10 November 2023

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

2024 Attendance Intentions

The school is at a point in the year where we are finalising our enrolments and staffing for 2024, and a key part of this process is knowing just how many students we will have attending the school next year. With that in mind, if you know that you will be moving on in 2024 and your children will no longer be attending St Patrick's, can you please contact the school to make us aware of this as soon possible. The best way to do this is by email to stgeorge@twb.catholic.edu.au  If your child/children are still going to be attending next year, there is no need to make contact and you can ignore this email. I appreciate your time in addressing this for us, it will greatly aid in our preparations for 2024.

Calendar Reminders

Final School Weeks of  2023 

That’s all from me for now. Stay safe and have a great weekend,

Jim Wren

AUDIRI APP

Dear Parents/Carers

Our school uses the Audiri app (old name skoolbag) for iPhone and Android, to help us communicate more effectively with our Parent community. We are asking parents/carers to search for skoolbag and install the Audiri app.  

Once you have installed the Audiri app from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store just search for our school’s name St Patrick's Primary School St George.
For Windows users search for Audiri (Skoolbag) in the Windows Store, install the app, and then find our school. Please note it must be a Windows 8.1 or 10 device.

Please check the flyer below for instructions.

OUR PRAYERS…

Let us support each other in Prayer, especially for the Sick and the Deceased and those who are suffering Hardships, in our Parish and School.

Acting APRE News

It is so hard to believe we are now approaching the pointy end of the 2023 school year! And what a busy pointy end of the year we have ahead of us!  

2023 Vinnies Christmas Appeal 

Our Vinnies Christmas Appeal has kicked off for 2023. St Patrick’s families are encouraged to send in what they can to support those in need in our local community. You can send in any non-perishable foods, toiletries or festive items that might help someone in need. Some possible items include… 

Praying the Rosary 

The Balonne Parish is offering a wonderful opportunity to our St Patrick’s School families to come along and pray the Rosary before school each Thursday for the rest of this term. Please see further details in the flyer below. 

Remembrance Day 

Each year, Remembrance Day is celebrated across the globe on November 11^th at 11am. This year, Remembrance Day falls over the weekend so we will be celebrating this special day on Monday, November 13in the St Patrick’s Church from 8:45am. Thank you to Mrs McDonnell, Miss Rathie, and our Year 4, 5 and 6 students for preparing this celebration for us. Remembrance Day is a great opportunity to reflect on our shared history and to give thanks for those for made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their fellow countrymen. All St Patrick’s families and friends are most welcome to come and commemorate this special day with us.  

Year 5 Retreat 

On Wednesday, November 15, our Year 5 students are having a special Retreat Day. Students in Year 5 will spend the day considering those in their lives that are heroes to them and the qualities they have that make them exceptional leaders. The students will have the opportunity to explore what leadership will look like for them in 2024 and how they can be heroes for the rest of the school community in their role as Year 6 Leader. Our Retreat Day this year is a great way for the students to consider which official Leadership Roles they would like to nominate themselves for in 2024 before Leadership Speeches are delivered in Week 8. 

Year 12 Graduation  

On Thursday, November 16, St Patrick’s School will come together to celebrate and farewell the Year 12 students in the St George community as they complete their last year of schooling! St Patrick’s families and friends are welcome to join this special celebration on Thursday, starting at 9am in the St Patrick’s Church.  

Peace Pole Ceremony 

Our Rotary Peace Pole has finally found it’s home at St Patrick’s! We will hold a special ceremony on Thursday, November 23 at 8:45am to officially recognise this amazing gift! St Patrick’s School families and friends are most welcome to attend.  

End of Year Mass  

Our Whole School End of Year Mass this year will be on Monday, November 27 in the St Patrick’s Church from 8:45am. This will be an opportunity for the school to gather and reflect on and celebrate the year that was 2023! This will also be a great opportunity for all students to farewell those leaving our St Patrick’s Family at the end of this year. All St Patrick’s families and friends are most welcome to attend.  

Awards Evening 

Awards Evening is just around the corner! All members of the community are most welcome to attend Awards Evening on Tuesday, November 28 from 5:30pm. Awards Evening is another great opportunity for our school community to come together and celebrate the successes of the past academic year. Awards Evening is a great chance to highlight the wonderful work our students do during the year. Thank you in advance to 1D, our freshly formed St Patrick’s School Choir and our Instrumental Music students for performing during Awards Evening. What a great way to showcase the talent we have here at St Patrick’s School! 

