Dear Parents and Carers,

Well, here we are in Week 10 and back onsite with all our beautiful students. It was so lovely to welcome everyone back yesterday and the students certainly seemed very excited to see their friends and teachers again. Students were straight back into work routines and classrooms were settled. The playground has come back to life again and it is wonderful to hear happy and excited voices during recess and lunch breaks. 

I am sure you are all aware of the Level 3 restrictions schools are now operating under. Class cohorts are unable to mix so a new playground roster has been developed to divide the playground into 3 separate areas for play. This is in place for all school activities including bus and gate lines. The students have been extremely co-operative and have adapted seamlessly to the new regulations.

NAPLAN results for Years 3 and 5 students have been received this week and we would like to congratulate our students on their individual results. Parents will receive their letters with their child’s results today.

We are all looking forward with excitement to celebrating Bookweek and also our Mad Hatters Tea Party tomorrow (Wednesday) at school. Students are asked to come dressed in the Bookweek Theme, ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other World’s’. At lunch time the students will enjoy a picnic lunch on the oval and are asked to bring a small rug, soft toys and their own picnic lunch to eat. Under our Level 3 restrictions, students cannot share food. Social distancing and cohort regulations will also be in place. A beautiful sunny day is forecast for this event and it will be wonderful to celebrate this special event together.

Staff have been working on developing a new school Vision and Mission statement that reflects the current context of our school. This was presented to the Community Council at their last meeting for approval. Please see below the new statement that we have come up with that still encompasses part of our previous vision and a more succinct mission statement.

Best wishes are extended to Mrs Lisa Wilson as she takes some well-deserved Long Service Leave over Term 4. We are very grateful to Mrs Wilson for the time, effort and energy she gives every day to our students and school community and we hope she takes the time to rest, relax and recharge. We look forward to welcoming her back in 2022. Mrs Natasha Flanagan will stand in as our Acting Assistant Principal during Term 4 while Mrs Carolyn Reardon will replace Mrs Wilson as Yr 5/6 teacher for Term 4. 

Thank you also to Miss Bethany Bruce for her effort and application as our Year 3/4 practicum teacher. Over the past 6 weeks, Miss Bruce has proven to be a very competent future teacher with her skills as a face-to-face teacher and also having to learn the ropes of Remote Teaching very quickly. Miss Bruce is now a qualified teacher and is looking forward to working both as a casual teacher and completing her Classroom Support Assistant (CSA) role over the rest of the year. Congratulations Miss Bruce and well done on a great job in Year 3/4.

We also farewell Miss Hannah Baron this Friday. Miss Baron was employed to cover Miss Bruce’s CSA role while Miss Bruce was on her teaching practicum. We have really enjoyed having Miss Baron work with us and wish her all the best for her university studies in the future.

So many thanks must be extended to everyone over the past four weeks for the positive attitude, perseverance, and support from all sectors of our school community. Thank you to the St Patrick’s teaching staff for the incredible job they did in moving so quickly once again to a Remote Learning Platform, thank you also to our Support Staff who were such a great support to teachers with students that attended onsite, to Mrs Fairall for always being available to send out communication and information to parents often at short notice and a huge thank you to our parent community for the wonderful job you did with your children on a daily basis. We are so, so blessed and truly grateful to have such a wonderful and supportive school community.

Term 4 will resume on Wednesday 6^th October for all students K-6. We are hopeful that restrictions will have eased again and that we can once again open our school up to our community in the near future.

Have a wonderful holiday break and stay safe.

Christine Baron

Principal

We are all grateful to be out of Lockdown. A heartfelt thanks to our wonderful Parents and Carers for their amazing effort during our home learning. We have heard about your wonderful work and how much you are appreciated.

It was great to witness the joy on the playground and in the classroom as the children met up with their friends and teachers as they returned to school.

Mass Time

Please note that our Church is open and Mass has resumed. The new Mass time is 6pm.

Altar Serving Roster

Confirmation Date

We are exploring a new date for our second group of Confirmation Candidates. We are endeavouring to make this date as soon as possible. We will let you know as soon as the new date is set.

First Holy Communion

This term the children in Year Three will begin their preparation for the Sacrament of Eucharist. Please see the dates below and place them in your calendar. If you haven’t registered your child, please do so by contacting the Parish - Gundagai@cg.org.au

Lesson 1 - Tuesday 19^th October 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Lesson 2 - Saturday 23^rd October 4:45 pm - 6 pm for Commitment Mass

Lesson 3 - Tuesday 26^th October

Lesson 4 - Saturday 30^th October 4:45 pm - 6 pm for Mass

Lesson 5 - (possible Tuesday 2^nd November if needed)

Lesson 6 - Wednesday 3^rd November Preparation Day

Sacrament of First Holy Communion - Saturday 6^th November 6pm Mass

Spirituality for Married Couples

I have been asked to share this Spirituality Day with our families. Free Online Catholic Gathering on Supporting Couples

All are welcome to a free, online, one day gathering of Teams (a worldwide Catholic movement promoting married spirituality) Saturday 18 September 2021. Hear stimulating talks from a range of local speakers on Supporting Couples. Enjoy the opportunity to meet other participants and provide feedback.

