St. Patrick's Blog Week of February 8-12

Lent Begins
This week marks the beginning the Catholic liturgical season of Lent.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is recognized as a day of fast and abstinence. This means we are to approach the day with reverence by fasting from larger meals and abstaining from "treats" and extras.  Our personal preparation for Ash Wednesday should be a larger preparation for the 40 days of Lent, which should be marked by personal prayer and reflection on how we can improve our relationships with others.  As we set goals for our work in the second term of the school year, Lent reminds us that goals which are spiritual in nature should be brought forward, too.  This is a practice shared by many religious traditions and is recognized by multiple faiths.  We will continue this discussion with our students and staff throughout this important liturgical season.

Ash Wednesday
We will observe Ash Wednesday with an afternoon liturgy on February 10th.  We will reflect on the meaning of Lent and invite students and staff to be marked by ashes that represent our mortality and are an outward sign for forgiveness.  The staffmember distributing the ashes will say, "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."  Because the administration of ashes is sacramental and not a sacrament, all individuals, regardless of their faith, may receive ashes. Students who would rather not receive ashes will be encouraged to come forward for a blessing.

Bus Cancellations
Did you have problems accessing the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority's website to see whether buses were cancelled or not on Wednesday?  The site was overwhelmed with "hits" on Wednesday morning and many could not get on.  Prevent this from happening by signing up for an automatic e-mail to let you know about bus cancellations.  You can do so by accessing the following:
https://secure.campaigner.com/CSB/Public/Form.aspx?fid=962150

Visit by our Director of Education
On Friday of this week we welcome Denise Andre, our Director of Education. She will be visiting some of our classes, especially those involved with an initiative known as SSSSI, or School Student Success Support Initiative.

Contact Information
Our school council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca
Our trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal

Coming Up
Mon. Feb. 8:  CSPA Presents Strong Not Tough:  The Healthy Family Step Plan to Manage Anxiety and Prevent Depression, 7-9 p.m., St. Matthew High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register). 

Thurs. Feb. 18:  Learning French at OCSB, 6:45-8:45 p.m., St. Paul Catholic High School.

Sat. Feb. 27:  Ottawa Parents' Information Forum on FSL, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Immaculata High School.


Mon. Feb. 29 (Lester B. Pearson High School) or Tues. March 1 (St. Joseph High School):  Understanding EQAO Assessments, both locations 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register).

Sat. March 5:  CSPA Presents Pro-Social Skills for Kids to Thrive and Survive, 9:45-11:30 a.m., St. Patrick Intermediate School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register).

St. Patrick's Blog Week of February 1-5

Professional Development Day on Monday
This coming Monday, February 1, is a Professional Development Day, meaning that there is no school for students at St. Patrick Intermediate.  Please note that this PD Day is for Intermediate and High Schools ONLY.  Elementary schools, K-6, do NOT have a PD Day as they had theirs on Friday, Jan. 22.

Cardboard Boat Races
On Wednesday, our school participated in the annual Cardboard Boat Races. Although we did not place, our team did really well as they made it completely across the pool, holding extra people.  All of the participants had a really fun experience.  Check out this video: https://youtu.be/hGuBEVB6GXA 



Contact Information
Our school council chair is Cees Artz and can be reached at chair@StPatsInt-council.ca
Our trustee is Mark Mullan and can be reached at mark.mullan@ocsb.ca

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal


Coming Up
Mon. Feb. 8:  CSPA Presents Strong Not Tough:  The Healthy Family Step Plan to Manage Anxiety and Prevent Depression, 7-9 p.m., St. Matthew High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register). 

Thurs. Feb. 18:  Learning French at OCSB, 6:45-8:45 p.m., St. Paul Catholic High School.

Sat. Feb. 27:  Ottawa Parents' Information Forum on FSL, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Immaculata High School.

Mon. Feb. 29 (Lester B. Pearson High School) or Tues. March 1 (St. Joseph High School):  Understanding EQAO Assessments, both locations 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register).

St. Patrick's Blog Week of January 25-29

IEP Information Night 
If you missed our IEP Information Night on Monday and would like to have a look at the slides presented, please access this link:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hB1szf8vts-IZ_vi7VaqQ4IawxgpLHlGvARwNmakXrs/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

Professional Development Day
A reminder that Monday, February 1 is a professional development day for intermediate and secondary schools, meaning that there is no school for students at St. Patrick's Intermediate and St. Patrick's High School.

