Dear Parents and Carers,

WELCOME TO 2025! A very big welcome back to everyone as we begin another exciting school year. We hope the holidays were relaxing and filled with many memorable family times. It is always such a joy on the first day to see students returning to greet their teachers and friends and the excitement that a new year, classroom, teacher and class group brings! An extra special welcome is extended to our new families the Bulger, Butt, Chittick, Estacio, Grange, Hand, Lewis, Phelps, Wilde, Wolley and Simpson families. We are delighted to have you join our St Patrick’s school community.

KINDERGARTEN: It has been delightful to welcome 18 very excited Kindergarten children to our St Patrick’s School family. A big welcome to Lexie, Bodhi, Hallie, Anastasia, Liam, Charlotte, Macie, Isabel, Leo, Hazel, Sadie, Ned, Eddie, Lenox, Tess, Jaxon, Daphne and Dixie as they begin their educational journey here with us. All our new students have settled in beautifully to our school and are already a valued part of our school family. We look forward to journeying with them throughout their Primary School education years.

JUBILEE YEAR ‘PILGRIMS OF HOPE’: Pope Francis has announced that the 2025 year will centre on the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The Jubilee year is celebrated every 25 years in the Catholic Church. The Jubilee Year is a time to ‘rekindle our hope’ for ourselves and our world. It is a special year of celebration, renewal and hope. This theme formed the focus for our staff prayer gathering on Monday.

“Everyone knows what it is to hope. In the heart of each person, hope dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future will bring.” Pope Francis – Jubilee

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: St Patrick’s School staff have engaged in two days of fantastic learning prior to students returning. Along with our other CECG Systemic Schools, the online System CATALYST Day was another great opportunity of professional learning. Keynote speakers were Natalie Wexter who presented ‘The Knowledge gap: What it is and how to Narrow It’, followed by Professor Daniel Willingham who led us through a discussion on ‘Developing Independent Learners’. Both sessions promoted in-depth professional discussions among staff around how these concepts apply to our current teaching programs together with the inclusion of High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP). Continued commitment to creating positive classrooms where all students are engaged in purposeful learning, was the outcome of the days.

SWIMMING CARNIVAL/OPENING SCHOOL MASS DATES: We have several important events coming up this week at school. Our St Patrick’s School swimming carnival will be held THIS Thursday 13 February at the Gundagai Pool commencing at 9.30am. Kindergarten and Year 1 will join in the fun from 11.30am onwards.  Our Opening School Mass is scheduled to take place on Friday 21 February at St Patrick’s Church commencing at 12pm. Year 6 leaders and SRC class representatives will be formally inducted during the Mass and also a special welcome and presentation to our Kindergarten and new students. Parents and family members are most welcome to join us for both events.

Best wishes for a happy week ahead.

Christine Baron

Principal

St Patrick, Pray for us

Welcome to 2025. I hope everyone was able to enjoy a wonderful Christmas holiday and spend some time relaxing with family and friends.

We thank God for the blessings we have experienced during the summer holidays, and we pray together for the year that lies ahead of us.

We are looking forward to a new year and new beginnings. We warmly welcome our new students and their families and hope they will feel a sense of belonging to the St Patrick’s School family community.

God of Love,

We recognise Your presence in our journey together

As we gather here for the start of this year in Your name,

Open our minds to know Your voice.

Open our hands to do Your work.

And open our hearts to hold Your Spirit.

Amen

2025 is a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church.

“For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope.”

New Altar Roster

A new Altar Serving roster was sent home last week. The Parish of St Patrick’s is very grateful for the commitment and dedication of our Altar Servers along with the support of their families. We are blessed to have such wonderful children who have such reverence to their ministry. Additional information is located on the roster.

Opening School Mass 

On Friday 21^st February we will celebrate our Opening School Mass at 12 noon in St Patrick’s Church.

During this Mass we will present our School Captain’s with their badges, introduce our Year Six leadership group and present badges to the newly elected SRC Representatives for 2025. Our Kindergarten students will be presented with a welcome gift.

