24 May 2024

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello St Patrick’s families, I hope this finds you happy and well. 

Removal of Demountables – Back Oval Inaccessible from Sunday 26th May to Friday 31st May 

Next week (T2 W7), starting Monday 27^th May, we will start the removal of our demountable buildings. Hooray! This is a process that has been a long time coming and is an important step in the school achieving the next goal of its Master Plan – the removal of aged buildings in the school to plan for their replacement with new buildings. 

The removal of the building will mean the back oval space (the junior oval) will be fenced off and inaccessible for all next week, from Sunday 26^th May to Friday 31^st May. For families who would usually use this space as an entrance, you will now need to go via the front of the school for this week as there is a chance, vehicles will be coming and going, with the actual lifting of the buildings by cranes taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Exciting times! 

P&F Major Fundraiser – RFDS Dinner Friday 7^th June 

This year the St Patrick’s P&F major fundraiser is a dinner for the Royal Flying Doctor Service Rally on Friday the 7th of June. This event is quickly approaching, and the P&F need your help make this night a success. They will need help both on the night and before and after the event. If you can help with any of the following, please contact a member of the P&F exec with your details, availability and what you are able to assist with; 

Under 5’s Day 

On Thursday we hosted our annual U/5’s day. This was a great opportunity for our Preps and year 1’s to have some fun and for families in the community to come into the school and check out our early years space. The day was another big success with our students, and our guests from the NCC and the Balonne Kindy, all having a wonderful time. This day doesn’t prepare itself and I really can’t take credit for the organisation, so I would like to say a big thank you to Mrs. McCosker and Mrs. Bradfield for spearheading the day and its organisation, they did a fantastic job. I would also like to thank the School Officers who helped on the day as well as Mrs. McDonnell and the year 6’s for supporting the students while they took part in the activities. Keep an eye on Facebook for photos of the day. 

Prep 2025 Interviews 

2025 seems a long way away, but for the school we are already putting processes in place for next year’s Prep class, including identifying how many applicants we have and finalising our Prep cut off numbers. 

If you have a child you wish to enroll for next year, now is the time to ensure you have gone on to our website and done so via our electronic enrolment link. 

Although we do preference siblings when identifying Prep enrolments, their online enrolment must still be lodged! Prep students with older siblings cannot be offered a place if there is no application for them! 

The school will begin enrolments early in Term 3. We look forward to seeing our new families soon and meeting our future Preps. 

Calendar Holders – Important Term 2 Dates 

Take care,
Jim Wren
Principal

PARENT PORTAL

Download & Use the App Now!

St Patrick’s Parent Portal is now up and running for more streamlined communication with parents. The transition took place on Monday 5^th February, so if you haven’t already, make sure you follow the instructions below on how to register. If you are having issues registering, please contact the school office so we can help with the process.

Warm Regards,
Jim Wren

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.

APRE News

This week is the Church’s birthday, and we celebrate as Pentecost. When St. John Paul II was elected to the papacy in 1978 among his first words to the world, spoken during his inaugural homily, were, “Be not afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ…” As a youth, a seminarian, a young priest and bishop, the pope had experienced firsthand the intense fear that gripped his native land of Poland as the Nazis ruthlessly occupied his country during World War II.

Having lived through both the Nazi invasion of Poland and the Communist regime after the war, the pope understood that fear was a powerful weapon used by regimes to control and intimidate people. He knew also, in faith, that Jesus conquered fear and sin in the saving mystery of the cross. This was the deep Christian conviction that shaped his saintly life and his papacy.

In the Gospel of Pentecost, the disciples are in the grip of fear after Jesus’ death on the cross. They stayed behind locked doors for fear of being found by the religious authorities.  They were expecting the same fate as their lord and master.

It is at this moment of deep fear and isolation that Jesus comes to the disciples. And his first words to them are, “Peace be with you.”

Then the risen Jesus showed them the nail marks in his hands and the wounds in his side, the signs of his self-giving love revealed on the cross.

When Jesus showed his wounded hands and side, the disciples’ fear turns to hopeful rejoicing in the presence of the risen Lord.

And when Jesus breathes on them, he bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now they are empowered by the divine life flowing in them to abandon the chains of fear and become bold witnesses to faith in Jesus’ resurrection.

As St. Paul notes, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity, the love of the Father and the Son whose presence sanctifies and enlivens the church in every age.

