St Patrick's Primary School Swansea eNewsletter

Message from the Principal

Gracious God

We give thanks for the joy and energy that fills our school.
For the laughter of children, the dedication of staff, and the support of families,
We are grateful.

Thank You for the spirit of learning, kindness, and growth that thrives in our classrooms and playgrounds.
For our students, who feel safe, seen, valued and inspired,
We give thanks.

Bless our community with continued unity, compassion, and resilience.
May we always nurture one another with patience and love,
And celebrate the many ways we grow together.

Amen.

Dear Families

Welcome to our Term 3, Week 6 newsletter.

Last Thursday’s Book Week and Grandparent’s Day celebrations were a truly joyful occasion and inspired my prayer for this week. Despite the constant rain, our school was alive with laughter, creativity and a strong sense of community. Each year, more parents and grandparents join us for this special day, and we are so grateful for the ongoing support you give to our school.

A highlight of the day was our beautiful Grandparents Day liturgy, where we paused to celebrate the love, wisdom, and faith our grandparents bring to our lives. We extend a heartfelt thank you to the grandparents who joined us and those who took part in the liturgy, you made the occasion even more meaningful.

Our staff loved taking you on Patstar Flight 165 (number of students at St Patrick’s), complete with turbulence, unexpected detours, and a crew who may or may not have missed their true calling as flight attendants! We hope you enjoyed the in-flight entertainment as much as we did. Thank you for choosing to fly with us and remember, we look forward to welcoming you back on board for many more learning adventures (frequent flyer points still pending approval!).

Lucy Harvey
Principal

Father’s Day Breakfast

We warmly invite all dads, grandads, and father figures to join us for a special Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday 5th September, starting at 7:30am.

Come along and enjoy a delicious egg and bacon roll to start your day, followed by our Father’s Day liturgy in the hall. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and honour the important role fathers and father figures play in the lives of our students and within our school community.

We look forward to sharing this meaningful morning with you!

Father_s_Day.pdf

St Vincent de Paul Housing Update

The Diocese continues to work closely with St Vincent de Paul regarding the proposed use of the Tennison Apartments. Our Risk and Governance Team is actively collaborating with Vinnies to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of both students and residents remain a top priority.

Enrolment Applications

A friendly reminder that enrolment applications for 2026 are now due. If you have a child starting school next year, or know someone who does, and haven’t yet submitted an application, please complete and return the enrolment form as soon as possible to secure their place.

Uniform

With the warmer weather approaching, students may now begin wearing the summer uniform.

Week 7 at a Glance

Week 8 at a Glance

Message from RE Coordinator

Father’s Day Liturgy

Our Father’s Day Liturgy will be celebrated this term on Friday, 5th September.

As part of this special occasion, we are preparing a photo presentation featuring our students with their fathers or a significant male figure in their lives. If you would like to contribute, please email ONLY one photo per family to: daniel.lockwood@mn.catholic.edu.au by 3:00pm, Monday 1st September.

To confirm that your photo has been received, you will receive a reply email within 48 hours. If you do not receive this acknowledgement, please contact the school office to ensure your photo has been successfully submitted.

Important Security Update for student BYOD Devices

Action is required for students with BYOD Windows 10 devices as Windows 10 will soon no longer be supported by Microsoft.

To ensure your student device security you should upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible.

Microsoft has announced that support for Windows 10 will end on 14 October 2025, meaning it will no longer receive critical security updates.

To stay protected and ensure optimal performance, it is strongly recommended that all students with BYOD Windows 10 devices follow Microsoft’s instructions and upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible. There is no charge for this upgrade.

Ways to install Windows 11 - Microsoft Support

Upgrade to Windows 11: FAQ - Microsoft Support

Mr Daniel Lockwood
Religious Education Coordinator

Diverse Learners Team News

High Potential & Gifted Education

The High Potential and Gifted Education team in our Diocese has just released a new blog for families of high potential and gifted children:
“Seeing the World Like Leonardo, Einstein, and Aristotle – Three Ways to Nurture Genius Thinking in Your Child”

The blog highlights three ways children view the world - connecting ideas like Leonardo, imagining possibilities like Einstein, and seeking patterns and purpose like Aristotle - and offers practical tips for families to support these strengths.

Seeing the World Like Leonardo, Einstein, and Aristotle | Catholic Schools Maitland-Newcastle

Mrs Cathy Curk
Gifted Education Mentor

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education

Bush Tucker Cooking

On Wednesday, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students made lemon myrtle biscuit icing using dried leaves from our tree in the playground. Our students enjoyed following the recipe instructions and grinding the lemon myrtle leaves to create delicious icing for biscuits.

In Aboriginal culture, lemon myrtle leaves were traditionally used for their flavour in cooking, by wrapping them in paperbark to season fish. They were also a key part of bush medicine, used as a natural antiseptic paste for wounds, crushed and inhaled to treat headaches and respiratory issues, and burned to create vapours for medicinal purposes and as an insect repellent.

Evelyn from Year 2 said:

“Best thing I’ve ever tasted…. better than cake!!! I loved helping to grind the leaves to a powder in the blender, and I loved the strong scent of lemon.”

We are eagerly waiting for some of the bush tucker plants we planted last term in our garden beds to flower so we can sample some of the fruits in more recipes. the opportunity to put forward their ideas and hopes for Aboriginal Education, this year, and into the future.

