Padbury CPS Newsletter
Issue #1 - ???? 2022
Newsletter #4 - 24 March 2022
DIGNITY
Show respect to everyone - we are all made in the image of God
UPCOMING EVENTS
TERM DATES
Please check the community calendar for upcoming and future dates as the calendar is regularly updated.
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Lent
Dear Parents
May this Lenten season be a time for discovering what we can experience through fasting. As well as fasting from food, we might also:
· Fast from mindless entertainment in order to experience the Word of God in scripture
· Fast from shopping for something new and needless in order to share what we can with others for whom simple everyday survival is a constant struggle
· Fast from overly demanding schedule in order to rediscover the love of family and friends
· Fast from anger, impatience and our need to be in control in order to recognise our humbleness before God.
· Fast from whatever keeps us from being centred fully in the love of God that is especially present to us during this Lenten season
Harmony Day
This week we celebrated Harmony Day. This is a time in which we celebrate cultural differences and promote respect and love for all. It was amazing to see the children and staff wearing something orange or cultural clothing to represent their heritage. We also had the classes tie coloured material strips throughout your playground. Even though these are simple gestures to recognise Harmony Week, the message is very important and resonates with our core Christian belief of loving one another.
Pastoral Care
If a family would like to place a note in the Pastoral Care section of the newsletter in relation to a birth or death, or if a family would like the whole school community to pray for any special intentions e.g. a family member who is ill, please send a message to let your child’s class teacher or Mrs Ellen at the front office know or send an email to admin@padcath.wa.edu.au
Swimming Carnival
What beautiful weather we had for our School Swimming Carnival last week. Even though the carnival had to run a little differently due to COVID this year, the Year Three to Six children still had a wonderful time. Congratulations to Padbury faction who won!
I would like to thank Mr John Hignett, our Sports Teacher, for his thorough planning and organisation enabling the day to run so smoothly and to all the parents and staff who assisted on the day. Your help was truly appreciated.
Enrol now for PK and K 2023 and beyond
Enrolments are now taking place of Pre Kindy and Kindergarten 2023, 2024, 2025. Please note that Kindy 2023 is almost full so if you have a sibling you have not yet enrolled please see Mrs Ellen in the office immediately otherwise you may miss out!
P&F
The children are continuing to enjoy their P&F Icy Pole days for the term. Big thank you to Elva MacDonagh for co ordinating this for the children. Icy Pole Days will continue into Term Two as we place our Sausage Sizzles on hold due to COVID restrictions.
Communication
The PCPS Leadership Team and Staff provide parents and our wider community, various channels to keep them informed of life, activities and information at PCPS. These have been streamlined as follows:
Parent Teacher Information Sessions– Pre-Primary to Year 6 Parent Information sessions are shared early in the year to discuss the year's programme and expectations in each class. These were shared electronically this year. The Pre-Kindy and Kindergarten meetings are held in December so that information provided can be of benefit in the transition period of the Christmas holidays, in order to prepare the younger students for their commencement at Pre-Kindy and Kindergarten.
Interviews – Parent Teacher interviews are held for all children in Term One and these can be booked via our online service. Teachers welcome parents to make appointments to discuss their child's progress at any stage of the year.
Seesaw - Each class from PK-Yr6 has a Seesaw App where families can gain a window into their child’s learning. The children and/or teacher can capture learning that is taking place and share this with parents.
SEQTA emails and notices- Teachers and office administration use email as their primary source of communication with parents when dealing with administrative information.
Progress Reports – Evaluation and reporting are important elements in the teaching/learning process. Teachers provide written reports at the end of each semester for K-6. Parent-teacher interviews during the year provide opportunities for the exchange of information regarding the child and his/her development.
Wider Communication
Weekly Newsletter - emailed once a fortnight on Friday afternoons via a newsletter link to each family. The newsletter is also uploaded to our school website - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/newsletters
Electronic Annual Calendar – to inform parents of events for each term and assist with forward planning - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/community-calendar
Social Media-Facebook Page and Instagram - Padbury Catholic Primary School has an official Facebook and Instagram page. These modes of social media allow us to celebrate all things PCPS, with the intent to build upon our strong community spirit. They are great ways to share information with our community about events, fundraisers, sporting and academic achievements. Our social media is also part of our Marketing Plan.
School Website – https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/ contains school information, including newsletters.
General Meetings – Meetings are scheduled during the year to ensure cooperation and understanding of current topics such as sacramental programmes, curriculum and learning activities.