At Pentecost, the church receives the Holy Spirit that Jesus first promised to his disciples.

Today, the same gift of the Holy Spirit is offered to every disciple of Jesus to empower all to face and overcome the fears, anxieties and worries of life. The Holy Spirit offers it to us every day.

In the power of the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened to replace fear with faith and exchange the anxieties and worries of daily life with trust in God.

On this Pentecost Sunday, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit who gives strength to leave fear behind and live in the freedom of friendship with Jesus, as we say in faith, “speak to me, Lord.”

My question for you is: What do Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you,” mean to you?

What are the fears, anxieties and worries of life that, with that peace, will empower you to face and overcome?

There is a wonderful quote of Old Testament scripture from Esther Chapter 4 that says, “you were born for a time such as this”. Bridie has actually had this on her wall since she was born.  God has a plan for our lives. There are times when God will ask us to do things that are difficult. Can God accomplish His plans without us? Yes, of course. But He asks us to participate in His plans because it strengthens our faith.

One of my favourite saints is St. Catherine of Siena. She has purportedly said, “Become who you were born to be, and you will set the world on fire.”  We have a specific purpose, and we find that purpose by drawing closer to the fire of the Holy Spirit and the flame of the Sacred Heart.

This Pentecost may our nearness to the flame of love allow us to light a fire throughout our family and community this week.

BISHOP KEN visit – Bishop Ken Howell will be visiting St Patrick’s School in Week 8. We are so excited for Bishop Ken’s visit, and we invite our whole school community to Mass on Friday 7^th June at 9.30am in the Church.  Bishop Ken will also be presiding over the Confirmation celebration on Sunday 9^th June.  Many of our students will be involved in this, and we continue to hold them, and their families in prayer.  Again, our school community is invited to be part of this special celebration at 8.30am on Sunday 9^th June.

We will be welcoming Fr Antony back at the end of May, following a month of holidays with his family in India.  Fr Antony loves sharing about his family, culture, favourite foods, and activities that he gets up to when he returns home.  It is not unusual for there to be over 1000 people attend Mass on a Sunday in his home parish! What a different experience being in Australia must be.  It is also a reminder to us of the great sacrifice and service Fr Antony provides our community – and, in doing so he is so far from his family.  We are so blessed to have Fr Antony in our community.

Learning Support

NCCD INFORMATION SHEET FOR PARENTS, CARERS AND GUARDIANS

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) On School Students with Disability

What is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data?

Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability.

Who is counted in the data collection?

To count a student in the NCCD, schools must think through some key questions:
1. Is the student getting help at school so that they can take part in education on the same basis as other students?
2. Is the help given because of a disability? The word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and it can include many students.
3. Has the school talked to you or your child about the help that they provide?
4. Has the school kept records about the help they provide, the student needs and the reasons that the student needs this help?

The school will need to keep copies of tests, student work, assessments, records of meetings, medical reports or other paperwork and information about how the student’s learning is moving along over time. Once the school decides that the student should be counted in the NCCD, they then choose a disability group and one of four levels of help that has been given to the student.

What does the word ‘disability’ mean in the NCCD?

In the NCCD the word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). There are four types of disability that the school can choose from: sensory, cognitive, social-emotional, and physical. Many students that need help at school can be counted in the NCCD. For example, students with learning problems, e.g. specific learning disability or reading difficulty (sometimes called dyslexia), health problems (e.g. epilepsy or diabetes), physical disability (e.g. cerebral palsy), vision/hearing loss and social-emotional problems (e.g. selective mutism, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety). Letters from doctors or specialists can be very helpful for schools as they plan how to support students with their learning. Schools do not need to have these letters before they can count a student in NCCD. Teachers can use all that they know about the student’s learning and the records that they have collected over time to decide if a student can be counted in the NCCD.

What sort of help does the school give students?

Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes while other students need a lot of help nearly all the time. The type of help given depends on the needs of the student. The help can include changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g. ramps or things like special desks or chairs), extra teacher help in classes, special learning programs, changes to the work they give the student or extra adult help.

How will the NCCD be different this year?

All schools have been counting students in the NCCD since 2015. The government will use the NCCD data as part of the funding to schools.

What will the school need to know about my child for the NCCD?

Schools work together with families to understand the needs of each child. It is helpful if families give their child’s teacher a copy of any letters or reports they have. The letters or reports will help the school understand the child and the help that they might need. Letters from doctors, psychologists, speech pathologists, doctor, and occupational therapists etc. can be very helpful for schools. These reports along with information that the teacher has (i.e. school-based tests, your child’s work and learning plans) helps the school to understand and meet your child’s needs.

