Dear Parents and Carers,

At the Community Council meeting this week we spoke about many important things including the school’s targets for 2020. Some great questions were asked about measuring progress. We have many measures of student achievement including: teacher designed pre and post testing, standardised tests including NAPLAN and Pat Maths / Pat Reading, teacher / student conferencing (reading and writing), mapping learning progressions….

You will have seen the 3 goals that are named in our school’s 2020 improvement plan on posters around the school and in the newsletter in Mrs Perryman’s AP news. In short our goals are for progress in literacy and numeracy, for differentiation in planning and teaching to meet the needs of all students, and for improvement in engagement of all learners in their learning.

So, what is our target? We are aiming for 100% of students to improve in these 3 areas. We, like you, expect your child – no matter their starting point - to make a minimum of 1 year’s growth for one year’s learning in our school. This will look different for every student, and the tools named above will be used as assessment to evidence the growth.  We have expectations that our end of year assessment data will demonstrate that we have students making more than one year’s growth for the year of learning! Thank you for your support in this! We continue to recognise you, the parents and carers as the primary educators of your children and thank you for the gift of your children in our learning community for their schooling!

What are our targets this year? How can you help?

We are differentiating the curriculum

• Different is the base word for differentiation, does that mean we create different work for different students. The short answer is no.
• Differentiating is modifying components of a learning experiences so that every student can access and progress in their learning.
   
• Dr Kaye Lowe, who guides our reading and writing program often says “Right book in the hands of the reader.” This statement is the epitome of differentiation. When a student has a book in their hands that is too difficult, too easy, too long, too short, has too many pictures, has insufficient pictures or disengages student’s interest it is the wrong book and learning to read becomes more difficult.
• When teachers differentiate, they can modify a number of elements to ensure students feel success in their learning. They can modify the process of learning, the product of the learning, the environment of the learner or the content of the learning.

This week at St Pat’s we celebrated the beginning of Lent. Leading up to Lent Fr Luke visited classes to talk about what the season of Lent is. He described the season as “the time we take to prepare for the celebration of Easter – one of the greatest celebrations!”

Shrove Tuesday

On Tuesday students from Kinder to Year 6 celebrated Shrove Tuesday with pancakes. Students discussed the reasoning behind having pancakes and many explained the need to use all ingredients in the cupboard before we begin Lent. Thank you to the senior students who helped prepare the pancakes for this celebration.

Ash Wednesday

All students began Lent by making a Lenten Intention. The focus for these intentions was giving up or taking up something to help others during Lent. The St Pat’s community gathered for a symbolic burning ceremony, at which these intentions were burnt to show our commitment. The community then gathered for Ash Wednesday Mass.

At St Pat’s we follow three school rules:

1. Look, Listen, Learn
2. Be Safe, Be Happy
3. Respect, Share, Grow

Each class also chooses a value of the day/week during morning circle. The St Pat’s team work collaboratively with students to embed these values in our learning environment however in the past week we have noticed school property being damage or go missing. Unfortunately, this means that items need replacing and the school may need to ask for families to help cover the costs.

Students are reminded to follow the school rules and respect school property.

The school swimming carnival was held on Tuesday in perfect conditions.  This years winning house is Tennison. 

Congratulations to the individual champions:-

Jnr Boy - Nate Irvin

Jnr Girl - Maddie Woods

11 Yr Boy - Lincoln Thompson

11 Yr Girl - Ivy Smith

Snr Boy - Brodie Irvin

Snr Girl - Sonia Myers & Tiah Spencer

Family/Sibling Photos

A discount applies for families with 3 or more children. After purchasing Individual Packs for each child a Siblings Presentation pack of your choice will be free. Only children who present a Siblings Presentation order form to the photographer on Photo Day will have their Family/Siblings photo taken. Envelopes are available at the school office.

Remember the lunch wallet holds food so wipe it clean with a damp cloth after each use, as you would a lunch box.

Free name tags are available on the Stickbeaks website.  Slide a name and class tag into the bottom clear pocket.

Please remember to UPDATE your child’s class for this year.

Thank you to all those families who have donated second hand uniform to the uniform shop. All the items sell out quickly so we are always in need of more!  Donated items need to be:

• current logo,
• school uniform brands (LWR or Midford),
• cleaned,
• undamaged. 

 All proceeds go back into our school community.