Wed 9th Dec - Reports released on SEQTA Engage

Thurs 10 Dec - Year 6 Farewell Assembly

Fri 11 Dec - Last Day of Term for Students

Please check the community calendar for future dates as the calendar is regularly updated.

https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/community-calendar

2021 Pupil Free Day Dates for your diary:

Friday 12 March 2021

Friday 28 May 2021

Tuesday 8 June 2021

Friday 18 June 2021

Monday 16 August 2021

Dear Parents

The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy with end of year events and also trying to squeeze in events we missed out on last term due to COVID. Our aim has been to ensure the children have had as many opportunities as possible this term and I can proudly say that we have achieved that!

Our Christmas sing-a-long on Tuesday was a combination of Christmas carols sung so beautifully by soloists, the choir and all the children, as we retold the Nativity through song. Thank you to Mrs Cusack and Mrs Woodall for co-ordinating this event and to Mrs Prince and Mrs Tardrew for sharing their musical talents with us too.

During this special season, it is so important to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Saviour in a meaningful way, so I encourage you to take your children to mass during the Advent and Christmas season. There will be a Christmas Eve outdoor family mass on the Our Lady of the Mission parish oval at 6.00pm. Father Cyprian is inviting all children to come along and participate as readers, shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph etc. Please see the Parish section of our newsletter for further details.

We have our Thanksgiving Liturgy today and it is always a lovely way to conclude the year as a whole school, giving thanks to God for the many blessings and reflecting on how we can give generously to those who may be finding things a little difficult in our local community. Thank you for your generosity over the last few weeks with all the different food items you brought in for St Vincent de Paul. You have certainly helped to make someone’s Christmas this year just that little more special. Just before our liturgy we will hold our Farewell Assembly for the staff who are leaving, singing them a special Blessing Song and asking God to look after them all in their future endeavours.

We celebrated our Year Six children in a special way with their Graduation Mass on Tuesday and their Farewell assembly coming up tomorrow. At the Graduation Mass I spoke to the Year Six children about ‘Dreams can come true if you take the time to think about what you want in life. Live life to the fullest. Create your own dreams and follow them until they are a reality’. I would like to wish all the Year Six students well in their future endeavours at their new schools and may God bless them all as they set out on the next part of their journey.

Edu Dance was another huge hit this year with the children showcasing their dancing talents and with so many parents and grandparents coming along to enjoy the entertainment. It was an absolute joy to see the enthusiasm on the faces of all the children as they presented their class dance. Well done everyone! Big thank you to Ms Bebich who coordinated the programme this year and to all staff who assisted in making it run so smoothly.

Class teachers are currently looking at class groupings for 2021. Many factors are considered when selecting class placements for students and each child’s best interests are the main priority when these decisions are made. Class placements are a team decision made in consultation with both the year level teachers. Teachers spend a lot of time and give great consideration to the placement of children and I believe that their professionalism should be respected. Consideration for placement is made using the following criteria: Gender; Pastoral/Social/Emotional; Special Education; Academic ability; Relationships etc.

Every effort is made to place children where it is felt they will have the greatest opportunity to succeed. All teachers at PCPS are very professional and of an excellent standard and children will receive a high quality of education no matter which class they are placed with. If your child has special pastoral issues which may need consideration, then you needed to have met with your child’s class teacher before last Monday. Parents should understand that requests for particular placement cannot be guaranteed. Requesting a certain teacher is not a consideration. Once class groupings are finalised they will not be changed so please do not contact the teachers, Leadership Team or the office after the cut-off date for pastoral needs (which was 30 November) nor once you receive details about your child’s class on Friday 18 December.

Our Pre Kindy (3yr old) list is growing for 2021 so if you would like to secure a place for your child please contact Mrs Ellen at the school office to enrol your child. If you If you have friends or neighbours with children who would be ready for Pre Kindy, please encourage them to enrol.

We are currently enrolling for Pre Kindy and Kindy 2022, 2023 and beyond so please get your application in for your child as soon as possible.

There are limited vacancies in other year levels in 2021 so if you know of anyone looking for a position, please recommend our beautiful school.

A few words of thanks:

The end of the year is a time for reflection of the journey that we have taken together as a school community and the part that each and everyone one of us has played. It is a time to acknowledge this journey, celebrate all our great achievements as well as to look forward to what is to come in the year ahead.

This year has no doubt been a year like no other with COVID affecting all our lives. However, with a fantastic staff and great teamwork, together with unwavering support and flexibility from parents in the school community, we survived and got to the end of 2020. This year may have looked a little different however we have lived up to our school motto of “Love One Another” each and every day. In the words of Pope Francis “Love gives energy and fruitfulness to life and to the journey of faith” and this has certainly been the case at PCPS this year. Our work always centres upon ensuring that our core values of Respect, Excellence, Sacredness and Togetherness have shone through in all that we do and is what is at the forefront of our Strategic Plan.