What happens to the NCCD data? Who will have the NCCD information?

Each school principal must check the NCCD data in August of each year. The school will give the information to the Catholic Education Office. The school will work with the Catholic Education Office to make sure that the NCCD data is OK before they give the data to the government. The government will not be given the names of any students or any letters or records. Please ask your school for their privacy policy if you need to know more.

Does the school need me to agree with them about counting my child in the NCCD?

Amendments were made to the Australian Education Act 2013 and Australian Education Regulation 2013). Schools do not need you to agree to let them count a child in the NCCD. You cannot ask the school not to count your child.

Where can I find out more?

Please contact Anna Chandler or Jim Wren if you have further questions about the NCCD and/or refer to the national NCCD Portal.

Take care,
Mrs Anna Chandler
(Assistant Principal Religious Education & Learning Support)

MASS TIMES

St George-Dirranbandi Parish

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

TUCKSHOP

Please click the links below for our new and updated uniform price list and tuckshop menu. When ordering food on the Flexischools app please be mindful that the cutoff time is exactly 8:00am on Friday mornings (at 8:01am your order will not be accepted).

Regards
Sue Hopkins

MLCC News

Daily Reviews are becoming an embedded part of our Literacy Blocks at St Patrick’s. While it is important for students to practice skills daily, it is also just as important for that practice to be spaced. Spacing is the practice of delivering learning across more than one lesson. Retrieval practice is the strategy of getting children to actively recall their learning. The more often we bring information that we have previously learned to the front of our minds and work with it, the more likely it is to be retained in our long-term memory. 

Spaced retrieval then, is the practice of recalling learning at a point in time after the initial lesson. When we learn new information and practice it over a few sessions, it gets moved into long term memory. If we retrieve that information after a while and work with it again, it will become easier and easier to retain that information. 

Research has shown that: 

• Spacing learning allows students to remember more in the long term than if they learn everything at once.
• Retrieval practice is more than just rote learning; it is about accessing their learning and transferring it to new tasks.
• Deliberate spacing and retrieval boosts student learning.

              What can you do as a parent to help your child?  

• Look at their homework from the previous week and ask them to retrieve some information.
• Read with them and note words they have difficulty with. Help them with these words and read the same text a few days later.
• Ask them to retrieve what they learned at school that day.

Annette Colley 
Middle Leader/Curriculum Coordinator 

CLASS News

Health & Drama

Students of the Week

Week 5– Will McIntosh (lower) Ruby Dalton (middle) Georgie Nott (upper).

Week 6– Caleb Burton (lower) Ollie Easton (middle) Audrey Donges (upper).

Welcome to Week 6 in Health and Drama  

ZONES of Regulation 

This Semester in Health, the students across the school have been learning about the ‘Zones of Regulation’ to assist with their own emotions. The program is designed to teach the students strategies to assist them to cope with these feelings so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn.  These coping strategies are called ‘self-regulation.’ 

By understanding their emotions helps the students to talk about, think about, and regulate. The ‘Zones of Regulation’ organise our feelings, state of alertness, and energy levels in the four coloured zones- Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. 

The students have explored these zones and are working towards their coping tools to assist them to self-regulate their own emotions.

The students have 4 coloured cards in a flip book which will display how they are feeling throughout each lesson.  The students will be directed to the tools they can utilise to assist them to self-regulate back into the green zone, so they are focused and ready to learn: 

Blue Zone- 

Students in this zone would be: 

Sad, Sick, Tired, Bored, Moving slowly. 

Green Zone- 

Students in this zone would be: 

Happy, Calm, Feeling Okay, Focused, Ready to learn. 

Yellow Zone: 

Students in this zone would be: 

Frustrated, Worried, Silly/Wiggly, Excited, Loss of some control. 

Red Zone: 

Students in this zone would be: 

Mad/Angry. Terrified, Yelling/Hitting, Elated, out of control.

 Please find some of the resources we have been using. 

4 Zones explained for the students-  

Zones of Regulation 

Have a great day,  
Keep Smiling! 
Mrs Jane Webster

Peeking into PrepM

Week 5– Bridie Chandler, Samuel Brumpton, Henry Mace.
Week 6– Madeline Hearne, Beau Kingston.