Mrs Liz Walker
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher

SchoolTV: Respectful Language

In today's world, it is becoming apparent that some young people are being influenced by the language around them. It is becoming more common for them to hear derogatory terms or offensive language on the streets, on social media channels, streaming services and in some forms of modern music. Proliferating the use of such language can sometimes normalise, glamorise and sanitise their impact, taking their meaning out of context. Words can be misconstrued to be hurtful, racist, homophobic, mysogynistic or even discriminatory. Using disrespectful language is considered socially unacceptable, and if not addressed early, can become a serious problem. The use of derogatory language or the act of swearing at someone, or about someone, is actually a form of verbal violence. It transgresses the usual rules of social interaction by impinging on an individual's self-image and sense of dignity. Therefore, many schools enforce a zero tolerance policy when it comes to such language. Parents and carers also need to play an important role in enforcing this approach by proactively monitoring what their children are viewing or being exposed to and discussing the use of words or their origin. This can help prevent inappropriate or disrespectful language being used in the classroom, school yard or other situations. Whilst some students may use swearing or derogatory terms for attention seeking purposes, others may use it simply because they are still learning how to moderate their language. As young people develop their language skills, it is important for them to have a clear understanding of the impact of their choice of words on others and how their words can impact other people's perspective of them - an important and essential skill to learn as they progress in their personal and professional development.

Full SchoolTV Article

Year 1 News

Year 1 having fun playing games from the past - marbles, jacks, quoits, skipping and hoola hooping.

In Maths we have been learning about numbers up to and beyond 999 to recognise patterns and form equal groups. We like to represent our findings using number lines, hundreds charts, arrays, and equal groups.

Year 1 using persuasion to stop 'Little Ant' from being stepped on by 'The Boy' through our story study on 'Hey Little Ant'.

Do you recognise any familiar faces as Year 1 travel back in time through the decades?

Religion - Year 1 has been learning about how it feels and what it means to belong to a global human family - One body, many parts (Corinthians), all with special gifts to share. We have learnt about the first Sacrament of Initiation, Baptism. Year 1 used clay to represent the sacred Catholic traditions and symbols of Baptism.

Mrs Louise Stewart
Year 1 Teacher

Library News

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The PRC is nearly over for another year. We have many students close to finishing the challenge so now is the time to log books they have read at home as well as in the classroom eg. Year 3 read Wandi in class last term so that can be added to their reading log.

PRC closes Friday 19^th September

If you are having trouble, please contact Mrs Devlin or Mrs Hale.

Book Week

What an amazing week! Thank you everyone who got involved by dressing up and talking about the books and movies their character were from. We think it is the best week of the year!

Thank you also for your enthusiasm at the book fair. Our school receives Scholastic Reward credits from purchases which means your support helps us keep the library resourced with new books.

Illustrator Visit

We were so lucky to have Chrissy McYoung, local author and illustrator of the book Lake Macquarie Adventures for Kids, spend a day at St Patrick’s during book week.
She discussed our local area, what we have observed on our own adventures around Lake Macquarie and taught us how to draw local flora and fauna.

Sport News

Gala Days

Unfortunately, the recent wet weather wreaked havoc with the proposed dates for the Touch Football Gala days, and we are unable to attend on the rescheduled dates.

The good news is, we still have plenty of sporting opportunities coming up.

Years 3-6 will attend the Lakes Region Netball Gala on September 11 and the Lakes Region Hockey Gala next Term.

Years 1 and 2 are looking forward to a League Tag Gala Day on November 4^th.

These days are focused on skill development, fun and participation for all.

Pathways Sport- Summer Sport Trials

Regional Sport Trials for Summer sports (Cricket, tennis, basketball) are being held in October. Nominations for these trials are open to elite athletes in Years 4 and 5 (as the pathway will extend into next year).

If your child is experienced in, and plays these sports at a high level, please complete the google form by Friday Week 9 https://forms.office.com/r/XfgfsVQaqv

Successful nominees will be notified by the end of the Term 3.

Dates and times below:

CRICKET - Gateshead Indoor Centre Fri - Oct 17^th 9-11am

TENNIS - Lakelands Tennis Courts, Lakelands - Wed Oct 29^th 9.30-11.30am

BASKETBALL - St Paul's High, Booragul- Wed Oct 29^th either 9-11 or 9.30-11.30 TBC

Weekend Sports Stars

Congratulations to Year 6 students, Eloise, Beth and Jaymie. This week they participated in a National Aerobics Competition on the Gold Coast, well done girls!

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

Mrs Claire Browne
Sport Coordinator

claire.browne@mn.catholic.edu.au 

Aspire

2025_ASPIRE_MUSICAL_THEATRE_FLYER.pdf

P&F

P&F Meeting

Office News

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

Rachelle McKenzie
Senior School Officer

Community Notices

LMCC - Parent/Carer/ Teacher ThinkUKnow Presentation - Thursday 2nd October

Please see the liknk for our upcoming ThinkUKnow session. This presentation is designed for parents/carers and teachers of children from preschool to year 12.

The presentation will be delivered by local law enforcement members. The presentation is pro-technology and addresses topics including self-generated child abuse material, online grooming, sexual extortion, and importantly encourages help seeking behaviour. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about children and young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology.

Please note this session is NOT suitable for anyone under 18 years to attend.

Lowes_20_sale.pdf