Year 6 Graduation  

As I am sure our Year 6 families are already well aware, our Year 6 Graduation celebrations are fast approaching as well! If any of our Year 6 families have not received your invitation to Year 6 Graduation on Wednesday, November 29 please contact your classroom teacher ASAP! 

Acting Middle Leader News

With the rapidly approaching end of the school year, Report Cards are just around the corner!  

Our Semester Two Report Cards this year will be distributed in the last week of this term.  

Over the course of this semester, teachers have been gathering evidence of learning for each learning area for each of our students. This process involves gathering, analysing, and reflecting on multiple sources of evidence to make an informed judgment about what students know, understand, and can do.    

Assessment in the classroom can come in many forms. It can either be …   

• Diagnostic (assessing prior learning) - pre-tests and work samples.   
• Formative (assessing for learning) - observations, group work, individual conferencing, ongoing work samples.   
• Summative (assessing of learning) - tasks, assignments, presentations.  

In Week 9, families will receive Semester 2 Report Cards for students from Prep to Year 6. This Report Card is a culmination of your child’s academic achievement throughout the semester, as well as a snapshot of their spiritual and social development. It is just one way of communicating information about student achievement, effort, and behaviour.   

The Australian Curriculum is written in such a way that there is an ‘Achievement Standard’ for each year level for each subject area. It is this Achievement Standard that we report against. The standards are written as a statement of what a student is aiming to achieve by the end of the school year for their year level. A student receiving a ‘C’ standard indicates that they have met this standard, that is, that their work demonstrates a conceptual understanding of the concepts covered and that they can apply this knowledge and skill in familiar situations. Simply speaking, a ‘C’ standard indicates that your child can do what is expected of them for their year level.   

To move beyond a ‘C’ standard, a student must demonstrate that they are developing sophistication of conceptual understanding, with a strong application of skills, and that they are beginning to transfer their knowledge and skills to new situations (B standard). For an A standard, students must demonstrate the excellent application of skills and be readily applying the knowledge and skills to new situations.   

Similarly, a ‘D’ standard does not constitute a failure but indicates that a student is continuing to develop their understanding of the expected curriculum and may be able to demonstrate some of the elements within it, whether with support or inconsistently. A rough outline of these standards is provided below.    

Have a great week.

God bless,
Miss Kristin Byrne
(Acting Assistant Principal Religious Education)

MASS TIMES

St George-Dirranbandi Parish

Priest Administrator: Fr Anthony 0409 278 968 Email: balonneparish@bigpond.com

CLASS News

Peeking into PrepM

Students of the Week

Week 5: Frankie Luck, Eliza Hearne, Heidi Mace.
Week 6: Charlotte May, Lucy Wren.

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! Firstly, I would like to say how proud I am of the Preps for their participation in the Fete dance. Nerves were already high without having to stand and wait for the music issue to be resolved! Well done Preppies you all did an amazing job!

Swim block this week has seen many tired little people, but we are very grateful for the heated pool and Mrs Eley’s time and expertise in ensuring we could all participate.

On Thursday the Kindy children visited again to see what ‘big’ school is about. We had lots of fun sharing a story and completing activities both inside and outside. 

If you have not already done so, could you please ensure you return your child’s library books as soon as possible?  Borrowing has finished for the year and all loans need to be returned as soon as possible.  

Nichole & Courtney

Peeking into Prep & Year 1H

Students of the Week

Week 5: Duke Wuersching, Ella Summers, Sean Martin.
Week 6: Caleb Burton, Annie Stewart.

Welcome to week 6! 

First, I would like to congratulate the students on their Fete dance performance last Saturday.  Even after the technical difficulties and waiting patiently they did an amazing Job.  Also, a big thank you to Mrs Eley for teaching them the dance in Term 3 as part of PE. 

This week the students have been participating in swim block.  I have heard good reports on their behaviour and participation.  Our Swimming Carnival will be on Friday of week 8.  Please keep an eye out for more information regarding this over the next two weeks.

In previous communications I have asked for the students to bring in a shoe box to create our dioramas.  If you have any shoe boxes at home or boxes of a similar size, could you please send them to school with your child before Tuesday of next week. 

