10 December 2020

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Dear Parents,

END TERM 4 MESSAGE

The staff of St Patrick’s sincerely thank you for your support this year. We hope that all families will be touched by the simple and wonderful story of Christ’s birth over the festive season. We especially keep in our thoughts and prayers those families and individuals who for many reasons will find this special time more of a challenge than a celebration. We pray that the sense of peace and support for each other is magnified through the message and blessings of Christ’s love.

I personally wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe and holy holiday.

O God of all beginnings and endings,
We praise and thank you for the gift of this school year.

It has been a time filled with grace and blessings,
With challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows.

Give us the rest and refreshment we need this summer.
Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit.

Bring all of our plans to a joyful conclusion,
And bless us, according to your will,

With the fulfilment of our summer hopes and dreams.
Watch over us in the weeks of rest ahead.

Guide each day as you have done this past year.
Help us return to school with a new spirit and a new energy.

May we continue to grow in age, wisdom, knowledge and grace
All the days of our lives.

Amen.

ASC CHRISTMAS STORY ART COMPETITION

I acknowledge the students who were selected as finalists for St Patrick’s in the recent All Saints Cluster Christmas Art Competition.

Kinder – Éadaoin O’Connor
Year 1 – Will Martin
Year 2 – Oliver McNally
Year 3 – Fred Richardson
Year 4 – Ellie Mudd
Year 5 – Adelaide Harding
Year 6 – Coco Pinter

The selected entries from all 11 schools in our cluster were judged by Carley Leonard (Secondary Art Teacher), Fr John Purnell (PARISH PRIEST- CHISHOLM) and Bernadette Gibson (HEAD OF RELIGIOUS ED & SPIRITUALITY), with the final results shared below.

Special mention to the following students- Adelaide Harding (WINNER- YEAR 5), Will Martin (HIGHLY COMMENDED-Year 1) and Oliver McNally (HIGHLY COMMENDED-Year 2)

I encourage you to visit the following locations to view the impressive works, along with their poignant reflections. Winning entries will be displayed in East Maitland Library with the entries from other finalists on display at St Joseph's Church East Maitland.

NEW PLAY EQUIPMENT

P&F COMMITTEE 2021

Sincere thanks to the P&F committee of 2020 who have remained unwavering in their support, and generous with their time and energy to ensure our community flourishes. I acknowledge the efforts particularly of Erin Harold, Fiona Rowan and Eloise Jones who will not continue in these roles in the new year.

Next year we will be supported by a new committee to represent the parent body. Welcome to the following parents who have agreed to actively work for the good of our school in 2021.

Yolanda Armstrong – President
Jessica Spanos – Vice President
Alison Smith – Treasurer
Erin Hvirf and Daisy Farmer – Secretary
Christy Farr Forrest – Federation Delegate

CHRISTMAS CRAFT DAY

STAFFING 2021

Whilst staffing arrangements for 2021 are ongoing, I have great pleasure in confirming the following placements;

• Congratulations to Sarah Abrahamse who has secured a FULLTIME PERMANENT position at St Patrick’s
• Well done to Erin Saxby and Jane Kleinman who have been successful in securing FULLTIME TEMPORARY positions for 2021
• Welcome Erin Mitchell who has accepted a FULLTIME TEMPORARY position for 2021. Erin comes to us from St Mary’s Catholic School, Wellington.
• Welcome Jack Crich who has accepted a FULLTIME TEMPORARY position for 2021. Jack was most recently employed at OLOL Tarro.

Welcome to the following staff members who have secured job-share positions at St Patrick’s for the 2021 school year-

• Ashleigh Grach who will job-share with Kate Sadaj (0.6); Teagan Newson who will job-share with Tegan Cunningham (0.4); Amy Davis who will job-share with Margaret Quirk (0.2); Lynne Mesina who will job-share with Maryanne Hacker (0.3) and Jackie Manthey who will job-share with Amber Deegan (0.3).
• Welcome Evelyn Covita who is undertaking a part-time position of TEACHER LIBRARIAN, joining Mrs Powell one day per fortnight and working as an RFF teacher, replacing Lauren Agapiou who is on maternity leave.
• Welcome Catherine Biasutti to the position of Library Assistant, working alongside Meredith Searle.
• Angela Waters will continue in her role as PEDAGOGICAL MENTOR in 2021
• Jane Mosman will continue in her role as ABORIGINAL EDUCATION TEACHER in 2021
• Cate Lawler will extend her role as LST to 0.5 in 2021 and continue in the GEM role 0.2.
• RFF- Amy Shakespeare, Sarah Richards and Lisa Owens (0.4) will continue in these important roles.

Congratulations to all of these staff members as they join the team or renew their roles at St Patrick’s. Sadly, the year’s end also presents us with a number of farewells.

• Farewell EMMA MURPHY. Emma is returning to the Diocese of Bathurst to her permanent position at St Matthew’s Catholic School, Mudgee.
• Farewell CASSIE KING who has secured a FULLTIME PERMANENT position at Holy Spirit, Kurri, and TAYLOR JAMES who has been appointed to a FULLTIME TEMPORARY position at St Joseph’s, Kilaben Bay. Congratulations!
• We will also farewell JOSHUA WRIGHT, JOEL WARBY and EMILY McHUGH who have completed their temporary contracts. We wish them the best for the next steps in their careers.