P&F Meetings – These provide a good forum for gathering information about school happenings and are a way to make a real contribution to your children's education as well as involve yourself in friend and fund raising. So far we have had an online Executive Meeting this term and will see what the COVID restrictions are like in Term Two in regards to being able to meet together.
Thank You
It is always wonderful to hear positive feedback from the school community. Thank you to those parents who have chatted with me or one of the Leadership Team recently or sent an email about what they love about Padbury CPS. I always love to hear your good news stories!
Also a big thankyou to families who are spreading the word about our fabulous school and encouraging friends, neighbours and relatives to enrol. Word of mouth is the best publicity so keep it up!
The classrooms teachers are in the midst of having meetings with all parents this term so I encourage you to take the time to schedule a meeting with them to discuss your child’s progress thus far. This is such a valuable opportunity which supports the education partnership that we believe to be a vital component to student success.
COVID
Your support and praise of the Leadership Team in regard to COVID has been very encouraging, thankyou so much. There is a lot to navigate in a school our size! I must say a big thankyou to all parents for your never-ending commitment and ongoing support with everything COVID related. You are sensational!
To reduce the number of emails parents are receiving re COVID cases, a general email will no longer be sent to year levels advising parents of a positive case in the class. Instead parents will only receive an email if their child is a close contact. However parents can check still go on to SEQTA Engage to see the current number of cases within a year level. To access the portal please log into your SEQTA Engage account, in the Menu select Portals and then select Covid Cases @ PCPS.
During this High Case Load COVID Period and to enable Education Continuity, I am asking parents to wear their masks whilst on the school grounds (even if you are socially distancing). During drop off and pick up it gets very congested on the verandas and socially distancing is almost impossible. Case numbers are on the rise in our school and I wish to keep all in our school community safe especially our children. Thankyou for your understanding. If you have a mask exemption I ask that you please present this to me at the office. I highly encourage parents to make use of our Kiss and Ride both in the mornings and the afternoons to minimise the number of adults on the school site.
Farewell and Best Wishes
This term our lovely Music Teacher Mrs Cusack has been on some well-deserved long service leave. Unfortunately, she won’t be back as she has decided to retire! Mrs Cusack has been at PCPS since 1987 and we have loved her passionate nature, her love of music and the Arts, her dedication, and her bubbly personality. She is going to be missed by many.
Due to COVID restrictions we are unable to gather as a school community to farewell Mrs Cusack however we have organised some pre-recorded online farewells for her including some performances by the children. She will receive a super surprise at the end of the term when we present this to her!
Big thanks to Mrs La Galia who undertook the relief for music this term, she has done a phenomenal job! Thankyou so much! Mrs Roslyn Twine has been employed as our Music Teacher as of next term so please make her feel welcome. Mrs Twine is a very experienced and passionate Music Teacher who is looking forward to joining the PCPS community.
We also farewell and send our best wishes to Mrs Carter as she commences her parental leave at the end of this term. We wish her well for the birth of her first baby and look forward to hearing the good news next term.
Miss Wilson will be taking a term of long service leave in Term Two and she will also be getting married during this time. We wish her all the very best for her wedding day and ask God to bless her and her fiancé on their very special wedding day.
Admin Officer Mrs Hughes will also be on long service leave in Term Two and we wish her all the best and hope she enjoys her time away.
We wish Mr Matt Stapleton, our Instrumental Teacher, all the very best as he leaves PCPS to move to Canada to be with his family. Mr Stapleton has been at PCPS for many years teaching various instruments to our children. The new Music Teacher will review the Instrumental programme next term.
Enjoy the beautiful weather on the weekend!
Mrs Margaret Williamson
Principal
FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Project Compassion
Students and families are encouraged to donate to Project Compassion over the period of Lent. The money raised goes to such worthy causes around the world through Caritas.
Easter Raffle
The Year 6 Spiritual Ministry are holding an Easter Egg raffle to raise money for Caritas. Tickets are on sale in the courtyard by the Administration building. Tickets will be $1 each or 3 tickets for $2. You can also enter ‘Guess the Lollies in the Jar’ for 50c.
ADMINISTRATION
Padbury Catholic is on SPOTIFY!
As part of their English studies, our Year 6 students are currently creating their own podcasts, which will be published to Spotify. The Year 6's have decided to produce a new podcast for the Padbury Catholic School Community. The podcast will keep PCPS students, teachers and parents up to date with what is happening in the school, with events, reviews, interviews and much, much more.
The Year 6's would love you and your children to listen to the podcasts, which will be released every 2-3 weeks from now on. Perhaps listening in the car on the way home from school one day would be a good idea.