For more details see www.teamsoceania.com.au or contact Tim Power on 0437 013 328. Register at https://bit.ly/TeamsRego

END OF TERM PRAYER

We thank you Lord, for this term.

For the challenges, the successes,

and the mistakes from which we have learnt.

Be with us as we spend our time with family and friends.

Give us strength and courage to do what is right;

to be witnesses of our faith.

Help us to be a practical Christian these holidays,

to appreciate what others, do for us,

to give time and effort to help others,

to be peacemakers in our family.

Keep us safe in our activities;

give us good rest and good fun.

Bring us back refreshed and ready for a new term.

We thank you for our classmates, teachers, parents

and a community that cares for us.

May we always be conscious of you in our lives. Amen

We wish our St Patrick’s families and friends a safe, restful and fun holiday.

Kate Howe

REC

Vision:

A family community journeying together in faith, hope and knowledge

Mission:

At St Patrick’s, we journey as a family community to educate students in:

Faith: Following the example of Jesus Christ, to continue our Faith development through prayer, reflection, learning, celebration and action.

Hope: For all to acquire skills and values to become responsible and active Christians who aspire to achieve their full potential.

Knowledge: To encourage independent and resilient learners to seek excellence. 

St Patrick’s School is now operating under Level 3 restrictions.

- Minimise mixing of class cohorts and social distancing for all school activities. 

- No school gatherings including assemblies, award presentations, excursions or performances

- Essential visitors only onsite. Parents at this stage we must ask you to remain outside the school gate for morning drop-off and afternoon pick up. Parents may only come on-site if they are picking up an unwell child or under special circumstances where a staff member has requested their attendance onsite. Under Level 3 restrictions we can only allow people on-site that are essential to the delivery of the school curriculum or builders/maintenance people.

- Masks are now mandatory for all staff, visitors and strongly recommended for students

- Enhanced daily cleaning of the school

- Little Learners and Kindergarten Orientation programs are on hold for now.

- Students are not to attend school of they are unwell. Students with cold or flu like symptoms require a COVID test and a negative result prior to returning to school.

Last week of Term 3 which means next term students will be required to wear their summer uniform.  This week if possible we would ask parents to please check their summer supplies and if need be place an order with Bec Gaskin our Uniform Shop Coordinator by no later than Thursday afternoon to allow time for orders to be filled.  

Remember to use our online ordering for the uniform shop.  There is a link to access on the school website under ‘Parents’ ‘Uniforms’ or via st-patricks-primary-school-gundagai.square.site - Any questions regarding uniforms can be emailed to Bec Gaskin uniformshop.stpats@gmail.com 

Term 3 School Fees are due this week.  Thank you to the families who have paid their fees in full and to the families who continue to pay weekly/fortnightly/monthly using BPay reference. 

If you would like to pay your fees with cash or EFTPOS please contact Jacki before Friday to make arrangements to come into the office. 

Under Level 3 restrictions, school PE and sport activities can still go ahead in individual cohorts. Therefore, we are excited to be continuing with our gymnastic and tennis programs that have been organised for Term 4. The delivery of these programs require the instructors to provide a COVID safe plan.

Tennis lessons will begin for students in Week 1 on Thursday 7^th October for 5 weeks.

Gymnastics will begin on Tuesday 12^th October for 4 weeks. Students will be required to wear their Sport Uniform on Tuesdays for Weeks 2 through to Week 5 (Tuesday 2^nd November).

We would like to send a birthday wish the following students who have recently celebrated a birthday:

3rd September - Gracie Peterson 

11th September - Skye Somerville 

We hope you all had a lovely day celebrating your day of birth 

TERM 4 SCHOOL DATES FOR THE CALENDAR:

Tuesday 5^th October- Staff Professional Development Day

Wednesday 6^th October- K-6 students return

Thursday 7th October - Tennis with Birdie starts for 5 weeks (every Thursday) 

Tuesday 12th October - Gymnastic with Little Champions - for 4 weeks (every Tuesday students to wear sports uniform) 

Wednesday 15^th December- Term 4 concludes

Tuesday 12^th October to Thursday 14^th October-School Registration

We would like to wish all of our families, teachers and students a Safe and Relaxing holiday break - We look forward to seeing all our friendly faces back to school on Wednesday 6th of October