12 May 2022

Newsletter Articles

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

“Those who are in charge of schools must never forget that the parents have been appointed by God himself as the first and principal educators of their children …”
Pope John Paul 11.

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP

Research, anywhere in the world, confirms that when parents are partners in their children’s education, their children improve their achievement levels. So, keep in touch with the school. Don’t leave it always to the school to let you know how your child is achieving. Stay aware of what your child is learning, how they are going and what you can do to help them at home. Arrange a visit to the school to talk with your child’s teacher or schedule a phone call.

Good communication between home and school is vital to create and sustain a climate that is conducive to productive learning. Parents, you are the source of your child’s affirmation. Children will believe what the people they love and trust believe, including how they feel about school and their own ability to learn. So, after praise and encouragement, encourage perseverance. A warm, supportive home atmosphere will influence your child’s confidence and motivation to become a successful learner.

It can be helpful, on occasion, to think about our role as parents, for it is truly a privilege to have given life to a child and have accepted the responsibility, great though it is, of nurturing and providing for that child through those developmental years. Fortunately, the teachers and staff here at St Patrick’s, who are professionals, will serve to help you succeed. Your child will enter our school, move through its various year levels and eventually leave; but your child will still be part of your family and still be your responsibility.

As restrictions lift and school-life settles, I welcome you in partnership, and encourage you to foster ways for home and school to come together to bring success to a continuing phase of development for your child.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

We were so fortunate with the weather last Friday, a perfect backdrop for welcoming many mothers and grandmothers to St Patrick's. Our guests shared in the beautiful liturgy created by Year 1 and the morning tea, prepared and organized by the P&F committee.

Thank you also to the P&F Committee who sold more than 1100 gifts at the Mother’s Day stall. This was a phenomenal effort. It was delightful to see a diverse range of gifts, which the children were very excited to buy for their beautiful mums. This was a special experience for the children in our school and your support was greatly appreciated.

I do hope you had a special day last Sunday.

STAGE 3 CONSTRUCTION WORKS- STARTING VERY SOON!

I am excited to inform you that work on the third stage of our school’s masterplan is set to commence later this month. Once complete, our entire school community will have access to modern learning facilities.

The Stage 3 works will broadly consist of the following:

• Construction of two new general learning pods (Block S and T), each containing three general learning areas and associated amenities for Years 5 and 6.
• The refurbishment of two existing general learning areas (Far end of Block G- Library) into flexible offices and learning spaces.
• The extension of Block G (Library) to provide additional amenities in the form of student toilets.
• The extension of the hall (Block F) to accommodate permanent OOSH facilities and modifications to open the building’s Northern and Eastern elevations.
• Refurbishment of the existing canteen.
• Covered walkways and paths to meet wheelchair access requirements.
• Demolition of the existing copper log cabins and removal of demountables.
• Associated external landscaping, civil works and services connections.

Included below are copies of the artists’ renders of the new spaces.

It is anticipated that the building works will be staged, starting with the pods and will be complete in Term 1 2023. Following the completion of Blocks S and T, the existing copper log and demountable buildings will be removed from the site.

While I recognise this construction program will cause some disruption to the school community, including additional pressure on parking, I am confident the long-term benefits of the project will outweigh these temporary inconveniences and again ask you to be patient.

I hope to be able to provide further updates as the works progress and look forward to your continuing support.

CALENDAR EVENTS

FEDERAL ELECTION POLLING PLACE

The Federal Election is taking place on Saturday 21st May. St Patrick’s will be used as an official polling place. If this is convenient for you, access will be via the hall gate.

INFANTS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL (K-1)

PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE- THURSDAY 2ND JUNE
APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE

Time: 11.30-1.30pm

Venue:

• On the grassed area outside the Year 6 demountables for the age races & presentation.
• On the top & middle playground for the novelty events.

Approximate timeline:

11.30- March past
Opening prayer & acknowledgement
11.45-12.20pm Age races
12.20- 1.00pm Novelty events
1.00- 1.20pm Presentation to each grade for participation
1.30pm Picnic lunch

Parents are invited to bring a chair (and a blanket, if necessary) and their own picnic lunch.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

CSW is gazetted for Week 5 of this term. St Patrick's will acknowledge CSW on Monday 30/5/22 (beginning of Week 6). This decision balances other events on the calendar, specifically Infants Athletics and the P&F Working Bee on Friday 3/6 (Wk6).

Details

Date: Monday 30/5/22

Time to be determined and communicated next week, WATCH THIS SPACE!

