FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a joy this week for Year 5 aspiring leaders to present their speeches and to be interviewed for captain and minister roles. We are so proud of them as they grow in self-confidence and motivation to make a difference! The 2024 school leaders will be announced at the end of the Thanksgiving Mass 12.35pm on Tue 12th of December.
2024 Term Dates
Next year schools in Canberra and Goulburn Catholic Education schools will have additional staff professional learning days. Please note the student start and end dates of each term at St Patrick's for next year. In term 2 and 3 our students finish term on a Thursday.
Our Year 6 students have had a busy week this week. They have enjoyed orientation at their Secondary schools, the UOW Future Finder Program, and their Boys and Girls program. Crossfit this week was postponed and will be enjoyed in Week 10 of term.
Ian's feedback to our team last week was very positive, so much so, he was able to take an early mark. Ian was out and about in every classroom and playspace supporting all teachers and staff with their positive interactions with students and ensuring that when an instruction is given, it is followed. It is great to be a BehaveAbility school and get such strong and positive feedback from our coach and mentor.
One school rule we have recently been refocusing on with students is 'Respect, Share, Grow,' with the specific behaviour of respectful language. Some children use language, and make up nicknames for each other or cute names or random names and defend themselves saying 'It was just a joke,' 'They like me calling them that,' 'It's only fun.' The simple rule applies, 'Would I like someone to say that to me or call me by that nickname?'
We teach the students
* if it is not fun or ok for the recipient it is not fun
* if it is disrespectful in tone it is disrespectful
Thank you for speaking with your children about this.
We have learned this week of a very helpful resource to share with families. ‘One Talk at a Time’, is a national campaign against child sexual abuse, launched by the National Office for Child Safety. One Talk at a Time aims to protect young people from sexual abuse by encouraging adults to have ongoing, proactive, preventative conversations. Please take a look here:
Blessings,
Jo