With the change of season the Uniform Shop has been very busy. While every effort is made to keep the shop well stocked there will be times where orders will need to be placed with suppliers and therefore there can sometimes be a wait for uniforms. To avoid disappointment please place orders as early as possible. For emergency items such as ties, hats, jumpers there will be 2^nd hand items available from the School Office at any time. All other uniform orders can be sent in with your child or emailed to the School Office and these orders will then be filled by Bec on Tuesday afternoons. Once items are paid for they will be available for collection from the office or sent home with your child. If you are unsure of clothing sizes the uniform shop is open on Tuesday afternoons and uniforms can be tried on. Please contact Bec if you cannot attend the school during Uniform Shop opening hours and she may be able to arrange for your child to try uniforms on during school hours.

The astro turf area has been identified as a high priority item for Community Council. This will be a major financial undertaking and will greatly improve the school environment for the students. We have had a great start to the fundraising for this year which will certainly help with this project. As details of the project become available they will be shared with the school community.

We have now had a full term of the new school office opening hours of 9:30am to 3:30pm. Unfortunately, the administration hours for St Patrick’s is allocated by Catholic Education in Canberra. This has required an adjustment for us all and the Community Council would like to thank everyone for their understanding during the transition. The school has endeavoured to put in place procedures to assist parents and students with the new office hours. Vince or a Community Council Representative are always available should you want to discuss any matters relating to office hours or any other school matters.

At our last meeting elections were held for the positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman. We would like to welcome Renee Lindley as Chairman and Craig Hargreaves to Vice Chairman respectively.  The Community Council would like to thank our outgoing chairman Chris McDonnell for his commitment & leadership over the last two and a half years and we look forward to his continued contribution as a Community Council member.

The next Community Council Meeting will take place on the 21^st June. As this is scheduled as an open meeting, everyone is invited to attend a presentation on the A-E reporting system and NAPLAN at 5:30pm and then attend the Community Council meeting at 6:30pm. This is a great opportunity to experience Community Council if you are considering joining or if you have items that you would like discussed by Community Council.

Dear Parents, Children and Friends,  

It’s week 4 already and the school has been a hive of activity over the past weeks.  The children are well and truly settled into class routines and have set themselves learning goals for the term.

Mother’s day

Last Monday we welcomed all mothers and grandmothers to a special morning breakfast.  The school was abuzz with much laughter and chatter and a lovely morning was had by all.  The children loved spending time with their special loved ones and we thank the teachers and community council parents who helped prepare all the hot food.

NRMA Science & Road Safety Show

Today the children were treated to a hands-on and highly engaging NRMA show merging science, theatre and road safety!  Danny our presenter conducted science demonstrations showing how the forces they experience whilst in motion can injure them in a crash AND why safety equipment - seatbelts and bike helmets are essential to their safety. They explored Newton’s first law of motion and looked at friction in terms of the traction of bicycle and car tyres on the road surface and how different conditions can hinder grip.  After each experiment, the presenter Danny explicitly taught the children how to correctly fit their safety equipment and why correct fit is essential to their safety.  Look out for the Parent Road Safety guide coming home today with your children.

Supportive Playgroups Friday - 9:00 am - 10:30 am

The Supportive Playgroup Program is a big hit amongst the little ones and their parents every Friday.  Stories, percussion music, play and parachute games were the flavours of the day last Friday. If you know of anyone who would like to come along it is not too late!  There are six more sessions this term and it is open to all parents/carers of pre-school students regardless of whether or not you are attending St Patrick’s Primary in the future. A big thank you to Mr Powell for facilitating the program along with Kerri-Ann Powell and Natasha Smith. If you would like more information about this program please call Mr Powell on 0423452072 or email vincent.powell@cg.catholic.edu.au

A Celebration of Learning Day

All parents, careers and grandparents are invited to a Celebration of Learning day to be held at our school on Wednesday the 30^th of May. Following consultation with the Community Council, it was decided to offer two separate opportunities for our parents to visit their children’s classrooms. The first session time slot will be from 8:30 am - 9:30 am and the second from 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm. This will be an opportunity for you to visit the classrooms and view displays of student work.

A big thank you to parent Peter Gailey who came along last week to facilitate a science experiment for the Year 3/4 Class.

NAPLAN & Reporting Parent Information Night

A NAPLAN and A to E Reporting Information evening will be held at the school on the 21^st June, commencing at 5:30. I personally will be presenting information on NAPLAN and how it currently informs learning within our schools. As there is a lot of political speak at present that surrounds this National Assessment tool, I look forward to presenting an educationalist viewpoint. I will also discuss the A to E assessment marking criteria used in your child’s report and present student examples of moderated assessments. For example, what a B looks like compared to what a C looks like. This information session will be followed by an open Community Council meeting for all to attend. Hope to see you there.

Being Responsible Digital Citizens at St Patrick’s

“Being a responsible digital citizen means having the online social skills to take part in online community life in an ethical and respectful way.”  (RaisingChildren.net) At St Patrick’s the children utilize chrome books and i pads on a daily basis in their learning and it is essential they are educated on how to use this technology responsibly.  This week the upper primary children were reminded again of the expectations of using their school google drive and Gmail accounts.  We have asked that they not use their student google drive account for social or personal use at all.  If you have any questions regarding technology use or expectations please ask myself or Mr Powell.

 A copy of the 5/6 Agreement written by the students is included as an example of how technology is to be used in their class.

