20 March 2025

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello St Patrick’s families, I hope you are all well! 

Working in Partnership with the School – Parent Engagement Information Evening Tuesday 1^st April 

At our recent P&F Annual General Meeting, the school was unable to elect a new executive to lead the P&F in 2025. However, the meeting sparked valuable discussions that highlighted the many terrific families who contribute to our school and wish to continue doing so. These conversations made it clear that the time is right to review what genuine parent engagement looks like and how the school and parents can work together to better support our students and St Patrick's.

To explore this further, representatives from the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and Catholic School's Parents Queensland (the overarching body for all Catholic P&Fs in Queensland) will be visiting the school. They will discuss the potential of a new parent engagement model that would combine our existing P&F and School Advisory Committee. This meeting, originally scheduled for March 11th, was postponed due to the effects of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

I strongly encourage all families to attend this rescheduled meeting and be part of the discernment process for parent engagement at our school. Details were provided in a letter sent earlier this week via the Parent Portal, including a link for families to indicate their attendance.

Throughout this process, I want to stress the vital role the parent body plays at St Patrick's. Our current and past P&F and SAC members have achieved so much for our school, and I am committed to ensuring this continues. Regardless of whether we move to a new Parent Engagement Network or maintain the existing P&F/SAC model, I look forward to the ongoing contribution of our parent community in 2025 and beyond.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact me via email or through the school office.

Prep 2026 Interviews 

Although 2026 may seem far away, the school is already putting processes in place for next year's prep class. This includes identifying the number of applicants and finalizing the prep cut-off numbers.

This year, the school will conduct all sibling prep enrolment interviews at the start of Term 2, before moving on to new family prep enrolment interviews at the end of Term 2.

It's important to note that while siblings are given preference for prep enrolments, their online enrolment must still be submitted. Prep students with older siblings at St Patrick's cannot be offered a place without an online application.

The school understands the online enrolment process can be lengthy, but cannot proceed with an enrolment until the family has completed the online process. If you need support with the enrolment process, please contact the school and we'll be happy to assist.

If you have a child you wish to enroll for next year, now is the time to visit our website and complete the electronic enrolment:

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Last week, families received a notice via the Sentral Parent Portal, inviting you to schedule a Parent/Teacher interview (PTI) with your child's teacher.

PTIs are an essential part of the school's partnership with families in supporting your child's education. During the interview, the teacher will discuss your child's academic progress in key areas like reading and numeracy, their social development with peers and staff, and any additional supports they are receiving. This information is crucial for helping you understand and support your child's learning.

Furthermore, PTIs allow you to deepen your partnership with the teacher, so you can better support your child's classroom experience.

If you haven't already, please check your Sentral Parent Portal app for the interview invitation. We strongly encourage all families to participate in this valuable opportunity.

Looking Ahead 

That’s all from me for now. Have a great weekend, 
Jim Wren
Principal

NEWS FLASH!

Click on the link provided https://www.stgeorge.catholic.edu.au/

PARENT PORTAL

Download & Use the App Now!

The St. Patrick's Parent Portal is now active, providing more streamlined communication with parents. If you haven't already, please follow the instructions below to register. If you encounter any issues with the registration process, contact the school office, and we'll be happy to assist you.

Warm Regards,
Jim Wren

TUCKSHOP

Please click the links below for our 2025 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 Monday mornings (at 8:01am your order will not be accepted).

Regards
Hannah Gunn
(Tuckshop Convenor)

APMI & Learning Support News

Dear Families,

As we end Week 8 of the term, we continue to reflect on the values that make our school a faith-filled and nurturing community. Lent is a special time for us to celebrate our shared beliefs, deepen our understanding of God's love, and live out our faith through kindness and service. Smack bang in the middle of our school's Lenten observance is St. Patrick's Day, of course!

This week, we joyfully celebrated St. Patrick's Feast Day on Monday March 17, honouring the patron saint of Ireland and a great missionary of the Catholic faith. St. Patrick's life teaches us the power of faith, perseverance, and spreading God's love to others.

