7 August 2024 — Week 5, Term 3

Welcome from the Principal

Dear Families

It is those little things in life, whilst often unremarkable in the scope of a wider societal or global perspective, that provide that anchor to the importance of our work as educators. My little thing was spending some time with our Talgai students during the recent Prep 2025 'Come and Try' last Wednesday. Part of my task was to complete a drawing of myself to celebrate the community of St Patrick's School. Needless to say, I had five willing participants who were more than willing to provide feedback on the colour schemes and design of my self portrait. Without a doubt, it was the highlight of my week. I couldn't wait until the end of the day when I could laminate my artwork so I could take it home and display it on our fridge in the kitchen. Whilst education has its challenges, it is easy to lose sight of those little things. 

For those of you who enjoy some live music when the opportunity presents itself, during the recent Bishop's Inservice Day in Toowoomba, as a staff we were treated to some wonderful music. Graeme Connors, a renowned Australian recording artist who has won a plethora of Golden Guitars, treated one thousand fellow Toowoomba Catholic Schools (TCS) staff to a highly emotive and thought provoking musical journey. Graeme used his wide catalogue of songs to explore his own Catholic journey as a boy growing up in rural Mackay. Live music has the ability to move people and to make us reflect on our own faith journey. At one stage during his performance, there would not have even a dry eye in the auditorium. But for me, it was Graeme's anecdote about writing a song to his first love at the tender age of fifteen. And just like all males, we can only do one thing at a time and as a result, Graeme was caught by his Christian Brother teacher who as punishment, read the lyrics to the whole class. Graeme was totally embarrassed by the whole situation but like most love stories, love always seems to find a way. He ended up marrying the stimulus of this song and they are still married today. If you get a chance, have a listen to 'Love Works'. I found I connected totally to this song and would like to share some of the lyrics for your reading pleasure. 

Love Works by Graeme Connors

Mrs Turner keeps a life-sized portrait of her husband William
A brave young soldier who failed to return from the Second World War
And each night she sits and knits and talks to him
As if he'd just walked through the door
And when people ask why she does it Mrs Turner will say, cause I'm sure.

Love works in the midst of all this love works
Each day I tell my Bill I love him
And love works in the midst of all this love works
He hears I know and he's with me wherever I go, cause love works.

As a school community, we would also like to send our best wishes to our past student Matt Denny, who is part of the Australian Olympic Track and Field team in Paris. Matt will participate in the discus event which commences on Monday, 5 August with the final being held on Thursday, 8 August. We send you all of our love and best wishes, Matt! 

Keith Blaikie—Principal

Keith.Blaikie@twb.catholic.edu.au

St Patrick’s P&F Care and Concern Group

The St Patrick's Care and Concern Group has sprung into action around the township of Allora. On Saturday 3 August, two families and three staff members joined forces to help the local community.  Our Care and Concern team visited four different properties and completed a range of activities from lawn mowing, garden maintenance and rubbish removal. Whilst the physical work is important, it is the contact and conversation with our property owners which provides the biggest buzz for all concerned. It is important to convey the message that everyone matters. 

Congratulations Priseis - 2024 Literary Competition

Congratulations must go to Priseis W from Glengallan who recently attained second place in the Queensland section of the 2024 Literary Competition. Priseis entered numerous poems in the 5 to 6 Years section. This is an amazing achievement and really shines a positive light on St Patrick’s School, and in particular, sends a message to all rural students that success is not just reserved for those who reside in metropolitan areas.

The Literary Competition is jointly sponsored by the Independent Education Union of Australia: Qld & Northern Territory Branch (IEUA-QNT), The English Teachers Association of Queensland, and Penguin Random House. Now in its 65th year, the Literary Competition remains the longest continuing writing competition in Queensland and is open to students and staff in both state and non-government schools.

Presentation of awards will be held on Wednesday 7 August, 2024 at 6.30pm at the Queensland Multicultural Centre, 102 Main Street, Kangaroo Point. St Patrick’s School also acknowledges Mrs Kerri Shooter for her willingness to support this competition.

St Patrick’s School Master Plan  

As part of the school’s strategic focus, to adoption of an accurate and up to date master plan is of vital importance. A Master Plan is a document or series of documents principally designed to provide a framework and guidance in which a school can develop their facilities. Whilst it is created at a specific point of time, it is not designed to be static and should be viewed as a living document to be reviewed regularly. With our predicted enrolments and with a focus on Prep in 2027, it is now time to update our existing Master Plan which were initially designed in 2020.

Some of the key drivers for the development of this Master Plan can be:

• Forecast growth and decline in student numbers.
• Change in enrolment characteristics - children with language difficulties, ascertained or verified children with disabilities and others requiring additional learning support.
• Replacement of "end of economic life" facilities or where economics dictate additional facilities. 

The steps in creating the Master Plan

Please note that the St Patrick’s P&F, School Advisory Council (Board) and school staff have commenced some initial conversations around the school’s Master Plan. As a school community, it is vitally important to obtain as many parent voices as possible. This will most probably be done by a survey. There will also be a static display within the school if you would like to use this medium. Further communication will be provided over the coming weeks to confirm how you can have your say.

