Term 4 Issue 1 21st October 2022
Principal's News
Dear Families,
Welcome to Term 4. We have hit the ground running this term with lots of fun and exciting things already occurring and more to come before the Christmas/New Year holidays begin.
Roma and District Eisteddfod
Last week our students performed at the Roma Eisteddfod. Four performances were presented, and all students did a fabulous job representing themselves and our school.
Our Prep - 2 class were awarded first and second place for their Sacred song performances. Our 3-6 class were awarded first place for their musical theatre performance and second place for their Sacred song performance. A huge congratulations and well done to all students who displayed great courage and an incredibly positive attitude during their performances.
Thank you to Mrs Donaldson and our parents who helped make this all possible on the day. We may be a small school, but we have a wonderful group of supportive parents/families and staff who help our school do amazing things.
Building/Renovation Works
Over the December/January school holidays a range of building works will be completed at St Patrick’s School. Some of this work will involve the removal of asbestos. Letters have been sent home to families this week to update you on the building process and the new school dates for 2023.
For you own safety, please ensure you remain off site during the school holidays and please notify the school or our local police if you see anyone on our school site during this time.
First Reconciliation
This term some students from St Patrick’s School and some students from schools in our local region have begun to prepare for their First Reconciliation. Each week students are attending a session with Father Tom and local community members to prepare them for this special milestone. We look forward these weekly sessions as our students continue on this very exciting journey.
This month I will finish off with a prayer from our first session:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for creating this beautiful world.
Thank you for creating me and always taking care of me.
Help me to grow in your love.
I trust in your plan to make me happy.
Amen.
Warm regards,
Kylie
Prep Interviews
Prep interviews have been a wonderful success. For families still yet to enrol, we still have some interview times available in the coming weeks. If you are interested in enrolling your child for Prep at St Patrick's School in 2023, please use the QR code below to complete the online application form or contact the school on 46 231448.
New Term Dates for 2023
PPF Meeting
The next meeting of the PPF Assn will be held on Tuesday, 1st November at 5.30 p.m. in the Year 3 to 6 classroom following the Playground Opening.
Everyone is welcome to come and share you ideas
Cookie Dough Fundraiser
Orders for Cookie Dough are due by 24th October and delivery date will be 15th November. So there is still time to register and place an order if you have not already done s0. Thank you to everyone who has already purchased their cookie dough and assisted our school to raise funds for our front safety fence.
New Term Dates
Breakfast Club
Breakfast club has commenced and will continue to be held every Tuesday up until week 7 - 15th November.
St Columba's Parish Mass Dates
St Patrick's Peace Garden Ceremony Dates
Student Protection
At St Patrick’s School the safety and wellbeing of our students is our highest priority. All children should grow up free of violence or exploitation and be able to learn in a safe and supported environment. Schools have a number of specific child protection reporting obligations that are detailed in our Student Protection Processes and Guidelines.
If a student wants to talk to someone about harm, abuse or inappropriate behaviour toward themselves or others, they can speak to a trusted staff member or one of our School Student Protection Contacts (SSPCs). The SSPCs receive additional training and are identified in the student protection posters displayed around the school.
Felicity Ray, Jenny Bye and Kylie Millar are the Student Protection Contacts for St Patrick's School.
Summary documents have been developed for parents and caregivers about our student protection obligations and our broader strategy for maintaining safe school environments.
Further information on all of the above topics can be found on the Toowoomba Catholic Schools website at https://www.twb.catholic.edu.au/parents-and-community/student-protection/
Student Protection Contacts
Class News : Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
Thank you to the warm welcome I have received since I arrived at St Patrick’s, Mitchell. The staff, students and parent community have taken time to ensure that I settled quickly and seamlessly. We have had a mixed start to the term with public holidays, eisteddfod and swimming all taking place in the first couple of weeks.
Last week Father Tom came to visit after lunch on Thursday. He will be a regular visitor to our class this term and we look forward to his contribution to our learning and our class discussions.
