Term 3 - Week 8

Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome to Term 3 Week 8 newsletter!

On Wednesday night this week we welcomed our 2025 Kinder parents to an information session about transitioning to school. We had a full house! This year, Mrs Megan Piper, Education Officer – Speech Pathologist for the Catholic Schools Office, co-presented with Mrs Browne as part of our orientation and transition program for St Patrick’s. Megan presented a session on transitioning into the school setting from a Speech Pathologist point of view, especially focusing on two really important areas- talking and listening. We received very positive feedback from our new parent cohort, taking home the important message of ‘play with your child, talk with your child, read with your child’.

Claire’s session unpacked the importance of Early Learning and what life looks like at big school for our new students. Year 4 have also begun their Buddy training, preparing how to best support the new little members of the St Patrick’s family next year. This is an exciting time for Year 4. The new Kinders will participate in several transition sessions with their Big Buddies throughout Term 4.

We would like to thank our new Kinder parent cohort for engaging in our St Pat’s community through their attendance on Wednesday night. We pride ourselves on continually building a positive community, one that is about doing something together that makes belonging matter.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”

(Henry Ford – Ford Motor Company)

Have a fantastic weekend!

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Welcome

Our St Pat’s community continues to grow. We warmly welcome the Sharpe family – Lee, Wade and Reece (Year 5) to the St Pat’s community. Thank you for choosing St Pat’s and we hope you very quickly feel at home.

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Taryn, Cameron, Lillian and Evelyn Johns on the birth of their little son and brother Edward (Teddy). Exciting news for everyone, especially the ambulance driver!

Tournament of the Minds

On Sunday, 7 of our Year 5 students participated in the NSW Hunter Regional Tournament of Minds challenge at Newcastle Grammar School. Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving program for teams of students from both primary and secondary years. Tournament's aim is to enhance the potential of our youth by developing diverse skills, enterprise, time management, and the discipline to work collaboratively within a challenging and competitive environment.

We congratulate Eloise, Sara, Florence, Billie, Beth, Jaymie and Imogen on receiving HONOURS in the Arts category for their creative portrayal of our local legend Don Ellercamp. We are so very proud of the team and their emotional and inspiring performance.

Our entry into the tournament would not have been possible without the commitment and dedication of Mrs Liz Walker and Miss Chloe Murray. I sincerely thank both Liz and Chloe for all the extra time they gave to guiding the students. We are blessed to have staff who provide these opportunities for our students to showcase their talents.

Netball Gala

A fun and exhausting day was had by our primary students at last Thursday’s Lakes Regional Netball Gala. Huge thank you to our attending staff as well as our parent / ex-student volunteers: Kayla Bevan, Fiona Layton, Lukah Thornton, Lily Hope, Lynne Wilks, Sarah Buchanan and Emma Jones.

Building Update

Our Admin renovations are taking shape nicely. Our Outdoor Learning Corridor commences on Monday. The outdoor space will incorporate a raised boardwalk platform, sandstone gathering circle (Indigenous Learning Space), rope bridge, stepping stones, log steppers, ramp and outdoor learning space with mass planting of native vegetation throughout. Exciting times ahead! The construction area will be fenced off during this time.

Term 3 Week 9

Term 3 Week 10

Message from RE Coordinator

Parish Masses

Today, Years 5 & 6 celebrated parish mass with Fr Gerard.  Kinder, Year 1 and 2 will be celebrating mass on Friday 27^th September at 9.30am.  Parents are most welcome to join us to celebrate the Eucharist at this mass.

The teaching of Religious Education

Over the past 3 years, we have welcomed changes to what and how we teach Religious Education in our schools. These changes have been brought about by the changes to education reforms and the needs of our Catholic community over the past decade. These changes needed to be reflected in the how and what we teach in Religious Education.

There was a need to ensure that Jesus was encountered in every RE classroom in innovative and co-creative ways as part of the living tradition of the Church that would bring relevance and meaning to everyone’s experiences. The RE curriculum now seeks to invite students into a knowledge and experience of Jesus who invites them into relationship with God.

