Term 3 Issue 2 - 28th August 2023

Principal's News

Dear Families,

We are quickly approaching the end of another term. Throughout this term our staff and students have enjoyed engaging in wide range of activities and learning experiences.

Year 5/6 Camp

In week 6, our year 5/6 students joined students from St Mary's Charleville for a combined camp at Noosa. Our students had a sensational time, and it was lovely to see students making new friends and working together whilst on camp.

Opti-minds

This year, St Patrick's School has been creating history by participating in their first every Opti-minds event. Congratulations to our Opti-minds team, Girraween (Place of many flowers). Torah, Wyatt, Maggie, Paitence and Kyemma have been working on their challenge over the past few weeks and were excited to showcase their challenge for their final event on Sunday.  Creating this challenge has involved students working during their lunch breaks, afterschool and on weekends. Our team have learnt many new skills and they have overcome many challenges along the way.

Students presented their challenge on Sunday, and they did a fantastic job. Our team received a 'Spirit of Opti-minds' award, and they were awarded 1st place in their Science Engineering challenge. Students have now been invited to attend the State Finals in Brisbane later this year.

Congratulations and well-done team!

Roma & District Eisteddfod

This year St Patrick’s School will be participating in the Roma & District Eisteddfod. The focus this year is Speech and Drama. Our school will be performing a whole school item and students in our 3-6 class will be performing individual pieces. In the coming weeks we will be seeking parent volunteers to assist with transporting students to and from the event. Keep an eye out in the Parent Portal for further information.

Book Fair Parade

It was lovely to see families and community members attend our Book Fair Parade last week. The theme this year was 'Hats Off to Reading'. Students excitedly dressed up as their beloved book characters and enjoyed showing case their characters in front of their peers and guests. Thank you to staff and families for your contribution to this event.

Warm regards,

Kylie Millar

Reading

This year our students have been working very hard with their literacy skills, including reading and comprehension skills. Each week students engage in a wide range of literacy and reading activities at school.  Reading has a wide range of benefits for students which include, expanding vocabulary, increasing memory skills, developing their critical and analytical thinking, and improving concentration (just to name a few). At home there are a number of ways that you can support and encourage your child to read.

Enrol Now For 2024

If you are thinking about enrolling your child for Prep in 2024 please contact the school office as soon as possible to arrange an interview time. Interviews have been extended until the end of this term. If you were not able to attend our Prep Open afternoon please contact the school to arrange a school tour and a meet and greet session.

Enrol - St Patrick's School, Mitchell

Term Dates for 2023

Term Three - Tuesday, 11th July to Friday, 15th September 

Term Four - Tuesday, 3rd October to Friday, 1st December

PPF News

The next meeting of the PPF Assn will be held on Wednesday, 13th September at 3.30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join us and share your ideas to help raise funds for your children.

Car Boot Sale

Chocolate Fundraiser

The PPF is selling boxes of chocolates for $60.00 each.  If anyone is interested in selling a box please contact the school office.

Library News

A gentle reminder for our students to ensure that they have a library bag for library borrowing each week. Please also remember to return your books each week for weekly borrowing on Thursdays.

Please have a look for items that are missing or overdue. Thank you.

Bookfair and Parade

St Patrick’s Bookfair was held in the multipurpose centre during Week 6 and Week 7 this term. The theme was Hats off to Reading, which culminated in a Bookfair and Bookweek Dress Up Parade on Thursday,        24 August. Thank you to all who purchased from the Bookfair, we sold nearly $1,000.00 and raised over $150.00 for our school library. 

The Dress Up Parade was hotly contested with all students dressing up as their favourite book character, so judging the best dressed was a tough gig.

In Prep – Year 2 class the best dressed was awarded to Pirate Archee, with the people’s choice awarded to Toy Story Jessie (Pippa). In Year 3-6 class the best dressed was awarded to Gnome Torah, with the people’s choice awarded to Aviator Snoopy (Maggie).

The Children’s Book Council of Australia host annual book awards to promote children's books of high literary and artistic quality. These awards are now the most influential and highly respected in Australia. Each year it is held in Week 7, Term 3 and schools and public libraries across Australia spend a week celebrating books, and Australian authors and illustrators. We undertook activities relating to this year’s theme Read, Grow, Inspire to highlight the importance of reading.

