Acting Principal’s Message
Dear Parents & Friends,
It is with great pleasure and a wonderful sense of anticipation that I write to you for the first time as Acting Principal of St Patrick’s.
Welcome to Term 3. I hope you were able to enjoy some family time over the past two weeks and that your children have come back to school feeling rested and ready for a new term of learning. I would also like to welcome Lucy Hyndman who is working Thursday & Friday in Kinder sharing with Kirby Hilton and also Trish Harrison who has returned from LSL this term.
A lot of maintenance work commenced over the school holidays. The new Kinder area was painted, new doors installed and the old Kinder space is being renovated in preparation for the Year One students to move into.
Over the weekend some staff had the privilege of celebrating with the Sisters of Mercy, recognising their arrival in Albury 150 years ago, and the significant contribution they have made not only to the St Patrick’s community but the wider region of Albury/Wodonga. A big thanks must go to Sister Anne Hagan who spent countless hours preparing for the occasion and to the staff members here who volunteered their time to lead groups of visitors, many of whom were Sisters of Mercy, around our school. It was incredible to listen to their reminiscing and sharing of history as they made their way around the school.
The Year 2 Maths bead stringing morning yesterday was both informative and fun. There was a high attendance rate and I thank those parents/grandparents/friends who were able to make it and find out about the teaching of Maths in Year 2. Thanks must also go to the Year 2 teachers and Mrs Allibon for her organisation of the morning. Year 1 will be involved in this on Friday and once again all parents, friends etc. are invited. There will be a Maths Information Evening for parents on Wednesday, 5th September at 7pm. Please put this date in your diary and there will be information in relation to this coming home next month.
Further in the newsletter is a letter sent to the school regarding parent pick up and the dangerous practices being displayed by parents. It would be appreciated if everyone could see the attached information in relation to the “Kiss & Drop” Zone. Please don’t get out of your car when in parent pick up and don’t double park. Also use the Traffic Lights to cross the road. There are lights at each end of the school in Kiewa Street available to ALL pedestrians. Teachers will never leave children unattended of an afternoon so if you need to drive around the block in that time the children will be waiting safely in the school grounds.
The School Council has approved a style of Beanie for students to wear during winter. These will be available in 3 weeks and order forms will be sent home next week. The cost is $20 each. This is a sample of the beanie.
MINDFULNESS
During our visit from the Resilience Project Hugh spoke about the importance of Empathy.
EMPATHY is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling or to understand the situation they are in. It is the ability to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” and to understand the way a situation might make them feel.
An activity you might like to do as a family to continue to develop empathy amongst your child/ren is:
- Each family member nominates someone in their life they would like to be kind too.
- They explain why they would like to be kind to this person.
- Nominate something/s they could do for this person to practise being kind.
- Complete the act/s within a nominated time.
I am very much looking forward to being a part of the St Patrick’s school community throughout Term 3 and if you see me out and about, please don’t hesitate in introducing yourself.
Enjoy the week.
Kind regards,
Liz Johnston