Newsletter 22/5/2023 Term 2 Week 5

Prayer

From the Principal

Dear parents, carers and community members,

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week where we share the many things that make our system and our school unique and wonderful. There are many events listed below for students, families and the community to enjoy and we invite all our families to participate in these opportunities. 

School Uniform Review

St Patrick's School Advisory Council are undertaking a review of our school uniform with the aim to restructure the options available for students to wear across the school year. The first part of this is to survey parents, staff and students as to what they value in our current uniform and what changes they would like to see implemented.

In the interim we are asking parents to make do with what uniform they have and just monitor neatness and things like the correct socks and shoes please.

St Patrick's School Open Day

Today is our Open Day and we invite all perspective and current families to come to school and see what St Patrick's has to offer.  Please phone the school to book a time for a tour if you could not make it today.

Winter Tri-sports

On Tuesday 23rd of May, selected students will walk to the Camperdown Community Stadium to participate in TriSports- Soccer, Football and Netball. They should come to school as normal to begin at 10am. Students are to wear their sport uniform and will be able to change into specific uniforms for their team at school. They will need to bring lunch, snacks and drinks for the day. There will be a limited canteen available on the day, so students may bring a small amount of spending money. The day will conclude with presentations at around 1pm and students will return to school.  If you have not already done so, please log onto PAM and give permission. Thank you.

Parents Association Meeting

Our next parents association meeting will be held tomorrow night in the staff room, 7.00pm.

All parents are welcome to attend.

National Simultaneous Storytime

St Patrick's School is once again looking forward to being part of the National Simultaneous Storytime this Wednesday May 24th at 11am. This event sees over 1 million Australian children reading the same book at the same time to promote the benefits of sharing a book. This year's story is The Speedy Sloth.

Footprint Journey

Many of our Foundation "feet" have been returned and will be put up on display at school, however, there are still many that have not been returned to school yet. If you have misplaced the foot that was sent home earlier this year, please contact the school office. We would love to have all these back as soon as possible.

MIXX FM Broadcasting

In conjunction with celebrating Catholic Education this week MIXX FM will be broadcasting on 
Wednesday May 24 from St. Patrick’s School for the Old School lunch. The presenters will be here from 11.00-1.30.  During this time hosts James Thwaites and Matthew Lipiarski will record the Old School Lunch segment first and then stay on to chat to students and staff, answer questions about radio, play more games off air and generally promote Catholic Education Week and all the positives that St Patrick's as a school has to offer. 

Wellbeing News

Network Day - Friday 26th May

As part of the celebrations of Catholic Education Week and as a transistion opportunity for our students, we will conduct an activity day on Friday where we join with other primary schools in our Hampden Catholic Schools for some fun activities. Foundation, Grade 1 and Grade 2 will be stying at St Patrick's, Grades 3 & 4 will be going to St Colman's in Mortlake and Grades 5 & 6 will be going to St Thomas' in Terang. This is always an exciting day for all our students. Please complete the permission form on PAM. Children are to wear their sports uniform on this day.

Friday assembly

Due to our Network Day being held this Friday, our whole school assembly will now take place on Monday 29th at 2.30pm. Parents are most welcome to join us.

Canteen Change

We have identified some concerns regarding the current use of the canteen and have made some changes to the way children can purchase food. Some of the issues raised are that:-

• Parents are not able to help children make healthy choices around what they are eating throughout the day.
• Students purchasing large amounts of sweets for themselves.
• Children are sharing their purchases with other students.
• Children with allergies or food intolerance may be exposed to the wrong foods.
• Children are rushing eating time to line up at the canteen and spend a portion of their time in line to make a purchase.
• Bringing cash to school can lead to lost or taken money.

To reduce these issues, we will now have two options for buying from the canteen. Parents can place an order online (link to the canteen is on schoolzine) or an order can be written on an envelope with the money inside. Children will not be able to bring cash to school and just walk into the canteen to buy food. Thank you for your support with this initiative.

Cross Country Continues

Congratulations to all the students who attended the Division Cross Country last Friday in Warrnambool. They all competed very well!

We have 4 students progressing to the next level - Olive W, Maddi M, Isaac L & Harry S.

Well done and congratulations to all competitors. 

Catholic School Culture

New Religious Education Leader - Mr. S.