Our students took part in activities to learn more about St. Patrick's life and mission, as well as creative projects and a special St. Patrick's Day Liturgy beautifully led by Year 5. Coming together to give thanks and pray for our community is always a highlight of school life, and sharing this with parents and families adds to the sacredness of the gathering.

We continue to encourage students to follow St. Patrick's example by showing kindness and generosity to those in need.

Learning Support

Audiology testing took place this week for our Prep students and students new to our community. We are grateful for this opportunity and thank the Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office and Audiologist Dendra Cole for facilitating it.

Wishing you all a blessed St. Patrick's Week!

Mrs Anna Chandler
(Assistant Principal Mission Identity & Learning Support)

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.

MASS TIMES

St George-Dirranbandi Parish

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

ML Curriculum News

Students learn best when they feel safe and included in a learning-focused environment that is responsive to their needs. Teachers set students up for success by carefully considering the cultural, social, emotional, behavioural, and physical aspects of learning, along with their deep knowledge of the curriculum, to plan effective learning experiences for all students.

At the start of each year, teachers engage in transition meetings to share information about students from the previous year. They use this knowledge to build strong foundations for student learning, which continues to grow as they form positive relationships with their students. While the specific content may be forgotten, students vividly remember teachers who cared about them.

Teachers also develop and maintain high expectations for students, setting realistic and attainable goals with appropriate scaffolding and support. Research shows that students who experience high expectations achieve greater academic success. This doesn't mean straight A's for all but rather supporting each student's individual growth and progress.

At St. Patrick's, learner qualities like persistence, innovation, wonder, collaboration, and ownership are embedded into everyday experiences. All this foundational work happens before any actual teaching, and it continues throughout the learning process. When teachers establish a learning environment for success, students generally respond positively.

Annette Colley 
(Middle Leader Curriculum)

Guidance Counsellor News

Understanding and managing emotions: why it’s important!

Understanding and managing emotions is important for development and wellbeing during childhood and adolescence.

Children and teenagers who can understand and manage their emotions are more likely to:

• express emotions by speaking calmly or in other appropriate ways.
• bounce back after feeling strong emotions like disappointment, frustration or excitement
• control impulses.
• behave positively in ways that help with getting along with others, staying safe and developing appropriately.

Your child’s ability to understand and manage emotions develops over time. When your child is young, they’ll need help with understanding emotions. This involves recognising and naming emotions, which lays the groundwork for managing emotions as your child gets older.

As your child grows, they’ll learn more strategies to manage their emotions without your help. Understanding and managing emotions is also called emotional regulation. It is an important part of your child’s ability to self-regulate.

Understanding and managing emotions is good for children because it helps them learn, make friends, develop independence.

Eleanor Blanch
(School Guidance Counsellor)

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Students of the Week 

Health & Music

Welcome to Health and Music

This report provides an overview of the health and music curriculum across the middle, upper, and lower school grades.

In the middle and upper school, students have continued exploring ways to build, maintain, and strengthen their relationships with family, friends, and acquaintances. They are practicing important personal and social skills such as patience, active listening, using kind words and manners, conflict resolution, showing respect and empathy when communicating.

In the lower school, the focus has been on the concepts of "sharing is caring" and understanding winning versus losing. Students have explored these themes through a reading of the story "Rainbow Fish," which highlighted the importance of remaining friends even when the outcome of an activity is not a win for everyone.

In the music curriculum, students across all grades have been learning new songs and practicing with both untuned and tuned percussion instruments. The composing and music appreciation components have involved learning about musical elements, different composers, and listening to a variety of orchestral works. Younger students in Years 1-2 have been particularly engaged in watching and identifying the instruments that represent the characters in the piece "Peter and the Wolf."

The report then goes on to provide more detailed outlines of the specific music activities and lessons being covered in each grade level, Prep through Year 6.

Prep

Aural Training -Listening and Echo Rhythm 11
Frere Jacques- Song
Untuned percussion instruments- Tambourines, Triangles/Bells
The Entertainer – Listening to the Orchestra perform this piece of music.

