WELCOME

Welcome back to another exciting school year! We hope you had a restful and enjoyable break, ready for the opportunities and growth that 2025 will bring. A special welcome to our new students, families, and staff joining us this year—we are thrilled to have you as part of our school community.

At St Patrick’s, we are committed to fostering a nurturing and dynamic learning environment where every child feels valued and supported. This year, we look forward to building strong partnerships between home and school, ensuring the best outcomes for all our students.

Throughout the year, we will keep you informed about upcoming events, achievements, and important updates through our newsletter. We encourage everyone to get involved, whether it’s in the classroom, at school events, or supporting from home.

Let’s make 2025 a fantastic year filled with learning, friendships, and success!

At St Patrick’s School, we use group emails as a key form of communication to keep families informed about important updates, events, and school news. If you have not been receiving emails from the school, please notify your child’s classroom teacher as soon as possible to ensure we have the correct contact details on file. Staying connected through email helps us keep you up to date and engaged in your child’s learning journey.

MAGNIFY SANDHURST

As a part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that all regional and rural students have access to outstanding Catholic schools, we are partnering with our fifty-five system-schools across the Sandhurst Catholic Diocese to implement the very latest educational research into our classrooms. While some of our staff have studied these advancements in recent years, it is now time to ensure that all our teachers and allied staff have access to the highest quality information and teaching resources available, so that your child receives an outstanding school experience.

The ‘Magnify Sandhurst’ project represents a major investment in the educational experience of your child. We are partnering with five national and international organisations across the areas of neuroscience, literacy, the Victorian learning curriculum, the behaviour curriculum as well as individual professional coaching for our teachers. In a first of its kind experience, and in partnership with our peers across Sandhurst, we are determinedly committed that you and your child can experience the very best that education throughout Australia has to offer.

‘Magnify Sandhurst’ launched on the 28th of January! Learn more about Magnify Sandhurst at https://www.ceosand.catholic.edu.au/lea.../magnify-sandhurst

GOOD LUCK DANI

Today, we farewell Dani as she begins her maternity leave and prepares for this exciting new chapter in her life. Throughout her time at St Patrick’s, Dani has been a dedicated and valued member of our team, always bringing warmth, flexibility, and a willingness to embrace new challenges. We wish her all the best for the journey ahead and look forward to hearing the wonderful news of her little one’s arrival. Best of luck, Dani—enjoy this special time!

NEW STAFF:

This year we welcome the following 5 new staff to our school community:

Introducing Erin Emmett:

Erin comes to us with 12 years teaching experience at St Augustine’s College Kyabram. During this time, she has taught all years from Foundation to Grade 4. She has also been the F-4 Community Leader of Student Learning and Professional Practice, the F-4 Literacy Leader and the Assistant to the Principal for Student Learning and Professional Practice.

Erin is an experienced teacher and an educational leader. Her expertise in the Science of Reading, Principles of Explicit Instruction, Response To Intervention and Cognitive Load Theory have allowed her to implement evidence-based practices that have a proven impact on student learning and achievement. She is dedicated to providing professional development opportunities for staff, facilitating data-driven decision-making and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. By prioritising research-based strategies and staying current on best practices in education, she strives to create a school environment where all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Erin is really excited about joining our St Patrick’s community. She looks forward to building strong relationships with students, families and colleagues.

Introducing Christina Dove:

Christina is a local woman who lives in Tongala and she is the mother of 3 children. Christina, better known to the Tongala community as 'Chrissy', joins us as a Graduate Teacher, teaching Grade 4, 2 days a week with Fiona McKiernan. Chrissy will work on Monday and Tuesday's. Chrissy has dedicated the past six years to teaching in Early Education, gaining valuable experience at Berrimba Childcare Centre, Shine Bright Girgarre Kindergarten, Pink and Blue Early Learning, and Unwin Street Preschool. She is a familiar face to our school community has you worked as a Casual Relief Teacher throughout 2024, in all of our classrooms. During the application process Chrissy stated: "One of my greatest strengths is friendly communication. I am approachable and always willing to listen and help. "

