Term 2 - Week 4
Message from the Principal
Gracious God,
We come before You with grateful hearts,
Thankful for the gift of our school community.
Bless our school with unity, resilience, and vision
As we journey forward together.
Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to the Term 2 Week 4 newsletter.
Last Thursday we welcomed members of our Catholic Schools and Catholic Diocese of Maitland Newcastle for our School Improvement and Sustainability Visit. Our School Captains Evie and Imogen introduced Ms Lisa Tierney, Chief Operating Officer of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle; Mrs Jacqueline Wilkinson, Director of Schools; Mrs Kate Drake, Assistant Director of Catholic Schools; Mr Ryan Gato, Head of Religious Education and Spirituality; Mrs Trish Humble, Head of School Improvement and Learning; and all our other special guests from Shared Services.
During the day, our visitors met with the leadership team to discuss our successes and challenges in the areas of Catholic identity, learning and wellbeing. Our students also joined in the conversation, sharing their experiences at St Pat’s. They spoke confidently, lending their voice to shaping the culture of our school.
We would like to thank the members of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle and Catholic Schools for extremely positive feedback. We are grateful for the affirmation of our efforts, for the encouragement it brings, and for the guidance that helps us grow stronger and wiser as a Catholic school community.
Lucy Harvey
Principal
Kinder 2026 Interviews
Over the next two weeks, we will be meeting with the students and parents of submitted enrolments for Kinder 2026. This is an opportunity for us to meet for an informal conversation that will allow us to gain a deeper understanding of the child's unique strengths, interests and areas where additional support may be beneficial.
Catholic Schools Week
St Patrick’s will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week on Thursday 5th June with a liturgy, open classrooms and a picnic lunch. We hope you will be able to share in our celebrations of belonging to a Catholic school.
Inservice Day
A reminder that Friday 6th June is a pupil free day. The staff will be travelling to the St Joseph Spirituality and Education Centre at Kincumber to participate in a day of formation, focusing on embedding Catholic identity at St Patrick’s.
Term 2 Week 5
Term 2 Week 6
Message from RE Coordinator
During Week 6, St Patrick’s Swansea proudly joins Catholic communities across the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese in celebrating Catholic Schools Week—a time to honour the gift of Catholic education and the strong foundations of faith, learning, and community that we build together.
This year’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” beautifully reflects our own school motto: “Grow in Hope.” At St Patrick’s, hope is not just something we hold onto—it is something we nurture daily in our hearts, our classrooms, and across our school community. As pilgrims of hope, we walk a shared journey, guided by Jesus’ teachings and strengthened by one another. Each step we take—through learning, prayer, service, and friendship—deepens our sense of purpose and brings us closer to the hope that God offers us all.
Throughout the week, our students will take part in a variety of meaningful activities that bring this theme to life. From thoughtful reflections and class prayers to acts of kindness and service, we are embracing what it means to walk together in faith and grow in hope.
A highlight of our celebrations will take place on Thursday, 5th June at 9:15am, when our school community will gather for a special Catholic Schools Week liturgy. Following the liturgy, parents and carers are warmly invited to visit classrooms, sharing in their child’s learning, and enjoy a picnic lunch on the school grounds. This will be a joyful opportunity to connect as a school family and celebrate all that makes St Patrick’s so special.
We warmly encourage all families to attend this important event in our school calendar and join us in continuing to grow in hope—together.
We offer heartfelt thanks to our dedicated staff, supportive families, and the wider parish community who walk this journey with us each day. Your presence and encouragement help our students live out the message of hope in their learning and lives.
As we continue our pilgrimage, may we be filled with joy, strengthened by faith, and inspired by the hope that guides us forward.
Staff Formation Day 6th June
On Friday 6th June, the staff will be participating in a formation experience facilitated by several of the Formation Education Officers from the Catholic Schools Office. The purpose of this formation is to consolidate the staff’s understanding of the Josephite charism supporting the School’s Improvement Plan goal information.
Our school community develops a Catholic identity specific for St Patrick’s Primary School, Swansea, encompassing its story, culture, and Catholic worldview through the origins of the Josephite charism.
The day will focus on:
- Time in formation and prayer around the idea of the staff’s personal stories, our school’s story, and the Church’s story.
- Deepening our understanding of the Josephite charism, exploring how this charism speaks to a broader Catholic identity of the school.
- Contemplating how the staff can embed the school’s Catholic identity in their work.
Mr Daniel Lockwood
RE Coordinator
Message from Assistant Principal
Parent Line - Free, personalised support for parents available 7 days from qualified counsellors
Parenting is a challenging and multifaceted journey, with both joys and difficulties. If you feel you need support in any parenting matters, Parent Line NSW is one of many options available to assist.
Parent Line NSW is a free telephone counselling, support and referral service for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 18 who live in New South Wales. Parent Line is also an information service for professionals working with children and families.
Whether you need some help or just want someone to talk to, the qualified and experienced counsellors are available seven days a week to support you.
What Can I Talk to Parent Line NSW About?
