20th August 2025
Religious life of our school
Dear Families,
As we reach the midpoint of Term 3, it’s a joy to reflect on the incredible growth we’ve seen in our students—both in their learning and in their character. Classrooms are buzzing with curiosity, determination, and a genuine love of learning. Whether it’s mastering new maths strategies, diving into rich literature, or exploring the world through science and inquiry, our students continue to amaze us with their enthusiasm and resilience.
One of the most heartening aspects of this term has been the way our students are growing not just academically, but socially and emotionally. We see kindness in the playground, encouragement in the classroom, and a strong sense of community in every corner of the school. Their friendliness and willingness to support one another truly reflect the spirit of St Patrick’s.
We also welcome our new Parish Priest Fr Periya! Mass returns to 8.30am on a Sunday morning, followed by a much missed morning tea (Bridie particularly misses that part!) Fellowship is vital for a faith community that is alive and well – we invite you to attend this Sunday!
Tomorrow, Friday 22 August, we’re excited to celebrate Book Week with our much-loved Book Week Parade! This year’s theme, “Book an adventure,” invites students to step into the shoes of their favourite characters and bring stories to life. We can’t wait to see the creativity and colour on display as our students parade in costume and share their love of books. Families are warmly invited to join us for the parade and stay for a short assembly afterwards. Please note that this will occur at 8.45am, and not the usual 2.20pm assembly time.
At St Patrick’s, we know that the story of our school is not written by staff and students alone—it is a shared narrative that includes the love, support, and involvement of our families. Whether you’re attending school events, chatting to other parents at drop off or pick up or simply encouraging your child each day, your role is vital. Together, we are building a community where every child feels known, valued, and inspired to grow.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support. We look forward to seeing many of you at the Book Week Parade tomorrow!
Warm regards,
Anna Chandler
Middle Leader News
Toowoomba Catholic Schools Diocesan Approach to Reading is based on recent reading research and more specifically the latest research around the Science of Reading. Part of this research suggests that there are many strands that weave together to make a skilled reader. The above image is modified from Scarborough’s Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001) and provides a clear visual representation of what it takes to become a skilled reader.
The two sides of the rope represent both word recognition and language comprehension. Both parts play an equally important role as they join together to form the rope that represents the skilled reader.
At St Patrick’s, our students engage every day in different parts of the rope during Literacy Block time. In the lower years, word recognition is developed through the use of the Decodable Readers Program. In Year 4-6 students study morphology and word origins within the Literacy Skills part of the block. All students are then exposed to rich texts which incorporate the Language Comprehension component of the rope. By combining all of these elements with increasing strategy and automaticity, we aim for all of our learners to become fluent readers who are able to make meaning of the texts they read.
Annette Colley
Middle Leader (Curriculum)
Mrs Webster's News
Welcome to Week 6
The last couple of weeks the students have been participating in the following Health assessment tasks and Drama activities.
Upper School
The first part of their Assessment of healthy eating and lifestyle is to create a new canteen menu and morning fitness schedule for the school using the content covered this term. They will be required to submit the following tasks.
- Create a menu: Healthy foods from the five food groups and they the good for a healthy lifestyle.
- Advertisement for the new menu.
- Physical Activity Schedule for morning fitness/movement breaks looking at the importance of physical activity for all. They must include types of activities/games that could be used in their daily activities.
Middle School
Students use the Healthy Eating guidelines/five food groups and learning content this Term to create a poster advertising healthy eating in their school. The students have a checklist to include the benefits of healthy eating and examples of healthy choices, and they had to include a slogan that captures attention Health. The students used the Healthy Eating Poster drafting page to plan their poster and then create their final product on A4. They will use the following self-assessment checklist so the students can track their work and ensure they’ve included all required elements.
1. A catchy health slogan
2. A clear health message
3. An action the reader can take to follow the message
4. A problem that may occur if the action is not taken
5. Images that relate to the message
6. Appropriate colours
Lower School
The students following the five food groups in The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating will be assessed on their knowledge. They will identify food categories and list their importance. Students will design and draw the food items from the Australian food guide into the Healthy lunchbox. In their 5 Star Lunchbox, the students have to colour in the lunchbox and choose at least five food group to draw inside it. They then wrote/told a sentence persuading people in their class to choose their lunchbox.
Drama
In Drama we have continued to use different scenarios to depict how to deal with a difficult situation and random acts of kindness and what strategies we could use both verbal and nonverbal, whilst showing facial and body expression to express the correct emotions in the situation. Each week we continue to build on our warmup activities to develop confidence and relationships within the class to further develop their acting skills.
