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Dear Parents and Carers,
This week has been a week of visitors to support learning and engagement. On Tuesday we had our CogLearn coach Andrew Pirie visit. On Wednesday we welcomed Callie Bolitho, Beatrice Hannah and Megan Livingstone from the Inclusion, Wellbeing and Diversity team. On Thursday we welcomed Dominic Braybon from the Performance and Improvement team. And, today we welcomed our Director, Ross Fox, for another visit to St Pat's.
During his visit Ross toured the school and enjoyed the opportunity to see first hand the great work of our teachers in every classroom.
Staff at St Patrick's are proudly implementing the system wide approach to teaching and learning.
As you may have read in past communications, over the last 2 years at St Patrick's we have been more fully implementing a particular way of delivering instruction. This instructional approach is called Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI). It is a researched and evidenced based approach used by teachers to deliver the curriculum at the lesson level.
At St Patrick's we have implemented specific programs in English that utilise direct instruction, these include InitiaLit and other MulitLit programs and the Sound Waves spelling program. In Mathematics, the direct instruction program is Connecting Maths Concepts (CMC).
Explicit Direct Instruction pedagogy is being delivered in every classroom.
Why are we using EDI at St Pat's?
* EDI is based on the Science of Learning.
* EDI breaks down complex skills and knowledge into smaller instructional steps.
* Worked examples are used to demonstrate what students need to learn, and as they become proficient the scaffolds can be removed.
* EDI provides explicit opportunities for students to practice what they have already learned. Students retain knowledge and skills when practice is deliberate and purposeful.
* Pacing keeps students focused.
* Learning becomes more efficient by reducing cognitive (memory) overload.
* IT WORKS!
Narooma Swimming Representatives congratulations to our swim team who competed at Narooma this week, lots of great achievements were noted! We are pleased to have a big contingent of swimmers now heading to Queanbeyan for the next level of competition.
Blessings,
Jo
NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.
NAPLAN assessment will occur over a 9 day period this year;
Wednesday 15th March through to Friday 24th March.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time.
Students are not expected to study for NAPLAN. You can support your child by reassuring them that NAPLAN is a part of their school program and reminding them to simply do their best. Some familiarisation and explanation of NAPLAN is useful to help students understand and be comfortable with the format of the tests. Teachers will ensure students are familiar with the types of questions in the tests and will provide appropriate support and guidance.
EVERY MINUTE COUNTS AT ST.PAT'S
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT
Over the last few weeks our students have completed PAT Reading and Maths assessment online. All PAT assessments provide reliable measures of student achievement and progress that also describe the skills, knowledge and abilities required to progress in a learning domain over time. PAT Reading and Maths assessments will be conducted again in November to track student progress.
Religious Education
Upcoming Dates
Sunday 26th Feb 9:30am - Family Mass
Tuesday 7th March - My Body My Life 5/6 Program
Friday 17th March 12:35pm- St Patrick’s Day Mass
Thursday 6th April 2:20pm- Easter Liturgy
Chapel Mass
Every Friday a class participates in Chapel Mass in the Church at 9:15am. Parents are welcome to join. Here is this Term's roster:
Week 5- 5/6Y
Week 6- 5/6R
Week 8- 5/6G
Week 9- 1/2G
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent begins.
Listen to some students explaining the meaning of Shrove Tuesday for Christians.
Take time to think about what might you want to take up or give up for the Lenten season?
Prepare a small prayer journal to use during Lent for prayers, reflections and Scripture passages that help you to enter into the Lenten season more fully.
Spend some time in meditation, reflecting in silence and stillness, focusing on your breathing.
My Body, My Life Puberty and Personal Development Program Year 5 and 6
The Archdiocesan Relationship Education Team are very excited to be visiting
St Patrick’s Primary School to run the My Body, My Life puberty and personal development program with Grade 5 and 6 on Tuesday, 7th March 2023.
Our team of relationship educators and trained youth ministers will be working in small groups with the year 5 and 6 students for 2 hours, to give them the best opportunity to be involved in discussion and learning.
St Patrick’s requested early access to the online units for all parents of last year’s grade 3, 4, 5 & 6 students. Parents can access the content, at their discretion, with or without your child. The videos are still available here at his link: https://cgcatholic.org.au/my-body-my-life/st-patricks-bega/.
For more information, please see the parent information letter on Compass.
You can also visit the website: https://cgcatholic.org.au/healthy-relationships/primary-programs/my-body-my-life/
The sporting year gets under way very early, and already we have two swimming carnivals completed! On Tuesday twenty two St Pat's kids travelled to Narooma to compete. That carnival is also the trial for a place in the Southern Region Swimming Team. We had a lot of first timers this year which was excellent to see! Shelby and Jacob finally made the team in their last year of primary school - well done! At the other end of the age groups we had our 8 year olds competing for the first time. Austin, Tommy and Ashley all competed in this event. Unfortunately our 8 year old girl Remmi was sick on the day. There were a lot of nerves on the day, but our students persisted and achieved some excellent results. Thirteen St Pat's kids have made the Southern Region Team and will swim in Queanbeyan soon. Congratulations to all the students who travelled to Narooma, you were excellent ambassadors for our school. Well done and good luck to those swimming at the next level of competition: Austin, Tommy, Mia, Henry, Isabella, Levi, Archie, Will, Arly, Eva, Drew, Jordan and Chase.
Proudly, St Pat's as a school came third overall on the day.
Please email Nicole on nicole.collins1@cg.catholic.edu.au if you are available
on the upcoming Wednesday to help for an hour in the canteen between 10 -11am or between 12.30 - 1.30pm.
Term 1 school fees have been sent to families.
Term 1 fees are due 21 March 2023, except those with direct debit arrangements.
If at any time your family is experiencing financial hardship, or if your family is in need of other support, please contact the school to organise an appointment for a confidential meeting with our Principal, Jo Scott-Pegum to discuss how the school can help support your family.
