Dear Parents,

We are halfway through another school term, and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly the school weeks pass by! School life is busy again with so many activities happening each week.

A huge thank you to all involved in the organisation of the St Patrick’s Trivia Night which was held on Friday evening. The evening was a great success, with lots of positive feedback from the community members that attended the evening. The auction items were certainly a highlight of the evening. Thank you to all who attended the evening or contributed to the auction items.  Your ongoing support of our school is greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students who have been busily preparing for the Public Speaking competition. All of our students are to be commended for the time and effort they have put into their speeches. Congratulations to Indi, Lachlan H, Christyne, Riley, Abigail, Charlotte, Sophie and Gracie who have all been selected to go through to the Interschool Public Speaking competition against McAuley Catholic Central School representatives on Tuesday 30^th August. A special mention to Garvita, Corby and Eliza who also presented excellent speeches and narrowly missed out on selection.

Best wishes to our athletes heading off to the Archdiocesan Carnival in Canberra today. We wish James, Charlie, Taite, Corby, Jimmy and Anna all the best and know they will represent St Patrick’s and the WR schools with pride.

We have received some wonderful affirmations and positive comments from the contingent of delegates from the Catholic Education Commission (CEC) who visited our school 2 weeks ago. A special thank you to all the staff for their support in helping the visit run so smoothly. The CEC have sent a beautiful ‘Lady Palm’ plant for our front foyer area as a thank you gift for the wonderful welcome and hospitality they received on the day, which has been very much appreciated.

Our St Patrick’s School Street stall is being held next Thursday 1^st September through to Saturday 3^rd September. All donation of cooking and saleable items are very much appreciated.

Have a great week,

Christine Baron

Principal

Christian Meditation

Tomorrow we will be visited by Helen Bramanathan from the Religious Education Team in Canberra to lead the students and Staff in the practice of Christian Meditation.

The Essentials of Christian Meditation

Silence                     Stillness                           Simplicity

Stillness of              Letting go of all            God’s work. We are providing

body and mind.       thoughts                      the opportunity to be open to              

                                                                His presence that’s all we need to do.

Christian Meditation is the simple act of being with God. We are not thinking, or imagining or talking to God – we are ‘being’ in silence and stillness with God’s spirit in our heart.                                      

BE STILL

Sit still, back upright.    

Breathe calmly.

Close your eyes lightly.

BE SILENT

Silently repeat the mantra –‘Ma-ra-na-tha’.

Focus on the mantra

repeat continually

BE SIMPLE

Let go of all thoughts. If your mind wanders return to the mantra.

Be open to the Holy Spirit working in the silence.    

Simply

Be with God’s

Spirit in your heart.

Kate Howe

REC 

Just reminding our parents and families of our two Staff Professional Development Days so that parents can mark these dates on their calendar:  

Monday 29th August (Week 7) 

Friday 23rd September (Week 10) Last day of Term (NO CANTEEN THAT WEEK) 

Both days will be PUPIL FREE DAYS

St Patrick’s School would like to celebrate Father’s Day with our wonderful dads, grandads and significant others, by hosting a special breakfast BBQ on Friday 2nd September. The breakie will consist of a bacon and egg roll and tea, coffee or juice box.

Dads may call into the school from 8:00am to have breakie on-site or collect a take-away breakie.

We will be sending home a flyer shortly and would ask that you please RSVP and send into the office  by no later than Tuesday 30th August to allow time to order food. 

Therapy dogs are being utilised in many schools to support and improve the wellbeing of the school community. Research has found that interactions with animals can have positive physical and psychological effects on the health and well-being of many members across school communities. Therapy Dogs can be used for the following purposes:

• Reduce stress, anxiety and increase school attendance
• Providing support to anxious or high needs students
• Calming and settling effects on students
• Increased engagement in learning
• Support positive interactions with animals

St Patrick’s school will trial the use of a therapy dog over the coming term with the introduction of a small Moodle dog called Louie. The Moodle is a hybrid of a maltese and poodle. They have a lively and affectionate personality and are intelligent dogs that love human interaction. Moodles do not shed hair as they have a wool coat, therefore reducing allergic reactions. St Patrick’s will follow the DET School Support Dog Guidelines and CE policy guidelines.

Our 2023 Kindergarten Enrolments are still open. Online applications can be found on our website www.spg.nsw.edu.au under 'Parents' tab or if you prefer to fill out a paper application the forms can be picked up from the front office.  

Tours can be arranged by appointment. If you know of any families with Preschool aged children still unsure where they are sending their children to school in 2023 please let them know about our school.

STREET STALL FUNDRAISER 

Last week we sent home a flyer calling for volunteers to help out at our annual street stall on 1st, 2nd and 3rd September.  Thank you to the parents who have volunteered their time to sit on the street stall we appreciate your help. 

There are several time slots still need filling if you could assist for an hour.  The following time slots need filling: 

Thursday 1st Sept

12-1pm (need one volunteer) 

3-4pm (need one volunteer) 

Friday 2nd Sept

11-12pm (need one or two volunteers) 

1-2pm - (need one or two volunteers) 

2-3pm - (need one or two volunteers) 

3-4pm - (need one or two volunteers) 

If you could help out for an hour please contact the office. 

Don't forget also to send in your raffle tickets with your money. 

Thank you 

Our school has nominated a team of seven students to participate at the Riverina Tornament of Minds at Sturt Public School, Wagga on Sunday 28th August and Mr Ferguson has been working with the students on a Monday afternoon in preparation for this event.  Tournament of Minds is a program for all primary and secondary students and is an educational progrqam "challenging the world" to develop creative problem solving skills.

Our best wishes are extended to our Tournament of the Minds team heading to Wagga, to compete in this local competition.

The School Photographer will be at St Patrick’s on Friday the 16^th September for school photos.   Envelopes can be sent into school prior to photo day or brought in on the morning of photos. If you are paying online please ensure you write your receipt number on the envelope.  

Please contact the office if you would like a "Sibling Envelope" sent home

Congratulations to our Week 4 and Week 5 Class Awards.

Week 4 - 12th August 2022

Kindergarten : Billy Eccleston for being tuned in to learning and sharing his discoveries

Yr 1/2 : Charlie Ryder for showing confidence and accuracy in Maths 

Yr 3/4 : Dale Paton for his committment to reading in class every morning 

Yr 3/4:  Emma Ferguson for being focused and enthusiastic during care fitness 
(Ms Bartlett)

Yr 5/6: No Class Award presented

Week 5 - 19th August 2022

Kindergarten: Claudia Worldon for increased confidence when sounding out words

Kindergarten: Isabella Melksham for great improvement with sounding out words and putting words back together (Mrs Johnson) 

Yr 1/2 : Mackenzie Little for producing quality work in all areas

Yr 3/4: Conor Cotterill for his participation in our compass lesson

Yr 5/6: Tessa Crowe for her entertaining and engaging speech on "If I was Prime Minister"

We would like to extend our birthday wishes to the following students who have recently celebrated a birthday.  We hope you all had a lovely day

12th August - Tahlira Rose

14th August - Faith Miller 

16th August - Miya Zhang 

17th August - Corby Rose