Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Students, 

Today was our Kinder Orientation morning and we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Kindergarten students and their families to St Anthony’s. Next year we will have 52 students in our Kinder cohort with 33 new families joining our 18 existing families attending St Anthony’s. (We have one set of twins!)

In a very different world our orientation morning involved parents dropping the new kinders off at the hall and returning at the end of first break to collect them. Normally our parents would stay for an information session, followed by a cuppa. As a school group we missed the opportunity to come together as a collective community and provide an insight into the very essence of what it means to belong to the St Anthony’s catholic parish community.

For our new kinder students the morning involved spending time in the classroom and exploring their new school environment. As I visited the classroom I reflected on the fact that these students will be our Year Six students in the year 2027. I wondered what the world will be like in the years to come considering the world we live in the present moment. What I did see, as St Ignatius would remind us, was the ‘face of God’ in each child. In each child we see their unlimited potential to live out our vision statement:

With Christ as our model,

we the school community of St Anthony of Padua,

in partnership with the parish,

strive to provide quality Catholic education

in the spirit and charism of St Mary Mackillop,

whilst living by our school motto 

"Grow in Respect and Honesty"

Whilst today was a different day, it was still a really positive day. As you can see from the attached picture our students returned to their parents, with their new school hat (a gift from the school!) knowing they now belong to St Anthony’s. I would like to acknowledge our Kindergarten teachers for 2021 Mrs Leesa Ellul and Mrs Nicole Newton and our wonderful support staff who ensured our orientation was a wonderful experience for all.

Take Care

Justin Devlin

Principal