Companions on the Journey

Today is the National Day of Action Against Bullying. The Year 2s made chatterboxes with their Year 5 buddies to celebrate friendships and positive interactions with others.

The school works closely with the parish in preparing for and celebrating the sacraments. While the school takes a large part of the responsibility in preparing our students to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation, this is done in concert with a parish based sacramental program. Integral to this program are the interactive workshops and retreats for sacramental candidates and their parents held by the school over the course of the year.

This year was the first time that we had some of our children baptized during our school mass. We all  eagerly watched with a sense of pride and joy for our fellow students making this big step, as the whole school was together in the celebration. A sincere thank you to Mrs K for all of her work in the preparation of these students and wish them all a happy and faith filled life.

This year, the Year 6 cohort have had the opportunity to experience flying Parrot Mambo Drones. Using a coding application on their school i-Pad’s, they have been able to fly the drones in the undercover area both manually and using coding. They completed simple flights and obstacle courses with the drones. Well done Year 6 students!

All students in year 3 enjoyed participating in the Aussie Optimism program this term. Mrs Caroline Quintal attended several days of professional development at the Health Sciences department of Curtin University to facilitate the program. In the ‘Feelings and Friends’ program the students were guided through some very important social /emotional strategies.

Recognising feelings, basic emotional vocabulary, recognising ‘body clues’, improving relationships, developing social networks, learning coping strategies and managing conflicts.  The students created a Tool-Kit of strategies they can use when faced with challenging situations. Each session concluded with some quiet guided meditation.

On Tuesdays at lunchtime Mr Redding facilitates the Numero Club for years 4, 5 and 6. Numero is a card game with the unique ability to build on the Number and Algebra strand of Mathematics while developing social and game-related skills. It is also a fun way of improving accuracy and speed with mental mathematics.  There is a Winners chart to add an edge of competitiveness!

This week St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School in Clarkson celebrated Children’s Book Council Awards with our annual Book Week parade. Students and staff dressed up as their favourite book characters. The costumes were varied and creative and the children participated enthusiastically.   Organiser Debra Parody commented that, “Parents did an amazing job of preparing their children for this annual event and it showed in the fun and the excitement that the children experienced.” 

Each year the school choir and the school band participate at the annual Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools. [PAF]

At St Andrew’s school, instrumental lessons are offered for woodwind, piano, percussion and guitar. Students may be given the opportunity to participate at the Performing Arts Festival.

The students who have participated in the PAF play or sing at the Performing Arts Assembly.

Each year our school performs a Nativity play/concert on the school oval. The entire school participates, with kindy children acting out the story, year 5 students narrating and the rest of the school singing the Christmas songs, led by the school choir.

Coding / Spheros / Ozobots / Beebots / Lego Robotics / Computer lab / Drones

At St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School we teach coding and a wide array of STREAM concepts including engineering, understanding data and creating digital solutions. At our school we are well resourced with class kits for Lego Robotics, Drones, Sphero Robots, Ozobot line code readers, BeeBots and Microbit packs.  Students also receive specialist Digital Technology lessons weekly to improve their skills with desktop computers. By having access to a fully equipped computer lab students can research, work on document design and production as well as a vast array of software skills including learn touch typing skills.

At St Andrew’s we advocate and promote regular physical exercise. Students are offered a wide range of sports before, during and after school on specific days, to allow them to learn new skills and to find the challenges they need to extend their sporting abilities. All students are given an opportunity to participate in school Athletics carnivals, along with opportunities to be part of Interschool events including Lightning & Athletics Carnivals and Cross-Country competitions. At St Andrew’s we challenge the students to improve on their physical performance, along with a focus on enjoying sport, building friendships and healthy choices for life.  Before and afterschool activities include; 

• Running club & cross-country training.
• After school Athletics training
• Tennis Clinics
• Sporting schools’ clinics throughout the year:
• Soccer, AFL, Hockey, badminton, Volleyball, Netball, Gymnastics, Basketball, Golf and Cricket.

The Indonesian program at St Andrew’s aims to develop students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of the Indonesian language and culture. Highlights of the school program include kite making, cooking lessons, batik painting, traditional songs and games.

