Library News

It is with excitement that I write my first post for the library for 2014. Mrs Ramage has commenced her maternity leave, with myself now taking over teaching in the library for the remainder of the year. It is a position I am quite familiar with, having relieved for Mrs Ramage during her previous maternity leave and continuing in a job sharing role with her last year.

This first week working in the library has been wonderful. Our school library really is an inviting, vibrant learning space which is refreshing to work in. The children and staff are very lucky here at St Patrick’s. It is terrific to have teaching and learning time with all of the children in the school. Working with each class weekly allows myself to build relationships over the year with every child in the school which is very rewarding. All the children love coming to the library for lessons, to borrow books and to play or be creative during lunch times.

I look forward to keeping the school community informed about any initiatives, coming events or special achievements of the children in the library.

Library Borrowing

Library borrowing is an important part of the school week and all children should be borrowing books to read both at school and at home. Each class has a borrowing day and the children with the help of parents need to remember to bring along their library bag so that they can borrow books for the week. Books can be returned at any time before the next borrowing day by placing them in the boxes that are left on the seats outside the library. If children are away or forget, they can always pop into the library during break times and myself or Mrs Woods are more than happy to let them return books and borrow new ones. With the encouragement of parents and teachers, children have the best chance to foster a love of literature and reading.

Cameron Dilley

Stage 2 Excursion

A bus trip to Sydney and an educational cruise on Sydney Harbour was the adventure for Stage 2 on Wednesday September 4th. Flinders, Burke, Cook and Lawson classes and their teachers had a wonderful time on a beautiful, blue sky day experiencing a cruise aboard a ferry with the Lessons Afloat crew. The children were able to see and listen to commentary about things to do with topics learnt about this year - State and National Parks and British Colonisation.
The ferry departed Circular Quay and then passed famous landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, Farm Cove, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Garden Island, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour. A walk on Shark Island, a national park, was lots of fun and a great way to stretch the legs.
After lunch at Mrs Macquarie's Chair and some play, a final stop for an ice cream was enjoyed by all on the way home. A wonderful day out was had by teachers and children.

Library Lessons Term 3

Library lessons for the children throughout Term 3 are programmed around the Children's Book Council of Australia Short Listed Books.The Short Listed Books are those which have been nominated in certain categories as the best books for the year. Each category has 6 books.
The children will be exposed to many of the different stories and texts during the term from the Early Childhood book section, Picture Books, Information / Factual books and The Young Readers category.
Some books which the children will be exposed to this term and able to borrow later are shown below.

Athletics Carnival

The school athletics carnvial held on Friday 17th May was a wonderful success.
Teachers, children and parents were treated to a blue sky day and fairly mild weather with just a few blasts of cold wind.
Each of the four sport houses, Eucalypts, Waratahs, Wattles and Bluebells looked fantastic in their colours during the march past and events throughout the day.
The children had great fun competing in 100m age races, 800m and 200m running, long jump and a variety of fun tabloid games set up by the teachers.
Competition was close between sport houses, with Waratahs coming out winners in the end.
A great day was had by all.



 



 

Welcome Back Mrs Ramage

St Patrick's children, staff and school community welcomed back Mrs Ramage from the start of Term 2. Mrs Ramage has been on maternity leave, enjoying her time away from school over the last year with her son Matthew.
Mrs Ramage will teach Monday to Wednesday in the library, with Mr Dilley continuing to take library lessons on a Thursday each week.
As always, the library is a very busy and always fun place of learning at the school. The children and staff love the beautiful environment and terrific computer room.

Mrs Woods during borrowing time with year 1

Sporting Success

St Patrick's are proud to announce the recent sporting achievements of four Year 6 children.
Blake Archbold, Seamus Donohoe, Harry Whitfield and Pheobe Oakford have performed admirably in the sporting arena, progressing to Polding level. Blake and Seamus have been chosen as part of the Polding soccer team after successful trials at Diocesan level. Good luck boys when you attend the trials in the first week of Term 2.
Harry and Pheobe were successful in reaching Polding level for swimming. Pheobe swam in the 13 yrs 50 metre freestyle, winning a gold medal. A fantastic effort by Pheobe.
Unfortunately for Harry, he was unable to swim at the Polding carnival after  breaking his thumb training for the upcocming rugby league season. No wonder you are successful Harry, always training.
Well done and congratulations children. St Patrick's school community is very proud of you.

Seamus, Phoebe, Harry and Blake

NBN Weatherman Gavin Morris Visits School

NBN television weatherman Gavin Morris held a talk in the school library for the Stage 3 children on Wednesday 13th March. Mr Morris spoke very enthusiatically to the senior children about his passion for the weather and his role at NBN. Part of Mr Morris' presentation involved a slide show of his trip climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. Mr Morris talked in detail about the trip and the weather and environment changes that were evident as he climbed higher up the mountain. The children left with a greater appreication of the climate and weather after a very informative and entertaining hour with Mr Morris.