Please keep checking your emails over the next few weeks as their will be important information regarding the end of the year and information for next year.  If you are not receiving emails from school, please check your junk folders.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Fiona & Kira

Kind Regards,
Fiona & Kira

Year 1D

Students of the Week

Week 5: Hayley Southern, Bailee Hill, Rocco Casalegno.
Week 6: Charlotte Hannah, Alice Wren.

Hello Year 1 families, 

Firstly, a huge thank you to all of you for the huge part you played in the fete. It was such a great event. I was very proud of all the students and the effort they put into their dancing.

All students have done a great job this week participating in swim block. I know it is a big effort packing swimming gear every day, so I really do appreciate this.

The library has begun stock take, so please ensure that all library books are returned as soon as possible. I will be sending home Wushka login details, as it is a very long time to not have home readers.  

Kind Regards,
Miss Beth Daly

Year 2W

Students of the Week

Week 5: Brayden Ryan, Ivy Vickers, Matilda Willoughby, Hailey Easterbrook, Lincoln Alderman.
Week 6: Ruby Dalton, Denver Radford, Tillie Hyland, Danielle Fuller.

Good afternoon, Parents and Caregivers of Year 2W,

Thank you for your support during the fete weekend with ensuring students had costumes and were at the hall ready to dance. Thank you also for participating in the stalls and generally supporting the fete. It is always a great afternoon, and the children love it. As usual we had the big storm right before, however at least it wasn’t when we were in the hall, which is what has occurred in the past. Just to clarify the storm put out the sound system, so that’s why it looked messy with sound etc.

Homework can be completed now and handed in for the year when you are ready.

Library books are all back this week please.

This week we had swimming each day. Our class did not attend assembly this week as we were at swimming. ‘Students of the Week’ will be contacted but your certificates will be handed out next week. Also, next week is the final assembly for the year as the following Friday is the swimming carnival!

Kind regards
Christina Wardle

Year 3C

Students of the Week

Week 5: Noah Ballin, Indie Irwin, Kayden Passman.
Week 6: Addison Avery, Geoff Easterbrook, Hannah Nott, Alexander Sheedy.

Welcome to Term 4 Week 6. We are well and truly on the count down now.

In the next three weeks in English, we are using a focus text called “The One and Only Ivan”. It is the story of a silverback gorilla who lives in a small circus at the top of a shopping mall. The story is told from his point of view, and we are using this text to bring together many of the skills we have learned in English this year.

The students are very engaged in this unit and have been posing lots of wondering questions about gorillas. One interesting fact that we have discovered is that gorillas have a unique nose print just like we have a unique fingerprint. We are very excited to find out more about Ivan’s story and to learn more about silverback gorillas. One of the main things we are wondering is whether it is a good idea for animals to be kept in zoos and circuses and this will be the culminating piece of writing where children will express their point of view. We are also very lucky because there is a Disney movie about Ivan which we will watch as part of our whole class reward in the last week of school. 

Kind regards
Annette Colley

Year 4/5R

Students of the Week

Week 5: Alexa Farmer, Jacob Kings.
Week 6: Joe Mace, Tom Easton, Parker Gale, Rory Southern, Lauren Duffin.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to the Parish Committee, P&F, St Patrick’s Staff members, parents, family members, and community members for helping put on a spectacular Fete last weekend. From setting up the Fete, and activities, and making donations, to raising money in the mega draw and filling containers, it is all greatly appreciated. It was a huge success and all those who attended had a wonderful time. Another thanks to the parents in 4/5R for helping dress your child for their fete dance—they looked wonderful. I am so proud of the efforts of the students in 4/5R. They have practiced many times and it paid off—they did a fantastic job in performing the dance.

Years 4/5 and 5/6 will be conducting the Remembrance Day Liturgy on Monday the 13th at 8:45 am. All parents, caregivers and friends are welcome to attend. I will reach out individually to the parents whose children are reading or participating in the liturgy. I have also sent out an email seeking any medallions or photos of men or women who have served, to be able to use as props for our liturgy. If you have any of these and are willing to share them with the class for the liturgy, that would be greatly appreciated.

Upcoming Reminders:

• Remembrance Day liturgy 8:45 am (Monday 13th November)
• Year 5 leadership camp (Wednesday 15th November)
• Year 12 Liturgy at 9:00 am (Thursday 16th November)
• Voting for 2024 Captains at 11:45 am (Wednesday 22nd November)
• Swimming Carnival (Friday 24th November)

End of Term Celebrations – Week 7 Friday the 17th of November: the students will be provided with a class party as a prize for raising the most money in the colour fun run. Your child does not need to bring anything for this as the P&F is providing the food for this.

