Service

Make a positive difference in the life of others

As Bushfire season approaches in the Summer months, a copy of our Bushfire Plan can be found here on our website - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/formsandprocedures

Please check the PCPS community calendar for upcoming and future dates as the calendar is regularly updated https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/community-calendar

Dear Parents

Next Thursday evening we will have our combined Our Lady of the Missions, PCPS & WCPS Carol Evening. It is a wonderful opportunity for the parish and the two parish schools to come together to celebrate this Advent season. Please check you class Seesaw for further information. Thankyou to Mrs Carter for preparing the children so beautifully for this community event.

Children are invited to come dressed in Christmas theme/colours on this day. Parents are most welcome to join us.

During this Advent season, it is so important to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Saviour in a meaningful way.

I hope that you are able to go to mass during this Christmas season and perhaps even get involved in the Christmas Eve outdoor family mass at Our Lady of the Mission parish as Father Cyprian is inviting all children to come along and participate as readers, shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph etc.

We had our Thanksgiving Prayers and Farewell Assembly today and it was a lovely way to conclude the year as a whole school, giving thanks to God for many blessings and reflecting on how we can give generously to those who may be finding things a little difficult in our local community.

Thank you for your generosity over the last few weeks with all the different food items you brought in for St Vincent de Paul. You have certainly helped to make someone’s Christmas this year just that little more special.

We celebrate our Year Six children in a special way with their Graduation Mass this coming Tuesday at OLOM church. I wish all the Year Six students well in their future endeavours at their new school and may God bless them all as they set out on the next part of their journey.

Dream big and reach for the stars.

If you can dream it, you can achieve it

but you have to believe it and

you have to believe in yourself

Teachers have been working on class groupings for 2024 Many factors are considered when selecting class placements for students and each child’s best interests are the main priority when these decisions are made.

Class placements are a team decision made in consultation with both the year level teachers. Teachers spend a lot of time and give great consideration to the placement of children and I believe that their professionalism should be respected. Consideration for placement is made using the following criteria: gender; pastoral/social/emotional; special needs; special education; twins; academic ability; relationships etc.

Every effort is made to place children where it is felt they will have the greatest opportunity to succeed. All teachers at PCPS are very professional and of an excellent standard and children will receive a high quality of education no matter which class they are placed with.

If your child has special pastoral needs which may need consideration, you should have met with your class teacher by Monday 27 November as this was the cut off date clearly stipulated in the last newsletter.

Parents should understand that requests for particular placement cannot be guaranteed. Requesting a certain teacher is not a consideration.

Once class groupings are finalised they will not be changed so please do not contact the teachers, Leadership Team or the office after the cut-off date nor once you receive details about your child’s class.

Parents will be notified of their child’s teacher via SEQTA late afternoon of Thursday 14 December.

If your child is not returning to PCPS in 2024

please advise the office in writing via email at

admin@padcath.wa.edu.au

immediately

I have been enjoying reading the children's reports and am very impressed with the results achieved overall. The children have certainly been working extremely hard and should be very proud of their efforts. Reports will be issued in Week 9.

Our Pre Kindy (3yr old) list is growing fast for 2024 so if you would like to secure a place for your child please contact Mrs Ellen at the school office to enrol your child. If you have friends or neighbours with children who would be ready for Pre Kindy, please encourage them to enrol.

There are limited vacancies in some year levels in 2024 so if you know of anyone looking for a position, please recommend our beautiful school.

We are currently enrolling for Pre Kindy and Kindy 2025, 2026 and beyond so please get your application in for your child as soon as possible.

The Advisory Council would like to thank those families who have paid their school fees and are up to date. The last date for school fees to be paid was yesterday 30 November (unless you are on an extended and approved payment plan).

Should you have any outstanding fees, please pay these immediately. As per the school fee policy, the Advisory Council Finance Committee will take action to recover any unpaid fees through a debt collection agency.

There are a number of methods in which families at the school can pay their school fees. These include: credit card; EFTPOS, cash, cheque, direct debit and internet banking. Please see the Finance Officer, Mrs Maureen Lloyd at the school office for further details.

The end of the year is a time for reflection of the journey that we have taken together as a school community and the part that each and everyone one of us has played. It is a time to acknowledge this journey, celebrate all our great achievements as well as to look forward to what is to come in the year ahead.