The new RE Curriculum aims to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith traditions meeting each student where they are in their understanding. It looks to expand students’ spiritual awareness and the need for social justice within our world. Also, to ensure by the end of their schooling that students know the core teachings of the Catholic faith, the scriptures, its history, and tradition allowing students to reach their full potential.

The pedagogy of encounter meets students where they are in their understanding of the Catholic traditions and inviting them to discover the deeper meaning of God. This approach nurtures each individual student’s development and understanding of Religious Education, ensuring the Catholic beliefs, teachings and values are embedded across all learning experiences.

Finally, the new RE curriculum deliberately attends to both the educational and spiritual development of each person, acknowledging and celebrating the Holy Spirit at work in each of us.

Currently the new curriculum is being taught from Kindergarten to Year 3.  It is hoped that by the end of 2026, all primary classes will be teaching from the new curriculum of the Pedagogy of Encounter.

Mr Daniel Lockwood
RE Coordinator

Save the Date

From the Diverse Learners Team...

Gifted Education 

Congratulations to our amazing Tournament of Minds team! See Liz Walker’s write-up on their inspiring achievement.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education 

Last week, our Aboriginal students from Years 2-6 had the opportunity to travel to St Paul’s Gateshead to participate in a Story Pole workshop with St Paul’s Aboriginal Education Teacher, Dannielle Peachey. Ms Peachey is a proud Wiradjuri woman, with a wealth of cultural knowledge. She led the students through designing our school’s Story Pole and then everyone contributed to the painting of their combined ideas onto the pole.

This initiative is part of our Powaikaliko Malang Community of Schools with our East Lakes region, to connect the students to this broader community. St Paul’s have painted six poles that represent each of the schools in this community. Last Tuesday, we painted one just for our school, but we plan to purchase more and this group of students will then teach other St Patrick’s students how to do it too.

The result was magnificent (and a few journey stones were also painted along the way)! The Story Pole will be erected in a beautiful garden space at school very soon, with more to come!

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Mrs Jo Simes 
Learning Support Teacher

Mrs Anne Turner & Mrs Karen Devlin
Aboriginal Education Teacher

Library News

Book Launch and Storytime: The Welcome Cookies

Join us for a fun morning of cookies, storytelling, and celebrating the launch of "The Welcome Cookies" picture book!

On the day we will be joined by illustrator Kirrili Lonergan, and hear from the author, Kaye Baillie. Everyone will enjoy an interactive storytime session, followed by cookie decorating, and craft.

Aimed at children aged 4-8 years, The Welcome Cookies aims to help children accept and embrace change- big and small. Children attending must be accompanied by an adult.

Books will be available for purchase and signing on the day. This is a great opportunity to meet the illustrator and have your copy of the book personally signed.

Saturday the 28th September, 10:30-11:30, Windale Hub, Bilyabayi, 20 Lake Street, Windale, 2306

https://www.lakemac.com.au/Events-directory/Eventbrite/Book-Launch-and-Storytime-The-Welcome-Cookies

Mrs Karen Devlin & Mrs Penelope Hale
Library Teacher and Library Assistant

Kindergarten News

Kindergarten

Kindergarten have had a busy term of learning, it’s hard to believe they have nearly finished 3 Terms of Primary School! They have recently enjoyed expanding their Math and Creative Arts knowledge through an investigation all about sandcastles. Throughout the unit, Kinder learnt about sculpture, 3D objects, volume and capacity and had lots of fun participating in hands on learning activities. They were very proud to showcase their newfound knowledge through their sandy creations. Well done Kinder!

Mrs Claire Browne
Kindergarten Teacher

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Tournament of Minds

On Sunday, our talented Tournament of Minds team competed in the Hunter Regional Competition at Newcastle Grammar School. Hundreds of students gathered to perform and showcase their creativity, artistic talent and problem-solving skills.

We are enormously proud of our team who received the Honours Award. Congratulations Billie, Sara, Florence, Imogen, Eloise, Beth and Jaymie.