Reconciliation Day Liturgy. Prepared by Year 3 in place of the Pentecost Liturgy previously scheduled for Friday 3/6. Please note that open classrooms for Year 3 advertised for 3/6 will no longer be required.

Open Classrooms for visitors.

Depending on the age of students and the content covered to date, activities may include some of the following activities;

• books/ work samples available for viewing
• presentation of a song, poem, hymn, choral reading *NB- potentially repeated
• demonstration of learning e.g. guided art lesson, science experiment
• presentation of learning in a KLA e.g. history unit, maths investigation or game, reading groups, InitiaLit lesson

Shared lunch. Parents bring a picnic. Canteen open for counter sales only of drinks etc.

WORKING BEE

Now that Covid restrictions have lifted, we look forward to welcoming parents and friends to St Patrick’s in different capacities. One way to maximise involvement and bring about positive change, is to involve families in the beautification of our school.

Accordingly, I am inviting interested and available parents and friends to come along to school on Friday 3rd June (Week 6) at 9.30am for a working bee.

You do not need to be a registered volunteer with the CSO, as this is a one-off opportunity.

Activities include (but are not limited to):

• Weeding
• Planting
• Mulching
• Pruning

You are able to nominate for the day or a specific session by sending an email to the admin address to register your availability.

Please bring along gloves, protective clothing and your lunch. Regrettably, small children will not be permitted to join you, due to safety and supervision considerations.

KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENT INTERVIEWS 2023

Interviews for new families have been scheduled over the next 2 months to accommodate the increasing demand for enrolment places for Kindergarten 2023.

Current families who have returned enrolment paperwork will be invited to meet Cate Lawler, Learning Support Teacher for their pre-enrolment screener. Enrolment offers will go out to families on the last day of Term 2.

CHANGE TO WINTER UNIFORM

From the beginning of Week 5 (Monday 23rd May) all students should be in FULL WINTER UNIFORM. There is a transition period in the first few weeks of term, allowing students to wear full winter uniform as necessary if the weather becomes cold prior to the mandated changeover date.

Winter uniforms are available from Ken Lane Menswear in the Maitland Levee Precinct. Opening hours are currently Monday-Saturday between 9am -1pm with online and layby purchase options.

MUFTI (OUT OF UNIFORM) DAY

There will be an out of uniform day for the children on Tuesday 7th June

A gold coin donation is required. All proceeds are for humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine through the Ukraine Crisis Appeal in association with Rotary Australia World Community Service & Caritas Ukraine. Donations can also be made directly to ukrainecrisisappeal.org

ST VINCENT DE PAUL FAMILY SLEEPOUT- Friday 24/6 or Saturday 25/6 (end of Week 9)

More information will be provided in the coming weeks regarding the opportunity for families to take part in the St Vincent De Paul Family Sleepout by sleeping rough. You are asked to sleep on the loungeroom floor, in the garage, under the carport, on the verandah or even next to your bed in a sleeping bag or swag, to raise awareness and support of homelessness in Australia.

Families will be asked to get sponsors to raise funds and provide photos to the admin email address for sharing with our community.

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

STUDENT WELLNESS

Thank you to all our families for the support in ensuring students who are feeling unwell remain at home. We appreciate the challenges around this for families, so our gratitude for the efforts in assisting with this protocol. For the safety of your children and others, if your child is in any way unwell, i.e. runny nose, head ache, sore throat, coughing, feeling lethargic etc., please ensure you keep your child at home.

If a child presents unwell at school, we will contact parents to collect their child. If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, please have them tested and inform the school if their result is positive and isolate immediately.

VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION PROCESS- Please note changes

COVID-safe guidelines now allow volunteers into the school. To support this process, the 2022 Volunteer process is now online.

The online volunteer form can be found from the link below

Parents are asked to please complete the online application form and follow the instructions so your details can be verified by the Catholic Schools Office as a volunteer at St Patrick’s Primary School Lochinvar.

Once you have completed the online link, please copy the table below and send all completed details to admin@lochinvarsp.catholic.edu.au

We are in great need of volunteers for our school canteen, which has dramatically increased business. Chris Jones, our talented Canteen Supervisor, is doing a fabulous job, with the support of a few committed regulars, however we need you! Please send an email to admin and we can get you started with some training and the help of a buddy. Thank you in anticipation of your support.

