Dear Parents and Carers,

Our last week of Term 3 has a number of exciting activities taking place. On Wednesday and Thursday, we are celebrating with our fabulous St Patrick’s authors, showcasing their exceptional efforts across the year. Writing has been one of our main focuses this year and it is always a celebration when we see our students grow in their potential to be wonderful authors. We hope parents will be able to take the time during those two days to visit our school and spend time reading through your child/rens published stories and leaving some positive messages.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr David Enever, a teacher from Mater Dei Primary School in Wagga, is offering our St Patrick’s students a free concert. The concert will now take place in the Learning Hub and not the School Hall, as previously advised. David is a singer and songwriter and is keen to see his music being more widely recognised and used. He has provided the school with samples of his songs which are very appealing. We look forward to meeting David and have him share his music with us.

Special congratulations are extended to Henry Hindmarsh on his successful entry in the "Pens Against Poverty" Poetry competition. Henry has been invited to Government House along with his parents to receive the award from the Govenor General, His Excellency, Mr David Hurley, in early Term 4. Congratulations Henry on such a wonderful achievement. 

Another term concludes this Friday 27^th September.  We have several activities taking place with the SRC, Footy Day fundraiser and Mass at 12pm in St Patrick’s Church. We will conclude the week with our special Week 10 Assembly on Friday in the Learning Hub, commencing at 2.30pm.

Term 4 will begin on Monday 14^th October. Our Term 4, Staff Professional Development Day will be on Friday 8^th November with staff attending a combined Spirituality Day with staff from both St Joseph’s Adelong and St Mary’s Batlow.

May you all enjoy a restful and relaxing break over the next two weeks.

Christine Baron

Principal

Family Mass

What a wonderful Family/Thanksgiving Mass we celebrated a fortnight ago. We have had so many positive comments from parishioners about our wonderful children. The singing, reading, altar serving and offertory procession were all carried out beautifully and reverently. Father George was very happy and grateful to all who participated in the Mass. A big thank you to our Parents for bringing the children to our Mass and supporting them.

Next Term, Saturday 9^th November (Week 4) we will be holding our next ‘Family Mass’. Please mark it in your diary. We would love to see you there.

First Holy Communion Dates

Preparation begins next term for First Holy Communion. We have ten children who will be preparing to receive the Sacrament.

Lesson dates are set out below: Time to be advised

• Saturday 26^th October
• Saturday 2^nd November
• Saturday 9^th November

Preparation Day - Friday 22^nd November

First Holy Communion - 23^rd November

Mission Month

October is Mission Month. This year is an extra special celebration of our call to be ‘missionary disciples’ in the world, with Pope Francis declaring it to be an Extraordinary Mission Month!

The work of “mission” – making Jesus’ real in the world today – is both a work of action, and of prayer. We will be using special “Mission Rosary Beads,” to pray for the needs of the whole world. Each of the decades is coloured to represent a different region of the world.

We will be holding activities and a Mission Mass on Friday 18^th October to celebrate to Mission Month. This will be an ‘Out of Uniform Day’ and $2 donation to the Missions. The children will be given a special pair of Rosary Beads and the money will be forwarded to Catholic Mission, to help the 2019 Project – Ghana, The Nazareth Home for God’s Children run by Sr Stan Therese Mumuni.

This is a centre that supports the most vulnerable of children, many with disabilities who are often abandoned by their communities due to the additional burden of their care. Sister Stan has dedicated the last decade to running the Centre, a haven where children like Sarah are given shelter, nutritious meals, healthcare and education as well as unconditional love.

Altar Serving Training Day

Children from Years 3 – 6 will participate in an Altar Serving training session on Friday 25^th October from 1:45 pm – 3:00pm. Father Namora and Mr Peter Reardon will provide the training in this session.

Altar Serving Roster for holidays

• Saturday 28^th September – Jessica McDonnell and Juliet Pearce
• Sat 5^th October – Lillian McDonnell and Addison Fairall
• Saturday 12^th October – Max Graham and Eliza Roche

If you are unable to fulfil your altar serving duties, please arrange a swap.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Mrs Howe REC

The students of St Patrick’s are proudly showcasing their written work this week in an   ‘Awesome Authors’    or “We are all Amazing Authors Celebration”.

The celebration will run from Wednesday to Thursday. The Kinder, Year One and Year Two will show case their work in the Burra Room  and Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 will showcase there wonderful writing in the Murrumbidgee Room. Parents and friends are asked to come along anytime between 8:30 and 4:00 and view the students work and to take the time to comment on the students wonderful writing and publications. The students will be encouraged to join with you and read their stories, poems, information reports etc. Definitely not a celebration to be missed.  

Congratulations are extended to Henry Hindmarsh for his successful entry in the "Pens Against Poverty" Poetry competition. Henry has been invited to Government House along with his parents to receive the award from the Govenor General, His Excellency, Mr David Hurley, in early Term 4. Congratulations Henry on such a wonderful achievement. 

