WHAT'S ON - TERM 2

Week 9 - Vinnie's Winter Appeal (Donations)

1st July - Sausage Sizzle (Vinnies Winter Appeal)

6th - 13th July - NAIDOC Week

4th July - End of Term 2 (Finish at 12.30pm Casual Day)

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Investing in Excellence Through Professional Learning

At St Patrick’s School, we are committed to providing high-quality education through continuous Professional Learning. Our recent Pupil Free Day offered a valuable opportunity for all staff to deepen their knowledge and refine their practice in three key areas:

• Exploring the CESA document Excellence in Equity
• Enhancing Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
• Strengthening Explicit Teaching strategies in collaboration with the University of South Australia
• Education Support Officers (ESOs) also took part in a targeted session led by an experienced literacy educator. The focus was on decoding, phonemic awareness, and effective ways to support reading and spelling instruction across year levels.

Professional Learning days like these reinforce our shared commitment to building expertise and ensuring every student thrives.

Enriching Student Life Through Extra-Curricular Opportunities

We always look for opportunities to offer a rich and diverse range of extra-curricular activities that nurture our students’ interests, talents, and leadership.

• All classes recently participated in a series of three Football Clinics, where students rotated through stations to build foundational skills in a fun and active environment. A special thank you to Ms Johnson for her organisation and support in making these clinics a great success.
• Two of our senior students represented St Patrick’s at the Podcast Leader’s Forum last Friday—an inspiring opportunity to collaborate, share ideas, and build communication and digital storytelling skills.
• Our school Choir has been rehearsing enthusiastically each week in preparation for the annual Catholic Schools Music Festival. This week, they joined with other schools at Whitefriars School for their first hub rehearsal, setting the stage for a beautiful community performance later this year.

These experiences are just some of the many ways we continue to foster student engagement beyond the classroom and celebrate the gifts of every learner.

Nurturing Wellbeing and Positive Behaviour

This term, all students took part in an engaging incursion presented by Brainstorm Productions. The interactive performance, Being Brave, explored important themes of resilience, empathy, and the courage to stand up for what’s right. It was a meaningful opportunity for students to reflect on personal strengths and social responsibility.

We also welcomed representatives from SAPOL, who delivered tailored sessions to our Year 3/4 and 5/6 students. Their workshops focused on bullying prevention, managing conflict, and staying safe online, equipping our students with strategies to navigate the world with confidence and care.

At St Patrick’s, we are deeply committed to fostering a positive, values-driven school culture. As a staff, we continue to embed Positive Behaviour Intervention Support (PBIS) across all year levels. Our three core values—Being Respectful, Responsible, and Resilient - guide expectations and interactions throughout the school.

Playgroup at St Patrick’s - A Welcoming Start to Learning

We’re delighted to offer two free playgroup sessions each week for children under five, held on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 to 11:30 am. These relaxed, engaging sessions are designed to gently support early literacy and numeracy development, while helping your child build confidence, friendships, and a sense of belonging.

Playgroup is also a wonderful way to help your child become familiar with a school environment in a warm and supportive setting. There’s no cost to attend—just pack a piece of fruit for your child to enjoy at snack time.

We’d love to see you there!

Secondary School Enrolments - Urgent Reminder

We would like to remind families that secondary school enrolments are time-sensitive and require immediate attention. If any Year 6 students have not yet been enrolled in a secondary school for next year, please do so immediately. As many schools have already finalised their enrolment numbers, places may now be limited.

Mount Carmel College continues to offer guaranteed placements for St Patrick’s students, but it is essential that an enrolment form is submitted as soon as possible to secure your child’s spot.

We also encourage families of students currently in Year 5 to begin the secondary enrolment process early, ensuring a smooth and timely placement for their child’s transition into the high school of choice. Please reach out to the front office if you need assistance with the process - we’re here to help.

Semester 1 School Reports

As we approach the end of Term 2, teachers are currently finalising student reports, which will be sent home in Week 10. These reports are an important reflection of your child’s learning progress and achievements across the semester.

