Let us take care of everything God has given us

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

On Tuesday evening we had our combined Our Lady of the Missions, PCPS & WCPS Carol Evening. It is always a wonderful opportunity for the parish and the two parish schools to come together to celebrate the Advent season and it was terrific to see so many PCPS families enjoy a picnic and some carolling. Special thanks to Mrs Twine for preparing the children so beautifully for this community event.

Advent Prayers and Carol Sing-a-Long Monday 2 December at 9am. Children are invited to come dressed in Christmas theme/colours on this day. Parents are most welcome to join us. Big thankyou to Mrs Twine for preparing a special sing a long for the children.

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.

The parish is looking for children to be involved in the Nativity Play, which is a feature of the Parish Christmas Eve Outdoor Mass (6pm) on the oval near the church.

Those children who would like to do a reading, and/or play the parts of Mary, Joseph, herald, innkeepers, shepherds and angels are invited to a practice on Saturday 21st December at 10am.

Meet on the oval side of the church then go out to the oval. (Please make sure children have adequate hot weather protection if needed). Characters will be chosen from those present at the practice. All children are welcome to join us.

Enquiries: Leanne Fragomeni 0424 584 460 or fragomeni.leanne@gmail.com

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. We also enjoyed an awesome final assembly from our beautiful Year Six students!

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.

Big thanks to Mrs Bastow for organising a wonderful Art Exhibition where the children were able to showcase their artist and creative talents. Some outstanding pieces of artwork!

Our Instrumental Concert held last week and our School Band performance held this week showcase some wonderful musical talent from our students. Ewell done children! Thankyou to Mrs Twine for organising these events so that The Arts within PCPS continues to shine!

Teachers have been working on class groupings for 2025. 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 already met with your class teacher by Monday 25 November as this was the cutoff date clearly stipulated in the previous 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 on the afternoon of Friday 13 December.

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.

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, bringing to life our school motto of “Love One Another” .

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, contributions and for trusting in the Leadership Team and staff.

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.

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

Condolences go to the Giles family (Michael Yr 4) on the loss of their Brother/Uncle. Our prayers are with you during this sad time.

When we lose someone we love

We must learn not to live without them

but to live with the love they left behind

Thank you to everyone at Padbury Catholic Primary School for your generous donations of food products and other Christmas items that were collected for our St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. We were so impressed at the amount of food that was sent in. Your generous spirit will most certainly make others in our community who are struggling, to feel the kindness and love that has been shared.

Please do not park on any grassed areas of the school as lawns and reticulation have been damaged.

The afternoon Kiss and Ride in the top carpark is ONLY for those parents who have children to pick up in Kindy and Pre Kindy. If you have children to collect from Yr 1-6 you cannot park in this area in the afternoons.

A branch came down from one of our trees on Thursday and one of our students sustained a small cut to the top of their head, which required some medical treatment and is doing well. I would like to reassure families that this was an isolated incident and the school follows full procedures and protocols as per the CEWA governing body. An arborist regularly inspects, assesses and remediates the trees on our grounds and in fact, the arborist just recently conducted the periodical and regular assessment of all trees on the property that we conduct in accordance with CEWA policy and in the interests of safety for all.

It has been a busy couple of weeks with lots of musical performances. On Wednesday 20 November the Years 4 – 6 who participate in the Instrumental Programme at Padbury showcased what they have been learning in a very enjoyable concert. Performing for an audience takes a lot of courage and is part of the learning experience for the children. Well done to all the children who performed and thank you to the music tutors for preparing them so well.

On Tuesday 26 November many of the students participated in the Carols Evening by either singing in one of the choirs or presenting one of the readings. It was fantastic to see so many families there and the children sang beautifully and looked gorgeous in their Christmas clothes.

The School Band performed for the school on Wednesday 27 November and featured two of the songs from One Big Voice. Both songs have great messages; ‘Do the Right Thing’ is all about making good choices and ‘Warrior'' tells the story of Whadjuk Noongar man, Yagan. The Band this year has consisted of flute, trumpet, violin, guitar, bass guitar, piano, bass xylophone and drums. Mr Darby and Mrs Twine have rehearsed the band at lunchtime on Wednesdays, and it has been amazing to see what the students have achieved.

