2025, Term 2, Week 4 Newsletter

Child Safe Statement and Commitment

The Child Safety Officer at St Patrick's is Tegan McDonald and Shona Louden. slouden@spkoroit.catholic.edu.au

Acknowledgement of Country

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Ngatanwarr - Welcome to Week 4! 

I hope all our mums, special women, and grandparents had a wonderful day yesterday. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Mother’s Day Breakfast on Friday—it was a fantastic turnout! Thank you to Mel Lilley, the Social Engagement Coordinator and her helpers for organising the event. Another shout out to TheirCare for generously donating all of those delicious croissants!

We have a busy and exciting week ahead with excursions, kinder visits, and Walk to School Day all taking place! Towards the end of the week, I’ll be in Horsham attending a leadership gathering. During my absence, Ms Shona Louden will be Acting Principal and available to support students, staff, and families as needed.

Learning Walk/Open Classrooms for Catholic Education Week, 'Where Faith Meets Curiosity'.

Please complete the form below if you would like to attend our Learning Walk/Open Classroom for Catholic Education Week, 'Where Faith Meets Curiosity' on Monday 19th May, 2.30pm.

Focus: Come and see how our classrooms are alive with curiosity, creativity, and compassion – all grounded in our Catholic identity.

We look forward to seeing you.

https://forms.gle/dQGp3bvQkoMLafVk7

Condolences

Sympathies are extended to Kate Dobson and her family following the recent passing of Kate's father Brian this morning. This is an incredibly difficult time, and our thoughts and prayers are with them all. As a school community, Kate and her family are held close in our hearts, with support, strength, prayers, and care offered in the days ahead.

Kind regards,

Tegan McDonald 

Principal

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
— Proverbs 31:25

In a world that often moves too fast, this verse reminds us of the quiet power and inner strength so many women—especially mothers—carry each day. In our busy lives, may we all strive to live with dignity, lift others up, and face the week with confidence and joy.

Take a moment each day to recognise and appreciate the strength in yourself and in those around you—especially the women who lead with love.

This week we are sharing what SWPBS looks like at St Pat's when we are representing our school in the community.

Enrolment Information

The enrolment period is well and truly underway. Be sure to register for the Information Night, where you can learn more about Learn and Explore mornings and the Little Learners program in Term 3!

At the Information Night, we’ll answer all your burning questions about St Pat's, our programs, and our approach to learning. We’ll also share some "learning in action" videos and discuss the best environments for student growth. Come along and discover more about what makes St Pat’s special!

Enrolments close soon, and acceptance letters will be sent out along with your Foundation interview time and date in early Term 3.

Home Reading at St Pat's

At St Pat’s, our home reading program is designed to support what students are learning in the classroom and is grounded in the Science of Reading. Here’s how it works across different year levels:

Foundation to Year 2

Students in F–2 will bring home decodable readers. These books are carefully selected to match the explicit phonics instruction they are receiving at school. This means:

• The texts are decodable based on the sounds (phonics) they have already learned.
  
  
• Students can read with success, which helps build confidence and fluency.
  
  
• Books will often include ‘Speed Sounds’ to practise, supporting the development of automatic and accurate decoding.
  

Why decodables? Because they align with our evidence-based approach to teaching reading. Research into cognitive load and cognitive architecture tells us that practising something easy and familiar, especially after it's been explicitly taught, strengthens understanding, supports long-term memory, and reduces the chance of forgetting. When books seem easy at home—that’s exactly what we want! Success fosters confidence and strong reading habits.

Your child may also bring home a fluency passage to reread and strengthen expression, smoothness, and pace in reading.

Some students may also take home a reading journal. This is optional and acts as a way for parents to log reading at home. Please note that teachers will not be checking journals in F–2—they are for home use only. If you have any questions or need to discuss your child’s progress, please contact your child’s teacher directly via Class Dojo, email, or by calling the school office to arrange a meeting.

Years 3 to 6

Once students have mastered the alphabetic principle and learned both the simple and complex phonics codes, they move into reading for enjoyment and knowledge. In Years 3–6:

• Students bring home books of personal interest—including fiction, non-fiction, and chapter books.
  
  
• They also receive a reading diary, helping them track their reading and begin building independence and organisational habits in preparation for secondary school.
  