Enjoy your day!
Keep Smiling
Jane Webster
Mrs Eley's update
SPORT NEWS:
Good Luck to the students competing at the Southwest Athletics Carnival on Friday 29th August.
Procedures with Trial Forms:
Balonne district trial forms are to be handed back to the front office for the school to organise nomination and distribution of the from to the convener of the trial.
Southwest trial forms need to be sighted and signed by the school and then this form is returned to the student for them to take to the manager of the team they have been selected in.
LIBRARY NEWS:
In week 8 Story fest is once again coming to the Balonne Shire. The students will be attending various sessions with Authors during the 3-day festival. Information will be sent out through the Sentral Portal so keep an eye out for that.
In week 9 we will be hosting a Book Fair through the Book Warehouse. It will be in the Library and opening times will be as follows:
Tuesday 9th September
8am-8.30am and 3.15-4.00pm
Wednesday 10th September
8am-8.30am and 3.15-4.00pm
Thursday 11th September
3.15-4.00pm
Friday 12th September
8.00am – 9.00am
Borrowing continues as usual with returns on Wednesday and borrowing on Thursday. It has been wonderful to see so many books borrowed, read and returned. Thank you for your support with this.
St Patrick’s Library Staff
“Reading is Power and Knowledge”
Student Achievements
Class | Week 3 | Week 4 |
Prep | Ronix Wuersching Joseph Upton Hallie Smith | Zara North Colton Tattam Birdie Wood |
Year 1M | Ellie McArthur Lachlan Tierney | Ellie Frelek Spencer Johnstone |
Year 1/2D | Bridie Chandler Marley Meyer | Alex Lomman Carter Sting |
Year 2G | Andrew Cross Wyatt McArthur | Sarah Duffin Shirley Seidel |
Year 3Mc | Belle Vickers Barkley Hardie Jules North | William McIntosh Billie Fuller Anastasia Stewart |
Year 4R | Tillie Hyland Ellie McCosker Hailey Easterbrok | Charlie Harch Ivy Vickers Xander King |
Year 5W | Eleanor North Amelia O'Toole Abigail Tierney | Noah Ballin Yancy Dayag Darcy Stower |
Year 6B | Max Luck Olivia Harch | Hannah Acton Karlie Alderman |
Eley Elite | Eleanor Mayer | Mark Cross |
Health & Music | - | Sarah Duffin Thomas Walker Addison Avery |
Tuckshop
Our new tuckshop day is now every Thursday!
Lunches can be ordered via the Flexischools app anytime before 2pm on Wednesday.
Simply download the Flexischools app from the Apple or Google store and follow the prompts to create an account. Once set up, click “Order Food” to place your order and pay.
TERM 3 - Snapshot
Parish News
Dear parishioners,
Here is this week’s Parish Bulletin and an activity for the children.
IMPORTANT: This is the only email address that will now work for contacting the Parish so please take note for future reference- stgeorgeparish@twb.catholic.org.au
MASS THIS WEEK:
17 August – Sunday Mass, St Patrick’s Church, St George at 5pm followed by a shared supper in the Church Hall to farewell Fr John.
MASS NEXT WEEK:
24 August – Sunday Mass, St Patrick’s Church, St George at 8.30am
UPCOMING MASSES:
As we mentioned last week, Fr Periya will be our new priest starting here on 23 August.
Mass times and dates for masses in all the churches will be notified soon. Keep an eye on our Facebook page.
Prayer for peace:
Reminders
Is your Sentral for Parents app working?
St Patrick’s Parent Portal provides a more streamlined communication with parents. Please be sure you follow the instructions below on how to register. If you are having issues with your app, please contact the school office so we can help you get things resolved.
St Patrick's OHSC
St. Patrick's Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) is dedicated to supporting families within our vibrant school community. We provide a safe, welcoming, and engaging environment for children during both the school term and holiday periods.
Our operating hours are:
- Term Time: 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
- School Holidays: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
We offer both permanent and casual bookings to suit the varying needs of families. Enrolments are now open, and we warmly invite you to register your child/children with our service.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 0497 578 550 or via email at STGcare@tckc.qld.edu.au.
Lauren Booth
Service Coordinator
Fortnightly Riddle - Can you figure it out?
Last fortnights riddle was: What has a thumb and fingers but isn't alive?
Answer: A GLOVE!!! who got it correct??
This fortnights riddle is down below. GOOD LUCK!
Community News
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