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WORKER OF THE WEEK
YEAR 6 GRADUATION
Next Monday, the Year 6 students of St Patrick’s will be celebrating their Graduation. Our Graduation Celebrations will begin the in Undercover area at 6:00pm. Students are asked to be at school by 5:45pm in their formal school uniform.
BOOK DROP AND MEET THE TEACHER
Families are welcome to attend our Book Drop and Meet the Teacher to be held on Thursday 21st January. There will be an opportunity for families to drop their children’s books to their classroom and meet their teacher from 2-3pm.
In meeting our CoVid restrictions, we will conduct the book drop off in two sessions. Families with a last name beginning in A – K are asked to drop off their books from 2pm – 2.30pm. Families with a last name beginning with L – Z will drop off their books from 2.30pm -3pm. Classrooms will be closed at 3pm.
If families are unable to drop their books between 2-3pm on the 21st January, they are welcome to bring their books and meet their teachers on the first day of school Wednesday 27th January.
In meeting our CoVid restrictions, we will conduct the book drop off in two sessions. Families with a last name beginning in A – K are asked to drop off their books from 2pm – 2.30pm. Families with a last name beginning with L – Z will drop off their books from 2.30pm -3pm. Classrooms will be closed at 3pm.
If families are unable to drop their books between 2-3pm on the 21st January, they are welcome to bring their books and meet their teachers on the first day of school Wednesday 27th January.
PREP SWIMMING FUN DAY
The Prep students will participate in a swimming fun day at the Emerald Aquatic Centre on Monday 30th November. The day will involve the children participating in swimming skill development lessons and fun water activities with Mr Boyle, Mrs Heinemann, Prep teachers and teacher assistants.
The students will travel in a bus to and from the Aquatic Centre, leaving school at 9.15am and returning to school at 12pm. The students are asked to come to school dressed in their togs, a swimming shirt and thongs. They are also asked to bring a towel and goggles (if required). Students are asked to bring their normal Prep uniform to change back into when they return to school.
Please pack fruit and a small snack that does not require refrigeration for your child to take to the pool. They will also require a water bottle to take to the pool. The students will also require their normal lunch which will be kept at school and eaten when they return to school.
Parents are asked to log on to Parent Lounge to acknowledge permission for your child to attend this swimming fun day. Permission will need to be provided on Parent Lounge by Friday 27th November.
The students will travel in a bus to and from the Aquatic Centre, leaving school at 9.15am and returning to school at 12pm. The students are asked to come to school dressed in their togs, a swimming shirt and thongs. They are also asked to bring a towel and goggles (if required). Students are asked to bring their normal Prep uniform to change back into when they return to school.
Please pack fruit and a small snack that does not require refrigeration for your child to take to the pool. They will also require a water bottle to take to the pool. The students will also require their normal lunch which will be kept at school and eaten when they return to school.
Parents are asked to log on to Parent Lounge to acknowledge permission for your child to attend this swimming fun day. Permission will need to be provided on Parent Lounge by Friday 27th November.
SWIMMING CARNIVAL
Winning House - Moore
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Age Champions
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FRIENDSHIP SEAT
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There has been a wonderful addition to our school grounds this week – The Friendship Seat. The Friendship Seat was an initiative of Mia Smith, one of our St Patrick’s School Captains. It is hoped that The Friendship Seat will be a safe place for those looking for a friend to play with. Students are encouraged to sit on the seat if they were in need of someone to play with during playtimes. We have already seen The Friendship Seat in action! It is a wonderful opportunity to see the Spirit of Jesus in action. Thank you to Mia Smith for the inspiration and to Brad and Julie Tasker from Central Highlands Fabrications for creating The Friendship Seat.
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END OF YEAR CONCERT
Thank you to all of our families who attended our End of Year concert throughout Tuesday. It was a wonderful day with many fantastic performances. Gathering as a community, even in our much smaller numbers is very much appreciated by our children and they certainly enjoyed being able to present their concert item and footsteps dance to their families.
EMERALD NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE’S LINKING ALMS APPEAL
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For the past several years, our St Patrick’s Staff have donated food items and gifts to The Emerald Neighbourhood Centre’s Linking Alms Appeal, and these were presented at our End of Year Liturgy. This year we would like to extend this invitation to all St Patrick’s School families. Should you wish to donate, there is a black donation bin in the school office. Please see a list of food and gift suggestions:
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TUCKSHOP
Just an update from our newsletter last week. Our tuckshop will be open on Wednesday 2nd December, our last day of school.
Thank you to all of our volunteers. Your support for our school is greatly appreciated. We hope that you have you have enjoyed your time volunteering to make a difference in our school community.
Our sincere gratitude is also extended to Helen Smith and Michelle Barrett for the enthusiasm and dedication to providing our school with healthy and delicious food.
Thank you to all of our volunteers. Your support for our school is greatly appreciated. We hope that you have you have enjoyed your time volunteering to make a difference in our school community.
Our sincere gratitude is also extended to Helen Smith and Michelle Barrett for the enthusiasm and dedication to providing our school with healthy and delicious food.