The service receives calls from parents, carers and professionals who have questions or concerns about babies, children, or teenagers. Parent Line counsellors can help to support you, offering advice and guidance on concerns such as…
- Child and adolescent mental health
- Friendship issues and bullying
- Social media and increased screentime
- Anxiety in children
- Child and behaviour development
- Managing stress and anxiety
- Support during family separation
- School transitions
- Family violence
Call Parent Line NSW on 1300 1300 52 to access free and confidential counselling. Open Monday to Friday (9am to 9pm) and Saturday & Sunday (4pm to 9pm).
See below flyer for further information.
Mrs Janine Schneider
Assistant Principal
Library News
National Simultaneous Storytime
This year’s NSS book was The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel and illustrated by Danny Snell. We have spent the term preparing by making origami cat masks, looking at the display, using Adobe AI to generate our own book covers for The Truck Cat, and talking about our pets. The most fun though was having the story read to us on Storybox Library.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a pet photo for our display.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Don’t forget to keep logging your reading progress on the NSW PRC website. Students can record books read in class and the library as well as at home. If you have any questions or need your password, please get in touch with Mrs Devlin or Mrs Hale.
Congratulations
A big congratulations to the following students who have finished :
Jasper
Elvis
Imogen P
Mrs Karen Devlin & Mrs Penelope Hale
Library Teacher and Library Assistant
Lost Property
There are some jackets in the Lost Property that look brand new. If you are missing any of the following items, please collect from the Library and ensure names are added so they can be easily returned if mislaid.
Kindergarten News
Wow — what a busy term we are having in Kindergarten! We are super learners and trying lots of new things every day.
Some of our favourite things this term are learning teen numbers and building our knowledge of time. We also loved celebrating our beautiful mums for Mother’s Day. We made special surprises and told our mums how much we love them. There were lots of big smiles and maybe even a few happy tears!
In art, we are creating abstract art. We are learning to show objects and ideas using lines, colours, and shapes. We think our collages would look amazing in a big art gallery!
In English, we are learning about types of words like verbs (doing words) and adjectives (describing words). We are trying to find these in the books we read and use them in our sentence writing.
We also had visits from lifeguards to talk about water safety. They taught us how to stay safe when we go swimming. Good thing too, because with all these rainy days, we think we might have to swim to school soon! Luckily, we are coming up with new fun things to do inside when the playground is too wet.
We can’t wait to keep learning and having fun together!
Miss Chloe Murray
Kindergarten Teacher
Diverse Learners Team News
High Potential & Gifted Education
Dear Parents and Carers
I am excited to introduce myself as the new Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer working with St Patrick’s Swansea. In this role, I will be supporting teachers, students, and families to enhance learning opportunities for High Potential and Gifted (HPG) students, ensuring they are challenged, engaged, and able to reach their full potential.
In this role, I will work closely with teachers, students, and families to help identify and support students with high potential, including those in the Virtual Academy.
I am passionate about ensuring that all HPG students—including those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds—have access to the support and opportunities they need to thrive. I also value strong partnerships between schools and families, as working together is key to fostering student success.
I look forward to rejoining the St Patrick’s Swansea community in this role and working with you to support our High Potential and Gifted students. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the programs available.
Looking forward to an exciting year ahead!
Yours sincerely
Mrs Cathy Curk
Gifted Education Mentor Project Officer
CogAT
During Term 2, students in years 2 and 4 will participate in the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). This test evaluates students' reasoning abilities in three key areas essential for success in school:
- Verbal Battery: Assesses students' ability to reason with words and concepts, crucial for reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and verbal learning tasks.
- Quantitative Battery: Measures students' ability to reason with quantitative symbols and concepts, which are vital for problem-solving in mathematics and other disciplines.
- Nonverbal Battery: Evaluates students' ability to reason with geometric shapes and figures, requiring them to implement strategies for solving novel problems.
These batteries provide a comprehensive view of each student's learned reasoning abilities, identifying both strengths and areas for improvement. CogAT aims to support differentiated practice in education by helping teachers adapt instruction to meet the unique needs and abilities of each student.
It's important to note that CogAT scores are not integrated into report grades or other conventional measures of school achievement. The focus is on tailoring instruction and fostering a supportive, inclusive learning environment based on each child's ability.
If you have any concerns or questions about your child's academic progress or specific educational needs, please schedule a meeting with your child's teacher. They will discuss your child's strengths and areas for growth based on various assessments. Additionally, you can contact our Gifted Education Mentor (GEM) Cathy Curk (catherine.curk@mn.catholic.edu.au), or Leader of High Potential and Gifted Education, Maree Karaka (maree.karaka@mn.catholic.edu.au), for further assistance.
Thank you for your continued support in ensuring the best educational outcomes for our students.
Learning Support – Spelling and Maths Bees
This week, classes from Year 1 to Year 6 are holding their Spelling and Maths Bees to find the class finalists.
