Mr Hyatt
It's great to be back!
It seems quite odd and surreal that I am nearly completing my first full week for the term, while the rest of the St Patrick's Learning Community have nearly finished three weeks already! Even though I enjoyed my time exploring various religious sites during my pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, I am glad to be back! Australia is definitely the best country in the world. I have to admit that I am struggling to get used to this weather again as when I left Rome, it was nice and sunny with a temperature of 40 degrees and I think the top temperature that I have experienced since I have got back to the country has been 14 degrees! I am definitely looking forward to Summer!
I wouldn't have been able to undertake this pilgrimage without thanking a number of people. A big thank you go out to Mrs Makeham for being the acting principal during my absence and receiving plenty of emails. Mrs King for covering my classes as well as all of the staff members for completing extra duties during my time away. It is very much appreciated. Now, I need to get back into routine again!
Well that's enough about my pilgrimage! When I was away I was informed that Ryan, Isaac and Mackenzie L represented our school with pride at the recent 'Let's Hang It" art awards and again special congratulations go to Mackenzie for winning the director's choice. That is a huge accomplishment indeed!
Furthermore, I had been notified of this accomplishment prior to my departure, however, I would like to extend my congratulations to Bella for her victory in the Armidale Catholic Schools K-2 division of the 'Authors as Writers' Competition. Bella recently commenced her initial collaboration with the illustrator who will be illustrating all of her concepts. I am eagerly anticipating the completion of the final product later this year.
It is going to be quite hectic in the upcoming weeks with various items that are occurring in the upcoming weeks. Besides other items that are included further in my section of this newsletter, we have some of our students completing various ICAS Assessments in the upcoming weeks, taekwondo for sport, as well as the Diocesan Athletics Carnival being held at Tamworth tomorrow, where we have 18 students attending. We wish them all the best of luck as they will be competing against the best athletes in the diocese.
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of observing some of our students participate in their netball matches in Armidale. Although a few of our girls are still in pursuit of their first win, I am confident that it will not be long before they achieve this milestone, potentially during the upcoming Football and Netball Gala Day later this term. I would like to commend the girls for their significant improvement throughout the season. Additionally, I have not overlooked our students engaged in indoor and outdoor hockey, as well as football (soccer) in their local competitions. I intend to attend their matches in the near future before the conclusion of their season, and I may even bring along some signs to express my support!
Renovations Update
I had hoped that upon my return from my pilgrimage to Europe, all the work on the installation of the new playground equipment, beds, ramps, garden beds, chook pens, and fixing drainage challenges would have been completed as previously communicated before the end of last term. However, due to the freezing and wet weather during the holidays, the final completion of all projects will now be on the 23rd of August, with the possibility of students using the new playground equipment from the 16th of August. This is contingent on receiving good weather, as the recent wet weather has caused some delays.
In the news alert, I sent home to all of our families via Compass on Tuesday, I was advised to delay the official grand opening and blessing of the new playground to a later date due to possible inclement weather in the future. I had originally planned for our grand opening and blessing to take place on Friday 30th August to coincide with our Father's Day, Book Week and Grandparents Day Celebrations.
We will now be having our official grand opening and blessing of the new playground equipment during the morning of Friday 20th September. Hopefully the weather will be warmer by then allowing the turf to flourish on the middle and top playground. All past members of our P and F, the Walcha community, Mrs Burton and representatives from Armidale Catholic Schools will be invited to take part in these celebrations.
More information will be sent home soon and again, I apologise for any inconvenience that the change of date may cause some members of our school community.
Well Done Year 6!
During the parent assembly last Friday, I expressed my pride in Henry, Bentley, Grace, Albert, Angus, Lilah, and Emily for their exceptional performance in the Year 6 Religious Assessment conducted last term. This assessment evaluates the implementation of Religious Education across the diocese, covering content taught from Year 3 to Year 6. The results revealed that our students achieved an average score of 35.1 out of 40, surpassing the diocesan average of 27.1. While I have not received official confirmation, I am confident that this places us as the top performing school in the diocese. Congratulations once again to all our Year 6 students.
Save the Date: Friday 30th August
Friday, August 30th promises to be a day filled with excitement, just like last year.
The day will kick off with our traditional Father's Day Breakfast, In addition, we are extending a warm invitation to all grandparents to join us for Grandparents Day, where various activities will be organized to celebrate this special occasion. Among the highlights are the annual Book Week festivities, including the book fair and the Book Week fashion parade. This year's theme is 'Reading is Magic', and students are encouraged to dress up as their favorite book characters for the parade. I should start rummaging through my costume box to find the perfect outfit. Stay tuned for more details in upcoming editions of the newsletter.
