St Patrick's Parramatta

🕰️ Way Back When Wednesday 🕰️

Can you guess the year?

🔹 The Prime Minister of Australia was Malcolm Fraser
🔹 The number one song in Australia was Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes.
🔹 The biggest movie in cinemas was Raiders of the Lost Ark.
🔹 A loaf of bread cost around 60 cents.
🔹 Petrol was approximately 45 cents per litre.
🔹 Kids spent their afternoons riding BMX bikes, collecting Rubik’s Cubes, and playing arcade games like Pac-Man!

Have you worked it out yet? 🤔

🎉 The year was... 1981!

This week's photo takes us back to a very different time at St Patrick's. Hairstyles were bigger, school bags were smaller, and nobody had ever heard of the internet!

📸 Do you recognise any familiar faces? Is that Sister Marie Johnson as Principal?
💭 Were you a student, parent, teacher, or perhaps not even born yet?

We'd love to hear your memories of 1981 in the comments below!

#1981

🧮🎯 "Operation 100" - Year 3 🎯🧮

As part of our 100 Year Celebrations, Year 3 students embarked on a very special maths adventure... "Operation 100"!

Armed with nothing but a pencil, paper and their mathematical brainpower, students faced a mission that was simple... but definitely not easy!

Their challenge was to work through 100 exciting maths questions packed with number challenges, puzzles, patterns, problem-solving tasks and brain teasers. Some questions were tricky, some were simple, some were funny, and for some questions, the answer was even 100!

Throughout the challenge, students demonstrated persistence, focus and resilience as they tackled each task and pushed themselves to think like mathematicians.

The countdown was on. Pencils were ready. Brains were activated. And our Year 3 students rose to the challenge!

🏆 Congratulations to our aspiring "Operation 100" Champions. We loved seeing your determination and enthusiasm throughout the mission.

🧮💯 Operation 100 - Year 2 💯🧮

As part of our 100 Year Celebrations, our Year 2 students took on 'The BIG Challenge '!

Their mission was to create a paper chain with '100 links', with each link representing one year of St Patrick’s Primary School history.

But there was a twist...

Students had to work with a partner and arrange their coloured strips using different counting patterns to 100. Instead of counting by ones, they had to think like mathematicians and show their thinking through colour, grouping and clever counting strategies.

There was plenty of teamwork, problem-solving and mathematical discussion as students asked themselves:

💭 How can we arrange the strips so we don’t need to count by ones?
💭 How can the colours help us show our thinking?
💭 How will we know we have completed the mission successfully?

Well done, Year 2! You certainly linked history, mathematics and teamwork beautifully.

What a wonderful surprise!

Mrs Standring was certainly shaken, but not stirred, on Tuesday when she was greeted by a delightful batch of bakers... or was it a brigade of chefs? Whatever the correct recipe may be, it was a truly heartwarming moment and a lovely way to acknowledge her work as the Assistant Principal!
The thoughtful gestures, kind words and generous contributions were the icing on the cake and left Mrs Standring feeling incredibly grateful. Days like these remind us that the secret ingredient in our school community is the care, kindness and support we show one another.
Thank you to everyone who helped whip together such a special celebration. It was baked to perfection and filled Mrs Standring's heart with joy, reinforcing her love and passion for our wonderful St Patrick's community.

Get ready to be inspired! 🌟 Here are some more photos from the Year 3 excursion to Sydney Zoo, last Friday. They embarked on a thrilling adventure, diving into the fascinating world of habitats, ecosystems, and food chains! 🌿 Students got up close and personal with incredible animals and discovered the amazing ways living things depend on each other to thrive. They also learned about the power of human impact and how they can be a hero for habitat while participating in an exciting new workshop! 💚

Way Back When - Wednesday
Can you guess the year?

🔹 The Prime Minister was Julia Gillard.
🔹 The biggest movie at the box office was Toy Story 3.
🔹 The number one song in Australia was Love the Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna.
🔹 A loaf of bread cost around $2.50.
🔹 Petrol was about $1.20 per litre.
🔹 Everyone seemed to be playing on a Nintendo Wii, and "Just Dance" was all the rage!

Have you worked it out yet? 🤔

🎉 The year was... 2010!

Take a trip down memory lane with us and enjoy this snapshot from our school archives. Whether you were a student, parent, teacher, or perhaps not even at school yet, we'd love to hear what you remember about 2010!
Can you believe it was 16 years ago!?!
📸 Do you recognise anyone in this week's photo?

We're all going to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow. And we can stay all day!🦓🐘🐅🦁🦍🦒
Year 3 definitely enjoyed their day at the zoo last Friday. Learning all about how animals are classified. May this be the start of a lifelong journey to cherish and protect our planet's incredible creatures, inspired by Sir David Attenborough's vision that 'Bringing Nature into a classroom can kindle a fascination and passion for the diversity of life on earth and can motivate a sense of responsibility to safeguard it'.

Simultaneous Storytime at St Patrick's is always a delightful experience at St Patrick's, especially when we're joined by the inspiring Luna Roo (aka Mr McIntosh). This shared adventure sparks a passion for literature and ignites a lifelong love of learning in our students.🦘💞

Congratulations to the students and families who received their first Holy Communion today at St Patrick’s Cathedral. It was such a moving service full of love faith and commitment. May the love of Christ be with you always.

The 10-year-olds had an absolute blast at the St Patrick's Athletics Carnival, where they participated in a wide range of fun-filled activities that brought out their competitive spirit and teamwork skills. Smiles were abundant as they experienced the thrill of racing, jumping, and throwing, and their joy was obvious as they cheered each other on. It was a fantastic day that will be remembered for a long time to come! 🏆🏃‍♀️🎉