Fee Overview

Catholic schools are typically seen as great value for money, providing high-quality education supported by quality facilities and learning environments. It is the policy of the Catholic Schools Office that financial hardship should not prevent any child from attending a Catholic school and no child will be denied a Catholic education because of a family’s genuine inability to pay the required school fees. Any family experiencing financial difficulties is entitled to fee assistance; your local school Principal will be able to discuss this with you.

Together with parents, clergy and school staff, St Patrick’s is committed to offering students in the Hunter region access to schools in which their faith can be nurtured in outstanding learning environments. We seek to assist young people to realise their full potential, taking into account their unique spiritual, intellectual, physical and social needs.

The greater part of diocesan schools’ funding comes from State and Commonwealth government grants, but the commitment and continuing financial contribution of parents and parish communities is still essential to fill the gap between the funds provided by government and the actual cost of running our schools. School fees are comprised of three components – Diocesan tuition fees, individual school resource and service fees and Diocesan Family School Building Levy (DFSBL).

School fees are an integral part of our Catholic school system and parents are required to sign a fee agreement commitment form on enrolment. Fee arrangements may be considered in extenuating circumstances and in consultation with the principal. 

2024 Fees, Levy and Contributions

Diocesan Tuition Fees 

Kinder- Year 6     $1,487

SCHOOL RESOURCE AND SERVICE FEES

The general Resource Fee is $712. This reflects the variations in the cost of texts, excursions or activities. As with Tuition Fees, resource fees cover a service that the school provides and will not be refunded.

The Year 5 Camp and Year 6 major excursion to Canberra is itemised and appears on the Term 1 statement. This excursion needs to be finalised by the end of Term 2 unless a payment plan is in place.

DIOCESAN FAMILY SCHOOL BUILDING LEVY (DFSBL)

In 2024, the Building Levy is $1,638 per family.

The School Building Levy is pooled to contribute to past, present and future costs for building projects across all schools in the Diocese. With a robust program of capital works, we aim to ensure our students enjoy the physical facilities to enhance their learning experience.

Other Fees

DIOCESAN PASTORAL CONTRIBUTION

This is a voluntary contribution to support the work of parishes and other pastoral ministries of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The suggested Pastoral Contribution remains at the same level as previous years and continues to be $300 per family ($100 per term for three terms).

The Diocese provides a range of services to the community through its agencies including the Catholic Schools Office, CatholicCare Social Services, The Rosewood Centre, St Nicholas Early Education, OOSH, and the Pathways training program. These services are partly funded by government.

The Diocesan Pastoral Contribution supports the unfunded services provided by the agencies justmentioned and also our on-going pastoral works and initiatives across our region, mainly in relation to youth programs and leadership development, social justice involvements, the Aboriginal, Refugee and Seafarers ministries, and our chaplaincies in hospitals, prisons, the Port of Newcastle and the University.

We invite and encourage your support of these works by your contribution to the Diocesan Pastoral Fund that can conveniently be made in conjunction with your school fees.

ENROLMENT FEE

An enrolment fee is to be paid when applying for enrolment at St Patrick’s. The enrolment fee covers all administrative work involved in processing the application. The enrolment fee will be refunded if enrolment can not be provided by the school. 

Special Fee Reductions

To assist families with limited financial resources, St Patrick’s offers a lower tuition fee to means tested low income families such as Health Care and Pension Card holders. This rate is 50% of the diocesan tuition fee full rate for each child. This discount applies only to the diocesan tuition fee, not to the DFSBL or other resource and service fees charged by each individual school.

Family Discount

In 2024, the Family Discount will be applied to the full rate of tuition Fees for families with multiple children attending Diocesan Catholic Schools. 

1 child family- no discount

2 child family- 15% discount

3 child family- 25% discount

4+ child family- 50% discount