COVID REMINDERS

Close contacts: The isolation requirement for household contacts has been removed for those that do not have COVID-19 or any symptoms of COVID-19. To return to school, the school must firstly be notified the student is a close contact and for the next five days the following measures must be maintained:

• A daily Rapid Antigen Home Test (RAHT) undertaken at home, before school, with a negative result.
• All secondary students must wear a mask whilst indoors. It is strongly recommended any Primary School students close contacts also wear a mask indoors.

The above measures are also applicable to all visitors to school sites, including parents and carers, volunteers, specialists, and allied health professionals. Visitors must advise the school ahead of time and schools may suggest a virtual visit is possible or preferred depending on the circumstance.

We ask all families to consider the safety and wellbeing of the entire school community should their child identify as a close contact, and to ensure they remain home if they have even the mildest of symptoms.

STAFF UPDATE

WELCOME! Alex Ma has started at St Patrick’s in the RFF role, providing coordinated relief to teachers 2 days per week. We wish Alex well in this new position.

ORGANISATION & MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL PHOTO DAY INFORMATION

Orders and payments will be facilitated through the Compass app & Compass parent portal, an email will be sent to parents directly including ordering instructions.

School photos will be Thursday 16th June.

GOVERNANCE MATTERS

FEES UPDATE

An event has been created for parents in the Compass Portal for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution. Contributions of $300 can be made on the portal. Contact school office for further details.

2022 School Fees have been invoiced for the full school year. If paying fees by instalment, your payment should have commenced and is to be paid in full by 30 November 2022. If paying fees in full in one payment please finalise prior to 30 June 2022. Our preferred method of payment is either BPay or direct debit. For Fee Payers wishing to establish a new Direct Debit, or adjust their existing direct debit, please complete the form on the Catholic Development Fund website www.CDFmn.com.au . For those families experiencing financial hardship, or wishing to discuss other payment arrangements, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment with the Principal. Schools will now commence the school fee management process if there has been no contact with school office or no initial payment received. Joint Account Access Form are available, refer to Compass notification in March 2022, complete form and return to cso.sassupport@mn.catholic.edu.au . An event for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution has been created, this is a voluntary fee that assists the Diocesan Pastoral Support Programs, you can elect to pay or decline via the Compass Parent Portal * DFSBL: Diocesan Family School Building Levy

LEARNING GOOD HABITS - ARRIVING TO SCHOOL ON TIME

Arriving to school every day on time is very important. Missing 5 minutes every day equates to three days lost per year of learning. Half an hour late every day means that your child has lost 18 days of learning at school for that year. Developing good habits through good home routines from a young age is key to avoiding habitual lateness. Sometimes families do run late and to support you there are school procedures in place for late arrivals and early leavers. Parents must accompany their child to the office and use the kiosk to sign them in and out.

CLASSROOM NEWS

NAPLAN 2022

As you are aware, NAPLAN began this week for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These are valuable assessments for the school to use for analysis of teaching practices and for identifying trends across the school. I recently read a letter sent by a school principal to all the students in his school, as they received their state standardised testing scores, and I want to share it with you. It reminds us that our children are much more than their NAPLAN scores and that one test does not tell us everything about them as individuals or, indeed, as learners.

"We are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that makes each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you- the way your teachers do, the way I do, and certainly not the way your families do. They do not know that some of you speak two languages. They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture.

They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school.

They do not know that you have travelled to a really neat place, or that you know how to tell a great story, or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends. They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. There are many ways of being smart."

It is with these thoughts that I wish our students the very best in their assessment and remind them that we are very proud of them.

SPORTING NEWS

STUDENTS SELECTED FOR POLDING CROSS COUNTRY

Max Crowther
Phoenix Russell
Leura Russell
Eli Unicomb
Kye Hedges
Sienna Proctor
Phoebe Harrison
Joseph Unicomb
Aiden Crowther

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL UPDATE

On Monday 16th May, we will be holding our annual School Athletics Carnival at Maitland Athletics Centre. The carnival will start at approximately 9:30am and will conclude by approximately 2:00pm. Years 2-6 will be attending this carnival, with Kindergarten and Year 1 holding their own mini-carnival at school on Thursday 2nd June.

All students are entered into their 100m age race. Students have nominated if they would like to compete in any other events. The 1500m race will be the first event held, followed by the 200m, 100m, and 800m. The field events will be run throughout the day. Long jump heats will be held at school this week, with the finals to take place on carnival day.

TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS: Students can EITHER catch a bus from school or travel with parents. This must be clearly indicated when completing the COMPASS EVENT PERMISSION. Buses will leave at 8:50am from school to Maitland Athletics Centre and will be back at school in time for afternoon buses. Please be aware that buses will be booked according to the numbers indicated via the Compass parent permission.

