Community Council Meeting

The Community Council were pleased to finally be able to meet face to face, although at a distance, for its meeting on Wednesday 17 June.

Community Council were excited to approve $20,000 toward the total $50,000 needed for the new senior playground project. With increasing interest and anticipation from the children, works have commenced to remove the current playground. Instillation of the new equipment is set to be completed in the coming weeks.

We are one step closer to the construction of our new toilets with several expressions of interest submitted to Catholic Education. Invitations to tender for the works are currently being prepared, with priority given to local contractors.

We celebrated the wonderful achievement of St Patricks’ School registration! A lot of work went into preparing for this assessment, including creating new and streamlined processes and online systems that have transformed how staff and students’ access, use, modify and store information into the future. Well done to all involved! 

As you know, sadly we will be saying goodbye to 4 of our staff over the coming weeks. As one journey ends, another begins, we wish Mary, Jen, Emma and Brendon all the best for this next chapter in their lives. Thank you for your dedication and support across the school community.  

We acknowledged the challenges faced by our school community in recent times and that each families journey has been unique through drought, bushfires and COVID. One of our school pillars is Look After Each Other, we would like to ensure that ALL St Patrick’s families feel connected and supported within our school community and seek your feedback as to how that might look for you.

One suggestion discussed to support families was calling for a parent volunteer from each class to act as a Class Contact person. Providing a warm welcome for new families and a source of collaboration to encourage regular connection and catch ups for families.

Another suggestion was for the Community Council to host some child free social evenings later in the year, by class/ grade, to encourage networking and connection with other families in a relaxed format.

If you like either of these suggestions or have any other ideas about how we can further support and connect with families, we would love to hear from you! Please contact us at: stpatsbegacommunitycouncil@gmail.com

We are also looking at further grant opportunities offering support through our journey of recovery.

As Father’s Day approaches we are looking at how we can help families celebrate with Dad and other father figures. More information will be provided after our next meeting.

The next Community Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 5 August. Given current COVID restrictions, we are unable to confirm at this time when we will hold an open meeting. This information will be provided once further restrictions ease.

We are here to help so please reach out if we can support you in any way. Take care.

Tamara Whiting, Communications

And the Community Council Team, Kat, Donna, Antoinette, Wendy, Sarah, Carmen, Jo, Caz, Fr Luke