Mrs Burton 

WELCOME BACK TO TERM 2!

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope you enjoyed a restful break and that the blessings of Easter touched your lives. 

1. A very warm welcome to Morgan & Mia Keaton to St Patrick's School. Morgan is in Year 3 & Mia is in Year 2. 

We are looking forward to a great term with many events on our calendar.  We will be celebrating 200 years of Catholic education in Catholic Schools Week in Week 6.

It is lovely to see the children in their Winter Uniforms. Please remember ties are expected to be worn and all black school shoes. If your child is out of uniform for a particular reason, could you please send in a note to their classroom teacher or email Mrs Pittman. 

Next time you are in Armidale or Tamworth you will see our new Digital Billboard poster (above) advertising our school.  Our poster is part of the 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia billboard. 

TERM 2 PUPIL FREE DAY TOMORROW FRIDAY

Tomorrow FRIDAY 23rd APRIL  is a PUPIL FREE DAY. There is NO school tomorrow.

ANZAC DAY MARCH

St Patrick’s School has been invited to attend the ANZAC Day March. Those children who are available to march on Sunday 25th April, need to assemble with the school at 10:30am at the corner of Hill and South Streets. The service will begin at the end of the march, approximately 11:00am in ANZAC Memorial Park. At the conclusion of the service, the march will go down Darby street to Fitzroy street and finish at McHattan Park.

Parents could you please make sure:

*your son/daughter is in the correct school winter uniform, tie, black shoes and school hat

*you collect your son/daughter at McHatton Park at the conclusion of the march

*you return the permission note for the COVID attendance records required on the day.

GOOD LUCK -  Cameron & Toby

Cameron & Toby will be attending Hockey Polding Winter Trials in Bathurst on Friday. Good Luck boys. 

P&F Meeting

The next P&F meeting will be held on Monday 28th April at 6pm by Zoom  All parents and friends are welcome to attend. Check your emails for an invitation to Zoom in!

Mother's Day Stall

Thank you Chloe Hoy for organising the Mother's Day Stall next Wednesday. Please see the P & F Page in the newsletter for more details.

Pie & Lamington Drive 

Thank you Trina Fletcher for organising the Pie & Lamington Drive. Please see the P & F Page in the newsletter for more details.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing will take place in Week 4 & 5 of this term. Students in Year 3 & 5 will sit tests for Writing 11th May, Reading & Language Conventions 17th May and Numeracy 18th May. Please refrain from making appointments during school time on these tests days. It is important that your child is available on the day unless they are unwell. In the case of illness students will be able to sit the test on the Wednesday 19th May.

Further information for parents and carers can be found here: 

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/parent-carer-support

I encourage all parents of students in Years 3 and 5 to explore the Public Demonstration Site with your child (click on button below).  Here you will find sample questions for each of the areas assessed. 

https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site

Click below to see a short video showing how to navigate the Public Demonstration Site.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ElaxjY7xKzPkl4QijbH_YPs9IRtkr8FU/view

200 years of Catholic Education in Australia

This year marks the anniversary of 200 years of Catholic education in Australia.  It is a year to reflect on the hard work and dedication of those who founded Catholic schools in Australia. We are proud of our history, having been founded in Walcha by the Sisters of Mercy in 1911.  

Over 200 years, Catholic schools have grown to become the largest provider of schooling in Australia (outside government) with one in five school age students attending a Catholic school.  This represents some 768,000 students in 1,751 schools across the country and employing 98,000 teachers and staff.  

Nearly 40 per cent of Catholic schools are located outside of metropolitan cities in regional, rural and remote communities. 

The formal celebrations were due to be held from October 2020 to October 2021. However, due to pandemic restrictions, the celebrations will now be held during the 2021 school year. The official launch of the celebrations was held in the week commencing 22 – 26 February 2021 and involved local state, territory and diocesan events.  

A National Mass will also be celebrated in every state, territory and diocese on the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians on 24 May 2021 with some of our school leaders and staff attending at the cathedral in Armidale.