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St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. First Aid St Patrick's Primary School values students' safety and as such employ a first aid officer during school hours, being 8:30 to 3:30pm, who present to the first aid office/sick bay. Our First Aid Officer holds certificates in First Aid (Level 2), CPR, Anaphylaxis, Asthma management, as well as participating in ongoing professional development in areas such as diabetes, haemophilia and epilepsy, but should students attend with a specific health need, additional training will be provided. Asthma For students that suffer from Asthma, the school requires an Asthma Management Plan to be completed by the student's medical practitioner and returned to school by the start of Term 1 via the SIMON Everywhere and the Parent Access Module (PAM) or in hard copy to the office. Copies of the Asthma Management Plan document can be found here . Anaphylaxis For students that suffer from anaphylaxis, the school requires an Anaphylaxis Management Plan to be completed by the student's medical practitioner and returned to school by the start of Term 1 via the SIMON Everywhere and the Parent Access Module (PAM) or in hard copy to the office. Copies of the Anaphylaxis Management Plan document can be found here . Some of the risk management strategies we ask all families to remember are; No food is to be shared at school. When celebrating a birthday, food cannot be shared or handed out. Alternatively children may like to bring some stickers, stamps or pencils to share. Although the school does not ban any particular foods, we do ask all parents to be mindful of other students allergies when packing lunchboxes, particularly if there is a child with an allergy in the same class.

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Literacy At St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, we not only value the teaching of English but believe that it is paramount in providing students with the skills and understandings to fully access the curriculum and develop as divergent, critical thinkers. Through the integration of the three strands: Reading & Viewing, Writing & Spelling and Speaking & Listening, the students are provided with learning experiences that enable them to develop skills and strategies to be competent and confident users of the English language. Literacy skills are best taught through modelled, guided and independent learning experiences, based on explicit teaching. Therefore we provide a differentiated curriculum that caters for the diverse needs of the learner through effective, relevant and challenging learning and teaching opportunities. The English curriculum aims to ensure that students: learn to listen to, read, view, speak, write, create and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of contexts with accuracy, fluency and purpose appreciate, enjoy and use the English language in all its variations and develop a sense of its richness and power to evoke feelings, convey information, form ideas, facilitate interaction with others, entertain, persuade and argue understand how Standard Australian English works in its spoken and written forms and in combination with non-linguistic forms of communication to create meaning develop interest and skills in inquiring into the aesthetic aspects of texts, and develop an informed appreciation of literature. Reading and Viewing At St Patrick’s, we aim to provide an evidence space based approach focusing on the ‘Science of Reading.’ We aim to encourage classroom environments which promote a love of books and reading where students feel inspired to read. Each classroom and digital platform is a language rich environment. Books are given their rightful place throughout the school. Library borrowing is scheduled once per week for every class from Prep to Year Six. Students are explicitly taught how to select ‘Good Fit Texts’ from the Library. Teachers ensure students are exposed to a wide range of reading material across genres including print and multimedia. St Patrick’s has implemented the program in the context of a Response to Intervention Framework. InitiaLit is a Tier 1 program and is designed to be delivered to whole classes by classroom teachers. Prep to Year Two use the InitiaLit Literacy Program. InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program which provides all students (Prep - Year Two) with essential core knowledge to become successful readers. Year Three - Six use an evidence-based instructional reading model based on the Science of Reading. Explicit teaching of reading strategies, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school (Prep to Year 2). InitiaLit–Prep incorporates the key components necessary for early reading instruction – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. InitiaLit–1 continues on from InitiaLit–Prep in providing an explicit and effective model for teaching reading, spelling and related skills to children in their second year of schooling. The program incorporates daily lessons in reading and spelling, as well as rich language instruction using children’s literature. As with InitiaLit–Prep, a set of decodable InitiaLit Readers (Levels 10-16), have been developed to align with the InitiaLit–1 instructional sequence. These readers, used alongside the program, will help students generalise and consolidate their skills. By Year 2, most children will be well on their way to reading independence. The program builds on the skills taught in InitiaLit–Prep and InitiaLit–1, with the focus shifting