Dress-Down Day for Charity
A reminder that this coming Friday, Jan 29 is a dress-down day for charity.  For a $2.00 donation, students can have a break from wearing their uniform in order to wear other appropriate clothing of their own. 

School Council Meeting
Our School Council meets this coming Tuesday, January 26 at 7 p.m. in Learning Commons 1.  We look forward to seeing and hearing from those in our St. Patrick community.

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal



Coming Up
Sat. Jan. 23:  CSPA Presents Fostering Self-Esteem, 9:45-11:30 a.m., Frank Ryan Catholic Intermediate School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register).

Mon. Feb. 8:  CSPA Presents Strong Not Tough:  The Healthy Family Step Plan to Manage Anxiety and Prevent Depression, 7-9 p.m., St. Matthew High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register). 

Thurs. Feb. 18:  Learning French at OCSB, 6:45-8:45 p.m., St. Paul Catholic High School.

Sat. Feb. 27:  Ottawa Parents' Information Forum on FSL, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Immaculata High School.

Mon. Feb. 29 (Lester B. Pearson High School) or Tues. March 1 (St. Joseph High School):  Understanding EQAO Assessments, both locations 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register).

St. Patrick's Blog Week of January 18-22

IEP Information Night
Do you ever wonder if your child should be on an IEP (Individual Education Plan)?  Is your child on an IEP and you'd like more information on IEP's in general?  Then this night is for you!  On Monday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Pat's Intermediate, the Student Services/Resource staff will be putting on a presentation dealing with IEP's.  All are welcome to attend.

Reading Buddies at St. Gemma School
Our Reading Buddies program has turned out to be a real success.  Every second Tuesday, students from our school walk over to St. Gemma to read with, primarily, the grade 2 class. Students at both schools have expressed that they really enjoy this endeavour because, amongst other things, they learn from each other.   

New Professional Activity Day (no school for students)

A new PD is being added to the school calendars of all school boards in the province. This is part of the settlement negotiated between the Provincial Government and the four teachers’ federations in the fall of 2015. The Board of Trustees of the Ottawa Catholic School Board have approved Friday, April 15, 2016 as the designated additional PD day in all OCSB schools. Visit http://ocsb.ca/calendar to view the newly updated 2015-16 school year calendar.

Automatic Attendance Starts Monday
Effective Monday, our attendance will be automated, meaning that should a student be absent and we have not been informed of this, parents will be notified of the absence at approximately 9 a.m. by an automated voice attendant. Again, this call will NOT go out if parents have approved the absence ahead of time.

Have a great week.

Don Murphy
Principal

Coming Up

Mon. Jan. 18:  IEP Information Evening, 7 p.m., St. Pat's Intermediate Cafeteria

Sat. Jan. 23:  CSPA presents Fostering Positive Self-Esteem, 9:45-11:30 a.m., Frank Ryan Catholic Intermediate School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register)

Tues. Jan. 26:  School Council Meeting at 7 p.m. in Learning Commons 1, St. Pat's Intermediate

Mon. Feb. 8:  CSPA presents Strong not Tough:  The Healthy Family Step Plan to Manage Anxiety and Prevent Depression,   7 p.m.-9 p.m., St. Matthew High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register) 

Thurs. Feb. 18:  Learning French at OCSB, 6:45 p.m. -8:45 p.m., St. Paul Catholic High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register)

St. Patrick's Blog Week of January 11-15

IEP Information Night
Do you ever wonder if your child should be on an IEP (Individual Education Plan)?  Is your child on an IEP and you'd like more information on IEP's in general?  Then this night is for you!  On Monday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Pat's Intermediate, the Student Services/Resource staff will be putting on a presentation dealing with IEP's.  All are welcome to attend.

Post-Christmas Activities

With Christmas now behind us, our administration and student services department have already begun the transition schedule for our new grade 6’s coming to the school, as well as preparing the details for our grade 8’s to move to St. Patrick’s High School.  We put a great deal of effort into this process to ensure that our students are in a comfortable position as they move to new schools. Keep track of our key dates on the calendar that populates at the bottom of the blog page.

A number of activities have started up following Christmas, and many teams and clubs are getting together.  We review the schedule with students each week at our Monday Morning Assemblies.  I would encourage you to discuss with your son/daughter the different opportunities for co-curricular experiences that are going on, while challenging them to engage themselves.

