Dear Parents and Caregivers,

What a week we've had! The St Patrick's school community has celebrated St Patrick's Day all week beginning with a Parish Mass on Monday afternoon in which the school sung for the first time publicy our new school song that Mr Hoctor wrote and Mr Tim Hart (teacher, singer and songwriter) from the Catholic Education Office Wollongong, created the music for. There was a great sense of school pride at the end of the Mass with the children singing  loudly. There is still some work to do in terms of producing this song professionally and sharing it with the school community more broadly.

On Tuesday , Year 4 spent the day in the garden making it look amazing. Wednesday, we  welcomed families in to the classroom to engage in some fun activities, there was student artwork for sale and we finished with some delicious wood fired scones with jam and cream as well as tea and coffee under the COLA. A big thank you to Chef Mattas for firing up the pizza oven, and thanks to all of our families for attending. The students love having their family members join them in the classroom.

Thursday was a fun filled day, in which students and staff could dress in green mufti to celebrate St Patrick's day, have fun photos with Paddy and play fun activites to round out the day. There was a great buzz in the air and lots of smiles all round.

Next week, we enter the solemn time and most significant time in the Church calendar, Holy Week in which we remember the events that led to the death of Jesus Christ. Students will participate across the week in Stations of the Cross, with selected students dramatising the events. We look forward to celebrating the risen Christ on Easter Sunday.

Well done to all of our Year 3 and 5 students who have completed their NAPLAN testing over the past couple of weeks, they gave their best effort and we are very proud of them.

I wish you and your families a happy and Holy Easter break. I hope you are able to spend time celebrating with friends and family.

Mitchell Elks

Principal