Principal's Newsletter
Newsletter Thursday 14th March, 2024
We the staff of St Patrick’s acknowledge the traditional owners, the Kulin nations, of the land on which we learn and play.
We pay respects to the Aboriginal Elders, past and present, who are our teachers.
We thank them for taking care of children and country for countless generations.
John 5:31-47
You place your hopes on Moses but Moses will be your accuser
Jesus said to the Jews:
‘Were I to testify on my own behalf,
my testimony would not be valid;
but there is another witness who can speak on my behalf,
and I know that his testimony is valid.
You sent messengers to John,
and he gave his testimony to the truth:
not that I depend on human testimony;
no, it is for your salvation that I speak of this.
John was a lamp alight and shining
and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave.
But my testimony is greater than John’s:
the works my Father has given me to carry out,
these same works of mine testify
that the Father has sent me.
Besides, the Father who sent me
bears witness to me himself.
You have never heard his voice,
you have never seen his shape,
and his word finds no home in you
because you do not believe in the one he has sent.
‘You study the scriptures,
believing that in them you have eternal life;
now these same scriptures testify to me,
and yet you refuse to come to me for life!
As for human approval, this means nothing to me.
Besides, I know you too well: you have no love of God in you.
I have come in the name of my Father
and you refuse to accept me;
if someone else comes in his own name
you will accept him.
How can you believe,
since you look to one another for approval
and are not concerned
with the approval that comes from the one God?
Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father:
you place your hopes on Moses,
and Moses will be your accuser.
If you really believed him
you would believe me too,
since it was I that he was writing about;
but if you refuse to believe what he wrote,
how can you believe what I say?’
Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,
Tomorrow we will be having our whole school cross country. For the students in years 3-6, they will be running in the morning between 9.15am and 11am.
The students in Foundation to year 2, they will run after recess from 11.45 to 1.30pm.
Parents are welcome to come and watch and there will be designated areas for parents to stand/sit in. Please ensure you remain in these designated areas. The only people who will be allowed onto the course are those staff and parents who are working/volunteering on the day. We ask all spectators to be mindful on the day about this and to not be approaching their child/ren.
I would like to invite all families to come and celebrate our feast day that is St Patrick's on Sunday 17th March. There will be a mass at 10.30am on that Sunday and afterwards we will have a sausage sizzle to continue the celebrations. There will be no money required on the day as the sausages etc will be supplied by the school. We also appreciate any parent volunteers to help cook the BBQ on the Sunday.
We have asked any families attending to let us know so we can cater for the event and so we are not caught short on the day.
See below some information about our Patron Saint.
Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which was allegedly written by Patrick himself. It is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland.[19] It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he found God. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest.[20]
According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands.
This week our Year 3's and 5's also began their NAPLAN tests and they are to be commended on the calm and collected way they have taken on this task. As we do any other work in the school, the students are encouraged to do their best and to just approach these days as they would any other.
Over the last week we have had a few upgrades to our playground as well. On the concrete outside the E block are new fun playground activities boards. Please see the pictures below!
Take care and God Bless,
Meg