At St Patrick’s, we take great care in preparing these reports. Anne Marie and I have the privilege of reading every student’s report, giving us valuable insight into each learner’s journey.

For students in Years 1-6, reports will include:

• An A-E achievement grade for each curriculum area
• A grade for effort and learning dispositions
• A general comment highlighting your child’s growth and development

Where students are working with modified curriculum expectations and receiving targeted adjustments, an AAS (Alternative Assessment Standard) will appear alongside the subject. This would have been discussed with families earlier and is documented in the student’s Personalised Plan for Learning (PPL).

If you have any questions or concerns after reading your child’s report, we encourage you to make an appointment to speak with their class teacher - either this term or at the beginning of next term. Appointments can be made directly with the teacher or by contacting the school office.

In all things love

Barbara

Altar Server Training with Fr Olek

Over two recent sessions, Fr Olek provided training for both new and continuing altar servers. Students who are fully initiated members of the Catholic Church, having received the sacraments, participated in the sessions.

Fr Olek guided the children step by step through the responsibilities of altar serving, sharing fascinating insights into the rituals of the Mass. Even staff came away learning something new! The students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and were enthusiastic to return after the first training.

We’re excited to begin introducing our new altar servers to Masses, where they’ll serve alongside more experienced students as they grow in confidence and faith.

Year 6 Visits to Morlancourt Aged Care

Each fortnight, our Year 6 students continue their visits to the Morlancourt Residential Aged Care Facility. We are incredibly proud of the way they engage with the residents, showing kindness, confidence, and genuine interest.

With games thoughtfully organised by the Morlancourt staff, our students take the time to introduce themselves, share conversation, and enjoy some fun, collaborative play with the residents. These visits are a highlight for both our students and the residents, fostering connection across generations.

Sacramental Program Update

The Sacramental Program is progressing well, with participating families actively engaged in the journey. Families who were unable to attend the parent workshops, were offered a repeat session at school to ensure every family feels supported throughout the process.

This Wednesday there is an information session for the Sacrament of First Communion at Whitefriars School, Beaufort Street Woodville @ 7pm. We hope to see all families there.

Confirmation will be celebrated at St Margaret Mary’s Church on Friday, August 22 and Friday August 29. First Communion will take place across all three parish churches in September, with St Patrick’s celebration scheduled for Sunday, September 7 at 8.30am.

A reminder that our next meeting on the Eucharist is coming up in a few weeks on June 18th.  That would be a great time to return your Confirmation information forms if they’re complete. Otherwise, they’ll need to be returned, either to the school or the parish office by the 4^th July.

At that meeting we’ll have the sign-up sheets for the First Eucharist Celebrations:

Saturday 30^th August, 6pm at Mater Dei;

Sunday 31^st August, 8:30am at St Patricks or 10:30am at St Margaret Marys;

Saturday 13^th September, 6pm at Mater Dei;

Sunday 14^th September, 10:30am at St Margret Marys or 5pm at Mater Dei (in Vietnamese)

Please remember the children and a parent are expected to attend each meeting to hear important information about the sacrament of First Communion and the follow up preparation at home. Please come to the meeting ready to record your child’s name on the list for one of the Masses.

St Vinnies Winter Appeal

St Patrick’s School has been collecting food items for St Vinnies Winter Food Appeal. In Week 9, a member of the Croydon Park St Vinnies group will collect our donations and share them with very needy families.

Michael Proctor has organised a Sausage Sizzle for Tuesday of Week 10 with profits being donated to the St Vinnies Appeal. As always, our community has been very generous with their donations, and we are grateful for their kindness. We will reinforce the importance of this Social Justice project with our students at Community Prayer on Monday of Week 9.

God Bless,

Anne-Marie Platten

APRIM

In Maths, we have been learning how to:

• Recognise numbers
• Partition numbers
• Subitise

This Term in Religion:

We have been learning how Jesus showed love to others — and how we can too! We read stories from the Bible and talked about what it means to be kind, caring, and helpful.
Some of us wrote:

• “I help my mum with cooking”
• “I play with my friends”
• “I gave someone a band-aid”
• “I love my family”

We are learning that loving others means using kind words, helping hands, and showing care every day — just like Jesus did.

