LET'S HANG IT! - Awards 6pm Friday 28th July

Friday 28th July will see the announcement of the prize winners at 6pm at the New England Regional Art Museum.

We wish our finalists, Mackenzie G and Mackenzie L all of the best with their entries.

Exhibition Dates 28th July - 13th August New England Regional Art Museum

2023 School Improvement Survey Happening Soon!

Very soon, the annual satisfaction survey of parents, students and staff will be conducted on behalf of all Catholic schools in the Diocese this term. The surveys are designed to gather feedback from parents, staff and students about our school and will be used to inform school improvement. Responses are confidential and individuals can not be identified. The surveys will be launched via email in August using the email addresses supplied to the school. I will send out a notification when the survey will be sent home in the near future. If you do not receive an email with a link to the survey straight after the notification, can you please contact the school, so alternate arrangements can be made to ensure that you are able to complete this survey.

NAIDOC WEEK DAY

Last Friday the school celebrated NAIDOC Week by participating in a number of activities that celebrated the history, culture, and achievements of our First Nation people. The day commenced with all members of our learning community participating in a smoking ceremony led by one of our visitors, Tylar. This was followed by the students participating in a storytelling session where Aunty Sue read out her book that she created with the students of Walcha Central- Dhulawang Girin: The Rainbow Serpent. After that Aunty Sue led a discussion recalling her experiences growing up in the Walcha region.

Throughout the rest of the day, the students participated in various workshops that included painting boomerangs, playing fly as well as colouring in various Aboriginal designs. The boys had the opportunity to test their didgeridoo playing skills by practising their breathing techniques while the girls participated in a basket weaving session.

The day was a great success and many thanks go out to our AEA, Jenny Allen, our guests Aunty Sue, Tylar and Colleen as well as Mrs Clark and Mrs Lisle who cooked the sausages for our barbecue lunch.

2023 NAPLAN Parent Reports Sent Home Monday

Parents of students in Years 3 and 5 received their child's 2023 NAPLAN Assessment results earlier during the week.

If any parent has any queries or questions in regard to their child's NAPLAN report, please feel free to contact your child's teacher.

Kindergarten's 100 Day Dress Up Day

This year is definitely going very quickly and I have just been informed by all of our Kindergarten students that this upcoming Monday will officially be their 100th day of learning at St Patrick's. To celebrate this great occasion, our Kindergarten students will be having a 100 Day Dress Up Day. Congratulations to all members of Kindergarten and I am looking forward to seeing the amount of growth all of you will make with your learning over the next 100 days.

2024 Transition Program Commencing Soon!

Speaking of Kindergarten,it is nearly time to start planning for 2024 as it is just over four weeks before our Kindergarten Transition program commences! We are looking forward to having our 2024 Kindergarten children come to big school on Friday 25th August for their first day of transition. This program will be on every Friday from 25th August for the rest of Term 3 as well as the first five Fridays 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 2024 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 2024 Kindergarten Open Morning in Term 2.

It would be greatly appreciated if we could receive all completed Transition Enrolment Forms as soon as possible 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?

Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition

On Wednesday, seven of our students in Years 5-6 participated in the Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition. One of Australia’s longest running annual mathematics competitions, the Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Competition is more than 40 years old. It now attracts over 22,000 students from more than 350 schools. The competition gives Year 5 and Year 6 students from across regional NSW the opportunity to test their numeracy and problem-solving skills.

Well done to all seven students who participated in this competition. We eagerly await for their results early next term.

The Winner of 'Wearing Uniform With Pride' Award Is.......

Congratulations go to Brayden who has won our first 'Wearing Uniform With Pride' award for this term. Well done Brayden, as you always wear both your school and sports uniform with pride.

Heads Up! Our Years 3-6 Students Will Be Participating in Bushfest

Our Year 3-6 students have been invited to take part in BushFest. This is a FREE choral festival for schools in the NECOM classroom/choral program on Wednesday 6th September at the New England Conservatorium of Music. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to come together with other regional schools and work with one of Australia’s leading music educators, Paul Jarman.

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.

2023 ICAS Assessments