Dear Parents and Carers,

Next week we will be celebrating St. Patrick!

We will begin the week with a St. Patrick’s / Irish themed dress-up day on Tuesday 17th March (no gold coin required). On this day we will also attend Mass at 9:15am, which will serve as our End of Term Mass. All parents are warmly invited to join us.

On Friday 20th March, we will hold our St. Patrick’s Festival from 4:00pm – 8:00pm.

Please note the following arrangements for the school day:

Students are to attend school in their regular Friday school uniform.
All students and families are expected to depart the school grounds at 3:15pm when the bell rings.
School gates will be locked at 3:30pm.
The Mitchell Street gate (the only entry and exit point) will reopen at 4:00pm sharp for the Festival.

We look forward to celebrating together as a school community.

Wristbands can be pre-purchased before the event—great value for our adventure seekers! TryBooking link for wristbands: https://www.trybooking.com/DKFSV

Whole School Photos

Next Wednesday, 18th March, we will be taking class and individual student photos. All students must wear their full summer uniform on this day—no jumpers.

Students with Physical Education lessons on this day may bring their sports shoes in their school bag and change their shoes after their photos have been taken.

Students with long hair may wear it down for the photos and tie it up afterwards.

Planning Week - Week 8

In Week 8 of this term we are streamlining our specialist program so the classroom teachers can receive a full day of uninterrupted planning in preparation for Term 2. Mr Speranza will also be working with the class teachers in his capacity as Learning and Teaching Leader to assist with planning.

This means all students will have their 6 x 45 minute specialist classes across one day (STEM, eLearning, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Italian and Physical Education).

The specialist timetable for Week 8 will look as follows:

Tuesday - Year 1 & Year 2

Wednesday - Year 3 & Year 4 (School Photo Day)

Thursday - Year 5 & Year 6

Friday - Prep

Students are to wear their sports uniform on their specialist day for this week, full school uniform on Wednesday with runners to change into for Years 3 & 4.

Sibling - Prep 2027 Enrolments and Open Days

We are pleased to announce that sibling enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open. Application forms are available on our school website or can be collected directly from the school office.

To assist prospective families, we are hosting a series of Open Days on the following dates:

Wednesday, 1st April
9.00am to 11.00am

Private tours can also be arranged by appointment through the office.

Enrolment Priority & Process As per our established enrolment policy, priority is given to current families. Following this, places are allocated to baptised Catholic children residing within our designated boundaries, followed by baptised Catholics outside our boundaries, subject to availability.

For the 2027 academic year, we anticipate forming three Prep classes with approximately 22–23 students per class.

Next Steps: Sibling enrolment interviews will be conducted throughout Term 1. This timeline ensures we can accurately determine the number of remaining places available for new families in the coming months.

Our school is currently operating at maximum capacity, maintaining 21 classes across seven year levels from Prep to Year 6. With three classes per year level and an average of 22 students per class, our total enrolment for the start of the 2026 academic year is 462 students.

Looking ahead to next year, we anticipate maintaining this structure of 21 classes (Prep to Year 6). The average class size is projected to be between 23 and 24 students. To ensure the highest quality of education and personalized attention, we remain committed to limiting class sizes to a maximum of 24 students for the foreseeable future.

P & F Upcoming Events

NAPLAN

Below is an update following the technical issue that affected NAPLAN online testing across Australia earlier yesterday.

Like many schools nationally, we experienced temporary interruptions to the NAPLAN platform. We understand that disruptions during a national assessment can be concerning, and I want to reassure you that our staff supported students calmly and confidently throughout the day.

I am very pleased to report that no St. Patrick student was affected by the disruptions on Wednesday. Our Year 3 Students completed their Writing tests on Wednesday morning (Hand Written). Our Year 5 students completed their writing tests on Wednesday afternoon (Online), after the disruption was already fixed.

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), together with ACARA, has confirmed that the issue is now resolved. Schools have also received clear guidance to ensure NAPLAN continues fairly and consistently for all students.

NAPLAN testing can continue as scheduled.

Italian Day

What an exciting and joy-filled week it has been at St. Patrick’s School! Last week we celebrated our annual Italian Day Festival, a much-loved tradition that brings our school community together to experience the beauty, fun, and flavour of Italian culture.

The day began in spectacular style with a colourful parade, where students proudly showcased their creative costumes and Italian colours. Laughter and music filled the air as we all gathered to enjoy a lively stage show in the hall, starring the always-entertaining Magician Luigi Zuccini. His energy, humour, and interactive performance had the children laughing, clapping, and joining in from start to finish.

A heartfelt thank you goes to our wonderful Italian teacher, Signora Bassily, whose passion and dedication brought this celebration to life. She worked tirelessly to organise a rich cultural immersion for our children, giving them the opportunity to learn, participate, and have fun in such a vibrant way. We also extend our sincere thanks to Anna and the amazing team in the canteen, who prepared and served over 450 delicious Italian-themed lunches – a truly impressive effort that made the day even more special.

It was a day filled with community spirit, delicious food, cultural pride, and plenty of smiles – a wonderful reminder of the joy that comes from celebrating and learning together.

Staff Conference

My thanks to the community in being so accommodating for our annual staff conference. This professional development opportunity for our staff was both practical and serviced our professional standards.

We participated in Professional Development in:

Team-Teach Training
Emergency Management
MACS Learn Modules
- Code of Conduct
- Health, Safety and Wellbeing
- Cyber Security
Bronwyn Ryrie Jones PD
Safe Smart Modules
- Staff Handbook
- Anaphylaxis
- OHS
- Child Safety Code of Conduct
- Child Safe Standards

School Calendar

Please use the following google link to add the school calendar to your own calendar for ease of information exchange. School Google Calendar HERE.

God Bless,

Pat Berlingeri

Principal

Community Information