Mt St Patrick Primary School, Murwillumbah

CONTACT Phone 02 66721821

Fax 02 66721536 Website

www.murplism.catholic.edu.au

Email - NB: NEW ADDRESS BELOW murp@lism.catholic.edu.au

Postal PO Box 1226 30 Mooball St Murwillumbah NSW 2484

IMPORTANT DATES

MAY

Tues 13th NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5)

Parent Meeting: Sacrament of First

Holy Communion @6pm

Wed 14th NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5)

Thurs 15th NAPLAN (Years 3 & 5)

Fri 23rd Diocesan Cross Country

Tues 27th Story Dogs Mufti Day

Fri 30th Staff Development Day—Pupil Free

JUNE

Wed 11th Year 6 RE Test

Mon 16th ICAS Writing

Tues 17th ICAS Spelling

Thurs 19th Whole School Photo

Retreat Day—Sacrament of

Holy Communion

Fri 20th Athletics Carnival

Sun 22nd Sacrament of First Holy Communion

@8am

Mon 23rd Primary Classes—Murwillumbah

Performing Arts Festival

Tues 24th Semester 1 Reports Go Out

Thurs 26th Infant Classes—Murwillumbah Per-

forming Arts Festival

Fri 27th Last Day Term 2

13th May 2014

Newsletter No. 7

Dear Parents,

NAPLAN Years 3 & 5

This week our Year 3 & 5 students will participate in the NAPLAN assessment. All students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 across Australia will sit for these tests which assess students primarily in the areas of Literacy and Numeracy. We wish all our students

the very best with their NAPLAN this week.

PARENT FORUM—STUDENT SPORT SUBSIDY INITIATIVE

One of the key items from last night’s Parent Forum was the approval by the Forum to an initiative to support families in our school community. Many students represent our school in a wide variety of sporting activities. In doing so, if students are selected to represent at Diocesan, Polding, State or National level there is quite often many financial expenses including: registration, travel and accommodation. Consequently the introduction of a Student Sport Subsidy is designed to support parents and to acknowledge these students representing the school and providing

some financial assistance to their families. The financial support will follow as:

Diocesan level: $25

(eligible only if the event is held in a location over 100km from Murwillumbah)

Polding level: $50 State level: $75 National Level: $100

The number of students reaching this level of competition varies each year. Consequently, the Student Sport Subsidy Initiative and the agreed amounts for each level of representation needs to one which financially is equitable and viable in terms of its longevity, sustainability and accessibility to recurrent funding available to the Parent Forum in the future. The funding support will be retrospective from the beginning of the year and parents will receive cheque payments at the end of Term 2 or Term 4 pending when events are held. Further details and discussion notes from the Parent Forum meeting will be made available

on our School Moodle: Parent Forum Minutes of Meeting Term 2.

PHOTOGRAPH / VIDEO PERMISSION FORMS

New Privacy Laws came in early March—Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2102. To ensure compliance requirements the Standards Collection Notice has been revised. Schools are also now required to obtain written permission to use student’s photographs/videos. Parents are requested to complete the Permission Form distributed today to every student. Please return

signed from by Monday 19th May.

APPLE iPADS—INFANT CLASSES

Our school has recently purchased 6 Apple iPads which will be used by the Infant classes on a roster system. Our Infant teachers recently were in-serviced on some of the current Apps that can be used in the classroom to support student learning. Both teachers and students are very enthusiastic to use these iPads as a learning tool. Enjoy your week Brendan Ryan PRINCIPAL

OFFICE HOURS School Administration Office is attended

Monday—Friday 8:20am—3:45 pm

Mt St PATRICK KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS & INTERVIEWS FOR 2015

Interviews for all new Kindergarten enrolments for 2015 have started this week.

If any existing families at Mt St Patrick have yet to complete an enrolment form

for their child starting school, please contact our School Office.