UNE DISCOVERY SCIENCE WORKSHOP
Tomorrow all classes will be participating in a number of sessions led by members of the University of New England Discovery Team convenors. Some of the activities will include 'Crime Scene Investigation', 'The Magic of Physics', 'Plants, Poop and Pollinators' as well as 'Palaeopuzzles'. It looks like it is going to be a great day! A big thank you goes out to Ms Wilson for organising these workshops.
Year One Phonics Screener Assessment
From this upcoming Monday, all Year 1 students throughout NSW will take part in the Year 1 Phonics Screener Assessment. This is a short assessment that tells teachers how students are progressing in phonics. More information about this assessment is included below:
Kindergarten's 100th Day Dress Up Day
Congratulations to all the Kindergarten students and Ms Wilson for fully embracing the theme of dressing up as 100-year-olds to mark their 100th day at school. It will be intriguing to witness how they will commemorate their 200th day at school, which, according to my calculations, will fall early in the 2025 academic year. In any case, kudos to Anna, Wally, Amelia, Alfie, Harrison, Heidi, Harry K, Stirling, Harry M, Millie, Eden, Alice, Evelyn, and Eve for reaching this significant milestone. Further details about this remarkable accomplishment can be found in the Classroom Gallery section of this newsletter.
2025 Transition Program Commencing Soon!
Speaking of Kindergarten, it is nearly time to start planning for 2025 as it is just over a fortnight before our Kindergarten Transition program commences! We are looking forward to having our 2025 Kindergarten children come to big school on Tuesday 27th August for their first day of transition. This program will be on every Tuesday from 27th August for the rest of Term 3 as well as the first five Tuesdays in Term 4. Mrs Hoy will be leading transition and she is beginning to organise a large number of fun activities that will be conducted throughout the program.
To ensure that our 2025 Transition Program is a success, a lot of organisation needs to be completed before the program commences and one of these aspects involves knowing how many children will be taking part in the program. The large majority of our families have already formally enrolled their children in our transition program but we are still waiting for some of our new and existing families to complete and hand in the necessary paperwork that was included in the packs that were handed out at our 2025 Kindergarten Open Morning in Term 2.
It would be greatly appreciated if we could receive all completed Transition Enrolment Forms by, Friday 16th August as it will allow us to organise all of the resources needed for this program.
We still have some vacancies available for students who will be starting school next year to take part in this program and if you know any families who may be interested, can you please encourage them to contact the school?
2024 School Improvement Survey
The Catholic Schools Office has once again collaborated with Survey My School in 2024 to facilitate parents in giving feedback on the practices and procedures of St Patrick's School. Please be aware the structure and several questions have been modified for this year's survey to ensure there is no repetition of questions as well as being more user-friendly. Parents can expect to receive these surveys via email during the week of August 26th.
P and F Meeting this Tuesday 13th August
The last P&F meeting for this term is scheduled to take place this upcoming Tuesday, starting at 6pm in the library as well as via Zoom. It would be very much appreciated if you are able to join us.
The Winner of 'Wearing Uniform With Pride' Award For This Week Is.......
Henry is the recipient of this week's 'Wearing Uniform With Pride' award. Your consistent display of pride in wearing both your Winter and Sports uniform is truly commendable. Congratulations on this well-deserved achievement!
2024 Remaining Staff Development Days (PD Days)
Monday 14th October (First day of Term 4)
Friday 20th December (Last day of Term 4)
Upcoming Event Term 4 - New England Sings 2024 Term 4 for Years 3-6
NEW ENGLAND SINGS! 2024 COMBINED PRIMARY CHOIRS REHEARSAL SCHEDULE Armidale and surrounding schools – outreach schools will have rehearsals scheduled at their own school. However, outreach schools are welcome to attend the Armidale workshops if possible.
This exciting event is beginning to take shape, 16 schools (with approx. 500 choristers) in the combined Primary choirs and 14 schools (with approx. 450 choristers) in the Secondary choir.
Ian Jefferson will attend the workshops throughout the year and conduct the Primary choirs at the final weekend of rehearsals and concerts.
FINAL REHEARSAL (all schools, including outreach schools to attend):
Date: Saturday 26th October (directed by Ian Jefferson)
Time: Primary Choir 9:00am – 10.45 am (arrive by 8:30am)
Venue: Lazenby Hall, UNE
CONCERTS: Date: Sunday 27th October (directed by (with Ian Jefferson)
Time: Primary Choir 11:00am – 1:00pm (arrive by 9:30am)
Venue: Lazenby Hall, UNE
St Patrick’s School is an outreach school for the rehearsals but we will attempt to attend two of the rehearsals in Armidale.
Parents will have to commit to the Saturday 26th October - Final Rehearsal and Sunday 27th October Concert. If they wish their child to participate in New England Sings.
A short video on what New England Sings! is all about is included below:
Contacting Your Child's Teacher
Teachers welcome contact from parents, if you need to talk with staff please either contact the class teacher by phoning the school – 67772328 or email the school at spwadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au.