DUNNSTOWN

SATURDAY 6.30 P.M.

GORDON

SUNDAY 8.45A.M.

CHILDREN’S LITURGY -

PLEASE BRING YOUR

CHILDREN ALONG TO THIS

PARISH MASS

BALLAN

SUNDAY 10.30 A.M.

16th February, 2016.

S T PAT R I C K ' S S C H O O L N E W S L E T T E R

Thanks to all families who were able to join us last Friday for the Twilight Sports and Picnic. The main aim of this evening is to bring families together at the start of the year and to enjoy a social evening together. The children had a lot of fun during the day and in the late afternoon creating, practising and competing in events. They created their team songs and decorated rooms in multi-age groups. The older children are given opportunities to lead the groups and to practise their leadership skills. Buddies work together also and get to know each other a little better. We were very lucky with the weather and I thank all staff and parents for a wonderful evening. Our new school app is going well and we now have 20 members of the St Patrick’s school app community. To download the free app, please follow these simple instructions: For iPhone and Ipad, search “St Patrick’s School Gordon” in the Apps Store and install For Android devices, search “St Patrick’s School Gordon” in the Google Play Store and install. Once you have your school app downloaded, you will have access to calendar events, updates, newsletters, can send and receive messages from school etc. Please give it a go and tell your friends, neighbours and relatives about our free school app. This week we have Megan Lindus filling in for Amanda Labbett who is recovering well from a recent operation. Megan is a trained teacher who is having time off to pursue studies in Psychology. Megan lives locally and we are delighted that she can work with Ben and Alyce as a Learning Support Officer over the next two weeks prior to Amanda’s return. I trust that the year has commenced well for everyone as it has here in the school office. Teachers are all busy working to improve each child’s learning and we rely also on the support parents offer at home. Regular communication between home and school is one way to ensure consistency in our approaches. Hopefully the School App will be another improvement for us all in this area. Have a great week everyone. Michael Kennedy

The school nurse from

the Primary School Nursing Program will

be visiting our school in the near future.

At this time the nurse will see each child in the Foundation Year. Today a confidential School Health Care

Questionnaire will be sent home with

Foundation students. We ask that these are

returned to your classroom teacher by by next Wednesday

24th February. If you have any

concerns, please speak to Alyce Driscoll.

info@spgordon.catholic.edu.au

www.spgordon.catholic.edu.au

A compulsory meeting will be held on Thursday, 18th February, 2016 at St.

Brigid’s Ballan at 7 pm. Parents only are required to attend this meeting to register and pay $50 on the night for enrolment for the start of the sacramental pro-gram. A copy of Baptismal certificate will also be needed. The sacramental team will speak about the program. There will be another meeting in May to discuss the Confirmation and Eucharist program which will also have a cost of $50. Dates for Ceremonies will be confirmed later. The children will be required to attend one of these weekend masses: Sunday 21st February 8.45 am Gordon Sunday 28th February 10.30am Ballan to be presented to the parish and receive their purple stoles and information packs. A four week program will be required to be com-pleted at home with the celebration for the Sacra-ment of Reconciliation to be advised. Enrolment forms will be available from the Parish Primary Schools and will be needed for the meeting. Any queries please ring Therese Winter 0417518187

Year F/1/2 Everyone had a great time at Twilight sports on Friday and it was great

to see so many parents there. This week I have sent home Year 1 spelling - children

will be tested on Tuesdays. Year 2 spelling will go home Wednesday and sheets

and spelling tests will be on Tuesday, Foundation spelling will start term 2 however

parents can support their child in daily reading as well as alphabet recognition

(name and sound). In Maths this week we are focusing on counting (Grade 2s from

any starting point and by 2s,3s,4s,5s) (Grade 1s forwards and backwards from any

starting point to 100) (Foundation forwards and backwards to 20) Hope you have a

great week. Alyce Driscoll

Year 3/4 This week in Grade 3/4, we have been settling into our Reading, Writing

and Maths routines. We've been completing our personal blurbs, profiles and have

begun looking at writing our own autobiographies. In Maths, we've still been working

with Multiplication, Place Value and Large Numbers. In Religion, we've improved

our understanding of what the Bible is and we are starting to research some

important people from the Bible (Eg: Moses, Noah, Joseph, Abraham, Mary, John

The Baptist, etc.). Also, our first set of Homework should be coming home today.

The Grade 3/4's also had a great time with our Brains experiment last Thursday

Year 5/6 The class have settled in well and each student has made a great start to

the year. We have set up class expectations that will allow each student to learn

and develop and get the most out of their year.

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK Jake Cardona who has displayed more mature

behaviours that are assisting him to learn and produce higher quality work.

Bailey Mitchell for working hard at school and home to learn her tables, which will

assist her in most areas of her maths.

News from the Rooms

Page 2

PIANO LESSONS

Piano and keyboard, beginner guitar,

double bass. Experienced

Teacher. All styles of music. AMEB

exams or just learn for fun.

Call Tim Nelson 0450 904 464

Please return all permission slips to the school at your

earliest convenience. Any person wishing

to begin or recommence a direct debit, please contact Julie at the school

office.