2nd Notification—STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY (Pupil Free Day)

FRIDAY 30th May

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS Page 2

SACRED HEART PARISH WEEKDAY MASS TIMES Tuesday 5.30pm Sacred Heart Wednesday 5.30pm Sacred Heart

Thursday 9.15am OLPS, Sth M’Bah

Friday 12.00noon Sacred Heart WEEKEND MASS TIMES Saturday 6:00 pm Sacred Heart (Children’s liturgy) Sunday 8:00 am Sacred Heart (Children’s liturgy)

Sunday10:00am 1st Uki

2nd & 4th OLPS –

South Murwillumbah

3rd Burringbar

SACRED HEART PARISH SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2014

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION Parent Meeting 13th May at 6pm in the hall Inscription Ceremony (weekend of 17th & 18th May) Retreat Day 19th June First Holy Communion 22nd June at 8am in the church CONFIRMATION Parent Meeting 22nd July at 6pm in the hall Inscription Ceremony TBA Retreat Day 22nd August Sacrament of Confirmation 23rd August

The Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians (Patron Saint of Australia) The

Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians is celebrated on the 24th

May. Mary Help of Christians is the Patroness of Australia.

Prayer to Mary

Most Holy Virgin Mary, appointed by God to be the Help of Chris-

tians, we choose you as the Mother and Protectress of our home.

We ask you to favor us with your powerful protection. Preserve our

home from every danger; from fire, flood, lightning, storm, earth-

quake, thieves, vandals, and from every other danger, including

evil spirits.

Bless us, protect us, defend us, keep as your own, all the people

who dwell in this home: Protect them from all accidents and misfor-

tunes, but above all obtain for them the most important grace of

avoiding sin.

Mary, Help of Christians, pray for all those who live in this home

which is consecrated to you for all time.

SPECIAL STAGE MASSES – TERM 2 Sacred Heart Parish Church at 12.15pm

Stage 1 Mass- 16th May

Middle School Mass– 6th June

Stage 2 Mass– 13th June

Kinder Liturgy– Tues 17th

June

PROCLAIM PARENTS 2014:

In the process of Proclaim Lismore Parents, the Diocese of Lismore is working to engage with parents on a program of change to make our schools the best they can be. We want to include you on this journey, so to find out more information, please visit our school web page and go to the Parents Information tab. Under this tab is a link to Proclaim. Also available on School Moodle page.

MINI-VINNIES On Friday 16th May at the parish Mass, new members of Mini-Vinnies will be inducted. You are welcome to come along and witness these young people receiving their badges and making their pledge in public. They are Chloe Brawley, Paris Ludlow, Areana Twohill, Tiffany New, Kiara McCarthy, Zoe Gatt, Morgan Burgess, Leila Parnaby, Olivia Flannery, Jasmin Dodds, Sophie Bird, Amelie Purnell, Chloe Hillcoat and Amelie McInerney. Members from last year who will be there for moral support, are Georgia Felton, Vivien Koerner-Straub, Olivia Ryan, So-phie Ross, Elise Lack and Matilda Nimmo. Working with these young people is heart-warming as they put their compassion into practical ef-forts to help those less fortunate than we are. Philomena Zambelli Mini-Vinnies Co-ordinator.

SEASONS FOR GROWTH

I ________________________________ give consent for my son/daughter ____________________ to attend the Seasons for Growth Education Program to be held within school hours. Below is a reason for this decision: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name (Parent / Guardian): _________________________ Signed: ________________________ Date: ____ / ____/ 2014

Year 6 will be busy preparing for the RE test this Term which is

Wednesday 11th June. All the best to these children.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION REMINDER

Just a reminder to all Parents that there is a First Holy

Communion meeting tonight at 6pm in the Parish Hall. During this

meeting Father David Gilbey will speak about

the Sacrament of First Holy Communion as well

as receiving information regarding this Sacra-

ment. It is very important that at least one par-

ent from each family attends.

Page 3 SCHOOL NEWS

ASSEMBLIES FOR TERM 2

Week 3: Year 2N Week 4: Year 1D Week 5: No Assembly (Pupil Free Day) Week 6: Primary Choirs Week 7: Infant Choirs Week 8: No Assembly (Athletics Carnival) Week 9: No Assembly

Assemblies commence @ 2:20pm in Sacred Heart Parish Hall

MOTHER’S DAY STALL - THANK YOU Thank you to the Parent Reps from Year 1D & Stage 2TM for their coordination of this school event. Particular thank you to Kathryn Leslight for her overall coordination of purchasing , wrapping and selling gifts. Thank you also to Melissa Graham, Kristy Calvino, Jodie Allen, Joanne Biles, Bronwyn Thomas & Sonia Gradisnik.

