St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School ABN 66 789 035 993 All correspondence to:

Royston Parade, Asquith, 2077 Post Office Box 3021, Asquith 2077

Phone: 9477 3800 Fax: 9476 3944 Website: www.stpat.nsw.edu.au

Email: spa@dbb.catholic.edu.au

NEWSLETTER NO 38 — 30 November 2016 We acknowledge the Guringai and Dharug people - the first custodians of this place.

WEEKEND MASS TIMES

St Patrick’s Asquith:

Saturday Vigil – 6.00 pm

Sunday – 8 am, 10 am, 6 pm

St Bernard’s Berowra Heights:

Saturday Vigil—5.30 pm

Sunday—9 am

Peat Island Chapel:

Chapel Lane, Mooney Mooney

© St Patrick’s School, Asquith. Material in the newsletter is not to be reproduced without the permission of the school principal.

WELCOME 환영합니다 Üdvözlet Ahla w sahla ًأهلاً س لا

Willkommen സ്വാഗതം Bula स्वागत Mabuhay 歡迎光臨 歡迎 欢迎光临

Mauya ようこそ සාදරයෙන් පිලිගන්නවා Bienvenue Witamy Swāgatam स्वागतम ्

Benvenuti ยินดีต้อนรับ Bienvenidos Tervetuloa வாங்க Καλώς Ορίσατε Fáilte Dobrodošli

Добро пожаловать! Được tiếp đãi ân cần Talitali fiefia Noa’ia Bem-vindos خوش دی

Diary Dates

DECEMBER

1 Year 2 Incursion

2 5 Gold 2.20pm

Assembly

5 Year 5 Incursion

5 2017 Captains

Speeches

6 8.15am Men in the

Morning

9 6pm End of Year

Andrew Chin Concert

12 Meet the Teacher 2017

13 8.15am Band Breakfast

14 11.30am End of Year

Mass

14 7pm Year 6

Graduation

15 Year 6 Funday and

Ryde Pool

15 Final Day for Year 6

Students

Dear Parents & Carers, On Sunday we commenced Advent – the start of the Church’s year. Advent is a time of waiting and preparing for the birth of Jesus. On Monday morning we gathered together for our Monday morning assembly. We spent time reflecting on the significance and meaning of Advent. Each week we will light a new candle on our Advent wreath signifying our longing for the light of Christ as we await his birth. Below is an Advent Prayer that you may like to say as a family each day.

Advent Family Prayer

God our Creator,

Thank you for giving us these four weeks to prepare to celebrate for the birth of your Son.

We are so thankful for all the people that help us along this path we’re travelling to welcome Jesus.

God, bless our family and prepare our home and hearts to welcome your Son, Jesus, into the

world.

Amen

Staffing 2017 As you may know, Bernadette Habkouk has been on leave this year whilst she partook in some post graduate studies. Bernadette has decided to have another year on leave and

PARISH CLERGY Father Shaju John OSH

Parish Administrator of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase Parish

Fr Shiju Simon OSH

Assistant Priest of the Parish

Deacon Kevin Hale

so won’t return to school in 2017, but will return in 2018. Our Japanese Teacher, Larissa Mitchell, won’t be returning in 2017. Larissa has commitments at another school and three young children. Although she has only been with us for a short time, Larissa has made some great contributions to our school and will be missed. These two positions have been advertised. I am still working on the teachers for 2017 and class allocation. At this stage the children will be informed of their 2017 teacher on Monday 12 December. School Leaders 2017 Next Monday we will hear speeches from a number of children in Years 5 who have put themselves forward in the running to be school captain. Whilst a number of Year 5 children will have designated roles, I regard all Year 5 children as leaders in our school, and I look to them to set the example to the younger children and to assist me in many aspects of our school. Speeches will be in the Hall next Monday – all parents and friends are welcome to attend. Please find later in the newsletter a detailed timetable of the School Leader process. Reports It has been a delight to read the Semester Two reports and note the growth in students’ learning. I thank the teachers who have spent many hours, mostly after school and on weekends, writing the children’s reports. Reports will be sent home on Monday 12 December. We do not have an official parent-teacher interview at this time of the year, however, once you have received your child’s report, if you would like to speak with your child’s teacher, please make an appointment to see them. Kindergarten 2017 We again welcomed our newest members of our community to St Patrick’s last Friday. It was great to see them and their families. The children spent time with their teacher, and the parents received some information about school life. Thank you to the parents who provided morning tea, helped serve and made our new families really welcome. Road to Bethlehem Yesterday, our Year 3-6 children travelled to St Leo’s College. The Christmas story came alive with the staff and students’ great acting skills. I hope the children now have a greater understanding of the story. I thank the staff and students of St Leo’s for the opportunity to be involved. 2017 If you family or friends wishing to attend St Patrick’s next year, we have some vacancies in some grades. Please contact Cheryl or Melissa in the office for more information. Back to School 2017 If you intend travelling overseas or interstate during the Christmas holidays and your child will be returning late to school in 2017 due to extended holidays or any other reason, could you please notify the office, in writing, and noting the date your child will be returning for the 2017 school year. This has important implications for the school census which is held early in the new school year. Talented Athlete We have received the wonderful news that Eli S received second place in his Long Jump event at the National Championships at Homebush. His competition was against everyone in his age group in Australia. Well done to Eli - we may see him at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020!

