From the Principal
Dear Families,
As we move through these early weeks of the year, it’s wonderful to see the energy, learning and connection across our school community. Classrooms are alive with curiosity, friendships are strengthening, and our routines are helping students feel settled and ready to grow. Thank you to families and staff for the positive spirit you continue to bring each day.
It has also been great to see the valued and meaningful discussions taking place at our Family Connections meetings. Thank you to the families who attended this week - your engagement and insights are so important in building strong partnerships between home and school. We look forward to our next round of bookings on Tuesday, and there are still times available if you haven’t yet had the chance to make a booking.
Next week, we enter the sacred season of Lent - a time of reflection, prayer, generosity and renewal. Lent invites us to pause, to consider how we live, and to look for ways to walk more closely with Jesus through our words and actions. As a community, we will mark the beginning of this important season with our Ash Wednesday Mass in the Madden Hall at 11:40am next Wednesday. All families and friends are warmly invited to join us as we gather in prayer and begin our Lenten journey together.
School Closure Day - Next Monday - 16th February
On our upcoming School Closure Day, the staff of St Patrick’s will gather for a full day of professional learning as we continue to strengthen our literacy practice and build on the significant work of the past two years.
As a school community, we have worked extensively to transition to a Structured Synthetic Phonics approach to literacy. This shift has been deliberate, research-informed and carefully implemented in classrooms from Foundation to Year 6. We are already seeing extremely positive results — in student confidence, decoding accuracy, fluency and overall reading growth. Most importantly, we are seeing more children experience success as readers.
In 2026, we continue this journey through deeper engagement with the Diocesan Flare Initiative, moving from a largely self-guided model to a cluster-based approach alongside other DOBCEL schools. This next phase strengthens collaboration, consistency and shared accountability across the Diocese.
What is Flare?
Flare is DOBCEL’s 10-year Primary Literacy Strategy (2025–2035), grounded in a clear vision: that all DOBCEL primary school graduates will be confidently literate.
Aligned with the Grattan Institute’s Reading Guarantee, Flare commits to a long-term goal of at least 90% of students achieving reading proficiency. It is built on six key commitments:
Evidence-Informed Practices
Grounded in high-quality scientific research, including the Science of Reading, and responsive to new findings. Instruction and decision-making are tracked through standardised, norm-referenced data and subject to independent review.
Effective & Efficient Pedagogies
Systematic, cumulative, explicit and diagnostic instruction — driven by the I Do, We Do, You Do, Do It Again model, informed by Cognitive Load Theory and more.
Structured Literacy Methodology
Intentionally sequenced teaching of phonology, orthography, morphology, syntax and semantics, underpinned by the Simple View of Reading (Decoding x Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension). It includes a strong focus on oral language and is responsive to ongoing assessment.
Knowledge-Rich Content
A deliberately sequenced Science and Humanities curriculum that builds background knowledge and cultural capital — recognising that knowledge is central to reading comprehension and long-term academic success.
Low-Variance Principles
Consistent routines, common instructional materials and protected literacy blocks across classrooms to ensure equity and reduce unnecessary variability.
Strategic Leadership
Clear commitments, dedicated literacy leadership and long-term implementation planning to ensure sustained improvement.
Our 2026 Focus
In 2026, our professional learning will continue to:
- Refine classroom implementation of structured literacy routines
- Strengthen diagnostic use of assessment data
- Deepen teacher content knowledge in phonology, morphology and syntax
- Align literacy instruction with our knowledge-rich curriculum
Collaborate with cluster schools to ensure fidelity and shared expertise
This work reflects our responsibility as a Catholic school community to pursue “fullness of life for all.” Literacy is foundational — not only for academic success, but for participation, wellbeing and opportunity.
We thank families for their continued support of our School Closure Days. These dedicated professional learning opportunities ensure our teachers remain at the forefront of evidence-informed practice, ultimately benefiting every child at St Patrick’s.
Together, we remain committed to ensuring that every student becomes a confident, capable reader.
Sacramental Program 2026
On Tuesday, we hosted a parent information session in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Fr Ed & Fr Jim attended, and parents gained a clear understanding of the purpose and meaning of the sacrament, as well as the requirements for participation.
If you missed this meeting, an alternative meeting will be held this afternoon, Thursday 12th February at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Glowery Room, at 5:30pm. In the Ballarat Diocese, children who are in Year 4 and above, baptised Catholic, and have completed the Sacrament of Confirmation are eligible to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Presentation of candidates at Masses
- 28th February Saturday 5.30 pm, 1st March Sunday 10.30 am and 5 pm at St Patrick’s Cathedral
(No presentation masses on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March - due to Labour Day Long weekend)
- 14th March Saturday 5.30 pm/15th March Sunday 10.30 and 5 pm at St Patrick’s Cathedral
- 21st March Saturday 5.30 pm/22nd March Sunday 10.30 and 5 pm at St Patrick’s Cathedral
Sacrament of Reconciliation Date:
Tuesday 24th March 5:30 pm Co-ordinated by St Patrick’s and Siena at St Patrick's Cathedral
Parking around our School
With most of our children being dropped off and collected from the Errard Street gate, it can be a bit tricky between 8.30-8.50am and 3.15 – 3.30pm. Please be mindful of other people and cars in the general vicinity of our school and keep in mind that parking a little further away from the gate might be helpful. Parking in driveways is illegal and the City of Ballarat has indicated that they will be patrolling the area on a regular basis.
SchoolTV
This week on SchoolTV you will find a focus topic on Digital Reputation.
Social media has become such an integral part of a teenager’s life that it can cause anxiety and lower their self-esteem. Modern teens are learning to do most of their communication whilst looking at a screen instead of another person. They are missing out on very critical social skills.
And dependant on what they are communicating online, it can affect their digital reputation. Friendships, relationships and even future job prospects are all at risk. As a parent, It is very important that you are aware of what picture they are painting of themselves online.
Once information makes its way online it can be difficult to remove. Images and words can be misinterpreted and altered as they are easily and quickly shared around. Privacy settings on social media sites need to be managed in order to protect your child’s digital reputation.
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