21 July 2023

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello St Patrick’s families,

I hope you’re all well and have settled into the new term.

St Patrick’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan – Thank you for your Input!

After much consultation, I am proud to announce the St Patrick’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan has been completed. Following the whole school review in 2021, and the subsequent document released from that (School Renewal & Improvement Process Report or SRIP), this strategic plan has been created as an overarching document to guide the strategic improvement of our school over the four-year period leading up to 2026.

This strategic plan is the result of a considered and broad-ranging process, with the deliberate involvement of all stakeholders in our community. Families, students, staff, and the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office have all taken part and shared their voices to help create a plan that will drive us forward over three years and help bring our values and our vision of a community of lifelong learners, to life.

This plan is based upon the four areas that drive our vision:

• Engaged Students & Personalised Learning – Learning programs and opportunities that challenge all students to pursue their gifts and affirm their sense of belonging and importance.
• Being Distinctively Catholic – Within a strong culture of contemporary Catholic beliefs, values and practices, students construct and shape a personal identity that is open to faith.
• Using Resources Wisely – School-wide sustainability, striving for excellence, equity and attention to performance are the reference points against which progress is measured.
• Meaningful Relationships & Partnerships – Inclusive, differentiated practices built in partnership with students, families, and the wider community, ensure all members of our community feel welcome, respected and catered for.

Throughout each of these key areas, the plan is underpinned by the TCS pillars of ‘every child encountering the face of Jesus’ and the provision of ‘an expert teacher in every classroom’. Progress against each strategic area will be reviewed frequently using community feedback, data collections and student voice and progress will be reported annually to the community through the school board, the annual report and other communications. This plan builds on the success of the past while embracing the challenges of the future. On behalf of our community, I commend the St Patrick’s Primary School 2022-2025 Strategic Plan to you.

Catholic Education Week 2023 ‘Communities of Faith, Hope and Love’.

Catholic Education Week will be held next week, from 23^rd to the 29^th of July, providing an opportunity for all Catholic education communities around Queensland to celebrate and promote the distinctive mission of Catholic schooling. The theme of Catholic Education Week in 2023 is Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. This theme provides schools with an easily adaptable theme, clearly linked to their Catholic ethos. For external audiences the theme underpins the values-based education associated with Catholic schools and within school communities it serves to differentiate learning in the Catholic context. During Catholic Education Week 2023, Catholic education communities across Queensland are invited to celebrate and share how they represent Communities of Faith, Hope and Love. For further information visit the Catholic Education Week website

Welcome to Retirement Miss Tracey!

After speaking with me regarding this last term, I can officially pass on the news that Tracey Bella has announced her intention to retire at the end of 2023. Tracey has been a much-loved member of our community since 2003 but has made the decision to take a step back from work so she can spend more time with loved ones in the future. After 20 years of holding the phones and being the smiling face of St Pat’s, I have it on good authority that she is already making plans for putting her feet up, spending time with her family and dancing up a storm at next year's Big Red Bash! Miss. Tracey really has given so much of herself to this role over the past 20 years and on behalf of everyone I want to thank her for her commitment to our community. Moving forward, her position will be advertised later in the year, with the intention of finding a replacement to transition into the role in late Term 4 for a 2024 start. Thank you, Miss. Tracey, for your wonderful contribution to our school and good luck on this exciting new adventure. We’ll miss you!

School Uniform Expectations – Term 3

Last term I sent a message out to all families to highlight our school uniform policy expectations and clear up some areas of uncertainty that have been raised about our school expectations around uniform. The school uniform policy is a document created with the support of the school board and school community and expresses the standards we have for the presentation of our students. This standard is in place to ensure we have consistency across the school and that our students are presented in a way that proudly represents our St Patrick’s, and our history, in the community. The uniform policy can be found on our website.

From Term 3 on, consequences will apply for students who continue to not comply with the uniform policy. This may include the loss of privileges such as playtime or other extra-curricular activities. This of course can be easily avoided by ensuring your child attends school in the correct uniform each day.

