Dear Parents and Carers

 We have had a fabulous day to end Week 4 with multiple celebrations and events.

Happy Grandparents Day to all our grandparents. We hope you have received your special mail out. We also hope you are able to spend time with your grandchildren, if not today or on the weekend, then sometime soon, doing something fun things together. There are some great ideas on our school website under the OUR SCHOOL tab. One great thing to do is to keep telling your grandchildren stories of your life and experiences. 

Day for Daniel

We wear red every October to participate in Day for Daniel. This is a very important day and a time to talk, think and learn about child safety. You may like to take a look at resources available to parents to initiate conversations with your children. One idea is creating a family password. Does your family have a password? It is quick, easy and fun to make one. You can use the password for people who are trusted to pick up the child from school or activities.

https://danielmorcombe.com.au/keeping-kids-safe-resources/parents_carers/

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Hot Days at School

As you know our Bega Valley children are very acclimatised to cold, and many of them won’t even wear a jumper on the coldest day, conversely on a warm day the heat seems to impact many of them. Yesterday was a particularly warm day and we had lots of hot bodies leaving play. I allowed them to cool down with water. Those who wished to have ‘half a hat’ of water could wet their hair and head. The hats generally dried on the bag racks before the end of the day. Some children choose not to have wet hair. Some children do not want a wet school hat. That is ok. You might also have some ideas about this. You can let your child know if you don’t want them to wet their hat / hair.

Covid-19 ventilation criteria include having all doors and windows open and to turn fans onto the setting that directs the air up not down. We will as we can manage the heat with fans, water, windows and doors open. As a last resort we will consider using AC systems however these are not particularly effective with open windows and doors.

Compass Parent Portal

Have you been able to download and access the Compass Parent Portal? We are moving to this portal being the place where absences are noted for all students, and then opening other aspects of the portal. If you are having trouble please email Mrs Grant on emma.grant@cg.catholic.edu.au

Canteen Day change for next week

Please note that the Canteen will be open on Wednesday next week rather than the regular Tuesday.

Look Ahead to the Future

In Term 4 we focus on our school principle A View to Life Long Learning that underpins the pillar Look Ahead to the Future. 

The attributes we look for in our St Pat's kids are:

* growing independence

* taking responsibility for their actions

* taking responsibility for their learning

* productive collaboration with classmates in class and on the playground

* contributing to an enjoyable and safe learning and play environment

* to think global, act local 

You may wish to talk about these attributes with your child in their everyday life at home.

Enjoy the weekend. Blessings.

Jo

I AM STATEMENTS

What a lovely way to begin the day by reading our positive I am statements on our steps to our learning spaces. Thankyou Ms Spicer.

LOOKING INTO LEARNING

During my learning walk today I discovered Year 5/6 engaging in Maths learning around measurement of angles. The students were able to apply their knowledge by looking at a soccer field and deciding which angle was going to give the players most chance of scoring a goal. 

Year 4/5 students were working on fluent computation through adding 24. Strategy used; add 10 then add 10 then add 4.

Kindergarten students were practising tricky words in literacy groups through a game of space bingo. Rilen and Austin had quick recall when identifying the tricky words. Well done!!

REPORTING SCHEDULE FOR SEMESTER 2

Teachers are now beginning to assess our students in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Maths through the PAT assessment schedule. Students are given the assessment every 12 months and progress is tracked from year to year.  Teachers in Years K- 2/3 have also assessed students reading via the DIBELs assessment this week. Preliminary results show students have made excellent progress in regard to word reading fluency and passage reading fluency.

Reports will be prepared for teachers over the coming weeks and parents will be able to access the reports via Compass from Friday December 3rd. As reports will contain students grades but no comments there will be an opportunity for every parent/carer to book in for a Parent Teacher Interview during Week 10 (6th December- 9th December). Parents/carers will be able to book in for interviews from 22/11/2021 via the School Interview link which will appear via Skoolbag App.

SOUTHERN REGIONS PUBLIC SPEAKING NEW DATE

The CECG Southern Region Public Speaking finals have been rescheduled for Tuesday November 16th and Wednesday November 17th. We with the following students good luck as they prepare for the finals;

Religious Education

Upcoming Chapel Masses:

Friday 5th November Week 5 - 1/2B

Friday 12th November Week 6 - 1/2M

Parents are able to attend Chapel Mass following the Church COVID guidelines. 

Mission Month

Today students wore crazy socks and we held a Trash & Teasure Stall to raise money for Catholic Mission.

Thank you to the St Pat's families who donated goods for the stall. 

Ways to Pray -The Examen

It is nearly the end of the month. Look back on the month, think about those we love, and pray the Examen:

1. Become aware of God’s presence.
2. Review the month with gratitude. 
3. Pay attention to your emotions.
4. Choose one feature of the month and pray from it.
5. Look toward a new month.

Supporting Stundets to be Problem Solvers

This week I continued my professional learning about supporting students to self-regulate.

Our live session focused on next steps for students once they have self-regulated and are calm. 

Some recommendations from Royal Far West:

1. When are child is trying to solve a problem allow some wait time before you jump in and help

2. Instead of saying phrases such as "you can do this" try using a phrase such as "I know this is hard what can I do to help"?"

THE POWER OF WORDS

Arriving at school on Tuesday morning, part of my morning ritual is to "Positive Word Graffiti" the steps and concrete of our beautiful school.  Asking the students who are now familiar with chalk words appearing from time to time for their input I ask three senior students a question.  

What is the most powerful word you know?

The students thought for a moment and then replied....

THANK YOU

RESPECT 

COMPASSION

I was amazed at such power-filled words. I then posed that we could make a quote or statement for all the world to see.  So using creative thinking the" quote evolved...

"thankyou 4 respect-ing your compassion-ate self"

As you go into your weekend and into next week take a moment before you speak so as to deliver words with a positive message that are power filled.

Enjoy

Alicia Spicer

WELLNESS

Thank you to the families who have already finalised their term 4 fees.

Term 4 fees are due 10th November 2021, except those with direct debit arrangements.

If at any time your family is experiencing financial hardship due to Covid-19 or any other reason or your family is in need of other support, please contact the school to make a time for a confidential meeting with our Principal, Jo Scott-Pegum to discuss how the school can help support your family.

Canteen Day change for next week

Please note that the Canteen will be open on Wednesday next week rather than the regular Tuesday.

This week your child/children were sent home with an Orange Soft Plastics bag. Here are further details on how to use this bag.

WEEK 3 ANSWER:

Your Name

WEEK 4:

A cowboy rode into town on Friday. He stayed in town for three days and rode back out on Friday. How is this possible