Concern admin@stpatskatanning.wa.edu.au

P.O. Box 857 Katanning 6317 Phone: 98212281 Fax 98214281

16th August 2017 Issue 24 St Patrick’s School Vision Statement

St Patrick’s Catholic School in Katanning aims to emulate Jesus through its motto of Concern by engaging children, teachers, parents, community and the parish to work together in a supportive and

happy environment. Our school acknowledges parents as the primary educators of their children, and aims to further develop each child intellectually, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually,

creating lifelong learners who have the ability to draw upon processes and skills, to cope with future technologies in a changing society. Our school strives to be accepting of multicultural and individual differences. It acknowledges the rights of children to be safe and values them through pastoral care.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It is a busy week at St Patrick’s.We have had the Assumption Mass and Fr. Francis was very pleased at how well the children participated in the Mass. Our Gospel reading was the Magnificat or Mary’s song of Praise to God. It reminds us of Mary’s humility and all the great works of God. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; Because He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is His name; And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him. He has shown might with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich - He has sent away empty. He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.” (Luke 1:46-55) It was wonderful to see so many parishioners and parents in church to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption. We come together as a faith community, by our example; we support our children with their beliefs and in developing their own faith. A very special thank you to all the staff of St Patrick’s for supporting our First communion candidates on the weekend. To Mrs Poett and Miss Anderson thank you for preparing our students to learn more about the Eucharist; to Ms Bearcroft thank you for the preparation of the choir – they sang beautifully; a special thank you to Mrs Pontillo for her magnificent First Communion cake, it was so delicious! Thank you to Mrs Holmes for being the photographer for the day. Many staff members supported the communion candidates and teachers with preparing the hall. We all came together to bring about a very successful sacramental celebration.

Activity Club

I would like to wish all our Ram Sale volunteers all the best for the busy time ahead. Our Parents and Friends Association work tirelessly to support our school with many fund raising activities. A HUGE thank you to all our volunteers on Thursday and Friday, I know you will have lots of fun going on last year’s efforts in the Rec Centre

There are four Catholic schools in the Great Southern Region; St Matthew’s Narrogin, St Bernard’s Kojonup, St

Patrick’s Katanning and St Joseph’s College Albany. All four schools experience a degree of isolation and a network

has been established this week that aims to have teachers collaborate and share good practice and resources. Our

chosen focus is: How can we integrate play into our planning as part of delivering the content from the formal

curriculum in Years One and Two. This is one of the key challenges facing Early Childhood teachers and the

collaboration that occurred was indeed positive. Each class teacher now has a task to complete around the

incorporation of play designed to allow children to explore, imagine, create, negotiate, and investigate. At our

meeting next term, teachers will share images and their reflections on how they have been incorporating a play

based learning approach into aspects of the formal curriculum. The opportunity to be a part of this network will

bring many potential benefits to the teaching and learning programme in the Early Years at St Patrick’s School.

Peace to you and your family, Christopher Smith Principal

Congratulations to our First Holy Communicants. They received the Sacrament for the very first time last Sunday. It was a wonderful celebration! Thank you to ALL involved in the preparation of the students; their prayer friends, teachers and family. A special thank you to the Year Three families who provided a sumptuous morning tea and to Mrs Pontillo for her amazing cake. God Bless you all. Feast of the Assumption: Yesterday the whole school attended Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary was assumed through the power of God, body and soul into heaven. The students were just brilliant at Mass! They were able to answer Father’s questions and sang beautifully. A special thank you to our parents and parishioners who shared the celebration with us.

Book Week: Book week will be held 21st-25th August in Term Three. The Book Week Parade, where your child is invited to dress up as a BOOK character, will be held on Tuesday 22nd August. Book Fair and Open Night will be on the Thursday 24th August 5:00pm – 6:30pm. Please put these dates in your diary. ** Photo Competition: Please ensure your photos are in by tomorrow Thursday 17th August. Take a photo of your child reading in a ‘favourite/funny’ place and email to your teacher. Stargazing: Please read the flyer attached for information regarding this wonderful opportunity. Ms B’s prize box question: ANSWER : An equinox is the moment the Earth’s equator passes the centre of the sun, making the day almost the same length as the night. The next Equinox is the 23rd September. Prizes to be awarded at Friday’s assembly. Week 5 - Ms B’s prize box question: What does the Feast of the Assumption celebrate? Write your answer on a piece of paper and place it in the blue box in the front office. May God Bless you

Warm Regards

Debra Bearcroft

(Assistant Principal)

Please join us at this week’s Friday afternoon assembly at 2.30pm.