  

This shift reflects their growing ability to engage with a wider range of texts and deepens their understanding across subject areas.

If you have any questions about the home reading program, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher. We're always happy to support your child’s reading journey at home and school!

From the Religious Education Leader

Nine of our students have registered to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this year. On Sunday, a special Commitment Mass marked the beginning of this important journey. At this Mass, candidates were presented with their red Confirmation stoles—symbols of their readiness and commitment to preparing for the sacrament.

Today, students traveled to St John’s, Dennington, as part of a whole parish initiative that brought Confirmation candidates together from across the parish. This was a valuable opportunity to connect, reflect, and learn more about the significance of the sacrament in their faith journey.

We are so proud of the positive feedback received about our students while out in the community today. It's always wonderful to hear how responsible, respectful, and safe they are when representing our school. These values are at the heart of who we are, and it’s a credit to our students that they shine so brightly beyond our gates. Well done to all involved – you’ve made us proud!

Please keep all our candidates in your prayers as they continue to prepare for this sacred milestone.

Please note, communication regarding the Sacraments will be shared via Class Dojo, as well as through the Commitment Mass and information evenings. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Regards,

Kayla O'Connor

Religious Education Leader (REL)

Wellbeing News - Celebrating Mother's Day

Winter Uniform

🧥 Winter Uniform Reminder (May – September)

As we head into the cooler months, students are expected to wear full winter uniform each day.

Uniform Guidelines
✅Black socks and all-black school shoes must be worn each day.
✅Runners with white socks may be worn on Wednesdays and sport events only.
✅No jewellery or makeup is to be worn.
✅Headbands to be school colours.

👕 Winter Uniform Options
Students may choose from the following:

✔ Check Tunic
✔ Grey School Trousers*
✔ Green Polo Shirt*
✔ School Jumper*
✔ Black Tights or Socks (not with summer dress)
✔ Activewear Options (see below)
Activewear bottoms may be worn all week:

Black Shorts*

Black Skort*

Black Tracksuit Pants*

🧢 Optional Extras
School Beanie

All clothing items marked with * feature the school logo.
We are currently exploring the possibility of adding plain black pants and jazz pants to the approved uniform list. We appreciate your patience as we ensure this process is handled correctly.

🧺 Please clearly name all clothing items. Lost items can be found in the Lost Property basket.

💬 We ask for your support in:
Ensuring students come dressed appropriately and according to the uniform guidelines, promoting equality and school pride through correct uniform wear.

If you have any questions, please contact the school office or your child’s classroom teacher.

Music Resources

The Grade 3-6 students have expressed interest in completing bucket drumming for music this term. If anyone has any 10/20litre buckets similar to the picture below at home that they are willing to donate to our music room it would be much appreciated.

Thank you, Bridget Van Den Broek 

Canteen & Cake Raffle

The Canteen & Cake Raffle are coordinated by our P&F.

Canteen operates at lunchtime on Wednesday and Friday.  Wednesday is sales of  icy-poles and snacks and Friday includes distribution of lunch orders. 

Click here to sign up for the Term 2 Canteen Roster

Cake Raffle is just something for fun! Students can purchase tickets in the classroom on Friday mornings for 20cents and the raffle is drawn by a student from the family who has supplied the cake.  "Cake" is a general term - the prize does not have to be home made and you can choose to bring whatever you like biscuits, slice or chocolates.

Click here to sign up for the Cake Raffle Roster

Assembly Roster

Playgroup & St Patrick's - Biggest Morning Tea

Lost Property & Second Hand Uniform

We've cleared out some long term items from the Lost Property but we don't want to refill it - please remember to label your uniform items so your uniforms don't end up here!

Second Hand Uniform

Please speak to Becc Sanderson 0423 956 556 if you wish to purchase or donate some preloved items of uniform.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the many students and staff who have celebrated their birthday recently - Elliott King  We hope you had a fantastic time celebrating with family and friends!

Star of the Sea - Parish Bulletin

Dates to Remember

Please refer to the public calendar on the school website for the most up to date calendar items.

https://www.spkoroit.catholic.edu.au/news-events

SZ App Update

A new update for SZapp is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Please update to the latest version to ensure all features, including document uploads, work as expected.

Community News