Term 4 - Week 6

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

It is hard to believe we are at the end of Week 6 Term 4. The year is just flying past and before we know it, it will be the end of the year. The next four weeks are shaping up to be very busy indeed with many exciting events to look forward to. I hope you are able to join us for some of them. Coming up is:

Colour Run

Friday 25^th November starting at 12pm. The students are very excited and are looking forward to the day whilst raising funds for our outdoor learning space. Our wonderful organisers have planned a fun obstacle course around the playground including the fire brigade at one of the stations. See attached flyer.

Christmas Family Night

Thursday 1^st December from 5:30pm. This will be a lovely festive way to wind up the year together as a community. The students are preparing to entertain you with some Christmas carols / songs / poems from 6:30pm. Please invite your extended family to join us. Don’t forget to bring a picnic dinner, rug or chair and some insect repellent! See attached flyer.

Captains 2023

The Year 5 students are currently preparing to undertake the student leadership roles for 2023. On Friday 2^nd December at 9:30, the students who wish to be considered for a leadership position will deliver their speech to the school community. Parents are most welcome to join us for the speeches.

Annual Awards Assembly

Thursday 8^th December 9:30am. The Annual St Patrick’s Awards will include an Academic Award, Consistent Effort Award and Community Award for each class; an overall Sportsperson on the Year Award and The MacKillop Award. We will also acknowledge our leaving families and have a handover of School Leaders for 2023. All are welcome to this special event.

Swimming Carnival

Friday 9^th December. All students will be attending this year’s swimming carnival at Swansea Pool. We need parent / grandparent volunteers to assist with starting, marshalling, timekeeping and novelties. If you are able to assist in anyway, please contact admin.

Advent Liturgy

Monday 12^th December 9:30am in the Church. Our Year 3 students are preparing this year’s Advent Liturgy. We hope you can join us for this liturgically important event.

Creative Arts Expo

Tuesday 13^th December 9:30am in the hall. The students of St Patrick’s would love to showcase some of our creative arts talents. Come and be dazzled by our dancing, art and musical ability! See attached flyer.

Year 6 Rite of Passage and End of Year Liturgy

Wednesday 14^th December at 10am. Come join us as we farewell our Year 6 students and give thanks as a community for the 2022 school year.

Aspire 2023

Congratulations to Aiden Bowmaker for being selected in the Drama Ensemble for ASPIRE 2023.  We look forward to seeing Aiden in action on stage next year.

As you can see there is much happening at St Patrick’s. As well as organising these extra special events, teachers are still busy teaching, assessing and completing Semester 2 reports. Our priority continues to be providing a quality education for our students in an environment where they are engaged, safe and supported.

Have a great week ahead.

Lucy

Message from RE Coordinator

Wishing Tree

As we enter the festive season, it is important to remember that not all families in our local area are as fortunate and may be struggling over the Christmas break.  The Swansea Vinnies Conference assists many families in a number of different ways.  To assist the conference, we are setting up a Wishing Tree for families to donate small gifts that can be given to these families at Christmas.  If you would like to donate a gift, we ask that it be wrapped, with a label indicating the gender and the intended age range.  Gifts can be placed under the Christmas tree that will be set up in the office.  Thank you for your support of this initiative. 

Sacraments

Last week 28 of our St Patrick’s students completed the Sacrament of Confirmation.  The sacrament ‘reaffirms’ the candidates belief in the mystery of God and make a commitment to deepen their faith.  We keep these students in our though and prayers as they receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion over this weekend.

Mr Daniel Lockwood
Religion Coordinator

Save the Date

Wellbeing and Pastoral Care

Wellbeing Week

November 13^th was World Kindness Day and so the theme for Wellbeing Week this week was “Bee Kind”. Students have been spotting and recording acts kindness at St Patrick’s and creating a school display. We will continue our focus on kindness next week by making Christmas cards for the Vinnies Conference, Swansea and Southern Cross Care, Caves Beach to spread kindness in our community. Students will also be bringing home their own Kindness Tracker to continue our theme of kindness with their family. The following resources may also assist families in understanding the impact of kindness on our own and others’ wellbeing.

Science of Kindness

Kindness as a Character Strength

Kindness resources for kids and families

Year 1 News

Exciting News about the Stage One Excursion to the Reptile Park by Year One

Mum we are going to be late! On Friday Year One and Year Two went to the Reptile Park. First we went to the spiders. There was a toilet and I sat on it and it hurt my bottom. Then we looked at some more animals. We had some lunch. I had a cinnamon muffin and a yummy sandwich. After we ate we looked at some  more animals. I heard some birds and they were very loud. When we went to the bats it smelled awful. Lastly we sat on a huge bench and we patted lots of animals. My favourite animal was the alligator because it was bumpy. After all of that we went back on the bus. It was an amazing day.

Year One and Year Two went to the Reptile Park and we saw lots of animals. We saw a lorikeet, a turtle and a spider. I smelled poo and animals. I had a sandwich and a bag of chips for lunch. Tori held a snake and I got to pat it, it felt slimy and you weren’t allowed to pat it on the head. I patted an alligator because we went to a show and I patted a big koala and its name was Jet. It was very cute and like a teddy. It acted a bit silly. Ruby and Lachlan were in my group.

