Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make a path for our God in the desert.

Every valley shall be lifted up;
Every mountain and hill be brought low.

The crooked ways shall become straight;
The rough places shall become smooth.

The glory of the Lord will be revealed;
And all people will see it together.

This is the promise of the Lord;
And God’s promise will be fulfilled.

Dear Families,

Thank-you for the many kind words and messages I have received since Monday's announcement - they are greatly appeciated.  It will be sad to leave St. Patrick's (again) however the appointment to the role of School Leadership Consultant with Catholic Education is an exciting opportunity.  I don't take up the position until Term 2 next year so I am looking forward to spending Term 1 at St. Patrick's.  As the memo outlined on Monday, the process for finding a replacement principal will commence after the holidays.  

End of year reports are going home with the students today.  After such an incredible year, these are a good opportunity to celebrate your child/ren's amazing resilience and work this year.   We encourage all families to read through the report with your child/ren.

We look forward to celebrating Grade 6 graduation on Monday evening.  Although the format is slightly altered to meet COVID safety guidelines, the evening is coming together nicely and promises to be a special moment for our Year 6 students and their families.  I take this opportunity to wish Thomas, Jack, Yasmin, Chloe, Dylan, Baye, Skye, Will, Meg, Charlotte, Kaan, Umut, Travis, Layla, Hailey, Keira, Sammie, Archie, Koda and Jacob well for the last few days of primary school.  An important part of the occasion is the farewelling of families who will be leaving St. Patrick's.  This year we thank and farewell the Babuc, Straw, Lenane, Puecker and Cetin families.     

Next week we say thank-you and farewell to Anika Duncan and Jenni Collings who will be leaving St. Patrick's as staff members.  Anika has had an incredibly long association with St. Patrick's as a student, staff member and parent.  Her contribution to the life of our school over many years has been incredible as an educator, leader and colleague.  In recent years Jenni has stepped into the roles of classroom and PE teacher and has quickly become a valuable member of our team.  On behalf of St. Patrick's school community, I sincerely thank Anika and Jenni and wish them all God's blessings for the future. It is also worth noting Kylie McLay is finishing up her part time role at the school, however she will continue to be a familiar face as a replacement teacher in 2021. 

The children enrolled for Foundation (prep) next year have completed their transition visits and it has been pleasing to see them enjoying their visits.  The process for enrolment and transition has been significantly impacted this year and to further support the children's transition to primary school, next year's prep class will be starting school a day earlier than the Year 1-6 students.   An information session is being held on Tuesday at 5.30pm for families.

Next Tuesday we hold a step up morning for children to spend time with their classmates and teachers for 2021.  Class allocations will be sent home with the children on Monday.

As this is our final newsletter of 2020, on behalf of all the staff at St. Patrick's, I thank all families for your incredible support throughout this most unprecedented year and wish you all a happy, holy and safe Christmas. 

Nick

Wednesday 27th January:  Staff return

Thursday 28th January:  Foundation Students First Day

Friday 29th January:  Year 1-6 students commence

The judging panel from Regional Rail Victoria were super impressed with the quality of entry from our students.  Representatives of RRV will be here next Wednesday next week to announce the winners for each age group.  Below is a selection of entries.