Dear Parents,

Welcome to Term 3. I trust everyone enjoyed the holiday break and spent time either at home or holidaying away.

Over the past three years we have been continually challenged by COVID and health regulations, particularly as we enter Term 3. Once again, we are faced with the uncertainty of scheduled events and activities planned for Term 3. Our new CE Roadmap and NSW Health regulations will assist in guiding us through this term. From a school perspective, we will continue to monitor our staff and students’ attendance data and make decisions based around this with guidance from our CE COVID team. In the meantime, please continue to practice COVID safe procedures to minimise any risk. The health and well-being of our school community will continue to remain our priority as we make school-based decisions. As always, any important communications will come via Compass notifications. Facebook is used for reminders and general news.  Please be sure to keep an eye on any announcements about regulations, especially any cancellations or postponements that may come along this term.

We are delighted to welcome the Ryder family to St Patrick’s this term. Dylan has joined our Year 4 class and Charlie has joined our Year 2 class. We also welcome their parents, Amy and Chris and younger brother Harry, to our school community as well.

If you have visited our new administration area lately, you will have noticed some beautiful new furniture and plants. A very grateful thank you is extended to Carla Barton for her advice and support in decorating this area. Thank you also to staff members for picking up, ordering, delivering, and setting up this space. Our new Vision and Mission statement is currently being professionally designed and will also be placed in this area. Other focus areas for improvement now are the front entrance garden, old administration area including the Principal’s office, staff work space and staffroom. It is a work in progress for now!

Mrs Anne Saunderson has officially resigned from Catholic Education including casual and relief work. We are extremely grateful to Anne for her dedication to St Patrick’s and Catholic Education over many years. We wish Anne all the best for the future and hope that she enjoys her retirement years.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather since we returned to school last week. It has been a lovely way to begin our new school term.

Stay safe and well,

Christine Baron

Principal

Vinnies need - our help!

On Friday 29^th July, St Patrick’s would like to support the St Vincent de Paul Society in their Winter Appeal.

• Families are encouraged to donate suitable winter clothing, jumpers, jackets, scarfs, hats, gloves, socks, blankets etc.
• Children will come out of uniform and wear a scarf and beanie to emphasis the comfort we have in comparison to those in need.
• A gold coin donation would be appreciated.
• We will celebrate Mass on this day, taking our items with us and placing these into the St Vinnies blue bin as we go to the Church.

Altar Servers

Thank you to all our Altar Servers for their continued dedication to this important ministry. We will be having a training session in the coming weeks to refine our serving practices and provide another layer of confidence to those new children on the roster.

A special mention and thank you to James Reardon for showing initiative and stepping in when there is not an altar server in attendance at Mass. Well done, James.

Upcoming Events

8^th August – Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop (Monday Week 4). Mass will be celebrated at 12 noon to celebrate this feast day of Australia’s first and only saint. Year 3/4 will present the Mass on this day. We will be joined by a visiting delegation of 17 members from the Catholic Education Commission. This is a huge honour and priviledge for our School and Parish of St Patrick’s. 

 ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’ – the motto of St Mary of the Cross. A truly inspirational woman.

Sunday 24^th July – World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly

Congratulations to all our Grandparents and elderly members of our community. Pope Francis declared this commemorative day in 2021 to honour these special people. Pope Francis urges seniors, to embrace “a new mission” of caring for others in a world torn apart by conflict.

Kate Howe REC

Term 3 Regulations:

• Staff, students and visitors must not attend school if they are unwell and will be sent home if they have any COVID 19 symptoms.
• Please notify the school if a member of your household tests positive for COVID 19. Students that are close contacts of a member of a family member that has tested, must complete a RATS test for 5 consecutive days and may attend school if the result is negative. Students in Years 3-6 are asked to wear a mask indoors if they are a close contact.
• Parents can attend the school site outdoor areas for drop off and pick up. Other meetings should be conducted online where possible. Visits should be for essential reasons only.
• COVID safe protocols such as sanitizing, ventilation and social distancing to be observed at all times.
• Masks whilst indoors are strongly encouraged for staff and students Years 3-6. Children in K-2 should not wear masks as they can be a choking hazard.
• Extra-curricular activities (that take a teacher off class) should not proceed until Term 4.
• Performances, musicals, public speaking competitions or defer to Term 4.
• Assemblies are permitted but without parent attendance.
• Community Council Meetings may proceed under COVID safe protocols.

Dont forget to book your tickets via the School Facebook Page (under Events) or if you don't have a table organised but would like to go please still purchase your ticket and a table can be arranged.  This will be a super fun night filled with lots of characters, masks and humour.   Click on the link below to purchase your tickets or click on the QR Code attached.  