now to consolidating children’s reading and spelling skills, working specifically on reading comprehension, fluency, spelling and vocabulary. MiniLit and MacqLit The MiniLit and MacqLit programs are literacy intervention programs. MiniLit is aimed at Prep to Year 2 and comprises 80 lessons, delivered 4 times per week, for one hour per lesson. A placement test will indicate the ideal starting point on the program for each student, with criteria provided for grouping students according to instructional level. Regular assessments administered throughout the program will monitor progress. Each lesson comprises three main components: Sounds and Words Activities Text Reading Story Book Reading MacqLit is aimed at Years 3-6 and is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program for small groups of older low-progress readers. It is a comprehensive sequence of lessons that includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Writing and Spelling At St Patrick’s, we aim to provide a classroom environment which promotes opportunities to support the whole of the writing process from the planning stage through to publishing. The explicit teaching of the thinking processes involved through Modelled, Shared, Guided and Interactive Writing are clearly demonstrated so that students can apply them in their own independent writing and take place across the school from Prep to Year Six. Prep to Year Two use the InitaLit Literacy Program. InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program which provides all students with essential core knowledge to become successful writers. Prep to Year Two spelling is incorporated through the InitiaLit Literacy Program. The Seven Steps are the building blocks to great writing and they break down writing into simple chunks so students aren’t overwhelmed by writing a whole piece straight away. Instead, they gain confidence with each Step they learn, to become creative and engaging writers. Eventually they will learn how to put it all together and write complete texts independently. Year Three - Year Six are explicitly taught the Steps to Writing Success strategies to improve writing skills and student engagement. Students are provided with opportunities to write both purposeful and authentic pieces. Teachers plan activities that provide opportunities for students to explore current digital technologies within the writing program. Seven Steps Step 1: Plan for Success Step 2: Sizzling Starts Step 3: Tightening Tension Step 4: Dynamic Dialogue Step 5: Show, Don’t Tell Step 6: Ban the Boring Step 7: Exciting Endings/Ending with Impact Speaking and Listening At St. Patrick’s we seek to develop the oral language competence of students across the school. Teachers plan and implement strategies which specifically target the development of oral language skills. Language and the ability to communicate effectively is a key foundation to students’ capacity to learn in most general ways. A better developed knowledge of language and how it is used means a greater capacity to learn and to manage and to direct one’s activity as a learner (Munro, 2005) Students participate in Show and Tell, 1 minute talks, debates and oral presentations of their work. Oral language permeates throughout

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. NAPLAN St Patrick's participates in the annual NAPLAN testing for Years 3 and 5. NAPLAN is conducted online during May each year. It tests a variety of literacy and numeracy skills and is just one of many assessments that St Patrick's uses throughout the year to judge a student's academic progress. NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy), is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year in the second full week in May. The test is administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which is the independent statutory authority responsible for the overall management of the Australian National Assessment Program, in collaboration with representatives from all states and territories and non-government school sectors. NAPLAN is made up of tests in four areas: reading writing language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation); and numeracy. NAPLAN test results provide information on how students are performing in the areas of literacy and numeracy and support improvements in teaching and learning. The data from NAPLAN test results gives schools and systems the ability to measure their students’ achievements against national minimum standards and student performance in other states and territories. Reports on individual student performance are provided to all students and parents/carers by the states and territories. NAPLAN results are also reported nationally through summary results released in August and a full national report released in December. Whilst St Patrick's Primary School actively participate in the NAPLAN testing, it is not seen by the school as a be-all-end-all test, as it is just part of an ongoing testing regime that the school does to keep close check of student's performances. Parents and students should be aware that an unexpected result in a NAPLAN test is unusual, but should it occur, the school will work with the student and family to identify what may have contributed to the results. For more information on NAPLAN, go to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority website here or the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority website here . *Source: www.nap.edu.au

