Dear Parents

On behalf of our community I would like to thank Sister Miriam, Mr Mattas and all those who have helped prepare and support our parents over the last few weeks.

Please keep the students, their families and those who prepared them in your prayers.

PRAYER FOR CONFIRMATION CANDIDATES:

Lord, You send out Your Spirit to touch the hearts of all people, so that they may believe in You and in Jesus whom You sent.

Look kindly on all candidates for Confirmation as they listen to Your voice. Open their hearts to Your Spirit and bring to fulfilment the good work that You have begun in them.

As we prepare these children for Confirmation, make each of us an instrument of Your love. Teach us to appreciate what is holy in others, and to be patient with what we do not understand.

Deepen our faith in the Gospel and help us to pass it on by our example. We pray that You will continue to guide us and sustain us.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Farewell

It is with sadness that we will be saying goodbye to Mrs Bronwyn Hall who is resigning from St Patrick’s at the end of this term. Bronwyn has been at St Patrick’s for 25 years and has been a significant part of our school and students lives. She has had several different positions at our school teaching ESL, Literacy Support and providing release for the Religious Co-ordinator.  I would like to thank Bronwyn on behalf of our school and parent body for her years of service, friendship and commitment to St Patrick’s.

School Building

Due to the previous regional building award received for the St Patrick’s school project (2018), the Master Builders Association has progressed the project into the NSW State awards category for best Private School project <$5m. Today the judges came and inspected the site.

Assembly change on calendar

Week 9 - Thursday, 19 September – Year 6

Week 10 - Thursday, 26 September – Year 4

New installation

Thank you to Mr & Mrs Markovski (Lukas Yr 4) who generously donated two TVs to our school. One TV is now installed in our staff room allowing us to have staff meetings using the TV as a resource. Timetables and important messages will be posted as well.

A very special wish to all the fathers and grandparents for this Sunday and the year ahead.

The Lord bless you

 and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.

Peace and best wishes for the next fortnight

Mrs Anne Duggan
Principal

School-wide Positive Behaviours for Learning (SPB4L)

Our SPB4L focus for this week (Week 6) is Problem Solving. In the explicit teaching lessons the expected behaviours taught will be:

SPB4L FOCUS

Being a Peaceful Problem Solver

Scissors, Paper, rock

IgnoRe it

Tell them:NO, Stop, Don’t

Wait and Cool Off (Count Backwards, Deep breaths)

Ask for heLp

Walk Away and lEt it go

Make a Deal (CoMpromise, Win-Win)

Use an ‘I’ mesSage (I think…, I feel…)

Use goOd manners

Talk it out/Listen

Visit and play with someone else

ApologisE

Be Respectful

Our SPB4L focus for next week (Week 7) is Waste Management

In the explicit teaching lessons the expected behaviours taught will be:

1. Putting my food waste in the compost bin

2. Putting paper and cardboard waste in the recycling bin

3. Putting foil, plastic bags and Gladwrap in the rubbish  bin

4. Taking uneaten food home in my lunchbox


Examples of behaviours that negatively impact Respectful, Responsible and Safe behaviours with our Waste Management to be taught include:

1. Throwing food scraps in either the rubbish or recycling bin

2. Leaving my rubbish in the classroom or on the playground

3. Throwing away uneaten food

We would very much appreciate your discussing these weekly focuses with your children and reviewing the expected and non-acceptable behaviours in our endeavour to see that St Patrick’s is a more respectful, responsible and safe learning community for all.

SPB4L Data

Throughout Weeks 4 and 5, 59 Citizenship, Merit, Library or Uniform Awards or Playground Affirmation Awards were awarded whilst there were 9  playground incidences of Inappropriate behaviour recorded.

WE’RE GOING GREENER - NUDE FOOD EVERYDAY

Week 4 Data

Of the 169 students at school 126 brought Nude Food to school. This equates to 75% of the student population.
The most sustainable class in Week 4 was Year 5 with 90% of the students bringing Nude Food. Hip-hip hooray Year 5.

Week 5 Data

Of the 166 students at school last Thursday 117 brought Nude Food to school. This equates to 70% of the student population.
The most sustainable class in Week 5 was Year 5 with 86 % of the students bringing Nude Food. Hip-hip hooray Year 5.

Data will be collected one day each week with the class that has most students bringing ‘Nude Food’ to school during Term 3 enjoying scones baked in the wood fire oven in the garden in week 10 courtesy of Mr Mattas.

Additional Staffing

We are in the fortunate position to engage additional staff beginning this week and concluding at the end of the year.

Mrs Popovski will be working in Stage 3, Miss Greenwood in Stage 2 and Mrs Calvert in Stage 1. We welcome Mrs Calvert to our staff and thank her, Mrs Popovski and Miss Greenwood for their willingness to offer additional teaching expertise in their respective stages. These staff members will work under the direction of the class teachers to provide additional 1 to 1 or small group guided teaching primarily in English and Mathematics to improve the learning outcomes for identified students.