Hi all,
I have stepped in as interim REL (Religious Education Leader) whilst Tarryn Delaney is on Maternity Leave. If there is any faith related matter you might need advice on, or assistance with, whether you are looking for particular prayers, Mass Times, assistance with Baptisms or other Sacraments etc etc, please don’t hesitate to make contact with me:

msaunders@spcamperdown.catholic.edu.au  

For as John 1 3:18-24 writes ‘ Our love is not to be just words or mere talk but something real and active.’

Regards Mr. S.

Sacrament of Confirmation

We have students completing their Sacrament of Confirmation this Friday, 26th May at 6pm. We ask that you continue to keep these children in your prayers, Poppy Gaut, Thomas Dixon, Leroy Fisher, Baxter Huggins, Roy Molan, Amber Narik, Charlotte Pascoe, Anderson Pekin, Olivia Simmonds, William Sinnott, George Titmus, Lewie West, Savanna Wright and Pippa Woodmason.

Pentecost Sunday

Happy Birthday to our  Church!

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday Sr. Veronica Lawson RSM who taught Old and New Testament Studies to many of our teaching staff writes:

Pentecost Sunday is often called the birthday of the Church. The earth itself features powerfully in the imagery associated with this feast: harvest, mountain, earthquake, thunder, fire. For the ancient Israelites, Pentecost (meaning ‘fiftieth’) was a harvest festival celebrated fifty days after the opening of the harvest. When the Jerusalem Temple was built, this harvest festival was transformed into a pilgrimage feast to celebrate the covenant that Israel had made with God on Mt Sinai. Several decades after the death of Jesus, the early Christians reflected on their origins and chose this feast to mark the birth of God’s new covenant with God’s people. In Sunday’s first reading (Acts 2:1-11), Luke tells the new Pentecost story in symbolic language that evokes the story of Moses and the people of Israel receiving God’s Law on Mt. Sinai. Just as God’s presence to Israel was marked by earthquake and thunder and fire, so God’s Spirit enveloping the people of the new covenant in the upper room appears in a mighty rush of wind and tongues of fire. Luke’s account also evokes early rabbinic teaching that the voice of God on Sinai divided into seventy tongues and all the nations received God’s Law in their own tongue. 

For the teaching at the heart of the new covenant, we turn to the gospel reading from John 20:19-23. The resurrected Christ appears to the disciples who are huddled behind locked doors. He offers the simple greeting: “Peace be with you,” the greeting we have been in the practice of offering each other with a simple gesture at every Eucharistic celebration-until Covid-19 challenged us to find other ways of communicating the peace of Christ. Jesus sends his disciples on a mission of peace in continuity with his own God-inspired mission. He breathes on them the gift of the Holy Spirit and tells them that God will forgive those whom they forgive, and will “retain” or “seize hold of” the transgressions of those whose sins or transgressions they “retain”. To seize hold of wrong-doing is to expose it and deal with it. Sometimes it is best to forgive and simply allow everyone to move on. In other situations, an easy amnesty only exacerbates the problem.

Much of the enduring conflict in our world derives from the inability of ordinary people and of both church and civic leaders to know how to deal with transgression. The Holy Spirit is the unique source of our capacity to deal with the perpetrators of violence. The Holy Spirit is likewise the source of our power to forgive, of our power to refrain from vengeance and our power to ensure restoration and healing. In our times, the earth itself cries out for forgiveness, for restoration and for healing.  As we celebrate this feast of the Holy Spirit, we might consider engaging in a “values inventory” by looking at how much of our personal and collective resources we invest in the things that make for peace.

Thank you to all families who have washed and sent in items for the Mini Vinnies volunteers to collect for the Winter Appeal. These collections will continue throughout this term so please feel free to send in washed winter items such as blankets, sleeping bags, coats etc. It will go a long way to assisting people to keep warm this winter. Thank you.

Parish Bulletin

The Week Ahead

Student of the Week

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrate their birthday this week.

Isla H, Matthew TR, Stella E, Royce R, Finn V & Rhys D

Congratulations Mr S!

Congratulations to Michael Saunders for receiving an award from Cricket Victoria last Friday. Michael had been running Milo cricket in Camperdown for over 20 years!  A well deserved acknowledgment for all his service.

Known Dates for Term 2

COMMUNITY EVENTS