About Our School

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic school offering a faith based education for primary aged children.​ We are constantly monitoring our literacy and numeracy practices and are excited by the growth that we are seeing in our children. Our school values wellbeing above all other facets of school life. We employ restorative practices in order to foster and maintain positive relationships among all members of the school. Our afternoon program, along with Fridays' rotations, ensures that all our students have the opportunity to develop their sporting, artistic and musical talents.We believe that it is important that our children have a strong connection with the wider community and make valuable contributions to it.

At St. Patrick’s, we see ourselves as an extension of the family by supporting the values and aspirations that you have for your child. St. Patrick's aims to be a safe, friendly, supportive and caring school community.  

Ours is a Faith Community, which includes our Parish Priest, Father Gerry Prunty and parents, as well as the staff, students and volunteers that work with us. We are proud of our catholicity but we welcome all students regardless of their religious status. Our Christian Values support parents in raising children who are capable of making positive behavioural choices. 

The staff at our school  prepare academic, sporting, artistic, social, musical and spiritual experiences for our kids. We aim to teach the core curriculum in a variety of ways in order to cater for different learning styles. Our classroom floor plan enables variable group learning. A typical day's experience at St. Patrick's will include whole group learning, small focus groups, the use of technology, social opportunities, sporting or other physical challenges, creative tasks, and some reflective/spiritual time.
​
The school has excellent facilities. We have added wonderful play and sheltered areas to our grounds, providing all weather access for both sport and recreational play. 

​Welcome to our school.

Mrs. Trinity Johns
Principal of St Patrick's

School Profile

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic parish primary school situated in the Central Highlands, a region in the north-west of Victoria. The Sisters of Mercy established and ran the school for many years. Today, the school is in the care of dedicated teachers and a supportive parish community.

St Patrick's is a member of a small school cluster that provides the students with rich and exciting cultural and sporting opportunities throughout the year. We provide modern facilities including a library, art room and a Languages Other Than English program, and a highly-valued ten week dance program.

The school provides excellent recreational play areas with extensive shade cover over the playground equipment. The school is active within the local community by participating in community celebrations and in local organisations.

The Catholic nature of the school is evident in the daily lives of the children, teachers, and community. St Patrick’s lives its school vision through all interactions with staff, students, and the wider community by developing deep understandings about self, others, and the world. Leaders aim to be Christ-centered in all aspects of their leadership.

A well-coordinated Religious Education program that is connected to faith development and social justice and takes a caring community-based approach provides the students with many opportunities to connect their lives and faith.

The learning spaces and improvements to all buildings and grounds support a contemporary approach, emphasising and valuing external and internal learning.

Staff & Key Personnel

We aim for a personal commitment from staff to be change agents, to have highly developed communication, team, and problem-solving skills, and to participate and cooperate with other people in all human activities. We expect that staff will have high expectations that every student can learn and an understanding of the importance of having appropriate measures of accountability in place. All staff members are continually working towards a deeper knowledge of how children learn best and then to match the strategies to the learning styles and the needs of their students.

  • Mr Josh McElgunn - Principal

    Mrs Penny Knight - Deputy Principal

    Mrs Joanne Hawksworth - Administration

    Mrs Kerrie White - Administration

    Mrs Jackie Richards - Technologies Co-ordinator

    Mr Patrick Delahunty - Learning Diversity Leader

    Mrs Jan Fagan - Religious Education Leader / Wellbeing

  • Foundation

    Helene Richard

    Nicky Aitken

    Liam Jackson

    Jacinta Jamieson

    Jess Chisholm

    Junior

    Marty Umanski

    Joanna Medson

    Alannah Coughlan

    Marisa Joseph

    Rina Morgan

    Middle

    Julie Nicholson

    Liam Jackson

    Kirsten McCarthy

    Vaughn McCarthy

    Leanne Todd

    Senior

    Leigh Kentish

    Laura Bruty

    Gerard McCarthy

    Bethany Volkers

    Specialists

    Simone Segrave

    Seravina Kinanti

    Tracey Huchinson

    Louise Hill

    Learning Support Staff

    Cathy Ball

    Jackie Richards

    Ty Hudson

    Jayden Exell

    Kristy Duncan

    Liz Vass

  • Elected members of the St Therese Advisory Council for 2024 are:

    Principal: Josh McElgunn

    Deputy Principal: Penny Knight

    Parish Priest: Fr Linh Tran

    Council Chair: Anthony Winter

    Elected Members: Kate Collins, Erin Gleeson, Ellen Miers, Russ Wood, Melissa Iannazzo, Tony Jones

Class Structures

There are currently fifteen classes operating at St Therese with the learning areas arranged in four main buildings – Foundation, junior, middle and senior school. This year we have changed our class structure from a composite style to single stream classes.  These learning areas are flexible, purposeful spaces, with an emphasis on both inside and outside learning. The library collection is distributed throughout the 4 learning spaces to ensure access to books for students at all times.

Our classes are as Follows

Foundation: Foundation AJ, Foundation HR, Foundation JC

Year 1: Year 1JM, Year 1MU

Year 2: Year 2AC, Year 2JM

Year 3: Year 3KM, Year 3NJ

Year 4: Year 4LT, Year 4VM

Year 5: Year 5LB, Year 5LK

Year 6: Year 6BV, Year 6GM

Teaching and Learning

Our school is focused on providing a contemporary learning environment and continues to evaluate programs for their relevance to living in the twenty-first century. The use of research and data to inform decisions about learning and teaching, have contributed to a change in culture in this area.

The learning and teaching in the early years builds a strong foundation that supports our beliefs and understandings that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic investigations have greater language skills and better developed social skills, empathy and imagination.

Student Welfare

All staff promote a positive wellbeing philosophy based on high expectations for all students within a nurturing environment. It is the basis upon which student learning is developed and extended.

Child Safety

At St Therese Catholic Primary School, we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. Our commitment is drawn from and inherent to the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel (CECV Commitment Statement to Child Safety).

Statement of Democratic Principles

St Therese Primary School aims to promote lifelong learning and active participation as citizens in Australian society. Learning and teaching practice is based on an integrated curriculum and implemented through an inquiry approach. An important focus of curriculum development and implementation is the focus on Community and Citizenship, which is developed and explored in line with the Victorian Curriculum's Essential Learning Standards - Civics and Citizenship Domain.

The programs of St Therese, and the teaching of those programs support and promote:

  • the principles and practice of Australian democracy;

  • the elected government;

  • the rule of law;

  • equal rights for all before the law;

  • freedom of religion;

  • freedom of speech and association; and,

  • values of openness and tolerance.