Dear Parents,

The school has certainly been busy and a hive of activity over the last couple of weeks. Our Year 3 students celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation and our Infants entertained the community and sang at our local Biggest Morning Tea.  Our Year 5/6 students participated whole heartedly in the Mortimer Legends Day and all students ran, jumped and threw at our Athletics Carnival.  

Little Learners

Last Friday we welcomed over twenty little learners to the first of five Term 2 Friday morning sessions. The theme for this was Let’s Get Active!  The learning hub was filled with stories, dancing, laughter, fun and games! Many thanks to Sam Johnson for leading and organising and the Year 5 students who capably assisted. This week's theme is Dinosaurs. 

Athletics Carnival

Our Athletics carnival was a huge success. Many thanks to our organisers, Mr Makeham Mrs Howe and Mrs Eccleston for making sure the day ran smoothly. Thank you to all our parent volunteers who assisted on the day with timekeeping and field events. Your help is very much appreciated. The sunshine and warm weather topped off the day and congratulations to the children on their participation in all events. Donovan made it three in a row and was awarded champion house!  The next level Western Region will be held in Temora on 21  June.

Public Speaking Class Representatives

We would like to congratulate all students from Year 3 to 6 for presenting speeches to their class last week.  Speaking in front of the class can be most daunting for some, but teachers have reported the standard was high and commended all students for their enthusiasm and courage.

Congratulations to the following students who gained the highest marks to progress to the next level against McAuley Tumut.

Year 3 - Kaydee Smith and Lane Johnson

Year 4 - Reuben Smart and Jimmy Robinson

Year 5 - Indi Cole and Eliza Graham

Year 6 - Christyne Calub and Taite Johnson

Staying Up To Date On School Events and Happenings

Our school communicates numerous key events to parents through the fortnightly newsletter and COMPASS email notifications.  It is vital as these are published to note the relevant dates on your family calendars and respond to COMPASS in a timely manner to give permission for your child to participate in events. Staying on top of school information and being aware of these makes everyone’s life much easier and ensures smooth runnings for your child/children. 

We look forward to welcoming Mrs Baron back next week and hearing all about her overseas holiday news.     

Lisa Wilson

Assistant Principal

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Friday 31^st May, twelve special children received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Father Joe and Father Rofin, guided the children through the ‘Sacrament of Forgiveness.’ The children were supported by their classmates and families.

The children have prepared beautifully and demonstrated a readiness to take part in this next stage in their faith journey. It was heart warming to watch the children go to the Priests and return with big smiles.

Afterwards, the children and their families shared in a special morning tea celebration.

Well done children on your hard work. A warm thank you to Father Joe, Father Rofin and Mrs Carberry who assisted in the preparation.

New Altar Severs

On Saturday night we commenced our new Altar Serving Roster, with Archie Peterson serving alongside his brother Harry for the first time. Congratulations Archie.

Over the following weeks all our new Altar Servers will be introduced to their new role.  This coming Saturday we have the Johnson brothers – Taite and Lane, on the Altar.

Week 6 School Mass

On Friday 7^th June, Year 4/5 will present the Mass. It is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Family Mass

On Saturday 15^th June we will hold our next Family Mass. When we held this Mass in Term 1, it was a great occasion with lots of families taking part. We even had a child and their Dad reading together. This is a great opportunity to be involved with the Parish, and the Parishioners really enjoy having the children being involved in the Mass.

If your family would like to be part of our Term 2 Family Mass, please respond to the invitation being sent home today. RSVP by Friday 7^th June.

Kate Howe

REC

The School Community Council will be holding an ‘Open Meeting’ at the School on Tuesday 18^th June at 6:00pm.

This is your chance as a valued School Community Member to hear first-hand what is currently in the works and the future plans for St Patrick’s Primary School.

As per the Agenda attached there is so much to discuss -

Please come along, we would love your feedback!

Please contact the School Office 6944 1085 to RSVP for catering and childcare purposes. RSVP can be up until the afternoon of Tuesday 18th June. 

