Dear Parents and Friends,

Week 6 is upon us already which also means we are officially halfway through Term 1! This week has special significance as we enter the Lenten season beginning with Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday being celebrated this week.

Thank you to our Hospitality Hosts leaders, Molly and Ella for helping teachers to cook up some delicious pancakes for the students and staff this morning. This was followed by the prayer ‘Burning of the Palms’ ceremony in readiness for Ash Wednesday tomorrow. The Lenten season calls us to take time for self-reflection and to prepare ourselves for the celebrations of Easter through prayer, fasting and self-denial. Parents and friends are most welcome to join us for Mass tomorrow commencing at 12 pm in St Patrick’s Church.

Special congratulations go out to Charlie Hindmarsh on his magnificent performance at the Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival in Narooma yesterday. Charlie was placed second in the 9 Years 50m Freestyle which has earned him a place in the Archdiocesan team to represent at the Mackillop carnival later this term. Well done Charlie-we are very proud of you!

I continue to be impressed by the great learning and teaching that is happening across our classrooms from K-6. The students are engaged and interested learners and the teachers are working hard to enable each and every child to become successful learners. Our school Facebook page is a great place to see snippets of the wonderful activities taking place in our classrooms across the school week.

No doubt most families have been shocked and dismayed by the recent media events regarding Cardinal George Pell. Please know that the safety and welfare of our students remain our absolute top priority at St Patrick's. The child safety approaches administered by our dedicated staff assure we are held to the highest professional and regulatory standards. They are embedded in organisational governance, policy, procedures, practice and culture. It is a key responsibility for everyone who works or volunteers in Catholic education. Thank you for your continued faith in Catholic Education.

Looking forward to the wonderful St Patrick’s Variety Evening on Saturday 16^th March being organised by our dedicated Community Council and parent body. Make sure you get your ticket soon.

Blessings as we begin our Lenten journey and take up the challenge to change our daily lives and become closer to God.

Christine Baron

Principal

Mrs Baron will be attending the Principal's Retreat in Bowral from Tuesday 12th March until Friday 15th March. Please contact Mrs Wilson in her absence if required.

Burning of the Palms

This morning Father George and Father Namora led our whole school burning of the palms for the parish.

ASH Wednesday

Tomorrow, Years 3 and 4 will led our school and the parish Ash Wednesday Mass.

LENT

In the coming weeks, we have the privilege of walking with some of our sisters and brothers who participate in Caritas programs, and who feature in the Project Compassion stories this year. How might we learn about living hope-filled lives in solidarity with one another and for the common good of our one human family? As the season of Lent approaches, we might consider: What could we do to commit ourselves to the flourishing of hope in our time? How can we give Lent 100%?

Forty Days – Forty Items

On Wednesday, students will be bringing home a Forty Days-Forty Items garbage bag.

We are asking that every day during Lent, families will place into the garbage bag items of clothing that they no longer need.

The garbage bags can be returned to the school at the start of next term.

Thank you in advance for supporting this.

Project Compassion

Students have been given a Project Compassion box to support Caritas Australia during Lent. This year the theme is “Give Lent 100 %”. Each classroom also has a project compassion box where donations can be made.

PROJECT COMPASSION 2019 PRAYER

Creator God,

You are our constant hope!

In the season of Lent, you call us to prayer,

fasting and love of those most marginalised.

As a community of faith and courage,

let our gifts to Project Compassion be symbols

of hope and solidarity with our one human family.

Accompany us as we journey with Jesus

to bring ‘good news’ to all creation and ready our hearts

to work for the common good of all your people.

We ask this in Jesus’ name

AMEN

Mass and Liturgy Times:

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

Liturgies at this stage will be held at the school.  

Dates to mark on your calendar:

05/03- TUESDAY (Today) Burning of the Palms

06/03- ASH Wednesday MASS led by Years 3 and 4 (12pm).

15/03- St Patrick’s Day MASS led by SRC (12pm).

22/03- Liturgy led by Years 1 and 2 (12:30pm).
29/03- Mass led by Years 5 and 6 (12:30pm).
05/04- Liturgy led by KINDER and BUDDIES (12:30pm).

12/04- End of term Mass led by whole school (12pm).

Prayer / Thoughts / Questions / Reflection for the week:

As we prepare for the season of Lent, may we shine on the world like bright stars, with hearts full of love and compassion for our one human family. Let our prayer, fasting and almsgiving be fruitful signs of your mercy in the world.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace”

– Romans 15:13

God Bless, Mrs Flanagan REC

At some point this week we will be undertaking an emergency evacuation drill procedure. This is an annual safety procedure to ensure compliance with Catholic Education's safety policy.

The Year 3/4 class will be taking a walking excursion to the Gundagai Town Museum this Friday from 10:00 am until 11:00 am and then again next Monday 11 March from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm. Please be mindful of this if you are planning on collecting children for appointments.

Last Friday, all of our students participated in cleaning up the school and surrounding areas in a coordinated effort with the Clean up Australia Day campaign.

Thank you to everyone for a great effort and particularly to Mr David Patterson for joining his grandaughter Skye Somerville and her class for the event!

