Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3. I trust you had a lovely time with your children and family during term holidays. It is always wonderful to hear the children tell the stories of their holiday, where they went, who they were with, the highlights, and importantly the fun.

I have heard about trips to the snow, spear fishing, how the wrist was broken (x2), sleepovers, play dates, beach walks, fishing, family, and much more. What a great holiday has been had by all!

This week we have had celebrations for 100 days of Kinder and 1 year and 100 days for Year 1. Thanks to our amazing junior years staff; Mrs Ferris for being the coordinator and Mrs Banks, Mrs McPherson & Mrs Franco for helping make the afternoon event fun and memorable for our students. I loved it when I heard about one of the kinder students saying ‘tomorrow it will be 101 days of school!’

Thanks Ms Nicholas for organising a picnic lunch to celebrate the work and contribution of the Term 2 SRC. We are working hard to enable student voice at St Pat’s and one important way is through the Student Representative Council. These students give up a lunch break to meet each week, share ‘motions’ from individuals and classes and then the captains present their thinking and support of these motions to myself and other members of the leadership team and staff. The picnic is a small way to say thank you and to celebrate. Thanks Ms Nicholas for your organisation of the SRC.

Kinder Writing Today I was happily surprised with visitors from all of our Kinder students who shared a letter they have written about times when they have been 'fair.' Great writing and reading Kinder!

COVID-19 As you have read in our Skoolbag messaging we are once again managing more closely protocols for health and safety due to COVID-19.

• Adults are wearing facemasks and generally following the ‘restaurant rules’ when we are inside and seated – eating / drinking – we remove the mask. Outdoors if we are socially distanced we are also taking the mask off.
• We are always reminding students about health and hygiene, washing hands well and hand sanitising.

Thank you for your support and thank you for keeping your children home if they have cold and flu-like symptoms.

Blessings.

Jo

Welcome to Term 3

This weeks focus is on Yrs 2-3 and 3-6 spelling and writing in our school

Soundwaves;

Students in Years 2-3 and 3-6 have been introduced to the Soundwaves program this year which complements the InitiaLit program in Years K-2.

Soundwaves uses systematic synthetic phonics and word study to effectively teach spelling skills. All students were assessed on their spelling ability at the start of the year and the teaching of spelling is then differentiated according to the needs of the students. While all students are working on the same phoneme/grapheme each week the word list or vocabulary may be more easy or difficult depending on the students needs. Teachers explicitly teach the program to students and monitor how the increased spelling knowledge is being transferred into student writing. Photos below show students at St Pat’s engaging with the Soundwaves program.

Parent Class Contacts

As part of our endeavour to promote communication between home and school, build community spirit and to assist new families joining our school community, at least one Parent Class Contact is assigned to each class group. We are pleased to announce our Parent Class Contacts and thank them for volunteering;

KF- Michael Lay and Hayley Jessop (parents of Austin)

1/2B Mark and Zoe Philipzen (parents of Henry)

1/2 F Kim Stafford (parent of Aadi)

1/2M Pam McDonald (parent of Emelia)

2/3LW Katrina Johnson (parent of Alice)

3/4M Ursula Dam (parent of Connor)

3/4R Christine Murray (parent of Abbie)

4/5B Nikki Bateman (parent of Luke)

5/6C HELP PLEASE

5/6N Nel Sunderland (parent of Connor) 

During Term 3 and 4, the Parent Class Contact/s will coordinate a class social event for families to get together out of school and do something fun. The Parent Class Contact will also support the welcoming of new families throughout the year, assisting them in getting to know other families and to feel part of the school community. This is another means of uniting the school and enhancing the quality of relationships within the school between teachers, parents/ carers and the students.

At the end of last term, teachers have sought permission to share the parent/carer contact information (email) with Parent Class Contacts. The school is still following up on a few permissions. Parent Class Contacts will receive parent information shortly and hopefully you will hear from them soon.

Upcoming Events

Friday 23rd July - 1/2F Chapel Mass

Monday 2nd August - Katungal Aboriginal Medical Hearing Checks

Friday 13th August - Jersey for Noa Day

Religious Education

This term classes will focus on social justice in Religious Education. As teachers our work is informed by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, which guide us in all spheres of life – the economic, political, personal and spiritual. If you would like to know more about the principles of Catholic Social Teaching check out the Caritas website: https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst-toolkit/ 

Supporting all Learners to be successful 

OLT are offering a Free ADHD course for parents and teachers, click on the link to find out more: https://www.adhdaustralia.org.au/free-online-adhd-course/ 

Canteen will be held on Tuesdays for Term 3.

As I’m sure you’re aware, St Pat’s has been fortunate to have a companion dog come to our school every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Judy, Mrs Carracher’s dog, has quickly become a valued ‘staff’ member and is loved by all of the children. With this in mind, I am hoping to introduce a second companion dog to the St Pat’s family to attend school on Thursday and Friday. Candy is a Moodle (Poodle/Maltese). She is very calm and gentle and loves children, having been in a household with 5 children. Candy would spend Thursdays with me as I visit classrooms in my curriculum role and would then spend Friday in the Kindergarten classroom.

We are hoping to begin to introduce Candy to the school environment next Thursday for a trial. If you have any concerns about having Candy at school could you please contact me or Mrs Scott-Pegum.

Mel Ferris

Stay warm this winter and join the fun with FLING’s wide range of public class programs for kids and adults.

NEW CLASSES AND LOCATIONS ADDED IN TERM 3!  

We’ve got classes in venues across the Bega Valley including Dance Gym, Parkour, Ballet and Young Dance Creatives, as well as Dance FIT, Tap and Contemporary dance for adults.  

All our programs are designed by trained professionals to keep kids, teens and adults active. Our classes stimulate creativity, build strength, coordination, confidence and new friendships in a safe and joyful environment.  

Join now for a free class trial and meet our team. We can’t wait to dance with you.

To sign up and find out more- go to: www.flingphysicaltheatre.com.au/community-dance-classes

Bega based not for profit organisation Stonewave Taiko is starting Kids Taiko class from next week. They look forward to sharing the joy of Japanese drumming.

Location: SCAC Gym

Starting: Wed 21 July 3:30-4:30 pm

Active Kids voucher is accepted

Bookings are essential through stonewavetreasurer@gmail.com or phone Reiko 0474065667

Find out more at stonewavetaiko.com  or on FB and Instagram.

What has a bank but no money?