If you would prefer to book a table by calling the office please call 69441085. Final cut off date for bookings will be 15th August. 

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/st-patricks-primary-school-trivia-night-tickets-374036070957

On Friday 29^th July, St Patrick’s would like to support the St Vincent de Paul Society in their Winter Appeal.

• Families are encouraged to donate suitable winter clothing, jumpers, jackets, scarfs, hats, gloves, socks, blankets etc.
• Children will come out of uniform on Friday 29th July and wear a scarf and beanie to emphasis the comfort we have in comparison to those in need.
• A gold coin donation would be appreciated.
• We will celebrate Mass on this day, taking our items with us and placing these into the St Vinnies blue bin as we go to the Church.

Lost Property:

Could we please, please ask everyone to ensure that your child/ren’s school uniform items are clearly labelled. At present we have uniforms handed in that have no names on the items. Some of these items are new. If you have second-hand items, please also ensure the name is current on the uniform items. We are also trying to locate a brand-new school jumper that had Johnson written inside on the label. Could we ask all families to look at the name inside their child’s jumper and please and if they have accidently picked up the jumper to return it to school as soon as possible please.

Emergency Evacuation/Lockdown

As part of our school planning for any potential emergency or dangerous event on school premises, our school Emergency Evacuation and Lockdown policies need to be updated regularly. With the addition of the new administration area, our policies have been recently updated to reflect these changes. We also have a new alarm system in place with different alarm sounds for each event with our new emergency escape route plans positioned in all staff, class and administration areas of our school.

Over the next two weeks the students will practice the procedures for Emergency Evacuation and Lockdown. The teachers will go through the different procedures with their students in their classrooms prior to our practice. Students were given the opportunity to listen to the different alarm sounds, during our whole school assembly last Friday. We have reassured the students that this is just a practice in the event we should need to enact these policies.

New Bell System:

As part of our upgraded administration area, we have installed an automatic bell system. Last week we trialed introducing music to replace the bell sound for the second lunch bell. The song that is currently playing is Fleetwood Macs-‘Don’t Stop’. Students had an amazing reaction, dancing and singing their way to class…………….yes some students knew the words!! We will continue to work with our ICT CE person to update the songs and use music to replace some of our bell sounds. Students and staff have given very positive feedback about this new school initiative.

The School Photographer will be at St Patrick’s on Friday the 16^th September for school photos.   Envelopes can be sent into school prior to photo day or brought in on the morning of photos. If you are paying online please ensure you write your receipt number on the envelope.  

Please contact the office if you would like a "Sibling Envelope" sent home

Additional PL Days:

Catholic Education have once again provided all their CECG schools with two additional Professional Learning days in Term 3. Please find attached a letter from the Director of Catholic Education, Ross Fox, about two planning days in Term 3.

The PL days are:

Monday 29th August (Week 7)

Friday 23rd September (Week 10)

The planning days are PUPIL FREE DAYS. However, arrangements will be made for the supervision of those students who need to attend school. Please contact Mrs Baron directly if you require supervision for your child/ren. Thank you for your support and understanding of the need for this response in this challenging context.

Therapy Dog:

Therapy dogs are being utilised in many schools to support and improve the wellbeing of the school community. Research has found that interactions with animals can have positive physical and psychological effects on the health and well-being of many members across school communities. Therapy Dogs can be used for the following purposes:

• Reduce stress, anxiety and increase school attendance
• Providing support to anxious or high needs students
• Calming and settling effects on students
• Increased engagement in learning
• Support positive interactions with animals

St Patrick’s school will trial the use of a therapy dog over the coming term with the introduction of a small Moodle dog called Louie. The Moodle is a hybrid of a maltese and poodle. They have a lively and affectionate personality and are intelligent dogs that love human interaction. Moodles do not shed hair as they have a wool coat, therefore reducing allergic reactions. St Patrick’s will follow the DET School Support Dog Guidelines and CE policy guidelines.

Congratulations to our Week 1 Class Awards for Term 3 

Kindergarten - Lance Crowe for his positive application in all class areas

Yr 1/2 - Lilly Ferguson for a very positive start to Term 3 and for displaying beautiful manners 

Yr 3/4 - Molly Lott for being resilient and positive 

Yr 5/6 - Montanna Manns for her considerate and caring nature displaced towards all class members 

Congratulations to our Week 1 WildCat Awards

Respectful - Jasper Rui, Lane Johnson, Charlotte McDonnell

Responsible - Ellie McDonnell, Jimmy Robinson