St Patrick's Primary School Stratford eNewsletter

Dear Parent, Guardians and Carers,

This week at St Patrick’s we have recognised the ‘Bullying No Way – National Week of Action’. The theme for 2024 is ‘Everyone Belongs’. Bullying No Way Week is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative and connects schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying. Purple is the new hero colour representing Bullying No Way and all the students were invited to wear purple to school today.

Bullying is a term that is often used by parents to describe a student’s behaviour towards their child. St Patrick’s takes bullying very seriously and seeks to support all students that feel like they don’t belong. Bullying is when people (students) repeatedly and intentionally use words or actions against someone or a group of people to cause distress and risk to their wellbeing. The key words in this definition are ‘repeatedly’ and ‘intentionally’ and therefore bullying does not relate to isolated incidents. At times, some students may do or say unkind things to another student, which unfortunately is a part of children growing up. This, however, is not bullying. At St Patrick’s we help our students to understand what bullying is as opposed to someone just not being nice and provide them with strategies to support them in managing these situations. The safety and wellbeing of all our students is a key priority and one that we will continue to have a strong focus on in the future.

Mary MacKillop Awards

On the 8^th of August we celebrated the Feast of Saint Mary MacKillop. Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first and only saint. At the age of 24 she dedicated her life to God and took on the name “Mary of the Cross”. She founded Australia’s first religious order: the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary opened a school in a disused stable and her vision was to provide an education for underprivileged children. Mary was committed to serving the poor and supporting the needy, which took her to rural areas, all over Australia.

One quote that Mary MacKillop is recognised for is “Never see a need without doing something about it.” Our Principal Awards this week recognise students that, like Mary MacKillop, always do things to help others. Our Mary MacKillop Award winners for 2024 are:

Foundation – Revie Shingles

Year 1 – Luisa Jackson

Year 2 – Max Martin

Year 3/4A – Clare Boyd

Year 3/4B – Elise Rowley

Year 5 – Riley Bartlett

Year 6 – Paygen Bates

Specialist Classes – Adele Scicluna

2025 Attendance – Students not returning

Preparations are well under way for 2025 and our student numbers will increase again. We have a number of children currently on the waiting list and seeking a position at St Patrick’s. If your child is not returning to St Patrick’s in 2025 for any reason, can you please contact the office on 51 456463 or via email to principal@stpstratford.catholic.edu.au as soon as possible.

Staff News

Alyce Tait, our Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) and Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support (WSAPBS) Leader is expecting her third child in September. She celebrated her last day at St Patrick’s yesterday and will be on maternity leave until she is ready to return to St Patrick’s. We wish Alyce, Reggie, Oscar and Murphy all the best with the new addition to their family.

Kind regards,

Joel

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KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING AT

ST PATRICK'S BY CHECKING OUR CALENDAR ON OUR WEBSITE.

