Dear Parents,

Patrick was born in what had been Roman Britain in about 375. When he was sixteen, he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland. The life of a shepherd slave was not a happy one; besides being isolated for months at a time, his life was held in little regard by his owners and cold and hunger were his only companions. Like many in impossible circumstances, he began to pray occasionally, then constantly. Patrick endured six years of isolation and by the end of it, had grown from a careless teenager to someone he would otherwise never have been – a holy man.

Eventually, he fled from his slavery, found the coast and convinced the owners of a ship bound for the continent to take him as crew. After many adventures, he finally made it home and was united with his parents. His experiences had made him restless and after a few years he set out for France to study for ordination as a priest. This accomplished, Patrick headed back to Ireland not only as a priest but as a Bishop.

Patrick became an Irishman and united his world to theirs, his faith to their life; he found a way into the minds and hearts of the people making them more humane and more noble while keeping them Irish. He confronted their custom of human sacrifice by declaring that such sacrifices were no longer needed as Christ had died once, for all. He spoke passionately against slavery spurred on by his own experience and by the time of his death, slavery was disappearing, as was the practice of warfare on any pretence. The monasteries and convents Patrick established offered opportunity for equality and learning; not only did they flourish in Ireland but in future years provided missionaries for the re-Christianising of Europe.

God, our Father, may the Spirit be active in each one of us as it was in St Patrick, so we might be bold and daring as we give witness to You in our daily lives. Amen.

CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations to Olivia Davie & Georgia Luca for their excellent sportsmanship and achieving their personal best at the Diocesan Swimming Carnival at Mingara last Thursday evening.

ICAS COMPETITION A few weeks ago students in Years 2-6 would have brought home information regarding the UNSW ICAS Competitions. Please note all applications close on Thursday 17 March.

OPEN MORNING - THANK YOU A sincere thank you to everybody who joined us for our Open Morning last week. We had many visitors who were very impressed with the warm community of Prouille and the way in which the children were engaged in their learning.

ENROLMENTS OPEN- ENROLMENTS ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR 2020 I am endeavouring to complete all interviews for siblings anticipating to join Kindergarten in 2020 prior to the Term 1 Autumn vacation. Please complete your enrolment forms and submit them with the supporting documentation into the school office.

PROUILLE NEWSletter

Prouille Catholic School 5 Water Street Wahroonga NSW 2076

Phone: 02 9489 3233 prouille@dbb.catholic.edu.au www.prouilledbb.catholic.edu.au

13th March 2019 Week 7 Term 1

Congratulations to all the children who received awards last week

STAR OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to Amelia Cooper, K Koala, who is our Star of the Week. Please visit the school walkway to see Amelia’s fabulous work!

Yours sincerely

Ms. Sue Bevan

Principal

UPCOMING DIARY DATES

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents,

This we embark on an exciting spelling journey where the learning and teaching of spelling is explicit and focusses on individual learners spelling needs.

SRA Spelling Mastery is a research-proven program that employs the Direct Instruction method to enable teachers to deliver highly interactive, structured lessons that help students learn dependable spelling skills. Spelling Mastery approaches spelling through strategies, patterns and rules.

The straightforward lessons in Spelling Mastery combine phonemic, morphemic, and whole-word instruction to make spelling easier to learn and pave the way for effective writing. Spelling Mastery interweaves these three approaches according to students' skill development and provides uncomplicated lessons to help teach spelling skills efficiently and effectively supporting students in becoming proficient readers and writers. In just 15-20 minutes a day Prouille students will become confident, strategic and successful spellers!

CLASS

K Kangaroo Angus Webb

K Koala Georgina Quoyle, Matilda Quoyle

1 Rosella Aurelia Bell, Jacob Guvlekian

2 Wombat Christopher Doyle, Ariana Clark-Flores

2 Emu Pedro Holland Lopez, Zac Leach

3 Platypus Harrison Dillon, Sam Cannon, Claire Wood

4 Kookaburra Kayla Artindale, Milly Hallam

4/5 Echidna Evan Littler, Molly Sheppard

6 Wallaby Noah Hayes, Lily Carolan

Special Dates for your Diary

Friday 15th March

Assembly 2.40pm

Wednesday 20th March

Year 6 Leader’s Day

Thursday 28th and Friday 29th March

Year 6 Leadership Camp

Tuesday 21st March

Anti-Bullying Day – Bullying No Way!

PARENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT MATH CHANGE THEIR CHILDREN’S ACHIEVEMENT

We now know that the messages we give students can change their performance dramatically, and that students need to know that the adults in their lives believe in them. Researchers are learning that students’ ideas about their ability and potential are extremely important, much more than previously understood.

As well as the messages we give students about their potential, brain research is now showing that messages students pick up from their parents about math and their parents’ relationships with math can also change students’ math learning and achievement.

In an important study researchers found that when mothers told their daughters they were not good at math in school, their daughter’s achievement declined almost immediately (Eccles & Jacobs, 1986). In a new study neuroscientists Erin Maloney and colleagues found that parents’ math anxiety reduced their children’s learning of math across grades 1 and 2, but only if parents helped their children on math homework (Maloney, Ramirez, Gunderson, Levine, & Beilock, 2015) If they did not help them on homework, the parents’ math anxiety did not detract from their children’s learning.

The parents’ math knowledge did not turn out to have any impact, only their level of math anxiety. Both studies, again, communicate the importance of the messages students receive, as it was not math knowledge that harmed the students’ performance but the parents’ anxiety. We do not know what parents with math anxiety say to their children but it is likely they communicate the negative messages we know to be harmful, such as “math is hard” or “I was never good at math in school.”