Dear Parents,

What a wonderful week we have had in Prep.  

We celebrated National Simultaneous Storytime with the Librarians from the town library and then participated in activities about the book, back in our classroom. It was wonderful to see so many children participate in the event by wearing blue.

Students also had lots of fun participating in Under 5’s day. They showed wonderful manners and self-control as they engaged with all the activities set out on the day. It was a little hard to settle back into our regular classroom routine after all the fun! 

Prep students also attended their audiology assessments with Mrs Chandler and her team this week. Results from these assessments will be communicated to parents in the coming weeks.  

Wishing you a wonderful week,  

Kind regards,  
Nichole & Courtney

Year 1H

Students of the Week

Week 5– Ella Summers, Iggy Wood.
Week 6– Andrew Cross, Lucy Wren, Evy Tattam.

Welcome to week 6,

This week the students have had a busy week participating in both the National Simultaneous Story Time and Under 5’s day. 

This week in HASS, the students used Google Earth and Google Timelapse to investigate the changes in the environment around St George.  They looked at how the natural, managed, and constructed areas have changed over time. 

In Science, the students began to investigate ‘light’ in our school.  They looked at dark and light places and what causes some places to be light and others to be dark. 

In Math, the students began to look at partitioning of collections and numbers.  They used counters to look at the different ways numbers can be represented through partitioning.  This will support the students understanding of addition and subtraction when we begin learning about these areas. 

Please do not forget to continue collecting items for the insect dioramas and send them to school on Monday.  We will begin making them next week. 

Have a wonderful weekend. 
Mrs Fiona Harch

Year 1/2D

Week 5– Caleb Burton, Thomas Walker.
Week 6– Charlotte Hannah, Belle Vickers.

Dear year 1/2D Parents and Carers,  

We have had a great start to Term 2! 

Learning for this fortnight: 

Math – Whilst we continue learning about numbers each day, last fortnight we learnt about patterns in shapes and numbers. Year 2s have also been exploring halves, quarters, and eighths. Year 1s have been exploring capacity and where this measurement is used in the environment.  

English – Our sound focus for last week was silent e after c and g. Firstly after c it makes the /s/ sound as found in dance. Then when e is after g at the end of a word it says the /j/ sound as found in cringe. This week we have looked at silent e after the letter v as found in live and have. Whilst these are tricky to learn and remember, students have persevered and remembered that the letter e has many jobs. As we continue to learn new reading and writing rules, we are constantly reviewing previous sounds for this to move to student’s long-term memory.  

Important: 

• Semester 1 report cards will be released in Week 10 via Sentral.
• Homework gets sent home each Monday. Please return it to school each Thursday.
• Please return library books each Wednesday. 

Kind Regards,
Miss Beth Daly

Year 2G

Students of the Week

Week 5– Grace Jok, Jules North.
Week 6– Cooper Lambert Simpson and Mia Kennedy.

Hello, 2G parents,

Welcome to Week 6 of Term 2!

Here are some of the amazing learning we have been doing in the term:

Math: We have started being “Math Detectives” looking at a variety of number problems and have been analysing, identifying, and answering a variety of addition and subtraction facts, to 20. We have been working hard with this focus for the past weeks and the students are showing great perseverance and focus, which is encouraging to observe.

English: We have continued analysing news reports and writing our own news report to present to the class, being a real “news reporter.”  Students have now begun writing their report onto their “news report paper” following the sequence of a news report with the correct language and flow. We have been having a lot of fun with this focus for the term and being transformed into a news reporter.

HASS: We have continued looking at Technology Over Time. We have been reading and listening to stories from friends in our class that interviewed some pretty amazing people they know; it helped us gain even more knowledge about life in the past. Thank you to those families for bringing these interviews in to share with us, we really enjoyed it. We have been analysing photographs, interviews, and information, comparing objects from the past to the present, helping us gain knowledge and the benefits of technology changes. 

Science: We have continued to look at the topic of physical sciences, “Push and Pull.” Students have experimented with paint and cardboard pieces to create push and pull movements with the cardboard onto paper to create a very colourful and beautiful piece of art. We also worked together in groups to create our own car ramp, making sure we could easily push the car down the ramp, experimenting with different environments, angles, and objects to help the car move down the ramp. We have had a lot of fun!

