Term 1, Week 8 2025

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Dear Parents, caregivers and friends,

How did it get to week 8 so quickly? I am in Sydney today at an Australian Catholic School Principals (ACSP) meeting, and disappointingly have missed the Parish Mass and the Cross Country. Thank you to Mr Crich who organised this day and to all staff who helped Mr Henman run it.   

NAPLAN has dominated our space for the last two weeks and is now complete. I would like to thank the organisers Mrs Williams, Mrs Robinson and Mrs Powell and classroom teachers for rolling the assessments out smoothly despite having to navigate the tech and connection hurdles as well as ensuring we did the catch ups for students who were away on the day. I commend the students on their positive approach to the assessments and for being willing to give the tasks their best effort.  

Once available, the results will be analysed, and teachers will use this data to inform their teaching programs for Semester 2. Assessments are ongoing across all KLAs in all grades to inform our data collection for each student which we will use to report to you in Term 2. It was great to see so many families making appointments with the classroom teachers, for our parent/teacher meetings. This is a great opportunity to set goals for Term 2 and discuss Term 1 progress.      

St Patrick’s Day is one of my favourite days of the year. Why? Not just because I’m Irish but because I love the way our community embraces the day and gets behind the it by wearing green, eating green food, telling Irish jokes and learning about St Patrick. His story is one of hardship and perseverance where he leaned on his faith to get him through his days in slavery, but then the courage he showed to return to Ireland to evangelise the mainly pagan population. I love the symbolism of the shamrock and the Trinity. As a school student in Ireland, we would go into the adjoining fields and search for shamrocks growing wild. We didn’t always find them as they don’t grow like weeds, but we were always on the lookout for them. I have visited St Patrick’s grave in Down Patrick, Northern Ireland many times in my life and I’m always astounded by the date which is hard to read after all these years - 461AD. Enjoy the photo gallery and thank you for your support of this day as we honour our patron Saint.   

On April 27, 2025, the Chisholm Region will host a youth-focused celebration in honour of the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, a significant youth icon, as part of the Church’s Jubilee Year. This special Mass will be held at 4:00 pm at  

St. Bede’s Catholic College, Chisholm, with priests from the Hunter Deanery in attendance. 

This Mass will be fully led by the young people of the Hunter Deanery, and the organisers are eager to involve all schools within the Chisholm Pastoral Region.  

We would be honoured if our school could be represented by our School Captains, and/or any families who would like to take part in the entrance procession carrying our school banner.  

Additionally, they are seeking volunteers from the schools for the following roles during the Mass: 

• Welcoming and greeting visitors 

• Carrying the Jubilee Candle 

• Carrying the icon of Carlo 

• Delivering the Welcome to Country 

• Reading the Introduction to the Mass 

• Proclaiming the Readings 

• Leading the Prayers of the Faithful 

• Bringing the gifts at the Offertory 

• Assisting with the collection 

• Leading the Jubilee Prayer 

• Distributing prayer cards 

• Assisting with refreshments 

• Singing in the Mass 

If any family would like to be involved, please email cassandra.dennis@mn.catholic.edu.au  

We look forward to celebrating Harmony Day next Thursday and encourage families to wear traditional dress and send traditional foods in lunch boxes if appropriate – this could be a talking/teaching point for the classrooms.  

Library borrowing will be slightly disrupted over the next two weeks as we have our carpets cleaned and new furniture installed… a very exciting time for our library staff and student borrowers.  

Just a reminder that we will have a Pupil Free day on Friday 28 March and our next assembly is on the 4th of April as is the School Family Night. I look forward to seeing your there.   

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF MEMBERS

LIZ ALLEN

I am excited to be joining the St Patrick’s Administration team every Monday and second Tuesday. I enjoy spending quality time with my family, whether that is going on holidays or going on a bike ride together. I look forward to getting to know all of the children and families at St Patrick's.

ST PATRICK’S DAY

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 45

Next

YOUTH MASS & CANONIZATION CELEBRATION

Have a wonderful weekend. 