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

Coming Up

Wed. Jan. 13:  Staying Connected with Your Child, 6:45-8:45 p.m., Mother Teresa High School

Mon. Jan. 18:  IEP Information Evening, 7 p.m., St. Pat's Intermediate Cafeteria

Sat. Jan. 23:  CSPA presents Fostering Positive Self-Esteem, 9:45-11:30 a.m., Frank Ryan Catholic Intermediate School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register)

Tues. Jan. 26:  School Council Meeting at 7 p.m. in Learning Commons 1, St. Pat's Intermediate

Mon. Feb. 8:  CSPA presents Strong not Tough:  The Healthy Family Step Plan to Manage Anxiety and Prevent Depression,   7 p.m.-9 p.m., St. Matthew High School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register) 

St Patrick's Blog Week of January 4-8

Happy New Year

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a Happy New Year to all of you in our St. Patrick’s community.  I hope that the Christmas holidays provided you with an opportunity to relax and spend some time with family and friends.  All of us at St. Patrick's look forward to working with our stakeholders in 2016.

St. Patrick’s Christmas Hampers
We recognize that our strength as a school community can be seen when we work together with good intentions in mind.  This quality was at the forefront of our Christmas Hamper initiative this December.  All of our grade 7 and 8 classes, as well as staff and members of our School Council, came together to contribute to Christmas packages for those in our community who might not otherwise have food and gifts during the holidays.  The amount of goods contributed was overwhelming.  A big thank you to all who participated in any way they could.

St. Patrick’s Career Fair

On December 16th, all of our grade 7 students had the opportunity to visit our Career Fair, organized by our Student Services Department.  We had community representation from several vocations and agencies including first responders, colleges, and private sector businesses...to name a few. This initiative gave students an opportunity to ask questions and get additional information on various careers. Thank you so much to those in our community who gave of their time to provide information at the fair.

IEP Information Night

Do you ever wonder if your child should be on an IEP (Individual Education Plan)?  Is your child on an IEP and you'd like more information on IEP's in general?  Then this night is for you!  On Monday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Pat's Intermediate, the Student Services/Resource staff will be putting on a presentation dealing with IEP's.  All are welcome to attend.

Have a great first week back.

Don Murphy

Principal

Coming Up

Wed. Jan. 13:  Staying Connected with Your Child, 6:45-8:45 p.m., Mother Teresa High School

Sat. Jan. 23:  CSPA presents Fostering Positive Self-Esteem, 9:45-11:30 a.m., Frank Ryan Catholic Intermediate School (see spe.ocsb.ca for more information and to register)

Tues. Jan. 26:  School Council Meeting at 7 p.m. in Learning Commons 1, St. Pat's Intermediate

St. Patrick's Blog Week of December 14-18

Merry Christmas!

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a very Merry Christmas and a special holiday season to all of our St. Patrick’s families.  As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we also recognize the additional celebrations of the many faiths that make up our school community.  At this special time of year, we acknowledge the hard work of our students and staff in bringing a comfortable Christmas to many who might otherwise go without.  Our support of the Christmas Hamper program is a practical reminder of the meaning of Advent and Christmas themes.  I hope that each one of you is able to find time to relax and recharge during the holidays.

IEP Information Night

Do you ever wonder if your child should be on an IEP (Individual Education Plan)?  Is your child on an IEP and you'd like more information on IEP's in general?  Then this night is for you!  On Monday, January 18 at 7 p.m. at St. Pat's Intermediate, the Student Services/Resource staff will be putting on a presentation dealing with IEP's.  All are welcome to attend.

Reading Buddies at St. Gemma

Our students who headed over to St. Gemma on Tuesday to read to the grade 2 class had an exceptional experience.  They really enjoyed meeting future St. Pat's students, helping them with their reading skills.  This initiative will continue throughout the school year.

Dress-Down Days

A reminder that there are two dress-down days this week...our regular one on Friday and a special one on Monday to raise money for refugee support.  The dress-down day on Monday is a Board-wide activity.  Both dress-down days cost $2 for EACH day.

Ottawa Public Health Immunization Information

For information on immunization requirements and what to do if you receive a suspension notice from Ottawa Public Health, please access the following link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHUTV5bUNHemtlM0RzUzV5QmtBR2FuU2VSaVlN

Shamrock Fashions for Students

Last year, a group of students and staff collaborated on an entrepreneurial initiative called Shamrock Fashions, in which donated clothing and other items become available for sale at the school.  This Tuesday, at lunch, Shamrock Fashions will be open for those wishing to purchase such items.

Have a great week and a restful Christmas Break.

Don Murphy

Principal