Introducing Kathleen Parry:

Kathleen has been a Performing Arts/Drama teacher for 12 years. She has recently been teaching at St Mary’s Rushworth, Tallygaroopna Primary School and Kialla Central Primary School. Katherine is really excited about joining the St Patrick’s community. Kathleen is really excited about joining our St Patrick’s community. During the application process Kathleen stated:"It’s always fantastic to see the confidence and excitement in the students when they engage with music, dance and drama. One of my favourite parts of the job is putting on concerts and productions - helping kids to develop and perform, and seeing them enjoy the feeling of being on stage, is really wonderful!"

Introducing Rhiannan Brennan:

Rhiannan is a local woman who lives in Tongala and she is the mother of 4 children. Rhiannan, better known to the Tongala community as 'Tootie', joins us as a Permission to Teach teacher in the final year of her degree. This role marks her first formal teaching appointment, and she is incredibly excited to begin this journey with us. In this position, Rhiannan will be teaching Sport and providing leadership release support.

Introducing Tyarna Marsters:

Tyarna is completing a Traineeship in Educational Support through The Apprenticeship Factory in Shepparton. She lives in Mooroopna and finished Year 12 at Notre Dame College Shepparton at the end of 2024. Tyarna has begun the year working in Grade 3. Tyarna is a familiar face at St Patrick's as she completed her Work Experience with us in 2024. Tyarna is excited to be working on the other side of education this year!!

GRADE 6 LEADERS:

The Grade 6 students at St Patrick’s Primary School are celebrating an exciting year ahead! With one more year of primary school to go, these Grade 6 students are showing great leadership skills for the younger students of the school and a determination to continue to learn in preparation for Year 7. To celebrate the Grade 6 leaders, they received their specialised Grade 6 t-shirts.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

I can't wait to catch up with all of the families at our Welcome BBQ next Tuesday.

It will also be great to see everyone at our Beginning Year Mass . This mass marks a time for reflection and renewal, where we can come together to embrace the promise of a fresh start. These gatherings serve as a reminder of the importance of faith, family, and community in navigating the journey ahead, and set the tone for the year with a spirit of joy and anticipation.

CSEF (Camp, Sports, Excursion Fund)

Please find attached the information sheet and application form to apply for CSEF (Camp, Sports, Excursion Fund).

If you applied for CSEF last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you are a new family, your circumstances have changed, or new siblings have commenced this year, please complete the attached form with a copy of your Health Care Card.

You can also get a hard copy of the form from the office.

If you have any questions regarding this form please contact Teresa in the office.

PSG MEETINGS & LEARNING CONVERSATIONS

The teachers have begun preparing for their Learning Conversations next week. This is a great opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher and discuss how your child has settled into the new year. It is also a chance to work together to establish specific learning goals for your child. These appointments can be booked online using PAM or SIMON Everywhere.

For those families having a Parent Support Group (PSG) meeting, these will occurr in Week 6. You will receive an email from Emma in the next week stating your day, date and time. Please reply to this email to confirm your appointment.

The learning goals and the strategies that will be used to achieve them will be recorded on PAM/SIMON Everywhere. This in turn means that families will be able to access this information about their child using PAM or the SIMON Everywhere App. We will notify you when you are able to see your child’s goals.

MUSIC LESSONS @ ST PATS

Dillmac Entertainment In your school St Pats!

Rotating time table (different time each week) sent out to you weekly

Performance opportunities

Invoiced at the end of the term

Guitar- vocal- piano- Drums

Jump onto Our online enrolment today

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/150LAAwzxPsBBLShuaU-fnrGUaUAS_Y8UvnvlALvXzq4/viewform?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1fDbmpt4xp4Ms0qBlY_bMPUrUWfKCgrZRZyHi3RaIQ_jSq7WBHGLNWjRM_aem_cznxIWFhvfXAy8No3aYerA&edit_requested=true

Prayer & Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement of Country