We are very excited to be welcoming renown author Jackie French to St Patrick's School on Friday 22nd March. Jackie will be visiting the region as part of the Jugiong Writers Festival and will head over to Gundagai to share her creative and talented writing secrets with our students from 2.00-3.00pm. We have many 'Jackie French' fans in the school, so we are all excited by this upcoming visit.

Dear Parents

All Students at St Patrick Primary School again have the opportunity to participate in the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge in 2019.

The Premiers Reading Challenge begins on March 1st and finishes on the 30^th August 2019. It requires the reading of 20 books for Primary and 30 books for Kinder, Year One and Year Two. Once validated, students will be eligible to receive a Premiers Reading Challenge (PRC) Certificate.

The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. Research has found that when children read extensively they become better writers.

All students from K-6 will be strongly encouraged to undertake the challenge. Many titles will be available in classrooms and in the library. Students will also be encouraged to visit the Gundagai Town Library or read their own books. All students are given class time to read every day. During this time they will be supported to select appropriate books and keep track of their reading log by Mrs Hughes and teachers. Mrs Hughes will also assist in clarifying any rules and make the process as easy and enjoyable as possible for all students.

We are asking all parents to encourage your children to borrow books from school or our local library. Listen to your child read and talk about the story/ characters/ information. If your child is in Kindergarten, Year 1 or Year 2 please read the PRC books to them or with them if required. When a book is read to the class this will be added to every child’s reading list

Information and Comprehensive booklists can be found on the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge website at

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

Students may start their reading challenge straight away. Each child will be given a login shortly so they can maintain their own record. Mrs Hughes will also be available to help log in those students who for whatever reason need help with this task.

All staff at St Patrick's are looking forward to supporting your child in this great initiative.

Please contact Mrs Hughes or your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

Christine Baron

Principal

Year 5 students will begin their term visits to Gundagai Preschool with the first visit to take place on Thursday 28th March. The students accompanied by Mrs Baron will walk to and from the pre-school. Year 5 will spend time sharing reading and activities based games with Pre-school children.

On the same day Year 6 will head to Uralba Nursing Home. The students will be driven by Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Wilson. Year 6 will spend time with the elderly showcasing some of their work and engaging in games and activities.

These are both very important school activities that help strengthen the relationships between the elderly and youth of the Gundagai community.

Looking forward to the St Patrick's variety night and enjoying some great Irish entertainment on the 16th March. Don't forget to get your tickets soon.

On the 21st of March, we will be celebrating Harmony Day.

We all belong here at St Patrick’s and we celebrate diversity. 

We are asking for every child to come out of uniform in orange and try a dish from a different culture.

There will be a gold coin donation.

Any families are more than welcome to cook a dish for the children to try.

Thank you, Henry and Lily.

This is a Year 6 initiative and all funds raised will go towards travel expenses for Year 6 Camp.

St Patrick's have been invited to participate in the annual Gundagai ANZAC Day march on Thursday 25th April. This year the ANZAC march falls in the second week of the school holidays.

Students are asked to come dressed in their summer school uniform however, should the weather prove unfavourable we will advise the wearing of winter uniform with a post on facebook to inform parents. Students are to meet teachers at Lott's Hotel at 10:15 am. The march will begin at 10:30 am 

As leaders of the school, Year 6 will have an important role to play in the laying of the wreath and leading the school march.

We look forward to St Patrick's being proudly represented on the day.

This Thursday we will begin our Gecko Sports Softball for all grades.

We are looking forward to welcoming Geoff and Nick from Gecko Sports and offering this specialized skills set to the children's sports program.

Week 4 Term 1

KINDERGARTEN/Year 1:  Dale Paton - positive class participation.

YEAR 1/2: Christyne Calub: for consistently delivering quality work.

YEAR 3/4:  Jack Peterson - getting into the learning pit with his subjects.

YEAR 5/6: Isaac Pearce - extending and challenging himself across Literacy and Mathematics.

Week 5 Term 1

KINDERGARTEN/Year 1:  Andrew Cole - improved writing. Keep up the great effort!

YEAR 1/2: Taite Johnson - trying really hard to self edit his written work.

YEAR 3/4:  Juliet Pearce - getting into the learning pit in Numeracy.

YEAR 5/6: Lincoln Fallon - settled and mature work habits PLUS increased initiative to make his learning bore varied.

Week 4 Term 1:

RESPONSIBLE: Riley Smith

RESPECTFUL: Riley Smith, Tyler Manns & Charlotte Mcdonnell

SAFE: James Reardon, Locky Eccleston, Ella Nugent and Sam Turck

Week 5 Term 1:

RESPONSIBLE: Akacia Winchester, Lily McDonnell & James Reardon

RESPECTFUL: Akacia Winchester

SAFE: Akacia Winchester, Lily McDonnell & Ella Nugent

Our very best birthday wishes to the following people who celebrate their birthdays over the next fortnight.

Charlie Brown celebrated on 26 February

Jack Ryan celebrated on 1 March

Amy Cotterill celebrated on 3 March

Flynn Leane celebrates TODAY! 5 March

Lilly Cotterill celebrates on 7 March

Isabella Boswell celebrates on 8 March

Reo Norden celebrates on 10 March

We hope that you all enjoy your very special day!