In addition we welcome Miss Diana Marentis to Kindergarten. Diana will work in Kindergarten to support Mrs Beuman and Mrs Aoki in delivering guided individual and group support to meet learning needs of students as identified by the teachers. 

Best Wishes

Mr Gavan Hoctor
Assistant Principal

Congratulations to the following students receiving awards:

Principals Awards:

Lily Meizer - Yr 4 
Eva Dimitrovski -Yr 6

Uniform Awards:

Aurora Leite - K
Aaron Pasztor - Yr 3
Bianca Meta - Yr 4
Declan Aquilina - Yr 6

Library Awards:

Kinder - whole class award - (Premiers Reading Challenge (PRC))
William Di Ciaccio - Kinder
Marlin Lyon - Kinder
Mick Kuhn - Kinder (PRC)
Leena Carolan - Yr 1
Vivianne Theodosiadis - Yr 2
Nikhil Carolan - Yr 2 (PRC)
Imogen Aquilina - Yr 2 (PRC)
Maya Dimitrovska - Yr 2 (PRC)
Sofia Mineeff - Yr 2 (PRC)
Bowen Sharrock - Yr 4
Christian Sammut - Yr 6

Congratulations and a very Happy Birthday to the following students celebrating over the next two weeks:

Kaleb Berriman - Yr 6 - 29/08
Dean Dragarski - Yr 2 - 29/08
Alicia Rae - Yr 5 - 02/09
Vivianne Theodosiadis - Yr2 - 02/09
Benson Fonoti - Yr 3  -05/09
Rose Uzunovski - Yr 4 - 05/09
Felicia Di Ciacco - Yr 4 - 06/09
Alessandro Varela De Sousa - Kinder - 06/09
Sienna Fargnoli - Yr 2 - 07/09
Teo Coupe - Yr 3 - 09/09

ACTIVATE Fire – Year 6

On Monday, 12 August the Year 6 girls and boys participated in a fantastic day of spiritual formation and fun at St Francis of Assisi Warrawong. The day was called ‘ACTIVATE Fire’ and it was run by Catholic Youth Ministry Wollongong. The students were joined by Year 6 students from St Francis of Assisi and St John’s Dapto, and they all participated in interactive, engaging activities aimed at supporting their spiritual growth. They were treated to beautiful live music and overall it was an excellent day of reflection and fun. I’m sure the girls and boys will remember it for years to come!

Year 3 Parents - First Holy Communion - Parent Information Evening

Just a friendly reminder that the First Holy Communion Parent Information Evening will take place next Thursday, 5 September at 7pm in the Parish Centre. The evening will cover important aspects of the preparation of the students for their first Holy Communion.

Kind Regards

Mr Sam Mattas
Acting Religious Education Coordinator 

UNCLE KEVIN BULTER

This term St Patrick’s is privileged to have Uncle Kevin Bulter at the school each Tuesday. Uncle Kevin will be painting a mural which will incorporate an acknowledgement of country and the story of the five islands located off Port Kembla.

The mural will be placed on the wall at the entrance to the school. Uncle Kevin has painted many murals for a number of schools in the diocese as well as many other artworks. His expertise is sought after and we are very lucky to have him with us.

The students will visit Uncle Kevin during the time he is here. He will show them the mural at various stages. He will talk to them about the many elements in the mural.

Classes are invited to visit Uncle Kevin at anytime on Tuesdays during his time here.

Miss Glen-Marie Phillips
Teacher

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

BOOK WEEK PARADE

Please visit the following Catholic Education Website for book week articles and photos and Catholic Education various social media pages below.

PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE

Congratulations to all the students who have completed the Premiers Reading Challenge (PRC). Certificates will be issued sometime in Term 4. The Premiers Reading Challenge will be closing as of this Friday, 30 August and you will no longer be able to add to the log.

2019 BOOK FAIR

South Coast Athletics Carnival 2019

Tuesday 13 August, 28 wonderful St Patrick’s students attended the South Coast Athletics Carnival along with 18 other schools at Kerryn McCann Athletics Centre, Beaton Park.

They ran, jumped and threw to the best of their ability. Congratulations to them all. They also cheered and supported one another heartily. Congratulations for the team spirit created.

Special mention needs to be made of four students who have placed in the top four of their event and so will compete for a spot in the Wollongong Diocese team 20 August. They are Mikaela Markovski in Senior Shot Put, winner and Discus, second; Liana Meta 8 years 100m, winner; Jacob Pucillo 11 years Discus, fourth; Kade Gardiner 12 years Long Jump, second. Best of luck to them at these trials.

Mikaela Markovski was also equal runner up in the senior girls championship - a great result.

MacKillop Athletics Trials

Congratulations to Mikaela Marlovski who at the Wollongong Diocese Athletics Trials won the senior girls Shot Put event. She will compete in the Wollongong team at the MacKillop Trials 16 September at Homebush.   

We wish Mikaela the best of luck at these trials.

Mrs Anna Pulbrook
Sport Coordinator