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Social and Emotional Learning Social and emotional learning (SEL) helps students to learn and practice skills that they need to build resilience and manage their emotions and relationships with others. This may include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills and responsible decision-making. To provide the best opportunities for all students to achieve their full potential, Catholic school communities seek to provide a comprehensive curriculum with strong pedagogical understandings and evidence-informed practices to personalise learning and engage young people at a level appropriate to their knowledge, skill and ability. (Horizons of Hope, CEM, 2017) To do this St. Patrick’s has clear expectations in regard to the teaching of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Each class is expected to explicitly teach SEL in a 45- 60 minute lesson per week. To do this the school uses 3 approaches including a new approach for St Patrick’s being the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) program as the main source of content for SEL lessons. This program aims to support students develop students’ social, emotional and positive relationship skills. The RRRR program links with the Australian curriculum and ensures that students are being consistently taught the expected outcomes across their schooling at St Patrick’s. Secondly we use resources obtained from the trauma informed practices of the Berry Street Education Model particularly in the areas of self regulation and teacher instruction/ co-regulation skills. The whole school was trained in these practices over 2017, 2018 and 2019. The third source of information for the successful teaching of SEL at St Patrick’s is the use of the Zones of Regulation program. This program is utilised by many external specialists including Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists. St Patrick’s utilises this program to ensure that there is a common language among the school and external professionals in reference to emotions and emotional regulation tools. It supports students to hear consistently that all people have emotions, there are no good or bad emotions, and all people need tools and/ or support to regulate their emotions sometimes. The RRRR explicit learning program falls under the whole school approach of Respectful Relationships (RR). St Patrick’s is in our first Year of RR and is under the mentorship of Assumption College who also use these methodologies and the RRRR program across all year levels. St Patrick’s has combined the methodologies of Respectful Relationships and our involvement in the Berry Street Education Model to address the needs of the St Patrick’s community. St. Patrick believes in nurturing student wellbeing in order for all students to engage in their learning and inevitably flourish. The school system targets wellbeing and Social Emotional Learning at an individual, class and whole school level. “Engaged learners have a positive sense of identity, connection with their peers and community. They are invested in learning in and beyond the classroom. This enables them to flourish and grow in confidence as curious, optimistic and inspired knowledge-builders, problem-solvers, conceptual thinkers and self-motivated learners.” Horizons of Hope, CEM, 2017 Religious Education Specialist Subjects

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Vision, Values and Logo A school's vision and values speak to the core of the school and what it believes in. Our logo is a well-known symbol that represents the school's history and mantra of walking in the footsteps of the Lord. School Vision St Patrick’s Primary school works in partnership with families, the parish and the community both locally and global. Together the whole school community developed its Vision statement in 2017. “St Patrick’s is a Catholic learning community. We commit to being a school where all members have an opportunity to flourish in an inclusive relational environment. We believe in developing active and curious learners. We aspire to be compassionate and responsive to the needs of all.” School Values We value celebrating Catholic traditions, engaging in dialogue and critically reflecting on faith in a contemporary context, and that social justice is an integral part of our Catholic faith. We value and nurture a caring community of staff, students and parents by promoting the values of respect, tolerance and co-operation. We value that every child at St Patrick’s should experience 12 months growth in 12 months. We value that personalised learning is embedded in our curriculum with student engagement, rigorous teaching and purposeful learning in all areas of the curriculum. We value that all students should accept responsibility for their own learning and need to develop a higher level of self-esteem which in turn will lead to resilience and empathy. We value the criteria for St. Patrick’s Primary School to be Child Safe compliant. We value a staff culture that is characterised by a shared vision and a strong sense of team work. We value the involvement of all families and community groups in the life of the school. School Logo The St Patrick's school logo is: In the Footsteps of the Lord The motto was selected after a school-wide competition was run in 1988. The competition was won by a Year 3 class (3J) after one of their families had discussed the competition around the dinner table and spoke about how at times in life Jesus may have helped and how they could live like Him, hence "In the Footsteps of the Lord". The class submitted that motto and won and it has been the school motto ever since.

