Newsletter Thursday 30th March, 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.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

This week, the students of St Patrick’s has begun celebrating the lead up to one of the holiest times in our Catholic Church and that is Holy Week. Today our year 6's re-enacted the Stations of the Cross and tomorrow afternoon, the students in F-2 will present Palm Sunday. We have been focusing on what it means to enact change in our lives and to lead the way in how we treat others.

We also celebrated our Easter Dress up day and it was so joyful to see how many students and teachers embraced the day. I would like to thank our P&F for, once again, being an incredible support to the school and organising the Easter raffle and prizes. This will be drawn next week. Thank you for all the wonderful Easter donations we have received so far. If parents would still like to donate an Easter egg/bunny or chocolates, there is still time to do so.

It is important to highlight that the P and F consists of 3 mums only! These are mums who also work and have families to look after. All of our children benefit from the work that these ladies do and it is evident as I talk to parents how much their children look forward to hot food days, icypole and popcorn Wednesday’s. What is disappointing however is the lack of support our community are prepared to give to our P&F. Last year, certain events had to be cancelled because we simply did not have enough people to help. I would urge any parents or grandparents who are willing to give up a few hours on a Wednesday to come and lend a hand.

Research shows the huge impact that it can have on your child/ren when they see the connection that schools and families have and when they work together. Child Safety Standard number 4 is focused on the family and what an impact they can have on student wellbeing.

Another busy week, with the year 4's completing their swimming tomorrow, our year 5's and 6's have had Touch Footy clinics in their Phys Ed lessons this week and our Foundation students had the Fire Brigade come in and talk more about fire safety.

Take care and God Bless

Meg

REMINDERS

SCHOOL PHOTOS - MONDAY 3RD APRIL

Just a reminder that school photos are on Monday the 3^rd April. The photo packages can be bought online.

END OF TERM 1

Next week, all students will finish Term 1 on Wednesday the 5^th of April at 3.10pm and begin Term 2 on Thursday the 27^th April.

No supervision before 8.30am

A reminder to all parents, carers and guardians; the school gates do not open until 8.30am.Children are NOT TO BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED before this time.
The school’s duty of care does not begin until 8.30am. I understand that parents have work etc to go to but we are talking about the safety or our most precious belongings.

I will be contacting parents who continue to drop students off too early and ask that alternative arrangements are made.
Just a reminder…
The school gates will close at 8.55am. It is important to have the students begin their day promptly and without any interruptions.
Please remember the gates open at 8.30am so there is ample time to get your child/ren to school. It is imperative that parents understand that we ensure that learning begins on time and that at St Patrick’s we wish to develop good habits early. Any parents who are still in the school after 8.55am, will need to go through the office out to the carpark if the gates are not manned.

Similarly, if your child/ren are running late and arriving after 8.55am onwards, they will need to come through the school office.

Understanding Victoria’s Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) commenced in Victoria in January 2016. Since then, we have seen how the Standards have improved safety for children and young people.

Changes in 2022 and 2023 have made our Standards even stronger.

Since 1 July 2022, organisations^[1] covered by the Standards have to comply with 11 new Standards.

The 11 Standards set out minimum requirements and outline the actions organisations must take to keep children and young people safe.

Each week, there will be a new standard for you to read about.

The Standards provide more clarity for organisations and are more consistent with Standards in the rest of Australia.

The 11 Standards include specific requirements:

• to involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
• for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
• to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
• in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

In complying with Child Safe Standard 3 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:

4.1    Families participate in decisions affecting their child.

4.2    The organisation engages and openly communicates with families and the community about its child safe approach and relevant information is accessible.

4.3    Families and communities have a say in the development and review of the organisation’s policies and practices.

4.4    Families, carers and the community are informed about the organisation’s operations and governance.

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.

TERM DATES

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.

What a wodnerful day we have had with many students dressing up and taking the time to create their own outfits!

We are still taking easter egg donations so feel free to stop by the office or hand them in to your classroom teacher

First Holy Communion

Confirmation

Reconciliation

Over the past 2 weeks our Foundation students have had 2 incursions with the local Fire Department!