Secret Santa – The students have drawn out a person for their secret Santa this week. A note has gone home regarding this information. Gift giving and the end of year party will take place in Week 9 Monday 27th of November.

Have a wonderful weekend and the countdown to the Christmas holidays is on!!

Thank you,

Thank you,
Miss Alice Rathie

Year 5/6A

Students of the Week

Week 5: Lyndall Southern, Cruze Irwin, Peter Behrend.
Week 6: Georgie Nott, Reagan Cross, Harriet Sheedy.

Welcome to our newsletter for week 6! Only less than 3 weeks to go until Christmas Holidays! How quick has this term gone? The students in year 5/6 have been very busy over the last two weeks preparing for the fete dance and swimming block this past week.

Year 4/5 and 5/6 classes will be leading the ‘Remembrance Day’ liturgy next Monday the 13^th of November, for any parents that would like to join in.

In Design Technology, we have been exploring sustainability and designing a school vegetable garden. Students are also going to make ‘mini’ vegetable gardens in the next couple of weeks. For this activity, the students are going to research materials that they could recycle. If you have any ice cream containers, styrofoam boxes, old pots etc. keep them in case your child decides they would like to use them.

As we approach the end of the year, it is important that students are still wearing the correct uniform and hats. I have started to notice a lot of ‘caps’ being worn in the school grounds. If students could keep them in their bags and not wear them in and out that would be great. 😊

Year 6 Graduation is just around the corner, year 6 parents, if you haven’t already sent me a photo of your child in Prep, for the slideshow at graduation can you please do so?

 Enjoy your weekend!
Mrs Claire McDonnell 

Sport & Library News

Eley Elite

Week 5: Alexander Sheedy.

SPORT

Upon reading this newsletter we will be finishing our very cold, but successful swim block week.  The children all enjoyed themselves and participated well in the lesson for the week.  I will now put together the program and nominate the children based on what we have observed during the week.  Conversations will also be had with the children to confirm their nominations.  The St Pat’s Swimming Carnival will be held on Friday the 24^th of November with the IM’s being the morning of the 23^rd of November.  If you can assist on the Friday, please let me know.  Timekeepers is where I require most of the assistance. 

LIBRARY News

LIBRARY BORROWING *CLOSED

From THIS WEEK onwards, all library books are to be returned by the students in preparation for 2024.  If you have an issue with finding library books, please come and talk with Julie or me.  Thank you.

Reading is Power and Knowledge,
Binnie Eley & Julie Pike

COMMUNITY NEWS

2024 – Kindergarten Groups

Enrolments are now being taken.

Speech Pathology Paediatric Services

Call Community and Allied Health for more information: 4620 2265

SwimStart Vouchers Program Now Open!

Great news! Applications are now open for the SwimStart vouchers program for eligible parents, carers, and guardians.

We have provided you with step-by-step instructions to assist you with the application process.

Register an Individual Account:

• Confirm the child/young person is eligible
• Click ‘Register online now’- (Registering for an individual Enquire account is only required once, for example, those people that registered for an individual Enquire account for FairPlay vouchers can login using the same account).
• Complete personal details
  - If you do not have an email, you can create one using Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail.
  - When creating a password for Enquire, choose one that you can remember – passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters and include one number, one UPPERCASE letter and one lowercase letter.
• Click ‘Get Started’
• Once registered, click ‘Login’
  - You can log in straight away, but you will also receive an email to confirm your account has been registered. You don’t need to action anything in the email.
• Complete your user profile as directed, noting only sections marked with * are mandatory
• Once you have completed your details, tick the box to acknowledge you understand and agree to the T&Cs and ‘save’
• Once you have successfully submitted your registration you will receive a confirmation message at the bottom of the screen
• On the 'Select Account Type' screen, click 'Register' under Individual Account to finalise your account
• You will be directed to your home page. From the home page you can apply for a SwimStart voucher.

For more information and key dates please visit our website.

If you have any questions, please email swimstartvouchers@dtis.qld.gov.au. 

Christmas Blue Light Disco

Volunteers Needed – Blue Light Disco