interests and experiences:

• Birth to Level 2 suggestions for children up to about 8 years of age, including activities for cooking, travelling, reading, shopping and exploring.
• Levels 3 to 8 suggestions for children and early adolescents including numeracy in the kitchen, travelling, reading, shopping, our neighbourhood, games and sports.
• Levels 9 to 10 activities for young people including exploring sustainability, healthy living, shopping, home improvements, gardening, travel and natural phenomena.

I hope this is useful! The video clips demonstrate how the different activities can be done at home.

See you next term!

Linda Bain
H.A.T.
Leader of Learning

who have celebrated their birthday over the school holiday period and the first week of term 3 

• 1st July - Jessalyn
• 2nd July - Annabelle & Idrees
• 3rd July - Kylah & Blayde
• 5th July - Thiv
• 6th July - Shivendra
• 8th July - Sherveer
• 9th July - Cadence & Chiara
• 10th July - Kien
• 13th July - Nathanael
• 16th July - Othniel
• 17th July - Yana
• 18th July - Reighn
• 20th July - Ruggie
• 23rd July - Felicity
• 24th July - Sharlene & Ben
• 25th July - Nhi
• 2 August - Amahlia

A friendly reminder to those families, who do not have a direct debit set up, that Term 2 fees were due the last day of Term 2 which was the 5th July 2024.     

 We offer direct debit, BPay, EFTPOS and also direct deductions from Centrelink payments to cater to the changing financial needs of our families at St Patrick’s School. When the direct debit payment option is selected your school fee payment is calculated over the full school year right up until the 31^st of December 2023. This means smaller payments are required, making this method the most affordable way to budget for your commitment. Please come into the office or ring me on 83034500 if one of these options would better suit your financial requirements.  

School Card 2024 is applied for online if you haven’t already applied for this year please arrange as soon as possible as the cut off date is early November. Instructions on how to do this are available at the front office.

School Card must be applied for each year.

If at any time you are having trouble meeting your school fee commitment, or have any queries, please contact me on 83034500 to discuss this matter.

Christine Lavender

Finance Officer

PLAYGROUP

St Patrick’s Playgroup 9.30am- 11.30 am (Wednesday and Friday)

Welcome all children 0-5 years and their parents-carers residing in City of Port Adelaide Enfield, City of Charles Sturt

Goals of Playgroup:

• To provide individual support, engage with families and raise awareness of other Community Resources
• To promote Children’s interactions with others and learn basic English
• To facilitate a smooth transition for both Child and Parent into a new schooling environment
• To promote, encourage the opportunity for parents and children to learn and play together
• To promote a friendly and safe environment for parents and children to form social networks and establish new friendships

All parents and carers are responsible for the children they bring to playgroup

Communities for Children is funded by the Australian Government  Department of Social Services

Please contact Chau Tran or Huong Nguyen on 8303 4500 if you would like further information.