Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 4! This term continues to move along at a very rapid pace.

Melbourne Cup Day: There was plenty of high fashion on the field at St Patrick’s this morning as students and staff entered into the fun of one of Australia’s most iconic events, The Melbourne Cup! The Snail Race is always a favourite event and there was plenty of loud cheering and laughter as students watched their snails doing a multitude of twists and turns before the winner crossed the finishing line!

First Holy Communion: Our school community celebrates with our Year 3 students who will receive their First Holy Communion this weekend. This is such a special moment in their faith journey and we congratulation the students and their families in their preparation for this special day. Many thanks to Mrs Howe and Mrs Carberry for all their hard work and preparation in making this such a special time for our students.

2026 Kindergarten Orientation: Last Friday we were delighted to welcome our 2026 Kindergarten children for their first orientation day. Thanks to Mrs Eccleston and Mrs Howe for making it such an exciting day for the children. Our Year 5 students are to be congratulated on their wonderful support and assistance on the day. We look forward to welcoming the children back again this Friday for another exciting day at St Patrick’s.

Shade Cover Progress Update:

Commencement of the steelwork installation for our new shade cover will begin on Saturday 29 November. The steelwork is now painted, and the fabric has been made.

Final surface repairs will take place over the Dec/Jan school holidays. We look forward to be able to use our beautiful new shaded area towards the end of term.

Emergency Evacuation Practice: As part of our ongoing commitment to safety, Emergency Evacuation, Shelter in Place/Lockdown drills will be held over the coming weeks. These practice sessions are an essential part of our safety plan, helping our school community respond quickly and confidently in the event of an emergency. This is most important as we prepare for the coming summer temperatures. Please discuss with your children at home the importance of being prepared.

Blessings for the week ahead,

Christine Baron

Principal

St Patrick Pray for Us

First Holy Communion

We look forward to Saturday 8^th November when we celebrate the wonderful Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Our fourteen First Communicants and their families have been busy preparing for this very special occasion over the past few weeks. We thank the children for their commitment and dedication as they have approached their preparation.

Children, may you always know the peace of Jesus, the light of his love, and the joy of his life within you.

Congratulations on your special day. 

Choir

We are hoping to get together our beautiful singers of St Patrick’s to form a choir and support Lance, Billy, Imogen, Thea, Amelia, Josie, Isabella, Lucy, Calvin, Ryan, Harley, Phoenix, Ayvah and Clancy on their special day.

Having the children’s voices as a choir, is always so well received by the congregation. If your child can join us, it would be greatly appreciated. Can you please contact the Front Office to let us know of your availability?

Mission Week - Socktober 2025 - Zambia

This year we were raising awareness and funds for communities in Zambia, to help ensure children have access to food and education, giving them the chance to build a brighter future.

Case Study – Sharon and Victor - Farming is our way of life

“Without being able to grow and store maize, I can't feed my children or earn the income we need to support their education. Through this project, my children will have a regular supply of food, and Victor, my husband, and I will have enough income to continue supporting their schooling.”

By supporting this year’s project, you will provide Sharon’s family and her community with vital resources to help them overcome the challenges of hunger and poverty. Your support will ensure access to regular, nutritious food, create opportunities for sustainable farming, and help parents like Sharon and Victor earn a stable income. Most importantly, it will give their children the chance to stay in school, grow up healthy, and build a brighter future.

On Wednesday 5^th November we will be supporting Catholic Mission by holding our annual ‘Socktober’ day. As part of the day we will hold a whole school Liturgy and join with our Peer Support Groups to make a Sockball. Each group will endevour to create the best looking sockball, one that can withstand the boot of Mr Makeham and travel the furtherest.

• We need to collect materials such as – rags, old
• t-shirts, newspaper, bubble wrap, old socks, string etc for groups to make a Sockball.

• Please send these items into school with your child asap.

We will create a coin line with your help to raise money for this very worthwhile cause.

• Please help support Catholic Mission by sending in some coins for the coin line.

Mission week Timetable

Monday 10^th - David Enever Concert

Wednesday 12^th – Socktober activities

Friday 14^th - Mass

November Month of the Holy Souls

November is the month of the Holy Souls. The Church has always prayed for those who have gone to eternity. At the back of the Church there is a “Book of Remembrance’,  where you can write the names of our loved ones who have gone before us. This book of ‘Holy Souls’, will be bought to the Altar in the Offertory Procession at each Mass during November. The souls of the people named in this book will be prayed for during the Mass.