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Prep 2026 Testing Bookings For Prep 2026 students, each Wednesday in February is a rest day. During these rest days, the teachers meet with their students to conduct testing. Please book this compulsory testing session using the link below. St Patrick's Primary School Kilmore asks that each new Prep 2026 student attend a one-hour testing session during one of the four rest days in February 2026. At least one parent/carer and the 2026 prep student are required to attend. The testing will take approximately 60 minutes and we ask that you arrive 5 minutes early. If your child wears glasses, please bring them along to the appointment. Please click on the link below, and use code r8jhf . Then select a meeting time that suits you and your child. If you are booking meetings for more than one child, please complete separate meeting event bookings for each child. Book Testing Session

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Physical Education Sport, recreation and play are essential attributes in the physical and social development of our students at St. Patrick’s. Sport also helps to define culture and our PE program includes interschool Summer and Winter Sport Carnivals. Not only does sport develop specific physical skills, it also improves health, fitness, develop social skills, friendships, team work and fair play. At St. Patrick’s Primary School, Physical Education is an important part of the curriculum. Students participate and enjoy a one hour lesson each week of Physical Education (PE) and our aim is to provide ALL students with: Physical activities that encourage maximum participation, are inclusive and fun and cater for all student’s needs. Various challenging activities to engage, maintain interest and increase student enjoyment in physical activity. To develop students Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) and sporting skills so they can participate confidently in a wide range of physical activities and sport. We are a 'Sporting School' at St Patrick's and each year we provide opportunities for our students to enjoy a range of different sports, delivered by specialist coaches. Click here to find out how this initiative benefits our children. At the end of each year, St. Patrick’s holds its own sports carnival where the focus is on participation and having fun. Students compete for their house, Chisholm, McAuley, Morrison or O’Rourke, earning points throughout the day. Inter-School Sporting Carnivals The Interschool Sport program runs separately to the Physical Education program for students in Grades Three to Six. It incorporates swimming, cross-country and athletics carnivals. It is a voluntary program, where students who wish to participate, are required to trial for different events. Students who are successful in gaining a place in these teams, participate firstly at the Mitchell District level against other local primary schools. From the District level, students who achieve a first or second placing go on to compete at the Whittlesea Division level and from here they may be successful to compete at the Northern Metropolitan Region level. More information about this can be seen below as part of School Sports Victoria. In addition to these carnivals, all Grade Six students participate in Interschool Summer and Winter Sports. These sports include basketball, softball, rounders and modified cricket for the summer and netball, AFL, soccer and tee-ball for the winter carnivals. School Sport Victoria St. Patrick’s has a long and proud history of students from Year 3 to 6 competing in School Sport Victoria (SSV) events. Trials are held at school and students are selected for the District Team based upon their commitment, respect and skill in their chosen sport. If successful at District events students will get the opportunity to compete at Division, Regional and State Championships. The ‘Mitchell District’ competitions are: Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics. NB: Students can also compete at a National level and would have to attend a trial for their respective sport, which is organised through School Sport Victoria (SSV). Parents and Carers, please click here https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/ for further information on the nomination process and selection for state teams. Participation in School Sport Victoria events are an extremely important part of a child's learning here at St Patrick's Primary School. Have you got a sporting achievement that you are proud of! You can print off your Participation Certificate, by selecting the relevant button and typing in your details. This can be accessed in the School Sports Victoria website link: https://www.ssv.vic.edu.au/Pages/ParticipationCertificates.aspx 2025 Program Pathways to Excellence - Victorian All Schools Track & Field and Cross-Country Championships St. Pat’s students that are interested in representing Victoria in Track & Field and Cross Country at a national level will need to compete in Athletics Victoria (AV) organised events to qualify. Parents and carers please click on the following link for further information: http://athsvic.org.au/events/competitions/avcompetitions/schools/

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. External Newsletters In addition to the internal school newsletter, there are a number of organisations that support the work of Catholic Education. Their newsletters provide insight and information to our families. Marist Schools Australia (MSA) Their latest newsletter can be found here . Catholic Schools Parents Victoria (CSPV) Their latest newsletter can be found here and select the year and "eNews". Catholic Education Today (CET) Copies of the CET magazine can be found here .

