Dear families and friends,

Welcome back to Term 2.

Thank you to all the students who attended the ANZAC Day march last week. The number of children participating was very encouraging and they marched wonderfully. I felt extremely proud to be marching alongside such a respectful and responsible group of children. Thank you, parents and grandparents, for bringing the children along and making this a great community event.

Congratulations to all of Gundagai in the opening celebration of the refurbished main street. How good does it look! The purple lighting of the trees at night is enchanting. Well done Gundagai!

Once again this is a very busy term. This Friday, St Patrick’s will host the Western Region Cross Country Carnival being held at the Race Course. A huge thank you goes out to all the parents, Community Council members, Mrs Lisa Wilson and Mrs Natasha Flanagan for organising this event and showcasing St Patrick’s and the great facilities of Gundagai.

Sarah Scott and Isaak Pearce busking at the Main Street opening.

NAPLAN 2018

This term, our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in NAPLAN testing (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy). We wish all our Year 3 and Year 5 students the very best.  Parents may wish to visit the official NAPLAN site for more information.  NAPLAN 2018     https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/

Mother’s Day

On Monday the 14^th of May, St Patrick’s will be holding a morning tea to celebrate Mother’s Day. All mothers and grandmothers of St Patrick’s and the Gundagai community are warmly invited to come along and join together in celebration of motherhood.

Semester One Reports

Our school Semester 1 parent/teacher interviews shall take place on the 2^nd,3^rd and 4^th of July. To better inform the interview process so that it is an effective reporting experience for parents we invite parents to respond to a reporting survey which will be sent out via email. Your responses will shape the Semester two interview process. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Fundraising Fun

From a fundraising focus, this term sees the return of the Meat Raffle at Lott’s on a Friday night. We would like to thank all of our St. Patrick’s community members for supporting these events with their time & effort. It's a great opportunity to chat with the locals followed by a family meal!

Supportive Playgroups

Fridays 9:00 am - 10:30 am for 8 weeks starting 11th May

The Supportive Playgroup Program will run for eight sessions and is open to all parents/carers of pre-school students regardless of whether or not you are attending St Patrick’s Primary in the future. This is an opportunity for parents of pre –school children to be involved in a supportive playgroup that has a focus on engaging families in their children’s learning. The playgroup focus is to support families to “see” the learning that occurs in everyday play and learning opportunities. This program aims to build parents/carers awareness of how they can influence their child’s learning.

What are the benefits of Playgroup?

For Families: Parents/ carers:

• understand the learning children do through play and other learning experiences.
• receive ideas for activities that they can do at home to support their child’s learning
• have the opportunity to interact with each other, share knowledge and experiences and build parenting and friendship networks.

For Children:  Children and parents/carers become familiar with set routines, learning expectations and environment.

• Children have the opportunity: to develop literacy, numeracy, social and emotional, fine and gross motor skills.
• to develop good transition skills as they move into a new learning setting.
• to develop learning habits of mind, such as cooperation, purposefulness and persistence.

The Main themes that will be covered include: Talking together, Reading together, Singing together, Playing together, Laughing together, Belonging and Learning together.

I personally will be facilitating the program along with Kerri-Ann Powell, an Early Learning Educator.

I am really excited to be able to offer this Supportive Playgroup opportunity to the Gundagai community to support parents in becoming a powerful positive influence on their child’s future learning, health and well-being. This program has been designed to transition into our “Little Learners” preschool experience which will begin in Term 3. 

If you would like more information about this program please call me on 0423452072 or email vincent.powell@cg.catholic.edu.au

If you would like to register you may go online at SUPPORTIVE PLAYGROUPS or contact the school office.  

St Patrick’s “Parent Hub”

Parents this room has been created for parents to use as you see fit.  The room has been prepared as child-friendly and caters for parents to come together and meet, have coffee, share a meal or just spend time in comfort while waiting to collect your children. Parents are invited to utilise our new room for parent/child gatherings and after-school activities. I will be seeking feedback as to how we can improve this room to cater for your needs. I would like to emphasise that this school and its facilities are for the students and parents to utilise and I invite you to do so.

Once again, I wish to emphasise to all parents if you have any concerns with our school or your child’s learning and well-being, please contact me immediately so as we can work together to solve any issue. I very much value this collaborative approach and the results are always better when we work together. Our door is always open to discuss any issues – no matter how small you may think it is.

Have a great week,

LEARN SERVE LEAD SUCCEED