Dear Parents and Carers,

Winter has finally arrived along with much needed rain. Please ensure your child has a jumper/jacket with them every day and some wet weather protection for those rainy wet and cold days. Thank you to parents and carers for being vigilant with unwell children and keeping them home to prevent the spread of viruses.

MISS LUCY GILDEA:

PUBLIC SPEAKING:

MR TIM SMITH RETIREMENT: Mr Tim Smith, CECG School Performance and Development Leader (SPDL) will officially retire on Friday 4 July 2025. Mr Smith has been a valued and highly respected leader in Canberra-Goulburn over the past 40 years. He has held many positions during his career and has undertaken each one with the highest integrity. Mr Smith’s last visit to St Patrick’s will be THIS Thursday 19 June, as he closes out this chapter of his career and completes his last round of Network 1 visits. We wish Mr Smith all the best for a wonderful retirement and sincerely thank him for his support, honesty and integrity over many years. Mrs Phillipa Brearley has been announced as the new SPDL and we look forward to welcoming her to her new role and our school community from Term 3 onwards.

Christine Baron

Principal

St Patrick, Pray for us

Altar Serving Invitation

Last week the children who have recently made their First Reconciliation were invited to become an Altar Server. This is a wonderful opportunity to become part of the St Patrick’s Parish through this valuable ministry and an active way to demonstrate your faith.

So far, we have had one reply, however we would LOVE to have more new recruits. As an Altar Server, you would be rostered on approximately once every 5 – 6 weeks. If your child would love to be involved, please contact me asap. The new roster will be compiled soon ready for Term 3.

As we reflect on this the ‘Year of Hope’, we are reminded of our late Pope Francis.

Pope Francis's message for the 2025 Jubilee year centred on hope and kindness, encouraging Christians to be "pilgrims of hope" and to choose love as a way to connect with others. Pope Francis emphasized that hope is a gift from God, especially in times of suffering, and that it should guide our actions and interactions with the world. He also called for a renewed sense of confidence and a commitment to building a more fraternal and peaceful world. 

Pope Francis left us with many legacies. His words and actions showed that he walked in the footsteps of Jesus. We pray that in this Jubilee Year of Hope we can follow his example.

SRC Mass

Thank you to the SRC and Mr Makeham for presenting last week’s Mass. Well done to a great group of children.

Kate Howe

REC

St Patrick's Primary School is hosting a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House Charity on the 18th of June 2025. 

Everyone can come to school dressed in either red, yellow or white and wearing their favourite Beanie. Please bring a donation to come out of uniform.

The St Patrick’s SRC will be selling hot chocolates with marshmallows. The hot chocolate will cost $1 and the marshmallows will cost 50c extra. Please bring your own cups for the hot chocolate. 

This is a fantastic chance for us to help the people who help others who are in need.

Lilly Ferguson, Max zhu, Gus Hufton.

Following the Building meeting last Thursday with Mr Thomas James (CECG Planning and Facilities Officer) and Mr Joseph Cusack (Mattoni Executive Director) our new student Amenities Building project is still on track to be completed by the end of July school holidays. Mr James was also updated on our building plans for the Covered Outdoor Area to be completed following the current student amenities project. Mr Thomas will report back ASAP as to how we will proceed with any further building projects.

Call Healthdirect 1800 022 222

Call Healthdirect is a NSW Health service that provides families with free, easy access to health advice, care and treatment for non-life-threatening conditions. NSW Health is running an awareness campaign to promote the use of this service. Please share the links below with your school community.

Links: Call healthdirect

Save the Healthdirect number now - get instant health advice and treatment when winter illness strikes

Our 2026 Enrolling Now campaign has started! If you know of anyone that may be considering St Patrick’s in 2026, please invite them to make contact with the school office and ask for a tour. We are hoping for another year of strong enrolments in 2026. Please help promote our beautiful school community!

As always with the winter season, there are a number of coughs, colds and flu like symptoms presenting at school, among students and staff. Please keep unwell children at home and only send them back to school when symptoms have been reduced and the child is well enough to participate in school activities. We appreciate everyone’s support in regard to helping contain the spread of any viruses or illnesses.

St Patrick’s will be hosting the finals of the WR Public Speaking competition this year.

The finals will be held on Wednesday 6 August (Term 3, Week 3) in St Patrick’s School Hall. More information will be provided.

Mr Lachlan Hotham will be completing his Year 10 Work Experience placement at St Patrick’s School during Week 9. Lachlan is a student at McAuley Catholic College and interested in finding out more about a career as a Primary School teacher. We look forward to welcoming Mr Hotham to our school community.

Learning Mandarin isn’t just about grammar—it’s about understanding the people, places, and stories behind the language. This month, our Year 3/4 students will be exploring cultural elements that bring Mandarin to life in the classroom with @MegGlobalEd! #languagelearning #bilingualkids. The Culture Quest experience will be hosted on The Great Wall of China. This will help immerse our students in the culture of China and gives a huge boost to their understanding of the ‘why’ around languages.

Our bell times will be altered slightly to align with CECG Compliance. The new bell times will commence in Term 3.

Bell times will now be:

• Morning Session: 9.00-11.00am (8.55am Warning Bell)
• Recess: 11.00-11.30am (11.25am Warning Bell)
• Middle Session: 11.30-1.05pm
• Lunchtime: 1.05-1.55pm (Warning Bell 1:50pm)
• Afternoon Session: 1.55-3.15pm

Please note that lunchtime will now commence at 1.05pm.

