FEBRAURY 27, 2025 NEWSLETTER

CHILD SAFETY STATEMENT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our Athletic Sports was a great day despite some challenging weather at times.  Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who came along to support the children.  Also a huge thank you to the staff who put in an exhausting day.  It was also great to have the expertise of Shae and Kurt Smith on the timing gates.  Finally, congratulations to the winning house and the age group champions (see below). 

Next week we will be gearing up for the Folk Festival BBQ.  It has been wonderful to have so many volunteers to work at the venue and so many donating drinks and grocery items to reduce the number purchased by the P&F. 

The Folk Festival have once again generously sponsored us with 2 performance groups next week.  On Thursday Sparkle Society will provide a 2 hour workshop to teach the children circus skills and on Friday the Lian Husi Timor performers will entertain us for an hour.  

The committee that has run the Quiz Night for the past 3 years are not in a position to do it this year. If someone or a group of people are interested in organising this event, the previous organisers are happy to act as mentors.  It is such a wonderful social event for our parents and the wider community that we are really hopeful that someone will step forward to take it over.  

Next Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday.  The P&F are providing pancakes for all of the children throughout the morning.  It is Ash Wednesday the following day, which signifies the beginning of LENT. 

Olga Lyons 

ASH WEDNESDAY & LENT

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.

Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.

Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday before Easter. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptised into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS - 2025

Term 1  - Friday April 4 - RE PD (To be confirmed)

Term 2  - Tuesday April 22 - Collaboration

                Wednesday April 23 - Maths Curriculum

                Thursday April 24 - DOBCEL Strategic Plan

                Tuesday June 10 - Wellbeing PD

                Thursday 19 & Friday 20 September - RE PD

Term 3  - Monday July 21 - Structured Literacy PD

Final Day for Students in Term 4 - Thursday December 18

FROM THE REL - MICHELLE MALONE

YEAR 3A NEWS

THIS WEEK'S AWARDS

GIVE YOURSELF TO GOODNESS: James Kirkpatrick for picking up rubbish on a windy day without being asked.

Learning: Juliet Hayes for listening well and working hard in class. Marli Coxall for her imaginative writing ideas. Lynden Knee for a confident and well organised presentation to the class about his grandfather. Keely Parkinson for amazing focus and work during writing time. Jai Coxall for working efficiently and focusing in maths when ordering and comparing six digit numbers. Rosie Brian for using adjectives and onomatopoeias in her writing to engage the reader. Poppi Sproal for her constant engagement in our shared discussions in class. Heidi Wagg for her application to understand how to apply the addition algorithm successfully. Nelly Parkinson for dapting so well to Senior School strategies, especially in maths. Eli Shields for settling into the Yr 5 classroom so well. Lewis Mackenzie for making thoughtful contributions to classroom discussions in literacy and maths and applying himself to independent and group tasks.

Respect: Tayla Kelly for showing such wonderful kindness towards another student who needed a little extra care. Bobby Berg for being a wonderfully kind, caring student who goes out of his way to help others. Tully Brittain-Watts for being a thoughtful, caring member of our classroom. Liam Jackson for showing a high level of respect during our Beginning of School Mass and being a role model to all those around him. Max Simpson for working successfully with a variety of different classmates in Year 3 and 4 and making them feel included. 

Safety: Ayla Gramss for being aware of how to organise herself and watching out for her classmates as we work in our classroom. Edmund Sheehan for taking such special care of his Foundation buddy when walking to and from our Opening Mass and for being such an excellent role model during our time at the church.

ATHLETICS DAY

House winner on the day was Samaritan House. The Give Yourself to Goodness house was Mackillops House.

Year Level Winners

Year 1: Hattie Steere, Juliet Hayes & Percy Brian

Year 2: Laura Murrihy & Campbell Simpson

Year 3: Rosie Brian, Xavier Down & Frank Watty

Year 4: Ayla Gramss & Hudson Malady

Year 5: Tilly Hetherington & Connor Sheehan

Year 6: Tara Wolff, Lewis Mackenzie & Freddie Simpson

ST PATRICK'S DAY - MARCH 17

ENCOURAGING WASTE-FREE LUNCHBOXES

Encouraging Waste-Free Lunchboxes for a Sustainable Future

St Patrick’s is a 5 star Resource Smart sustainable school. Therefore we are always looking for ways to better serve the needs of our students, while also nurturing a sense of responsibility towards the environment. As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we are excited to share with you some ideas for waste-free lunchboxes for your children.

Thank you for all that you do to support our sustainability efforts.

PODCAST NEWS!

SCHOOL DATES - 2025

SPORTING SCHOOLS

Sporting Schools will commence next week, Tuesday February 4th. The program will run for 7 weeks, with the final session being on Thursday March 20. The program days for Term 1 are Tuesday and Thursdays 3.20pm-4.30pm.  You must register your child via the Schoolzine App. See details earlier in the newsletter regarding the App. Millie Kenna and Ben Kelly will be running the program.

Please only register your child/children the day of or the night before the session they will be attending. Cut off is 12pm. The form will not be live until Monday February 3.

Days are subject to change depending on the availability of Millie Kenna.

COMMUNITY NEWS

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The Francis Foundation OP Shops in Port Fairy urgently requires more volunteers. We are a volunteer organisation who run the OP Shops in Sackville and Princes Streets Port Fairy, in support of the  Francis Foundation, which operates Alveston House in Warrnambool. If you are able to spare one morning (10am -1pm) or afternoon (1pm -4pm) weekly, fortnightly or monthly we would love to hear from you. If you would like to volunteer yourself or with a friend please contact Imelda  on 0413704080 or call in at Sackville street and leave your name and details.