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Year 6 students had a wonderful time away at camp enjoying a guided tour of the Maryborough Military Museum and the Gallipoli to Armistice ANZAC Memorial Walk; such special places to visit and pay respect to. Students also got to release some energy at the Hervey Bay Aquatic Centre on the inflatables and in the pool - the happy faces say it all. Days 2 and 3 of camp saw our students exploring K'gari and going Whale Watching. Everyone had a great trip, learned so much about such amazing natural wonders on our doorstep and strengthened friendships. We must thank our staff for once again going above and beyond for our students.
We are simply amazed by our 2024 Musical. With a cast of 70 students, 8 dedicated staff members, 3 teenage stage crew, 3 parent helpers, 400 costume pieces and glitter galore, our production was a mammoth task. The cast and crew spent every week since February planning, rehearsing, sewing, creating and painting. All of the hard work culminated with four sensational performances at Shalom's PAP on Tuesday and Wednesday, in front of sell-out crowds. We are so proud of our students and the quality of our production. Madagascar Jr; A Musical Adventure, what a show!
Year 5 students had an adventurous time away at Year 5 Camp at the Chaverim Outdoor Education Centre this week. With canoeing, orienteering, the low ropes course, rock climbing, raft building and the flying possum activity, students quickly learnt the importance of teamwork and to give everything a go. Thank you again to Chaverim and our wonderful staff for supporting our students during their time away.
Our Book Week celebrations culminated today with our 2nd annual Reading on the Deck event. Families were invited to come along to school, gather around the deck, have some time to read with the children, add to our ‘concrete garden’ and share a sausage sizzle together. No matter the age, students enjoy being read to and experiencing reading through others and this was evident today. It was just amazing to see the sheer number of families who took time out of their day to spend it engaged in reading with our children. We must thank Mrs Driver, Mrs Tindall, Mrs French and our staff for organising the magical week and making today so special for all involved.
The Year 4 Tinaberries excursion was a happy delicious event, where students picked and packed (in-between tasting and eating) their scrumptious scarlet strawberries. Students were given a presentation about the lifecycle of strawberries, the importance of water and how precious lady beetles are for the protection and growth of this delightful berry. The day was filled with hands-on learning and after all that hard work in the sunshine the students enjoyed a special treat of real strawberry ice-cream! It was a fun and educational adventure that made for a truly memorable day. Thank you Tinaberries!
Congratulations to the St Patrick's 2024 Spelling Bee winners. Well over 230 students competed in this year's Spelling Bee, wow! After many hard-fought rounds, we ended up awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in both the Junior (Yrs1-3) and Senior (Yrs4-6) categories. What a wonderful achievement. We must also give mention to the many students who gave the Spelling Bee their best shot this year, and fantastic display of genuine sportsmanship for those who bowed out of earlier rounds. We hope to see everyone back again next year.
At St Patrick’s we measure success by the amount of effort given. We are very proud of our Athletics Team and their successes at District Athletics. The students were reminded of Ms G’s story and were asked to give their best shot. St Patrick’s was presented with three trophies for their efforts; the first for the highest points tally in Girls' Events, the second was the Champion A Schools trophy and the third was the Bundaberg District Champion Athletics School for 2024 for the highest points scored over the two-day carnival. Congratulations St Patrick’s!
Our school community should be very proud of our students for their participation, enthusiasm and sportsmanship that was displayed across all age groups at our Junior and Senior Athletics Carnivals this year. Thank you to the staff and House Leaders who assisted in many roles at the carnivals, ensuring that all students had a highly enjoyable experience. Most importantly, thank you to the parents and grandparents of our students whose support and encouragement contributed to a wonderful atmosphere at both events. Coolock House took out the Malouf Cup this year as well as the Ball Games Father Meade Trophy. Mackillop House were awarded with the Team Spirit Jack Dwyer Memorial Shield for 'choosing kindness over winning'. Well done to all competitors involved over a successful two days of competition.
Our annual Music Retreat is in full swing. Miss Kate and Mrs Connolly are working hard with our Senior and Junior String Ensembles in preparation for their performances for parents this afternoon. We are so blessed to have such talented tutors offering so many extra curricular opportunities for our students.
Today our Senior Students competed in our Field Events Day. It was wonderful to see so many happy, determined faces displaying sportsmanship and giving it their best shot. Coolock House was awarded the Field Events Shield for 2024. Well done to all the student's involved in a successful day.
