Catholic Identity

St Patrick’s School is a vibrant, positive community of learning and faith - a place where every person can know they belong and feel cared for.

We recognise the spirituality of each person and welcome everyone who supports our school values.

Religious Education is deeply valued at St Patrick’s School and plays a key role. We seek to partner with parents and build on the faith and values that their children see expressed at home.

Our students are immersed in rich, meaningful learning opportunities that promote their faith development and encourage them into a deeper, loving relationship with God.

Religious Education Program

Our Religious Education Program, ‘Crossways’ is welcoming of all faith traditions.

Through it, we provide the opportunity for your child to learn more about themselves by exploring their spiritual selves and gaining a deeper understanding of how faith integrates into our life and culture.

Made in the Image of God

The Catholic understanding is that every human is made in the image of God. Each person therefore deserves to live with dignity and respect and their sexuality is a fundamental aspect of this.

At St Patrick’s, we acknowledge that the beliefs, values and insights of Christian tradition and Catholic moral teaching enrich our lives and our society for the better.

Masses/Liturgies

Once a term each class comes together to celebrate through the Catholic Mass or liturgy.

The whole school community also comes together to celebrate:

• St Patrick’s Day
• Ash Wednesday
• Easter
• Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
• Thanksgiving / Graduation Mass

Community Prayer

On Monday mornings, we gather as a school community for prayer. Members of our Prayer and Liturgy Committee and class groups take turns to lead these special gatherings.

Christian Meditation

All classes take part in Christian meditation twice a week.

Journey to Emmaus

This Christian group for our Year 6 students is based on the principles of servant leadership. The group aims to inspire a service mindset of helping and caring for others.

The Journey to Emmaus Servant Leadership Program develops/prepares (a different word here) our Year 6 students as social justice leaders for today and the future. Through connecting with the life of Jesus and the vision and mission of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods, our students actively engage in acts of service to bring God’s love to all. As student leaders in a Josephite School, our Year 6 students bring our school motto ‘In All Things Love’ to life by giving of their themselves while serving the (justice) needs of our local and wider community.

Catholic Social Teaching

The values of Catholic Social Teaching underpin everything we do at St Patrick’s. They guide us in all spheres of life - the economic, political, personal and spiritual.

Social Justice

At St Patrick’s, we work together to meaningfully influence and impact our world for the better by helping people in need close to home and further afield. Throughout the year, we support the important work of many charities including

• Caritas Project Compassion
• St Vincent De Paul
• Catholic Charities
• Mary MacKillop Today

Sustainability

We are striving to reduce our footprint on the earth to care for God’s creation. Our progress towards being a thoughtful and sustainable school community includes our Nude Food initiative and commitment to recycling.