Dear Parents and Carers,

We are certainly going to have a busy end to Term 1! There are so many things happening across the school, so I urge you to read the important information and dates below, and pop dates into home calendars or phones so that you don’t miss out on anything!

WELCOME BACK: It is wonderful to have Mrs Wilson back with us after a recent and very unexpected operation and following some post operative setbacks. Thank you to all our wonderful relief staff, especially Mrs Denise Reardon, who have assisted with keeping Year 6 on task with learning activities, throughout this period of time.

ST PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATIONS: What a wonderful day we had celebrating St Patrick’s Day last Friday. Our school was a ‘sea of green’ as students and staff dressed in their favourite St Patrick’s Day outfits and accessories. The celebrations included a celebration cake, Mass, special lunch order and a variety of fun activities to conclude the day. Our school patron St Patrick was born in the year AD397. He spent 60 years travelling around Ireland teaching people about God. The shamrock flower became a symbol used by Saint Patrick to teach people about God. Each of the leaves represents an element of faith: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The shamrock flower, being green in colour, is thought to be one of the reasons people wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

WELL-BEING FUNDING: St Patrick’s have been very fortunate to receive funding from the Commonwealth Government to support Well Being initiatives. The funding will support schools to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and successive lockdowns on the mental health and wellbeing of their students. Please see below our proposed program for utilising these funds to support our students K-6.

PRINCIPAL’S RETREAT: Last week I had the opportunity to be present at our annual Principal’s Retreat and listen to the profound and inspiring words of Fr. Timothy Radcliffe. Fr Timothy OP, stands as a distinguished figure within the Catholic Church, acclaimed for his profound contributions as both an English Catholic priest and a Dominican friar. Born on August 22, 1945, Radcliffe's spiritual journey has been marked by a rich tapestry of theological insights, intellectual pursuits, and leadership roles. He was Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001, during which he provided guidance and direction to the global Dominican community. Beyond his administrative responsibilities, Fr. Timothy Radcliffe is widely recognized for his thought-provoking writings, engaging lectures, and a deep-seated commitment to fostering dialogue and understanding within the Catholic Church. Most recently he was chosen by Pope Francis in 2023 to lead the pre-Synod Retreat and as one of those chosen to provide regular reflections for the members during the Synod. Fr Timothy provided us with inspiring messages of hope as well as unique insights into our role as leaders of Catholic Education in the areas of Discipleship, Ministry, Mission and Leadership. A very inspiring two days of reflection, prayer and companionship.

EASTER PAGEANT: Every few years, our school produces a beautiful Easter Pageant that focuses on Jesus journey through the Stations of the Cross in the lead up to Easter. We are delighted to present this pageant to family and friends on Wednesday 27 March, commencing at 11.30am.

Best wishes for a happy week ahead,

Christine Baron

Principal

Family Mass

On Saturday night we celebrated a lovely Mass in honour of our Patron Saint, St Patrick. A huge thank you to our children and their families for supporting this special Mass. The children read, sang, brought up the gifts in the Offertory, served on the Altar and responded in the most extraordinary way. Everyone was so proud of them.

There were so many beautiful comments made by our parishioners, including one lady, who said the Mass made her heart sing, as she felt so joyful. Well-done St Patrick’s families and our amazing children. I felt so proud to be part of this special occasion.

Holy Week – Journey with Jesus

On Wednesday 27^th March at 11:30 am, the children will present, ‘A Journey with Jesus’, through the events of Holy Week leading up to Jesus’ death on the Cross and being laid to rest in the tomb. We will begin our reenactment with Palm Sunday and follow the course of the significant events that followed through to Easter Saturday.

This will be a memorable presentation to remind us of the supreme sacrifice Jesus gave us on Good Friday.

We warmly invite all our families and friends to be with us and ‘Journey with Jesus, in the school playground, beginning at 11:30 am.

Bring a chair.

WANTED 

We need artificial plants to help us create ‘The Garden of Gethsemane’. If you have some that you could lend us for our presentation, would you please let us know and bring into school before Tuesday 26^th March. 

Project Compassion

During Lent, Project Compassion invites us to support people throughout the world who need assistance. The Church recognises the human dignity of each person. There are so many people in our world who have very little. Any contribution that we can make to Project Compassion will be greatly appreciated.

Project Compassion Boxes can be returned after Easter before the Term concludes.

Easter Altar Servers and Readers

We are asking for volunteers to Altar Serve at the Holy Week and Easter Celebrations. This is the most important time in the Church’s Liturgical Calendar and in our Christian Faith. The parish is also asking people to act as readers throughout the ceremonies.

If you and your family would like to assist in any way, please let me know as soon as possible or write your name on the rosters at the back of the Church.

