Dear Parents and Carers,

We have recently welcomed two new staff members to the St Pat's team; Mrs Rebecca Bradley and Ms Issy Barker have joined the Classroom Support Assistant team. They are both fulfilling short term temporary contracts for the remainder of Semester 2.

This week you will have received an email from your child's teacher about a short 'managing screen time' survey. Thank you if you can take 2 minutes to complete the 3 short questions. Many parents have made us aware of concerns about their child's online participation in games, social media and other screentime at home. We would like to provide some information and support to families to help in the management of screen time at  home and how to cultivate healthy screen time habits with their children.

Click here for the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfNZxRG3-vQFHktvNMmvKZgiLPdJrgfnAHX20cq7aG-J0P7g/viewform?usp=header

I am doing some research work in this space at the moment to help parents with their children's screen time, and if you would be interested in a conversation more broadly than the anonymous survey please let me know!

Yesterday a big contingent of St Pat's students headed to Canberra to compete in the Archdiocesan Athletics Carnival. We are so proud of the training and effort of these students leading up to and at the day. Well done St Pat's members of the Southern Region Team some amazing personal best and team best achievements were recorded! Read the sport news for the results.

                               Senior boys relay team - 1st place!

Blessings,

Jo

Reading Opens Doors – Celebrating Book Week at St Pat’s!

It’s National Literacy Week, and we’re celebrating the power of reading and writing, plus it’s Book Week at St Pat’s! Literacy is more than just decoding words – it’s about thinking, imagining, and expressing ideas.

This week, students are diving into books, writing creatively, dressing up as their favourite characters, and sharing stories that inspire them. We’re also focusing on learning behaviours like persistence, curiosity, and asking questions, habits that help students become confident, independent learners.

Parent Tip: Read together daily and ask open-ended questions about the story.
Resource: Premier’s Reading Challenge NSW

Dates for your Calendar

Class Mass, 29th August- 5/6 Red (Families Welcome)

SAVE THE DATE

Father's Day breakfast- Friday 5th September

Sudsy Challenge

We are stepping up once again to support Orange Sky, an incredible organisation providing free laundry, warm showers, and heartfelt conversations to those experiencing homelessness.

From September 3rd to 5th, we'll be proudly hosting the St Pat's Sudsy Challenge. For three days, we’ll hit pause on changing our clothes to spark change and raise vital funds and awareness.

Orange Sky now offers children's-sized Sudsy shirts when you reach your first fundraising milestone!

Ready to make a difference with us? Click the link below to join our fundraising team—the St Pat's Sudsy Challengers—and be part of something truly impactful.

To join our team: https://www.thesudsychallenge.com.au/join/stpatssudsychallengers2025

To sponsor our team: https://www.thesudsychallenge.com.au/fundraisers/stpatssudsychallengers2025

Playtime fun

Wet weather brought a change of pace, but not a drop in enthusiasm! Our K–2 students embraced indoor play with creativity and collaboration. From imaginative building to quiet games and shared storytelling, the library buzzed with fun and friendship. 

1/2 Readers

Students in 1/2 Red Initialit were buzzing with excitement today as they selected their very own chapter books from the library for independent reading. Guided by Mrs McNoe and Miss Reid, they explored how to choose a book that suits their interests and reading level. This is an empowering step in building confident, joyful readers.

Yesterday eighteen St Pat’s kids travelled to Canberra to compete as part of the Southern Region athletics team. The weather was fairly unpleasant but at least the rain held off for most of the day. Our Senior boys got the day off to a great start with a win in the senior boys’ relay. Our Junior girls were up next and they picked up a third. Only the first 2 place getters move on to Sydney but the girls picked up a third place ribbon. At this level, competition starts to get much more challenging. There were some disappointments and some personal bests, and overall great results and 100% effort from everyone of our competitors. We have quite a group of St Pat’s kids heading on to Sydney. Congratulations to all our athletes especially our place getters. Aiden 2nd 100m, third shot. Indi 1st shot. Ally 2nd discus. Remmi 1st 800m. Austin 1st discus, 2nd long jump. Archie 1st long jump, 2nd high jump, 3rd 200m. Tommy 1st shot. Jayden 1st discus. Conor 1st shot. Thea third long jump. Senior boys relay 1st Toby, Conor, Henry and Archie. Junior girls relay Ally, Indi, Gwen and Thea. Our kids were a credit to themselves and our school. Thanks to the parents who travelled up and were a great cheer squad. The travel involved is a big commitment.

Jannene Harnett

Book club issue 6 has arrived! 

Look out for your copy of Book Club coming home in your child's schoolbag, It's packed with hundreds of books from just $3 to help you on your child's reading journey. Issue 6 orders are due by 10^th of September.  Did you know that every purchase you make on Book Club earns our school 15% of the order value in Scholastic Rewards? We use these to purchase more books and educational resources for the school. It all helps!

Thank you to the families who have finalised their Term 3 school fees.

A friendly reminder that school fees are now due, except for families who have an instalment plan in place. We strongly encourage all families to consider setting up a weekly or fortnightly payment plan via BPAY through your bank. BPAY details can be found on your fee statement.

If your family is experiencing financial hardship or requires additional support, please don’t hesitate to contact the school to arrange a confidential meeting with our Principal, Jo Scott-Pegum, to discuss how we can assist.

For any questions or further discussion, please contact our Office Manager, Cathy Smith, on 6492 5500 or via email at cathy.smith@cg.catholic.edu.au.