Mini Vinnies empowers Year 5 students to become advocates within St Andrew’s and its local community by putting their values into action.  They meet regularly to learn about social justice issues, develop leadership skills and engage with the wider St Vincent de Paul Society. Mini Vinnies is about doing good works in the community that benefit people facing social injustice. It is also about young people meeting to talk, share ideas and concerns, to have fun and support each other.

The Mini Vinnies model of “See, Think, Do” is a great way to get students thinking and talking about their spirituality and to connect their faith with issues affecting their community through volunteering, advocacy and fundraising. Not only do the students in Mini Vinnies benefit from the experience but also the school and wider community.

Our current Year 6 leadership model, “Student Voice”, has seven student ministries. The initiative “Student Voice” was developed to increase involvement and engagement by Year 6 students, as individuals and collectively as a year group. This initiative allows each student of Year 6 to engage and participate as part of one of the seven ministry groups.  The “Ministry Model” at St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School consists of the following ministries: Communication, Cultural, Environmental, Library, Music, Spiritual and Sport. Each ministry is mentored by a staff member and designed to be collaborative in nature. Students regularly meet with their designated staff member and Leadership to discuss topical issues, put forward by students, and occasionally staff. 

Throughout the process and experience of the initiative, Year 6 students become equipped to problem solve, increase their collaborative skills, carry out tasks, understand accountability and maintain a sense of ownership between group members, the school community and the broader community. “Student voice” allows the students to feel heard, take ownership and acquire the skills and strategies that good leaders possess.

St Andrew’s School Band provides our students with many opportunities to showcase their musical talents to the community.  The students perform in a School Music Gala, in school Masses and the Performing Arts Festival.  Regular instrumental lessons are available at the school with Specialist Instrument tutors including lessons for guitar, drums, piano, clarinet, flute, saxophone and fife.

On alternate years, different talented music groups from Musica Viva visit our school to give concerts for our students. These concerts are interactive and our students love participating in the concert and playing the instruments.

The St Andrew’s Chess and Checkers Club meets every Friday in the School Library for students from years 2 – 6. The Library Ministry from year 6 enjoy setting up the library and coaching and mentoring the younger students.  The children may challenge other students from different year levels according to their ability.  Checkers has recently been introduced and many children have embraced this strategic game enthusiastically.

In 2021, our Year 6 children attended Ern Halliday for their annual camp. School camp is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop new skills, friendships and interests. In particular, the opportunity to foster independence, build confidence and develop their team working skills are important aspects of our School camp. This year, our students participated in many activities which included rock climbing, the big swing and caving. The Year 6 children and staff had an amazing time participating in these exciting and challenging activities.

Our students thoroughly enjoy the Athletics program, as it offers each child the chance to have be involved in team games, track events and field events. St Andrew’s offers free before and after-school training sessions to help them prepare for carnivals and to learn new skills.

Mother’s Day Morning Tea and Assembly  and Father’s Day Breakfast and Assembly

The mothers of St Andrew’s are treated to a fabulous morning tea prior to Mother’s Day each year. A special Mother’s Day assembly is presented by our pre-primary students to celebrate this Day on the Friday before Mother’s Day.

The Father’s Day breakfast is a long-standing tradition at St Andrew’s which is attended by most of the students and their dads and grandfathers. The delicious sausage sizzles, hot chocolates, toast, juice, tea, and coffee are enjoyed by all. The breakfast is followed with much anticipation by the Father’s Day raffle! An assembly presented by a pre-primary class is also dedicated to all the dads.

Coding / Spheros / Ozobots / Beebots / Lego Robotics / Computer lab / Drones

The Speak Up Award programme endeavours to provide young students with the opportunity to learn, develop and practice public speaking skills.

St Andrews CPS has participated in the Speak Up competition for the past 10 years.

With the support of staff running an in-school event for our Year 4, 5 and 6 students, speakers from our school have been successful in reaching the semi-final stages almost every year. On several occasions, St Andrew’s students have reached the state Speak Up Grand Final.