Padbury CPS Newsletter

Compassion

Show you care for others in your words and actions

As Bushfire season approaches in the Summer months, a copy of our Bushfire Plan can be found here on our website - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/formsandprocedures

Please check the PCPS community calendar for upcoming and future dates as the calendar is regularly updated https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/community-calendar

May this Lenten season be a time for discovering what we can experience through fasting:

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

We are proud to introduce Medals of Mercy.

At Padbury Catholic Primary School we know that students learn best in an environment that is safe, welcoming and fun! Our Student Code of Conduct helps guide our children.

The staff at PCPS love to recognise children who are displaying our Mercy Values in their daily interactions - Service, Dignity, Compassion, Mercy, Justice, Stewardship, excellence, Hospitality, by providing them with a Mercy Medal token in their faction colour.

The children place their token in the tube in the amphitheatre and watch them grow over the term.

At the end of each term, the faction with the most tkens will win the Medal of Mercy and the whole faction will receive a special reward together.

I would like to thank Mr John Hignett, our Sports Teacher, for his thorough planning and organisation enabling our Swimming Carnival to run so smoothly last week. The children had an awesome fun filled day! Big thanks to all the parents and staff who assisted on the day. Your help was truly appreciated. Congratulations to Padbury for taking out the shield.

Due to our excellent reputation in the wider community, we are currently experiencing high enrolments.

If you have a little one at home that has not yet commenced at PCPS, I urge you to submit an application immediately to the school.

Some of our families have missed out on a position as they forgot to submit their enrolment form.

Admin staff are not aware if you have younger ones at home so an enrolment form is essential.

Even if your child is only a few months old, please submit an application form now.

Our Pre-Kindy (3-Year-Old) is going super strong once again this year with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday classes full.

We are taking expressions of interest to start a fourth day of Pre Kindy which would run on a Friday (dependant upon numbers). If you are interested please contact the office and speak with Mrs Ellen.

Click on the following link for further information - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/early-childhood

If you have friends or neighbours who have children who are 3 years old, please talk to them about our exciting Pre-Kindy programme and encourage them to enrol.

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 and/or or sent an email/letter about what they love about Padbury CPS.

I always love to hear your good news stories! Your support and praise of the school is very encouraging, thankyou so much.

There is a lot to navigate in a school our size, so big thankyou to all parents for your never-ending commitment and ongoing support with everything. You are sensational!

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 November 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

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.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Margaret Williamson

Principal

Congratulations to the Murray family (Charlie Yr1) on the arrival of their baby sister, Ella Elizabeth. Wishing you lots of cuddles and love with the new addition to your family.

As we enter the last few weeks of Lent, this is a quick reminder to send in your Project Compassion boxes. Please send these in before the end of the term so that we can arrange for the money to go directly to Project Compassion. We thank you for your prayers and generosity, they are very much appreciated. The money we donate, will go towards helping those in great need.

On Wednesday 22 March, all the students participated in a number of activities in their own classes to celebrate Harmony Day. Some of these activities were displayed in the hall. The Kindy had a fun time as they celebrated in their own very special way. Each of the classes learnt about the importance of belonging no matter where you come from. Students learnt about the different cultures that we have at our school.

On Friday 24 March, all the students and staff came dressed in their oranges and multi cultural clothing. Our assembly focus was on Harmony Day and students shared a song that they had learnt with Mrs Twine in music. Well done everyone a great effort!

A reminder for parents of those children who wear a Smart Watch to school.

Students who wear Smart Watches (or similar) with internet, phone call, messaging and/or communication capabilities are able to wear the devices to school, but as soon as they enter school grounds, they are not permitted to use the watch to call, message, communicate or record in any way.

Inappropriate use of a Smart Watch (or similar) in school hours will result in the device being confiscated and given to the school office. Parents will be contacted and will need to collect the device from the Office.

We strongly encourage parents to keep the night of the 2nd of May free. We have booked Paul Litherland who is a highly awarded educator in the fields of Cyber Safety and Internet Awareness to present to parents at PCPS. More information to be shared in the coming weeks.

In the afternoon you cannot park at all on O'Leary Road.

This area is for a Kiss and Ride pick up section, which is also a moving line of traffic.

In the morning you can park along O'Leary Road on the school side only.

Joondalup Rangers will be out to issue infringements to cars parked incorrectly.

When visiting Padbury Catholic Primary School, parents (all adults) are asked to use the toilets in the hall. Toilets can be found at the back of the Hall.

It is inappropriate for adults to use the children's toilets and is a breach of our Code of Conduct.

Mr Peter O'Mara & Ms Mac Callisto

Assistant Principals

We are pleased to share our latest news from our Extension groups here at Padbury CPS.

Please see below for our photos and recount of the Yr 6 Extension Group Solar Car Challenge that took place this week at St Mark’s Anglican School. The children were so excited to attend this competition!