Lost Property In the stairwell near Kindergarten Green, we have our Lost Property. If you are missing anything, please check to see if it is there. At the end of the term, any remaining items will be given to the uniform shop or thrown out. Hour of Code – 5 December On Monday 5 December from 1:20pm - 2:45pm, students in Years 3 - 6 will be participating in one of the largest worldwide learning events of the year - The Hour of Code.

The Hour of Code provides students with the learning opportunity to explore coding and programming as a computer science through themes such as Star Wars, Frozen, Classic Maze, Flappy Code, Infinity Play Lab, Play Lab and Artist.

Years 3 and 4 will be in the hall and Years 5 and 6 will be in the CLiC. Information was sent home yesterday inviting any parents who could come along and assist. Please see your child’s teacher if you have any questions regarding the Hour of Code. Men in the Morning – 6 December Next Tuesday we will have our last Men in the Morning. This will be in the playground from 8.15am until the morning Assembly at 8.45am. All Dads, grandfathers and significant males are invited to join with the children for some fun before school. I know it is hard to change your working arrangements, but the children love having their Dad at school. Christmas Concert – 9 December Friday the 9 December sees our annual Christmas concert where we will gather as a school to celebrate the wonderful celebration of Christmas. The concert commences at 6pm with the barbecue commencing from 4.30pm Religious singer Andrew Chinn will be with us again on the day. Andrew is a good friend of the school and has been here a number occasions before. Children are also invited to join a combined churches choir on 10 December. Information is contained later in the newsletter. More information regarding the barbecue is contained later in the Newsletter. Please note that Asquith Public School is also having their Christmas celebration on the same night so you may keep this in mind when looking for a park. Our final Mass of 2016 – 14 December Wednesday 14 December at 11.30am sees our Final School Mass for the year. The school leaders will be announced and we will announce our Mercy Award winners. All parents and friends are invited to attend. Diary Dates Please mark the following key dates in your calendar for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 2017 Bernard Cumming Principal

DIARY DATES

December 2016

6 December 8.15am Men in the Morning

9 December 6.00pm Christmas Concert

14 December 11.30am End of Year Mass

15 December Last day for Year 6

16 December Last day of school for Years K-5

January 2017

27 January Staff resume

30 January Years 1-6 Mathematical Assessment Interviews

Kindergarten Best Start Assessments

31 January Years 1-6 Mathematical Assessments Interviews

Kindergarten Best Start Assessments

1 February Years 1 – 6 resume classes

Kindergarten Best Start Assessments

2/3 February Kindergarten commences—Half Days Thurs & Fri

REC News

Road to Bethleham

Yesterday students from Years 3—6 attended a special liturgy by St Leo’s students and staff. A wonderful time was had by all.

Christmas Concert “Under Your Star” by Andrew Chinn

On Friday 9 December, religious songwriter and singer, Andrew Chinn, will be visiting our school to be a part of our Christmas celebrations. Andrew’s songs, such as “These Hands”, “Together As One”, “Rainbow” and “In the Beginning” are used in classrooms and liturgies around Australia. Parents are warmly invited to be a part of the celebration of faith and fun. The concert will take place in the school playground, at 6pm. Children need to meet their teachers in their classroom at 5:40pm. We ask that all children wear Christmas colours, Christmas t-shirts, tinsel etc.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Advent Prayer

Every Monday in Advent we will pray together at morning assembly. We invite parents to join us as we pray to prepare for the birth of Jesus.

PRIVACY LAW ADVICE

At the direction of the Catholic Schools Office, please be advised that if you take photos at school

functions and then post them on social media, you are in potential breach of privacy laws. You may

not post photos which contain children other than your own, even if they only appear in the

background.