Holy Thursday – 7 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper

• Good Friday – 10 am Stations of the Cross
• 3 pm Passion of the Lord
• Holy Saturday – 6 pm Easter Vigil Mass

Sacramental of Reconciliation

The Sacramental Program for Reconciliation will begin early in Term 2. The children in Year 3 are eligible to prepare for this Sacrament. If there is anyone else, who may have missed preparing and receiving this Sacrament, please let me know.

• Enrolment forms are available to download on the St Patrick’s Parish website or contact me.

Dates will be announced shortly.

Altar Serving Training and Picnic

Father Joe will hold an Altar Servers training session on Friday 10^th May. This session will begin after 12 noon, with a picnic lunch provided by the parish, and then some refresher instructions for our Altar Servers.

Those children who are receiving the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist are invited to attend and consequently begin their Altar serving role within the parish. In the past, the children begin this role after receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist however, Father believes these children are ready to assist the Parish in this special role.

If there are any children who would like to become an Altar Server or is not on the roster, please let me know.

St Joseph

Today is the Feast Day of St Joseph. Saint Joseph was a carpenter, son of a noble family, who God chose as the foster father of Jesus and husband of Mary.

He is honoured as the patron of the Universal Church, of fathers, of families and so many other patronages. March 19 has been dedicated as the Feast of Saint Joseph. We honour the humble Saint Joseph for his life-long sacrifice and protection of Mary and our Lord Jesus.

St Joseph will be honoured and celebrated by Year Two in their Mass on Friday 22^nd March. Everyone is welcome to join this celebration.

Wishing you a happy, holy and safe Easter.

Kate Howe

REC

Wearing green on St. Patrick's Day means the leprechauns can't see you! If they can't see you, they can't pinch you.

The original colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue.

St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Traditionally people eat corned beef and cabbage dishes on St. Patrick's Day

Thursday 4 April-Week 10. Parent Volunteers are most appreciated to assist with check points and other organisational jobs. Please return notes to Mrs Carberry ASAP.

The WR Cross Country will be held in Batlow on Thursday 2 May.

(Immaculate Conception’s Tumut, St Patrick’s Gundagai, St James’ Adelong, St. Mary’s Batlow, St. Paul’s Talbingo).

All families are welcome to attend Holy Week and Easter Masses. Please see dates and times below for each of the churches in our Tumut Mission. Fr Joe will be assisted by Fr Eden from Canberra over the Easter period. Gundagai Mass services are highlighted in green.

Palm Sunday, 24^th March 2024

1. St Patrick’s Gundagai, at 6pm on Saturday (Vigil)
2. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut, Sunday, at 10am
3. Mary’s Batlow, Sunday, at 5pm

Holy Thursday, 28^th March 2024, at 7pm

1. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut
2. St Patrick’s Gundagai

Good Friday, 29^th March 2024

1. Stations of the Cross, at 10am
2. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut
3. St Patrick’s Gundagai

1. Good Friday Service, at 3pm
2. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut
3. St Patrick’s Gundagai

Holy Saturday, 30^th March 2024, at 6pm

1. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut
2. St Patrick’s Gundagai

 Easter Sunday, 31^st March 2024

1. Immaculate Conception’s Tumut, at 10am
2. St James’ Adelong, at 8.30am

St Patrick’s Gundagai, at 8am

Years 3 and 5 began their NAPLAN assessment last Wednesday 18 March commencing with the Writing Assessment. All other assessments will take place 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-Reading

Tuesday 19 March-Language Conventions

Wednesday 20 March-Numeracy

Friday 22 March-Catch Up Day

This year ANZAC Day will fall in the second week of the school holidays on Thursday 25 April. St Patrick’s School has been asked to participate in the annual ANZAC Day parade which will take place in Sheridan Street commencing at 10.30am.

All students are invited to participate in the parade and will need to meet outside Lott’s Family Hotel at 10.15am, ready to march at 10.30am. Students will need to be dressed int heir full summer school uniform and wear a jumper if the weather turns cool.

A free sausage sizzle for families will be held in Carberry Park at the conclusion of the parade.

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.

Please remember Sport Day has changed to Tuesday’s for the rest of the term. As the Netball Gala Day is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 26 March, we have moved our final Lacrosse session to Tuesday 9 April. Our annual St Patrick’s Cross Country will be held on Thursday 4 April, which means sport uniform needs to be worn on Tuesday and Thursday of Week 10.

As mentioned above, St Patrick’s School has received funding to support a well-being and mental health school initiative. With the funding we have engaged Mitch and Ash Waddell to run their Mentoring Program for boys and girls. Mitch and Ash will focus on the following topics and delver the program across the school year.

-Building resilience and dealing with conflict

-Limiting beliefs and fear of failure

-Positive relationships and identifying positive role models

-Healthy mind and body

The activities and discussions are based around positive psychology which allow the students to lead the topic discussions. They encourage open ended and safe discussions as well as identifying positive behaviours amongst the groups. The sessions will be divided into K-2 Boy and Girl separate sessions as well as Years 3-6 Boy and Girl separate sessions.

