Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful and refreshing break, and we are excited to see our students, staff, and families return for another fantastic year of learning and growth.

A special thank you to our dedicated staff for all the hard work and preparation that went into getting the classrooms ready. Their efforts ensure that our students have a welcoming and engaging learning environment from day one.

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Danny for his incredible work on the school grounds over the holidays. The care and effort put into maintaining and improving our outdoor spaces have made a noticeable difference, and we truly appreciate it.

We look forward to a great term ahead, filled with learning, laughter, and community spirit. Let’s make it a fantastic year!

Prep 2025 Students

I would like to formally welcome our new Prep Students to St. Patrick's Community (across 3 classes). Their first day of school will be Tuesday 4th February (half day) and then they will be full time from Wednesday 5th February. My thanks to our amazing Prep team - Mrs Hulse, Miss Short and Mrs Thorley for the many hours of work that have gone into individually testing the children this week and preparing them for their first day of Primary school next week. Special thanks also to our LSO team for their dedication and support to our students as well.

Welcome to our new Students for 2025

I would like to welcome our 26 new students who are starting with us this year.

Billy W, Hudson W, Alison F, Eden D, Mason M, Ashley B, Frances B, Norah H, Alegra C-T, Lana Z, Phoebe A-L, Abigail O, Alexander F, Benjamin F, Charlotte W, Ashton F, Isabella R, Magnus G, Mila V, Anthony Z, Elliot A-L, Mingze (Jimmy) J, Serephin S, Leo H, Suhas M, Olivia O.

Whole School - Start of the Year Mass

Next Tuesday 4th February will be our start of the year mass for all students. Parents are most welcome to attend, mass will begin at 9:15am in the Church. Prep Students will not be attending this mass as it is their first day of school.

Staff Baby News

I am pleased to announce the following staff members who will be adding to their families this year:

Mrs. Bridget Troup (Year 6BT) and her husband, Lachie, are expecting their first child in early June. Mrs. Troup will be working until the end of May, after which Mr. Nathan Mayberry will take over her class during her maternity leave. Mr Mayberry will also be working in Year 6BT on Mondays during Term 1 and part of Term 2.
Mrs. Emily Thorley (Prep ET) and her husband, Alex, are also expecting their first child in early June. Mrs. Thorley will be working until the end of May, and I am in the process of finalising a replacement teacher for Prep ET for the remainder of the year. As soon as this appointment is confirmed, I will inform the community.
Mr. Brodie Ross (Specialst eLearning Teacher & Leader) and his wife, Alysia, are expecting their first children (twins) in April. Mr. Ross will take some paternity leave during that time, and Mr. Nathan Mayberry will teach eLearning during his absence.
Mr. James Daidone (Specialist STEM Teacher & Leader) and Mrs. Bianca Daidone (Class Teacher) are expecting their second child in the next week or so. We wish them all the best during this exciting time. Mr. Nathan Mayberry will cover Mr. Daidone's STEM classes for all of Term 1.

We wish all of our staff expecting babies the very best, as they prepare to welcome this wonderful blessing into their lives.

Year 5 & 6 Upcoming Camps

The Year 5 Portsea camp is scheduled for Week 3 of this term on Monday 10th February to Wednesday 12th February.

The Year 6 Canberra Camp is scheduled for Week 5 of this term on Monday 24th February to Friday 28th February.

My sincere thanks to all of the school staff who are attending these camps that enable our students to access these amazing opportunities.

Kaboom Sports this Friday (Tomorrow)

All students will need to wear their school sports uniform on Friday 31st January as we will be running the Kaboom Kids sports program once again. All students will participate in round robin activities on our oval. Please ensure your child/children have their school hats and have applied sunscreen.

Whole School Asembly

As reported last year we have moved our assembly day and time to Friday afternoons at 2:50pm. This Friday we will be holding our first assembly of the year. We will also be presenting the Year 6 leadership badges at this assembly.

School Holiday Works

Over the holiday break Danny and his team were hard at work improving our school facilities. These holidays we have completed the following works:

O'Hanlon Centre - Painting all walls, new carpets & new lino.

Senior classrooms - Painting & repairing all walls, new carpets (4 rooms, remaining 4 rooms mid year), new false ceilings (4 rooms),

Admin Area - 2 new Deputy Principal Offices (almost completed)

Senior Playground - Ready for use on Monday 3rd February

Chook Pen - New chook pen construction has started (to be finished later this year). Old Chook pen space to become the Junior Playground area

Upcoming works this year include carpeting the final 4 senior classrooms, carpeting the Year 3 & 4 Classrooms on the mezzanine floor as well as moving student lockers and the planning for the Junior Playground refurbishment and repurposing of the current junior playground to an outdoor classroom. We have many more ideas to share through the student SRC committee!

P & F Fundraising Focus for 2025

Sibling - Prep 2026 Enrolments and Open Days

Sibling Prep enrolments for 2026 are now open and are accessible from our school website or from the office. Our 'Open Days' are scheduled for Tuesday 4th March, Tuesday 11th March and Wednesday 26th March or by appointment. As per our enrolment policy, current families will have priority enrolment, followed by baptised catholics in our boundries and then baptised catholics outside our boundries, if we have availablity, we can then accept other enrolments. We are currently expecting to have 3 Prep classes for 2026 of around 23-24 students per class. Sibling enrolment interviews will occur at the end of Term 1. This will enable us to determine how many places we will have avaliable for new families.

The school currently has 21 classes across 7 year levels - Prep to Year 6.

We have 3 classes per year level - Prep to Year 6 (average class size of just under 22 per class). This gives us a total enrolment of 460 for the start of the 2025 year - up by 30 students from last year. Next year we are expecting to continue to have 21 classes P - Yr 6 (3 classes per year level) with an average class size of between 23-24 students across the school.

Taekwondo and Chess Clubs

Please note that Taekwondo, Out of Hours Music lessons and Chess clubs will be continuing at St. Patrick's in 2025. Please see the fliers in our community information pages for booking information.

School Uniform

Please ensure your child/children are in correct summer uniform/sports uniform on the correct days. Please note that the full summer uniform includes correct shoes - black school shoes and not runners/sneakers. I will be checking school uniforms next week across the community.

New Whole School Song

On Monday 3rd February, Mr Drew Lane will be working with our Year 6 students to create a new whole school song. The song will be used for special occassions for us to celebrate our amazing school.

God Bless,

Pat Berlingeri

Principal