Newsletter 03/03/2025: Term 1, Week 6

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week marks the beginning of Lent, a special time in the Church’s calendar. On Tuesday, we celebrate Shrove Tuesday, a day of preparation, followed by Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. During this season, we are invited to pause, reflect and grow closer to God through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

In our fast-paced world, these traditions may feel disconnected from daily life. However, Lent offers an opportunity to step away from the noise and focus on what truly matters: our relationship with God, service to others and living out the Gospel. Through fasting or giving something up, we learn to appreciate simplicity; through prayer, we strengthen our connection with God; and through almsgiving, we follow Jesus’ example of love and compassion.

I invite everyone to join us for the Ash Wednesday liturgy at 2.15 pm Wednesday at the church. As we receive the ashes, we are reminded of our need for repentance and renewal, and we commit to walking this holy journey together as a school family.

Let this Lent be a time of reflection and growth, as we strive to live with greater love and purpose.

Parents, this week we have shared two great resources to keep well informed about the online world that our children are growing up in. We have shared some information outlining the important facts to know about social media platforms such as Snapchat. We also welcome you to join the FREE School TV 'Digital media literacy and online safety webinar as part of a Part 1 of 2 series that unpacks important topics such as new social media regulations, cyberbullying, exposure to hate speech and online safety and fraud. Within the newsletter you will find the flyer for this webinar which begins Wednesday 19th March at 7pm. Click the QR Code to register.

Please make sure to click on the Parish Bulletin Link to read Fr George's 'Hello' to the Parish. Fr George will be visiting school this week to meet all the students and staff in their classrooms. We look forward to giving him a big St Pats welcome.

Kind regards,

Have an enjoyable week,

Darren Lloyd

Ash Wednesday Liturgy

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.

Shrove Tuesday

Tomorrow each class will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday by enjoying a treat of some delicious pancakes. 

No Meat - Ash Wednesday 5th March

The canteen has a no meat menu for Ash Wednesday.

We encourage you to send no meat in your children's lunch boxes.

Division Swimming

Last Friday 15 students ventured to Warrnambool for the Division swimming with some great results. 

Congratulations to all the relays teams who made it onto the next level which is to be held in Horsham on the 26th of March.

Athletics Carnival

Our annual Athletics Carnival is being held next Tuesday the 11th of March.

Families are invited to come along and support their children.

The Lions Club will be there cooking a BBQ.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL CULTURE

Caritas

Parish Bulletin

LEARNING AND TEACHING

School Closure Days

These are our known Closure Days, which will mean that students are not required to attend school on these days.

• April 22nd (ReLATE)
• April 23rd (Positive Behaviour)
• April 24th (DOBCEL)
  
• July 4th (ReLATE)
• September 19th (Structured Literacy)

The first week of term two contains two public holidays - Easter Monday and ANZAC Day (Friday). With the support of our governing body, DOBCEL, Tuesday 22nd April, Wednesday 23rd April and Thursday 24th April will be student free days. St. Patrick’s staff will be participating in collaborative professional learning days with St. Colman's Mortlake, St Mary’s Ararat and St Thomas’ Terang as well as all schools in the Southern Zone of the Diocese of Ballarat. The focus for these professional learning days will include ReLATE and  Strengthening our Universal practices in School Wide Positive Behaviours

This creates a three week break, inclusive of Easter, for our students at the end of Term 1.

I understand that this extended time off can require careful planning for families. I am hopeful that by providing you with advanced notice, you will have ample time to make any necessary arrangements, whether it be coordinating childcare, planning family activities, or simply enjoying some time together. TheirCare is open for bookings on these school closure days. We note that although TheirCare is open for late bookings they have in the past not ran on the day if there are no bookings for the school closure day. 

I appreciate your understanding and support as we work to ensure the best possible educational environment for our students. As always, please get in touch if you would like to chat about this further.

Foundation Rest Days

We encourage families to take the opportunity to ensure these days are restful days for their children to avoid the physical demands of beginning school life. 

The foundation students have their last rest day this Wednesday as part of their transition to school:

Week 6 - Wednesday, 5th March 2025

From next week onwards foundation students will attend the whole week. 

P&F Meeting

The first P&F meeting of the year is to be held this Tuesday (the 4th of March) in the staff room at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome to come along!

WELLBEING

LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP

School Hat Reminder

This is a friendly reminder to send your child with their named school hat to school during Term 1 as the weather is warm and the children are not allowed outside without one.

Zooper Dooper Sales

Throughout Term 1 the Student Representative Council will be selling Zooper Doopers to raise money for the school.

These will only be sold at second lunch.

The cost will be 50 cents each.

Upcoming Events

Some important dates for your calendar for Term 1.

Mon-Fri 03/03/-07/03    Dental Van visiting for the week

Monday 10/03                      Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 11/03                       Athletics Carnival

Friday 21/03                          St Patrick's Day Celebration

Wed-Fri 26/3-28/3           Grade 5 Portsea Camp

Wednesday 26/03               MRC Open Day

Friday 28/03                         MRC Taster Day

Tuesday 01/04                      District Athletics

Thursday 03/04                   Cross Country

Friday 04/04                         Last Day of Term - early finish 2.15pm

Noone's Uniform

Noone's now have stock of the soft-shelled jacket for purchase. You can pop into the uniform shop to try on.

Pre orders of the jacket will be going out this week.

Shorts are still on back order; the uniform shop are hoping that they will be here by the end of this week.

The shop is located in the Mercy Regional College building.

In Term 1 the uniform shop is open on the following days -

Monday 12.00pm - 4.00pm, Tuesday 8.00am - 12.00pm & Thursday 8.00am - 12.00pm

Canteen

The canteen will continue to be closed on a Monday this year.

The canteen will be open to students every Friday at first lunch.

We still strongly encourage parents & students to order lunch through the Spriggy app, however students will also be permitted to purchase extra snacks using cash each Friday during their break.

Please download the Spriggy App and make your orders through there. Please make sure that you choose the right classroom for your child/ren.

The menu for 2025 is below.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Birthdays

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

Harry T, Tessa N & Agatha D

Mercy Regional College Open Day

RSL ANZAC Day Colouring Competition

RSL Australia is running a National Colouring Competition for primary school children in the lead up to ANZAC Day. Entries are judged for Victoria with the winner being entered into the National competition. If your child wishes to participate in this colouring competition, please print the image with the form on the back and fill out the details, including the parent permission section. Colourings that don't have parent permission for this competition will be displayed at the RSL Hall in Camperdown on ANZAC Day. Please hand in entries to Tracy Hickey or the school office by Tuesday 25th of March (this allows entries to reach Melbourne by the deadline date). 

TheirCare

Theircare has now commenced at St Patrick's School and it's not too late to enrol.

We are excited to announce that we have now partnered with an independent Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) provider called TheirCare.

TheirCare provides a stimulating and safe environment for all children. During sessions, children develop life-skills, friendships, confidence, and creativity through play-based programs.

For further information, visit www.theircare.com.au or call our support office on 1300 072 410

Community Events

Simpson Netball

NAB Bank

Cobden FNC - Juniors

Corangamite Hockey Club

Junior Footy

Thank you to the sponsors of our raffle!