From the Principal
A Prayer for Mothers
We thank you Lord for the great gift of motherhood.
It is within our mother’s womb, that we began life.
It is in her embrace that we have known safety and comfort.
It is through her encouragement that we grow and mature.
Lord, bless our mothers.
Draw close to them and hear their prayers for their children.
Give them the grace of surrendered love –
a love that images the love of our heavenly mother, Mary.
May all mothers find daily
the strength to love generously,
the patience to endure graciously,
and the grace to live their vocation of motherhood joyously.
We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Mothers' Day
We wish all mothers and mother figures a very Happy Mothers' Day for Sunday. We hope that you are able to have a wonderful day with your families. In the meantime we look forward to sharing afternoon tea and craft activities with the mums of our school this afternoon.
Project Compassion
This week the money was tallied from the Project Compassion collection boxes and we were able to bank $282.25 for Caritas Australia and the global projects they support. Thank you to everyone who was able to support Project Compassion this year.
NAPLAN
Students in Years 3 and 5 will participate in National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills across four tests - Language Conventions, Writing, Reading, and Numeracy. The NAPLAN results will be sent to the school and parents later in the year. For further information on the NAPLAN testing, please click on the tab below.
NCCD Information
Schools must complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on School Students with Disability each year. The NCCD notes the number of students who receive additional adjustments or "help" at school because of a disability. There are four types of disability that the school can choose from: sensory, cognitive, social-emotional and physical. More information about NCCD can be found by clicking the tab below.
Athletics Results
We have finally received the results from the Athletics Carnival held in Week 1 of this term. Our Year 3-6 students competed as a 'House' in the Nhill College sports day and finished 2nd overall. This was a great result given that we only had 21 students competing in 47 of the 51 events on the day.
Collectively our students achieved 9 Firsts, 10 Seconds, and 10 Thirds.
Well done to everyone who represented our school on the day, and particularly to the following who received ribbons for their results in their respective age groups:
- Thar Shue - 1st Triple Jump, 1st Discus, 1st 200m, 1st Nhill College Gift, 2nd Long Jump, 2nd Shot Put
- Sienna - 1st Discus, 1st Shot Put, 3rd Triple jump
- Sophie - 1st 75m, 1st 200m, 3rd Discus
- Tia - 1st Long Jump, 2nd 200m, 2nd Shot Put, 2nd Discus
- Jet - 2nd Shot Put, 3rd Discus
- Jack - 2nd Long Jump, 3rd Shot Put
- Riley P - 2nd Triple Jump, 3rd Long Jump
- Olive - 3rd Shot Put, 3rd Long Jump
- Jonas - 2nd Triple Jump
- Stella - 3rd Shot Put
- AJ - 3rd 200m
- Under 10 Relay - 1st
- Under 13 Relays - 2nd, 3rd
Cross Country
Best wishes to those who will be representing us at the Little Desert Division Cross Country event next Monday. Seven students will be competing at Kaniva in 2km and 3km events. Good luck to Sophie, Jack, Stella, Jet, Riley P, Thar Shue and Tia.
Sunday's Gospel John 15:1-8
Last Sunday’s Gospel from John shares the parable of the vine and the vinedresser who prunes away the branches that provide no fruit. Whilst it seems quite ruthless, bear fruit or be gone, the process of cutting away and pruning branches can be a very rewarding and nurturing action; it is similar to removing the unproductive portions of our rose bushes so that it may produce an even greater bloom the following year. It is an act of love for the plant.
Similarly, we are called to make decisions in our own lives about which of our thoughts and actions are life-giving (fruit-bearing) and which are unproductive, negative or detract from our lives. If we manage to ‘prune’ our unproductive, negative and life-diminishing behaviours, we allow ourselves the opportunity to really grow. Just as addictive and harmful behaviours can can physically limit our abilities to perform at our best, so too can feelings of jealousy, greed, resentment, self-doubt and lack of confidence limit our ability to be fully alive. We need to self-nurture by pruning and removing those behaviours, actions and thoughts that are affecting our potential so that we may fully grow and bloom.
