"That they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I am in you"
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Newsletter Thursday 2nd Febuary, 2023
We the staff of St Patrick’s acknowledge the traditional owners, the Kulin nations, of the land on which we learn and play.
We pay respects to the Aboriginal Elders, past and present, who are our teachers.
We thank them for taking care of children and country for countless generations.
Luke 2:22-40+
My eyes have seen your salvation
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
Welcome back to the 2023 school year!
St Patrick’s community is a special place. What a pleasure it is to come to work every day and to see the faces of our students as they walk through the gates each morning and greeting me on their way to class. I wish to continue instilling in all, this sense of community we have and to build on this every single day.
I would like to thank my wonderful staff for the commitments they have made again to be your children’s teachers. To be their guide and their mentor. May they continue to grow strong and be comfortable in the knowledge of what a privilege it is to be a teacher.
Louise Breeden and Robin Direen are currently on leave until Weeks 4 and 5 respectively. We welcome back Trish Gibson who will be in grade 2 working alongside Dezlene Orchard.
I would also like to welcome Taline Apoyan and Joanne Peterson to our community of St Patrick’s. Together they will be in grade 4PA. Some families may remember Taline from a couple of years ago when she first began to teach here. We also welcome back Nola Killeen, one of our dedicated ESOs.
Take care and God Bless
Meg
Changes to the school timetable
Due to changes in our school timetable, please note the change of time that our classrooms will be open in the mornings.
Students can still be dropped off at 8.30am. Please do not drop off any earlier than this.
The gates will open 8.30 - students will gather in the colonnade to be supervised. Please do not leave your children UNSUPERVISED! The children are not supervised outside of the school premises.
8.40- Specialist teachers and leadership on duty- Children are to leave their bags outside their classrooms and they can then move to the basketball court with a teacher.
8.50- Classrooms will open and children will move off the yard and head into class.
Please note, this does not mean that parent cannot enter the classrooms. They are still able to drop off their child/ren to the classes and pop in and say hello. Please remember however, this is the time that the students will begin to be getting settled for the day, so any conversations that need to be had with your child’s teacher, must be arranged at another time suitable for both parties.
Accessing your PAM accounts 2023
Due to an upgrade to our Parent Access Module (PAM), all parents will need to reset their password before regaining access to your PAM. Your username remains the same which is your email address. You should have received an email asking you to reset the password for PAM.
If you have any concerns, please contact Alex in the office on 5943 9000 or ataylor@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
School Captains for 2023.
We congratulate our school captains for 2023.
Areng Deng and Lewis McLaren are our School Captains
Gabriella Ginting and Heaven Heaven Bawitha Thang are our Vice Captains.
Our 2023 House captains are:
Blue House - Cung Hrang Lung and Mary Nielo
Gold House - Max Staley and Pham Nguyen
Green House - Zita Lokeron and Chance Le Merle
Red House - Beaulah Tha Hnem, Kail Condon and Eamonn O'Leary
School Uniforms
At St Patrick’s, it is important to highlight to students the message around respecting our school uniform. The uniform represents our school and is expected to be worn with pride. Please be aware that I will approach and ask students about their uniform and will follow up with parents if necessary.
Please write a note to your child/ren’s classroom teacher if there is an issue with the inform for a particular period of time.
Some reminders:
- Socks- are to be ankle socks; white for girls and grey for boys
- Students are to wear black shoes and NOT (black) runners. Runners may be brought to school for your child/ren to change into for the playtimes;
- Girls are permitted to wear the school (Summer) dress or the school shirt and grey shorts
- Boys wear the grey shorts in Summer and the long grey pants in Winter (they may choose to continue wearing the shorts.)
- Sports uniform consists of the polo shirt with the school logo and the green track pants or green unisex shorts.
- School sports jacket is optional in the cooler months.
Homework
After careful consideration and referring to long held research, the students of St Patrick’s will no longer be completing homework.
John Hattie who is a well renowned professor of Education and Director at Melbourne University Research Education unit, has completed many detailed studies on the effect that homework has on student outcomes. His finding is this:
‘Homework in primary school has zero effect.’
Instead we will continue to encourage all families to read with and to their children at every available opportunity.
Your children will continue to bring home books each week from school and they will continue to visit the school library on a weekly basis.
There are many opportunities for incidental learning to occur. This may happen whilst shopping, cooking, completing jobs around the house, during sports activities and just spending quality time together as a family. The other powerful tool is for families to reinforce any learning they have undertaken through these incidental learning opportunities that present themselves every day.
Can you help?