Emily

Last week Year One and Year Two went to the Reptile Park. We hopped onto the bus for about an hour. When we got there we went past Elvis then to the picnic area. I ate a banana then we went into our groups, I saw Koalas, crocodiles and snakes. Then we had lunch, some people played on the playground. We went into groups again. I saw frogs and toads, turtles and black and white dingoes. Then we had recess, we played on the playground for a long time. Then we went to a show and the most amazing thing is that at the show we got to pat the koala, crocodile and a giant snake but it was still a baby. We also patted a little brown coloured snake.

Ruby

Geography

In Geography this term we have been learning about activities that take place in our local area. Here are a few of our playground designs for a new local park.

Mrs Cheryl Ogden
Year 1 Teacher

Sport News

Regional Summer Sports Trials

Congratulations to Ashley Newell (Yr 5) and Sebatian Koller (Yr 4) for representing St Patrick’s at the Regional Cricket trials last Friday. Ashley has progressed to Diocesan trials to be held on the 25^th of November. We wish him the best of luck and will be cheering him on from Swansea!

Upcoming Events

It’s only just over a week until the St Patrick’s Rainbow Run to be held on November 25th. Registration is now closed, and our participants are busy fundraising.  The students are very excited, and we’d like to extend a huge thank you to our Rainbow Run Organisers.

Excitement is building for the St Patrick’s Swimming Carnival on Friday 9^th of December. Our swimming carnival is always a fun school community day that caters for both pathway swimmers and non-competitive swimmers. As always, we appreciate parent help. If you can assist, please contact admin.

Weekend Sports Stars

Last weekend, three of our students represented their Little Athletics Clubs at Homebush after being selected for respective state relay teams. Skye Porter and Mia Porter competed for Eastlakes Little Athletics in the U9’s 100m relay, winning a silver medal and Florence De Champlain was a member of the Macquarie Hunter Little Athletics U10’s relay team who achieved 4^th place in their race. Congratulations girls!

If your child has a wonderful sporting achievement to share, we’d love to celebrate them. Please email details and photos to Claire.Browne@mn.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Claire Browne
Sports Coordinator

Environmental News

Last week was National Recycling Week. St Patricks joined schools around Australia participating in the Schools Recycle Right Challenge. As part of the challenge, classes engaged in lessons about recycling and got creative with recycled materials. Some recycled creations included recycled paper decorations, instruments, toys and plant pots made from recyclables.  Congratulations to all who participated, when we work together we can make a difference!

Mrs Claire Browne

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Rainbow Run 2022

The Rainbow run is finally here!

Please join us next Friday from 11am for lunch or 12pm for the commencement of the fun run! Friends & family all welcome to join us for the most colourful day of the year!

Please see checklist of things to pack for the day. Keep an eye on our social media page for updates over the next week.

Any money your child may have raised can be handed into the office now until Thursday December 1^st. Please ensure they label their name on an envelope or ziplock bag so we know who raised what.

Lunch orders are now open on Qkr for next Friday also, under the ‘Special Event’ menu. Please feel free to order extra if you’re coming along. We will also have eftpos and cash sales available on the day for anything you may want to buy on the day. The canteen will remain open from lunchtime until midway through the rainbow run.

Uniforms

We welcome Natalie LeMarchant our newest volunteer assisting Leisha in the Uniform Shop.

Second-hand uniforms are most welcome,however please ensure they are in good condition.

A friendly reminder final orders for this year close on Monday 12th December.

The uniform shop is open during the School Term each Monday from 2pm - 3pm. 

Leisha and Natalie can be contacted via email at stpatricksuniformshop1@gmail.com to answer any questions or to make alternate fitting arrangements.

Thank you 
Leisha & Natalie

Office News

We remind you that the fee deadline of 30^th November 2022 is soon approaching, and payments should have commenced.  If you are experiencing difficulty in making these payments, please contact our school office as soon as possible.

Year 6 parents, please note that the fee clearance is required for enrolment to St Mary’s.

Thank you to those parents who have commenced paying their school fees.

A new Direct Debit can be established or an amendment to existing direct debit is an option, please complete the form on the Catholic Development Fund website www.CDFmn.com.au.

For those families experiencing financial hardship, please contact the school office for an appointment with the Principal, to arrange a mutually agreed payment plan.

Joint Account Access Form are available, refer to Compass notification in March 2022, complete form and return to cso.sassupport@mn.catholic.edu.au.

An event for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution has been created, this is a voluntary fee that assists the Diocesan Pastoral Support Programs, you can elect to pay or decline via the Compass Parent Portal

Rachelle McKenzie 
Senior School Officer

Volunteering at St Patrick's

If you would like to register to volunteer at St Patrick's, can you please complete the "Volunteer Registration Form" by clicking on the link here. 

St Patrick's will be notified by the Catholic Schools Office once you are cleared to volunteer.

If you are unsure if you have clearance, please contact the office to enquire.

Safeguarding

Enrolments

Community Notices