God Bless, 

Niamh 

CALENDAR EVENTS 

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2024

HARMONY DAY

EASTER HAT PARADE

ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT

PARENT/ TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Term 1 Parent/ Teacher interviews will be held at St Patrick’s Lochinvar during weeks 10 and 11 of this term (Monday 31/3/25 to Friday 11/4/25). Interviews are an opportunity to meet with your child's teacher/ teachers to discuss progress and establish any learning goals you would like to focus on for your child. It is also an opportunity to share important information between the parent and teacher. 
Interviews are for 10 minutes duration. 
Interviews will be held face to face at school, usually before or after school hours. If you would prefer a phone interview, please contact the school on 49307270 to arrange this. Bookings via Compass are now live and will remain open until 5pm on Thursday 27/3/25.
Process to book an interview:
On your phone, go to the 'More' tab on the bottom right- click on conferences and follow the instructions.
On a computer, click on the 'Two Heads' symbol which sits on the top taskbar- choose conferences and follow the instructions.

SHAMROCK UPDATE

I'm thrilled to bring you this weeks Shamrock update.

165 positive interactions were recognised this week with another close race between houses! It is great to see the leader changing weekly! This weeks winning house is ....... 

RE NEWS

PROJECT COMPASSION 

Last week, Project Compassion donation boxes were sent home with each family to help support Caritas Australia in their mission of transforming the lives of people living in poverty. 

Thank you to everyone for supporting this cause. We ask that these boxes be returned to school by the end of Term 1 (Friday 11th April). 

UPCOMING LITURGIES AND MASSES 

As a Catholic School community, we have a number of occasions throughout the year that we gather together to acknowledge and celebrate important liturgical events through masses and liturgies. 

Below is a list of upcoming liturgical celebrations at St Patrick’s. 

• Holy Week Liturgy Friday 11th April – 9:20am School Hall/COLA All grades will participate in a small part of this liturgy
• ANZAC Day Liturgy Monday 28th April – 1:00pm School Hall/COLA Liturgy led by Year 5
• Mother’s Day Liturgy (followed by open classrooms and picnic lunch) Monday 12th May – 12:30pm School Hall/COLA Liturgy led by Kindergarten
• School Parish Mass Friday 16th May – 9:30am St Patrick’s Church Mass led by Year 4, Year 3 also attend
• Catholic Schools Week Liturgy and Assembly (followed by open classrooms) Friday 6th June – 9:00am School Hall/COLA A mixture of students from all grades will be involved

HOLY WEEK 

As we approach the sacred time of Holy Week, our school community is preparing to reflect on the profound significance of this period in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Palm Sunday and lasting through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, Holy Week is the week that

precedes the important Christian festival of Easter. During Holy Week we remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the agony in the Garden, the betrayal, the passion, and the death on the cross. We remember that the body of Jesus was laid to rest in the tomb. A week that starts with celebration ends in despair. It is not until Easter Sunday that we rejoice in and recall Jesus’ resurrection.

Although Holy Week will occur during the school holidays this year, it is still important that we come together as a school community to commemorate these sacred events.

Our Holy Week liturgy will take place on Friday 11th April at 9:20am in our school hall. This year, each grade will take part in sharing a short scene and a song to highlight some of the key parts of Holy Week ending with the events of Good Friday. All are welcome to join us for this liturgy.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER NEWS

CURRICULIUM NEWS

YEAR 4

HARMONY DAY POEM - WRITTEN BY GURKIRAT

YEAR 6

MISSION STATEMENTS

In Year 6, to conclude the first unit of our Religion curriculum, we asked students to create a "Our School's new Mission Statement". They were encouraged to write a statement based on what our school means the most to them, in which they needed to outline the goals of the mission, the possible challenges we, as a school community might encounter, the strategies for addressing the challenges, and what the indicators of success would be.

Below are some great examples showcasing how proud our students are to be students at St Patrick’s Lochinvar!