I’m asking for your help in maintaining an expectation that helps make our school great. If your child complains about the uniform, feel free to use me, Mr. Wren, as the bad guy and say he’s the one enforcing the rules. Please do not allow your children to dictate what they wear as part of the school uniform. I am also very aware that the management of uniform costs can, at times, be difficult for families. With that in mind, there are avenues the school can provide to support you in this. If you are experiencing any genuine difficulty with sourcing the correct uniform requirements, please contact the school and arrange a time to meet with me to discuss possible support options. We are here to help. Thank you for your understanding and continued support of this school policy.

TCSO Shaping the Future Survey

Every two years Toowoomba Catholic Schools ask staff, parents, and students in our schools to share their views; to 'check in' on how each school within our community is bringing to life our purpose: to enable full and flourishing lives. We do this by asking each of you to complete a perception survey. The Shaping our future - Toowoomba Catholic Schools perception survey was sent out to all families yesterday (Monday 17th July), so please check your email to see if it has come through.

We encourage all our parents to share their views in the ‘Shaping our Future - Perception Survey’. This survey is being completed by parents, staff, and students from our school (year 5 & 6) and the other 30 schools that make up the Toowoomba Catholic Schools' community. This 15-minute survey closes on Sunday, 6 August 2023. Please check your email for a link to the survey. Otherwise, feel free to use the link below. Families only need to complete this survey once.

If you cannot find the email, or want more information about this, please feel free to contact me, the principal, on james.wren@twb.catholic.edu.au.

School Calendar Dates – Term 3, 2023

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

Jim Wren

SKOOLBAG APP

Dear Parents/Carers

Our school uses the Skoolbag app for iPhone and Android, to help us communicate more effectively with our Parent community. We are asking parents to search for and install the Skoolbag app.

Once you have installed the Skoolbag 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 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.

MASS TIMES

St George-Dirranbandi Parish

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

Sacrament of Reconciliation

We are now taking names for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  This program will commence at the beginning of term 3.  Eligible children need to be 8 years of age (or older) and be in their third year at school.  Children need to complete this Sacrament prior to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation and Communion (2024).   

Enquires and enrolment forms please contact Belinda Eley - belinda.eley@twb.catholic.edu.au. or Majella Morris -majella.morris@twb.catholic.edu.au .  The Parent information session will be on Wednesday 12^th July (Term 3 week 1) at 8.00am and again at 3.15pm in the St Patrick’s School Library.

Thank you,
Belinda & Majella

CLASS News

Peeking into PrepM

Students of the Week

Week 1: Mark Cross, Andrew Cross.
Week 2: Marcus Laxamana, Heidi Mace.

What an exciting week for our Prep students as Monday was 100 days at school for these amazing little people. We had lots of fun celebrating! 

Literacy - this week we will start to look at visualising as a comprehension strategy. As readers, we form images/pictures in our minds of what we are reading. This is an important comprehension strategy to ensure understanding occurs as we read. We will continue to work on our knowledge of letter names and sounds and apply them in various ways.
Numeracy – this week we will continue to focus on counting forwards and backwards to 20, identifying numerals and counting on from any given number. We will continue to learn about positional language using the story ‘Rosie’s Walk’ and integrate it with digital technologies by coding ‘mice’ to move around a grid.  
Science – this term in science we are looking at what things are made from and the properties of these materials. We will also apply our knowledge of these materials to determine what items in our world would be made from these materials and why a boat might not be made from paper! 
Library – just a reminder to return library books on Monday ready for borrowing on Tuesday morning. 

Please ensure you have checked the dates on the school calendar as we have a few pupil-free days coming up this term.  

Wishing you a wonderful week! 
Nichole & Courtney

Peeking into Prep & Year 1H

Students of the Week

Week 1: Iggy Wood.
Week 2: Hallie Cross, Dustin Keeping.

Welcome to Term three week two, the students have had a wonderful start to the term and have been settled and ready to learn.   

On Monday we celebrated 100 Days of School.  During the middle session we completed several activities around the number 100 to give them some understanding of the number.  We created a crown, a crazy 100 monster and an activity which required the students to colour 100 shapes and then count the shapes, to work out how many we had of each.  This helped the students build their knowledge of partitioning which we will be moving onto in our next math cycle. 

In English, we are continuing to learn how to write sentences. We have been discussing what makes a good sentence and have been looking at examples of good and not so good sentences. When looking at the not so good sentences we have been identifying what they need to become a good sentence. For example, they may not make sense, need a capital at the beginning or a full stop at the end. 