‘Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.’ Amen.

Year 5/6 Mass

On Friday Year 5/6 will present their class Mass. Everyone is welcome. The theme of this Mass is the Eucharist. Our school will present this Mass to celebrate our First Communion candidates.

Family Mass – 22^nd November 6pm

On Saturday 22^nd November we will celebrate a Family Mass in St Patrick’s Church at 6pm. We are asking families to be involved in this Mass by undertaking a role in the presentation of the Mass, or just being present. We would love to have as many families involved as possible. Please keep the date free and add it to your calendar. A separate note will be sent home soon.

Kate Howe

REC

Thank you to staff and students for their participation in Day for Daniel last Friday. Day for Daniel is a National Day of Action in Australia, to raise awareness of child safety, protection and prevention from harm. The key take-away message from the day was Recognise, React and Report unsafe situations. We ask parents and carers to continue to reiterate these key messages with their children.

Our students had a fantastic time dancing the night away at the school disco held in the hall at the end of Term 3. The dance floor moves were on point and the night was full of fun and laughter! The event was a great success, raising $819 – an excellent effort from everyone involved. A huge thank you to Mike and Gemma Crowe (Wattle Butchery) for donating the delicious sausages – the kids couldn’t get enough, lining up for seconds, thirds and even fourths!

A big thank you also goes to everyone who supported our street stall through donations and participation. Special shout-out to our wonderful organisers Tash Smith and family and Lisa Peterson for their hard work and dedication in bringing the school stall together so successfully. Together, we raised an incredible $3,741, with an extremely generous $7,000 donation made at the stall, bringing the total to $10,741. Your kindness and community spirit are truly appreciated.

We would also like to acknowledge our amazing volunteer dads who have helped run the meat raffles at Lotts throughout Terms 2 and 3. Thanks to their efforts, we’ve raised a fantastic $6,995.

Our students have shown great resilience and adaptability this year, managing all the construction work that has taken place across Terms 2 and 3 with the new toilet amenities block and now the COLA construction in Term 4.

The new school digital sign looks fantastic and has been installed at the corner of Sheridan and Homer Streets – keep an eye out for updates, news and events! We’re also thrilled to see students enjoying the new concrete area, with outdoor stools, tables and refreshed garden plants arriving soon.

With a busy end to the year ahead, we’ve decided to postpone our Term 4 Colour Run fundraiser until 2026, giving us plenty of time to make it even bigger and better!

If anyone is interested in joining our School Community Council for 2026, please reach out to a council member or email Christine Baron at christine.baron@cg.catholic.edu.au. We’d love to have you involved!

Warm regards,
Marg Nicholls
Community Council Secretary

2026 Year 6 Leadership:

Year 5 students are currently preparing their speeches for the opportunity of being School Captain in 2026. Speeches will be presented to the school community during Week 7, in the following order. Parents are most welcome to come along and support their child on the day.

Monday 24 November: Jasper, Leila and Reuben

Tuesday 25 November: Maeve, RV and Zoe M

Wednesday 26 November: Charlie, Zoe P and Mackenzie

Thursday 27 November: Voting for 2026 School Captains

2026 Year 6 Leadership positions will be:

School Captains x 2

House Leaders x 2

Community Leaders x 4 (rotational positions each term)

Year 5 students will nominate for 2026 leadership roles: Library Monitors, Environmental, Media, Creative Leaders. These will be shared across the year and rotated each term. House Captains will be voted by students, and the nominated leaders will hold this position for the year.

Following valuable feedback from our current Year 6 school leaders and in consultation with our Year 5 students and staff, the announcement of the school leaders will be as follows:

-2026 School Captains will be announced at the 2025 Awards Day on Friday 12 December (Week 9)

-2026 House Captains and Community Leader positions will be announced during Week 10 at school.

All students should now be wearing their summer school uniform. Please ensure your child has a jumper as the weather can be very changeable at the moment. We encourage all families to include sunscreen in their child’s bag to be applied regularly through the day.