Once again our school motto of “Love One Another” shone through each and every day at PCPS. In the words of Pope Francis “Love gives energy and fruitfulness to life and to the journey of faith” and this has certainly been the case at PCPS this year. Our work always centres upon ensuring that our Mercy Values of Justice, Dignity, Hospitality, Service, Excellence, Stewardship, Mercy and Compassion, have shone through in all that we do and is what is at the forefront of our Strategic Plan.

Our school is a community with Jesus at the heart as we strive to follow in Jesus’ footsteps each and every day. Our beautiful Padbury CPS children have worked extremely hard this year as always. The children have made me very proud on so many occasions, in all their achievements and in especially how they embody our wonderful community spirit and demonstrate their ‘love for one another’.

I am truly appreciative of the high level of involvement and unwavering support and encouragement from parents within our school community and I thank all parents for your time, effort and contributions, as our school would not be the same without your support.

Thank you to all of the wonderful staff at Padbury CPS – the professionalism and commitment, teamwork, dedication and patience that they show on a daily basis is outstanding. They have provided excellent educational opportunities for our children but more importantly they nurture them spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically and always have the children’s best interests at heart.

Mrs Sharpe has recently made a decision to take long service leave in Term One and then retire. We will farewell her at the end of her long service leave.

We are so very fortunate to have a wonderful school community and I thank God for blessing us all at Padbury CPS this year. Keep safe over the holidays, especially if you are travelling and have a peaceful Christmas with your family. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

A Merry and Holy Christmas to all Padbury Catholic Primary School families

Mrs Margaret Williamson

Principal

This year we have expanded our Mercy Value Awards to include some special awards attend the end of the year recognising excellence, growth and Christian leadership.

Mercy Award for Christian Living - Anjali Gautam

For the outstanding display of Mercy Values throughout 2023.

Excellence in Mathematics award - Sean Liem

For the highest academic achievement in Mathematics for the graduating class of 2023.

Excellence in English award - Lucas McCall

For the highest academic achievement in Literacy for the graduating class of 2023.

Growth in Academic Achievement award - Mya Gardiner

For the highest growth in academic achievement within the graduating class of 2023.

Thankyou to everyone who has generously donated to the Vinnies Christmas Appeal

Your amazing generosity will make a difference to people in our community or are struggling during this time of the year.

All children wishing to participate at the Christmas Eve outdoor Mass @ 6.00pm, Sunday 24 December as Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Inn-Keepers or angels, please come for a rehearsal on Saturday 16 December @ 10.00am at Our Lady of the Missions Church.

All participants will only be chosen from those who come to the rehearsal.

For more details, please contact Mrs Fragomeni on 0424 584 460 or bobfragomeni@bigpond.com

Ms Mac Callisto & Mr Peter O'Mara

Assistant Principals

We are thrilled to extend our congratulations to all the talented students who participated in this year's Young ICT Explorers competition. In a world where technology is shaping our future, your creativity truly shines as you explore the possibilities of the digital world.

🚀 Embracing Technology's Evolution

In an era where technology is constantly evolving, the Young ICT Explorers competition recognizes the potential of technology and aims to inspire students to consider careers in the digital technologies/ICT industry.

🌍 Diverse Topics, Creative Solutions

This year, our school entered a remarkable 9 groups consisting of students from Year 4 to Year 6. The range of topics included scams, anxiety, healthy living, litter reduction, feeling safe, and hack detectors. Each group passionately delved into research, presenting their findings through comprehensive reports and engaging videos.

🏆 Outstanding Achievements

It is with immense pride that we announce the achievements of our talented participants. The following are State winners!

1st Place WINNERS Years 5-6

1st Place “Unscam” Year 5 Aaron Espiritu and Lachlan Cornwall.

3rd Place WINNERS “Positive Pals” Year 6 Lucas Mc'Call and Sean Liem.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to these boys for their dedication and outstanding work!

Next stop ....National Finals in February 2024!

The success of our school has earned a coveted spot in the National Finals, February 2024.

🎁 Recognition and Rewards

To celebrate these great feats, winning students and place holders will receive vouchers from the Young ICT Explorers Association. This recognition is well-deserved.

🌟 Looking Forward to the Future

As we celebrate the accomplishments of our current participants, we eagerly anticipate more students joining us in 2024 and we are confident that the future holds even more remarkable contributions from Padbury CPS.