Our school is a community that with Jesus at the heart, we strive to follow in Jesus’ footsteps each and every day. The school and parish enjoy a close relationship. I would like to thank Father Cyprian and Father Francis for leading all of our whole-school class masses, liturgies and sacraments this year and for nurturing our spirituality.

Our beautiful Padbury CPS children have worked extremely hard this year as always. The children have made me very proud on so many occasions, in all their achievements and in especially how they embody our wonderful community spirit and demonstrate their ‘love for one another’. When COVID hit us this year the children stepped up and took to online learning with relative ease.

I would like to thank all parents for the tremendous encouragement and support you have given to your children throughout 2020 and especially during COVID when many of you had to come to grips with online learning and having your children at home 24/7. You did well!

The staff are always so appreciative of parental assistance, which is given willingly in so many ways, albeit in a reduced form this year due to COVID. I am truly appreciative of the high level of involvement of parents within our school community and I thank each and every one of you for your time, effort and contributions as our school would not be the same without your support.

Thank you to all of the wonderful staff at Padbury CPS – the professionalism and commitment that they show on a daily basis is outstanding. They have provided excellent educational opportunities for our children but more importantly they nurture them spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically – and always have the children’s best interests at heart. The staff rose to an even higher level this year due to COVID and they navigated their way round online learning in an amazingly short time. It was teamwork, dedication and patience that got them through this year. I thank them for their continual support and commitment.

Staff

We farewell the following long standing staff members this year - Education Assistant Mrs Bertoldo (21yrs) and Science Teacher Mrs Roberts (16yrs). We also farewell Education Assistant Mrs Prince and Teacher Miss Buckingham. I would like to thank them for all their wonderful work as educators at PCPS and their contributions to our school community during their time here. I wish them all the best for the future and for their new endeavours. We welcome back from leave Mrs Wright and Mrs Sadowski.

We are so very fortunate to have a wonderful school community and I thank God for blessing us all at Padbury CPS. Keep safe over the holidays, especially if you are travelling and have a peaceful Christmas with your family. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

A Merry and Holy Christmas to all Padbury Catholic Primary School families

Mrs Margaret Williamson

Principal

Reports will be available through SEQTA Engage this afternoon.

A reminder that when accessing your child's reports this afternoon, you will have 2 reporting documents to read.

1. Formal academic report (as normal)

2. An Elaborations Document - These elaborations break down the Religious Education, English and Mathematics learning areas into a range of main outcomes under each of the different subject strands, and your child's progress against these outcomes is reported through a tick-box, indicating their level of achievement. Both documents will be uploaded to SEQTA Engage.

The picture with this Newsletter item shows that when you log in to SEQTA Engage, there are two documents to access Semester 2 Reports:

2020 Semester 2 and

2020 Semester 2 Elaborations

YEAR 6 PARENTS

Please ensure you download and save your child's reports by 3:00pm THIS FRIDAY 11th December (last day of school). Our student management software needs to be rolled over into 2021 after this time and as such, Year 6 reports will be wiped from SEQTA Engage and no longer be available.

A reminder that 2021 Booklists should be ordered by THIS Friday 11th December.

2021 Booklists are on the school website - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/booklists

Thank you for your support throughout this year. We wish you and your families a happy and relaxing Christmas Holiday break and look forward to seeing you all in 2021!

Mr Ryan von Bergheim & Mrs Loretta Hutcheson

Assistant Principals

Well done to all PCPS students for their wonderful performances and thank you to Mrs Bebich for coordinating the programme.

Your last chance to go through lost property is this week.

There are a mountain of items in the lost property box, including good jumpers and jackets!

Lost property can be located in front of the GreenSpace in the amphitheatre.

Any items unclaimed by Friday afternoon will be donated to the uniform shop or given to St Vincent de Paul.

Our Djooroobidiny Exhibition has been featured in Catholic Publication The Record. Click here to have a read - https://therecord.com.au/news/local/padbury-catholic-students-go-along-happily/

As another year draws to a close it is always a good time to reflect on the year that has been and to begin thinking about the year ahead. What a year 2020 has been. One of the biggest challenges children face at school is that of friendships. Can I ask that you all spend some time thinking about your child’s friendships over the holiday period and your role in assisting them through the ups and downs.

Children need parents to provide a steady, supportive environment for their experimentation, a pool with a lifeguard. They need to learn how to manage the ups and downs of friendships. They need opportunities to develop their resourcefulness. They won’t learn if the adults’ step in and problem solve for them and they won’t learn if the adults’ clear all the obstacles from their path. Parents can:

• Support children’s friendships.
• Make your child’s friends welcome in your home.
• Be a good friendship role model and teacher.
• Provide a wide range of friendship and group opportunities.
• Make friends with the parents of your child’s friends (and enemies).
• Empathise with your child’s social pain but keep it in perspective.
• Take the long view.