We warmly welcome all members and friends of our school community to join with us to celebrate our Opening School Mass for 2025.

Thank you

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the school community for all their prayers and kind messages last year when Emma was seriously ill. Your thoughtful support meant so much to us. Please continue to keep Emma in your prayers.

Kate Howe

REC

St Patrick’s School Community Council 2024 Wrap up

As another vibrant year has drawn to a close at St Patrick’s, it’s a pleasure to reflect on the many achievements and milestones we have celebrated together. There is never a dull moment at our school, and 2024 has been no exception!

Projects: We have a number of projects in various stages of completion:

New Rep Uniforms: We introduced new Representative Uniforms, including Rugby League and Union jerseys, League Tag shirts, Soccer and Touch Football gear, Basketball singlets, and Netball uniforms. A heartfelt thank you to Kim Paton for her invaluable assistance with the Squadron Energy Grant, and to Craig Hargreaves and Kate Graham for their dedication in organizing and designing these fantastic uniforms. Special thanks also to Riley Smith and Chase Robinson for their generous donations, which kick-started the uniform purchases.  Adding to our sporting pride, the Year 6 Sports Specialists successfully submitted a proposal to the Community Council for representative swimming caps, which have now been purchased, rounding out our representative kit.

School Play Recording: We were delighted to provide every family with a complimentary copy of our school play, The Wizard of Oz, thanks to Kim Paton for organising the filming and distribution.

School Message Board: We are progressing through the DA process to replace the school message board facing Sheridan Street, with $13,000 held in reserve for its completion.

Uniform Sub-Committee: A dedicated group of volunteer parents is working to refresh and rationalise our school uniforms. Their goal is to enhance the look, comfort, and multi-seasonal wearability while reducing costs for families. Stay tuned for updates!

School Facility Upgrades: Continuing to increase our co-contribution fund for potential school facility upgrades, including working with Catholic Education on the feasibility of the identified upgrades.

Fundraising Highlights Thanks to our vibrant community spirit, we raised an impressive $18,000 through our annual activities, including the Tuckshop, Cupcake & Ice Cream sales, Street Stall, Meat Raffle, Crazy Camel fundraiser, and School Tea Towels. These funds were allocated as follows:

• $5,000 to subsidize buses for class excursions and student events
• $5,000 for Chromebook lifecycle management
• $2,500 to support student events like Healthy Harold, author Pip Harris visits, and the Year 5/6 Sydney excursion
• $3,000 towards representative uniforms

Our larger fundraiser, the Flocking for Facilities Lamb Drive, raised an outstanding $10,640, contributing to a $50,000 fund set aside for future facility improvement projects in partnership with Catholic Education.

Looking Ahead to 2025 Next year, we have planned and budgeted for:

• Purchasing two new smaller branded marquees for sporting events.
• Upgrading canteen equipment.
• Subsidising buses for school excursions.
• Subsidising replacement Chromebooks.
• Subsidising ad hoc student events.
• Continuing to work towards further facility upgrades for the school in partnership with Catholic Education.

Acknowledgments None of our achievements would be possible without the tireless efforts of our dedicated volunteers:

• Tash Smith & Lisa Peterson for their outstanding work coordinating the Street Stall.
• Tash Smith again, for her dedication as Uniform Coordinator.
• Alicia Hargreaves, our Canteen Coordinator is stepping down after five years in the role. Thank you for all your hard work.
• Kate Hufton (new Canteen Coordinator) and Louise Crowe (new Rostering Coordinator) — welcome aboard!
• Craig Hargreaves, stepping down as Meat Raffle Coordinator after three years, with Anthony Nicholls stepping into the role for 2025.
• Lauren Gailey for her ongoing work with Crazy Camel Drive, and Liz Ferguson for the new School Tea Towel fundraiser.
• Aaron & Marg Nicholls, Phil & Fiona Worldon, and Craig & Alicia Hargreaves for their outstanding efforts with Flocking for Facilities.
• Finally, a heartfelt thank you to all the parents and grandparents who volunteer their time to work in the canteen, baking cupcakes and cookies and those who also sit on the street stall and donate their time, energy and skills to making sure the St Pat’s Street Stall is a highlight each year. Your dedication and support are deeply appreciated by the entire school community.