Year 3-5 Extension Groups have been engaged in a thought-provoking philosophy unit of work. Learning to ask the “big questions” and “deep thinking” has been our focus. Together we have all thoroughly enjoyed the book - “It’s Disgusting and We Ate it” Written by James Solheim.

The book delves into many interesting world facts regarding different foods and delicacies enjoyed globally. Our student’s squirmish reaction to many of these foods was only natural however after being introduced to “a philosophical view” of the book’s content, it was interesting to see the changes in their reaction. The students learned to ask themselves “the big questions” and “think deeply” about the content prior to forming an opinion.

Why not have a read of this enjoyable book.

Are the foods “really” disgusting, to who, why? Is it possible to overcome our disgust for something? Can something be disgusting and beautiful at the same time?

These are a few things for you all to “think about”.

Mrs Rosalba Bottega

Extension Teacher

This morning we, Hannah, Naomi, Ben and Malachy from Year 6 Extension, went to compete in the Synergy Solar Car Challenge with 31 other schools. We were very successful in building our car and angling our solar panel towards the sun. We raced our car found that the sun had moved from our testing time. Sadly, this slightly affected the speed of our car. We did however come 3rd in our heat which we were very proud of. We had a great day learning all about Solar Energy. We thank our teachers, parents and school for this opportunity.

Malachy, Ben, Naomi and Hannah

Yr 6 Extension

Padbury CPS held their annual Swimming Carnival on Thursday 17 March at Joondalup Arena.

Congratulations to Padbury faction (Green) who were the winners of the shield.

Padbury continued their dominance making it back-to-back wins for the annual swimming carnival.

The final scores were:

1st Padbury– 936 points

2nd John Paul II – 726 points

3rd– MacKillop 682 points

4th Mercy – 548 points

Thank you to our efficient scorers Mrs Bastow, Mr Pearce and Mrs Bullen and to the army of parents who spent the day on the pool deck timing every race. I’m always so appreciative of your efforts.

The parent/ teacher/ captain race was a fast and furious race. Congratulations to the parents who narrowly took down the teachers and students.

Congratulations to our individual Champion winners from years 3-6:

The Interschool Swimming Carnival will take place at Joondalup Arena on Friday 31 March.

Good luck to our elite swimmers from Year 3-6.

Running Club will be returning after the holidays. Students from all year levels are invited to walk or run every Wednesday morning, weather permitting on the school oval.

Running Club will commence at 8:00am and conclude at 8:20am.

Students wishing to attend may wear sports uniform.

Mr John Hignett

Physical Education

Calling all coders! Coding Club is starting at Padbury Catholic Primary School next term!

Mrs Wardrope and Mr Darby have kindly offered to teach students and facilitate Coding Club for students.

Coding Club will run from 7:30am - 8:15am on Tuesday mornings, starting next term from Week 2-9.
Students from Year 4 to Year 6 are welcome to participate. Unfortunately, siblings of those attending cannot be supervised at this time of the morning.

Coding Club will be open to children in Years 4 to 6 however it will be limited to thirty students only. Should your child not be selected this term then we will run the program again in Term 3. Children must bring an iPad to Coding Club.

Further information to register your interest will be sent via Seesaw. Parents of students who have been chosen to participate in this round of Coding Club will be notified by Seesaw or email by Term 2, Week 1.

Mrs Wardope and Mr Darby

Coding Club Co ordinators

Spending time with children is often a challenge in our busy lives but it is the type and quality of the interactions rather than the quantity of the time that is important when building relationships with our children. Children enjoy three kinds of interactions with their parents:

1. One-to-one activity. This refers to the opportunities children to spend time alone with a parent e.g. reading, hanging out the washing together, sitting in the car waiting for a sibling to finish an activity. It doesn’t have to be a formalised special outing.
2. “Hang around time”. This is the time when parents and children are in the same vicinity at home and interactions are spontaneous. “Come and help me make dinner?” or “Let’s build a cubby house together!” Variety. These interactions are perhaps the biggest challenge for parents whose lives are highly orchestrated these days leaving little time for informality.
3. Rituals and celebrations. These are unique to every family and can be as simple as saying “I love you” each day as he/she goes to school through to the way you celebrate birthdays and special occasions. Research continues to indicate that mealtimes are an important ritual and time of connecting for families, providing the opportunity to talk, exchange views, swap news and share a smile and laugh.

Mrs Ali Fisher

Social Worker

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

We are thrilled to be running our Padbury Catholic Primary School Business Directory.

The directory features businesses run by families within our Padbury Catholic School community. Please support our families via the link on a webpage: https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/businessdirectory

A huge thank you for all of the families who registered their businesses to kick off our first directory.

The money raised as part of this launch will help with ongoing events and activities run by the P&F Committee.

If you would like your business featured in the directory so that PCPS families can use your services, please contact Megann Hunt – megann_v@hotmail.com.

Mrs Megann Hunt

P&F Vice President