SCIENCE

In Year 6, this term, as we are investigating the effects of the tectonic plates on the earth's surface, we are studying about the formation of volcanoes and the science behind their eruptions. Today our Year 6 students took part in the "coke and mentos volcanic eruption experiment" and successfully witnessed the reaction of gases and pressure build-up, mimicking the release of lava from a volcano crater. 

SPORT NEWS

SPORTING TRIALS

Over the past two weeks, many students have trialled at a regional level for different sports. Congratulations to the following students who have progressed to the next stage of trials and will now trial for the Diocesan Team:

Soccer - Joseph Hawke, Chester Haile, and Max Crowther. Unfortunately, Max will be in Spain for soccer and won't be able to trial.

Netball and Australian Football - Scarlett Crouch. Scarlett will be trialling for the Girls NSWPSSA Australian Football Team.

CROSS COUNTRY UPDATE

Friday 21st March we ran the cross country event for years 5 & 6 students. Due to the set in rain for the rest of the day, we have made a decision to postpone events for years 2,3 & 4 to next Tuesday 25th March 2025.

Events will run as follow on Tuesday 25th March:
• 11:40am - Years Boys 10 Years
• 12:00pm - Years Girls 10 Years
• 12:30pm - Boys 8/9 Years
• 1:00pm - Girls 8/9 Years

PARENTING PAGE

OUTSIDE SCHOOL ACTIVIES UPDATES

MAITLAND REDBACKS TOUCH FOOTBALL

Dubbo State Cup Northern Division 
10 girls (Kelsey Beard, Khloe Fitzgerald, Myah Burgess) - made it to finals day, bowed out to a very tough Newcastle side 
12 girls (Scarlett Crouch) - made it to finals day. 
14 boys (Kye Hedges) - made it to finals day. 
14 girls (Laura Russell, Phoenix Russell, Isabella Crouch) -  made it to the grand final match vs Ballina and won 8-3!!! 🥇 woohooo!

EARTH HOUR

Imagine this: for one powerful hour, people all over the world—millions of homes, iconic landmarks, and entire cities—unite in a moment of darkness to shine a light on the planet. That’s the magic of Earth Hour!
 
Join us this year for Earth Hour Switch Off 2025 on Saturday, 22nd of March at 8.30pm local time!  
 
Whether you light candles, have a stargazing picnic, or host a dinner in the dark, your moment of action helps send a message that nature needs our protection.
 
Your participation not only helps raise awareness but also inspires others to take meaningful steps toward environmental stewardship. Together, we can create a ripple effect, demonstrating that every small action counts. Let’s unite for this global movement and show that we care about the future of our planet. 

But Earth Hour isn’t just about switching off—it’s about switching on to new ways of connecting with the planet and each other! Here are some fun ways to make your Earth Hour unforgettable:

DIY Candle Making – Create your own candles before dark, then light them for a cozy and meaningful moment during Earth Hour.

Dinner in the Dark – Host a candlelit feast with friends and family, savoring the experience without distractions. 

Stargazing Picnic – Lay out a blanket, enjoy nature’s night show, and reflect on the beauty of our planet.

Sunset Hike – Gather your friends for an sunset hike and welcome the darkness together. Celebrate mother nature by enjoying some delicious food and drinks at the end of your hike.

Demonstrate your support at 8:30PM local time Saturday 22nd March and enjoying an hour of connection with the planet. Whether you host a candlelit dinner, take an evening stroll, or stargaze under the night sky, every action counts, and your participation helps inspire millions around the world!

See you in the dark,
The Earth Hour Team  
WWF-Australia  

Unless otherwise stated, the advertisements placed in this newsletter are placed by independent third parties who have no legal relationship with the Diocese. The activities or services of the advertisers are not supervised or controlled in any way by the Diocese. The Diocese is not in a position to endorse the advertisers or the services provided and makes no representation about those matters. Accordingly, the Diocese cannot accept any responsibility for the advertisers or the activities or services that are the subject of these advertisements.