Community Council Updates The 2025 Community Council will be comprised of continuing members Sam Johnson, Liz Ferguson, and Bonita Taylor and they will be joined by new members Bec Nicholls, Marg Nicholls, and Carla Barton, ensuring strong leadership moving forward.

Our next meeting is 18 February 2025 which will also be our AGM when the new Executive is elected, being Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

Get Involved There are many ways to contribute to our school, and there is no better way to ensure that our school keeps that amazing sense of community than by volunteering a little time here and there.

If you do want to get involved, or are unsure how, then speak with Chris, or any Community Council member, or the coordinators for the annual fundraising activities.  Many hands make light work.

Lisa Ryan
2024 Community Council Chair

For our new families our school fees are published by Catholic Education and submitted to each family via email and also can be viewed on your Compass App usually by the end of Week 2 or the start of Week 3 of each term. 

Families have the option to pay weekly, fortnightly, monthly or in full using the BPay and Customer Reference Number on the Tax Invoice/Statement. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the fees once released. 

We welcome back Lucinda Clay our School Counsellor for 2025.  If you would like to continue to see Lucinda throughout 2025 a new referral form must be completed.  If you click on the link and complete the form online Lucinda will receive all correct information. 

Student and Family Counselling Service 

Marymead CatholicCare Student and Family Counsellors provides school counselling in Catholic and Independent schools throughout Canberra and Regional NSW. This service aims to support students to achieve academic success, psychological health, and social and emotional wellbeing. 

Generally, students engaged in the service receive 6 to 8 individual therapy sessions which are provided at school. All students who wish to access the service require a current referral and parent/guardian consent must be obtained prior to students engaging in the service. Once a referral has been received, contact is made with the parents/guardian to discuss and assess individual student needs, outline the counselling process and answer any questions.  

If you have any questions or would like to find more about school counselling service, please do not hesitate to contact our Student & Family Counsellor, Lucinda. She can be contacted at school on TUESDAYS or via email: lucinda.clay@mccg.org.au 

If you would like to refer your child, please use the link below:

https://mccg.my.site.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

STUDENT AND FAMILY COUNSELLOR PROFILE

My name is Lucinda, I hold a Master of Counselling and have been part of the Marymead CatholicCare Student and Family Counselling Regional team since July 2023. I began my counselling journey in 2014 and have lived and worked in the Snowy Valleys region providing holistic counselling and wellbeing support in a variety of settings for individuals, couples, children and families. 

As the school counsellor feel free to touch base with any questions or concerns relating to the counselling service at your school. I can be contacted through the school on TUESDAYS or via my email: lucinda.clay@mccg.org.au 

I am looking forward to supporting you and your school community throughout 2025!

This Thursday sees our students take to the water at the Gundagai Pool to participate in our Annual St Patrick’s Swimming Carnival. It is always a fabulous day!

9.30am Swimming Carnival begins (Years 2-6). Students will travel by bus to the pool.

11.30am K/1 and some Year 2 students will arrive at the pool for some fun water games and activities organised by Mrs Carberry.

Please ensure students have swimmers, googles, towel, rashie, hat and plenty of sunscreen and are dressed in their sport uniform. Students will require at least two drink bottles of water, recess, lunch (if they have not ordered their lunch) and snacks for the day. 32 degrees is forecast for the day so we ask all students to follow sun safe procedures to limit skin exposure and reduce the risk of sunburn.

Please ensure ALL clothing including towels are clearly labelled with your child's name on each item.

This term for our Monday recess treat we are trying something a little different.  "Bake-it Monday". We have some wonderful volunteer parents who have put their hand up to be one of the cooks on a roster system each Monday. They can either bake 3 dozen cupcakes and decorate them with icing and toppings or a slab cake cut into 36 pieces (again decorated with those eye appealing features that make kids want to buy), slices, muffins or something special.  entirely up to each parent volunteer. 