At last week's assemby students performed the story 'Alexander's Outing' by Pamela Allen. Students made connections to the story by learning about respect, safety, cooperation and resilience.

 

Here are some photos from our class on Easter Dress up day!

 

For Hamrony Day Isabella did a presentation to her class about her heritage, she has also written up a report to share with our school newsletter !

The school photo order flyer have been sent home, it has instructions on how to order your photos. Please check the flyer as it should have your child's name on it, if you have the wrong flyer please return it to the classroom.

If you have lost your flyer please contact the office.

We have a recently set up a Facebook page where we post highlights of our school each week!

The link to the page is below:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087005542953

School Fees – Government Assistance Programs

The School Fee statements for 2023 will be sent out in the next couple of weeks and an updated Fee Schedule can be found in the knowledge bank section of PAM under commonly used forms.     

However, there are some Government assistance programs for families who may be in need of this. 

CSEF

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

• school camps or trips
• swimming and school-organised sports programs
• outdoor education programs
• excursions and incursions.

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. A Special Consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families over terms one and two.

Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

Eligible means-tested cards

Means-tested concession cards must now be valid on either:

• the first day of Term 1 (Monday 30 January 2023)
• the first day of Term 2 (Tuesday 24 April 2023)

CSEF application form   (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

Conveyance allowance

The conveyance allowance is a State Government allowance that may be available to students attending government or non-government schools.

If you live more than 4.8km from your closest school you can apply for the conveyance allowance and:

• travelling by public transport or by private car, motorbike, bicycle or bus, and
• whose nearest school is not serviced by a free school bus provided under the School Bus Program

The conveyance allowance is a State Government contribution towards transport costs and is not intended to cover the full cost of transporting children to and from school.

 Application for private car travel  (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

 Application for public transport travel    (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

School Bus Program

The School Bus Program is an extensive school bus network that provides free travel to eligible students. Students must be attending government and non-government schools and living in rural and regional Victoria. 

* Students are expected to use public transport where a service is available within 1.6 km (measured by shortest practicable route) of their home or closer to their home than the nearest school bus service. This applies to both students applying to access the SBP at no cost and to fare paying passengers. * * 

If your child is eligible, they can travel for free.

There are different categories that decide if your child is eligible for free travel. For more information read the eligibility guide below.

School bus program eligibility guide

Click on the link below to check if a school bus is available in your area.

School Bus Management System

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. 

Cardinia Council have arranged a free waterbug-themed holiday workshop for primary school aged kids at Deep Creek reserve at 11am on April 17.

In the one hour workshop, we’ll have a close look at some waterbugs from the Deep Creek wetland, do waterbug craft, and learn about how to help keep our waterways clean.

Families can register to attend here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/575134371387

The workshop will be delivered by Chooktopia on behalf of Cardinia Shire Council.

Covid Update

 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.

Student who are close contacts or social contacts are permitted to attend school but are strongly recommended to:

• 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.

Rapid Antigen Tests

It is recommended that Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) are used by students:

• If they have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild, or
• If they are a contact of someone who has COVID-19.

The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians report their positive RAT
result to the Department of Health online, or by calling 1800 675 398.
Students (or their parents, guardians or carers) should also report a positive result to their school.

RAT kits can be collected from our school office. They are also available for all Victorians from most local councils. People can get two (2) free packs (10 tests) for themselves and two (2) free packs (10 tests) for each member of their household.

John Mc Foundation's next charity event will be held on Saturday 6th May.  It is the Australian Fleetwood Mac Show and consists of dinner and a show at Montuna Golf Club.  It would be great to support John Mac who is a long-time supporter of Paddy's kitchen. Please see the attached link for further details on the show and Try Booking link to buy tickets.  All proceeds from the event go to supporting local soup kitchens.

For more details please follow the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/s/the-australian-fleetwood-mac-s/5541342939310932/

You can book in now via the following link:

http://www.trybooking.com/CFVYA