SKILL A THON—

Thank you to all the students and families who supported our Skill-a-thon this year. The Skill-a-thon raised $9653.80 this

year which is a wonderful effort. Below is a list of recipients of prizes from our Skill-a-thon.

Major Prize ~ ACER Netbook Gradisnik Family (Wyatt—Stage 2TM)

School Prize ~ Apple Nano: Pryke Family (Kate—Kinder M / Nathan—Stage 2HD)

Class Prize ~ Pizza Party: Stage 2TM—Mrs Morosini’s class

Individual Class Prizes ~ Sporting Goods: (highest individual fundraiser in each class)

Kinder L Miley Field Stage 2CM Isis Heterick & Lily O’Keefe

Kinder M Leo Egan Stage 2HD Jack Gracie

Year 1D Hunter Leslight Stage 2TM Wyatt Gradisnik

Year 1T Lexie Adams Stage 2MM Isabella Anderson

Year 2N Ava Singh MS F Brooke Harvey

Year 2P Logan McGilvery MS M Alyssa Carney

Abbie Thomas MS P Jordan Osmetti

MS S Zac Ennis

Thank you to Rory Curtis from ‘The Good Guys’ at South Tweed for generosity and continued support of our

Skill-a-thon this year.

NAPLAN KEY MESSAGES FOR PARENTS

NAPLAN is used by governments, education authorities and schools to determine whether young Australians are meeting

important educational goals in literacy and numeracy.

• As your child progresses through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how

well they are learning the skills of reading, writing and mathematics – essential skills that will set them firmly upon the path

to success as adults.

• It is important to know that NAPLAN is not a pass or fail test. It simply looks at what level students are achieving in litera-

cy and numeracy against the national standards and compared with their peers throughout Australia.

• NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum. Children

can prepare for NAPLAN through studying a broad rich curriculum

• On its own, NAPLAN is not a test that can be studied for and students are not expected to do so.

Nervousness

• As a parent, you can help your child by treating NAPLAN test days just like any other school day.

• Some nervousness is natural – just as your child may find other school events a little confronting.

Teaching to the test

• Students cannot prepare specifically for NAPLAN and are not expected to do so.

• These tests contain questions similar to those that occur in regular classroom learning and assessment.

Narrowing the curriculum

• NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning through the school curriculum.

• The data can be used to make decisions about the success of programs and allocation of resources.

Page 4

Term 2 Week 2 AWARDS

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

KL— Ivy Piticco KM— Akira Brinsmead 1D— Kiani Byrnes 1T— Kayla Cotelli 2N— Summer Gibbons 2P— Sienna Reid St2CM—Tabitha Stratton St2HD- Joshua Stebbing St2MM—Charli Miller-Smylie St2TM— Lara-Grace Ewing MSF— Vivien Koerner Straub MSM— Zoe Gatt MSP— Joseph Warne MSS— Chloe Hillcoat

MOST IMPROVED

KL— Isabel Lazaredes KM— Oliver Buchanan 1D— Billi Hutton 1T— Ella Cracknell 2N— Sharde Darragh 2P— Charlie Toms St2CM— Sophie Bruhn St2HD— Millie Davidson St2MM— Jack Devoy St2TM— Tahlia Drew-Perkiss MSF— Patrick Gray MSM— Finn Whitney MSP— Olivia Ryan MSS— Maddie Hill

PRINCIPALS AWARD Billi Hutton, Sebastian Calvino, Bronte McLean,

Laya Falkner, Jesse Hutton, Zac Macartney, Georgia Hutton, Joseph Warne, Tiffany New

GOOD SPORTS AWARD

Infants: Emily Thomas Stage 2: Bailee Pedlow

Middle School: Jya Fing

TECHNOLOGY AWARD Infants: Kai Mumford Stage 2: Renzo Walford

Middle School: Eden Davison

CREATIVE ARTS AWARD Infants: Jude Livermore, Alex Wellm

Stage 2: Blake Cracknell, Gabe Malcolm Middle School: Matilda Jones, Alyssa Carney

BIRTHDAYS

Madalon Hazzard, Bailee Pedlow, Zac ings, William Townsend, Cale McDonald, Georgia Biskup, Vienna Lazaredes, Evan Buch, Joseph Colnan, Danny Madden, Cashlin Townsend, Alyssa Carney, Jasmin Dodds.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