All items are available to purchase for $0.50 each at recess. 

If any parents would like to go on the roster just email the office or speak to Louise Crowe and Kate Hufton our canteen coordinators. 

Don't forget to send in your $0.50 each Monday

In Term 1, we ask families to please be mindful of the following sun safe procedures. February is typically the hottest month, and it is important that students take the following precautions to limit heat exposure:

1. SCHOOL HATS are compulsory all year round. Please ensure your child brings their hat to school EVERY DAY. Please also ensure your child’s name is on their hat. St Patrick’s endorses the ‘No Hat, Shade motto’ however if a child continues a repeated pattern of not wearing their school hat, they will be asked to sit down at recess and lunchtimes until they bring their school hat.
   
2. SUNSCREEN: Please apply sunscreen to your child’s exposed skin prior to coming to school. Parents are asked to supply small bottles of sunscreen for their own child to use throughout the day at school. Unfortunately, due to allergies, the school is no longer able to provide sunscreen for students.
3. WATER BOTTLES: Please ensure your child has adequate water available to drink throughout the day. The school has a water refill station that they may use to refill water bottles when water levels become low. Sipping/drinking water is essential through hot weather to enable students to stay hydrated

St Patrick’s will be participating in the SWAP IT program this year.

What is SWAP IT?

SWAP IT is a FREE, evidence-based healthy lunchbox program that supports parents and carers to

SWAP what is packed in their child’s lunchbox, from sometimes foods to everyday foods.

SWAP IT involves sending brief messages out to our school community, with handy tips and ideas for packing a healthy lunchbox.

Each family will be provided with a handy ‘Swap It’ booklet that has a magnetic strip so it can be popped onto your fridge (or similar surface), for easy reference.

A Meet and Greet Evening for parents will take place on Tuesday 25 February (Week 4).

This is a great opportunity to meet your child’s class teacher and find out more about some of the teaching programs and activities that your child will be involved in. A free family BBQ will be available on the evening and babysitting available if required. Thank you to Community Council members for organising and cooking the BBQ.

OUTLINE OF THE EVENING:

The information sessions will cover topics such as::

*Daily Review Demonstration

*CECG Literacy programs including InitiaLit (K-2)

*CECG Ochre Maths Programs and Rocket Maths

*Spelling Mastery

*AMPLIFY Music program (new)

*Homework Expectations

*Classroom routines and expectations

* Q & A

RSVP Essential: We are asking families to please RSVP to this event, so we are able to cater appropriately. Please RSVP by Friday 21 February. Flyer will be sent home and asked to be returned.

Today our teaching staff spent time working with Bryce Kennedy, who will be our new school COGLearn leader with a focus on ensuring consistent implementation and practice of High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) that are visible in classrooms. Bryce spent time with our HITP Leadership Team, visiting classrooms, demonstrating HITP practices and providing feedback to teachers. This is always a very valuable professional opportunity for our St Patrick’s teachers and staff.  Mr Makeham is our new HITP team leader for St Patrick’s School this year and is keen to support and assist teachers in providing opportunities to promote HITP in all classrooms.

Before school supervision begins at 8:40am every morning. Students who arrive earlier will need to sit down and remain seated until a teacher begins duty at 8:40am. Please do not send students to school prior to 8:30am unless contact has been made with the class teacher or Principal. One off early arrival situations, can be catered for if parents make prior contact first. Thank you for your support.

Teachers are always available for conversations with parents when requested. We value teacher/parent communication and encourage parents to make appointments to discuss any aspect of their child’s academic learning, behavioural issues, social/ emotional behaviours or any other areas related to school, when required.

Parents/Carers are asked to follow the following procedures:

1. Contact the class teacher to make an appointment. Appointments can be made by emailing the teacher (firstname.surname@cg.catholic.edu.au) or by phoning the front office to speak directly to the teacher or to request a call back. Please DO NOT contact staff through their personal phones or social media platforms over school related matters.
2. Requests to include the Principal in any meeting can also be accommodated with prior notice given.
3. Teachers are only required to correspond to emails or other communication with parents between the hours of 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday.
4. Notes from all meetings are recorded and placed on file for future reference.

