Discover Our School
Choosing the right education for your child is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
As parents and carers, you have a choice — and a responsibility — to offer your child the best education available.
The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle proudly hosts some of the best schools in Newcastle, Maitland, Hunter, Upper Hunter, Lake Macquarie and Manning regions.
Catholic schools offer a unique educational experience that forms the child as a person of integrity, compassion, faith and wisdom. Catholic schools also work closely with their local parishes to enhance in students a capacity to make sense of their world, to make judgments and to recognise the uniqueness of others within a faith community.
Each school has a supportive community of teachers, support staff, parents, carers, clergy and parishioners who work together to encourage success, to promote discipline, to support creativity and to instil compassion. Catholic schools teach more than religious studies. We seek to develop spirit, mind, body and character, and to cultivate Gospel values that support lives filled with joy, endeavour and hope in the future.
Each Catholic school has a commitment to focusing on each individual child’s ability, offering a unique array of educational, creative, sporting and formation opportunities for students.
Finally, Catholic schools offer peace of mind to parents, knowing they have made the right choice and the best investment for their child’s future. We believe choosing a Catholic education is the right choice to make.
Why families choose St Patrick’s Primary School
The staff of St Patrick’s Primary School, Swansea, are committed to creating and fostering a caring community in which the students are catered for in a supportive learning environment.
Our vision — “Learning, loving and serving together through Jesus” — is underpinned by five mission statements. In pursuit of our vision, we will:
- Challenge and support one another to succeed through innovative, adaptive and holistic learning
- Promote and celebrate the uniqueness of each child as a gift
- Embrace our Josephite foundations by seeing a need and always taking action
- Acknowledge and honour our indigenous cultures
- Serve one another and be generous with love.
If you want the best education delivered in an environment where class sizes are small and tailored to your child’s needs, we believe St Patrick’s is the right choice for you.
High-quality Education
St Patrick’s offers families a nurturing, encouraging and safe environment for their children to learn, achieve and grow. With widespread access to technology and a focus on meeting the individual learning needs of each student, our teachers and support staff are inspired by the school’s vision to ensure every student experiences success.
We are a ‘Positive Behaviour for Learning’ School
Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) is a schoolwide framework St Patrick’s implemented in 2012. It employs a whole-school approach to addressing problem behaviour and to reducing the effects of problem behaviour on the students’ learning and wellbeing. By supporting students to make wise choices about their behaviour, PBL has been shown to improve their self-concept and their motivation to learn.
Social Justice Initiatives
Our school has close links with the parish to which it belongs. Parishioners are active in the school in mentoring our Mini Vinnies outreach group to become advocates for social justice issues, to develop leadership skills and to engage with the St Vincent de Paul Society. Under the leadership of our Leaders of Mission, our school’s mission activities include fundraising and food drives for Caritas, Catholic Mission and the St Vincent de Paul Society.
St Patrick’s has an award-winning recycling program that has been recognised by Lake Macquarie City Council. The school’s bin-free policy encourages students to take personal responsibility for caring for the environment.
Opportunities in Creative Arts
Creative Arts is a curriculum area recognised as a strength at St Patrick’s. Music is an enjoyable part of our school’s curriculum. The Years 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to audition for ASPIRE, an initiative of the Catholic Schools Office, which showcases the talents of students in music, singing, dance and drama. A well-developed visual arts program ensures students are exposed to a variety of artistic techniques that include drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, digital art, fibre, photography and ceramics.
Caves Beach OOSH – Childcare
Students who require before and after-school care attend the Green Shed, which is located in the grounds of Swansea High School and run by Swansea Community Cottage. A bus transports the students to and from the facility and school. It operates from 7am to 9.30am each morning and from 2.30pm to 6pm each afternoon.
Physical Education and Sport
Participation, enjoyment and skill development are the cornerstones of our school’s Physical Education program. Our students have opportunities to compete at representative level for school, regional, diocesan and state competitions in sports including swimming, athletics and cross country, and in a variety of team sports including netball, football, rugby league and hockey.