From the Principal

Dear Families,

Welcome to our final newsletter for Term 2 and the end of Semester 1. It’s hard to believe how quickly the past 10 weeks have flown by.

Semester 1 reports became available via PAM yesterday. These reports provide a snapshot of your child's learning and progress so far this year, drawing on a wide range of evidence collected throughout the semester. We encourage families to take some time to review the report together, celebrating successes, recognising growth and acknowledging the effort that has gone into learning over the first half of the year.

It's important to remember that every child progresses at their own pace. While reports provide valuable information about achievement and progress, they represent just one point in a student's learning journey. Often, significant growth occurs as students consolidate their understanding and build confidence before taking the next step forward.

Tomorrow morning, we look forward to welcoming families to our Celebration of Learning from 9:00am–10:00am. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend time in classrooms, see learning in action and celebrate the many achievements of our students throughout the semester. Further details can be found below.

As we reach the end of the term, I would also like to sincerely thank all parents and friends of our school for your ongoing support. Whether you've volunteered in classrooms, helped at events, attended excursions, supported sporting activities or contributed in other ways, your involvement helps make our school the vibrant community it is. We genuinely appreciate the time and support you give.

I hope the upcoming winter break provides an opportunity to rest, recharge and enjoy time with family and friends. We look forward to seeing everyone back for what promises to be another fantastic term of learning in Term 3.

Celebration of Learning – Tomorrow

Following the release of Semester 1 reports, we warmly invite all families to join us for our Celebration of Learning tomorrow, Friday 26 June, between 9:00am and 10:00am.

As you likely know, this is a wonderful opportunity to step into our classrooms and experience the rich and engaging learning taking place across the school. Students are excited to share a selection of work from throughout the semester that they are particularly proud of. You will see not only polished, finished pieces but also examples of the planning, drafting, reflection and revision processes that have supported learning along the way. We know that growth doesn't happen overnight, and this is a chance to see both the journey and the destination.

The Celebration of Learning is designed to give students an authentic audience for their work while offering you valuable insight into classroom learning.

As you explore your child's learning, you might like to ask questions such as:

What are you most proud of and why?
What was the most challenging part of this learning?
How did your thinking change throughout the process?
What feedback helped you improve your work?
What would you do differently if you were starting again?
What is something new you learned this semester?
What are you hoping to improve on in Semester 2?

To help us ensure a smooth start to the morning, we ask that all visitors sign in at Reception when they arrive and acknowledge our Visitor Code of Conduct. This is a simple requirement that helps us maintain a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

We also ask families to be mindful when taking photos and to please only photograph your own child or children. This helps us respect the privacy of all members of our school community.

Sacrament of Confirmation

We are now preparing for the next Sacrament in our students’ faith journey: Confirmation. This special Sacrament is open to all students in Grade 3 and above who have been baptised. To begin the process, please register your interest by completing this form.

An information session for parents will be held on Thursday, July 23rd at 9:00am at St Patrick's Primary, and we encourage all families to attend. Alternatively, parents can join the Parish Information Session in the Glowrey Room at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 5:30pm on Thursday, July 23rd.

We look forward to supporting ours students as they prepare to receive this important Sacrament.

Lost Property

The Lost Property cupboard will be emptied on Friday so please collect anything that may belong to you as soon as possible.

Run Club Update

Run Club has been a fantastic success this term, with strong interest and participation from students across the school. It's been wonderful to see so many students embracing the challenge, building their fitness and starting the day with energy and enthusiasm.

To make things a little easier for families and students, Run Club will move to Friday mornings from the beginning of Term 3. This means students will already be dressed in their sports uniform and ready to run. Run Club will continue to run from 8:20am–8:35am, and all students are welcome to join in.

This morning we had 38 runners who managed to run approximately 64km combined. Over the 5 weeks that Run Club has been taking place our runners have covered just over 297km.

Thank you to everyone who has got behind this - it's been such a positive way to start the day. We look forward to seeing even more students getting involved next term!

Early Finish on the Last Day of Term

Families are advised that students will finish school at 1:40pm on Friday 26 June, the final day of Term 2.

For families requiring care on the afternoon, Extend After School Care will be available from 1:40pm, with bookings able to be made directly through Extend.

SchoolTV

This week on SchoolTV you will find a focus topic on Managing Screen Time.

"Many parents have reported excessive screen time as the number one health concern affecting kids, especially now in the hyperconnected world we live in. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should be no screen time at all for children under two, less than an hour a day for children aged from two to five, and less than two hours for five to 17 year olds. However, these guidelines have been disputed by experts and often ignored by families. Parents must play an important role in modelling a positive approach to using screens, and assisting children to navigate the content they access."

All Editions | St Patrick's School - Ballarat (schooltv.me)

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Kind regards,

Ben Shields