Being a Responsible Digital Citizen

This is our 5/6  Chromebook agreements

• Be responsible and supportive towards each other on the Chromebook
• Only use Chromebooks for school and learning purposes only
• Respect students work and do not share without permission
• Don’t make changes to someone else's work without their permission.  Use comments option for editing.
• We should remember to use Gmail responsibly with no social chats at all.
•  Don’t log in as other people. Keep passwords confidential.
• Do not use your school Gmail for home or personal.                                                

Consequences 

If any of the agreements are broken, you will not be able to use the Chromebooks for a certain period decided upon by Mr Powell.

So let’s be responsible digital citizens!

Maya Flanagan          Will Naughton               Henry Hindmarsh                                                    

Allie Sullivan        BENNY Bartlett

Sam Crane

Thomas Scott            Lillian McDonnell        LOCHIE.W

Don Cotterill 

Hugh Graham             BENJI LEANE

Charlotte Curtis

Isaac Pearce

Max Graham     Molly McDonnell   

Alix Kerrin Bayer      Abbey Flannagan     Ella Nugent

Uralba Visit

Tomorrow Year 6 will again visit the residents of Uralba.  This is always a wonderful opportunity to chat, interact with and share their work.  The residents eagerly look forward to these visits and really enjoy our Year 6 leader’s company.

Have a lovely week,

Lisa Wilson

Pentecost

On Sunday we celebrated Pentecost.

What is Pentecost? Pentecost is the Christian holiday which is celebrated on the 50th day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. Pentecost is the birth of the Catholic Church.

RECONCILIATION and FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

Reconciliation and Holy Communion Sacraments will be made together this year.

Reconciliation will be during the preparation retreat day on Friday 24^th August.

First Holy Communion will be celebrated on Saturday the 25^th of August.

School Mass

This week on Saturday 26^th May we will be having a whole school Mass commencing at 6 pm.

(arrive around 5:45 pm)

Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Mass and Liturgy Times:

This term, Mass will be on Fridays at 12 pm and Liturgies will be Friday at 12:30 pm.

Liturgies may be held at the school, pending the weather on the day.

Dates to mark on your calendar:

25/05- Mass led by Years 1 and 2 (12 pm).

26/05- WHOLE SCHOOL Mass Saturday 6 pm.
01/06- Liturgy led by Years 5 and 6 (12:30 pm).

08/06- Mass led by Staff (12 pm).
15/06- Liturgy led by Years 3 and 4 (12:30 pm).

22/06- Mass led by Staff and Leaders (12 pm).
29/06- Liturgy led by Kinder (12:30 pm).
06/07- End of term Mass led by SRC (12 pm).

Thoughts/ Questions / Reflection for the week: Visio Divina 

Visio Divina invites the viewer into "divine seeing." Visio Divina shares origins with the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. (Lectio Divina calls for a slow, careful interaction with scripture through meditation and prayer, allowing a word or phrase to rise in one's consciousness, a holy word to be savoured and examined.) Similarly, Visio Divina invites one to encounter the divine through images. A prayerful consideration of and interaction with a photograph in the magazine, icon, piece of art, or other visual representation allows the viewer to experience the divine in a unique and powerful way.

Visio Divina can be practised individually or with a group in a small group or worship setting by using a piece of art as a focal point for prayer. Scripture can also be paired with the image in order for the viewer to reflect on the scripture through the art.

Using this image, Pentecost – Holy Spirit descent on disciples, to encounter the divine.

1) Prepare: Close your eyes, breathe, clear your mind, and ask God to enter into this time of prayer with you. Ask God to speak to you through this image.

2) Lectio (read): Open your eyes and scan the image. Note what draws your interest, but continue to scan the whole image. Close and rest your eyes a minute.

3) Mediatio (meditate): Open your eyes and let your eyes be led. Focus on just the part of the image that caught your eyes and name it. Close your eyes, seeing that piece of the image in your mind.

4) Oratio (pray): Open your eyes and look again at the piece of the image that caught your eye. Allow it to bring forth a word, image, or emotion. Close and rest your eyes.

5) Contemplatio (contemplation): Open your eyes and gaze at the whole image. What is God speaking to you today through this image? How will you respond to Him? Spend time processing that with God. Pray or journal about it.

Week 3 – Types of Friends

Types of friends is the focus in Peer Support this week. Children will explore what encourages them to form friendships with different people (common interests, admirable qualities etc). Through various activities children will identify that their friends can fall into the categories of ‘best friends’, ‘friends’ and ‘people we know’. Children will also discuss the fact that friendships can change over time for various reasons.

Discuss with your child the different friends they have in their lives and how friendships may change. Some friends may be more important at different times in their lives.

We look forward to you joining us at the Gundagai Services Club on Thursday 24 May for the Biggest Morning Tea. Our Kindergarten and Year 1/2 classes will be singing at the morning tea and as usual we are very proud to support this very worthy cause. Please be at the club by 10.30 am.

We are calling for an expression of interest to coach the Leauge and League Tag teams for Year 5/6 Mortimer Shield and manage the team on Thursday 31st May in Tumut. Please contact the front office if you are able to assist.

Due to Rebecca being away the Uniform Shop will not be open this week. Please leave any order forms with the front office and the items will be dispatched to you next Tuesday on her return.

KINDERGARTEN: Isabella Boswell - positive class contributions

YEAR 1/2: Lachlan Morgan - consistent effort in all classroom tasks.

YEAR 3/4: Sarah Scott - attacking maths problems with persistence, logic and deep thinking.

YEAR 5/6: Charlotte Curtis - her enthusiasm and commitment to researching her family history for Religion task.

Happy birthday to the following people who celebrate their birthdays this week.

Abby McDonnell celebrates on Monday 21 May.

Harry Peterson celebrates on Thursday 24 May

Our very best wishes to you on your special day!