In Math, we have been finalising our learning around duration and completed several different experiments to determine how many times we can write our name or throw and catch a ball in 1 minute. We have also been continuing to discuss the number before and after a given number. 

Please do not forget that Next Wednesday is a Pupil Free Day and there will be no school on this day, as the teachers are travelling to Roma to participate in Professional Development. 

Kind Regards,
Fiona & Kira

Year 1D

Students of the Week

Week 1: Charlotte Hannah, Barkley Hardie.
Week 2: Cooper Passman, Jules North.

Hello, Year 1 families,  

We are off to a great start to Term 3 in Year 1.  

As some of you would be aware, this term we are exploring our local community and all the great things St George has to offer. This coming Tuesday we will be heading off on our excursion to the Information Centre. Students are very excited about this and I’m sure it will be a great day.  

In Math, we are learning about duration and beginning addition. 

In Science, we have begun our unit on changing landscapes, this includes exploring the seasons, the clouds, and the change in the moon.

A reminder that next Wednesday is a pupil free day.  

Please reach out if you have any questions. 

Kind Regards,
Miss Beth Daly

Year 2W

Students of the Week

Week 1: Roly Mace, Denver Radford, Tori Lamb.
Week 2: Riley Bradley, Tillie Hyland, Danni Fuller.

Welcome back Parents and Caregivers of Year 2W,

Number Facts Update

Currently, students are delving into their number facts and making sure that firstly they know the answer but also equally important that they know and understand the strategy to use.

For example, when we add 0, the answer stays the same, or when we count on 1,2,3 we grab the biggest number and count on. An example of these would be 5 + 0 = 5, 7 + 1 = 8, 8 + 2 = 10, 7 + 3 = 10

Likewise, while we have learnt the doubles, can the students apply their near doubles with that strategy? For example, if 4 + 4 = 8 then 4 + 5 = 9

What about using 10 to find an answer to + 9? For example, if 6 + 10 = 16 then 6 + 9 = 15

Then we discuss that every fact has a turnaround so if 3 + 4 = 7 then 4 + 3 = 7. Also, we link this to their partner fact. So, if 3 + 4 = 7 and 4 + 3 = 7 then 7 – 3 = 4 and 7 – 4 = 3 

From here we move to greater numbers for example if we know that 3 + 4 = 7 then 30 + 40 = 70 etc.

Later in the term we will introduce multiplication and we start with X2. The teaching methodology is groups of 2, so 2 x 3 is 2 groups with 3 in each group, so 2 groups of 3.

It is an exciting time for students in their mathematical learning. You will have noticed these number facts in their homework this week.

Also, you will have noticed the change with writing sentences this week in homework. I am looking forward to reading these.

Any issues, please do not hesitate to make contact.

Kind regards
Christina Wardle

Year 3C

Students of the Week

Week 1: Cohen Curtis, Geoff Easterbrook, Alexander Sheedy.
Week 2: AJ Farmer, Hunter Wilson, Hannah Nott.

Welcome to Term 3. I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of the Farmer family for the support shown to raise money for the Perthes Foundation. The Sausage Sizzle and Cupcake Day were a great success. 

In Math, this term, we are beginning to learn our multiplication facts. We will explore strategies in class that can be used to help us as well as lots of games, songs, and interactive activities. The aim is for children to eventually recall these facts quickly and accurately. We are also learning about patterns involving addition and subtraction by checking whether the pattern is increasing or decreasing, how much by and whether the pattern continues. From this, we can identify the rule being used to form the pattern.

Later this term, the focus will change to investigating angles and the introduction of fractions. We are working more on our laptops this term so please check in with your child to make sure their headphones are still working. 

It is important as the weather is warming up again now to make sure children bring their water bottle to school so that it can be stored in the classroom and used regularly throughout the day without causing too much interruption.

Please also ensure that children bring a piece of crunchy fruit or vegetables for ‘snack attack’ even on Fridays when they may have Tuckshop. This short break is a good time to refuel our brains so that we are ready to learn again. 

Kind regards
Annette Colley

Year 4/5

Students of the Week

Week 1: Karlie Alderman, Levi McCulloch.
Week 2: Rory Southern, Charlotte Williams.

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

Welcome to Term 3! 