Below is a quick overview of what we have been learning so far this term. During the morning and middle session, we try to have an energy break and go for a run to break up the lesson.
Religion
We have been researching and discussing what is faith? We have used the bible stories to help unpack some meanings to the question and we have looked at other religions that have a faith centered approach. The students have enjoyed looking at similarities and differences of bible readings by various authors around a similar story.
Mathematics
This term we have looked at classifying whole numbers by different categories. The class has learnt about prime numbers, composite numbers and square numbers while reinforcing odd and even numbers. The students have investigated 2D shapes and constructed 3D shapes and learnt about the properties they have. This week we have started financial math looking at money and working towards discount by percentage.
English
Our unit of work is focused on the bush. We are using poetry to help us with stories that describe the bush and characters that live and work in the bush. We are reading texts about trees and the dry/wet seasons in the Kakadu. Students have been revising the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in their quick-write and sentences in class. Spelling and reading are activities that students do in class each day.
Science
This term we will be investigating the use and production of heat energy. Students will work through set lessons on the interactive board and will research on their lap top when required.
Finally, if you wish to discuss your child and school related matters, please email me and we can set a time to meet. My email is – David.anderson@twb.catholic.edu.au
Have a great week.
David
Class News: Prep to Year 2
Welcome to Term 4. We’re only three weeks in, but the Term feels like it is flying by!
Already this Term we have had Fireman Will visit us to teach us about fire safety. We have learnt what to don in case there is a fire in our school or home, and what to do if there is fire on you. The students were asked to do some homework to make sure they know what to tell the operator if they need to call 000. We need to know our name and our address. This week Will brought the Fire Truck and talked about the safety equipment the Firefighters need to wear when they are fighting fires and the special equipment on the truck they use when fighting fires.
In English we are starting the Term learning about poetry and rhyming. Our poems have had a bit of an insect/bug theme to link with our Science unit ‘Schoolyard Safari’. We’ve had lots of fun reading the insect poems together, working on our expression as we become more familiar with the poems and have been learning about the structure of the poems as well. The Year One and Two students have been using the poems we have read together as a class to write their own poem by changing some of the words in the poem such as the type of insect and how it moves, and the Preps wrote a sentence about how an insect of their choice moves.
Science, as I’m sure you might have guessed, we are learning about insects. We will be observing the features and behaviours of small animals (insects) to help us understand how their features help them to stay alive in their habitats. We will explore how the insects such as ants and worms move, feed themselves and protect themselves. In week one we ventured to the Peace Garden to find and observe the small animals we have at St Patrick’s. The students recorded their findings. They found ants, sandflies, beetles, butterflies, moths and bees. I wonder if you can find any other insects in your backyard at home.
Maths, we have started this Term learning about 2D shapes and 3D objects. The students went on shape and object hunts to try to find different shapes and objects around the classroom. They have also been describing and comparing shapes and objects using their features (number of sides/edges, corners/vertices, faces). They even challenged themselves to create a 3D object using Lego. The students had to pick a 3D object and try to recreate it using Lego, then describe their object to a partner so they could guess the name of the object. The students also used their bodies (as the sides) to create 2D shapes in teams.
Father Tom is visiting us on Thursdays this Term during our Religion lesson. The P-2 class thoroughly enjoy having him in our classroom to ask him questions about what we are learning about in Religion as well as some of those trickier questions such as ‘When does God talk to us?’ This Term we are learning about what a Covenant is through the Story of Abraham and Sarah. We will then move in to explore how Jewish people live the covenant in today’s world.
In HaSS we are exploring the question ‘What are places like?’. We have started to explore our country of Australia, finding where it is located on a world map and have also been learning about the states and territories that make up Australia. We have discussed what makes a place special or important to a person or group and explored some of the special places in Australia such as Uluru, The Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The students shared places that are special and important to them. Some students said it was their house because that is where they get to spend time with their families.