This gives students a chance to practice the skills they are learning to spell out unknown words. While we encourage ‘sounding out’ and breaking longer words into syllables, it is another skill altogether to translate this into letter names to spell out loud (without writing it down)! In Maths, the students have been focusing on developing their number sense through class ‘warm-ups’, but the Maths Bee also tests the speed of recalling facts.
For some students, the Bees are a time to test our character strengths of resilience and bravery. It can be difficult to answer a question under pressure, and crushing when you get it wrong, but these are learning experiences that help us navigate challenge and cope with winning / losing in an appropriate way. Everyone is to be congratulated on having a go and managing their disappointment (or elation).
The next round will be the St Pat's stage finals, where the two finalists from each class compete against the others in their stage. The winner from each stage then goes to the Regional Finals at Kilaben Bay.
Mrs Jo Simes
Learning Support Teacher
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education
Next Monday the 26th May, our school community will come together to reflect on “Sorry Day” and National Reconciliation Week. Our students have been learning about the significance of Sorry Day and the need for a continuing focus on healing and Reconciliation in Australia.
Bridging Now to Next, the theme for this year’s National Reconciliation Week, urges us to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.
At a time when Australia faces uncertainty in its reconciliation journey, this theme calls on all Australians to step forward together.
In learning about the Sorry Day, our students have decorated a special flower, Sturt’s Desert Rose, which was chosen to symbolise the scattering of the Stolen Generations by Government policy. It honours their strength and resilience due to its ability to survive in harsh conditions. The colour denotes compassion and spiritual healing. Our flowers will be placed near our Story Pole in our playground.
We would love all members of our community to join us for our National Reconciliation Week liturgy on Monday at 2:15pm in the hall.
NAIDOC Fundraiser
Mrs Liz Walker
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Education Teacher
School TV Article: Respectful Relationships
Sport News
Diocesan Cross Country Rescheduled
Due to continuous wet weather the Diocesan Cross Country has been postponed until May 30th. We wish our Dio Team the very best of luck and a good dose of sunshine!
Athletics Carnival
Save the date, TUESDAY June 3rd for our School Athletics Carnival at the Fearnley Dawes Athletic Track. We will require family volunteers for the day. If you can assist, please indicate on the Compass Event.
Students will be required to wear their sports uniform but may wear a house colour t-shirt or accessories.
Athletics Carnival Canteen
Pre-orders for canteen lunches on the day are now open via the QKR App. Pre-ordering is highly recommended as there will be limited extras on the day. Orders will close 4pm WEDNESDAY 28th of May.
Tea, coffee, hot chocolate & a variety of lollies will be available purchase on the day, they are not available to pre-order.
There are 2 spots remaining on the canteen roster if you have an hour to spare between 10:30am and 12:30pm please email Elise at stpatrickspf1@gmail.com.
Pathways Sport
Congratulations to Florence de Champlain who represented our Diocese at the Polding Soccer Championships in Bathurst on the 2nd of May. Florence is clearly a talented football player and we look forward to hearing of her future endeavours.
We wish the best of luck to Cooper Brown as he represents the Lakes Region at the Diocesan Rugby Union Trials on Thursday 5th June.
Weekend Sports Stars
Egan Joyce was honoured to accept both Age Champion and the Committee's Choice Awards at Eastlakes Athletics 2024-2025. Congratulations Egan!
If your child is a Weekend Sports Star, please email details and a photo to so we can celebrate their success in our next newsletter.
Mrs Claire Browne
Sport Coordinator
Office News
Volunteering at St Patrick's
If you would like to register to volunteer at St Patrick's, can you please complete the "Volunteer Registration Form" by clicking on the link here.
St Patrick's will be notified by the Catholic Schools Office once you are cleared to volunteer.
If you are unsure if you have clearance, please email the office at admin@swansea.catholic.edu.au to enquire.
2025 Fee Information
Please commence payments as per the preferred frequency (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) prior to 31st March and then continue on that frequency to erode the fees over the course of each month and be finalised to a $0 balance by 30th November 2025. In April, any family that has not yet commenced fee payments will be deemed in arrears of the March component of the account.
For families that opted to pay annually, school fees are due in full by the 30th June 2025.
If you have any queries please contact the office to discuss.
Applications for school travel passes through Transport NSW
The School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) gives eligible school students free or subsidised travel between home and school on NSW public transport, including trains, buses, ferries and light rail.
Depending on where students are travelling, they may receive a free school travel pass, a School Opal card, or both.
Please visit Transport NSW in the link below, to learn about eligibility criteria and apply for a travel pass which will help support transport options for our school community.
https://transportnsw.info/school-travel-apply
Other useful links and resources can be found here.
Rachelle McKenzie
Senior School Officer
P&F update
Save the date...
If you can help out with one or all, please reach out to the school or directly to our committee via email - stpatrickspf1@gmail.com
Thanks again.
Elise Moncrieff
St Patricks P&F President
Community Notices
“Sometimes less is more! Try these SWAP IT tips. For more fussy eating tips, visit: www.swapit.net.au/fussyeating”
