2025, Term 3, Week 1 Newsletter

Child Safe Statement and Commitment

The Child Safety Officers at St Patrick's are Tegan McDonald and Shona Louden principal@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au or slouden@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au

Acknowledgement of Country

Principal's Message

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back!

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope everyone had a restful break and enjoyed some time to recharge. It’s great to have our students, staff and families back as we begin another busy and exciting term of learning and community events.

A big thank you to Nicole Sawyer and family, and Katie Wright and family, for taking care of the chooks over the holidays. We appreciate your support and care. The chooks were fed, watered and happy to have the company!

Grandparents’ Day

A reminder that Grandparents’ Day will be held this Friday! All grandparents and special visitors are warmly invited to attend.

The morning will begin with a liturgy in the hall at 9:50am, followed by recess outside with grandparents and special visitors. We kindly ask you to provide morning tea for your student/s to share with their Grandparents or special visitors.

After recess, we will begin open classrooms from 11:35am to 12:35pm, where students can proudly share their learning and other fun activities with their guests.  

We look forward to a wonderful morning celebrating our school community.

Upcoming events for the week:

Wednesday - Book fair 
Friday - Hockey 7s and Grandparent’s Day

Kind regards,

Tegan McDonald

Principal

Prayer

Pope Francis' instituted World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly which is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

Pope Francis instituted the World Day because ‘grandparents are often forgotten and we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on’ what the elderly have received.

According to Vatican News, he emphasised the importance of grandparents and grandchildren getting to know one another, because ‘as the prophet Joel says, grandparents seeing their grandchildren dream’, while ‘young people, drawing strength from their grandparents, will go forward and prophesy’.

Matthew 13:31-35
The smallest of all seeds grows into the biggest shrub of all
Jesus put a parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’

REFLECTION
As Term 3 begins and we prepare to celebrate Grandparents Day, we reflect on the parable of the mustard seed. A tiny seed grows into a tree that offers shelter to many, just like the small acts of love, wisdom and care our grandparents sow in our lives.

Grandparents often plant seeds they may never see fully grow. Seeds of kindness, resilience, curiosity and hope. This week, we honour the quiet strength and lasting impact of those who nurture us, in big and small ways.

School Closure Dates - Term 3

Please note that there are 2 school closure dates in Term 3 for staff Professional Development.

• Thursday 21st August
• Friday 22nd August
  

There will be no staff on site on these days.

Enrolment Information

2026 Foundation enrolments are now closed. In the coming weeks, we will be sending out letters of offer to those families who have submitted applications. 

We look forward to welcoming our existing families and new Foundation students and families to our school community from next term with Little Learners, Kinder Transition and Foundation Interviews.

Our class structures and staff allocations will not be announced until the end of Term 4 which is our standard practice.

Teeth On Wheels

Teeth On Wheels is all about making dental care fun and stress-free while teaching children the importance of oral health. They specialise in working with children, offering services such as check-ups, cleans, and more—right here at the School! The team is specially trained to provide compassionate and tailored care for neurodiverse patients, ensuring a respectful and supportive experience for everyone.

If eligible under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), your child may even receive FREE dental care. 

To participate, complete the E-form by the cut-off date August 5th 2025.

Picnic in the Paddock

Picnic in the Paddock is a major event on the St Pat's calendar and hosts families and friends from all over the south west to come and see our wonderful school and enjoy a really fun day out for everyone. We have a committee who meet twice per term to organise the event. PIP is on Sunday October 26. 

We have 3 meetings remaining before the event:

• Wednesday August 6th @ 7pm (Term 3)
• Wednesday September 10th @ 7pm (Term 3)
• Wednesday October 8th @ 7pm (Term 4)

If you have been interested to know more about PIP or wondering if you'd like to get involved, please feel free to come along to any or all of these meetings, without any commitment. We will be organising sponsorship packs, sampling some new merchandise, and chatting about tasks to be completed before the event. We'd love to see you there!

Little Makers Market

The call is out for any young creatives (15 years & younger) who might wish to have a stall at the the Little Makers Market at Picnic in the Paddock this year. Please see flyer below for more information.

Parent contact information

If you have changed your phone or email, address or wish you update your non-guardian emergency contact details, please send an email to Bronie or Kate so we can update your detail in our database. 

bmoloney@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au or kdobson@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au 

Book Fair

Arriving this week!!

The book fair will be set up and ready for sales on Wednesday, continuing until August 4th.

Directwear Uniform

School Uniform is available from Directwear www.directwear.com.au  

Uniforms can be collected from the Directwear home address in Warrnambool or posted to you.

Contact details for Direct wear are:

email info@directwear.com.au or phone Dion Jansz: 0412 654 406

Canteen & Cake Raffle

The Canteen & Cake Raffle are coordinated by our P&F.

Canteen operates at lunchtime on Wednesday and Friday.  Wednesday is sales of  icy-poles and snacks and Friday includes distribution of lunch orders. 

Click here to sign up for the Term 3 Roster

Cake Raffle is just something for fun! Students can purchase tickets in the classroom on Friday mornings for 20cents and the raffle is drawn by a student from the family who has supplied the cake.  "Cake" is a general term - the prize does not have to be home made and you can choose to bring whatever you like biscuits, slice or chocolates.

Click here to sign up for the Cake Raffle Roster

Assembly Roster

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Bronie, Josie, John Kelly, Chad Collins, Olivia Foster, Hazel Purcell, Jett Balcombe, George Sinnott and Harley Watson who celebrated birthdays over the holidays.  We hope you had a fantastic time celebrating with family and friends!

Star of the Sea - Parish Bulletin

Dates to Remember

Please refer to the public calendar on the school website for the most up to date calendar items.

https://www.spkoroit.catholic.edu.au/news-events

Community News