REC News (Con’t)

* Tins of ham

* Christmas cake/puddings

* Christmas treats (pretzels, Christmas candy)

* Tins of fruit

* Tins of vegetables (carrots, peas, corn & potatoes)

* Gravox

* Chips

* Shortbread Biscuits

* tea/coffee

* Long Life milk

* milo/hot chocolate

* Gifts for any age – infant to adult/ male or female (please do not wrap gifts as we need to be able to see what the gift is to distribute the item to where it is most needed)

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hampers

Thank you to the families who have already sent in items for the Christmas Hampers. We aim to fill each hamper with food items for a Christmas dinner or gifts to unwrap for families who would otherwise not have anything special on Christmas Day.

Participating in the Christmas Appeal allows us as a community to give a little something back to those who aren’t as lucky as us. It also reminds us that we all have the capacity to make a difference to the lives of someone else.

We ask that all items be sent into school to your child’s class by Friday 2 December to allow hampers to be made up and picked up by St Vincent de Paul.

Below are some suggestions for items which you might like to send in to help make up our Christmas Hampers:

Thank you for your generosity in helping to make this festive season a special time for families in need this Christmas.

Congratulations to the following children

who received an Merit award for Term 4

Week 7:

K Gold Mitchell S, Abbie F

K Green Megan W, Anastasia S

1 Gold Sophie W, Rebecca C

1 Green Natasha H, Kurt W

2 Gold Kudzi T, Samara R

2 Green William M, Scarlet M

3 Gold Izaac T, Charlotte F

3 Green Aidan H, Julian P

4 Gold Madeleine D, Jeremy S

4 Green Ally G, Elysia P

5 Gold Ethan PG, Olivia P

5 Green Annika H, Jia-Dong C

6 Gold Emma C, Julian G

6 Green Jemma D, Sarah W

Instrumental/

Band

Julian G - Clarinet - 6 Gold

Eliza D - Clarinet - 4 Gold

Honour Awards Principal Awards

Well done and congratulations to the

following children who received a Principal

Award for 50 stamps:

Amazing achievement by the following

children who received a Principal Award

for 100 stamps:

Piper C K Gold

Sienna F K Gold

Elizabeth M K Gold

Bethan M K Gold

Isla B Kinder Green

Helena S Kinder Green

Benjamin M Kinder Green

Matthew C Kinder Green

Gemma T Kinder Green

Luke F 1 Green

Abbey M 3 Green

Lucy P 3 Green

Maya B 3 Green

Isaac R 3 Green

Rachel M 3 Green

Julian P 3 Green

William H 5 Green

Marli S 1 Green

Nick B 1 Green

Lili R 1 Green

Jake M 3 Gold

Joel F 3 Gold

Ben H 3 Gold

Cooper G 3 Gold

Mia M 5 Gold

Erin J 5 Gold

Jacinta M 5 Gold

Emma D 5 Gold

Olivia P 5 Gold

Ethan PG 5 Gold

Michael T 5 Gold

Isabel S 5 Gold

Emma C 6 Gold

Sam V 6 Gold

Gabby R 6 Gold

Antoine C 6 Gold

This week we have had our first 150

stamps achieved by Sarah F in Year 2

Gold. Congratulations Sarah!!

Maths News

Maths Challenge

1256 apples are divided among 6 shopkeepers. How many apples will each shopkeeper receive? Will there be any left over? If so, how many?

Last Week’s Solution

Gwen paved a rectangular courtyard of the school that had an area of 432 square metres. What might the dimensions of the courtyard be?

How many answers can you think of?

There are many possible answers. Some are 216m x 2m; 108m x 4m; 72m x 6 m; 36m x 12m.

Student Leadership Procedure (2016 for 2017 Year 6 Leaders)

The following details the procedure and dates for determining the 2017 Year 6 Student Leadership positions.

Monday 5 December Morning session - Class Teachers Years 2-6 run a short session with their class identifying qualities

of a friend and contrast these with the qualities required of a leader. Students are reminded to listen to speeches and make their decisions based on consistent behaviours / choices of the nominees over the preceding year and their time at St Patrick’s, rather than just their speech.

11:15am in the Hall Nominees present their speeches to Years K-6, staff and any family or

friends who wish to attend at a special assembly. By the end of the day Years 2-6 vote for 1 girl and 1 boy School / Vice Captain. Wednesday 7 December Year 5 students wishing to nominate for Sports Colour House Captain are reminded to come up

with a 30 second speech including their name and why they believe they can effectively be a School Leader in this role – with same conditions as School / Vice Captains.

Monday 12 December 11:15am Sports Colour House Meetings – the self-nominated Year 5 students present their short

speeches and all children in that House colour (Yrs. 2-6) vote for 1 girl and 1 boy Sports Captain. Wednesday 14 December 11:30am End of Year Mass in the Church (all family and friends invited) Year 6 Student Leaders for 2017 are announced by Mr Cumming.

