Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
We warmly welcome everyone back to the start of a new school year. We hope the holiday break provided time to rest, recharge, and enjoy moments with family and friends. It has been wonderful to see our students return, ready for another year of learning, connection, and growth.
We would like to acknowledge and thank our dedicated staff for the time, care, and preparation that has gone into ensuring classrooms are ready for the year ahead. Their commitment helps create positive, engaging spaces where students can feel settled and supported from the very first day.
Our sincere thanks also go to Danny for the tremendous work completed on the school grounds over the holidays. The attention given to maintaining and enhancing our outdoor areas has had a significant impact, and we are grateful for the pride and care taken in this work.
We are looking forward to an exciting term ahead, rich with learning opportunities, shared experiences, and a strong sense of community. Here’s to a positive and rewarding year for all.
Prep 2026 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 Spence, Miss Short and Miss Smith 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 2026
I would like to welcome our 14 new students who are starting with us this year.
Year 1 - Marko T, Layla L, Matteau P, Antonia L, Sienna H
Year 2 - Leo P, Jasmine M
Year 3 - Tiago L
Year 4 - Alex K, Harry C
Year 5 - Amelie S-D, Liam G, Andy K, Victoria L
Whole School - Start of the Year Mass
Next Tuesday 3rd 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. Stephanie Hulse
Mrs. Ellie Connell
Ms Isabelle Douglas
We wish all of our staff expecting babies the very best, as they prepare to welcome this wonderful blessing into their lives. All 3 staff members will be going on Parental leave during various stages of Term 1.
Year 5 & 6 Upcoming Camps
The Year 5 Portsea camp is scheduled for Week 3 of this term on Monday 9th February to Wednesday 11th February.
The Year 6 Canberra Camp is scheduled for Week 9 of this term on Monday 23rd March to Thursday 26th March.
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 30th 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. This session will happen in the morning so we avoid the heat of the day.
City of Kingston Parking Inspectors
Please see below information from the City of Kingston Parking Inspectors:
Kingston City Council’s Parking Enforcement team will be commencing school patrols and applying the road rules to ensure compliance and safety around schools in the morning and afternoon throughout the week.
Council will be prioritising schools that receive concerns from School Crossing Supervisors and concerns from public, the schools themselves with parking enforcement.
The first week back, Parking Officers will be focusing on educating the parents of the road rules as there will be a lot of new parents to schools, which Council appreciates.
After that, Council’s Parking Enforcement team will be enforcing the road rules for illegal parking that is observed.
Whole School Asembly
This Friday we will be holding our first assembly of the year at 2:50pm in the school hall. We will also be presenting the Year 6 leadership badges at this assembly. All are welcome to attend.
Sibling - Prep 2027 Enrolments and Open Days
Sibling Prep enrolments for 2027 are now open and are accessible from our school website or from the office. Our 'Open Days' are scheduled for Tuesday 3rd March, Tuesday 10th March and Wednesday 1st April 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 2027 of around 23-24 students per class. Sibling enrolment interviews will occur during Term 1. This will enable us to determine how many places we will have avaliable for new families.
The school is currently maintaining 21 classes across 7 year levels - Prep to Year 6 (Maximum amount of classes available).
We have 3 classes per year level - Prep to Year 6 (average class size of 22 per class). This gives us a total enrolment of 462 for the start of the 2026 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. We will continue to limit class sizes to 24 per class for the forseeable future.
School Fees
We are very excited to announce that your School Fee Module is now available in your CDFpay app!
Downloading the app (for families):
- Please follow these instructions to register for a CDFpay account:
1. Search ‘CDFpay’ on the App Store (Apple) or Google Play store, download the app, then click ‘Sign up now’. Alternatively, scan the QR code or enter the following link in your web browser: https://user.cdfpay.flexischools.com.au/register
2. Enter and confirm your email address, then click ‘Sign up’.
3. Tip: CDFpay automatically links your school fees when your CDFpay email matches the primary email address on file at your school. If the emails don't match, you can manually link your school fees by selecting the 'School fees' tile on the home page and following the on-screen instructions. Check your email inbox and follow the prompts to complete your account registration (check junk/spam if lost).
Note: Only one parent or guardian per account code will be able to link and manage school fees in CDFpay.
If you have outstanding fees from this year or prior years, you can start making payments in CDFpay straight away using one or more of the following methods:
· Bank account
· Credit or debit card
If you already have a payment plan or have paid for this year – thank you! We still encourage you to link your school fees in CDFpay to view balances.
CDFpay support
Visit the CDFpay Help & Support page for step-by-step guides and FAQs. If you can’t find what you need, please complete the online Contact Form, and the Flexischools support team will get back to you directly.
Taekwondo, Music Lessons and Chess Clubs
Please note that Taekwondo, Out of Hours Music lessons and Chess clubs will be continuing at St. Patrick's in 2026. 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.
School Safety
Please note that eBikes and eScooters are not permitted on school grounds or to be stored on school grounds due to safety reasons.
All adults and students who ride regular bikes or scooters to St Patrick’s are required to dismount and walk them whilst on school grounds.
Please find a news article regarding children's safety and eBikes & eScooters HERE.
Thank you for your cooperation with this matter.
God Bless,
Pat Berlingeri
Principal