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. School Fees School fees cover basic tuition, capital works for maintenance and development of school buildings, provision of specialist tuition, as well as camps. To sustain quality Catholic education at St Patrick’s, parents agree at enrolment that full school fees and levies are payable when the school accepts the enrolment of their child. The Catholic Parish of St Patrick’s Kilmore, in association with the educational vision of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, seeks to offer a Catholic education for its children. St Patrick’s Primary School seeks to provide excellence in education, with Catholic values at its heart, wholistic in its scope and pastoral in its process. It is necessary for St Patrick’s to collect school fees to cover financial costs in meeting the goals of the school and the parents who choose Catholic education for their children. St Patrick’s sets school fees annually taking into account the Archdiocesan recommended minimum fee, government contributions and the local circumstances of the community. We recognise that in particular circumstances, from time to time, parents may need an avenue for discussion and mutual decision with school personnel about the procedure and capacity to pay the given fees. The Parish has placed the role of fee management with the Principal of the school. The Principal will access the advice and consult with other appropriate authorities within the school, the parish and Catholic Education in determining just decisions about the level of school fees in any particular year and in discussion with any particular parent or family in regard to the payments of fees. The School Fees and Charges Policy can be found here . 2026 School Fees School Fees have two components: family fees and per child fees. School fees are subject to the Concessional Fee Policy (see below). The 2026 Family Fee has been set as follows: The fees for one child in Prep to Year 3 would be $4,075 in 2026, for two siblings in Prep to Year 3 it would be $4,819 in 2026, etc. School fees are charged to the family at the start of the year for the whole of the year. All school fees are to be paid in full by the end of Term 3. The school uses direct debit as the method of payment of school fees. EFTPOS, cash, cheque, direct deposit into our bank account is available for for any overdue payments or upfront payments in full. We ask all families to fill out the direct debit form upon enrolment, or at the commencement of the school year if a direct debit is not currently in place. If you are not able to pay fees by direct debit, please contact the Finance Department (finance@spkilmore.catholic.edu.au ) to discuss an alternative payment plan. DIRECT DEBIT FORM 2026 DIRECT DEBIT FEE SCHEDULE FEES ARE COMPULSORY AND WE DO MAKE EVERY ENDEAVOUR TO COLLECT FULL PAYMENT Concessional Fee Policy Late in 2021, our head office, MACS, released a new Concessional Fee Policy, which provides reduced fees for: families of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; families with Health Care or DVA Cards; or those families facing severe financial hardship If you believe that you may be eligible for a concessional fee, please contact the Finance Department (finance@spkilmore.catholic.edu.au ) to request the documentation to apply for the concessional fee. The concessional fee must be paid by direct debit and the concessional fee is not retrospective, and any existing debt stands in full. The Concessional Fee Policy can be found here . The Concessional Fee Application Form can be found here . The 2026 Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) Application Form can be found here . It opens on 27 January 2026 and closes at the end of Term 2.