The challenge that the team chose was to tell the story of a local hero through dance, visual arts and sound. Don Ellercamp is that hero.

Don, his family, and the staff and students of St Patrick’s watched the performance yesterday. It was very moving and memorable.

Liz Walker and Chloe Murray

Aspire

Sport News

School Sport 

Due to a staffing change, Gecko Sports is running a touch football program in place of hockey for the remainder of the term. Students have been enjoying honing their running, tagging, throwing and catching skills.

Polding Athletics 

We wish the best of luck to our talented Athletes competing at the Polding Athletics Carnival today. We’ll be cheering for you and wish you all a P.B. and lots of fun. 

Khloe Hansen- 11yr High Jump 

Jaymie Tisdell- 11yr 100m 

Egan Joyce- 9yr 100m 

If your child attends a Pathways Sport or Trial, we’d love to see your photos and include them in our next newsletter.

Catholic Schools NSW offers many sporting pathway opportunities for talented athletes. If your child is an aspiring athlete, you might like to familiarise yourself with the CSNSW Sport web page here: https://csnsw.sport/  

Sport information specific to our Diocese can be found on the Maitland Newcastle Diocese tile on the CSNSW Sport page https://csnsw.sport/maitland-newcastle/primary/home  

Any registrations on these pages must first be approved.  

Pathways Sports- 2025 Summer Sport Trials: Tennis, Basketball, Cricket

Regional Trials for Cricket, Basketball and Tennis will be run in Term 4. These Trials are for elite athletes currently in Years 4 and 5 who are highly experienced and play at a representative level in their chosen sport. If your child fulfills these criteria and would like to trial, please email me at claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au with their name, club, experience and preferred position (if applicable) by Monday 23rd September.

Netball Gala Day

Last week, Stages 2 and 3 participated in a Lakes Region Netball Gala Day. Students had fun playing games against other local Catholic schools and represented St Patrick’s with sportsmanship, skill, persistence and resilience. Thank you to our school community members who volunteered their time to help on the day.

Weekend Sports Stars

Sawyer (Year 3), Brooks, Kade and Hendrix (Kindergarten) have recently returned from Byron Bay where they competed in the Australian Open Jiu Jitsu Competition. The boys valiantly represented their club, Apex Jui Jitsu, and had a lot of fun in the process. We congratulate all the boys on their achievements and commend Kade for winning two bronze medals in the U6 division and Brooks for winning bronze in the U7 division.

If your child is a Weekend Sports Star, please email details and a photo so we can celebrate their success in our next newsletter.  

Mrs Claire Browne
Sport Coordinator

Email: claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Office News

The Diocesan agreement for settlement of school fees requires payments to commence by 31 March and continue with regular instalments each month until fully settled by 30 November each year.  

If you haven't already commenced weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments as agreed, reminder sms, phone calls and letters will be sent home to these families. Please check your monthly fee statement and process payments as required.

Please contact the office if you would like assistance with calculating your weekly, fortnightly, monthly deduction amount. 

Our preferred method of payment is either BPay or direct debit. For Fee Payers wishing to establish a new Direct Debit, or adjust their existing direct debit, please complete the form on the Catholic Community Fund website www.myccf.com.au.

For those families experiencing financial hardship, or wishing to discuss other payment arrangements, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment with the Principal.

Volunteering at St Patrick's

We have many events still planned for the remainder of the year.  Please get in early and register so you won't be dissappointed in missing out.

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. 

WWCC exemptions apply for volunteers who are a close relative of a student enrolled at the school.  There is a "Statutory Screening Selection Tool" included in the online registration process to assist you with this.

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 email the office at admin@swansea.catholic.edu.au to enquire.

Rachelle McKenzie
Senior School Officer

P&F

Uniforms

We are phasing out school bags and thermal lunch bags.  There is limited stock available on sale for 50% off.  Orders can be placed on QKR. These items are available until stock sells out.

Preloved Uniforms

All hand me downs welcome. If you have any uniforms no longer being used, please drop them off to the front office so they can be put to good use.

Community Notices