PARISH RAFFLE |
PREP VISION SCREENING |
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The St Patrick’s Catholic Community Parish Fair will not be held this year due to CoVid restrictions. In replacement of the fair the parish will be conducting a raffle. The major prize is valued at $6000. It will be drawn on 13th December.
Families have been given a book of raffle tickets. The tickets are $5.00 each with 5 tickets in each book. Thank you for supporting our Catholic parish. |
The Prep Vision Screening has been rescheduled to 17th November. The forms that were returned at the beginning of the year will be used for this rescheduled date. If families have not completed a Prep Vision Screening form and would like to have their child undertake a vision screening please contact the school office.
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NEWS FROM OUR ST PATRICK’S PARISH
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Parishioners are welcome to attend our St Patrick’s Parish Weekday Masses:
Monday NO MASS Tuesday 12 noon Wednesday 7:00am Thursday 8:00am Friday 9:00am Celebrating Christmas in Emerald. Families are encouraged to register for Christmas Mass this year. Below are the booking details or contact the parish office. 24 December 2020 -12 Midnight https://www.trybooking.com/BMKCD 25 December 2020 – 7am and 9am https://www.trybooking.com/BMKDH |
NEWS FOR YOUTH
The annual youth ‘Ignite Conference’, held in September in Brisbane, like many events, has adapted to Covid-19 from being an in-person event, to streaming live their 2-hour rally called ‘One Night’. Saturday the 26th of September at 6.30-9pm. Please join online https://igniteyouth.com/one-night. Fr Yon, SVD ST PATRICK’S YOUTH I invite the young people of our parish and community to be part of the St Patrick’s Youth Group. The target age group is high school to 20 years of age. St Patrick’s Youth Group will be providing an energizing and enthusiastic opportunity to come together as Youth and to be part of our bigger family, the St Patrick’s parish community. For more information on St Patrick’s Youth Group please contact: Fr Yon 0405 191 438 or stpatsem@bigpond.com |
COVID RESTRICTIONS
As a school we continue to endeavour to provide as many opportunities as we can to engage our families in our school activities. Due to COVID regulations we are required to put into place measures to ensure that we are meeting the requirements of the number of adults within our school and also ensure social distancing when adults are present. We thank families for their continued support in regard to our restrictions.
PARENTS AT ASSEMBLY
We are thankful to welcome our parents back to our school assemblies. In accordance with our COVID regulations of restricting the number of adults in our school grounds we ask that only one adult from each family attends the school assembly to view their child receiving a Worker of the Week award and only one adult from each family watch their child presenting at the class prayer assembly. If your child is not receiving an award or presenting at the prayer assembly, we ask that you do not attend assembly for the week. We would like to thank all of our families for their continued support.
PLAYGROUNDS
All of the school playgrounds are closed before and after school. We ask that no children play on the playgrounds after school as this is a time when the playgrounds are cleaned.
We also ask that families do not arrive at school before 8am in the morning for drop off and leave the school grounds as soon as they have collected their children at 3pm.
We thank all of our families for their continued support.
PARENTS AT ASSEMBLY
We are thankful to welcome our parents back to our school assemblies. In accordance with our COVID regulations of restricting the number of adults in our school grounds we ask that only one adult from each family attends the school assembly to view their child receiving a Worker of the Week award and only one adult from each family watch their child presenting at the class prayer assembly. If your child is not receiving an award or presenting at the prayer assembly, we ask that you do not attend assembly for the week. We would like to thank all of our families for their continued support.
PLAYGROUNDS
All of the school playgrounds are closed before and after school. We ask that no children play on the playgrounds after school as this is a time when the playgrounds are cleaned.
We also ask that families do not arrive at school before 8am in the morning for drop off and leave the school grounds as soon as they have collected their children at 3pm.
We thank all of our families for their continued support.
SCHOOL UNIFORM UPDATE
This week a representative from our uniform supplier, Wearco visited our school with some sample options for our school uniform. The samples will be shown to our families at the beginning of our 2021 school year. We will also be conducting a survey with our families to gain more information about our progression with ensuring that our school uniform is current and effectively meets the needs of our school community. We would like to thank families for their patience throughout this very important process and look forward to continuing the process at the beginning of 2021.
FAITH FORMATION |
PRAYER ASSEMBLIES |
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This term we will begin our Friday Faith Formation. Our Faith Formation sessions are designed to provide our students will different opportunities to further deepen their faith and relationship with Jesus. This will take place every Friday 12:40 – 1:20. Faith Formation will either be a Class Liturgy at 12:30pm or whole-school MJR Groups. Weeks 1, 4, 7 and 10 are MJR Groups and Weeks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are Class Liturgies. Please see our Liturgical Roster for a more detailed term timetable.
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We are allowed to gather as a whole school once more for assembly, however adults need to adhere to social distancing and we are limited to 100 adults in the under covered area, including staff. Therefore, only one parent for each of the children who are receiving Worker of the Week as well as one parent for each of the students of the presenting class are welcome to attend. This will ensure we meet requirements. We will record the presenting class and upload this part of the assembly to their Google classroom so that both parents then have the opportunity to view their child’s Prayer Assembly.