Year 5 students will visit Gundagai Preschool on Wednesday 25 June from 10.00am to 10.50am. The students will walk to and from the preschool accompanied by Mrs Baron. These visits help build a connection with the Preschool children and help build Year 5’s capacity as our school leaders in 2025.

GUNDAGAI PRESCHOOL VISIT TO ST PATRICK’S SCHOOL: Gundagai Preschool children will be visiting St Patrick’s School on Thursday 3 July from 10.00-11.00am. They will join our current Kindergarten class and Mrs Eccleston for a morning of exciting activities.

NSW Health’s Healthy Eating Active Living campaign aims to provide budget-friendly and accessible ways for families to develop healthy habits. We encourage schools to share the link below with your communities. You may also wish to use the social media toolkit to share ideas.

Links: Healthy Eating Active Living - Getting healthy starts with small steps

Healthy Eating Active Living winter social media toolkit

Our 2025 Little Learners program continues each Friday from 9.00-11.00am. The program is open to 4/5 year old children who will be enrolling at St Patrick’s in 2026/2027 (or families who wish to find out more about St Patrick’s School). Thank you to Mrs Sam Johnson for designing some great activities for our Little Learners.

Themes:

Friday 20th June - Read It (explore the world of books and stories) 

Friday 27th June - Animals (do you have a favourite animal ? Bring a picture, book or photo of your favourite pet or animal)

Welcome Back to Term 2 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 8 (18th June) - Lachlan Hargreaves and RV Calub

Week 9 (25th June) - Dale Paton and Mackenzie Little

Week 10 (2nd July) - Eliza Graham and Leila Gaskin  

Congratulations to our students for your continued hard work each week. 

Week 6 Class Awards 

Kindergarten : Hazel Miller for quality work in Literacy when reading and writing 

Year 1 / 2 : Tannah Elliott for trying hard in all areas especially Mathematics 

Year 3 : Imogen Graham for thoughtful and considerate efforts in all areas

Year 4 : Kaydee Smith for excellent Literacy work 

Year 5 : RV Calub for delivering an extremely informative speech on Time Machines

Year 6 : Eliza Graham for impressive gains and results across all areas in Maths

Week 7 Class Awards

Kindergarten : Eddy Smith for fast Mathematical thinking

Year 1 / 2 : Noah Zhu for a focused approach to his learning and consistent completion of set tasks

Year 3 : Josie Lott for always giving 100% with all class tasks 

Year 4 : Lane Johnson for excellent speech preparation and presentation 

Year 5 : Leila Gaskin for confidence in class responses and eagerness to take on new concepts

Year 6 : Emma Brown for determination and perseverance to do her absolute best

Another week of our students showing responsibility, being respectful and playing safe. Congratulations.

RESPONSIBLE : Eddy Smith, Tess Wilde, Noah Zhu, Claudia Worldon, Lachlan Barton, Hazel Miller, Macie Hand, Chelsea Crowe, Charlotte Kennedy, Ned Phelps, Sadie Nicholls, Anastasia Chittick, Sam Hufton, Harley Rose, Phoenix Rose

RESPECT : Max Zhu, Lachlan Barton, Sarah Gailey, RV Calub x 2, Claudia Worldon, Lottie Worldon, Isabella Melksham x 2, Harry Ryder, Josie Lott, Gus Hufton, Isabel Knight-Gregson

SAFE : Lachlan Barton, Claudia Worldon x 2, Harley Rose 

WEEK 8:

• Tuesday 17 June: 9.30am WR Public Speaking Round One Speak Off against McAuley Catholic College, Tumut 
• Tuesday 17 June:30pm School Community Council Meeting
• Wednesday 18 June: SRC Fundraiser ‘Beanies and Hot Chocolate’ Day
• Friday 20 June: WR Athletics Carnival - Young

WEEK 9:

• Monday 23 June: Year 5 visit to Gumnut Childcare Centre
• Wednesday 25 June: 10am Year 5 visit Gundagai Preschool
• Friday 27 June: Miss Gildea completes her teaching prac
• Friday 27 June: Semester One reports go out via COMPASS

WEEK 10:

• Monday 30 June 3:30-5.00pm: Parent/Teacher Meetings
• Tuesday 31 June 3.30-5.00pm: Parent/Teacher Meetings
• Wednesday 1 July 3.30-5.00pm: Parent/Teacher Meetings
• Wednesday 2 July 10.40am: Principal’s Morning Tea for Term 1 and Term 2 recipients
• Thursday 3 July:30pm Week 10 Awards Assembly -  3:15pm Term 2 concludes

• Friday 4 July: Staff Development Day (NO STUDENTS ATTEND SCHOOL)

TERM 3:

• Monday 21 July: Staff Development Day (No Students) 
• Tuesday 22 July: Students return for Term 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following students who have celebrated a birthday recently. We hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends

3rd June - Nova Nettey, Leila Gaskin

4th June - Hazel Miller, Isabel Knight-Gregson

16th June - Isabella Melksham, Harrison Barton, Lachlan Barton

For any families looking for a holiday workshop Trinity Catholic School in Murrumburrah are holding a Robotics and STEM Workshop on Monday 7th July . Bookings are essential and can be made online at https://www.trybooking.com/DCQGA

Information on the attached flyer.