Catholic Education Week
Catholic Education Week will be celebrated across Australia in the week commencing Monday 24 May. This day is also the Feast Day for Our Lady, Help of Christians. The Virgin Mary has often been invoked in times of religious strife under the title of Help of Christians. In thanksgiving for the release of Pope Pius VII from captivity in 1814, the feast was established the following year on the anniversary of his restoration. The first Australian provincial synod held in Sydney in 1844 placed the Church in Australia under Mary's patronage invoked by the title Help of Christians. The solemn feast is an occasion to seek Mary's help and protection for our Church and nation.
The Ballarat Diocese will be joining with dioceses across Australia to conduct Mass for Our Lady, Help of Christians during Catholic Education Week and we have been invited to send two student representatives to Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in Ballarat on Monday 24 May. Senior students will be given the opportunity to express why they would like to attend and join with representatives from the 64 Catholic Schools from across the Ballarat Diocese in the next two weeks.
All students will attend a Mass in Horsham on Wednesday 26 May, together with students from Ss Michael & John's Primary School, Horsham, Our Lady Help of Christians, Murtoa, and St Brigid's College, Horsham.
On Thursday 27 May, we will be combining with Our Lady Help of Christians, Murtoa, St Joseph's, Coleraine, Sacred Heart, Casterton, and St Malachy's, Edenhope, to celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. We will gather in Edenhope on that day for a short Liturgy, some activities and a shared lunch.
It promises to be a very busy week!
Library Excursion
Our Year 3-6 students will be visiting Nhill Library next Wednesday afternoon for an interactive session with library staff. Students will be walking to and from the library, however a bus has been organised should the weather require us to use this option.
Please remember to complete the consent for the excursion by Monday.
Fruit break and healthy food reminder
Each morning at 10am we have a very quick (5 minutes only) fruit break. Please ensure your child has a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable for this break. Fresh fruit/vegetable only, pre-cut if needed (staff do not have time to prepare fruit/vegies), strictly no packaged food (including tinned/fruit-packs), and no fruit roll-ups (fruit leathers/strips/roll-ups are healthy sounding snacks, however, many fruit roll-ups contain too much added sugar and possibly even artificial ingredients; these products are fruit flavoured candy, not healthy snacks). Fruit, in its whole, unprocessed form, is the healthiest fruit snack we can eat.
A reminder also to pack sufficient healthy food for your child for the whole day. Occasionally, children are hungry in the morning and eat their lunch at the recess break, leaving nothing healthy to fuel their brains for after lunch. Please avoid packing highly processed foods for your children, including packaged foods such as chips and lollies - there is little nutrition in these foods to sustain a growing body and feed their learning minds.
National Walk Safely to School Day
National Walk Safely to School Day is on next Friday, 14 May. Now in its 22nd year, the annual campaign encourages all primary school children, their parents and carers to walk safely and regularly to school.
Australian children are becoming less active. One substantial contributor is the decline in walking to school. Children who are regularly physically active tend to be healthier, perform better academically and are less likely to be overweight. Walking regularly is the best exercise because you can build it into your daily routine.
I encourage those who are able to walk to school next Friday to strongly consider doing so.
Remember to follow us on Facebook
Those who are on Facebook are encouraged to follow our page at St Patrick's School, Nhill. 'Like' our page, enjoy our posts, and share them with your friends. Stay connected through our Social Media page.
Our Josephite Heritage
The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the "Josephites" or "Brown Joeys", were founded in Penola, South Australia, in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and the Rev. Julian Tenison Woods. In 1949, three Josephite sisters arrived in Nhill to open St Patrick’s School. In 1978, the Sisters of St Joseph informed the Nhill Parish that they would no longer be able to maintain their role within the school.
We endeavour to honour our Josephite heritage through the regular presentation of the Little Joey awards at our assemblies. In support of this we also include a reflection from Mary MacKillop on our newsletter each week.
"God is good and has brought light and help when all was very dark." Mary MacKillop, 1899
A disappointing performance from the Power last Saturday night against the Lions. I expect a strong showing from my team in Showdown 49 tomorrow night. Anything other than a win is not acceptable. Port should be playing in their tradition Black and White 'Prison Bars' guernsey too, but one radio commentator and TV host has too much say in the AFL! Go Port!!
God Bless you all.
Kingsley Dalgleish
Principal