MOST IMPROVED

GOOD SPORTS AWARD

TECHNOLOGY AWARD

CREATIVE ARTS AWARD

PRINCIPAL’S AWARD

Page 5 SCHOOL NEWS

This year we will be entering two Teams into the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads. Students in Mr Spiller and Mrs Pearson’s numeracy classes will be participating. The Olympiads consist of 5 separate contests. The overall aim is to encourage students to develop important Mathematical problem solving skills in an enjoy-able environment. Although students are competing against other members of their class and teams from other schools, they are primarily competing against themselves. Each participate will receive a certificate at the end of the year. Awards are given for the best overall scorer in each team and prizes for high achievers. Mrs Waugh

MIDDLE SCHOOL ART GALLERY EXCURSION Next Thursday 22nd May Middle School classes will have the opportunity to visit the Tweed Regional Art

Gallery to view specifically the Margaret Olley Art Centre. Mrs Forrester in Art lessons is currently looking at this remarkable woman’s artworks and the techniques she used. The Margaret Olley Art Centre was built to honour the express wish of Margaret Olley following her passing in July 2011. MOAC celebrates the career, life and legacy of its namesake, Margaret Olley – Australia’s most cele-brated painter of still life and interiors. MOAC combines exhibitions of paintings and objects, an interactive multi-media drawing activity, research library and education workshop, and is complemented by the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence Studio. Central to the MOAC is the recreation of areas of Olley’s famous home studio, principally the Hat Factory and the Yellow Room. The rec-reation features original architectural elements such as windows and doors, relocated from Olley’s home studio at 48 Duxford Street, Paddington, Sydney. The interiors are filled with over 20,000 items Olley collected over many years as subject matter for her paintings.

These combined elements offer a rich and dynamic context for Olley’s extensive artistic career. A note will be sent home this week with

details regarding this excursion. We look forward to sharing our insights in the next newsletter. Mrs Waugh

Week commencing 5th - 11th May GOLD Certificates

Gabe Malcolm, Spencer Leslight

SILVER Certificates Mitchell Grossman, Corey Grossman, Isabella Anderson, Riley Bull, Caitlyn Bice, Jared

Carney, Jemma Smith.

BRONZE Certificates Kiana McCabe, Ashley Gray, Alyssa Carney, Olivia Flannery, Billy Campbell, Hannah

Trembath, Keirsten Roach, Patrick Gray, Vance Madden, Matteo McDermott, Jack

Devoy, Wyatt Gradisnik, Layla Faulkner, Lucy Jones, Elizabeth Warne, Abbey Bevan,

Cailey Baker, Harrison Bugg, Lily Cronly, Elise Lack, Sophie Ross, Kaitlyn Antonelli, Sien-

na Bull, Selam Dietrich, Billy John, Neave Butler, Codie Chung, Flynn Everall, Evie Faulk-

ner, Eva McDonald, Matilda Jones, Indiana Nuspan, Oliver Walsh, Thomas Wharton,

Joseph Warne, Angus McFarlane, Hayley Smith, Cale McDonald, Brendan Piccini, Chris

Biskup, Hudson Bosnich, Lily Charman, Drae Darragh, Eli Graham, Isis Heterick, Molly

Lazaredes, Bryce Matlock, Azalea Sattler, Charli Miller-Smylie, Charles Warren.

Mathletes of the Week

Emily Ward, Samuel Wharton, Spencer

Leslight, Isabella Anderson, Alyssa Car-

ney, Matilda Jones, Hannah Trembath,

Billy John & Ned Rogers

INFANTS iPADS HAVE ARRIVED! This Term 6 new iPads are being launched into infants classes. These are a fantastic creation

tool for the students to use in the classroom to create texts featuring print, visual and audio

elements using digital technologies to show their understanding of concepts. Infants teachers

have been involved in some professional development in this area and are very keen to

incorporate them into their classroom. Students in infants will be using a variety of creative

apps which include Shadow Puppets, Pic Collage, Explain Everything, Sock Puppets,

Toontastic and more. We are very excited about this new adventure in our school - Stay

tuned!

STORY DOGS MUFTI DAY On Tuesday 27th May all students will

be able to wear mufti to support Story

Dogs. Story Dogs has been involved

with our school over recent years work-

ing with Year 2 students. A gold coin

donation would be appreciated to sup-

port this wonderful program.