I take this opportunity to thank Mr Nolan, Mrs Hacker, Mrs Waters and Mrs Deegan who joined me on the panel through the employment and interview process. Their insight and professional support was greatly appreciated.

The process of staffing is ongoing with the finalisation of remaining positions. A summary is provided below.

IMPORTANT MESSAGES FOR PARENTS

Year 6 End of Year Liturgy- Friday 11th December

10.15am LIVE STREAMED
Log-in details will be shared via a COMPASS notification.
Due to COVID restrictions, only 1 x adult is permitted per child.

Friday 11th December

Reports are available via Compass. Yearbooks and class placements go home.

Parents are asked NOT to make contact regarding class placements. The teachers and support staff have worked hard to ensure that all needs and parent requests communicated through the advertised channels, have been considered.

NO changes will be made.

Important Compass Information

Please be aware that if your child is leaving St Patrick’s (including year 6 students) you will lose access to all your child’s St Patricks school reports from Compass as of our last day of school (Wednesday 16th December) Please download and/or print the reports before this date.

Wednesday 16th December
Last day for students

COMMENCEMENT DATES 2021

The quantity of governance and compliance related material that schools have been asked to address with staff at the start of the year has increased markedly over the last five years. The CSO expects Principals to complete all of these tasks as part of a staff induction process on Day 1. This expectation clashes with the immediate needs of teachers and schools on Day 1 to prepare for the arrival of students and the commencement of the school year. The situation has become unsustainable.

For 2021, we will commence the school year with two pupil free Staff Days – Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 January.

Accordingly, the schedule for the start of the year will be as follows. PLEASE NOTE THESE DATES HAVE BEEN AMENDED AND ARE DIFFERENT TO THOSE PREVIOUSLY COMMUNICATED. I apologise for any inconvenience.

Staff Development Days – pupil free – Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 January
Years 2-6 only – Friday 29 January
Year 1- Monday 1 February

• Kindergarten- Staggered start Tues 2 Feb- Friday 5 February

Information has been communicated via SEESAW and COMPASS for incoming Kindergarten parents, including preparations for the Term 1 start and your child’s allocation to Group 1 or 2.

RE NEWS

MJR FOCUS

Over Weeks 6 and 7, our MJR focused students have been working on ‘Being Humble’ and ‘Persistence’.

The MJR team have been trying to get our MJR superstars of St Patrick’s to work on ‘Being Humble’ by acknowledging their mistakes and knowing their worth!

To learn about ‘Persistence’ they have been working on keeping on going when something may have happened to make them stop and not giving up!

The MJR team have been so happy to see the achievements of the students here at school and many students being awarded an MJR award!

By Joan and Jack

CURRICULUM NEWS

On December 2nd, Annabelle See and Jessica Stefani (Year 5) participated in the Virtual Academy Online Presentation Day. This was a fantastic opportunity for students to share the projects they have been working on in Semester 2 with a real-world audience.

As part of their work in the Virtual Academy, Jessica and Annabelle were required to complete a unit of work beyond the regular classroom curriculum. ‘Agency’ was the focus for Semester 2 and the girls were required to demonstrate their understanding of agency through a real-world application. Working together, Jess and Annabelle composed a 5-page script that demonstrated ways that creativity as a form of self-expression builds confidence and agency within an individual. They were then required to present their ideas via video conference to a panel of experts including the CSO leadership team, Diocesan Heads of Services and members of business and community including the Mayor of Maitland.

Both Jessica and Annabelle found the project quite challenging at first but enjoyed the process and gained a clear understanding of the meaning of agency. Working together also presented some challenges as they navigated differences of opinion and learnt to collaborate effectively.

Jessica and Annabelle received outstanding feedback for their efforts and our school community congratulates them.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Congratulations to the Meyer Girls

Sophie (Yr6), Chloe (Yr4) and Brianna (Yr2) who participated in the St Vinnies Community Sleepout in November which involved fundraising and sleeping in their horse stables on cardboard boxes. The event was to raise money for the homelessness and also allow the girls to understand what it feels like for those less fortunate. The girls team “Bush Jockeys & Co”, were not only the highest fundraising team for NSW but also one of the first Primary School Teams to participate in the St Vinnies Sleepout. In total “Bush Jockeys & Co” raised $13,344 which will contribute towards helping people experiencing hardship in the Lower Hunter area and across NSW. In total the St Vinnies Community Sleepout raised over $160,000 for NSW.

PARENTING PAGE

CANTEEN NEWS

From term 1 2021 QKR orders will need to be placed by 8:30am on the morning of canteen to allow for time to process orders. Orders can be submitted any time prior to this but the QKR system will be closed for orders from the 8.30am cut off.

Only ice blocks will be available Wednesday 16th December to allow for the canteen to be finalized for the year. We will not be having any lunch orders on this day.

The canteen will be open second break for over the counter purchases starting from term 1 2021. Students are able to purchase normal items over the counter in this break.

A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers who were able to give up their time to come help out in canteen this year. The canteen can not operate without the help and support of volunteers. Thank you again for all your support. See you all next year!!!

If you would like to volunteer for 2021 please email