We have started investigating our new concepts for the term. 

Throughout English this term we have been looking at Fantasy texts, the students have identified fantasy features, explored characterisation, and used noun groups or adverb groups in our descriptions. We will continue our learning on descriptive writing for settings and events.

The students have explored Democracy in HASS and in science we have investigated light. The students have learnt that light is a type of energy, light can be artificial or natural and finally, that light travels in straight lines.

The students have also been reviewing guided reading rotations and learning how to complete their new independent activities. These include typing club, pobble 365 (online writing tool), editing cards, once upon a picture (a picture with comprehension questions). 

4/5 have also been learning new spelling routines and activities. These include explicit learning rotations with the teacher in small groups, word sorts, sound sorts, gaining the understanding of the meaning of words and using the six thinking hats.

Next week will be busy with Catholic Education Week and Balonne Athletics.

I wish all students participating next Friday all the best and I hope they have fun. 

Miss Alice Rathie

Year 5/6A

Students of the Week

Week 1: Reagan Cross, Peter Behrend, Georgie Nott.
Week 2: Cruze Irwin, Theresa Sevil, Finlay Lockwood.

Welcome back to Term 3! Year 5/6 students have a busy term ahead. We have school camp, Balonne and SW Athletics, high school transitions for year 6 students, Eisteddfod, 2 pupil free days and a public holiday!

In English, this term students have started to explore fantasy texts and elements in narratives. We have read Dragon Quest and examined literary devices and vocabulary used to describe events and then in small groups developed our own fantasy event. Students are enjoying this English unit as they work towards creating their own fantasy text.

In HASS, we have started to explore Government and the structure of Government. We are all looking forward to a great term. A small reminder that students are to bring their homework books back on a Friday or Monday morning. Below are some work samples from English.

But wait, we must venture across the great opaque ocean where we will have to encounter giant petrifying piranhas with sharp, razor-like teeth and the string of a jellyfish that will be as painful as a thousand needles.

Look out! A petrifying bird with boney claws and boney teeth that leapt from the roof with wings of fire in an abandoned house that was full of skeleton knights crawling on the floor like sniffles of death coming to approach. 

As the brave young knight galloped up the large danger filled mountain with his trusty steed, they reached the danger zone where black horrific dragons circled above the shadows, waiting for the right moment to dive down to their uninvited human guests. Alas when they came diving down like bullets, the knight was ready with his sword...he defeated them with nothing, but a lash of his sword made from scaly skin... 

Miss Claire Armstrong 

Sport & Library News

Eley Elite 

Week 1: Annie Stewart.
Week 2: Amelia O’Toole.

SPORT 

Welcome back for another term.  This one won’t be as busy as a lot of the representative sport has taken place.  Some children will be participating in the State trials representing the South West, so good luck to those students.

Balonne Rugby League

Late last term several girls participated in the Balonne trails for rugby league.  The following girls, Bella Mellifont, Stella Acton and Ella Easton were successful with their selection to represent the Balonne District in the SW trials in Roma on Wednesday 13^th July. Stella attended the trials.  Well done, Stella.

NAIDOC Games

Last week we celebrated NAIDOC week, so during our PE time, played some fun indigenous games.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the games and have a better understanding how the indigenous children played, all those years ago!  Attached are some photos of our fun.

Balonne Athletics Carnival

Next Friday is the Balonne Athletics Carnival.  This is being held at the St George State High School.  Good luck to the children who have been selected to represent St Patrick’s.

LIBRARY

Book Week

Due to staff shortage, there will be no catch up borrowing on Fridays this term, so please remember your books on your library day.

Borrowing days are as follows, so please try to remember to send along library books:

Happy borrowing and reading! Reading is Power and Knowledge!

Binnie Eley & Julie Pike

Community News

St Saviour’s College

Mercy Girl for a Morning

Friday 4 August 2023 at 8:80am – 11:00am

Job Notification

We are hiring – Lady Gowrie Balonne Community Kindergarten

Relief Early Childhood Teacher

Volunteers Needed

COLOUR FUN RUN 2023

Saturday 9^th September

Pie Drive Fundraiser

O’Donnell’s Bakehouse Toowoomba

Order Forms due back by 25-07-2023. Contact Nicky Robertson: balonnekindy@ladygowrie.com.au