Dear Parents and Carers,

Recently, the newly forming Community Council had their first meeting. At this time of embracing a new system wide Community Council charter, we are looking forward to input from Catholic Education to ensure a smooth transition.

We thank Tam Prime, Steph Johnson and Riquel Morgan for expressing interest to be on our new Community Council. Fr Adrian, Emma Grant and myself are ex-officio members to the council. Whilst the roles for the council were decided at our meeting, they will be fully endorsed and published at the first meeting in the new year.

We look forward to all families considering the ways in which you can contribute to the life and growth of our school.

A big thank you to Kerry Snell for her procurement of the new item on the St Patrick's uniform - our school swim team caps! They look great. Caps will be available for purchase next year from the uniform menu in Qkr!

Today our Year 5 students participated in the Christian Leadership Day. They were privileged to attend a short excursion to the Civic Centre for the launch of the Bega Circular Economy, an innovative, place-based, whole of region transition to a circular economy. 

Tony Nassar, who regularly supports our Boys Program, then engaged the students in some team building and leadership activities. During the day the students were able to consider ways in which they want to demonstrate leadership in our school in their Year 6 year of schooling. They are now moving to speech and statement writing in support of applications for school leadership positions.

Year 6 students enjoyed their Boys / Girls program today learning more about themselves as they grow. Thank you to Tony, and to Mrs Lightly and Mrs Ferris for leading these programs.

Have a great weekend.

Blessings,

Jo

Parent Engagement - Welcoming our Kinder 2024 families 

This week we had our first Kinder Start Session. The students enjoyed a taste of big school including a bus ride!

We look forward to having students and parents visit for two more sessions before the end of the Term.

We encourage parents to attend the session on Wednesday 22nd November to connected with other parents and join our information sessions.

Congratulations go to Will Nicholson who has been selected in the 2024 Canberra Goulburn boys cricket side.

Will travelled to Canberra last Friday to try out for the team. Over 30 boys were trialling and only 9 were picked, Will being one of them. Well done Will!

The Canberra Goulburn side will play in Wagga next year vying for selection in the MacKillop team.

Thank you to families who have paid their Term 4 fees.
 
A reminder the preferred method of payment is BPAY. The new BPAY details are listed on your monthly statement.

BPAY payments can be made via a lump sum or a weekly/fortnightly payment plan can be set up. Payments made in instalments (that don’t cover fees in full before the due date) must be arranged and approved by the school. Please contact the Office on 6492 5500 if you need to make an instalment arrangement.
 
If you are currently experiencing financial difficulties, please make contact with the school office. Please remember that if we don’t know your circumstances, we are not in a position to provide assistance. Applications for fee concessions are managed by the Principal in a confidential and sensitive nature.

Healthy coping skills

Life doesn’t always run smoothly, and we are all faced with challenges, large and small, throughout our lives.

Often when we feel stressed, worried, sad or indeed any heightened emotion, it can be difficult to express or regulate our emotions. We are all human and we will all have days where we feel overwhelmed, and we may struggle to make healthy choices or choose helpful reactions.

However, if we practice use of healthy coping strategies and model these for our children, we can help them to develop healthy emotional expression and coping strategies for themselves.

Often it can be helpful to talk out loud about how we are feeling and what we are going to choose to do with that feeling. This shows our children that emotions are valid, useful and healthy and that the important thing is what we choose to do with them.

For example, after a difficult phone call we might say “I am feeling frustrated as that phone call did not go well. I need to help myself to calm down so I am going to go for a walk”

It is important here to work out what your healthy coping strategies might be. Personalise your strategies to suit your preferences and circumstances. Here are some ideas:

-Take a walk in nature

-Spend time with your pet

-Take a bath or shower

-Watch something funny or uplifting

-Practice some meditation or mindfulness (the Smiling Mind app is free!)

-Do some drawing or colouring in

-Talk to someone like a friend, partner, family member

-Write in a journal or write a letter

-Breathe (some smart watches have breathing exercises, or use youtube or an app)

-Have a google for ideas and make a list or a poster for you and your child with coping strategy ideas or speak to your school counsellor for resources

Thanks for reading, Sam – school counsellor

Giiyong Festival - SE NSW's biggest Aboriginal Cultural Festival - taking place at Jigamy, between Eden and Pambula on Saturday 18 November.

Music | Dance | Ideas | Food | Culture | Community

Geates open 10am.

U18s are free, Adults $35 - please register online.

This is an all ages event, no drugs, no alcohol. Everyone is welcome.

The event is presented by South East Arts, Twofold Aboriginal Corporation and Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council.