REMEMBER: If you are happy go out and tell others about our great school, if you are not please come and discuss any issues with us. We are always here to support you and your child.

School fees are sent out each term in Week 3. We appreciate the prompt payment of school fees to assist us in meeting our financial obligations in the day to day running of the school. Please note that school fees are required to be paid for by the date provided. It is our policy that school fees cannot be in arrears by more then one term, without prior contact with the Principal. If you are having issues paying school fees, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Baron as soon as possible, so that a plan can be made to assist your families needs.

Working With Children Checks (WWCC) are mandatory for all parents and carers who volunteer on a regular basis for school activities. Volunteers who volunteer more than five days in a calendar year are now required by law to have a WWCC (Volunteer) clearance. This includes all our canteen workers and anyone who volunteers on a regular basis.

If you are rostered on our St Patrick’s Tuckshop or a regular volunteer, could you please go to the https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-working-with-children-check and apply for a WWCC for Volunteers. There is NO cost involved.

Once you have obtained the WWCC (Volunteer) certificate, could you please present it to the front office so that it can be verified. Thank you to all our wonderful parent volunteers, for your continued support of our school, as we would be unable to conduct many school activities without you. It is greatly appreciated.

Years 3 and 5 will be completing their NAPLAN assessment from Monday 12 March through to Friday 24 March (Week 8). It is important that all Year 3 and 5 students are here at school during that week.

The assessments will be completed on the following days:

Monday 18 March-Writing

Tuesday 19 March-Reading

Wednesday 20 March-Language Conventions

Thursday 21 March-Numeracy

Friday 22 March-Catch Up Day

Week 2

• Tuesday 11 February-COGLearn PL for teaching staff
• Thursday 13 February-SPG Swimming Carnival commencing at 9.30am
• Friday 14 and Saturday 15 February-Gundagai Annual Show

Week 3

• Monday 17 February-CPR Training for staff
• Tuesday 18 February-Gala the Koala visit to Kindergarten
• Friday 21 February-Opening School Mass at 12pm

Week 4

• Monday 24 February-WR Swimming Carnival in Tumut
• Tuesday 25 February-Meet and Greet Evening for parents/carers

     Week 5

• Tuesday 4 March-Soccer Gala Day Years 3-6
• Tuesday 4 March-Shrove Tuesday-Pancake Day
• Wednesday 5 March-Ash Wednesday Mass at 12pm
• Friday 7 March-Week 5 Award Assembly @ 2.30pm

Congratulations to our Week 1 class awards:

Kindergarten -  Lexi Bayley for a focused and settled start to big school

Year 1/2 - Bella Huang for focused and settled start to the school year

Year 3 - Josie Lott for a flying start to a new school year

Year 4 - Remi Taylor for a flying start to a new school year

Year 5 - Jimmy Robinson for being a switched on and responsive to all learning

Year 6 - Dale Paton for being an awesome buddy and acting on needs around the playground 

Welcome Back to another year of Radio News with our Yr 5/6 Students.

Tune into "Sounds of the Mountains" radio station (FM94.1) every Wednesday at 2.15pm to hear about what our classes and school have been up to over the week.

Week 2 12th February - Dale Paton and Indi Cole

Week 3 19th February - Lachlan Hargreaves and Maeve Ryan 

Week 4 26th February - Zoe Morgan and Charlie Ryder

Week 5 5th March - Molly Lott and Jasper Rui

Sending our a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following students who have celebrated a birthday in January and up until last week.  We hope you all had a super fun birthday with family and friends

5th January -  Charlotte Kennedy 

14th January - Jasper Rui 

22nd January - Dale Paton 

23rd January - Adriel Masikesa

25th January - Leo Lewis

31st January - Eddy Smith 

5th February - Macie Hand 

6th February - Fletcher Smith