Newsletter 21/3/2022 Term 1 Week 9

Our Prayer

From the Principal

Dear parents, carers and community members,

On Sunday we enjoyed the opportunity to share Mass with the families from the 3/4 area. The children were amazing in the way they read, prayed together and showed reverence in our church. I enjoyed another opportunity to meet families and become involved in the St Patrick's community. Thank you to Tracy and the staff for all their work to make this such a success. 

3/4 Parish Mass

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Student Health

We are still seeing cases of COVID 19 in our school community and we need to continue to observe all our safe practices to avoid further outbreaks. One of these is to ask that all symptomatic children are kept home from school until these symptoms pass, even after a negative RAT test. We are required to call parents when a child becomes unwell at school to collect their child until they are well again. We appreciate that this can cause difficulties for some families but it is vital to keep the students and staff safe. 

Regional Swimming - Horsham

On Friday 10 students, Etti, Harry , Darby , Pippa , Will P, Harry , Charlotte, Kiara L, Tatum and Isabella W represented the school at the Greater Western Regional Swimming Carnival in Horsham. Each of our students represented the school very well and enjoyed the opportunity to compete at a high level against the best in our region.

Sports Carnival - March 25th

This Friday, March 25th is our school athletics carnival for all children, to be held at the Frederick Street athletics field.  Children are to wear their house colours and bring along their lunch box and drink bottles. There will be a BBQ and food available, provided by the Parents Association.  

We have staff and Mercy students to help run the events on the day but we may need to call on some parents to help on the day. If you are willing to be on this list, please fill in the form below.

Young Leaders Day

Once again we will be taking our school captains to Melbourne to participate in the Young Leaders Day at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre this Wednesday 23rd of March. Thank you to Tom and Marie for organising this opportunity for our students and we hope they have a wonderful day. 

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day this year falls on the Monday of the first week of Term 2. As this is a public holiday, school will resume on Tuesday the 26th of April. The children are invited to join the march as a school at 10.30am at the war memorial. Students are asked to wear their school uniform and gather as a group around our school banner.

The RSL have, once again, provided us with ANZAC badges and items for the children to purchase. Our school captains will take these to the classrooms in the final weeks of this term. 

Easter Raffle

Our much anticipated Easter Raffle will be held Thursday April 7th, the last day of term 1 for children.  We ask parents to supply one egg/easter item per child and we will send home raffle tickets soon.  The Easter Raffle is one of our major fundraisers for the year and is a highlight for the children.

SAC Meeting

We will hold our second SAC meeting next Tuesday the 29th of March. 

School Closure Day

We will have a school closure day on Friday 8th of March where staff will work through professional development training opportunities. This means that Thursday the 7th of April will be the students last day of term. 

Catholic School Culture

Grade 3/4 Parish Mass
Thank-you to all of the grade 3/4 students and families who came along to the Parish Mass on
Sunday. Well done to the children who carried out readings and jobs and thank-you to Fr Neville and Mr. S for singing. It was a lovely mass.

Confirmation

Children who are making the Sacrament of Confirmation began their school preparations today.
They will continue to prepare at school and at home with their families until the night on Friday 29th of April at 6pm. They will need to choose a Catholic sponsor and a saint’s name as their Confirmation name. Parents will receive a note asking for this information which is due to be returned by this Friday. Please keep the following children in your thoughts and prayers; Alexis Barake, Millie Bourke, Brodie Burkett, Theo Cheeseman, Matthew Cridland, Tommy Fox, Isabelle Gordon, Alexander Huggins, Lucy Kleinhenz, Max Lucas, Abby Mulholland, Liam Pascoe, Evie Wagner, Flynn Wagner, Clancey Wagner & Sidney Wagner.

St Patrick’s Day

We had wonderful celebrations at St Pat’s on St Patrick’s Day. The children learnt about St Patrick, completed Saint Patrick activities, wore green clothes and carried out a St Patrick’s Day liturgy. They also celebrated with an icy pole and a bag of chips each. What a fun day for everyone!!

Harmony Day

Today is Harmony Day where we celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. It is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Here is a prayer for Harmony Day; 

Loving God, 

Just as you chose your apostles from all walks of life, we pray that we may follow your example and embrace the unique qualities that each of us possess, so that we may bring about harmony on this earth.

Amen

World Water Day

Tuesday is World Water Day where the theme is Groundwater: Making the Invisible, Visible. We focus on the importance of taking care of this important resource. Groundwater provides almost half of all drinking water worldwide, sustains ecosystems, maintains baseflow for rivers, prevents land subsidence and is used for agriculture and industry. Human activities and climate variability are rapidly increasing the pressure on groundwater resources.  Some suggestions to reduce water use include:

• Turning off the tap while you brush your teeth.
• Using the half flush on the toilet instead of full (where possible). 
• Taking 2-minute showers.
• Making sure your dishwasher is full before turning it on.
• Fixing all leaking taps. 

God of life,

You have given water to your creation so that we all can live, so that we can be clean and healthy, every day. Give us the water we need for our body to drink so that we are not thirsty! Give us the water we need to wash our hands so that we can resist disease. You have given us eternal life in the Holy Baptism by water, Make us thankful and accountable when we use the water we have been given. Please provide clean water for those who do not have it. Give us open hearts and hands to seek water justice and to support those who can provide water for others. Make our lives a source of living water for others, so that justice and peace can fill our churches, all nations and the whole of creation. We pray together in a situation of crisis, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 

Amen

 Project Compassion
Caritas Australia are working with Caritas Ukraine to provide support in the form of food security; water, sanitation and hygiene; shelter, health care outreach and education support for the most vulnerable during the unfolding crisis in Ukraine. We are now in the third week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Janice, a Wagilak woman and traditional dancer who tells her family’s stories through movements handed down over generations.
Like many remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Janice’s faces a range of
challenges – low employment and education, financial hardship, poorer health and lower life
expectancy.
With your help, Caritas Australia supports Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, which operates a
centre for traditional and contemporary Aboriginal arts and culture, providing employment and
generating income for local communities. Janice believes that Djilpin Arts’ work is essential to create opportunities for young people to stay
on-country, to share intergenerational knowledge between elders and the younger generation - to
promote healing, and to keep culture alive. Watch a short film about Janice’s story here.
Please support Project Compassion: lent.caritas.org.au or donate through the project compassion
boxes at school. Thanks

Parish Bulletin

NAPLAN

The annual NAPLAN Testing for Grade 3 and 5 will take place this year in May. Students will once again complete Writing, Reading Comprehension, Literacy Conventions and Numeracy assessments. 

Thursday 24th March is a nation wide Coordinated Practice Test Day. Grade 3 and 5 will participate in an Omnibus Practice Test online (a combination of literacy and numeracy questions), whilst Grade 5 will also participate in a Writing Practice Test online. Parents can view the format on this website https://nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

Below is information for parents. If your child is in Grades 3 or 5 please read and if you have questions which need clarifying contact your child's teacher or Mel Fox .

Resilience Project

Through our work with Resilience Project they are providing more with Project+. This year Project+ will focus on supporting the wellbeing of parents and carers. 

Student of the week

Birthdays

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

Caitlin Rundle, Jayde M & Willow W

Mercy Open Day

COMMUNITY EVENTS