Dear Parents and Carers,

WELCOME TO 2024! A very big welcome back to everyone as we begin another exciting school year. We hope the holidays were relaxing and filled with many memorable family times. It is always such a joy on the first day to see students returning to greet their teachers and friends and the excitement that a new year, classroom, teacher and class group brings! An extra special welcome is extended to our new families the Kennedy, Elliott, Weir and Rizalde families. We are delighted to have you join our St Patrick’s school community.

KINDERGARTEN AND NEW STUDENTS: It has been delightful to welcome 7 very excited Kindergarten children to our St Patrick’s School family. A big welcome to Lilly, Anna, Charlotte, Tannah, Ivy, Michael and Sam as they begin their educational journey here with us. We are also delighted to welcome Charlston Rizalde who has joined our Year 1 class. All our new students have settled in beautifully to our school and are already a valued part of our school family. We look forward to journeying with them throughout their Primary School education.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING:

St Patrick’s School staff have engaged in two days of fantastic learning prior to students returning. Along with our other CECG Systemic Schools, the online System CATALYST Day was an inspiring day of professional learning. Further learning was undertaken on renewing our commitment to CATALYST initiatives and evidence-based teaching programs. Professional discussions included revisiting the Science of Learning that underpins the pedagogy we are using in our classrooms, as well as the inclusion of High Impact Teaching strategies that enable all staff to effectively include best practice strategies that support all learners in our schools. One of the most engaging sessions was on Classroom Mastery that incorporated Classroom Management and Behaviour. Teachers were very impressed with the presenter Dr Tim McDonald and his positive and engaging management techniques. This created a lot of positive discussion among teachers and our purpose to create positive classrooms where all students are engaged in purposeful learning.

SWIMMING CARNIVAL/OPENING SCHOOL MASS DATES:

We have several important events coming up this week at school. Our St Patrick’s School swimming carnival will be held THIS Thursday 8 February at the Gundagai Pool commencing at 9.30am. Kindergarten and Year 1 will join in the fun from 11.30am onwards.  Our Opening School Mass is scheduled to take place on Friday 16 February at St Patrick’s Church commencing at 12pm. Year 6 leaders and SRC class representatives will be formally inducted during the Mass and also a special welcome and presentation to our Kindergarten and new students. Parents and family members are most welcome to join us this year for both events.

Best wishes for a happy week ahead.

Christine Baron

Principal

Welcome to 2024. I hope everyone was able to enjoy a wonderful Christmas holiday and spend some time relaxing and resting.

We thank God for the blessings we have experienced during the summer holidays, and we pray together for the year that lies ahead of us.

We are looking forward to a new year and new beginnings. We warmly welcome our new students and their families and hope they will feel the sense of belonging to the St Patrick’s School family community.

The ‘Year of the Holy Spirit’ continues in 2024. Prayer to the Holy Spirit for the Archdiocese.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit,

did instruct the hearts of the faithful,

Grant that by the same Holy Spirit

we may be truly wise,

and ever rejoice in his consolations.

Through the same Christ Our Lord.  

Amen

Encounter       Discipleship        Mission

The teachers began 2024 with a CE Systems Day – Faith in Learning. During the day we were addressed by Archbishop Christopher Prowse. The Archbishop spoke about 5 key words that we should acknowledge and live by. These words were:

1. Diversity – we are all different. We are like the orchestra; each part is separate but together we make up one.
2. Communion – we have a shared vision to make Jesus known and loved. We at St Patrick’s work in communion to achieve this.
3. Leadership – We are led by God through the work of the Holy Spirit.
4. Listening – how can we discern what the Holy Spirit is asking us to do? Through listening, encouraging and through Christian Meditation. We need to listen to God, being comfortable in silence to hear the whisper of God in your heart, ears, hands, mouth.
5. Service – we are the MISSION of the Church. We are ‘Walking with each other to be the Church.’.

Opening School Mass

On Friday 16^th February we will celebrate our Opening School Mass at 12 noon in St Patrick’s Church.

During this Mass we will present our School Captain’s with their badges, introduce our Year Six leadership group and present badges to the newly elected SRC Representatives for 2024. Our Kindergarten students along with our new students to St Patrick’s will be presented with a welcome gift.

We warmly welcome members of our school community to join with us to celebrate our Opening School Mass for 2024.

Altar Serving

Thank you to all our super Altar Servers who continued to carry out their important ministry throughout the holidays. Your service is always appreciated by all in the Parish.

Kate Howe

REC

As most families are aware, four of our long term serving Community Council members stepped down from the council last year. We are very grateful to Kim Paton, Craig Hargreaves, John Morgan and Kate Graham all for their commitment to the Parent Council over such a long period of time.

We now have 3 vacancies on our Community Council and are calling for nominations and are seeking new, enthusiastic parents to come forward and nominate themselves.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL?

The Council is a crucial point of connection between the Principal, school leaders and members of the School community. While the Council does not have governance responsibility or decision-making authority in relation to the School, the Council provides a means for members of the community to share their skills and talents for the common good, and a forum for the Principal and school leadership to draw on the collective wisdom and insights of the parent cohort.

WHEN DO YOU COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEET?

Community Council meet twice per term. Our first meeting is scheduled for NEXT Tuesday 13 February at 6pm. If you would like to be part of this dynamic group of parents, please email your nomination by emailing christine.baron@cg.catholic.edu.au before Tuesday 13 February.

We look forward to continuing to work together with our parent representatives to make St Patrick’s a great school to be part of! ?

Yesterday our Kindergartens and Charlston in Yr 1 had a very special visitor to the school "Gala the Koala" the Starting School Mascot.  Gala presented each of our new students with a special "My School Journal"  Thank you Gala the Koala and Gundagai Neighbourhood Centre for this special gift. 

