Grandparents Day, Book Week at St Patrick's Lochinvar – and $1,500 raised for Buy a Bale

St Patrick’s Primary School, Lochinvar, celebrated Grandparents’ Day this week while also showing support for local farmers battling the severe drought which has affected 98% of New South Wales.

Grandparents’ Day also incorporated Book Week celebrations where students explored the theme of ‘Find Your Treasure’.

This saw staff and students dressing up as pirates, explorers, treasure hunters and genies the day began with a morning tea for guests followed by a liturgy in the school hall.

Students then divided up into their sporting houses and participated in a variety of in-classroom activities around the Book Week theme.

As part of the Book Fair celebrations, students and visitors took part in - no prizes for guessing - a treasure hunt where they searched for gold coins which were then put in a lucky draw for vouchers to spend at the Book Fair.

Students and visitors also explored the pop-up museum and took a trip down memory lane viewing numerous artefacts from the past - including toys (construction, teddy bears, golliwog, train sets) utensils, tools and household items (including telephones from the past and present).

The museum also took a closer look at the history modules being studied by Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 4 students. This involves a close look at the life of early settlers and understanding the importance of learning about stories from the past so students can appreciate both the similarities and differences from the past and present.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together to celebrate the wonderful happenings at St Patrick’s,” said Jacqueline Wilkinson, Principal at St Patrick’s, Lochinvar.

The day was also used to help show support for local farmers who have been hard hit by the widespread drought with donations raised going towards Buy a Bale, a really worthy cause which helps farmers feed their livestock in times of need.

“Our day was incredibly successful,” said Jacqueline.

“We raised in excess of $1,500 for the Buy a Bale campaign - and we also had a very successful flash mob performance,” she added.