Religion: We have been reflecting and reading stories from the New Testament about “Who is Jesus,” the qualities and actions he depicts. We have been writing, drawing, and reflecting about stories of Jesus being a healer, teacher, and friend. This has been a great focus for us this term, as we learn more about Jesus, his qualities, and actions.

Digital Technologies: We have continued exploring digital technologies by collecting, exploring, and sorting data; we have continued looking at this concept by sorting 2G class data, looking at what our interests are and categorising this into a graph.

Question to ask your child: What forces did you use to create your artwork on Monday?

Notes: Library books need to be returned on a Wednesday so that students can borrow books on Thursday.

Kind regards
Miss Merryn Gaggi

Year 3C

Students of the Week

Week 5– Sophie Luck, Tillie Hyland.

Welcome to Week 6. We are nearing the end of our unit about ‘Wandi’ as we begin to plan and create a persuasive poster. We have been learning about high modality words and how they can help to influence readers. Year 3 students are looking forward to designing their poster that will persuade the audience to help look after alpine dingoes.

This will also link into Digital Technologies as we publish our posters, looking at font types and sizes and layout of a poster.

In HASS, this week we have learned about mapping conventions, and we labelled a map of Australia with the states, territories, and capital cities. We have shaded our maps, and they look very neat. The next step in our HASS unit will be to complete a small research task about a chosen capital city.

We are working in Math to consolidate our knowledge of addition with regrouping and looking at how this looks in problem-solving situations. Our math work is also focused on ‘Chance’ and we are conducting experiments that involve rolling dice, flipping coins and spinning spinners. 

Kind regards
Mrs Annette Colley

Students of the Week

Week 5– Xander King.
Week 6– Evie Bradfield, Ruby Dalton.

Mathematics

We have been busy expanding our time telling skills and are working towards telling time to the minute. This has been a tricky concept to explore so we have been using a range of strategies to build our skills, including manipulating physical clock models, utilising interactive devices, and reading and representing times on printed templates. This has also been a great opportunity to work in our learning buddies and I have been impressed by our collaboration.

Science

The students have become quite expert at determining whether a specimen is living or non-living. We have progressed to determining whether specimens are plants or animals based on their features. This week, we became taxonomists, and learnt how to classify animals using a branching key.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts is proving to be very popular among the students and I am thoroughly enjoying seeing their creativity unfold each week. The students have tried a range of different techniques and mediums, including watercolour & pencil, oil pastels and acrylic paint. Check out some of our Pop Art inspired pieces that accompany Wandi (a text the students have read in their English studies).

Kind regards,
Mrs Angie Harrison

Year 4R

Students of the Week

Week 5– Geoff Easterbrook, Abigail Tierney, Eleanor North.
Week 6– AJ Farmer, Hunter Mellifont, Jorja Summer, Hannah Nott.

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

Over the past couple of weeks, Year 4 has engaged in several exciting events that enriched our learning experiences. 

An excursion to the library last week, Year 4 students had the delightful opportunity to visit the town library for a shared online workshop with Renee Treml, author, and illustrator. After enjoying their morning tea in the sunlight, the students moved inside the library and listened to Mrs Lindores read a story. Following this, they took part in a workshop where they learned about the author's inspiration and the techniques, she uses to draw characters with expressions and clues. 

Writing Workshop with Dave Lowe in a recent workshop, we were privileged to connect with renowned author, Dave Lowe. He shared his top five writing tips and guided students on character development. We were also treated to a reading of an unreleased book by the author himself. 

National Simultaneous Storytime, St Patrick’s School participated in the National Simultaneous Storytime on May 22nd. Years 3 through 6 were joined by Mrs Lindores from the town library as our guest reader. Students greatly enjoyed the selected book - Bower Bird Blues by Aura Parker. Back in their classroom, Year 4 students enjoyed a guided drawing session led by Aura Parker, the author and illustrator of the book. They learnt to draw a Bower Bird and practiced techniques for shading. The results were truly impressive! 

Learning in the Classroom

The following summarizes our latest focus in core coursework: 

Mathematics: Our focus was on calculating area and perimeter, and the students found the formula-driven process engaging. 

English: We furthered our understanding of persuasive writing with a focus on protecting forests. Each student developed their own persuasive paragraph, emphasizing text structure, high modality words, and emotive language. 

Religion: The class recontextualized the Parable of the Good Samaritan with modern elements. They skilfully preserved the central theme while introducing new settings, characters, and modes of transport.