Most importantly we could all worry less!

Children often surprise us. They can be amazing in coping with situations when we didn’t think they had it in them. We have seen so many examples of this over this unusual school year. We just need to focus on giving them opportunities to grow and develop.

Hopefully these thoughts and suggestions will be useful as we wrap up another important year in your child’s education. I look forwards to supporting the children, families and staff of Padbury Catholic in 2021. Wishing you all a well-earned break, a joyous Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Mrs Ali Fisher

Social Worker

I would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding with the uniform shop this year.

Huge thanks to the lovely ladies who continued to volunteer behind the scenes and keep the shop ticking over...Laura Smith, Kari Stott, Marianne Thorburn, Carolin Dymock,

Jenni Marcelino and Darlene McKenzie.

Flexi schools deliveries are done for the term however if you are still looking for uniforms you can visit the Uniform shop on 9th December 2:30-3:00pm. After this, you can still order online (Flexischools) and we will have two collection dates in the holidays -

Wed 27 Jan 10-11am and Fri 29 Jan 9-10am

Any orders not collected then will be delivered to the classroom once school starts.

The Uniform shop will also be open for last minute purchases too.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and fun filled New Year.

Mrs Kylie Giles

Uniform Shop Manageress

A HUGE thank you for everyone’s support for this year’s P&F Christmas Raffle.

We managed to raise over $1000! Congratulations again to the following winners:

FIRST PRIZE:
Renault F1 Cap signed by Daniel Ricciardo (kindly donated by Daniel Ricciardo) with a 159-piece Bunnings toolbox (Valued at $140 - kindly donated by Ian Goodenough), Wembley Golf x2 Weekday Green and Cart Hire Vouchers (Valued at $164) and an Anytime Fitness Stirling 1 month membership, fitness consult and merchandise pack (Valued at $228) -
WINNER: Kallum Kupp 6R

2nd Prize:
Twin Pack of Parliament House Wine (kindly donated by Peter Katsambanis) with a $50 Bunnings Voucher and a Salon Express Voucher (Valued at $50)
WINNER: Adam Lucas PPW

3rd Prize:
Warwick Super Bowl Game Vouchers with a Book Pack (Valued at $200) (kindly donated by Fremantle Press)
WINNER: Joel Swadling 6LG

4th Prize:
The Pilates Co North Beach - 5 Class Pack (Valued at $150) with a 50% off Cacti and Co Voucher
WINNER: Chloe Green 1B

5th Prize:
$100 worth of Alex Junior Coffee Tokens (kindly donated by Padbury Pharmacy and Alex Junior) - YES! That’s 20 COFFEES!!! and two 2 for 1 Vouchers to Adventure World
WINNER: Meagan Requilme 5D

6th Prize:
MBA Sports School Holiday Camp Vouchers (Valued at $120) with a 20% off Hey Sweetcheeks Cupcakes Voucher
WINNER: Clare Midgley

7th Prize:
Oh Hey WA Walking Tour Voucher (Valued at $80) with a Jesters Padbury Voucher (Valued at $20)
WINNER: Makenzi Aloi 6LG

8th Prize:
Oh Hey WA Walking Tour Voucher (Valued at $80) with a Craigie Leisure Centre Gift Pack - Visor, Backpack, Water Bottle & Coffee Cup
WINNER: Marisa Gazey

9th Prize:
Iplay 1 x Super Play Pack (Valued at $26) with a Bakers Delight Whitfords Christmas Cake/Tarts (Valued at $25) and a City of Joondalup cooler bag
WINNER: Matilda Kehoe 6R

10th Prize:
Coffee Club Whitfords Voucher (Valued at $20) with an Iplay 1 x Play Pack (Valued at $20) and a City of Joondalup cooler bag
WINNER: Marianne Thorburn

WYFI: 24:7 Whitford Youth Group – For all youth in Years 6 to 12. 1st, 3rd & 5th Fridays @ Whitford Parish Hall, 7pm. Call Amanda 0421144992 or Luke 041822932 for more information.

Christmas Eve outdoor Mass - we invite children to come to the rehearsal on Saturday 19th December at 10am where they will be allocated different roles: shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph, star bearers etc. All PCPS families are invited to come to this special children’s mass. As it is an outdoor mass on the oval near the church, we are Covid complaint regarding distancing.

Fr Francis and I would like to thank school communities for their kind support this passing year and wish them a nice well deserved summer holiday, a blessed Christmas and a truly rewarding happy new year 2021. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Rev Fr Cyprian M Shikokoti - PP

Our Lady of the Mission, Whitford Parish

Website : www.olm.myparish.net.au