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. Back to School 2026 Whilst school holidays can be a wonderful time of Christmas and New Year celebrations, filled with less routine, maybe a holiday and some relaxation, there is also the necessary job of preparing to get students back to school. At St Patrick's we aim to provide as much information as we can for parents to help in that process. School Uniform All of the school uniform information can be found on our website here . All uniform items that identify the school, such as polo shirts, house polos, backpacks, jumpers, hats and dresses are to be purchased through Academy Uniforms. Their Thomastown store is open over the school holidays and the school uniform shop near the netball courts will reopen on Thursday 29 January from 9:00am to 5:00pm . All other uniform items (except shoes) can also be purchased through the uniform shop, but can be substituted for like items from other department-type stores. School Requisite Items St Patrick's provides a list of items that a student will use throughout the year, broken up into a list of items the school provides and a list of items re quired to be supplied by families. The list was provided at the end of Term 4, but copies of the School Requisite List for 2026 for each year level can be found here: Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Back to School Reminders Please remember the following: Label everything that is being sent to school; If a 2025 classroom is labelled on an item, such as lunch boxes, please change it to the 2026 class; Do not forget to also change the classroom on the reusable school lunch order bags to avoid lunch orders being lost; Lunch orders recommence on the first day of school - Monday 2 February; Specialist classes will commence on Monday 2 February - check infographic for your class sports uniform days. School Reopening The school office will reopen on Friday 30 January , and our Year 1-6 Get To Know You meetings will also be on Friday 30 January . S tudents will return with classes to commence for Prep to Year 6 on Monday 2 February 2026 . Communication A reminder to ensure that your email address is registered with the front office so that you receive the weekly ewsletter. Please email Elise Vlasveld (elise.vlasveld@spkilmore.catholic.edu.au ) to request to be added to the newletter list. We also recommend that all families with Facebook, request access to our parent/carer-only Facebook group. You can find the group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stpatskilmorefamilies . You must answer all questions to be admitted to the group. Only parents and carers will be accepted, and all other requests will be decli ned for privacy reasons. Finally, you must ensure that you setup your PAM account. The Parent Access Module (PAM) is connected the school's SIMON student management system. From this account you can notify absences, access reports, provide and update medical information, nominate emergency contacts, etc. You will be provided with access information if you have not already got access. Other Dates Please refer to the Hours, Dates and Days webpage for further information about school hours, terms dates and other school calendar dates. 2026 Welcome Barbeque To welcome our families to school for 2025, there will be a back-to-school barbeque on the evening of the first Friday of school, Friday 6 February 2026 from 4:45-6:00pm . 2026 School Fees Finally, school fees for 2026 have been set, and information can be found on the webpage here . School fee invoices will be sent out early in Term 1. The school is moving to all payments being made by direct debit (either weekly, fortnightly or monthly). Please contact Deb Amodio, the Finance Officer, to setup your direct debit arrangement . Late in 2021, our head office, MACS, released a new Concessional Fee Policy, which provides reduced fees for: families of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent; families with Health Care or DVA Cards; or those families facing severe financial hardship. In order to be eligible for the Concessional Fee Policy, you must be entitled to the CSEF Payment, with an eligibility cut off date in April. Do not delay in applying for CSEF and Concessional Fee, as we cannot apply the discounts if the CSEF application is not approved. CSEF applications close at the end of Term 2. If you believe that you may be eligible for a concessional fee, please contact Deb Amodio (deb.amodio@spkilmore.catholic.edu.au ) to request the documentation to apply for the concessional fee. The concessional fee must be paid by direct debit and the concessional fee is not retrospective, and any existing debt stands in full. If you face issues in paying the school fees, at any time during the year, please contact Deb Amodio, and discuss what arrangements can be made to assist your situation. It is important that you contact the school early so that we can assist appropriately.

