Be thoughtful, warm and respectful in all you do and say

A copy of our Bushfire Plan can be found here on our website - https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/formsandprocedures

Friday 30 May

Tuesday 3 June

Friday 15 August

Monday 15 September

Please check the PCPS community calendar for upcoming and future dates as the calendar is regularly updated https://www.padcath.wa.edu.au/community-calendar

Please keep Pope Francis in your prayers for a speedy and full receovery from his current illness.

Loving and Merciful God,

We come before You in prayer, lifting up Your servant, Pope Francis, in his time of need. You are the Source of all healing, and we ask You to surround him with Your loving presence, granting him strength and recovery. May Your divine grace rest upon him, restoring his health and filling him with renewed vigor to continue leading Your Church with compassion and wisdom.

Next Wednesday we gather together to celebrate Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent. Parents are welcome to join us in the hall for our special liturgy at 9am.

Lent prepares us for Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Taking place 40 days before Easter Sunday, Ash Wednesday is one of the most important holy days in the liturgical calendar and signals a season of prayer, reflection, penance and fasting.

Coming from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting, Ash Wednesday involves applying ashes, made from blessed palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday Mass, to a person’s forehead. The ashes applied to the forehead symbolise the dust from which God made us with the words "Repent and believe in the Gospel" and for the children ”Follow Jesus”.

The Lenten season is a good opportunity for us all to spend time in prayer, to give to others in need and to ‘fast’ or ‘give up’ something as a commitment to becoming a better person.

Each of the classes will focus on Lent and we will encourage the children to do things for others and pray for them, especially those less fortunate.

Each PCPS family will be provided a Project Compassion box so that as a family, you may wish to give to others in need.

All PCPS families are specially invited to celebrate a special PCPS Family Mass at Our Lady of the Mission on Sunday 16 March at 10.00am. At this liturgy the families from Padbury CPS will be participating in all parts of the Mass along with the parish community. This is a special mass and we have two per year so I ask all families to make a big effort to come along.

We are keen for parents as well as children to participate in the Mass. Some of the areas children and families can help in include - altar serving; reading; lighting candles; singing; guitar playing and greeters.

We would love some parents to play an instrument / sing in the choir alongside the children.

Please click on the link to volunteer https://forms.gle/XFshAb4wcbxGeMFU6

Big thanks to Liz De Haas and Severine Gibson for co ordinating this special mass.

The Latin word sacramentum means ‘a sign of the sacred.’ Sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred, significant and important for Catholics. They are special occasions for experiencing God's saving presence and are signs and instruments of God's grace. Celebrating sacraments is such an important part of our lives.

The Sacramental Programme at Our Lady of the Mission Parish has commenced with enrolment masses taking place last weekend. PCPS works very closely with the Parish Team to ensure that our children and families are fully prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation, First Holy Communion and Reconciliation. In our parish the sacramental programme is parent focused, parish based and school supported. Please refer to the Religious Education section of the newsletter and PCPS community calendar for details and dates regarding parent information evenings.

Catholic schools in Western Australia have a distinctive ethos and are mandated by the Bishops of Western Australia. Each member of the Catholic school community strives to give Christian witness through words, attitudes and actions. The Bishops Code of Ethical Conduct clearly states that all those in Catholic Schools in WA must uphold the following - Gospel values, dignity, giftedness, relationships, confidentiality and accountability.

The Padbury CPS community works together as a professional team, collaboratively, respectfully, openly, honestly and energetically, upholding the vision of the school as well as the expectations of the Bishops Mandate.

Our PCPS Code of Conduct is mandated by the Government and Catholic Education Office of WA. The purpose of the Code of Conduct is to describe minimum standards of conduct in all behaviour decision-making to ensure the safety and well-being of students. The code applies to staff, students, parents, volunteers and guardians. It promotes positive work practices and establishes expectations for personal and professional boundaries concerning appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in relation to staff, students, volunteers, parents and guardians. It provides guidance about behaviour, relationships, attitudes and responsibilities.

Please take the time to read the Code of Conduct on our school website

Please take the time to read through our PCPS website as it offers a lot of information about our school including the history, traditions, routines and practices here at Padbury Catholic Primary School. By reading this information you will to see that our wonderful school offers innovative programmes, provides a safe and secure environment for all and encourages parents to become partners in their child’s education. Upon enrolment at Padbury Catholic Primary School all parents sign the enrolment form whereby it stipulates that parents will agree to abide by the polices and directives of the school and the Catholic Education Office of Western Australia.

The school website is a handy reference for the year ahead and any updated information will be provided via the newsletter or email informing you of any alterations to procedures and policies.