PARKING IS LIMITED at Maitland Athletics Centre and is restricted in the surrounding area. Accordingly, you are asked to send your children on the bus where possible and share travel to the carnival with others, by carpooling. Please be aware that the area is closely monitored by parking rangers (Maitland Council). You are reminded to follow signage as parking is at your own risk.

Children are to wear FULL SPORTS UNIFORM, although they can wear ribbons, bring mascots and paraphernalia that support their team colours. No streamers or hairspray are permitted. Please be mindful of the weather conditions and ensure your child is dressed appropriately. Please make sure all belongings are labelled clearly.

While the carnival is being held, all children are to stay with their team groups under TEACHER SUPERVISION, to ensure that students are ready to participate in their nominated event/s. While we encourage and appreciate the attendance of parents and friends at our carnivals, all students must remain in the care of their team’s supervising teacher, and permission must be sought to leave this area to visit attending family members.

A CANTEEN run by the P&F committee and volunteers will provide some lunch and snack items. When considering lunch for your child, please ensure you include nutritious snacks and plenty of water.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS FOR SPECIFIC ROLES (i.e. Canteen) must be pre-approved and cleared to volunteer by the CSO AND will need to register interest with the school before the carnival so that checks can take place prior. Thank you in advance for your offer of assistance. Please be aware that due to the engagement of professional carnival coordinators you may not be required on the track for timekeeping.

Permission/medical note needs to be completed using the COMPASS ONLINE PROCESS by Thursday, 12th May.

Parent volunteers are to email jack.crich@mn.catholic.edu.au

COMMUNITY NEWS

CYBERCRIME

An article from Council of Catholic School Parents

Helpful hints to help protect you and your family from cybercrime

It is important to secure your portable devices and protect your sensitive information. These days we barely go anywhere without our portable devices – be it a laptop for work or study, tablet for your child’s school, or our phone, we have come to rely upon our devices to do many daily activities. These devices, in combination with the internet, have made activities like banking and shopping much easier, but have also become a target for cybercriminals to steal our personal and sensitive information. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is the Australian Government's lead agency for cyber security. The ACSC’s resource Easy steps to secure your devices and accounts, is an easy to read guide to help those around you protect themselves from the most common cyber security incidents.

• Update your devices
• Activate multifactor authentication
• Back up your devices
• Set secure passphrases

You can download the guide to personal cybersecurity here

PARENTING PAGE

DOLLY’S DREAM FUNDRAISING BY OUR P & F SECRETARY

Our P&F secretary Daisy is shaving her head on May 22nd in support of Dolly’s Dream. She will be shaving it all off at Lochinvar Sports Complex to raise funds for anti-bullying initiatives.

Join her for cupcakes, hairspray, music & a bbq from 10:30am. All monies raised go directly to Dolly’s Dream.

To donate directly, or join her team, visit the link below.

MULTICULTURAL SETTLEMENT PROGRAM

Northern NSW Football Northern NSW Football is proud to announce the launch of its MiniRoos Multicultural Settlement Program. The free program is designed to build social inclusion and connections with the community for new migrant families. The program aims to introduce organised football to new migrant girls and boys aged between four and 11-years-old from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Participants and their families will be encouraged to join local football clubs during and following the program to continue their integration into the wider community.

NNSWF Programs Co-ordinator Joe Wright said the program would have a number of benefits. “The Multicultural Settlement Program will be a great way for participants and their families to be involved with football in a fun, safe and inclusive football environment,” Wright said. “This will help with their transition into club football where they can make new friends from a variety of backgrounds. Our goal is to transition 200 players from the program into club football. “By helping them transition into a football club we hope it will help integrate them into the wider community even further and build that connection.”

The program will run for eight weeks and be held at Jesmond and Metford, with each hub hosting three manual registration days. The program features one-hour sessions run after school hours, with coaches and equipment provided. Coaches will also be from CALD backgrounds. Each participant will receive a MiniRoos pack including a football, backpack and lunchbox at the end of the program. The final session will also include an activation to celebrate Refugee Week. MiniRoos Multicultural Settlement

Program details:

Metford Hub – Metford Recreational Oval Manual Registration Days – 14, 21, 28 April 4pm to 5.30pm Program start date – 5 May 4pm to 5pm Program end date – 23 June

Jesmond Hub – Heaton Park Manual Registration Days – 13, 20, 27 April 4pm to 5.30pm Program start date – 4 May 4pm to 5pm Program end date – 24 June

Cost: Free