Its that time of the year again when we are presented with the dreaded head cold and coughs in children.  As you are aware most coughs and colds in children are caused by viral infections.  Cold viruses are spread easily through droplets from the nose and mouth of infected people. We are seeing more children at school with runny nose, sore throat, temps, coughs and headaches.   If your child is unwell, keep them at home to rest and recover. This way their immune system can fight the virus and stop the spread. 

We will continue to encourage washing hands and hand sanitizing regularly. 

We understand this is inevitable that children, adults and elderly may get sick with coughs and colds but there are things you can do to reduce the chance of your kids getting sick. These include:

• hand washing often, especially after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose
• coughing or sneezing into your elbow
• avoiding sharing utensils and cups with others
• using tissues instead of hankies and throwing them out straight away after use

Some children continue to cough for many weeks after a cold — this is known as a post-viral cough. If your child has a cough but is otherwise well, check with your doctor if they can attend school.

(information from Health Direct website www.healthdirect.gov.au )

NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY 10TH JUNE. This is a public holiday. Students to return to school on Tuesday 11th June. 

Enjoy your long weekend.

St Patrick's School are having a lamb/sheep drive on 19th June to raise funds for amentities for the students.  Stock can either be dropped off at Jack Hawthorne's yards in Gundagai (address can be provided) or a few of the dads will be driving around doing pickups from properties.  All deliveries must be picked up or dropped off to Jack's by 4.30pm Wednesday the 19th June along with an NVD (all animals must have an eartag). 

We are looking for good quality animals that will be transported to Wagga by Phil and Fiona Worldon FREE of charge (Thank you Phil and Fiona for your kind donation to transport the livestock).  Delta Livestock are also selling the stock free of charge. Could any families that are interested in donating stock to text or call either Aaron Nicholls, Craig Ferguson or Craig Hargreaves if you think you will be able to help with this fundraising by providing stock to sell.

We are asking if any interested families could let us know by 5pm Sunday 16th of June.  Please contact

Aaron Nicholls - 0417 660 568

Craig Ferguson - 0412 913 974

Craig Hargreaves - 0428 471 525

As a parent, guardian or carer, what do I need to know?

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) is a yearly count of students by all Australian schools across the country. The aim of the NCCD is to provide the Australian Government with information about the number of students with disability in Australian schools and the type of adjustments they need in order to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. From 2018, the NCCD will be used by the Australian Government to inform funding for schools, known as the ‘student with disability loading’.

If you are a parent, guardian or carer of a child with disability who requires ongoing adjustments at school, a teacher or another school staff member will consult with you to understand your child’s needs. This collaborative approach ensures the most appropriate adjustments are chosen to support your child’s learning and participation at school. In some cases, an individual education plan (IEP) or personal learning plan (PLP) may be developed to document specific educational goals and to review your child’s progress over time.

Your child will be included in the NCCD if they require ongoing adjustments at school due to a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992This link will open in a new window (the DDA). This is a very broad definition of disability, which includes physical and intellectual disabilities, learning disorders such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) set out the obligations of schools towards students with disability. Information for parents, guardians and carers on the DDA and the Standards about how schools can work with students and their families is available at Disability Standards for Education: A practical guide for individuals, families and communities.

If your child has a disability, your child’s school will provide information about them for the NCCD, including:

• your child’s year of schooling

• the category of disability that best describes your child’s difficulties (one of four categories is chosen by the school team to reflect your child’s greatest area of need: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional)
• the level of adjustment your child receives at school (one of four levels is chosen by the school team to reflect the type of support your child requires: quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary adjustment, substantial adjustment, or extensive adjustment).

The information collected by schools for the NCCD will ultimately be provided to the Australian Government Department of Education. In some cases this will involve the school passing the information directly to the Department. In other cases the school will provide it to its state or territory government agency (or other relevant body) in the first instance, and that agency will then provide the information to the Department.

While it is not possible for schools or families to ‘opt out’ of the NCCD, the privacy and confidentiality of all students and their families is treated with utmost importance. Data is collected within each school, and personal details, such as student names and other identifying information, are not provided to local or federal education authorities.