The final music event for 2024 will be the Christmas Singalong on Monday 2 December. The Christmas Tree will be the focus and the Year 6 students will help us to learn the meaning of the decorations we use. There will be lots of singing to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

Mrs Roslyn Twine

Music Teacher

It’s hard to believe that the end of the school year is here. It has been a fantastic year for the P&F, with loads of events and activities for friend-raising and fund-raising.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported the P&F throughout 2024. From buying a raffle ticket to volunteering to help with a sausage sizzle, we appreciate every donation of time and money - all of which is for the benefit of our kids and wonderful school community.

In particular, I would like to thank the portfolio holders for their work on the remaining events in

Term 4:

• Nicole Cornwall and her team for the fortnightly icypoles;

• Marissa Kelly and helpers with the Scholastic Book Fair – an incredible $1,883 in Scholastic rewards was raised, which all goes back to resources for the school;

• Lisa Zscherpel and Simone Moreno, as well as the many volunteers who helped out with the brilliant kids discos.

If you would like to get involved with the P&F in 2025, either with a portfolio or as a class representative, please get in touch with me at Katie_scho@hotmail.com to express your interest or for more information.

We have several Portfolios open in 2025:

• Interschool Sausage Sizzle (2 people needed)

• Support for the term 2/3 Sausage Sizzle (1 Person needed)

• School Photos (2 people needed)

• Donations Sub Committee (2/3 people needed)

• Grants Sub Committee (2/3 people needed)

Huge congratulations to all the winners so far, please reach out to me to arrange a time to collect your prize. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more winners all next week.

A very big thank you to all of our sponsors who donated items for the Raffle;

• Antonia Milan and family – donated the weekend at Jurien Bay.

• Paul Lilburne MLA – Donated the Bike.

• Limeburners & Ginversity in the Valley – Donation of the Ginversity tasting Voucher.

• Entertainment Book – Donated 2 x entertainment books.

• Whitfords Brewing Company – Donated vouchers.

We are very sad to be saying goodbye to our traffic warden Mark, who is retiring at the end of the year. Mark’s bright, friendly manner in getting our families safely to and from school each day is very-much appreciated, and we wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement.

We are excited to introduce a new fund-raising initiative for the P&F in 2025 - Containers for Change. This will be a great opportunity to save thousands of containers from landfill while raising funds for our activities, projects and events in 2025.

More information will be shared in 2025 about the program, including the potential for a school collection point – so get saving! In the meantime, our community can start supporting it now by donating directly at refund points, simply by using the code on the flyer.

A huge thank you to Bree Byrnes for getting this up and running and taking on the portfolio next year.

*Save the Date – Friday, 21st February 2025*

Our whole school Family Community Event will start the new school year off with a bang!

• Exciting activities

• DJ

• Fun games and rides for all ages

• Food trucks

Keep an eye on the P&F Facebook page for more details in the new year!

We’re setting up a cool spot at school where YOU can run your own mini business! Whether it’s handmade crafts, tasty treats or something totally unique, this is your chance to create, sell, and shine.

Got something in mind? Let’s bring it to life! Get in touch with Bree Byrnes who will help guide you on what you need to do.

We are also looking for sponsors and we'd love your support! Thanks to the generosity of 10 businesses, some stalls have already been funded, but the following are still available:

Trackless Train - $1500

Petting Farm - $850

Lighting Towers - $950

DJ - $900

Slot Car Racing - $900

As a sponsor, your business logo will be prominently displayed on the stall that you choose to support. This is a great opportunity to get involved in our school community and showcase your business!

If you are interested in sponsoring one of these stalls, please contact Michelle Greene on 0415587025. Thank you for considering this wonderful opportunity to be a part of our Family Fair!

Entertainment Book

Follow the link to list your business on our website to gain recognition on Facebook and in our newsletter.

PCPS School Business Directory

Thank you everyone for your continued support.

Mrs Cathy Farrell

P&F Executive

All Masses are held in the church and for information regarding days/times please follow the link below.

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.