NRL League Tag Gala Day

Congratulations, to our Junior Boys team who competed in the NRL League Tag finals day at Foxglove Oval last Tuesday 22 November. The boys played 5 games in the extreme heat, they managed 2 wins, 2 loss’s and a draw. We are very proud of your efforts to qualify in the finals day and your display of sportsmanship during your games against other schools within the Sydney region.

The team members were:

Special thanks to the parent supporters who supplied the team with ice blocks during the day!

Lucinda MacMahon PE / Sports Coordinator

Alex P

Toby M

Noah M

Aaron R

Oliver D

Thomas A

Billy W

Sports News

Classroom News

MEDICATIONS AT SCHOOL

NON-PRESCRIBED MEDICATION (e.g. Panadol, cough medicine, nasal sprays, lotions etc.) are not permitted to be administered by staff to children without written advice from a doctor.

PRESCRIBED MEDICATION will be administered but must be supplied by parents in the

original container, clearly marked with the student’s name, name of the drug, dosage, frequency of administration and prescribing doctor’s name. If this is the case, relevant

documentation must be obtained from the school office for completion by the prescribing doctor or from the school website.

Please provide up to date ASTHMA & ANAPHYALACTIC ACTION PLANS to the office.

Office News

Leaving Students

Any students who will not be returning to St Patrick’s in 2017 (excluding Year 6) who have not already

notified the school in writing please complete the attached form and return it to the School Office as a

matter of urgency.

My Child Will Not be Returning to St Patrick’s in 2017

(Please return to the School Office as a matter or urgency)

_____________________________________ ________________________

Student’s Name: Student’s Class:

_____________________________________

Destination School:

_____________________________________ ____________________ _________________

Parent Name: Signature Date

Canteen News

Fri 2/12 Tatiana F S, Kellie T, Kalysa F

Mon 5/12 Elizabeth T, Vanessa L

Wed 7/12 Marie B, Rachel R

Volunteers are asked to arrive at around 12.40pm and report to the School Office to sign the Visitor’s Register and collect the key to the canteen, etc. The Canteen helpers for this week are:

Invitation for years 3-6 children to join the Andrew Chinn Choir for

the Combined Churches Carols in the Park 10th December. Please

email Amanda O'Brien at ob.amanda@gmail.com for all

music and information.

Visit carolsinthepark.org for more information

Community News

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, Asquith

STUDENT ABSENTEE NOTE

We are required by law to record all absences for children enrolled in our school with an accompanying note.

My child _________________________________ of class _____ was absent from school on the

following date/s: _________________________________________________________

Please sign below to indicate that your permission was given for this/these days absent.

I, _______________________________ verify that my child was absent from school with my permission on the

dates above.

Reason: ________________________________________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________________Date: _____________

Parish News Parish Children's Choir

Our final practice for the year will be combined with our end-of-year Christmas party, on Friday 9th December, from 4 to 5.30pm in the church and the courtyard. Parents and siblings are very welcome to join us at the party – bring along a plate to share if you like. The Choir will be singing at 10am Mass on Sunday 11th December, following which the Choir will be in recess until February 2017. The Choir is open to any singer from Year 3 and up, so if your child is going into high school they are still welcome to be part of the Choir. Students in Year 3 2017 mark your calendars now! Children's Choir practises every Friday from 4 to 5pm in the church and sings at 10am Mass on 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month during school terms. Singers from Year 3 and up are welcome to join at any time. Enquiries: Patricia Smith 9482 7935

Cradle Songs and Lullabies – an evening of carols, readings and reflections

Presented by the Select Choir of the parish Children's Choir - Friday 16th December at 7.30pm at St Patrick's church. Old-time favourites and rarely-heard masterpieces - soak up the atmosphere and revel in the glorious music! Supper will follow.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Children

A programme will be commencing on Sunday

11 December for children aged 7 years or older

who have not received their Sacraments of

Initiation ie Baptism, Confirmation and

Eucharist. Do you know of a child who might

benefit from this? The lessons will be held in

the Parish Meeting Room at St Patrick’s during

8am Mass on Sundays, school holidays

expected. Enquiries to Ellen Downey 9477

7180.

Advent Prayer

If you want to infuse some sense and space into the silly season this year, come and join us for a couple of Sunday advent reflection evenings - a great way to slow down, make new friends, take time for God and, eat cake.

Contact Simone on noels@northholm.nsw.edu.au 99872757

or Cris 0403850422

All Welcome