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ST PATRICK’S PARISH MASS
Weekend Mass attendance numbers have now increased to 100. Frs Truc and Yon look forward to meeting you all in person. Please book online at: https://www.trybooking.com/BKHQZ or contact the Parish Office on: 0418 821 066 to register your attendance to weekend Masses. You are not required to bring the ticket. If you wish to watch a Mass online, you can join the community of St Joseph's Cathedral, Rockhampton at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQeYD6B2cSvFb4zqStn_Brg |
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CARITAS PROJECT COMPASSION
Thank you for supporting Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion Campaign. Your generosity will work for the freedom of those living in poverty, challenge unjust structures, and empower people to work for a sustainable way of life.
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YEAR 7 MARIST COLLEGE ENROLMENTSThe 2021 Year 7 applications for Marist College have opened. Families wishing to enrol their children in Year 7 at Marist College in 2021 are asked to complete an application form. Application forms are available from the Marist College website www.maristcollegeemerald.com.au .
Important dates: Year 7 Orientation Day 1st December 2020 |
STUDENT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Our 2021 Year 6 students will attend a student leadership conference on the 1st March 2021. The conference is presented by a team of specialists in the area of student leadership. The learning opportunity aims to develop students’ understanding of leadership and foster the qualities of confidence, humility, empathy and reliability. The school will cover the majority of the cost for the students to attend the conference and families are asked to contribute $15 towards this learning opportunity. This will be added to the Term One fees. The conference will be held at St Patrick’s school.
MAKING JESUS REAL
St Patrick’s School is an MJR school. MJR is a values education resource. MJR is centred on the belief that we are all God’s children and are called to try to be like Jesus Christ in the way we live. We are Jesus’ friends. He calls us into friendship with God and he calls us to imitate his way of living. MJR values include respect, honesty and trustworthiness, understanding, tolerance and inclusion. They focus on the Gospel values of compassion, justice, humility and forgiveness. These values also encourage students to do their best, treat others fairly, be responsible for their actions, follow principles of moral and ethical conduct and stand up for others against bullying. Our main aim in Catholic Education is to invite students, parents and teachers to be aware of and grateful for God’s loving presence in their daily lives. MJR’s main aim is to get us ‘switched on to God’s presence’ by reflecting on our lives each day to see where God has been in our experiences.
Another focus is not to leave Jesus as merely a person in history, but to emphasise that Jesus Christ is a mystery with us now. We live ‘in the now’ and we will always have ‘the now’. MJR demonstrates a strong connection to many Catholic spiritualties, such as the Ignatian and Franciscan traditions, particularly with aspects such as the imitation of Christ, respect for others and for creation, and reviewing the events in our lives. The Sacrament of the Present Moment is a central theme. Through emphasis on simple and memorable prompts such as WESTIE (Welcoming, Encouraging, say Sorry, say Thank you, Inclusive and Enthusiastic), MJR inspires positivity and gratitude. I encourage you to have talk to your child about how they can Make Jesus Real.
St Patrick’s School is an MJR school. MJR is a values education resource. MJR is centred on the belief that we are all God’s children and are called to try to be like Jesus Christ in the way we live. We are Jesus’ friends. He calls us into friendship with God and he calls us to imitate his way of living. MJR values include respect, honesty and trustworthiness, understanding, tolerance and inclusion. They focus on the Gospel values of compassion, justice, humility and forgiveness. These values also encourage students to do their best, treat others fairly, be responsible for their actions, follow principles of moral and ethical conduct and stand up for others against bullying. Our main aim in Catholic Education is to invite students, parents and teachers to be aware of and grateful for God’s loving presence in their daily lives. MJR’s main aim is to get us ‘switched on to God’s presence’ by reflecting on our lives each day to see where God has been in our experiences.
Another focus is not to leave Jesus as merely a person in history, but to emphasise that Jesus Christ is a mystery with us now. We live ‘in the now’ and we will always have ‘the now’. MJR demonstrates a strong connection to many Catholic spiritualties, such as the Ignatian and Franciscan traditions, particularly with aspects such as the imitation of Christ, respect for others and for creation, and reviewing the events in our lives. The Sacrament of the Present Moment is a central theme. Through emphasis on simple and memorable prompts such as WESTIE (Welcoming, Encouraging, say Sorry, say Thank you, Inclusive and Enthusiastic), MJR inspires positivity and gratitude. I encourage you to have talk to your child about how they can Make Jesus Real.
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A TOUR OF OUR SCHOOL
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Our school was originally established by the Presentation Sisters in 1902 to serve the catholic families of the Central Highlands area of which Emerald is the geographical hub. The Sisters ended their ties with the school in 1992 due to the decline in their numbers and a shift in their mode of service to people and especially children.
St Patrick’s School exists for the education of children from Prep age (Five) to Year Six and is a co-educational facility serving the township and surrounding districts of Emerald. At our school, we aim to develop within our students the ideals of academic excellence and personal growth which are centered around the deepening of our Christian faith. We strive to have these aims as the centre point of any relationships and curriculum which occur within our community. |
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