Thank you for your support of our Bookfair and Bookweek activities.

Sarah Mehay-Dewar

(Librarian - St Patrick's Mitchell)

PE/Health News

Now that the weather has begun to warm up, so has our excitement for more sport options on a Thursday!

The students competed in the Athletics Carnival last term, held at Mitchell State School. I was so impressed with their enthusiasm and readiness to give everything a go. The remaining regional sport to take place is the Aquathlon (11-12 years) and Triathlon (13-19 years). Please let the school know asap if your child is eager to attend the Southwest trials.

All classes are currently completing the Daniel Morcombe unit for their Health component. This involves understanding how to be safe and to recognise, react and report in situations where appropriate.

Below is what we are working towards in each grade through Physical Education.

WellbeingNews

Wellbeing Matters:

We are getting to the busy end of the school term, this month the focus is on sleep. Adults should be aiming to get between 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

These tips for a goods nights sleep were taken from the Raising Children website which can be found at https://raisingchildren.net.au/

Before bed these tips can help you get a better night’s sleep:

· Establish a regular bedtime routine.

· Find ways to switch off and wind down before bed – for example, read a book, listen to some gentle music, or use techniques like breathing exercises or muscle relaxation.

· Avoid tea, coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, chocolate, cigarettes and other stimulants close to bedtime. They make resting and sleeping harder and affect how well you sleep.

· Avoid using screens in your bedroom, including television, mobile phones and tablets.

In bed It can be hard to wind down after a long day, or to switch your mind off so you can sleep. If you’re having trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, try not to get worried and frustrated. Instead, try reminding yourself that it’s OK that you’re warm and restful in bed.

If this doesn’t work, it might be worth getting up and writing down what’s on your mind. Then you can try going through your bedtime routine again.

During the day making time for yourself can help you feel better. Even just five minutes reading a book, walking around the block or doing some meditation can give you the sense of being rested when you’re not getting enough sleep.

It’s possible to ‘catch up’ on missed sleep, so nap during the day when you can. You can also make up for missed sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekend.

Physical activity and healthy food can give you more energy, so make time for exercise and eating well – every little bit helps!

Gunggari News

In week 4 Des and Tennille visited us.  Prep-2 learnt about movement.  Year 3-6 learnt more about describing people. This term students from our 3-6 class have also been visiting the Kindy each fortnight to teach our local kindy students some Gunggari words and songs. We have been very impressed with how well our kindy kids are saying and remembering what our students are teaching them.

On 6^th September wit is Indigenous Literacy Day.  Saraeva Mitchell will come in and read some stories to our students. We invite our families to join us for this story sharing at 10am.

Principal's Award

Brayden Wise

For keeping our school clean and tidy. Thank you for caring for our school environment and picking up rubbish around our grounds.

Mercy Award

Myhia Mitchell

For showing courage this week. You have not stopped putting your 'best foot forward' and have been giving new things a go. You have shown resilience, and each day you have a smile on your face. Congratulations, Myhia - we are so proud of you!

Awesome Achiever Awards

Kyemma McKane

For taking great pride in your book work and all activities completed in class. You are organised and prepared for all tasks! You set a great example for our younger students about how to be ready for any lesson! This has allowed you to measure and draw neat and accurate angles in maths and read and edit your quick writes in English.

Paint the Town REaD

School Photos

Norah Fallon Bursary

Students in years 6 in Mitchell, Mungallala, Dunkeld or students of the Mitchell area, School of Distance Education, are invited to submit an application for the 2023 Norah Fallon Bursary. 

This Bursary was established in 2005 by the late Mr. Terry Fallon in memory of his mother Mrs. Norah Fallon and is administered by a group of trustees. The value of the Bursary is $6,000 which is to be used to assist with further education expenses such as the purchase of books, equipment, tuition, or residential expenses and is paid at $1,000 per year during the following six years.

Application forms are available from the office of the Principal at all schools.

Applications close on 31 October 2023.

For further information contact Donna Burke, 31 Ann Street, Mitchell or by phone on 0427 231 506.

Important Dates for 2023