Once again, a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to all our Young ICT Explorers! Your curiosity, creativity, and commitment to innovation make us exceptionally PROUD.

Mrs Rosalba Bottega

Extension Teacher

Written by Aaron Espiritu....

In our Extension programme, we competed in a Young ICT Explorers competition.

Our job was to solve a global issue using ICT.

We chose the current scamming issue and we developed a web site and link to a quiz to help people recognise when scams occur. We were very excited to win 1st place in the WA category.

Title: Unscam

Names: Lachlan and Aaron

Helpers: Danny, Dev and my relative, Daniel

Introduction

Children get scammed yearly, falling for scammer’s traps, getting money stolen from credit cards in milliseconds without even knowing. And if they knew that they got scammed after the incident, most of the children don’t report the scam to a trusted adult. Even though people need to build courage to tell people of the scam, prevention is a much better way to go with. I like how people are trying to stop scamming as scamming is a very bad thing to do. It inspired me to help stop scamming. My friend also said he wanted to do a project about scams.

Our Project

Our Project is a website that has quizzes and games that help to be more immune to scams. We found out in a recent lesson that most people that get defrauded in Australia are children and that most children who get scammed do not report it to a trusted adult. If the person who got scammed was more aware, they wouldn’t get a thing stolen from them. Although I had a few ideas in mind, my friend convinced me to work on this topic and it just felt right to do it. It will work as a menu that when options on it are clicked, will take you to certain parts of the app.

File (HTML)< website

*Game and quiz only work with certain people's devices as websites refuse to connect on some people’s computers.

Mrs Rosalba Bottega

Extension Teacher

As part of our Christian Service, the Year Four children have been writing letters and drawing pictures for the people who live at Bethanie in Kingsley. The following paragraph was written by the children -

We have received beautiful letters back from Don, Joyce, Ron, Betty, Pamela, Glenys, Rhonda, Nanna Aileen, Gordon, Dianne, Barton and Brian. Everyone there is kind-hearted and caring.

This week we have responded with Christmas cards, as well as letters. We have enjoyed corresponding with the people at Bethanie and have looked forward to it. We have learnt how to write interesting, detailed letters.

We now realise that everyone has different hobbies and personalities. Reading the letters, we also realised that we have a lot in common with them. We have learnt about the things they did when they were children and their lives as they grew up.

Mrs Bubnich and Mrs Holness

Christian Service Co ordinators

Congratulations to Year 6 student Oscar Collins who will be attending Mater Dei College on an AFL football scholarship next year, as he enters the special AFL Football Academy.

This photo was taken at our Assembly last Friday with Mater Dei Vice Principal and AFL Football Director, coming to acknowledge Oscar's wonderful achievement.

A big thank you to the P&F Disco Team, led by Erin Otten, for organising the very successful school disco! The school hall was decked out beautifully, with live entertainment, candy bar and lots of wacky hair. All the students had a great time as evidenced in the photos below. A lot of hard work went into the event and we thank the parents who helped put the wonderful night together.

An absolute must for anyone who missed out next time it comes around on the social calendar.

When a child or adult is upset a grounding exercise is a simple way to help calm the body and calm the mind. Grounding exercises encourage children to focus on the things around them, rather than on the thoughts and feelings that are distressing them.

Calming down helps them cope in the moment and recover over time. With practice and your help, children can learn to calm down by themselves and they will then be able to use these skills across a variety of situations. The ability to stay calm and manage upsets is a crucial life skill for each and every one of us to develop.

Click on the following link for more information.

https://raisingchildren.net.au/guides/activity-guides/wellbeing/grounding-calming-exercise-children-teenagers

Mrs Ali Fisher

Social Worker

All Masses are held in the Church

Saturday - 8:30am; 6:30pm

Sunday - 8:00am; 9:30am; 11:00am; 5:45pm

Monday to Friday - 7:00am; 9:00am

24:7 Youth Group

For all youth in Years 6 to 12

1st and 3rd Friday @ Parish Hall, 7pm

Call Luke 0401822932 for more information.

Rev Fr Cyprian M Shikokoti - PP

Our Lady of the Mission, Parish Website : www.olm.myparish.net.au

The school dental service will be closed from 23/12/2023 to 26/01/2024.

Emergency dental treatment is available at:

Mt Henry Dental Therapy Centre

43 Mt Henry Road, Salter Point

PH: 9313 0555

Open Monday - Friday from 8.15am to 4.30pm