Socks Reminder:

* All socks should be ankle length please

* White Socks for girls/Black socks for boys

* White socks for boys and girls on sport days

Welcome Back to Term 4 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 4 - Mackenzie Little & Dale Paton 

Week 5 - Zoe Morgan & Conor Little 

Week 6 - Leila Gaskin & Emma Brown

Congratulations to our Week 2 and Week 3 Class Awards

Week 2 - 24th October 2025

Kindergarten - Leo Lewis for always being a positive role model to his peers

Yr 1/2 - Lucian Hau for his positive start to St Patricks 

Yr 3 - Claudia Worldon for positive application with class tasks in Numeracy 

Yr 4 - Sarah Gailey for her independent work habits 

Yr 5 - Jasper Rui for outstanding results in PAT testing 

Week 3 - 31st October 2025

Kindergarten - Dixie Simpson for improvements in core activities

Kindergarten - Macie Hand for producing quality work

Year 1/2 - Tannah Elliott for trying hard in class and her engagement in Visual Arts

Year 3 - Billy Eccleston for efficient work habits 

Year 4 - Lachlan Barton for effor and application during Maths 

Year 5 - Reuben Smart for consistently being a conscientious learner valuing his learning

Year 6 - Conor Cotterill for his improvement in reading fluency and expression

Year 6 - Eliza Graham for being a conscientious and independent learner who strives for excellence

Great start to Term 4 with our WildCat Awards. Keep up the positive behavious and learning

RESPONSIBLE - Sarah Gailey, Zoe Paton, Dale Paton, Harry Barton, Indi Cole, Lilly Ferguson, Maeve Ryan, Molly Lott, Claudia Worldon, Tannah Elliott, Clancy Smart, Josie Lott, Lachlan Hargreaves, 

RESPECT - Sarah Gailey, Lilly Ferguson, Toby Nicholls, Indi Cole, Eliza Graham, Molly Lott, Zoe Paton, Lucy Nicholls, Imogen Graham, Billy Eccleston,  Claudia Worldon x 2, Daphne Simpson, Jaxon Wolley, Olivia Smart, Jasper Rui, Maeve Ryan, Sophia Knight-Gregson, Charlston Rizalde

SAFE - Lilly Ferguson, Harry Barton, Claudia Worldon x 2, Lucy Nicholls, Gus Hufton, Levi Bayley, Charlotte Grange, Archie Peterson, Bodhi Bulger

Sending out a BIG birthday cheer to the following students who have celebrated a birthday recently. We hope you all had a lovely day with family and friends

22nd October - Oliver Crowe 

1st November - Daphne and Dixie Simpson 

WEEK 4:

Tuesday 4 November:

Melbourne Cup Day celebrations-Fashions on the Field/Snail Races

Wednesday 5 November:

9.00-3.00pm First Holy Communion Preparation Day

12.15pm ROAR Program begins

Friday 7 November:

9.00-1.00pm 2026 Kindergarten Orientation Program (Session 2)

12.00pm Year 5/6 Class Mass

Saturday 8 November:

6pm Sacrament of First Holy Communion Mass

WEEK 5:

Monday 10 November: David Enever Concert 11.30am

Tuesday 11 November: 10.45am Remembrance Day School Service

Wednesday 12 November:

Mission Day fundraising activities

12.15pm ROAR Program

Friday 14 November: NO KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION SESSION

 2.30pm Week 5 Award Assembly - Student of the Month and Principal's Award

WEEK 6:

Monday 10 November:Emergency Evacuation Practice

Wednesday 19 November:

CECG Mathematics Consultant Visit

12.15pm ROAR Program

Thursday 20 November: Swimming for Sport - TBC

Friday 21 November:

9.00-3.15pm Session 3 Kindergarten Orientation Program (full day)

9.00-10.30am 2026 Kindergarten Information Session

12.00pm Year 1/2 Class Mass

Saturday 22 November: 6.00pm Family Mass - TBC

END OF YEAR IMPORTANT DATES:

WEEK 8:

Friday 5 December:9.30am-11.00am Marty’s Music Concert

WEEK 9:

Wednesday 10 December: K-6 Christmas Play and BBQ - TBC

Thursday 11 December: Semester 2 Reports go out on COMPASS

Friday 12 December:

9.30-11.00am 2025 Award Day

12.00pm Year 6 Graduation Mass

WEEK 10:

Monday 15 December/Tuesday 16 December:Parent/Teacher Meetings

Tuesday 16 December: Year 6 Big Day Out-TBC

Wednesday 17 December:Year 6 Graduation Dinner-TBC

Thursday 18 December: 3.15pm Term 3 concludes for students

Friday 19 December: Staff Development Day (NO STUDENTS)