Before school supervision begins at 8:40am every morning. Students who arrive earlier will need to sit down and remain seated until a teacher begins duty at 8:40am. Please do not send students to school prior to 8:30am unless contact has been made with the class teacher or Principal. One off early arrival situations, can be catered for if parents make prior contact first. Thank you for your support.

Years 3 and 5 will be completing their NAPLAN assessment from Monday 18 March through to Friday 22 March (Week 8). It is important that all Year 3 and 5 students are here at school during that week.

The assessments will be completed on the following days:

Monday 18 March-Writing

Tuesday 19 March-Reading

Wednesday 20 March-Language Conventions

Thursday 21 March-Numeracy

Friday 22 March-Catch Up Day

Our Annual Dental visit with Australian Dental Health is scheduled to visit our school the week of 6th of May 2024 - I know this seems so far away but need to make our families aware to mark the date on your calendars.  

Due to an issue with the QR Code registration a hard copy of the registeration form will be sent home shortly.  This is to be completed and sent back into the front office. 

This isn't compulsory just a service offered and covered by Medicare. 

In Term 1, we ask families to please be mindful of the following sun safe procedures. February is typically the hottest month, and it is important that students take the following precautions to limit heat exposure:

1. SCHOOL HATS are compulsory all year round. Please ensure your child brings their hat to school EVERY DAY. Please also ensure your child’s name is on their hat. St Patrick’s endorses the ‘No Hat, Shade motto’ however if a child continues a repeated pattern of not wearing their school hat, they will be asked to sit down at recess and lunchtimes until they bring their school hat.
2. SUNSCREEN: Please apply sunscreen to your child’s exposed skin prior to coming to school. Parents are asked to supply small bottles of sunscreen for their own child to use throughout the day at school. Unfortunately, due to allergies, the school is no longer able to provide sunscreen for students.
3. WATER BOTTLES: Please ensure your child has adequate water available to drink throughout the day. The school has a water refill station that they may use to refill water bottles when water levels become low. Sipping/drinking water is essential through hot weather to enable students to stay hydrated.

Working With Children Checks (WWCC) are now mandatory for all parents who volunteer on a regular basis for school activities. Volunteers who volunteer more than five days in a calendar year are now required by law to have a WWCC (Volunteer) clearance. This is will include all our canteen workers and anyone who volunteers on a regular basis. If you are rostered on our St Patrick’s Tuckshop or a regular volunteer, could you please go to the https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-for-a-working-with-children-check and apply for a WWCC for Volunteers. There is NO cost involved.

Once you have obtained the WWCC (Volunteer) certificate, could you please present it to the front office so that it can be verified. As this is a new requirement, we are asking all tuckshop volunteers to have it completed by Friday 12 April (end of Term 1). Thank you to all our wonderful parent volunteers, for your continued support of our school, as we would be unable to conduct many school activities without you. It is greatly appreciated.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING WESTERN REGION SWIMMING CARNIVAL 

Please note the change of date for the WR Swimming Carnival is on Thursday 22nd of February in Cootamundra.

Teachers are always available for conversations with parents when requested. We value teacher/parent communication and encourage parents to make appointments to discuss any aspect of their child’s academic learning, behavioural issues, social/ emotional behaviours or any other areas related to school, when required.

Parents/Carers are asked to follow the following procedures:

1. Contact the class teacher to make an appointment. Appointments can be made by emailing the teacher (surname@cg.catholic.edu.au) or by phoning the front office to speak directly to the teacher or to request a call back. Please DO NOT contact staff through their personal phones or social media platforms over school related matters.
2. Requests to include the Principal in any meeting can also be accommodated with prior notice given.
3. Teachers are only required to correspond to emails or other communication with parents between the hours of 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Friday.
4. Notes from all meetings are recorded and placed on file for future reference.

REMEMBER: If you are happy go out and tell others about our great school, if you are not please come and discuss any issues with us. We are always here to support you and your child.

School fees are sent out each term in Week 3.  We appreciate the prompt payment of school fees to assist us in meeting our financial obligations in the day to day running of the school. Please note that school fees are required to be paid for by the date provided. It is our policy that school fees cannot be in arrears by more then one term, without prior contact with the Principal. If you are having issues paying school fees, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Baron as soon as possible, so that a plan can be made to assist your families needs.

This Friday 9th of February will be our first Canteen day and we are very grateful for our volunteers for cooking and working in the canteen every Friday. 

For our new Kindergarten parents if you haven't already downloaded the School24 App to register your child and place orders via the App contact Jacki at the school and she will provide you with the school account number to activiate your account.

Tune into "Sounds of the Mountains" radio station (FM94.1) every Wednesday at 2.15pm to hear about what our classes and school has been up to over the week. Catch up with our Yr 6 leaders as they share our weekly news report:

Week 10 (3rd April) - Chase Robinson and Andrew Cole 

Week 11 (10th April) - Emma Ferguson and Emily Ryan

We had a few students celebrate their birthdays in the Summer Holidays so we would like to acknowledge their special day with all of our students who have celebrated a birthday since returning to school 

25th December - Emily Ryan 

27th December - Christyne Calub 

29th December - Sophia Fenton 

5th January - Charlotte Kennedy 

14th January - Jasper Rui 

22nd January - Dale Paton 

2nd February - Archie McDonnell 

6th February - Fletcher Smith

7th February - Taite Johnson 

We are excited to have Lucinda Clay our School Counsellor return for 2024. Lucinda's will be at St Patrick's every Tuesday.  Attached is information about Lucinda along with a link if you would like your child to be seen by Lucinda for counselling during the 2024 school year.  All sessions are confidential.