Congratulations to this week’s award winners…

Kyawzin Thant, Ben Stade, Liam Fruhstuck, Kimberley Dowling, Samuel Beeck, Hallee Beeck,

Devon McKinley

Sport Awards: Thomas Hamon

Ebony Smith Marciniak and Flynn Stade

DATES TO REMEMBER - TERM 3

Thursday 17th August Ram Sale

Open Day Kindy/Pre Primary

Principal Review

Friday 18th August Ram Sale – No Canteen

Monday 21st August School Board Meeting 6pm

Tuesday 22 August Bookweek Parade

Wednesday 23rd August Year 3 Paraliturgy

Thursday 24th August Open Night & Book Fair 5- 6.30pm

Friday 25th August Year 5 Assembly

Tuesday 29th August Pre Primary Paraliturgy

Wednesday 30th August Year 6 Class Mass

Thursday 31st August Uniform Shop Open

Friday 1st September Year 4 Assembly

Wednesday 6th September Year 2 Paraliturgy

Friday 8th September Caritas Disco

Sunday 10th September Year 3 Family Mass

Full copy of the Parent Planner is available at www.stpatskatanning.wa.edu.au

2018 Enrolments are now open!

St Patrick’s School is now calling for enrolments for Kindergarten and Pre Primary to Year 6 in 2018. Interested parents should contact the school for enrolment forms. Kindergarten forms part of St Patrick’s School, and as a Catholic school, will support the development of the individual, through providing many varied play and learning opportunities, including the Religious Education programme. The Kindergarten programme will challenge and enrich a child’s thinking, nurture their creativity and expand their view of their own physical world. The Kindergarten operates from a purpose built early childhood centre, with excellent facilities and equipment. An Early Childhood trained Teacher, together with a Teacher’s Assistant, implements the Kindergarten Programme. A specialised programme operates in Oral Language and Fundamental Movement skills. All children who are born between 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 are eligible to be enrolled.

WANTED… The Pre Primary are wanting any

old gum boots (small sizes if possible). If you can help please see

Mrs Campbell

Homework Classes with Mrs

Holmes are available for

students from Years 3 to 6

in the Year 6 classroom.

Tuesday 3.20pm – 4.00pm

Happy Birthday to everyone who is celebrating a birthday this week ……

Jonty Bolto

Pre Primary Little

Lady Bug…….

Cayden Wright

WANTED… The Year 6 Class are looking for used

coffee pods! Please bring your used coffee pods to Year 6.

RUNNING CLUB

STARTS – THIS WEEK Friday morning School Oval 8.00- 8:30

UNIFORM SHOP HOURS

The uniform shop will open fortnightly on a Thursday morning 8.30am to 9.30am, starting next week. (Check term planner for opening days) If you can't get into the shop during this time, please feel free to send your order to Karen or Shan or Helen in the front office. Karen Watson – 0407 729 880 csukie@westnet.com.au

Shannon Beeck - 0428217728 shanbeeck@gmail.com

WINTER UNIFORM – Term 2 & 3 Girls Winter Uniform Royal Blue Pinafore, with pale blue long sleeved blouse. Royal Blue Tie. Royal Blue Jumper Navy blue tights or white socks, with black leather school shoes lace up or buckle style. Boys Winter Grey long-sleeved with School Crest. Royal Blue Tie. Royal Blue Jumper. Grey mélange trousers, Grey ankle socks with royal blue and gold stripes. Black leather lace up school shoes.

RAM SALE 2017

Thursday 17th & Friday 18th August including Thursday night sundowner.

P&F major fundraiser for the year.

2017 Committee contact: Tania Edwards 0438738680,

Katherine Anderson, Emma McKinley, Paula Bolto

No Canteen Term 3 on the following dates

Friday 18th

August (Ram Sale)

Wednesday 20th

September (Athletics Carnival)

ST PATRICK’S CHURCH Celebrate Mass Sunday 20th August at 10.30am Altar Servers: Luke and Sharie Oclarit

Take Pity on Me! THE WORD A Canaanite woman called to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is sick.” Jesus was reluctant to help saying, “I have been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”. At this the woman fell at his feet, pleading with him. Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith!” and her daughter was well again. LOOK CLOSER Faith. The woman believed in Jesus and would not give up even when Jesus tried to turn her away. Her faith was so persistent. Many people lose faith in God when things go badly in their life. Sometimes they even blame him. Jesus does not promise that we will never suffer if we believe in him, only that we will never suffer alone. He promises to walk beside us even in our darkest hour.

