Message From Our Principal

The March long weekend is already here, wow- time really does fly. I'm sure it is on everyone's radar, but just a friendly reminder that next Monday the 13th of March is a public holiday. 

This week we celebrated International Women's Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It was a lovely opportunity to acknowledge the amazing women who work at St Patrick’s. A special thanks to Rach, Georgia's Mum,  from Papercake who kindly provided the staff with a yummy treat!

Thank you to all of the families who attended learning conversations and PSG meetings over the last couple of weeks. It was really lovely to hear students, parents and teachers talking about learning in this format. Families can now access learning goals and the strategies that will be used to achieve them on PAM or the SIMON Everywhere App. 

Next week our Foundation students will begin school full time. This is something that Miss Bennett and their buddies are really looking forward to. All of our Foundation students have settled into school life amazingly well. Parents and carers should be really proud of how well their children have settled. 

Don't forget to contribute to our annual Easter raffle. We would really appreciate it if each family could donate an Easter egg or Easter themed object. This donation can be dropped off at the school office. We also need families to sell their raffle tickets, when booklets are returned to the office your child receives a chocolate frog. The raffle will be drawn on Wednesday the 5th of April, following our Easter Hat Parade.

Next week, the 17th of March, we will gather as a whole school to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. We will begin with mass at 10am with Father Michael.  This will be followed by multi-age activities. The students are encouraged to dress in green clothes to celebrate the day and they will be involved in a parade in the morning. This parade will take place outside at 9am and all parents are welcome to attend. 

From 2023, NAPLAN tests will be held during March. All Victorian students will sit NAPLAN tests online using locked-down browsers between Wednesday, 15 March and Wednesday, 22 March (with the exception of students in Year 3 as they will complete their Writing test on paper). 

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. Students in Years 3 and 5 will sit assessments in: 

• Writing 

• Reading 

• Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) 

• Numeracy. 

Online NAPLAN tests provide more accurate results and are more engaging for students. One of the main benefits of the online format is adaptive testing, where the test presents questions that may be, more or less difficult depending on a student's responses. This adaptive testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be more accurately measured and presents questions more relevant to the child’s particular level of achievement. 

NAPLAN cannot be studied for and students are not expected to do so. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to let them know that it is just another routine part of their school program and encourage them, as always, to do the best they can on the day.

This year NAPLAN tests are scheduled as follows:

NAPLAN Writing - Wednesday 15th March

NAPLAN Reading - Thursday 16th March

NAPLAN Language Conventions -  Thursday 16th March

NAPLAN Mathematics -  Monday 20th March

LEAVING SCHOOL GROUNDS SAFELY

We have noticed that there is an increase of parents/carers collecting their child after school and crossing the road at a location that is not designated for crossing, which is quite dangerous at this busy time of the day. The only designated crossing point is on Cavell Street, which is the corner at the end of the basketball courts/church. 

To ensure that everyone is safe I kindly ask that parents no longer cross the road in front or behind the buses on Mangan street, especially on the bend in this road.

This means that if you wish to park your car and hop out to collect your child the best location to park after school is in Cavell Street.

Parents are welcome to enter the school grounds, via the front door to wait to collect their child at the end of the school day.

The after-school arrangements in place to ensure all children leave school safely are as follows: 

1. 2 staff members take students who are walking home, walking to a parked car, riding a bike or scootering home to the designated crossing and ensure that they cross the road safely.
2. 2 staff members take students who are being collected by car in the drive-thru arrangement, to the undercover area at the front of the school and ensure they are loaded safely into their car. These cars line up at the front of the school and flow through the drive-thru in front of the church.
3. 2 staff members take students who are catching the bus to the bus zone after they are marked off a bus attendance roll.
4. 2 staff members walk students who are attending ‘Schools Out’ After School Care to Tongala Primary School, using the back exit on the oval.
5. Students who have their parents waiting in the school yard leave school with their parents.