Go to: www.stpstratford.catholic.edu.au

Friday 16th August	HDSSA Athletics National Day Against Bullying and Violence
Saturday 17th August	Youth Mass - St Mary's Cathedral Sale - 5.30pm
Monday 19th August	Bookweek Begins Stratford Library Visit Foundation - Year 2: 10.45am-11.45am Stratford Library Visit Year 3 - 6 : 11.30am - 12.30pm
Tuesday 20th August	Bookweek - School Library open from 8.30am - 9.00am and 3.30pm - 4.00pm Gospel - 1.30pm in the Church
Wednesday 21st August	Bookweek - School Library open from 8.30am - 9.00am and 3.30pm - 4.00pm Class Mass - Year 2 - 9.15am Cricket Victoria - Melbourne Stars Roadshow Visit: Year 3 - 6
Thursday 22nd August	Bookweek - School Library open from 8.30am - 9.00am and 3.30pm - 4.00pm
Friday 23rd August	Bookweek Dress-up Parade 9.00am - Basketball Court
Tuesday 27th August	Gospel - 1.30pm
Wednesday 28th August	Class Mass - Year 6 & Year 3/4B
Thursday 29th August	Wellington Division - Hooptime - Juniors
Friday 30th August	Father's Day Afternoon - 2.30pm
Tuesday 3rd September	Gospel - 1.30pm
Thursday 5th September	Wellington Division - Hooptime - Seniors
Monday 9th September	Pupil Free Day - No school for students
Tuesday 10th September	Gospel - 1.30pm
Friday 13th September	HDSSA Cricket Blast - Year 3/4 Wellington Division Athletics
Friday 20th September	Last day of Term 3 Finish at 2.30pm
Saturday 21st September	Youth Mass St Mary's Cathedral 5.30pm
Monday 7th October	Term 4 Commences
Thursday 10th October	HDSSA Cricket Blast - Year 5/6
Tuesday 15th October	Region Athletics - Newborough
Saturday 19th October	Youth Mass St Mary's Cathderal Sale 5.30pm
Friday 25th October	Year 3 & 4 Activity Day - Coonawarra Farm Resort Final Instalment of School Fee Due
Wednesday 30th October	Year 6 Camp
Thursday 31st October	Year 6 Camp
Friday 1st November	Year 6 Camp
Monday 4th November	School Closure Day - No School for students
Tuesday 5th November	Melbourne Cup - Public Holiday
Wednesday 6th November	Year 5 Camp State Athletics Championships
Thursday 7th November	Year 5 Camp
Friday 8th November	Year 5 Camp
Wednesday 13th November	Foundation Orientation Morning 9.00am - 11.00am First Reconciliation Final Workshop 6.00pm - St Mary's Cathedral
Wednesday 20th November	Foundation Orientation Morning 9.00am - 11.00am First Reconciliation St Mary's Cathedral Sale 6.00pm
Saturday 23rd November	Youth Mass St Mary's Cathedral Sale 5.30pm
Wednesday 27th November	Foundation Orientation Morning 9.00am - 11.00am
Wednesday 18th December	Last day for Students
Friday 20th December	Last day for Staff

Families on direct debit may need an adjustment to their payment. Please check your school fee statement for your current balance.

Please email admin@stpstratford.catholic.edu.au if you need to make an adjustment to your direct debit payment.

If paying by instalment, please see dates listed below:

2nd Instalment due: Friday 26th July 2024

3rd Instalment due: Friday 25th October 2024

Thank-you to families who have been prompt with their payments.

The key thing to remember when it comes to meeting payment commitments is to keep the school informed if anything changes. If at any time you have a concern about school fees and levies, please contact the school office to discuss the issue.

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To minimise interruption to learning time, we would appreciate if appointments for children be kept to a minimum during school time. If your child has an appointment during school times, as a courtesy, please dojo your child's teacher after you have submitted the appointment via PAM.

We appreicate plans can change throughout the day, to avoid stress and confusion at the end of the day, it is helpful to give your child/ren clear instructions in relation to pick up at the end of the day.

Thank-you for your co-operation.

At St Patrick’s we have a standard of uniform of which the members of our school community can be justifiably proud. It is an expectation of parents and students that the correct uniform is worn.

Jewellery is not permitted except for small sleepers and studs. Extreme hair styles and hair colouring is not permitted. Long hair must be tied back off the face in school band colours.

Sport Uniform to be worn on PE/sport days only: Monday and Wednesday

If your child is out of uniform without a note from parents, a uniform warning note will go home with your child.

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BOOKWEEK NEWS

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ART NEWS

Year 3/4 artists in action creating images of the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony.

PLAYGROUND FUN

STEM NEWS

In STEM Students have enjoyed watching the olympics.

In the Junior classes, students have been talking about working together and communicating during activities. They used hoops and balls and worked together to move the items to the finish line. The importance of these activities is to discuss some frustration that come with team work and how we can let frustration come and pass by by keep trying, encouraging others and staying positive. Students did a fantastic job!

The senior students have been very busy making circuits and making their own controller with a very fabulous resource called Makey Makey. This resource is a circuit board that helps students make a controller using conductive items.

STEM AT HOME

The way that STEM subjects are taught may have changed over the years, but families are still able to support children of all ages engage in STEM related experiences.