It is critical that when parents interact with children about math they communicate positive messages, saying that math is exciting and it is an open subject that anyone can learn with hard work, that it is not about being “smart” or not and that math is all around us in the world. For more parental advice on ways to help students with math see the parent page.

Here are 4 apps that are both productive and safe for your children to use, plus it will support your child’s mathematical learning.

YEAR 4 SUNDAY MASS Last Sunday, Year 4 joined Fr David in celebrating a beautiful mass that was hosted by the Year 4 students. Thank you to our wonderful teachers who helped to prepare and support the Year 4 students on Sunday. Thank you also to all parents who support their child/ren’s spiritual and liturgical growth throughout the year. Thank you to Fr David for once again taking the time to talk and explain Jesus’ life to them in a manner that inspires all.

Have a fabulous week

Karen Townsend

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND PASTORAL CARE NEWS

Dear Parents and Friends,

Ash Wednesday Liturgy – Thank you Year 1! Last Wednesday, Years K-2 and our friends from St Lucy’s joined us for a special Ash Wednesday liturgy in our school Chapel – guided beautifully by Year 1. Thank you to Mrs Clyant and the children for your preparation, reverence and thoughtful exploration of this very special day. Thank you, too, to those from our school community who were able to join us. It was a lovely way to embark upon our journey toward Easter! Project Compassion – We are now in our week of the Project Compassion initiative!

This year, our focus is ‘Give Lent 100%’ – something that we all have the capability of doing.

Caritas Australia is working together with vulnerable people, helping them to develop their strengths and create change in their own communities.

Caritas Australia share stories on their website which demonstrate the impact that Project Compassion can have on various communities. These stories inspire and humble us and display how these people are able to build better lives for themselves, families and communities. This year they look at stories in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Australia, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Your child has brought home a note with ideas on how the children might like to bring in their donations for this incredibly worthwhile cause.

FAMILY PARISH MASS HOSTED BY YEAR 4 – SUNDAY 10TH MARCH Our Year 4 Family Parish Mass occurred on Sunday at 9:15am at Holy Name Church. Thank you to all who were able to join the Year 4 children and their teachers for a very special Mass.

SRC REPRESENTATIVES – FIRST MEETING – WEDNESDAY 20TH FEBRUARY We began our ‘official’ business of the SRC in Week 4 with a very special meeting.

We greeted all our brand new members and chose some special items for our Mother’s Day Stall in Term 2 (Shhhh…it’s a secret!) and we discussed how we are settling in with our 2019 School Year.

A review of playground expectations was explored as well as a refresh of our ‘Buddy Bench’…stay

tuned!

PRE-RECONCILIATION LITURGY (LENT) – Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) on Tuesday 12th March, 2019 @ 2:10pm Fr Anselam joined us yesterday, for a special Pre-Reconciliation Liturgy with our Stage 3 children (Years 5 and 6). The Invitation to receive Reconciliation will be offered over the next two weeks for these children.

We hope the children find the experience purposeful and reflective.

RECONCILIATION 2019 – Group Leader’s Training and Sacramental Preparation Groups Group Leader Training: Tuesday 12th March, 7pm, School Hall

Preparation Groups: -Saturday 16th March @ 3:45pm -Saturday 23rd March @ 3:45pm -Saturday 30th March @ 3:45pm

We keep these children and their families in our prayers as they journey toward their Rite of Reconciliation in April.

YEAR 6 LEADERS DAY – FR DAVID RANSON Next Wednesday, our wonderful School and Vice Captains will be visiting The Light of Christ Centre in Waitara to spend the day with Fr David Ranson and learn about being an effective leader in our Broken Bay schools. Georgia, Jonah, Riley and Olivia will meet leaders from other schools that are in a similar position to them this year and will discuss the importance of using ‘good power’ in leading as missionary disciples.

UNVEILING AND BLESSING OF THE HOLY NAME PARISH BELL PLAQUE (Sunday 3rd March, 2019) Here are some photos kindly sent through from Giovanna Clarke-Flores from the lovely celebration of the unveiling of the parish bell plaque – thank you for sharing these precious memories with the community!

Quote of the Week

This week, we focus on our call to ‘live our faith’ and celebrate the wonderful experiences we continue to participate in at our school, in the midst of Lent for 2019;

Warm regards, Jessica Russell

Religious Education Coordinator

SCHOOL NEWS

BAND NEWS We have had a great start to this year, with lots of amazing new sounds coming out of the instruments and drum kit. Senior Band players are learning Theme from Jupiter by Holst

Intermediate band players are learning Swinging like Monkeys

Junior band are focusing on exercises 14-22 OPEN BAND REHEARSAL - HOT CROSS BUN CONCETT Week 11 - Last week of school. “Hot Cross Bun CONCERT ‘ Everyone is most welcome to come to our Open Band rehearsal on Monday 8th April at 3.15pm CREATIVE KIDS VOUCHERS We can now accept Creative kids Vouchers for music lessons. Please send me the voucher with your child’s Date of Birth. The voucher can be sent at the beginning of the term.

GUITAR ENSEMBLE Next Term we are commencing a guitar ensemble for children wanting to learn guitar on Monday lunch time with David. The groups will consist of 5 students and all lessons are on a classical guitar. It’s a great way to learn guitar and have fun with friends. Let me know if you are interested email me at procusmusic@gmail.com KEYBOARD CLASSES/ PIANO LESSONS Available at the school are private piano lessons and from next term we would like to offer keyboard classes. Keyboard Classes are 45 minutes and 4 in a group. Lessons will be on keyboards rather than piano. Let me know if you are interested and email procusmusic@gmail.com Kate, Matthew and David PROCUS MUSIC Mobile number 0419630511