The following questions can be used as potential starting points:

• Identify what are the best facilities and what are the worst.
• Identify what new facilities they would like or what existing facilities they would like to see demolished, refurbished, modified, or converted to another use.
• Do current teaching spaces allow effective teaching and learning?
• Do the current facilities celebrate and support Catholic identity?
• Are the current facilities and particularly the street presence conducive to or is seen as a positive in respect to marketing?
• Should a change in attribute such as the introduction of a Kindergarten and/or OHSC service need to be incorporated as a future stage of the Master Plan?

Teaching and Learning

Children’s Book Week – 17 to 23 August

Book Week will be celebrated on Monday 19 August with our annual Book Week Parade commencing at 9:00am in the Multi Purpose Shed. All members of our school community are encouraged to attend. Staff will also dress up to reenact a classic book from the early 1900’s. Characters may include crocodiles, pirates and people who can fly. A few laughs are certainly guaranteed.

As part of Children’s Book Week celebrations, St Patrick’s will hold its annual Book Fair from Monday 19 August to Thursday 22 August in the school library. Please note that the Book Fair on Monday 19 August will be available for all parents after the completion of the Book Week Parade and open until 5:00pm.  From Tuesday to Thursday, the Book Fair will be available until 4:00pm. Please see the attached Online Book Fair Invite if you are unable to view the Book Fair in person. Please contact Mrs Tindall if you have any questions. 

Students from C&K Kindy and Headstart have also been invited to attend the St Patrick’s Book Week Parade. We look forward to a very enjoyable day. 

Dalrymple - The building blocks of Writing

The students in Dalrymple have been busily exploring high quality texts in order to learn more about the techniques authors use to engage their audience. Under the guidance of Miss Hickey, students have developed a specific learning intention that will explicitly focus student attention. Students are learning to describe how texts use different language features and structures relevant to their purpose. Please enjoy the attached examples. 

Religious Life of the School

St Mary of the Cross Mackillop - Lee ann Weekes TCSO

‘She would rather walk alone in darkness than follow anyone else’s shadow.’ RG Moon

Our world is made up of so many incredible women, and so many amazing changes in our world are being made by women who recognise their importance. Being a strong woman is partly about character and confidence but also relies on faith in yourself, and, more importantly, faith in what you are working for.

We do not have to look far into our history to meet a tenacious woman who let nothing stand in the way of her care for the underprivileged, marginalised, dejected, and deprived – St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, whose Feast Day is celebrated on 8 August. She is a model of courage and selflessness, establishing a unique Australian religious order dedicated to the service of the poor through the education of their children while refusing government funds to do so. Her Sisters of St Joseph founded many schools in our Diocese.

St Mary was inspirational, not because she was faultless, but because she was able to draw on her faith, and the strength and virtues of her character to mount seemingly impossible hurdles, not for her ends but to help ordinary Australians.

The hardships endured within our community today are not unlike those faced by society in the late 1800s, including poverty, broken families, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, crime, homelessness, and stress. Modelling ourselves on St Mary, we are called to assess how we can contribute to the rebuilding of our society rather than expecting the government to take the lead. In our work, the care for the poor and marginalised is reflected in providing quality education.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop challenges us to be the change we wish to see in the world. In writing to her Sisters she summarises how to do just that.

We must teach more by example than by word by being eager in our desires but humbly patient in accomplishment.

St Patrick's celebrate St Mary of the Cross Feast Day - 13 August 

St Patrick's School will acknowledge and celebrate St Mary of the Cross Feast Day on Tuesday 13 August with a whole school Mass commencing at 9:30am. Everyone is cordially invited to attend. As part of Mass, Mary Mackillop Awards will be presented to students who live out the values of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop in their daily lives. Students will also participate in whole school rotational activities from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Activities will include sports from 1916, period dress-ups and a historical scavenger hunt based on the television series the Amazing Race. 

Upcoming events - July

• Monday 5 August to Thursday 8 August - TCSO Principals' Forum in Chinchilla 
• Monday 12 August - St Patrick's Parish Fete Meeting commencing at 6:30pm in the Parish Meeting Room
• Tuesday 13 August - St Mary of the Cross Mackillop Feast Day Mass commencing at 9:30am - all are welcome to attend!
  
• Wednesday 14 August - Southern Downs Athletics at Allora P-10 State School 
• Friday 16 August - Whole School Assembly commencing at 2:15pm in the Church
• Wednesday 21 August - St Patrick's Playgroup from 9:00am until 10:30am 
• Wednesday 21 August - Newsletter 
• Wednesday 21 August - St Patrick's P&F Meeting commencing at 6:00pm in the library 

See the Sentral calendar for more information.

Reminders

Uniform Days

 Formal - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Sports - Wednesday, Friday

Please remember that we are a...
‘Nut Aware’ School.

Times for Mass at St Patrick's Church are as follows:

1st Sunday - 9am 2nd and 3rd Sunday – 5.30pm

4th & 5th Sunday Liturgy of the Word with Communion - 9am