Principal's Newsletter
Thursday 24th April 2025
Gospel of the Week
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
After eight days Jesus came in and stood among them.
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’ and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he breathed on them and said:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
There were many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,
This week the Gospel says Jesus makes his way into the midst of their fear, showing them his very scarred self. By doing so, Jesus is doing them a grace of stooping down to them in their weakness and strife. And his words of peace are matched by proof of his conquering what they fear: he is scarred but he is not dead, he is alive! This is the first time Jesus appears to His disciples after being raised from death. They are hiding behind a locked door in fear when Jesus appears to speak with them. Jesus shows physical evidence of His crucifixion, then gives the men a partial measure of the Holy Spirit. The passage where the phrase is found three times is when He makes Himself known to His disciples, including the eleven remaining who were most close to Him. The Bible recounts He first said it as a greeting. He issued it both as a greeting, but probably to assure them as well.
Welcome back to Term 2. No doubt, you will have heard the sad news of the passing of our dearly beloved Mrs Annette Tanner. It has been so touching to have so many parents come up and express their condolences. We have also been overwhelmed by our family's support and we thank those who are able to keep their children at home on Monday the 28th, so staff are able to attend the funeral.
We also learned this week of the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis on Easter Monday. Pope Francis was well known for reaching out to the most marginalised in our communities and sought to make the Catholic Church an even better place by emphasising transparency, accountability and financial reform. He also recognised the power of females in the Church and appointed more women to senior posts in its hierarchy. We pray that those in authority will elect a new Pope who will hold the most vulnerable and weak at the forefront of their minds.
The required school uniform for this term will be Winter, however for the first 2 weeks, I am happy for students to move between the Summer and Winter as we continue to experience the warm weather. Please note, you must wear either the FULL Winter or FULL SUMMER and not a mixture of both. Hats need to be worn up until the end of Week 2 only (Wednesday 30th April).
This term, we have many things to look forward to. Mother’s Day celebration, Year 4 and 5 school camps, visits to SFX for Fitness and Sports Excursions as part of our collaboration with SFX, Catholic Education Week, District Cross Country and of course one of our favourites, the Book Fair! We look forward to celebrating all these wonderful events with you.
Just a reminder that tomorrow, St Patrick’s will be closed as it is a public holiday with Friday 25th April being ANZAC day.
RESCHEDULED SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
Our new school Photo Day will be on Thursday 29th May. Please place this on your calendars.
Mother’s Day Stall and Mother’s Day Celebration
The stall will be held on Thursday the 8th May, and all gifts will be purchased via CDF pay app. More details will come regarding this.
On Friday the 9th May, we welcome all Mums to come into the school stadium from 8.30am onwards and enjoy a celebration of motherhood. There will be coffee and tea available. The official celebration will begin at 8.40am and will go for approximately 15 mins. We hope to see as many mums as possible.
Future Enrolments
This term, once again, we have had multiple inquiries for school tours, in particular for 2026.
With this in mind, can I please ask for any existing families who have younger siblings coming to St Patrick’s in the next few years, to please make sure they fill in their enrolment forms early as possible. St Patrick’s is looking to manage a high demand of places within the school community and places may become limited.
Thank you.
St Francis Xavier College, Officer school tours
If you are looking to enrol your child into St Francis Xavier, Officer, please note these important dates in your calendar.
Officer Campus Talk & Tour – 09.30am – 10.45am
Tuesday 13 May
Tuesday 24 June
Tuesday 12 August
Tuesday 09 September
Tuesday 14 October
Wednesday 12 November
Year 7 2026 Enrolment Interviews
Wednesday 4 June
Wednesday 29 October
Year 7 2027 Enrolment Interviews
Wednesday 2 July
Year 7 2027 Parent Information Evening
Wednesday 7 May 7.00pm
Year 7 2026 Transition Day – Monday
8 December all day
Mobile Device Policy and Smartwatch Guidelines-
Please see below 2 new Guidelines St Patrick’s has introduced that will be added on to our website shortly. I would like to ask all parents/carers and guardians to take the time to read as this as it is certainly an issue that will continue to grow in its impact the more we rely on Mobile/Digital devices.