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October is the Month of the Rosary
The Rosary is such an important tool for prayer in our lives that the entire month of October has been dedicated to the Rosary. According to tradition, the idea of the Rosary was given to Saint Dominic when the Virgin Mary appeared to him in an apparition in the year 1214. This Marian apparition is given the title of Our Lady of the Rosary. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated every year on October 7th. It was instituted to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful. In the month of October, let us consider this beautiful prayer of the Rosary as a means that we too can use in order to draw closer to Jesus and Mary by meditating on the great mysteries of our salvation.
Our PB4L/SEL focus for Week 3 will be: Giving Compliments
PB4L Data
It is with pride that I inform you that over the past week 25 students were given Citizenship, Merit, Library or Uniform Awards or Playground Affirmation Awards whilst there were 4 incidents of Inappropriate behaviour recorded over Weeks One & Two.
Throughout October we are raising money for World Mission Month. On Tuesday of next week, October 24th we are having 'Crazy Sock Day' and will also be selling yummy ice cream creations.
We are asking for gold coin donations from the children to wear crazy socks, and the ice cream creations will be sold for $2.
The day will commence with a liturgy in the hall commencing at 8:55am. All community members are welcome and encouraged to join us at this liturgy.
All money raised will go towards to Timor-Leste, where missionaries are seeking to provide life-fulfilling opportunities for children in need.
Have a look at the attached video for further information about where our fundraising efforts will go.
World Mission Sunday
Please see a reflection on ‘World Mission Sunday’, as shared with CEO Staff.
Each year, on the last Sunday of October, Catholics around the world celebrate World Mission Day. At Mass people of faith are invited to reconnect with the baptismal call to live as People of Mission.
For some, the idea of mission conjures up an age-old image of religious men and women dressed in soutanes and habits, traversing seas in leaky boats with Bible in hand, evangelising and building the global Church throughout foreign lands.
Mission, though, is not to be considered a work reserved exclusively for religious orders, and it is by no means all about making an epic journey to bring the Scripture to people who dwell in far away places. The word mission means ‘to be sent out’, but we do not have to travel far to live our call to mission. Mission can happen when we respond lovingly, as the body of Christ to the needs of others that are right before us. Perhaps Saint Mother Teresa captures this thought as she became known for saying to zealous young missionaries: “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely, right where you are — in your own homes and in your own families, in homes and in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have eyes to see.
Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society - completely forgotten, completely left alone.” Whether it be tending to an ill family member, supporting a colleague through a difficult time, encouraging learners to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, assisting community members through the cost of living crisis, supporting reforms to empower Aboriginal people in taking a rightful place or creating equal opportunity for the disabled and disenfranchised - the work of Mission seems to call to us where we already are. The question is do we have eyes to see the need before us? Do we have hearts inflamed with compassion? Do we have hands and feet ready to respond and move from compassion to action? This Mission Sunday we pray with Catholics all over the world that we might renew our commitment to being People of Mission.
With Pope Francis, we pray:
“Let us set out again with burning hearts, with our eyes open and our feet in motion.
Let us set out to make other hearts burn with the word of God, to open the eyes of others to Jesus in the Eucharist, and to invite everyone to walk together on the path of peace and salvation. ”When has a person of Mission entered into your life to offer you love and support? What did this do for you?
Where is your Calcutta - the places of need in your own community that call to you as a person of Mission?
How might you move from a place of compassion to action and respond to a need within your own community at this time?
Kind regards,
Mr Sam Mattas
Religious Education Coordinator
A friendly reminder to please finalise your school fees by 8 December 2023.
Please see following information from School Fees Liaison Team
PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES BY INSTALMENT – NEW FAMILIES TO OUR SCHOOL
School Fees are invoiced as an annual account, due for payment in full 30 days after invoicing. However, many families elect to pay their school fees by regular instalments and as a new family to our school, we would like to offer you this option. If you wish to take up this offer, please complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available on the school’s website or from the school’s administration office. On completion of the request, either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.
IMPORTANT: Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment. The instalment request carries over from school to school with the same frequency of payment eg Weekly, fortnightly, etc.
PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES BY INSTALMENT
EXISTING FAMILIES IN OUR SCHOOL WITH INSTALMENTS
If you are currently paying by instalments there is no need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment as your request carries over from year to year unless you wish to amend the frequency of your payments eg Weekly to Fortnightly
EXISTING FAMILIES IN OUR SCHOOL WITHOUT INSTALMENTS
If you would like to pay school fees by instalments in 2024 and have previously not taken up this option for payment, please complete a Request to Pay by Instalment Form which is available on the school’s website or from the school’s administration office. On completion of the request either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.
IMPORTANT: Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment. The instalment request
carries over from school to school with the same frequency of payment eg Weekly, fortnightly, etc.
School Fees Liaison Team
Dear Staff, Students, Parents and School Community
Over the past few months I have been absent from St. Patrick’s school.
I have a medical condition that requires treatment and regular visits to Wollongong hospital this has prevented me from carrying out my teaching job. Due to this I will not be returning this year and have taken the very hard decision to retire at the end of this year.
During Term 4 I hope to be visiting the school for some special occasions.
In the future I am very hopeful that I can return to undertake some casual teaching at St. Patrick's.
I have been at St. Patrick’s for 23 years and have loved teaching here and will miss it greatly!!
Kind Regards
Glen-Marie Phillips
Miss Phillips retirement will be celebrated at school on November 23 beginning with a whole school Mass at 9:30 am to which all are invited to attend.