The Protective Behaviours Programme taught at Padbury CPS is the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC). It is a child safety program for children and young people from age 3 to year 12. It teaches children to:

• recognise abuse and tell a trusted adult about it
• understand what is appropriate and inappropriate touching
• understand ways of keeping themselves safe.

All children and young people have a right to:

• be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
• be asked for their opinions about things that affect their lives and to be listened to
• feel and be safe in their interactions with adults and other children and young people
• understand as early as possible what is meant by 'feeling and being safe'.

The curriculum follows 2 main themes:

• we all have the right to be safe
• we can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.

The two themes are explored through 4 focus areas:

• the right to be safe
• relationships
• recognising and reporting abuse
• protective strategies.

The focus areas are targeted to the age of the learners. The KS:CPC has been taught in our school for the last few years, is mandated by the Government and is taught every year by the class teachers. The teachers will send home letters regarding when they are commencing their units this year and what will be taught.

I am thrilled to announce that Padbury Catholic Primary School will be celebrating a momentous milestone – our 40th Anniversary! It has been an incredible journey of growth, learning and community. To commemorate this special occasion, we invite you to mark your calendars for Friday October 24, 2025, when we will be hosting a celebration that reflects our history and our bright future. Stay tuned for more details on the event in the next few weeks. We look forward to celebrating this amazing achievement with you all!

Our Pre-Kindy (3-Year-Old) is going super strong once again this year with sessions running on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. Please contact the office and speak with Mrs Ellen to enrol your little one into our exciting PK programme this year or in future years. Click on the following link for further information -

If you have friends or neighbours who have children who are 3 years old , please talk to them about our exciting Pre-Kindy programme and encourage them to enrol for future years.

Enrolments and interviews are now taking place for Pre Kindy 2026 and 2027

Please note that Kindy 2026 is full!

Don’t forget to enrol siblings as some families have missed out.

IF YOU HAVE A BABY ENROL THEM NOW!

Thankyou to our PCPS Advisory Council who are a great support to the Leadership Team throughout the year and to our hardworking P&F Executive who do an amazing job building community spirit in the school with all their events.

Margaret Williamson - Principal

Susan Kadak - Chairperson

Casey Gallagher - Vice Chair

Haydn Hesford - Treasurer

Dan Sorgiovani - Secretary

Father Cyprian - Parish Priest

Liz de Haas - P&F Rep

Severine Gibson - Parish Rep

Mac Callisto - Assistant Principal

Peter O'Mara - Assistant Principal

Cathy Farrell - President

Megann Hunt - Vice President

Sara da Rui - Secretary

Severine Gibson - Treasurer

All schools are always on a continual journey of improvement. We have an Annual School Plan which provides direction for the year ahead. This plan is based upon our Strategic Plan LEAD – Learning, Engagement, Accountability and Discipleship, which you can view on our school website -

Last Friday, our school community came together for an unforgettable Family Fun Night filled with excitement, laughter and togetherness. The event was a huge success, with a fantastic turnout that showcased the incredible spirit of our PCPS community.

Families enjoyed a HUGE variety of fun activities and stalls, including face painting, train rides, dunking machines just to name a few! The food trucks kept people fed and the DJ kept the vibe alive with great music. Everyone enjoyed the festive atmosphere!

A massive thank you goes out to our amazing P&F Executive and all the volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this event possible. Your hard work and dedication truly shone through, and we could not have asked for a better team of organisers.

The night was a testament to the wonderful community spirit that makes PCPS such a special place. We are so grateful to everyone who attended and supported the event.

Enjoy the long weekend.

Mrs Margaret Williamson

Principal

Congratulations to the Crackel family (Xavier - Kindy) on the birth of their baby sister Brigette.

Girl: A giggle wrapped in sunshine and glitter

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their school fee payment option forms or paid their school fees in full. Your prompt response is greatly appreciated.

As a reminder, it is a school requirement for all families to complete a payment option form each year.

We kindly remind those families who have not yet returned their forms to do so at their earliest convenience. Please ensure they are emailed to accounts@padcath.wa.edu.au or dropped off at the front administration office by Tuesday 4th March.

If you need me to resend your fee statement, please email your request to accounts@padcath.wa.edu.au

We appreciate you cooperation and thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.

Mrs Prelean Bismark

Finance Manager

School photo day is coming! Every student should have received a personalised flyer to bring home from Kapture Photography containing your child’s unique codes for ordering school photos online.

KEEP YOUR FLYER SECURE!

The unique codes contained on the flyer will be issued only once.

Order EARLY for sibling photography

Sibling photos can ONLY be ordered online. Once you receive the personalised flyers for your children, it is imperative that you order your sibling photo early to avoid missing out! There is a physical limit in the school schedule to how many sibling photos can be taken. Once the maximum capacity of sibling orders has been reached, no more sibling orders can be placed.

