MAY 22, 2025 NEWSLETTER

CHILD SAFETY STATEMENT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and Carers,

Next week is Catholic Education Week; a time for celebrating the wonderful gifts, talents and accomplishments within our school community. We will celebrate with a whole school mass. The theme for 2025 is Pilgrims of Hope. 

The kinder groups will be visiting on Thursday and Friday next week for a Teddy Bear's Picnic.  Their parents are invited to join me for morning tea. 

Next week is also Reconciliation Week. Our Year 3 & 4 classes will be joining Travis Lovett on the Walk for Truth next Wednesday at 1.30pm from St. Patrick's church to the Community House. Travis will begin his walk in Portland and finish in Framlingham. Members of the community are welcome to join this section of the walk.  

Just to add to our busy week next week, 13 Year 3 candidates will be making their Confirmation on May 27, Tuesday evening, at the Infant Jesus Church in Koroit.  Please pray for them as they prepare for the Sacrament.  

We welcome Fr Matt Restall to our Star of the Sea Parish.  Fr Matt will be visiting classrooms regularly and saying our school masses. 

Olga Lyons 

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS - 2025

Term 2  - Tuesday June 10 - Wellbeing PD       

Term 3  - Monday July 21 - Structured Literacy PD

Final Day for Students in Term 4 - Wednesday December 17

FROM THE REL - MICHELLE MALONE

SCHOOL SONG

Last week the Year 5 & 6 classes worked with Drew Lane from The Butterfly House Music Productions to compose our school song.  The students offered their ideas enthusiastically to capture the essence of our school culture. Year 6 composed the first 2 verses, while Year 5 did the last verse and chorus.  Drew will now add music to the lyrics and come back to record our school choir singing the song.  This song will go forward for years to come as a testament to the ethos and values we live by at St. Patrick's School.  We will share it with you all when the recording has been produced. 

FEE RELIEF - FAMILIES AFFECT BY DROUGHT

2026 ENROLMENTS

CLASS AWARDS

Respect Awards: Taj Chisholm for expressing gratefulness to a fellow classmate. Aurora Down for her thoughtful responses when communicating in class. Percy Brian for being helpful and an excellent role model in our classroom.

Learning Awards: Gus Mackenzie for writing an interesting and well organised narrative during the novel study for Leo and Ralph. Evie Lambert for her enthusiasm and participation at Social Innovators. Bonnie Phillips for being engaged in her learning. Florence McCorkell for her impressive spelling skills during Sounds Write sessions. Claude Carrucan for wonderful addition work with regrouping during maths sessions. Max Nevitt for his dedication to completing literacy tasks this week. Beau Robertson for staying on task during our Literacy lessons and showing confidence to share his ideas. Luke Parkinson for his amazing effort, practice and dedication with his maths work. Freya Crosier for gaining confidence in Maths. Jack Lilley for always trying his best and working so hard on building stamina during Literacy. Charlotte Bleakley for amazing efforts during Sounds Write.  Alex Porter for showing an improved understanding of fractions and decimals.

YEAR 3B NEWS

SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at St Patrick’s Parish Primary School and it’s getting noticed! From veggie garden pizzas to recycled fashion shows, our students are leading meaningful change with creativity and care. We’re proud to be featured in 'Education Today' for our whole school approach to sustainability. 

Click on the link below to see why our students are being recognised as future leaders for a better world.

SCHOOL REFUSAL

FRIENDSHIP FIRST AID FOR PARENTS

Think of yourself as their guide, not their rescuer

According to Alfred Adler, the father of Individual Psychology, managing friendships is one of the three life tasks that everyone encounters. The other two are work/school and family.

Adler urged parents to recognise that a child’s friendship capacities are central to their (a child’s) wellbeing and a significant contributor to school (future work) success.

As a parent guide, you need tools to help your child resolve their friendship issues.

Here are ten time-tested tools to add to your parenting toolbox to help your kids become expert friendship problem-solvers.

1. Listen First, Judge Later (or Never!)

When your child comes to you with a friendship woe, your first instinct might be to offer solutions or take sides.

Resist this urge. Instead, create a safe space for them to vent.

Put down your phone, point your feet in their direction, make eye contact, and truly listen to their perspective.

You might hear about a playground squabble over a toy, feeling left out during recess, or a misunderstanding about a playdate.

