Newsletter Thursday 4th May, 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.

Class 5SA’s Newsletter

In our Inquiry unit, we explored how animals adapt to their environment.

Structural, behavioural and physiological adaptations enable the animals to survive. We researched the type of adaptations shown by our chosen animal and created a presentation. As the experts’ persons, we presented our projects to the class sharing our information with others. It was an exciting learning experience and we learnt about many unfamiliar animals and their adaptations.

Here are some of our projects.

Have great week, from Class 5SA!

Staffing Update

As I am sure you have no doubt been hearing in the news for the past few months, the Education sector in Australia is suffering an extreme shortage of teachers. And unfortunately, now, this has affected St Patrick’s. I am continuing to advertise for our grade 3 class whilst Mr Robin Direen remains on sick leave. The decision has been made to split his class for the next 2 weeks and for the students in his grade to go into Mrs Chalmers and Mrs Andrews grades.

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 7 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:

7.1    The organisation has an accessible, child-focused complaint handling policy which clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of leadership, staff and volunteers, approaches to dealing with different types of complaints, breaches of relevant policies or the Code of Conduct and obligations to act and report.

7.2    Effective complaint handling processes are understood by children and young people, families, staff and volunteers, and are culturally safe.

7.3    Complaints are taken seriously and responded to promptly and thoroughly.

7.4    The organisation has policies and procedures in place that address reporting of complaints and concerns to relevant authorities, whether or not the law requires reporting, and co-operates with law enforcement.

7.5    Reporting, privacy and employment law obligations are met.

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.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

This week, I had the pleasure of welcoming the new Director of Catholic Education of Sale, Mr Paul Velten, to St Patrick’s. He took a tour around our school and was so impressed with our students and staff. Our students were able to engage with him and answer some questions around their learning and what makes St Patrick’s a special and unique school.

Paul was also keen to see the updated learning areas in our Junior block and to check in on the building project underway in our Middle Block. We are very lucky to have a wonderful leader such as Paul to be overseeing the education of our students in the Diocese of Sale.

Our Middle Block is due to be finished mid-June and we anticipate that our students and teachers will be moving back into the B Block before the school holidays. Exciting times!

Take care and God Bless

Meg

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.

AFL Positive Start Clinics

Students in all year levels have been fortunate to take part in AFL clinics during PE lessons this week.

The aim of AFL Positive Start is to introduce and develop AFL skills in a safe and inclusive environment. It is also focused on teamwork and showing positive team spirit. All these skills fit well with St Patrick’s school values.  

Students worked on handballing, marking and kicking in small and large groups activities. Students have been amazed at how quickly their skills develop in these sessions.

Thank you to Gabby and Mietta from AFL Victoria for facilitating the sessions so far.

The clinics will continue in PE lessons again next week.

A reminder that students in 4PA will take part in their clinic on Monday and 4JV on Tuesday.

REMINDER - PE uniform and illness/injury

It is important that students wear the correct uniform and footwear on the day that they have PE. The school polo shirt and sports shorts are the expected clothing along with sneakers with either laces or velcro straps. NO SLIP ON SHOES are permitted due to safety reasons. 

If your child is recovering from illness or is suffering from an injury, please advise me as early as possible prior to your child’s lesson day so that the activities can be modified or an alternative learning option can be arranged. 

If your child is suffering from a serious injury or recovering from such (eg: broken bone) please send a doctor’s certificate with a date confirming return to normal activity. This assists with maintaining the safety of students which is a priority at St Pat’s. 

Contact can be made via PAM, emailing your child’s classroom teacher or directly emailing me lbreeden@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au 

Here are a few action shots from our year 4's !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE’RE TAKING IT IN OUR STRIDE ON FRIDAY 19 MAY 2023

Well it’s that time of year again when our school seriously starts talking about walking!
Walk Safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around. And although walking all the way to school isn’t realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure out how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.
You can teach your child the healthy habit of walking more by:

• Walking with them the whole way to school
• If they get the bus or train, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop
• If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way.

Regular exercise like walking with your child not only helps them (and you!) beat chronic problems like obesity, heart disease, behavioural and mental health issues and diabetes. It also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic.
Remember, Active Kids are Healthy Kids so get planning your own Walk Safely to School Day journey for Friday 19 MAY 2023!

For more information, visit www.walk.com.au

First Holy Communion

Confirmation

Reconciliation

PSG invitations will be sent out to families next week, the meetings will be held during week 4 on Monday the 15th and Tuesday the 16th of May.

Please contact Angharad Doran if you have any further question.

School Fees – Government Assistance Programs

The School Fee statements for Term 2 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. 

St Francis Xavier had their upcoming production of 'The Wizard of Oz' at the Beaconsfield Campus. The dates are as followed, tickets are $15.00 for a child and $17.00 for an adult.

Access tickets using this link: https://www.trybooking.com/CGBHK

Thursday 25^th May 7pm

Friday 26^th May 7pm

Saturday 27^th May 1pm and 7pm

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.