Lord Jesus, when we turn away from you,

help us to remember that you walk with us. Amen.

LEAD - Defining our Strategic Direction Learning: Don’t become preoccupied with your child’s academic ability, but instead teach them to sit with those sitting alone, teach them to be kind, teach them to offer help, teach them to encourage others, teach them to be a friend to the lonely, teach them to think about other people, teach them to share, teach them to look for all good. This is how they will change the world. Mrs Robinson.

Engagement: As educators we are constantly exploring how we can engage our students in creative and meaningful ways. In Year 1 Mathematics we have been learning about 2D shapes. To entice the students into the unit of work, we took a tour around the classroom and the school. On our journey, we identified a number of different flat shapes. This became meaningful for the students as they connected their learning to real world situations. Miss Ackland.

Accountability: This week, our students will be taking part in a number of assessments to gauge their growth in spelling using the Soundwaves diagnostic test. Teachers will be able to see first hand the growth of their students. This is an excellent form of accountability for their teaching, and for the learning of their children. Mr. Smith

Discipleship: In preparation for the Bishop's Literacy Test, we have been focusing on the Parables of Jesus. The parables of Jesus were stories he told that had a deeper meaning and a message behind them. One parable we focused on was the Lost Sheep. This story told of how a shepherd lost one of his sheep and spent hours and hours searching for him and when he eventually found his sheep, he celebrated with all his friends and family. As a class, we understood that this story was a way of Jesus telling us that God is happy when we return to the Church. Miss Anderton.

St Patrick’s Star Gazing Night

The St Patrick’s P&F have planned an astronomy learning experience for our children by funding a Scitech incursion. School volunteers work hard to fundraise money for our children and we believe this experience will provide significant benefit for all.

In consultation with school administration the following has been planned for Friday 22 September (last day of Term 3).

SCITECH SPACEDOME SHOW: The space dome is a pop up construction that Sci-tech staff will construct in the undercover area. A 30 minute lightshow will be projected onto the roof of the dome, with two screenings of each type of programme as outlined below. A maximum of 30 students are permitted in each show, hence some classes will need to be split to enable all students to attend one of the 4 screenings.

The P&F have also funded hands on workshops to be facilitated by Scitech staff. The workshops are designed to reinforce the content of the spacedome programme by providing challenging STEM experiments for the students. It is envisaged that these will run throughout the day with children in the same 30 student groups.

PROGRAMME INFORMATION Pre-Primary to Year 1: Day and Night Show: Journey through our day time sky as it makes the exciting change into night. What is different? Why do we have day and night? What features can we observe and learn about together? Workshop: Tinker and experiment as we build a shelter to withstand fierce weather – and make our own wild, windy day to test it out.

Year 2 to Year 6: Our Solar System Show: Explore the universe as astronomers have throughout history and discover the specialties of our solar system and its nearest neighbours. Workshop: Put your engineering skills to the test as you design, build and test a way to land a fragile robot rover on the surface of another planet.

In addition to the Scitech incursion outlined above, the P&F have also funded the loan of 2 Celestron CPC Series telescopes for the last 3 weeks of Term 3. These telescopes have an in-built computer and astronomy almanac. This enables a constellation name to be typed into the computer, then the telescope will swivel and find it in the night sky. It is planned that there will be several viewing nights throughout the 3 week loan period, including the night of Friday 22 September. More details of these viewing opportunities will be provided closer to the date to account for cloud cover/rain etc. The timing of this event has been chosen to provide a fantastic end to Term 3 and because the approach to winter equinox, (September 23), provides excellent night time viewing.

Further information regarding curriculum links for the above programmes can be found on the Scitech website; www.scitech.org.au.

Year 6 Camp Father’s Day

Raffle

1ST Prize

Great Southern Toyota Car Detailing Voucher valued at $350

2nd and 3rd Prize

A range of goodies for Dad!

Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5 Please see Mrs Holmes or Mrs Robinson

Community Notices

Community Notices