This Friday 27th September, the SRC are holding a "Wear Your Footy Colours Day" to raise money to help kids who are fighting cancer.  They ask that you bring a gold coin donation on the day, and wear any footy colours you might have at home - any footy code.  It could be a jersey, jumper, t-shirt, shorts, hat or anything you might have at home.  And, don't worry if you don't have any footy gear, if you have a favourite team, just wear something of that colour that you have at home.  Thank you for your continued support. 

We would like to give a warm welcome and congratulations to Jose' Matos who last week started in his new role as St Patrick's Primary Schools groundsman/maintenance person.  Jose' has over 20 years experience in construction and landscaping. We are extremely happy to have Jose' join our team. 

If you see Jose' around be sure to say "Hi".

We would also like to Welcome back in Term 4 Mrs Natasha Flanagan.  Tash will return to her learning support role for the duration of the year.  Welcome Back Mrs Flanagan we are all extremely happy to have you back on staff. 

Just to inform all families that we have moved to an online platform for our 2020 enrollments. Simply go to our website

Under the Parents tab you will find a drop down menu. Select Enrolment. From here you are able to complete the online form and upload all of the necessary documentation. 

Please ensure that you share this information with potential new families. If you have any queries regarding the process please don't hesitate to call the front office.

This Friday 27th of September is our final Student of the Month Awards for the Term 3.  The end of term awards afternoon will commence at 2:30pm in The Learning Hub room.  All parents and family members are welcome to attend our last awards afternoon for Term 3. 

2020 Kinder Orientation Days

Friday, 25th October 9am-12.30pm

Friday 1st November 9am-12.30pm

Friday 15th November 9am-3.15pm

You're invited to join us for an information session and tour of St Patrick's Primary School on Friday, 18th of October at 9.30am. If you know of any families intending on sending their children to school in 2020 then please advise them of our information session and tour. 

Summer Uniforms are to be worn at the commencement of Term 4.  As the mornings are still a little fresh we would suggest you send your children to school wearing the summer uniform with the fleecy jumper.   Please ensure all names are written clearly on all clothing paying particular attention to hats and jumpers. 

Week 8 - Term 3

KINDERGARTEN/YEAR 1 - Denver Blundell for working hard to improve his writing 

YEAR 1/2 - Jack Paton showing growth, independence and creativity in his writing

YEAR 3/4 - Locky Eccleston for being a positive leading role model for others 

YEAR 5/6 - Alix Kerin-Bayer for increased confidence & commitment to solving challenging mathematical word problems

Week 9 - Term 3

KINDERGARTEN/YEAR 1 - Oliver Crowe for cooperative group work 

YEAR 1/2 - Nicholas Quine for being cooperative and completing tasks - keep it up!

YEAR 3/4 - Alec Bell-Magnone for improved writing and reading results 

YEAR 5/6 - Ella Nugent for continured commitment to reading high quality texts

Congratulations to our Week 8 and Week 9 class award recipients. 

Week 8 - Term 3 

RESPONSIBLE - Darby Jones, Joey Gailey, Oliver Gailey and Jess McDonnell 

RESPECT - Jess McDonnell 

SAFE - Ella Nugent 

We would like to extend our Birthday Wishes to the following who have celebrated a birthday recently: 

11 September - Skye Somerville

16 September - Sadie Eccleston 

17 September - Denver Blundell 

19 September - Benny Bartlett

21 September - Mrs Baron 

and Happy Birthday today (24th September) to Lachlan Hargreaves

We hope you all had a wonderful birthday

AFTER SCHOOL JUNIOR TENNIS LESSONS in TUMUT

Tuesday, 15^th October          = 3.30 - 4.30pm (5 – 7 yrs) Hot Shots…Red Ball

                                             = 4.30 - 5.30pm (5 – 7 yrs) Hot Shots…Red Ball                                                                       

Wednesday, 16^th October     = 3.30 - 4.30pm (8 - 9 yrs) Hot Shots…Orange Ball

                                              = 4.30 - 5.30pm (8 - 9 yrs) Hot Shots…Orange Ball

Thursday, 17^th October        = 3.30 - 4.30pm (10 – 12 yrs)…..Green Ball

                                              = 4.30 - 5.30pm (10 – 12 yrs)…..Green Ball

Friday, 25^th October              = 3.30- 4.30pm (Advanced/High School)…Yellow Ball

Start 25^th October as I will be in Melbourne for a Tennis Australia function                    

Contact Bernadette Cahill on 0427 343 904

EMAIL: birdietennis@bigpond.com

FB: Cahill Tennis

Gundagai will again be hosting the Australian National Busking Championships on Saturday 26th of October.   The busking will take place in Sheridan Street from 9am until 4pm with the finals held at the Gundagai District Services Club from 5pm.  Mark this event in your calendar.