From the APRE

Sacramental Program 2019

St Patrick’s Parish Sacramental Program will start at the beginning of 2019. As part of this program students and their families prepare for, and celebrate, the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Communion in the first two terms of the school year. 

Next week, letters and an Enrolment Application will be sent home to all students in Year 3 who have been baptised. We will also check with older students to see if there is anyone who has been “missed” along the way. If this is something that you wish for your child to be a part of then please keep an eye out for this paperwork.

If possible, please complete the Enrolment Application and send back to either the school or parish Office before the end of the year. Otherwise, we will send out reminders in the first week of school next year. Please be mindful, that this is a parish/ family program (not school) and there is a weekly commitment for child and parent/ carer for most of Term One and Two.

Year 5 Camp

Last week I had the privilege of joining the 52 Year 5 students at their Leadership Camp at Currimundi, near Caloundra, along with Paula Wagner, Brendan Luck, Bee King and Annie Ward. What an unforgettable experience for all of us there. We were a 5 min walk from the beach, the cabins were airconditioned, with their own bathrooms inside and we were quite isolated from everyone else, so the nights were very quiet and surprisingly incident and interruption free.

For everyone there, the oldest (me) to the youngest there were new experiences and personal challenges. High ropes, a giant swing, stand up paddle boarding, rock climbing, caving and canoeing were just a few of the activities that we were all involved in. There were lots of laughs, but I am also very pleased to say that there were lots and lots of words of encouragement too as we all pushed ourselves to try something that was either physically or mentally challenging.

Group A, that I helped supervise for the 3 days, had the same instructor for all activities. Eben spent valuable time talking with the students about challenging themselves to be the best person they could be. He wasn’t talking particularly about the what they were doing, but he was relating it to life’s lessons. We all face challenges- it is how we tackle them and how we help others along the way, that matters.

As a final comment to me, after we finished our caving activity, Eben said that the SSPS students had restored his faith in the upcoming generation. In a typical week he interacts with 350 students and many of those encounters had left him feeling rather jaded. But not our crew. He spoke glowingly of the way they listened, they were respectful, they did as they were asked, they were polite, they looked out for each other and they had fun!! Well done Year 5! Our Leaders of 2019!!

Thanks to our Mass Choir

Fancy having to turn up for Mass on the day after Fun Day. I have to admit that I was not expecting to see many at the 9am Mass but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Well done to all our “regulars” who were for our last session, leading the congregation this year. Of course, this meant that for the Year 6s there, Sienna, Helan and Jeremy it was there last chance to sing as part of the SSPS school Mass Choir, though we did invite them to come and join us any time they like.

A special thanks to Anne-Maree Spalding, Anita McVeigh and Jo Cosgrove whose commitment to the choir has been unwavering. We really are so very lucky to have you!! Thank you very much. Thank you too, to the parents who obviously made it possible for the students to attend. We do appreciate you giving up your Sunday morning for your child’s choir commitments.

Mrs Judy Smith | Assistant Principal Religious Education