ST PATRICK S DREAMING Term 4 Week 4 27/10/2015

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1 S T. P A T R I C K S C A T H O L I C S C H O O L Phone: P.O Box 119 Fax: Bathurst Street, Brewarrina, 2839 admin.brewarrina@wf.catholic.edu.au Safe Respectful Learners just like St Patrick ST PATRICK S DREAMING Term 4 Week 4 27/10/2015 Dear Parents & Friends, May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. Amen. (St Therese of Lisieux) MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL I m very pleased to be finally back at school, among the students and staff. I would like to thank the staff for all the extra responsibilities they have taken on so generously while I was at meetings and on the excursion. We are blessed to have such a dedicated and committed staff. What a pleasure it was to take away such a wonderful group of students to Lake Keepit. I was extremely proud when the staff at Lake Keepit commented on the behaviour and manners of our students as well as, other teacher s from different schools. Well done everyone!! I would like to thank Miss Goff, Miss Follan, Ian and Morris for all their help on the excursion. Also to the teachers and staff who have kept the school running so smoothly over the past two weeks. You are all amazing and I am so lucky to work with such a great team of people. Bishop Columba MacBeth-Green has requested that all diocesan Schools staff and students pray the Angelus daily. The Angelus is an ancient prayer that recalls the events of the Annunciation. Saying the Angelus is a tradition of interrupting daily routines in order to focus on God and the great tradition of the Catholic Church. The Angelus is usually said at noon each day(we are going to say it at 12:30-the start of our Religion lessons) and bells are customarily rung to remind us to stop work and reflect on God s gifts to us and our own saying yes to God. The schools within the Sydney Arch-diocese all pray the Angelus as a system of schools. At St Patrick s School we have

2 already commenced praying the Angelus, in line with other Wilcannia-Forbes Diocesan schools. At the Principal s Meeting we had the pleasure to listen to Jill Maar, a leading educator in Canada on High Yield Strategies which we have been implementing throughout all the Diocesan schools. Here is a snippet of an article which will be in the next Brewarrina newspaper. Principal of St Patrick s Primary School, Sharon Ferrari, recently returned home from a Principals Conference at Forbes, where she had the opportunity to work with one of the world s leading educators, Canadian, Jill Maar. It was a rare and unique opportunity to work with and learn from her, Sharon said. Jill Maar is famous for her ability to apply high yield practices to improve the quality of learning in her schools. Her efforts have been documented by Michael Fullan and Lyn Sharratt. Jill explained to us the importance of focus. As these practices become imbedded in a school, they become nonnegotiable. They lead to common practices among teachers. This consistency is called precision, and she insisted that we need to be relentless in our consistency. Jill believes though, that these lessons can apply to all schools. At the workshop, Sharon and her colleagues explored new approaches for the engagement and support of all learning, so that the learning becomes the work. Working in schools around the world, Jill has changed outcomes for schools in South Africa, England, Finland, United States of America, Korea and China. Invited to Australia by leaders in Catholic education, who she was working with at the time, Jill said she was thrilled to accept the invitation, and thinks that Australia is one of the best countries in the world. Sharon Ferrari has been applying the high yield concepts at St Patrick s, and is excited about how they might be used to improve learning outcomes at St Patrick s even further. You can read the full article in the next Brewarrina paper. It s all about the learning!!!!!!! As our motto states:- Safe respectful learners just like St Patrick. May God bless us all, Sharon Ferrari Principal CAUGHT BEING GOOD Yma Morris, Todd Pritchard MERIT AWARDS K/1- Lilly Chapman, Emily Kirkby, Yma Morris 23- at excursion 4/5/6- at excursion Ms Davey- Myree Cochrane, Alex Codrington ASSEMBLY:- 4/5/6 will present an item at assembly this week. K/1/2 EXCURSION This year the Kinder, 1 and 2 excursion will be on the 27th November. Students will be going to Lightning Ridge for the day visiting the Chambers of the Black Hands, walk in mine and participate in a fossicking activity. A note will be sent home later in the week explaining the excursion in more detail. FAMILY AND CHILD SERVICES VISIT- HALLOWEEN The students will be visiting the FACS centre on Thursday afternoon at 1:50 for some Halloween fun. The students will walk to the centre and look at the displays and have a treat. They have two displays one for the infants and one for the primary students. BUSH TO BEACH Once again the children of Brewarrina have the opportunity to visit the beach. Children from 5-16 are eligible. The children will leave Thursday 28 th January and return Monday 1 st February. If you are interested you can contact Jen Shearer at the Youth Centre or myself at school. What a great opportunity for the children!