It is Road Safety Week! A big SHOUT OUT to the army of students and parents who joined in solidarity, as a St Patrick’s community, to ‘Walk to School Safely’ this morning. We are blessed to have a close connection with the Bundaberg Police Service. They are not only geographically placed in our neighbourhood but interested and connected to our school and community. A big THANK YOU to Senior Constable Britt Duncan, Senior Constable Nic Christison, Senior Constable Steve Moore and Acting Sergeant Gordon Hard who kept us extra safe, giving us a positive experience of the great work they do for the good of those in our local area. Road Safety is everybody’s business, and we welcome Senior Constable Duncan back in next week, to plant such seeds in our young when she carries out special class visits and talks next week. Thanks also to Mrs Lucy Storey who co-ordinated this event and to the large number of staff who participated. We were also grateful to staff and parents (Cath Callaghan is one that comes to mind) that stayed on to assist in the distribution of fruit to participating students. It was a lovely morning of sunshine!
Today we saw our senior students take to the track to compete in our Inter-house Cross Country at Shalom. It was a morning full of sportsmanship, effort and encouragement. A big thanks to Miss G and her team of helpers who made the morning a success, thank you to Shalom for the use of their facilities and for the wonderful support from our parent community.
Our Prep to Year 2 students certainly had fun at our recent Junior Obstacle Course. Each and every one of our youngest students gave it their all, joined in and had fun. Once again our parent support was unwavering. We are so blessed to have such a fabulous school community.
Our Anzac Day commemorations this year included; participation in the Bundaberg Civic Ceremony and March, our whole school Prayer Service led by 5G, 5P's Courtyard Prayer and sending postcards to local Veterans. We were blessed to have Sergeant Leon Hart be with us to read The Ode, Miss Kate to play the New Zealand and Australian National Anthems and Emilio from Shalom to play The Last Post and the Rouse on the trumpet for us. Our students were outstanding ambassadors for our school at such important events. Lest we forget.
What a wonderful day for the fair! Today we held our annual Mini Fair to raise money for Project Compassion. Our families were so generous with their donations, our staff outstanding as usual - working tirelessly to make the fair such fun. Our students had a fabulous time while also raising money for a great cause. We also welcomed our friends from Carinbundi who ran 2 stalls at our fair too. An all-round fantastic day was had by all.
Dance Night is always a special time to come together as a community to celebrate the learning of our students and have the opportunity to connect with our families. The students were fantastic, and we must thank our wonderful teaching staff who gave up their family time to make this event so amazing. We loved seeing so many happy faces dancing the night away.
Today we gathered as a School Community to induct our 2024 Student Leaders. The prayer service was led by Fr Sijo and our Year 6 students. Such a lovely occasion supported by many parents and family members.
This morning we gathered as a school community for our End of Year Prayer Celebration, led by Fr Sijo. We farewelled our Year 6 Students along with families who are journeying on next year. We presented a very grateful Mr Dennis Beckton, from St Vincent de Paul, with our Christmas Appeal donations. Our current leaders handed over the responsibility of leadership to our Year 5 students, in preparation for 2024 and we said one final farewell to Ms Cath. May God hold you all in the palm of his hand this Christmas.
Congratulations to the St Patrick's 2023 Spelling Bee winners. Well over 200 students competed in this year's Spelling Bee, wow! After many hard-fought rounds, we ended up awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in both the Junior (Yrs1-3) and Senior (Yrs4-6) categories. What a wonderful achievement. We must also give mention to the many students who gave the Spelling Bee their best shot this year, and we hope to see them all back again next year.
This week is Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. We just love our Support Staff here at St Patrick's and we are blessed to have such skilled, caring and dedicated staff who are always ready to guide our students. They quietly go about their work and get the job done without any fuss. We have heard it said that if Teachers are the glue in a school, then Teacher Aides are the glitter glue! So today we spread a little glitter back on our wonderful support staff. Thank you for all you do!
St Patrick's Book Week celebrations culminated today with our 'Reading on the Deck' event. Families were invited to come along to school, gather around the deck, have some time to read with the children and share a sausage sizzle together. It was just wonderful to see the number of families who took time out of their day to spend it engaged in reading with our children. What a fabulous way to end a week of celebrating literature!
The St Patrick’s Reef Guardians Team were excited to attend the Bundaberg Multiplex earlier this week for ‘Science Together’ a celebration of 20 years of Reef Guardian Schools in Bundaberg. Students showcased their environmental projects and interests alongside an impressive line-up of speakers including world-renowned scientist and inventor Dr Jordan Nguyen.
