Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3! It was lovely to welcome all our students back last week and to see their excited faces after enjoying a great holiday break.

WELCOME Mr David de Carvalho:

WELCOME: A very special welcome is extended to Gurfateh (Fateh) Kahlon who has joined our Kindergarten class. We also welcome Fateh’s parents Kamal and Happy along with his baby sister to our school and the Gundagai community. We look forward to partnering in Fateh’s learning journey along with his family.

STUDENT AMENITIES PROJECT: Our student amenities project is also nearing completion. We are now only awaiting basins for both bathroom areas, to finalise the project. Once installed the toilets will require a final clean and be ready to use! The students are eagerly looking forward to using the new facilities. Our thanks to Mr Joe Cusack and the Mattoni team for being such a great company to work alongside. Mattoni have made every effort to support staff and students’ safety while ensuring the project moved along in a timely manner.

TERM 3 EVENTS: There are many exciting activities happening across Term 3. The gymnastics program is always a big hit, class excursions, WR Public Speaking finals, Trent Barrett Shield and Mortimer Shield, Bookfair, Bookweek, our Confirmation Program and other school events. Too many to list!

GOOD LUCK LANE!: Our very best wishes are extended to Lane Johnson as he represents St Patrick’s at the WR Public Speaking finals in the Year 3 division, next Wednesday 6 August. St Patrick’s School will be hosting the finals which will be held in St Patrick’s School Hall. Our grateful thanks to Mrs Vicki Sommerville, Mrs Anne Saunderson and Mr Abb McAllister who will adjudicate on the day. A very special thank you to Mr Peter Gain who has coached Lane through to the finals. We wish Lane all the very best for next Wednesday’s finals.

WEATHER FORECAST: The weather forecast is for some very cold wintery days heading our way over the next few weeks. Another gentle reminder to ensure your child is wearing their full winter school uniform and bring a jumper, coat, beanie and gloves (if required) to school each day. We are only expecting temps around 10 degrees across the next few weeks.

Stay warm and well,

Christine Baron

Principal

St Patrick, Pray for Us

Sacrament of Confirmation

On Saturday evening our 16 Confirmation Candidates and their Families gathered at Mass as a parish community to pledge their commitment to become confirmed members of the Catholic Church.

Confirmation is one of the Sacraments of Initiation. Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of Baptismal grace:

• It grounds us more deeply in our relationship with God.
• It unites us more firmly to Christ.
• It strengthens our bond with the Church.
• It gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread the faith, by word and action as true witnesses.

We look forward to working together, as our young people continue their faith journey. We pray for our Candidates and their families as they prepare to receive the Holy Spirit more fully into their lives.

The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Saturday 23^rd August at 5pm in St Patrick’s Church. Archbishop Christopher Prowse will be officiating this wonderful occasion.

"Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful; kindle in them the fire of your love."

 School Masses

Week 2 – Mass will be presented this Friday by Years 5/6. The theme will be the Holy Spirit. This will continue with the children’s preparation for Confirmation.

Week 3 – Year 1/2 will present the Mass to honour the Feast of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop which is celebrated on 8^th August.

Everyone is welcome at these Masses.

Feast of St Mary of the Cross

The feast of St Mary of the Cross is celebrated on 8^th August. Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first and only saint.

Mary MacKillop was an educator, a pioneer and a leader, someone who had compassion for others regardless of their situation or race. She dedicated her life to God.

Mary MacKillop had a firm belief in the value of education as the foundation for a fulfilling life. She opened her first school in a stable on 19 March 1866. Mary wanted to serve the poor, particularly educating the children who lived in the bush.

Other young women joined Mary MacKillop and worked to establish Order of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. This led her to minister in many different ways to those who were poor and marginalised.

Mary MacKillop’s attitude was always of forgiveness and respect.

Mary’s motto was ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’

If we have love in our hearts we shall have God with us.

Mary MacKillop 1890

New Altar Serving Roster

The new Altar Serving Roster was sent home last week. Thank you to our wonderful Altar Servers and their families for their continued support and dedication to this ministry. Your service to the parish is greatly appreciated.

Kate Howe

REC

We have received a few reports of missing/lost property in the Yr 1/2 class. Items have students names on them.   If parents could please check at home or in school bags for:

* New Navy Jacket (Sophia Knight-Gregson) 

* Sport polar fleece jumper size 8 (Levi Bayley) 

If you find the items could you please just send into school. 

Thank you

We have had to change our school photo day to MONDAY 18TH AUGUST due to the next level Athletics Carnival.  We know that Monday's probably aren't the best option but seeing we book 12 months in advance we had limited dates and days to pick.  Please make a note in your diaries for this change of date.  The order forms and envelopes will be sent home this week.  Order can be placed online or filling out the envelope slip and returning with the correct cash.  If you require a sibling envelope please email the office and one will be sent home. 

This Friday our Little Learners Program returns for Term 3. This Friday 1st of August we will be exploring the world of art and craft. 

From 9.00am - 11.00am our Little Learners will be assisted by Zoe Paton, Mackenzie Little and Jasper Rui will be assisting with our little learners group on Friday. 

Our Annual Book Fair is all set and ready to go and all the books are set up for viewing in the Learning Hub.  Children will be able to go check out the books we have on sale as of today during second half of lunch.  Sales will commence tomorrow (Wednesday 30th July).   

The Learning Hub will also be open after school for any parents wishing to browse through the books.  If you are unable to come in during second half of lunch or after school please let us know and we can asssit children with purchases.