HASS: We continued to explore Africa and South America—studying the distinct climates and environments within each continent. The students, paired up, were assigned unique environments for research. 

Your continued support encourages us in providing these enriching experiences, and we are grateful. 

Kind Regards,  
Miss Alice Rathie

Year 5W

Students of the Week

Week 5– Madison Emerson, Taylin Wilson.
Week 6– Emily Webster.

Welcome to Week 6, Parents and Caregivers of Year 5W,

Firstly, a belated thank you to Hannah, Karlie and Madison’s Mums and Grans for cooking damper, scones, and Anzac biscuits to share for the class. This occurred after we were discussing the food that was eaten in the olden days.  Please don’t feel that if you didn’t do this that you have missed an email, it just evolved, and we had some delicious snack attacks over a few days. Thank you.

We had a great day on Wednesday of Week 5, with a visit to the library to listen to an illustrator discuss how she illustrates books and from there we attended the Career’s Day at our own MPC hall.

All testing and assessment are completed for Semester 1 reporting and students will now begin their next units which will carry over into Term 3.

Lastly, from the end of this week (Week 6) until the end of Term 2, I am taking long service leave. The teacher relieving me will be announced by Mr Wren. I have discussed this with my class, and they were concerned that I was not coming back. But I assured them that I will be coming back in Term 3, ready and rejuvenated for the rest of the year.

Thank you for your support throughout the semester and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 3.

Kind regards
Mrs Christina Wardle 

Year 6M

Students of the Week

Week 5– Joe Mace, Blake Brunner.

Week 6– Tom Easton, Charlotte Williams-Summers.

Welcome to Term 2, week 6 newsletter! This term is starting to go by very quickly.   

Maths  

In Maths, students have been completing a statistical investigation where they are posing a question, gathering, and interpreting this data to find the mode, range and shape and then presenting it in a graph digitally and on paper. They are comparing data sets and looking at data in the media.  

English  

In English, students have been exploring Historical recounts. They have been looking at the language features and text structure of a recount and starting to write their own about the 1697 Referendum. Students have been creating complex sentences and working hard to identify the dependent and independent clauses and the subordinating conjunction.  

Science  

In Science, students have explored a range of reversible and irreversible changes to materials. They have recently looked at chemical reactions and how this changes materials.  

HASS  

In HASS, students have been exploring the purpose of businesses. Creating their own shopping centres to identify good and services. They have been looking at trade-offs and opportunity costs and the different ways people can provide goods and services to their community.    

Religion  

In Religion, students have started analysing key messages from some Old Testament prophets. We have been looking at acts of faith in these readings.   

Other happenings:  

Last week, the year 5/6 students were lucky enough to attend the CUC careers expo held in our MPC. They students thoroughly loved this experience and looking around the stalls. Gus McCosker won a set of wireless earphones in the lucky door prize out of everyone who had attended that day.

We also visited the library for our authors visit, where the students go to learn about how a book is created, edited, and then produced. We also enjoyed simultaneous story time on Wednesday and got our artistic flare on and tried to recreate the Bowerbird in the story. 

Have a good weekend!  
Mrs Claire McDonnell 

Sport & Library News

Eley Elite

Week 5– Taylin Wilson.
Week 6– Cooper Passman.

SPORT

Most of the Balonne district trials have come to an end with only a couple more in term 3.  We are busy getting ready for our Athletics Carnival which will be held in week 9 on the 14^thJune.  Ballgames and the 800m will be on Thursday 13^th June.  There will be a call out for help on the day closer to the time.

LIBRARY 

National Simultaneous Storytime

We celebrated this day on Wednesday with a lot of blue around!  Children and staff were dressed in any shade of blue with some staff wearing feathered head bands!  Photos from the day were shared on Face book however attached are a few from the day.

Thank you to Shelly Lindores and Melanie Mills from the Hub who kindly donated their time to come to the school to share the story with us.  At the completion of the story each class participated in activities relating to the story ‘Bowerbird Blues’.  Some classes did charcoal sketching, others went on a treasure hunt, and there seemed to be some bird kites flying around on the front lawn at some stage.  Overall, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Borrowing

All classes will be borrowing on Thursdays.  Please ensure you child has a library bag for borrowing.  Book return day is Wednesday so the books can be processed before borrowing again on Thursday. 

Reading is Power and Knowledge.

Happy borrowing and reading,
Binnie Eley & Julie Pike
(St Patrick’s Library Staff)