What an exciting week we have had celebrating Catholic Education Week. The week began with some acts of kindness challenges. Students helped deliver hand-made cards to local Police and Ambulance officers, Shalom, St Mary's, St Joseph's, local hospitals, our neighbours and the SES. We were led in a beautiful Courtyard Prayer by 3C who highlighted how amazing Catholic schools are and how blessed we are to be part of the St Patrick’s community. Our Choirs and String Ensembles competed at the Bundaberg Eisteddfod and were simply outstanding. Our Mini Vinnies Team were sensational, working hard selling over 700 Kindness Cupcakes and organising special little thankyous for the entire staff. A cheeky leprechaun hid joy gems around the school in an effort for us to realise that when we work together we can achieve great things. Students in years 5 and 6 had a visit from some of the members of the Bulldogs NRL team, talking about integrity and teamwork. There has been a certain energy and electricity in the air this week and it has been just lovely to see so many happy and excited faces.
On Monday and Tuesday this week our Junior and Senior Choirs along with our Junior and Senior String Ensembles competed at the Bundaberg Eisteddfod. They were filled with excitement, anticipation and for some, nerves for their performances. We are so proud of the way all of our students conducted themselves at the Eisteddfod, congratulating and praising other groups on their performances. All four of our groups received 1st place with beautiful feedback from the Adjudicator. Congratulations must go to Miss Kate, Mrs Morley, Mr Goodall, Mrs Connolly and Mrs McLucas; for all of their hard work, dedication and passion for the musical development of our students.
Congratulations to our Challenge Cup Teams who represented St Patrick’s so well this week. They competed against teams from throughout our Diocese. The Rugby League Team came 15th out of 24 teams and our Netball Team also fought hard throughout the carnival, finishing 8th out of 32 teams. All players displayed excellent sportsmanship and were accompanied by a great group of supportive, positive parents. A big shout out to Mr Plumb, Mr Zandona, Mrs Medley and Miss Whaleboat who prepared these teams over many months and coached them through to a great result.
What a way to end the Festival of Athletics and the term at St Patrick's. Today our Junior Athletics Carnival capped off a wonderful week of Athletics. It was great to see our youngest students giving every event their best shot! The happy faces say it all. Thank you to the many parents and extended family who have been there this week to support the students. Congratulations to MacKillop for taking out the Spirit Award and to Coolock for taking out the overall win as the champion house for 2023!
On Wednesday we held our Senior Athletics Carnival at Shalom. It was a fabulous day of competition, with fantastic displays of resilience, sportsmanship and determination. We must thank Mrs Hammermeister and her team for the wonderful job they have done in organising the carnival, along with Mr McMahon and Shalom for the use of their wonderful facilities. Presently Coolock are in the lead, but with the Junior Carnival still to come anything can happen.
Today's Music Retreat was fabulous. We had 47 students working with our very talented music tutors; Mrs Kate Hardisty, Mr Michael Goodall and Mrs Bernadette Connolly. Our students spent the day at Chaverim learning new music and techniques. They spent over 5hrs rehearsing and the day culminated with performances for parents at school. We are in awe of the talent of our tutors, our students are so blessed to have the opportunity to learn from the very best. What a day!
We were so grateful to have Bishop Michael and Fr Don visit us at St Patrick's today. They were with us for 4C's Courtyard Prayer, spoke with the children undertaking their Sacraments and even had a chat with Year 3. 4C presented Bishop Michael with his very own plant as part of their pledge to protect part of God's creation; our planet.
On Thursday our Year 3 students were lucky enough to go on an excursion to Mon Repos. While they were there, they had the opportunity to visit the Turtle Discovery Centre with its interactive displays. They explored the Conservation Park with a Ranger and learned about turtle research and nesting. They went on a walking tour and learned about Indigenous bush tucker and survival techniques. The students even got to play some games on the beach that simulated turtles hatching and the dangers the hatchlings face along the way.
As part of National Road Safety Week, our Prep to Year 2 students were lucky enough to have Senior Constable Britt Duncan and Sergeant John Kendall come along to talk to them about road safety. Our students had a fabulous time learning about road safety and they even got to have a close look at police cars and hear their sirens firsthand. We may have some future Police Officers among our students after the fun they had today.
Lest We Forget. Today we gathered together to march in memory of, and to give thanks for, the sacrifices of our service men and women. We are so thankful for our amazing school community, so many of our staff, students and families coming together to honour the ANZAC spirit. Yesterday we held a special prayer service at school and were privileged to have Major Halstead, Captain Halstead and Sergeant Hart at our ceremony.
Today's Senior Cross Country was a great display of determination and team spirit. All of our students gave it their best and encouraged each other in every race. The smiles on the students' faces say it all. Congratulations to the McAuley House for taking out the trophy today.
Our Junior Obstacle Course and Cross Country was so fun. It is always wonderful to see our youngest students giving it their best shot. A huge thank you to Mrs H and Miss G for organising such a fabulous event. Congratulations to Xavier House who came away with the win on the day. As always, we must thank the large number of parents and family members who came along to support our students.