Ben, Elijah and Noah (Year 6) are our hosts for the first podcast. To listen:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7HQMlE20Qg7bwVl3G6dne6
Buzzsprout - https://padburycatholicpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Don't forget to follow us on Spotify!
Self-Reporting RAT & PCR Results - New Online Form
It is vitally important that parents and caregivers inform the school if their child tests positive for COVID-19.
To support our planning for your child’s classroom attendance, please continue to notify Padbury Catholic if your child returns a negative PCR/ RAT result, after:
- being identified as a close contact (Day 1 test to return to school as an asymptomatic close contact), and/or
- being identified as a household close contact (Day 6/7 test to conclude quarantine).
Up until now, parents have been emailing through their child's results to teachers, the front office, or the Leadership Team. To help streamline this process a COVID-19 Self-reporting Form for Students and Staff members has been developed by Catholic Education WA (CEWA). Parents and caregivers can now inform the school of their child’s positive or negative COVID result via this LINK. The information will go directly to the Principal, prompting our COVID response.
From this point onwards, we ask that parents complete this online form instead of emailing in the results. The link to the form is also available on the Covid Updates page of our school website https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/covid-updates
EDUCATION
Why play and social skills are important:
Play is the voluntary engagement in self-motivated activities that are normally associated with enjoyment. It may be in the form of pretend or imaginary, constructive, interpersonal or solitary interactions. It is also the way that children learn about the environment, their bodies and their place in the world around them.
Social skills are the skills we use every day to interact and communicate with others. They are vital in enabling children to have and maintain positive interactions with their peers and are important in making and sustaining friendships.
At Padbury Catholic PS we believe that:
Through play children learn about themselves and their world as they investigate, resolve conflicts, take risks, imagine and construct.
Play is the vehicle for learning and is planned for to ensure that all students are provided with the opportunity to participate in play.
Intentional teaching and play are integrated to ensure curriculum outcomes are achieved in a pedagogically appropriate way.
When play opportunities are offered to children intentionally, self-esteem and the development of social skills are promoted in an authentic context.
Therefore we:
Plan for environments that provide opportunities for children to engage in different types of play
Create environments that are safe, responsive and nurturing of the whole child (personal, social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, spiritual, moral and physical)
Integrate curriculum within play-based learning opportunities to address the needs and interests of children.
For more information visit our Early Childhood Position Statement on our website:
Thought for the Week
Have a wonderful fortnight ahead!
Mr von Bergheim & Mrs Hutcheson
Assistant Principals
PCPS NEWS
State Surfclub Championships
Congratulations to the PCPS students who competed in the State Surfclub Championships recently.
Ava (Y5) finished 6th overall in the Individual Surf Race (swim) in extremely difficult conditions and 5th in the Beach Sprint Relay.
Ashton (Y5) came 4th in the State in the 1km Beach Run, Silver in the Surf Swim Relay and Bronze in the Boards Relay.
Adien (Y5) – Sliver Medal March Past Team (plus all finals of team and individual events)
Braxten (Y5) - 12th Iron Man (plus many finals of team and individual events)
Tessa - Surf Race Swim
Oscar Collins (made all finals of team and individual events)
Zoe Kelly
A brilliant effort by these students - well done!
Artist Talks - City of Joondalup
Year 5 artwork
Come down and see artwork on display by the Year 5's at the event below. It is an open invitation by City of Joondalup.
SOCIAL WORKER
How to help children to manage their emotions
When a child or adult is upset a grounding exercise is a simple way to help calm the body and calm the mind. Grounding exercises encourage children to focus on the things around them, rather than on the thoughts and feelings that are distressing them. Calming down helps them cope in the moment and recover over time. With practice and your help, children can learn to calm down by themselves and they will then be able to use these skills across a variety of situations. The ability to stay calm and manage upsets is a crucial life skill for each and every one of us to develop.
Click on the following link for more information.
Grounding exercise for children & teens | Raising Children Network
Ali FIsher
Social Worker
PARISH NEWS
Parish Update
Mass Times
All Masses are held in the Church
Saturday - 8:30am; 6:30pm
Sunday - 8:00am; 9:30am; 11:00am; 5:45pm
Monday to Friday - 7:00am; 9:00am
24:7 Youth Group
For all youth in Years 6 to 12
1st and 3rd Friday @ Parish Hall, 7pm
Call Luke 0401822932 for more information.
Rev Fr Cyprian M Shikokoti - PP
Our Lady of the Mission, Parish Website : www.olm.myparish.net.au
COMMUNITY NEWS
Padbury Catholic Online
Website: www.padcath.wa.edu.au
Phone: 94044000
Location: O'Leary Road, Padbury WA, Australia