The Book Fair will run this week and end next Thursday 7th August so plenty of time to come in and check out the books. 

This Friday 1 August, work will commence on replacing the ceiling tiles in the old administration area of the school including the Principal Office, AP/REC Office, Meeting Room, Photocopier Room and Staffroom. Paul Walker Carpentry will carry out the replacement project. For safety reasons these areas will not be accessible on Friday or over the weekend until the work has been completed.

St Patrick’s is delighted to welcome Miss Erika Wilson to complete her teaching practicum experience during Term 3. Miss Wilson is in her 4^th year of studying a Bachelor of Education, through ACU campus in Canberra. Miss Wilson will be teaching our Year 5/6 students under Mrs Wilson’s and Mr Makeham’s supervision. We look forward to welcoming Miss Wilson to our school community and sharing her teaching ideas and practices with our Year 5/6 class.

Mrs Baron will be accessing PPDP leave, during Term 3 and will be away from Monday August 25 until Friday 26 September. During this time Mrs Baron will be participating in some profound spiritual professional development opportunities. As 2025 is the Jubilee Year of Pilgrims of Hope, she will be undertaking several pilgrimages that enable her to deepen her faith, values and sense of purpose as a Catholic school leader.

-Visit to Our Lady of Fatima Shrine (Portugal)

-Walk the Camino (also known as The Way of St James) (Spain)

-An audience with Pope Leo (Rome)

-Visit the Holy Doors (only open every 25 years) (Rome)

-Visit the tomb of Blessed Carlos Acutis, Assisi and Padua (Italy)

Thank you to Mrs Wilson who will be Acting Principal during this time.

The Little Champions Gymnastics program is already proving to very popular across all class grades. Ben our fantastic coach, always provides engaging activities while teaching the students how to use the equipment and follow instructions, safely and responsibly. The gymnastics program will continue on Thursdays in Week 2, 3 and 5. Please note that there will be NO gymnastics in Week 4, due to Trent Barrett Shield Competition for Year 3/4.

The Trent Barrett Shield competition will be played on Thursday 14 August at Twickenham Oval in Tumut. All Year 3/4 students are encouraged to participate in the day. Training will be held at school, to help prepare the students. Parents are asked to please provide permission via the COMPASS portal.

The annual NAIDOC Mass and celebration will be held at McAuley Catholic College tomorrow. Indi and Lachlan, our School Captains will represent St Patrick’s at the NAIDOC Mass. Mrs Hughes, our Aboriginal Contact Teacher will accompany Indi and Lachlan to the Mass. NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. The theme for 2025, is The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy.

St Patrick’s is excited to announce that we will be commencing some workshops with the local Intereach ROAR Program that provides Health and Well Being Support Services. ROAR is funded by the Department of Social Services and their programs are provided free to educational providers.

ROAR aims to improve the health and well-being of children and young people. ROAR offers small groups of students the opportunity to participate in a range of programs to support self-confidence, resilience building, emotional regulation, anxiety etc.

Geoff from ROAR shared some of his great programs with St Patrick’s staff at our Staff Development Day at the end of term. Staff thoroughly enjoyed the session with Geoff and look forward to the great workshops he will be providing for students in the terms ahead.

Our first program will be the Kimochie’s program which will be offered to a small group of Year 1/2 students. We aim to start offering the ROAR program to our younger students and then moving to the older classes across the year. We look forward to working with Geoff and the ROAR program by providing ongoing support for students health and well-being.

Gundagai High School are having an Open Day on Thursday 7th August. See flyer below with information on the open day. 

Congratulations to our Week 1 class awards.

Friday 25th July 

Kindergarten : Liam Estacio for being a hard working class member

Year 1 / 2 : Charlston Rizalde for working independently and showing great skills in gymnastics

Year 3 : Billy Eccleston for quick and accurate number operations

Year 4 : Sarah Gailey for fabulous reading and comprehension

Year 5 : Zoe Morgan for mature and enthusiastic input in Peer Support Leadeship Training

Year 6 : Molly Lott for mature and insightful contributions during Peer Support Leadership Training

Congratulations to our Week 1 WildCat Awards.  

RESPONSIBLE : Bodhi Bulger, Eddy Smith, Leo Lewis, Maeve Ryan

SAFE : Zoe Morgan, Leila Gaskin, Levi Bayley, Leo Lewis, Maeve Ryan

RESPECT : Bodhi Bulger, Anastasia Chittick

Thank you to our children and families for your committment to Altar Serving on Saturday evenings. 

Roster:

Saturday 2nd August - Harry & Lachlan Barton 

Saturday 9th August - Lilly Ferguson & Reuben Smart

Saturday 15th August - RV Calub, Maeve Ryan, Isabella Melksham 

Saturday 23rd August (Sacrament of Confirmation) - Harry & Archie Peterson 

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 (29th July) - Emma Brown & Jasper Rui

Week 3 (6th August) - Zoe Paton & Lachlan Hargreaves

Week 4 (13th August) - Charlie Ryder & Molly Lott 

Week 5 (20th August) - Eliza Graham & RV Calub

Thank you to our wonderful Canteen Volunteers for your help again this term.  

This is our Last Term for the Meat Raffles at the Family Hotel.  Thank you to our all of our families who have supported this fundraising for our school over Term 2. 

We would like to extend our birthday wishes to the following students who celebrated a birthday during the holidays and this week.   We hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends.

8th July - Alfie Eccleston 

17th July - Noah Zhu 

28th July - Toby Nicholls