Today we held our annual Mini Fair as part of our Project Compassion fundraising efforts. Once again it was a roaring success; we managed to raise in excess of $2500 to go toward setting up a library for a school in Nepal. What a day; our students had fun, parents joined in and our wonderful friends from Carinbundi provided some fabulous stalls too. We must thank our staff for working so tirelessly to ensure the day was a great success. The pictures say it all.
Year 6 had a fabulous time on their camp this week. They had to opportunity to explore the Maryborough Military Museum, Hervey Bay Aquatic Centre, Lake McKenzie, Eli Creek and Fraser Island's (K'gari) SS Maheno to name a few. What an adventure! Thank you to all of the staff who accompanied the students.
Our 2022 Musical, Disney’s Moana Jr, was an overwhelming success. With a cast and crew of 75 students and a team of dedicated teachers and parents we were able to perform for 4 sell-out audiences. A production of this magnitude could not happen without the leadership of a fabulous group of staff members: Jed Morley (Director and Choreographer), Amelia Morine (Costume design and creation), Jessica Cullinan (Props design and creation), Rebecca Lovejoy (Make-up design), Sara Salmond and Shaye Curd (Backstage), Kirsty McCulloch – Shalom (Musical Specialist) and the Enthusiasm Coordinator, Tracey Cook. We must also thank Cathie and Andrew McInnes for their tireless assistance behind the scenes and Jodi Prange for the amazing photos.
Our Junior and Senior String Ensembles along with our Junior and Senior Choirs recently competed at the Bundaberg Eisteddfod. Not only did these students represent our school so beautifully they represented themselves and their families wonderfully as well. Our Senior Choir, Junior Strings and Senior Strings all received 1st place in their respective sections. Our Junior Choir came 2nd in their section and were one of the few schools with Prep students in the line-up. We must thank Mrs Morley, Mrs Connolly and Miss Kate for all of the work they put into our music program. We are so blessed to have each of them. It was impressive to hear the standard of all of our performances.
Today our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students travelled to Shalom to participate in NAIDOC on the grass. They had the opportunity to experience some indigenous games, food and craft. What a wonderful experience for our students. Thank you to Shalom for hosting us and Mrs Driver for accompanying the students.
Congratulations to our two sporting teams who competed at this year’s Challenge Cup held in Yeppoon. The Rugby League and Netball teams competed with spirit, skill, sportsmanship, determination and grit throughout the three days of competition. All competitors should be very proud of their achievements and conduct at this carnival. You were all wonderful ambassadors for our school.
Our school community should be very proud of our students for their participation, enthusiasm and sportsmanship that was displayed across all age groups at our Junior and Senior Athletics Carnivals last term. Thank you to the staff and House Leaders who assisted in many roles at the Carnivals, ensuring that all students had a highly enjoyable experience. Most importantly, thank you to the parents and grandparents of our students whose support and encouragement contributed to a wonderful atmosphere at both events.
We are so proud of our school community coming out in force once again to keep the spirit of the Anzacs alive at the Bundaberg Anzac March today. On Friday we commemorated Anzac Day with a whole school prayer service. It was a great way for us to acknowledge the sacrifice of our diggers. As a school community we believe it is important that we know what we stand for. Respect and gratitude for the sacrifices made for us, are two of those things. Lest We Forget.
The wonderful cast of our 2022 school musical, Moana Jr, are so very excited to have received their cast shirts today.
Our Senior Cross Country was a superb day. We saw such grit and determination from all of our competitors under some tough conditions. It is always so humbling to see every one of our students, of all sporting abilities, give it their best shot. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the children.
Today we held our Junior Obstacle Course that was so much fun for our Prep to Year 2 students. It is always inspiring to see our youngest students giving the course their best effort, and they do it with a smile on their faces and a determined spirit. We are so blessed with the fantastic support of our school community for our whole school events, and today was no different. What a great day!
Dance Night was a fabulous way to finish off our St Patrick's Day festivities. We had an amazing turnout of families to celebrate with us. We must thank Miss G for preparing the students so well and for leading the night with such enthusiasm. Thanks to Mrs H and Mr Fox for all of their behind-the-scenes work too. What a great night!
Happy St Patrick's Day! We celebrated with a beautiful liturgy this morning, led by Fr Sijo and Year 6. It was lovely to welcome Fr Sijo to our school. We also acknowledged our Year 6 leaders who were absent for their induction and congratulated our House Captains for 2022.
Today we held our Year 6 Leadership Induction. We are very proud of these young people and as the leaders of our school, they take on an important role within our community. They have accepted the responsibilities of leadership and have committed themselves to supporting all students, setting a good example, accepting help and advice, and demonstrating their faith through their actions and words. We know they will all be amazing leaders for us during 2022.