The Life Education van will be visiting us virtually this year to help us learn about good friendships. We are looking forward to this virtual visit in week 5.
Looking forward to seeing how much we can learn and grow in our last Term together!
Miss Ray
P-2 Class
Specialist Teacher News
Last Friday I had the absolute pleasure of accompanying our St Patrick’s students to the Annual Roma and District Eisteddfod. Our students represented the school with pride and impressive school spirit and performed beautifully for their first time presenting in front of a crowd. Our P-2 class performed two sacred songs whilst the Yrs 3-6 class presented a sacred song and the ‘Beetlejuice’ musical theatre song ‘That Beautiful Sound’. We received many positive comments from teachers and parents both from our own and other schools, as well as from the Eisteddfod adjudicator, and were lucky enough to be awarded two firsts and two seconds for our efforts!
This was a fantastic opportunity for both our school and our students, and I was particularly impressed with the way those students who aren’t natural performers rose to the occasion and gave it their all. I would like to thank all students for their effort both during class practices and the performance, and for parents supporting us in our endeavour either by sending shirts to school for us to decorate or by transporting students to the actual event. Your support is very much appreciated 😊
During the final term of 2022, all students will be participating in swimming lessons as part of the Physical Education curriculum. Please remember to send your students to school with goggles for these lessons and all other appropriate swimming equipment. The first two weeks have seen quite a cold start to the season but as the weeks progress this should improve so too should the students’ skill levels!
As a part of The Arts curriculum, students are participating in a combined unit covering Dance and Media Arts. The P-2 class are exploring how we can create and perform dances based on different characters. The 3-6 class are exploring dances from different cultures and are currently learning a traditional style Greek dance!
Principal's Award
Years 3 to 6 Class
For displaying great resilience and a positive attitude throughout Term 3 when there was an unexpected teacher change.
Mercy Awards
Nate Mathews
For demonstrating the Mercy Values of Compassion and Dignity. Throughout Term 3 you have consistently treated your classmates wth respect. It is wonderful to see you recognising when a classmate needs extra time while they are talking to you, by giving them that extra time, and checking in with thems to make sure you got the right message from them.
Continue to let the Mercy Values shine through in everything you do!!
Awesome Achiever Award
Mason Mitchell
For using the Learning Power of Persistence and Self-Motivation. During your writing task last week, you listened to feedback from the teacher before writing your final copy. There were many convincing reasons in your writing to persuade the reader that the Pigs are the real bad guys.
Keep up the great work!
Important Dates for 2022
Tuesday, 18th October | Swimming lessons - 9.00 a.m. (Prep-2) and 10.00 a.m. (Yr 3 - 6) |
Tuesday, 25th October | Swimming lessons - 9.00 a.m.(Prep-2) and 10.00 a.m.(Yr 3-6) |
Friday, 28th October | Day for Daniel - students are invited to wear red on this day to raise awareness |
Tuesday, 1st November | Swimming lessons - 9.00 a.m. (Prep-2) and 10.00 a.m. (Yr 3-6) Playground opening 4.30 p.m. PPF Meeting 5.30 p.m. |
Tuesday, 8th November | Swimming lessons 9.00 a.m. (Prep-2) and 10.00 a.m. (Yr 3-6) |
Tuesday, 15th November | Swimming lessons - 9.00 a.m. (Prep-2 ) and 10.00 a.m. (Yr 3-6) |
Saturday, 19th November | Mass at St Columba's 6.00 p.m. |
Tuesday, 22nd November | St Patrick's School Swimming Carnival |
Saturday, 26th November | Academic Awards Night at Mitchell Art Gallery 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. Art Show at the Mitchell Art Gallery 6.00 p.m. |
Monday, 28th November | Graduation Mass 9.00 to 10.00 a.m. |
Wednesday, 30th November | Last Day of Term 4 |
Thursday, 1st December | Pupil Free Day |
Friday, 2nd December | Pupil Free Day |
Saturday, 17th December | Mass at St Columba's 6.00 p.m. |