St Patrick's School

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Another school year has come to an end and it’s hard to believe how quickly it passed.

This final newsletter is to inform you of a few important items.

Thanksgiving Mass

Last Wednesday, we celebrated with a whole school Thanksgiving Mass. This provided us with an opportunity to reflect on our year and thank God for our many blessings. We were able to formally farewell our Year 6 students and staff who are leaving St Patrick’s Community. We thank Fr Charles and Fr Sam for their continued spiritual support throughout the year.

Christmas Carols Evening

Thank you to all the families who attended our Christmas Carols evening. The students were delighted to be able to perform their songs for you. It was fantastic to see so many students get into the spirit of the season by wearing their festive colours. There was a lovely community feel before the event with so many families coming early and enjoying the BBQ.

The P&F held a raffle with the winners being announced on the night. Thank you for their efforts. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Louis & Dion Lai and Hayden & Justin Ngo’s families for their prize donations.

The winners of the P&F Christmas raffle were:

·         Luu Family (Ryan, Kent & Connor)

·         Cesko Family (Asim & Bekim)

Year 6 Graduation

On Monday evening, we celebrated the Year 6 Graduation at the Croatian Sports Club. The students along with their families gathered together for this important celebration. We started the evening with a liturgy followed by the Graduation Ceremony. We finished off the evening sharing a meal together. Students were then able to spend the remainder of the evening dancing and socialising with their friends.

As part of our Graduation Ceremony, two Year 6 students are presented with a Margaret Elliott Award. This award is presented to a boy and a girl who demonstrate leadership qualities and are of service to the school in many different ways.

We congratulate the recipients of the Margaret Elliott Award for 2022:

·         Kavya Udayakumaar

·         Huylong Vu

This year for the first time, there was another award presented. This was the Peter Malinauskas Award. As Peter was unable to attend, he sent someone from his office to present the award. We congratulate the recipient of this award: Melina Prach.

Canteen Cookies & Raffle

The canteen staff were selling homemade cookies as a fundraiser. Each box of cookies contained a raffle ticket. The prizes for this raffle were a $50 voucher to the Mansfield Park Hotel. We thank Jacqui Terryschild for baking the cookies and the Mansfield Park Hotel for their continued support of St Patrick’s School.

The winners of this raffle were:

·         Rylan Owen - Williams

·         Christine Lavender

Staff Farewells

Each year, there are staff we wish to farewell. Staff leave for many reasons including:

·         Securing a position in other schools

·         Retiring

·         Contracts finishing

·         Staff wishing to try new challenges

This year we farewell

·         Miss Nikki MacDonald who has secured a teaching position at Hendon Primary School

·         Ms Adellien Latisenka who has secured a position at Vale Park Primary

·         Ms Andrea Panozzo who has secured a position at Modbury Primary School

·         Ms Trish Pfeiffer who has taken a new role as Leader of Learning at St Joseph’s Ottoway for 2023

I would also like to take this opportunity to farewell 2 staff members who have not been working at St Patrick’s School for the last three years due to poor health.

·         Mrs Maria Barac who started her career at St Patrick’s in 1982

·         Mrs Jacqui Marley who stated as the school librarian in 1990

Both Ms Barac and Ms Marley have worked with many students over their time here and made an impact on their learning. We wish them good health into the future.

2023 Classes

On Wednesday students had their Class changeovers. This is always a little difficult for students as the familiar is finishing and they know they need to develop a relationship with a new teacher and a different cohort of students. For some students, this can be a little overwhelming. Please be confident in the staff who know your child well and will work with them during this transition. Next year, we will have nine classes and all classes will be smaller to support all students.

The classes and teachers for next year are:

Reception (all new students)      Cynthia Smoljan

Rec (2022 midyear) / 1                   Anna Piantadosi

1/2                                                         Alana Schild

2                                                              Isabella Sciberras

3/4                                                         Sandra Hartley

3/4                                                         Nicole Johnson / Linda Moran

5                                                              Daniel Faulks

5/6                                                         Stephanie Melios

5/6                                                         Natalie Taylor / Linda Bain

JBLSC                                                     Caitlyn O’Callaghan /Christine Charman

Specialist Staff:

Music / Drama                                   Janine Meyer

PE                                                           Nicole Johnson

Vietnamese                                       Minh-Hua Tran

Italian                                                    Lucia Mitchell

STEM                                                     Jane Edwards

EALD                                                      Linda Moran

Leader of Learning                           Linda Bain

Support Staff

Chaplain                                               Mary Hemmings

Counsellor                                          Gabby Owens

Speech Therapist                             Jessica Curnow

Leadership

Principal                                               Barbara Ahern

APRIM                                                  Anne Marie Platten

School resumes on Monday 30th January 2023. There will be a morning tea for all parents.

I would like to extend a very big thank you to the parent community for your continued support throughout the school year.

May God’s blessings be upon you in the coming holy season of Christmas and that you all have a restful and peaceful break over the holiday period.

Barbara Ahern & Anne Marie Platten

The Leadership Team