Message From Our Principal 

As we move swiftly into Week 9 of Term 4, the excitement around St Patrick’s is truly infectious! The final weeks of the school year are always filled with fantastic celebrations, and 2025 is no exception. We look forward to gathering as a community for our reflective End of Year Mass and celebrating the academic success of our students. This year we have aa special event happening for our students our '100 Students Party'. The joy continues with our Whole School Christmas Lunch, a wonderful occasion for students and staff to share a meal together. We are also thrilled to be joining the community spirit at the Tongala Christmas Carols. Finally, we will celebrate the culmination of our Grade 6 students' primary school journey at their much-anticipated Graduation ceremony. Please keep an eye on social media for all the details—we can't wait to share these final, memorable moments with you!

This term, we share our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes with Teresa, who will be retiring at the end of the year. Teresa has dedicated an incredible 25 years of service to Catholic Education Sandhurst, making a profound and lasting impact on countless students, families, and colleagues here at St Patrick’s. This remarkable milestone, her jubilee, was recently recognised and celebrated at the prestigious Sandhurst Awards Ceremony. We are immensely grateful for her commitment, passion, and the many wonderful contributions she has made to our school community over the last quarter-century. While we will miss her deeply, we wish Teresa a well-deserved, joyful, and restful retirement.

At the inaugural Sandhurst Awards Mrs Jaleigha Mclay was the proud winner of the ‘Professional Practice Teaching Excellence Award’. The criteria for this award was:

-Reviews own practice regularly and implements change in their teaching. 

-Uses data and feedback to monitor and improve teaching practice. 

-Obtains feedback from coaching opportunities to develop their own strengths and development needs. 

-Works with a mentor or instructional coach to implement improvement strategies. 

Congratulations Jaleigha!!!

Mrs Fiona McKiernan received a highly commendable in the 'Catholic Mission & Formation Teaching Excellence Award'. The criteria for this award was: 

• Demonstrates ongoing personal spiritual formation and growth. 
• Has displayed outstanding capacity to prepare and embed the Source of Life curriculum in the classroom. 
• Positively impacts the student’s learning engagement and outcomes. 
• Inspires students to live out the mission of “life to the full” (John 10:10). 

Colman Hargraves received the 'St Patrick's Student Leader Award', in which the criteria was: 

• Actively engages in learning, sets high expectations for themselves, and perseveres through challenges. 
• Demonstrates a love of learning by asking thoughtful questions, seeking feedback, and reflecting on their progress. 

Ella Morris recieved the 'St Patrick's Student Learner Award', which Celebrates a student who leads with faith, courage, and compassion. The criteria was:

• Models Gospel values through respectful relationships, prayerful presence, and service to others. 
• Demonstrates initiative, curiosity, and resilience in learning; inspires others to grow. 
• Builds inclusive communities; leads with empathy, responsibility, and a commitment to the Common Good. 

We had more of students and staff nominated for other awards, this included Maddie Stewart, Katie Rasmussen, Geenah Loughran, Erin Emmett and Ashlea Stock.

This online article contains a list of all the category winners, as well as an overview of the event: https://www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au/.../237-sandhurst...

Next week marks the final session of our wonderful 'Mini Paddy's' playgroup for the year. It has truly been a fantastic year of fun, learning, and connection for our youngest community members and their families. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to Abby, who has done an absolutely amazing job running the sessions with such enthusiasm and care. She has a small Christmas gift prepared for all the children to celebrate the season and thank them for their participation. We look forward to seeing everyone there to celebrate the end of a successful year!

We extend our gratitude to all the families who attended our recent Experiment Fair. We especially appreciate you taking the time to observe the experiments with your children. This connection is invaluable, as it empowers you to have meaningful conversations at home about the science concepts and principles they have been learning about this term. Your presence helps bridge the learning experience between school and home. Thank you for your continued support.

A big thank you toBrady Electrical Contracting as they have once again brought a sprinkle of Christmas magic to our grounds with a stunning light installation. Make sure you swing by for a look — it’s even more spectacular after dark! 

We would like to express our gratitude to the many families who joined us recently to observe our Maths OCHRE lessons. Having you in the classroom to see the engaging activities and concepts in action is incredibly valuable. Your presence strengthens the connection between home and school learning, enabling you to have a deeper understanding of our mathematical approach and fostering rich, meaningful conversations about numeracy with your children. Thank you for partnering with us in your child's education.

Fundraising

Our wonderful Fundraising Committee are finishing the year strong with two amazing fundraisers. Please support both the Gingerbread House Fundraiser & the Christmas Holiday Raffle by scanning the relevant QR codes shown below.

MAGNIFY SANDHURST

 Learn more about Magnify Sandhurst at  https://www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au/lea.../magnify-sandhurst