Mitch and Ash currently run similar programs at other local schools which have been very positively received. Our first session will be held on Monday 8 April.

The remainder of our funding will go towards supporting K-6 school excursions this year. Each child per family will receive a discount on the cost of their class excursion.

Each year, our school celebrates the beautiful and diverse cultures that make up our St Patrick’s school community. The theme this year is ‘Everyone belongs’. This Friday 22 March, we will once celebrate this special day with the following activities.

-Students to wear orange/yellow/red clothing

-Lunchtime multicultural feast (prepared by our lovely family volunteers)

-Harmony Day classroom activities.

Please order the special lunch order via the Schools 24 App by Thursday afternoon.

We have posted this notice in a previous newsletter seeking volunteers to help with cooking or working in the canteen on a Friday.  

Cupcakes are sold on a Monday morning by our Yr 6 children and we ask for parents to supply 36 iced cupcakes. They can be sent into school with your children or dropped off to the canteen/office on Monday mornings before 11am.  

Cookies are sold on Friday as an option for recess.  We ask for at least 50 cookies to be baked on a Friday for lunch orders.   Recipe for the cookies can be supplied on request. The recipe used has been around for many years and makes the correct quantity needed. 

Friday Canteen Volunteers -  Have you thought about volunteering a few hours in the canteen every Friday?  We would love to hear from new and old families to offer additional support to our current volunteers already on the roster in Term 1.

If you would like to go on the Term 2 Roster to cook cupcakes, cookies or even work in the canteen with experienced mums please contact the office. You only need to do it once a term if that is all you can offer. 

We have a few families leaving at the end of this year and would like to try and reach out to a few more families to start training now.

We need more volunteers to share the load of cooking.  If you could volunteers once a term or more than please contact Jacki at the office. 

St Patrick’s Cross CountryThursday 4 April (Week 10)

SRC Team Colours Day - Thursday 11 April (Week 11)

Week 10 Awards Assembly-2.30pm Friday 12 April (Week 11)

Term 1 concludes-Friday 12 April

ANZAC DAY-Thursday 25 April (second week of school holidays

Term 2 commences: Tuesday 30 April

Parent/Teacher-Meet and Greet Evening: Wednesday 1 May from 5.00pm onwards

WR Cross Country at Batlow: Thursday 2 May

Reconciliation Classes begin: Tuesday 7 May at 3.30pm

CYSMA Journeying with Jesus-Year 6 Retreat at McAuley College Tumut-Wednesday 8 May

Mother’s Day celebrations-Friday 10 May

Director of Education: Mr Ross Fox Visit-Friday 10 May from 1pm

Reconciliation Commitment Mass-Saturday 11 May at 6pm

For any keen Hockey players we have received the attached flyer from Wagga Hockey for their upcoming "come try day" on this Friday 22nd of March

Congratulations to our Week 6 and Week 7 class awards

Week 6 - Friday 8th March 

Kindergarten - Ivy Lyu for putting effort into all her school work 

Year 1 - Noah Zhu for wonderful listening in class

Year 2 - Josie Lott for sharing her news with growing confidence and working independently

Year 3 - Max Zhu for quick and accurate number work 

Year 4 - Reuben Smart for consistently achieving at a high level 

Year 5 - Emma Brown for showcasing her creative flair 

Year 6 - Chase Robinson for being a positive role model to others 

Week 7 - Friday 13th March 

Kindergarten - Sam Hufton for producing quality work and always trying hard 

Year 1 - William Potter for displaying focused behaviour during Literacy time 

Year 2 - Isabella Melksham for being a kind and caring class member 

Year 3 - Archie Peterson for always giving everything your best effort in class

Year 4 - Zoe Paton for always striving for improvement

Year 5 - Eliza Graham for excellent effort in all areas 

Year 6 - Andrew Cole for a positive attitude 

Year 6 - Emma Ferguson for insigtful and in depth response to class novel "Rivet Boy"

Congratulations to our Week 6 and Week 7 WildCat Awards - Keep up the great work 

RESPONSIBLE - Alfie Eccleston, Pippi Nicholls, Michael Winters, William Potter, Charlston Rizalde, Chelsea Crowe, Juno Bock, Clancy Smart, Sam Hufton, Anna Nicholls, Noah Zhu, Chase Robinson, Emily Ryan, Skye Somerville, Isabella Boswell, Olivia Smart

RESPECT - Claudia Worldon, Harry Peterson, Dylan Ryder, Emily Ryan, Chelsea Crowe, Harley Rose, Nick Quine, Emma Ferguson, Gus Hufton 

SAFE- Ammy Wu

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

Sending out a Birthday Wish to the following students who have celebrated a birthday since our last newsletter

8th March - Isabella Boswell 

16th March - Ryan Robinson 

17th March - Lucy Nichollas