From the Principal

Dear families,

During the Lenten season, St. Patrick’s Primary School is participating in Project Compassion. This is Caritas Australia’s annual fundraising and awareness-raising appeal, bringing thousands of Australians together in solidarity with the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice, and uphold dignity. It runs throughout the six weeks of Lent each year. Project Compassion is an extraordinary, ongoing demonstration of the faith, love, and generosity of caring supporters, all in the name of justice and peace. The theme of Project Compassion for 2025 is “Unite Against Poverty.”

This Sunday, three members of our student executive team will attend the launch of Project Compassion at Mass and be commissioned as leaders by Bishop Paul.

Next week, each family will receive a Project Compassion money collection box to use throughout Lent. We ask that these boxes and their contents be returned to school in the last week of term so that all collected funds can be passed on to Caritas Australia to support their crucial work.

Thank you for your support of this important initiative.

Enhancing Feedback on Student Learning

At St Patrick’s, we recognise the importance of timely and insightful feedback in supporting student growth. Meaningful feedback, aligned with the curriculum, helps students understand their progress and next steps in learning.

In 2024, the School Advisory Council explored how we provide feedback on learning to families and discussed ways to improve this process. As part of this ongoing work, we have elected to discontinue the paste-up Learning Journals in favour of a digital, timely solution that enhances feedback. We appreciate that there are many perspectives on Learning Journals, and while there is never a perfect time for change, we believe this shift will provide richer, more immediate insights into student learning.

This week, we are excited to share the first steps in this journey. For the first time, you will see a completed assessment task for your child in the ‘Learning Areas’ section of the Parent Access Module (PAM). This will provide feedback on a mathematics assessment task completed this week.

Some tasks will reflect students’ understanding before a learning sequence begins, while others will capture progress during instruction or demonstrate knowledge and skills at the end of a unit. Over time, this process will expand to include feedback across all curriculum areas, ensuring families have greater visibility of their child’s learning journey.

We appreciate your support as we continue refining and strengthening the way we communicate student learning.

Shrove Tuesday & Ash Wednesday Mass

Next Tuesday, the Parents & Friends Association will be cooking pancakes for all students to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. This is a special day in the Catholic tradition, marking a time of joy and preparation before Lent begins. Gluten-free pancakes will be cooked separately for students with dietary requirements.

Shrove Tuesday, often called Pancake Day, has deep roots in Christian tradition. It was historically a day to use up rich ingredients like eggs, butter, and sugar before the fasting season of Lent. The word "shrove" comes from "shrive," meaning to seek forgiveness — a key theme as we prepare for the Lenten journey of reflection and renewal.

The following day, Ash Wednesday Mass will be held at St Patrick’s Cathedral at 12:00 pm. Families are most welcome to join us as we begin the season of Lent together.

2026 Foundation Enrolments

We are excited to commence our Foundation enrolment tours this week! It is always a pleasure to welcome prospective families and showcase the wonderful learning and growth happening across our school.

A reminder to current St Patrick’s families with children in Kindergarten this year: if you wish to enrol your child in Foundation 2026, please complete an Expression of Interest by 10th March. You do not need to book a school tour — simply follow the application steps on our website: www.spballarat.catholic.edu.au.

We look forward to meeting new families and sharing what makes St Patrick’s such a special place to learn and grow!

2025 NAPLAN information - Grades 3 and 5.

In preparation for NAPLAN Testing students in Grades 3 & 5 will take part in a Readiness Test next week on Monday 3rd March at 10 am.

The purpose of this test is to ensure our technology is ready, students are equipped with headphones (we do not supply these) and know how to log in. They learn how to navigate around the Lockdown Browser and have time to experience different styles of questions.

No results are recorded from these tests.

The NAPLAN testing window begins on Wednesday, March 12th and schools are directed to complete as much testing as possible in the first 4 days.  See our schedule below.

SchoolTV 

This week on SchoolTV you will find additional resources available to gain greater insight into School Refusal.

"Though many children will refuse to go to school at some stage in their lives, school refusal is very different to truancy. It is a more serious condition than separation anxiety and often stems from a child’s anxiety about school. They may be worried about their school work, interacting with other kids, dealing with teachers, playing sports or being away from family. School refusal is a behaviour that can also be accompanied by sadness or depression, physical symptoms and social isolation. This condition is equally common amongst boys and girls, from all socioeconomic groups and across both primary and secondary levels."

Click on the link below to access a wealth of videos, articles, and resources on the aforementioned topics.

All Editions | St Patrick's School - Ballarat (schooltv.me) 

Kind regards,

Ben Shields