Feeling heard and understood is the first step in them feeling empowered to tackle the issue.

2. Help Them Identify the Problem

Once they've shared their story, gently guide them to pinpoint the core issue. Sometimes, what seems like a huge drama is a simple misunderstanding. Ask open-ended questions like:

• "What exactly made you feel upset/angry/left out?"

• "What do you think the problem is here?"

• "What did your friend say or do that bothered you the most?"

This process helps them move beyond just expressing their feelings to analysing the situation.

3. Brainstorm Solutions Together

Resist the urge to offer quick fixes, unless they are truly stuck.  Instead, ask your child:

• "What are some things you think you could do?"

• "Have you seen other kids solve problems like this before?"

• "What would happen if you tried talking to your friend about it?"

Encourage a range of ideas, no matter how silly they might initially sound.

This teaches them that there isn't always one "right" answer and that they have the ability to generate options.

4. Use Behaviour Rehearsal

Once you've brainstormed some potential solutions, it's time to implement them in a safe space.

Let your child practise what they’d say in different social situations and scenarios.

You can pretend to be a friend, and your child can practice what they want to say or do.

This builds their confidence and helps them feel more prepared when they face the real situation.

5. Focus on Things They Can Control

Kids must understand that they can only control their actions and reactions, not their friends'.

If a friend is consistently unkind, the solution might not be to change the friend, but to learn how to set boundaries or decide how much time they want to spend with that person.

Help them identify what they can do in the situation.

6. Discuss Different Friendship Levels

Help your child understand that not all friendships are the same. Friendships fit three different levels:

1. Close friends—typically, children have between one to three close friends at any one time.

2. Casual friends are children your child knows well, but don’t always form a tight group with.

3. Acquaintances are a broader circle of friends who may share similar interests, be in the same class, or know each other through after-school activities.

It's okay if some friendships have more bumps than others and if they change over time.

7. Emphasise Empathy

Friendship problems often arise from a lack of understanding of each other's perspectives.

Encourage your child to think about how their friend might be feeling. Ask questions like:

• "How do you think your friend felt when that happened?"

• "Why do you think your friend might have done that?"

• “How did it affect your friend, do you think?”

Developing empathy is key to resolving conflicts and building stronger relationships.

8. Help Your Child Understand How Good Friends Act

Help your child understand what a good friend looks like and how they behave so they can be good friends and recognise unfriendly behaviour from others. For instance, good friends:

• Share information, time and possessions. They give of themselves but understand the boundaries of disclosure.

• Allow their friends to have other friends and don’t expect exclusivity.

• Know how to keep secrets and will stick up for their friends.

Use this list to guide a conversation with your child around friendships.

9. Recognise Their Efforts, Not Just the Outcomes

Solving friendship problems is a learning process. Sometimes, despite their best efforts, things might not work out exactly as they hoped.

As the saying goes, you can’t win ‘em all! Acknowledge their courage in resolving the issue, regardless of the outcome.

Focus on the skills they used – communicating their feelings, brainstorming solutions, or standing up for themselves. This reinforces that the effort is valuable, even if the immediate problem isn't resolved.

10. Handle Friendship Changes

Best friends forever! Nice idea, but not practical for most children. Kids change. Friends drift apart.

They develop and mature at different stages and can leave each other behind.

That doesn’t excuse unfriendly or mean behaviour, but knowing that can help children understand why yesterday’s friend is no longer close.

Hurtful? Yes. But natural nonetheless. Resilient kids cope with this minor loss and form friendships with other children based on shared interests, hobbies, or school subjects.

Your role is to empower your child to navigate the social world. So you’re part guide, part emotional supporter and part teacher.

By listening, guiding, and encouraging their problem-solving skills, you're equipping them with essential life skills that will serve them far beyond the playground.

You're teaching them resilience, communication, and the ability to build and maintain healthy relationships—invaluable life skills.

PRE LOVED CLOTHING SALE - JUNE 28

SPORTING SCHOOLS - TERM 2

Sporting Schools started on Tuesday May 6. The days will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. The last day will be Thursday June 19.

To sign your child/children up for Sporting Schools use the eForm on the Schoolzine App the night before or the morning of the session that they will be attending. Please do not sign up days/weeks in advance, plans often change and we will be expecting them to attend.

SCHOOL DATES - 2025

COMMUNITY NEWS