All Masses are held in the church and for information regarding days/times or to read the current newsletter please follow the link below

Our Lady of the Mission

We are appealing for volunteers into our Children's Liturgy Ministry; dads, mums and grandparents are most welcome. You will be on a roster once a term on Sunday at the 10.00am Mass and you will be in a team of 2-4 people. All material is prepared for you.

If you can assist, please contact Fr. Cyprian and or email Parish office for details whitford@perthcatholic.org.au

This Wednesday 5 March, we begin our Lenten Journey as we come together and offer our prayers at our Ash Wednesday Liturgy at 9.00am. This will be held in the school hall. The students will receive the ashes during this liturgy. We invite all families to join us as we come together and remember that Jesus is always with and in good times and in bad.

This week coming we commence Lent with our celebration of Ash Wednesday.

All children will bring home their Project Compassion Boxes.

Our support will provide many communities all over the world with simple things we take for granted such as clean water. Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.

The theme of Project Compassion this year is ‘Unite Against Poverty’ because together we can take action to make a lasting difference! This year we are going to learn about three incredible people from three different corners of the world, facing vastly different challenges.

Discover these powerful stories of hope and resilience from people who are living in vulnerable communities around the world.

For 60 years, Caritas Australia has been working with communities around the world to confront the challenges of poverty. Through locally led programs, we work with all people towards a world where all can thrive and reach their full potential.

Each dollar raised will help change the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. We can work together for justice and dignity to build a better future for all and to make a difference.

Mac Callisto & Peter O'Mara

Assistant Principals

Mrs Bastow and Mrs Ewen

Musical Directors

Extension in Mathematics and general extension programs have officially commenced at Padbury Catholic Primary School, along with our exciting Robotics program! Students are engaged in maths investigations, brain training, and problem-solving activities, sharpening their critical thinking skills. Meanwhile, our robotics groups have had the privilege of using CEWA’s Lego Spike and Lego Prime kits to build and program innovative projects as well as the EV3 Robots. There’s plenty of hands-on learning and problem-solving happening, and the smiles on our students’ faces say it all, success, creativity, and fun in action!

Mrs Rosalba Bottega

Extension

It was lovely to see so many people at our Family Fair, the perfect way to kick off the new school year!

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for their generous support, which enabled us to make this a FREE event for our PCPS community.

A big thank you to everyone who volunteered to ensure the Family Fair ran smoothly, from the Working Group who organised this incredible event to the parents helping out on the night. Events like this are only possible with many hands to help make the magic happen!

At our P&F meeting on February 26th, we were excited to endorse the idea of hosting another Community Focused event in early 2026! To bring this vision to life, we’re forming a dedicated working group and need passionate people to help us get the planning underway as soon as possible. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of something special—an event that brings our community together and creates lasting memories. If you’d like to be involved, we’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to the P&F Exec as soon as possible to join the team.

At our August P&F meeting, we agreed to allocate specific events to year groups to help foster a stronger sense of community within the school. This approach was successfully trialled last year with the Father’s Day event and proved to be a great way to get more families involved while also sharing the workload more evenly.

By having year groups take ownership of certain events, we’re creating opportunities for parents to connect, contribute, and make a meaningful impact in a way that feels manageable and rewarding. This year, we’re excited to continue this initiative and have endorsed the following year groups for upcoming events.

Here’s how the year group event allocations will work in 2025:

📚 Scholastic Book Fair – Kindy
👨‍👧 Father’s Day Event – Pre-Primary
🌸 Mother’s Day Event – Year 1
🎉 Kids Celebration Event – Year 2
🏆 Athletics Carnival Sausage Sizzle – Year 3
🚗 Car Bay & School Raffles – Year 4
📸 School Photos – Year 5
🎓 Year 6 Graduation – Year 6

We’re still looking for a few more friendly faces to join our amazing team of parent volunteers. Whether you have a little time or a lot, there’s a role for everyone, and we’d love to have you involved!

Here are some ways you can help:

• Family Community Event 2026 Working Group (6–8 people) – Help bring this exciting event to life!
• Interschool Sausage Sizzle (2 people) – A fun and easy way to support our school community.
• Mother’s Day Portfolio – 2026 (2 people) – A great chance to shadow Dan this year and learn the ropes for next year!
• Support Role for Sausage Sizzle (1–2 people) – Get hands-on by helping at the BBQ and keeping the sizzle going!

No experience needed—just a willingness to get involved! If you’re interested or just want to learn more, reach out for a chat. We’d love to have you on board! 😊

Please reach out to me for a chat if you would like any information about these roles.

Mrs Cathy Farrell

P&F Chair

Mrs Lan Nguyen

Netball CoOrdinator