Page 6 CURRICULUM NEWS

ARTISTS OF THE WEEK

Billy John Year 2P

Paris Ludlow—MS F Pop Art

‘GRIP LEADERSHIP’ CONFERENCE

On Friday 9th May four students from our school leadership group: Elise

Lack, Madeleine Hill, Zac Macartney & Joseph Warne attended a Grip

Leadership day at Twin Towns. The GRIP Student Leadership Conference is

unique in that it concentrates specifically on training student leaders for their

role as SCHOOL LEADERS. The style, topics, and content of this conference

all focus on what the students can do RIGHT NOW. Thank you to Mrs Philo-

mena Zambelli for transporting and supervising these students on this day.

Below are some of the thoughts of the students who attend this day:

Elise Lack ‘My favourite part was when l got to go onto the stage and play ‘Loud Buzz-

ers’. My team won the challenge and we received a ‘Loud Noises’ badge. It was a great

experience and loads of fun!’

Madeleine Hill ‘I thought the conference was very entertaining and l’m so glad l had the opportunity to go. We learnt about strawberry lead-

ers and watermelon leaders. A watermelon leader is someone who appears different on the inside to what they appear on the outside. Straw-

berry leaders are the same on the inside as well as the outside.’

Zac Macartney ‘My favourite part was the dancing at the end of the day. I liked funny dance moves displayed around the room.’

Joseph Warne ‘My favourite part of the leadership day was playing a huge game of guess who. I also had the privilege of being able to rep-

resent our school in a hero contest. We had to choose who would be a better hero in a difficult situation.’

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners, the Bunjalung people, who have walked and cared for this land for thousands of years and their

descendants who maintain these spiritual connections and traditions. Let us reflect on the millions of footprints that travelled the Dreaming path-

ways and their own loved ones who have gone before us.

We will Commemorate National Sorry Day at our

Monday morning assembly on the 26th May. All welcome.

The heavens are yours, the earth is also yours; the world and all that is in it – you

have created them.

VIOLIN GROUP

Our school violin group including:

Anna Smith, Matilda Jones & Millie

Davidson performed last Friday at the

Tweed Shire Cemetery Chapel. This

was a special day held as a Mother’s

Day Memorial Service at the Chapel.

Page 7 SPORT NEWS

COMMUNITY NEWS

NSW HEALTH DENTAL SERVICES

Children between 0-18 years who have a Medicare card are eligible for FREE dental services at any of the NSW Health public dental clinics located at the Tweed Hospi-tal, Pottsville Health One and East Murwillumbah Public School. Please ph1300 651 625 to register for an appointment.

ZONE CROSS COUNTRY

Mt St Patrick students were extremely competitive at the Zone Cross Country, with Mt St Patrick placing 3 rd with only 3 points between

the top 3 schools! Once again the students were cooperative and certainly ran their best. Congratulations to the entire team.

We wish the following students who finished in the top 6 all the best in Lismore this week as they compete in the Diocesan carnival.

Hayley Smith, Jya Fing, Travis Antonelli & Gabe Malcolm 1st, Ivy Morton Rowthorne 2nd, Alyssa Carney &

Melia Loveridge 3rd & Jared Carney 4th.

POLDING WINTER SPORTS TRIALS

Last Friday seven students trialed at Tamworth (brrr!)for a place in the Polding hockey, rugby league

or football team. Mr Ellison reported on the excellent participation and team work by all competitors.

Special congratulations to Melia Loveridge and Hayley Smith on their selection in the Polding foot-

ball and hockey teams. They will now compete in the PSSA State championships later this term.

NRL STORY TELLING

ES1 (Kinder) & St1(Year 1 & 2) were entertained by the NRL development officers yesterday. They

enjoyed listening to a story and then participated in some ball skills.

MT ST PATRICK ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Parent helpers are always required to assist at our carnival to ensure a safe and quality carnival. Please indicate below if you are

able to assist. No experience is necessary! On the spot training is given!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------

Dear Agnes

I am able to assist on Friday 20th June as

Primary carnival

[ ] timekeeper [ ] place judge [ ] starter

Infants carnival

[ ] handing out ribbons [ ] starter [ ] helping with groups

My child is ________________________ Class ___________

NRL STORY TELLING

MELIA & HAYLEY

Lee & Peter Smith

loadesbutchery@hotmail.com

www. loadesbutchery.com

PH: 0418 424 161