HOT LUNCHES will be available this Friday 19th February. Lunch

Order bags attached to the

newsletter. A Volunteer is

urgently needed to assist this

Friday from 12-2. If you are able

to help, please advise the P and F Committee or

Julie at the school office. Thank you.

Mr Lamb - Long Service Leave Jamie has applied for Long Service Leave this term from Feb 29th and will be heading overseas in March with his family. His boys are playing football for St Patrick’s College in Ireland and Jamie will be able to watch a game or two on his travels. Jacinta Reidy will be taking the Year 5/6 class whilst Jamie is away for the last four weeks of Term 1 and the first week of Term 2. Jacinta has worked at St Francis Xavier for the last seven years as a classroom teacher. She is taking this year off to work in other schools and we are lucky that she is available to work at St Patrick’s during this time. We wish Mr Lamb all the best on his trip and we welcome Miss Reidy to our school.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.

Page 3

Upcoming Events: St Patrick’s Gordon

Please return Scholastic Book Club Order by the 16th February. Thursday 18th February - 7pm Sacramental Program Meeting for Parents of children participating in

the 2016 Sacramental Program - St Brigid’s, Ballan Friday 19th February - Hot Lunches available for all students and staff. Order forms are to be

returned with money on Friday. If you can help out with lunch preparation, please notify the Parents and Friends Committee.

Friday 19th February - Disco Tickets available for payment and collection from the school office or the Parents and Friends Committee.

Sunday 21st February - 8:45 am Mass at St Patrick’s Church - Children’s Liturgy. Monday 22nd February - School Advisory Meeting at 7 pm. Tuesday 23rd February - Whole School Assembly - We invite families to join us. Kellee Frazer, our

School Banking Co-ordinator will present information on school banking. Wednesday 24th February - School Disco for all students from 5.30 pm - 7.00 pm Sunday 28th February - Parish Festival at the Wallace Recreation Reserve. A great day for all. Thursday 10th March - Moorabool Sports Day for all students and Families at Bacchus Marsh.

Details to follow later. Thursday 17th March - St Patrick’s Day celebrations for all staff and students at St Brigid’s in

Ballan. THE FOUNDATION STUDENTS WILL HAVE ALL WEDNESDAY’S HOME IN TERM 1. Term 1 Dates - February 1st (students resume classes) to Thursday 24th March.

Good Friday is the 25th March. Monday 14th March: Labour Day Public Holiday

HOT LUNCHES THIS COMING FRIDAY, 19TH FEBRUARY

“Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be.” Rita Pierson, Educator St Patrick’s School is working on developing a community with a ‘Growth Mindset’. This creates a positive attitude to school and life. This term we are promoting two character strengths which are evident in successful learners. Please think about how you can promote these characteristics with your children at home this term.

Confidence, Expectation, Optimism, faith, courage, Future minded, Future Orientated

Originality, inspiration, imagination, uniqueness, adaptive, ingenuity

Get involved in the School Banking program

St Patrick’s Primary School is excited to offer the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to all students. The School Banking program provides children with an opportunity to deposit money into their Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account at school each week. The program is about how often your child makes deposits, not how much they deposit. To encourage regular savings behaviour the program offers an exciting Rewards Program. Every deposit earns your child a silver Dollarmites token, and once they’ve collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for a reward. The rewards available during 2016 are:

Flying Snake Tail

Wildlife Writer Set

Mud Splat Handball

Outback Pat Bag Tag

Backtrack Eraser Pen

Jump and Skip Rope

Bush Fly Fan

Wriggly Glow Worm

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives $5 when a student makes their first ever School Banking deposit and 5% on every deposit made through the school (to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit). Getting involved in School Banking is easy!

You can get involved in the School Banking program by opening a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account at your local branch. All you need to bring is your current identification as well as your child’s birth certificate. If you are an existing Commonwealth Bank customer and have NetBank, you can open an account online. If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in every week on School Banking day using their Dollarmites deposit wallet.

School Banking day is Wednesday Each week you need to drop your deposit book into the school office.

We would like to thank Kellee Frazer who has volunteered as our School Banking Co-ordinator once again. Our School Banking volunteers are vital in helping teach students the importance of saving regularly. Kellee will be joining us at our School Assembly on Tuesday 23rd February to speak about the program. So if any parents are interested in opening an account for their children, please come along on this morning.

St Patrick's & St Michael’s Hot Chip Stand

at Gordon Parish Community Festival

Rostered Time On. Volunteer Name:

10:30am - 12:30pm 1

2

3

4

12:30pm - 2:30pm 1

2

3

4

2:30pm - 4:00pm 1

2

3

4

Our school has been asked to contribute by manning a Hot Chip and Cold drink stall & general setup responsibilities on the day. An availability roster is listed below. Profits will go back to our school, so it is a great

fundraising opportunity, whilst supporting our Parish. For further information or to register your rostered time, please contact Narelle

Conroy on 0429 388231

People with a refugee background are being

invited to the Community Festival at Wallace on 28th Feb., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local families who would like

to volunteer to be matched with one of

the visiting families for the day are asked to

contact Kathleen Moran a.s.a.p.

email: rsmmoran@vic.chariot.net.au

phone: 0438812449