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who assisted with the running of our Athletics Carnival last Thursday. We were certainly blessed with good weather for the day.  Carnivals run so much easier when we have parent volunteers to assist on the day so a massive THANK YOU to all who helped. 

Congratulations to all of our students. The children were amazing and supported one another all day with words of encouragement. 

Congratulations to our Age Champions.  The points were so close with all age groups with only a few points between first and second place champions. 

Junior Girls - Kaydee Smith runner up RV Calub 

Junior Boys - Jimmy Robinson runner up Lane Johnson 

Intermediate Girls - Eliza Graham runner up Molly Lott 

Intermediate Boys - Ollie Crowe runner up Lachlan Hargreaves

Senior Girls - Corby Rose runner up Emma Ferguson  

Senior Boys - Taite Johnson runner up Chase Robinson 

Last Friday we held our Student of the Month and Principal's Awards. Congratulations to our Week 5 Awards recipients for Term 2. 

Kindergarten - Lilly Barton 

Year 1 - Olivia Smart

Year 2 - Lance Crowe

Year 3 - Max Zhu 

Year 4 - Zoe Morgan 

Year 5 - Indi Cole

Year 6 - Taite Johnson 

Principal's Awards - Alfie Eccleston, Harley Rose, Sarah Gailey and Harry Peterson 

Congratulations to our Week 4 and Week 5 Class Awards

Week 4 - 24th May 

Kindergarten - Sam Hufton for making positive learning choices and working hard in all areas

Year 1 - Fred Miller for working hard in Mathematics 

Year 2 - Kevin Lyu for being focused and participating during lessons 

Year 3 - Lachlan Barton for a quick and accurate number work 

Year 4 - RV Calub for creative comments in class discussions

Year 5 - Lachlan Hargreaves for an interesting topic for his speech

Year 6 - Ammy Wu for independence and initiative in Literacy activities

Week 5 - 31st May 

Kindergarten - Ivy Lyu for showing kindness to her peers

Year 1 - Isla-Faith Masikesa for being a good friend to all

Year 2 - Clancy Smart for her participation during lessons

Year 3 - Kingsley McDonnell for a positive contribution to class discussions

Year 4 - Zoe Morgan for great sportsmanship during the athletics carnival 

Year 5 - Eliza Graham for consistently achieving at a high standard

Year 6 - Nick Quine for increased quality responses during novel study

Well done to our students for their Week 4 and Week 5 WildCat awards.  Keep up the positive behaviour

Week 4 

RESPONSIBLE - Adriel Masikesa, Harley Rose x 2, Lachlan Barton, Billy Eccleston, Pippi Nicholls, Lottie Worldon, Archie Peterson

RESPECT - Isabella Melksham, Zoe Paton, Molly Lott, Eliza Graham, Mackenzie Little, Dale Paton

SAFE - Clancy Smart, Riley Smith, Zoe Paton

Week 5 

RESPONSIBLE - Kingsley McDonnell, Fletcher Smith, Ivy Lyu

RESPECT - Sophia Knight-Gregson, Sarah Gailey, Kaydee Smith, Noah Wu, Lilly Barton, Juno Bock

SAFE - Phoenix Rose, Kingsley McDonnell, Toby Nicholls, Juno Bock, Olivia Smart, Sam Hufton, Harry Ryder, Alfie Eccleston 

Our Winter Meat Raffles have returned during Terms 2 and 3.  Thank you to the families for continuing to support our fundraising and to the parents for selling the raffle tickets at Lotts Family Hotel on Friday evenings.  If you are rostered on to sell the meat raffle tickets they start selling from 6.15pm.  If you can't do your rostered day could you please arrange to have it swapped. 

Friday 7th June - Alex Tobin & Shaun Ryan 

Friday 14th June - Craig Ferguson & Joey Smart 

Friday 21st June - Aaron Johnson & Charlie Hufton 

Friday 28th June - Ray Paton & Don Cotterill 

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:

Weerk 10 (Wednesday 3rd July) Chase Robinson and Skye Somerville 

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

24th May - Harry Peterson 

31st May - Juno Bock 

3rd June - Leila Gaskin