3 WELCOME FATHER KOBBI Fr Magnus Kobbi will be joining the Bourke and Brewarrina Parishes this week. Fr Kobbi is originally from Uganda and has spent the last seven years in the Parramatta Diocese. We welcome Fr Kobbi to the Brewarrina Parish and look forward to working with him. Please keep Father John in your prayers as he undergoes treatment for cancer. If anyone would like his address we have it at school. FOR YOUR INFORMATION MARIAN PRAYER - THE ANGELUS SCHOOL COMMITTEE The school committee has been formed and we are going to have our first official meeting this week. The members are:- Parish Priest Principal-Sharon Ferrari Teacher Representative- Ros Fraser P&F Representative- Mary McMullen Shane Chapman Dave Wheatley At our first meeting we will elect a chairperson and secretary. Thankyou, for volunteering to be a member of the school committee. I look forward to working closely with you for the betterment of our wonderful school. DATES FOR KINDER TRANSITION Week Monday Tuesday TERM AT A GLANCE Date Event Assembly 4/5/ Assembly 2/ Assembly K/ Assembly 4/5/ Anthony Morgan visit. Mural celebration No assembly- K//1/2 excursion Assembly K/ Last day of school for students End of Term 4 Do you perhaps recognize the picture above? This famous 19th century work by the French painter Jean-Francois Millet depicts a farming couple praying the Angelus at dusk. This prayer is well suited to the artist s subject matter: two humble people paying homage to our Lord and His Blessed Mother in the Hail Mary, as well as in Gospel verses recalling His Incarnation as the Word entered the World. Its name comes from its opening words in Latin, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. PURPOSE OF THE ANGELUS As Christians, we are called to be people of prayer - entering into a relationship with God. In the prayer we remember the call of Mary to be the mother of Jesus and her acceptance of this role. With Mary s willing participation Jesus, the Word, becomes human. The short time of prayer creates a space for people to pause from work and remember the presence of God in the ordinariness of life. The day is punctuated with prayer. Hence the practice is one way to create a routine of prayer. HISTORY 12th Century: The custom of reciting the Hail Mary three times in a row in the evening was encouraged. This practice was a way of ending the day with prayer. 15th Century: The practice of saying the Hail Mary three times began to include three different times of the day: morning, noon and evening. 16th Century: The Angelus took on the structure we have today, reciting the Hail Mary three times with the verses in between. Although the Angelus has been traditionally said three times daily, at 6 am, noon and 6 pm, you can pray it at any time! It is still accompanied by the ringing of a bell (the Angelus bell) in some places such as Vatican City, parts of Germany, Ireland and in some of our schools.

4 IN OUR MODERN CONTEXT: Prayer is important and must be authentic and relevant. How we pray will depend on each person and is about listening to God and being attentive to God in our lives. The Angelus offers a ready-made formula to do this. Just a reminder that school opens at 8:30 am. Teachers are not on duty before 8:30am. Monday Canteen BBQ Kebabs $5 Health Checks The AMS will be conducting health checks on students at St Pat s next Tuesday and Wednesday. If you would like your child/ren to participate in the health check please complete the attached form and return it to school ASAP.

5 Lake Keepit Excursion The funniest memory I have of camp is when we tipped Morris out of the canoe- Grace My favourite part of camp is when we went on the giant swing. It was so high and it was fun pretending to be Super Man- Connor I loved being in the pool and making the raft- Bella The disco was loads of fun and everyone was dancing- Mythys I enjoyed rock climbing because everyone was able to reach their goals- Jasmine