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. School Houses St Patrick's have four school houses and each student is allocated to a house when they start at St Patrick's. That house allocation will apply to siblings as they enrol too. The four school houses are named after prominent people. McAuley (blue house) Named after Sister Catherine McAuley, joint founder of the Sisters of Mercy, born September 29 1778 in Ireland and died November 11, 1841. In 1824 Catherine McAuley leased a property in southeast Dublin to build a house to serve poor women and children. On December 12 1831 Catherine McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle and Mary Elizabeth Harley professed their religious vows as the first Sisters of Mercy, thereby founding the congregation. She encouraged her Sisters to "educate poor girls, to lodge and maintain poor young women who are in danger and to visit the sick poor". Within 10 years Catherine founded nine Convents of Mercy in Ireland and England. The Sisters of Mercy made a foundation in Perth, Western Australia in 1846. Today there are more than 12,000 Sisters of Mercy worldwide. They run 200 health care facilities, 19 colleges, 58 schools and provide many other services that help people of every age. O'Rourke (yellow house) Named after Father Timothy O'Rourke, Parish Priest at St Patrick's Catholic Church 1885-1860, died January 16 1861. Fr O'Rourke was educated at Maynooth, Ireland and ordained as a priest in mid-1849. He left Ireland in August of that year to undertake missionary work in New Zealand. In poor health he came to Melbourne for a holiday in January 1854 and agreed to act temporarily in the vacancy caused by the last illnesses of Fr Clarke in the parish of Kilmore. He remained and carried on with an energy far beyond his strength and accomplished much in a few short years which is testimony to the zeal of a great priest. Fr O'Rourke's first task was to assume responsibility for the building of the school-church. He initiated the building of a bluestone church-school. This building, used as a boy's school, had two large rooms with extra small rooms for a master and a school-mistress. About 1855, under Fr O'Rourke's supervision, a small, solid bluestone church known as St Bridget's was built at the Survey on 2 acres of land donated by George Jessop. Maher states that the church was used for services for two years before being blessed by Bishop Goold on November 1 1857. Fr O'Rourke not only took on responsibility for the building for the church, he also maintained several schools in the parish including opening at least 5 to accommodate the growing numbers of children living in the area. St Patrick's Church was begun in 1857 under the watchful eye of Fr O'Rourke. He continued serving his parish despite ill health up until the last few months of 1860. Fr O'Rourke was interred in front of the Our Lady alter in the church he had organised to build on March 23 1871. Chisholm (red house) Named after Caroline Chisholm, humanitarian, born May 30 1808 in England and died March 25 1877 in England. Caroline Chisholm was born in England. She arrived in Australia in 1838 and set up a home for other women who had come to live here. She worked to improve life on the ships bringing people to Australia to start a new life and started a loans plan to bring poor children and families to Australia. She arranged free trips so that the families of convicts who were transported to Australia could come to join them. She also believed poor people should be able to buy farms cheaply. Caroline set up a home in Sydney for young women, and organised other homes in several rural centres. The home was soon extended to help families and young men. During the seven years Caroline was in Australia she placed over 11,000 people in homes and jobs. Her 'home' - the Female Immigrant Home helped over 40,000 people in its 38 year lifespan. She became a very well-known woman who was very much admired. Morrison (green house) Named after Monsignor Ken Morrison, Parish Priest St Patrick's Catholic Church 1952 - 1977. Monsignor Morrison became the Parish Priest of St Mary's in Williamstown in 1936. This included becoming the part-time chaplain to the Point Cook and Laverton bases of the Royal Australia Air Force. During World War II he became the Principal Catholic Chaplain. He was responsible for 60 chaplains who served in Britain, Malta, the Far East, the Pacific, Japan and throughout Australia. He made frequent visits to their posts. In 1947-48 Monsignor Morrison served a 12 month tour of duty in Japan. In 1948 he reverted to his pre-war practice of dividing time between civil and service duties. He was awarded the OBE in 1962 for his work with the Air Force. In 1952 he took up the appointment of parish priest in Kilmore, He quickly gained support of the parishioners to restore the church that was showing severe damage. He also rebuilt the school that had been condemned by the Health Authorities. In 1968 he added a larger school building and organised a bus service to bring students to St Patrick's from Broadford and Kilmore East. Monsignor Morrison drove the bus for 17 years. During his remaining time at St Patrick's Monsignor Morrison added a district church at Wallan and rebuilt one at Darraweit Guim. He also administered a circuit of six district churches. He handed over the reins of Parish Priest to Father Peter Rankin on June 18 1977.

St Patrick's Primary School is a Catholic education provider in Kilmore, Victoria where we work collaboratively to maximise student outcomes. French Conversation Classes St Patrick's Primary School offer all of our families the opportunity to participate in French conversation classes with our French teacher, Mr Quentin Berlatier. One of the specialist subjects offered at St Patrick's Primary School is French. Our French teacher, Mr Quentin Berlatier, is a native of France and is fluent in French. He is offering all of our families the opportunity to attend the school before pick up time on a Monday, 2:15-3:00pm, and participate in French Conversation classes free of charge. It is a wonderful opportunity for families also partake in the French language and engage in the students' learning of the French language.