I have a parent needing assistance to get their year 4 child to school (St Patrick’s) each morning. They have no car and this will be the case for a long time. The family live in the area off Henty Park heritage area. If you are able to assist this family, please contact office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
Thank you
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Som 2OG, Lawrence 4PA, Gabrielle 3TA, Jeffery 2KK, Adit FKG, Carter 5RS, Alaska FGW and Koah FGW !
| DATE | ACTIVITY |
| 08/02/2023 | WHole School Mass |
| 20/02/2023 - 0303/2023 | Year 2 Swimming Lessons |
| 22/02/2023 | Ash Wednesday |
| 22/02/2023 | District Swimming |
| 06/03/2023 - 17/03/2023 | Year 3 Swimming Lessons |
| 17/03/2023 | St Patrick's Day Mass |
| 20/03/2023 - 31/03/2023 | Year 4 Swimming Lessons |
| 03/04/2023 | School Photos |
| 05/04/2023 | Last Day of Term 1 |
TERM DATES
| Term 1 | 31st January | 5th April |
| Term 2 | 27th April | 23rd June |
| Term 3 | 10th July | 15th September |
| Term 4 | 2nd October | 18th December |
| 27/01/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 30/01/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 13/03/2023 | Public Holiday - Labour Day |
| 06/04/2023 | Data Review Day |
| 07/04/2023 | Public Holiday - Good Friday |
| 25/04/2023 | Public Holiday - ANZAC Day |
| 26/04/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 12/06/2023 | Public Holiday - The Monarch's Birthday |
| 07/08/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 03/11/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 07/11/2023 | Public Holiday - Melbourne Cup |
| 19/12/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 20/12/2023 | Professional Development Day |
PUPIL FREE DAYS:
These 3 Pupil Free days ensure that we can manage our commitment for all staff to continue to provide activities such as school camps for our students.
Please note, these dates are separate from our 8 Staff Professional Development days. Those 8 days are for our staff professional learning which will focus on Religious Education, Learning and Teaching and Student Wellbeing.
| 24/04/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
| 08/08/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
| 06/11/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
We are very excited to welcome back our students from last year and our new families, including our Foundation students who had their first day of school this week.
We have all had a great start to the year !!
This week our scholastic brouches have gone home. Below is an attached guide that details what book club is and how to order the books you want.
Orders must be submitted by Thursday the 16th of Febuary.
Below is also a link to the website with further information.
https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/
It is strongly recommended that students:
• Who test positive to COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five (5) days;
• Should not attend school after five (5) days if still symptomatic;
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school until their symptoms resolve;
• Parents, guardians or carers advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result.
• if a close contact – regularly test for at least seven (7) days following their last contact with the person who has COVID-19
• if a social contact - test if they have symptoms of COVID-19
• wear a face mask when leaving the house, including on public transport, at work, school, and other indoor spaces
• let fresh air into their home or other indoor spaces by opening windows, where possible
• monitor for symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, cough, or fever/chills, and stay home and test if they present with symptoms
• Parents, guardians and carers should continue to notify the school if their child(ren) is a close contact.
Have you re-set up your PAM account yet!
We have been using PAM as our main form of communication. All emails, Student Attendance, Sick Bay notes, School Reports, commonly used forms, excursion/camp permission notes and Family Learning conversations, will all be communicated via PAM.
Access PAM via this link Link to PAM
PAM - Parent Access Module
PAM (Parent Access Module) is our Parent to School communication platform. PAM will provide real time access to keep parents updated with their children’s progress, important dates and messages. Relevant resources – calendar events, student reports, parent notified absences, absence data and sick bay notes will all be accessed via PAM.
Parents will be able to easily book Parent Teacher interviews through PAM, and access teacher email addresses.
PAM accounts are linked via your email address that we have in our systems. If you have recently changed your email, please call or email us on office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
Click on the 'forget password' link to set your password and then verify your email address. (Email addresses must be verified for PAM to work properly). Once your email is verified, your email can be used as the username for your account.
Once you have successfully logged in, you can save PAM to your homescreen on your device.
If you have any issues or need help with PAM please contact the school via email, office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
PAM Instructions
Parent Notified Absences via PAM
Once you have PAM set up and saved to your home screen you can easily send in Parent Notified absences. Please use this platform going forward as this automatically syncs with the class roll. This will fix the issues of receiving SMS notifications even though you had already notified the school.
Please remember to update your contact details and any relevant medical details for your child.
Most medical profiles have now been updated. Please remember to keep them up to date and upload any asthma/allergy plans that may be relevant
To update any contact details please contact the school office.