Footy Clinic

We learnt how to:

• Hold and handball the football
• Run and dodge safely
• Watch carefully and work as a team

We practised our skills on the oval and had so much fun learning outside under the blue sky. The coaches helped us learn how to move our bodies, follow instructions, and try new things with confidence. Some of us had never played footy before — but that didn’t stop us! We gave it a go, encouraged each other, and had heaps of fun.

Sr Catherine Seward and members of the Croydon Park division of St Vincent De Paul have asked our community if we could help by donating non-perishable food items to the St Vinnies Winter Appeal. There are many families in need of food support this winter and our donations will be greatly appreciated. 

If you are in a position to donate a food item to support St Vinnies, we will welcome your donations. St Vincent De Paul volunteers will make food hampers and give to families in need. Suggested items are: 

• Cereal 
• Longlife milk 
• Pasta and pasta sauce 
• Tinned meat or fish 
• Tinned vegetables, baked beans, spaghetti etc 
• Tinned fruit 
• Biscuits 
• Tea & coffee  
• Sauces, rice, sugar etc. 

PLEASE bring items of Donations to your class Teachers by Week 9 Term 2 2025

THANKYOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS

OPEN - MONDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY

PLEASE ORDER ON QKR APP before 9AM

Nude Food Day every Wednesday

Please leave wrappers at home.

Use reusable containers or lunch boxes to help keep our school clean and tidy.

OPEN - MONDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY

8.30am - 10am

AVAILABLE - Wednesday & Fridays

From 9.30AM - 11.30AM 

Closed on School Holidays

Playgroup, family fun for families with children under 5 years

Playgroup SA has partnered with the Office for the Early Years (Department of Education) to provide free development checks for children aged 12 months to 4 years. The checks provide an opportunity to monitor your child’s development, identify any concerns and celebrate milestones. A development check helps to monitor whether a child is meeting the milestones for their age (such as dressing or talking). Please note this is not a health check.

Please contact Chau Tran 8303 4500 if you would like further information or would like to book in child development check.

As a Volunteer at St Patrick's, you can get involved in:

• Parents & Friends Community
• School Board
• Fundraising Events
• Excursions - Class support
• Sports Day

An important role of Volunteer is to promote strong links between the parents and the school but also strong links between families, where members of families really feel that they belong to the school.

An active parent group also ensures the school is well resourced and the grounds are always well maintained.

We are welcoming new parents to come along and Volunteer at the School and join the Parents and Friends Group. Any amount of time is helpful.

Please enquire at the front desk or call on 8303 4500

A friendly reminder to those families, who do not have a direct debit set up, that Term 2 school fees are due by the last day of Term 2 the 04/07/25

We offer direct debit, BPAY, EFTPOS and also direct deductions from Centrelink payments to cater to the changing financial needs of our families at St Patrick’s School. When the direct debit payment option is selected your school fee payment is calculated over the full school year right up until the 31st of December 2025. This means smaller payments are required, making this method the most affordable way to budget for your commitment. Please come into the office or ring me on 83034500 if one of these options would better suit your financial requirements.

School Card 2025 must be applied for online each year and the instructions are in this newsletter. If you have any problems please come and see me if you are having any issues.

If at any time you are having trouble meeting your school fee commitment, or have any queries, please contact me on 8303 4500 to discuss this matter.

Christine Lavender
Finance Officer

Hi Everyone

Welcome, If you require our services, please register on www.campaustralia.com.au and follow the link.

Hours of Operation

Before School - 7AM - 8.30AM

After School - 3.10PM (2.30PM Tues) - 6PM

We offer breakfast for the children in the morning and fresh fruit and second snack after school. Kids will enjoy sports, art and crafts,

Thank you Michele

For all enquiries and Bookings Please call - Ph 0447 141 518