Year 1/2

Aural Training - Echo Rhythm- Compound time
Apples and Bananas- Song
Untuned percussion instruments – Maracas7, Drums
Peter and the Wolf – identifying the instruments that represent the characters.

Year 2

Aural Training - Echo Rhythm- Compound time
Charlie over the Ocean – Song
Untuned percussion instruments- Drums, Wood blocks
Swan Lake- listening to the Orchestra playing
Peter and the Wolf – identifying the instruments that represent the characters.

Year 3

Aural Training -Echo Singing- Pitch direction
Robot Bop – Song-
Actions- small groups to make up actions for the song.
Pitch Story

Year 4

Aural Training - Echo Rhythm 1
Goose with an attitude -song
Elements of music- Rhythm

Year 5

Aural Training – Listening skills
Marimba Band- Calypso Dreaming – Keyboard Xylophone
Composing

Year 6

Aural Training – Echo Rhythm
Marimba Bank – Juggling – Learning the Harmony sections while continuing to practice the bass- Keyboard Xylophone
Composing a Melodic Fragment.

Enjoy your day! Keep Smiling! 
Mrs Jane Webster

Library & Sports

SPORT NEWS

The Balonne District trials have been relatively quiet over the past couple of weeks. However, there was some notable action:

Yesterday afternoon, the boy’s rugby league trials were held, and 4 of our students - Alistair North, Geoffrey Easterbrook, Max Luck, and Kayden Passman - were selected for the Balonne Team. These boys will now travel to Roma on April 23rd to compete in the Southwest trials. Good luck to them!

Additionally, on Friday, March 7th, the South West 10-11and 10-12-years Netball trials were hosted here in St George. The girls had an enjoyable and competitive day, playing four games. Congratulations to Brooke Hams on her selection for the South West 10-12 years team, and to Hannah Acton and Abigail Tierney on being named as shadows.

As for trial form procedures:

• Balonne district trial forms are to be returned to the front office, and the school will then organise the nomination and distribution of the forms to the trial convener.
• South West trial forms need to be sighted and signed by the school, then returned to the student to take to the manager of the team they've been selected for.

LIBRARY NEWS 

BOOK FAIR

Next week we are hosting a Book Fair in the Library.  Opening times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8.00 -8.30am and 3.15-4pm 

Please come along and support the Book Fair as the school receives a commission which goes towards purchasing more books for the library.

Like last year, books need to be returned on Wednesday for processing and then the children borrow on Thursday.

“Reading is Power and Knowledge”

Happy borrowing and reading,
St Patrick’s Library Staff

Community News

Barefoot Bowls

St George Netball Assoc.

Welcome to the 2025 Netball season. Our junior registrations are now open - please follow the link below to register:

The registration fee for the 2025 season is $160 per player. Fairplay Vouchers are accepted, and we also offer payment plans. All registrations must be paid through Netball Connect - cash payments will not be accepted.

To arrange a payment plan, please contact our registrar, Lisa Southern, by email, phone (0427 346 542), or text. Emails can be sent to our club address: stgeorgenetball@gmail.com

We also ask any volunteer umpires or coaches to register via Netball Connect at no cost.

We strongly encourage all players to register online before the Grading Day on Saturday, March 22, 2025.

If you need assistance with the registration process, please reach out to us at stgeorgenetball@gmail.com

St George Junior Netball Grading Day
22 March 2025

Parents needing help with online registration need to arrive 30 minutes prior to the allocated grading time to receive assistance from a committee member.  This will ensure minimal delays for our grading day.

NetSetGo come and try - 9am
C2 (7-8yrs) 9am
C1 (9-12yrs) 10.30am
B Grade (13-16yrs) 12pm

Bring sunscreen, water bottle and appropriate footwear.

Players must be registered prior to participating.  Register here:

Limited canteen and sausage sizzle available.

If your child is unable to attend the grading day, please contact the club to notify of absence.

St Ursula’s College

Ursie Girl for a Day

Tuesday 1 April 2025

CARWASH