Newsletter Thursday 25th 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.

Donations

In order to support our P and F committee, I am asking if there are families and businesses out there who are able to donate items that can be used for future raffles and in particular for our fete that is being held later this year. Not only is this a sign of goodwill and enhance a sense of community, but it will also be great opportunities for your own business to be highlighted at St Patrick’s. If you would like to donate items, please contact the office on 5943 9000 or email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

As always, we appreciate any help that is given to our beautiful school.

Social Media

Our school has started our own Facebook page where we highlight the amazing things out students do everyday at school. You can follow our page with the link below:

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

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 9 an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:

9.1    Staff and volunteers identify and mitigate risks in the online and physical environments without compromising a child’s right to privacy, access to information, social connections and learning opportunities.

9.2    The online environment is used in accordance with the organisation’s Code of Conduct and Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and practices.

9.3    Risk management plans consider risks posed by organisational setting, activities and the physical environment.

9.4    Organisations that contract facilities and services from third parties have procurement policies that ensure the safety of children and young people.

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.

SCHOOL FEES

The School Fee statements for Term 2 have been sent out via email.   If you require another copy please contact the school office.  Our preferred method of payment is via Direct Debit, please download the attached form and return to the school office.  Alternatively a hard copy can be picked up from the office.

CSEF 

CSEF forms are still being accepted, however there is a deadline of 30th June! 

To be eligible for the CSEF all you need is a valid Health Care Card.  Contact the school office for more information. 

Holders of a valid Health Care Card are also eligible for a reduction in the school fees. Please contact the school office.  

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)

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.

This week our senior students had author George Ivanoff come and speak with them about his new book 'Monster Island'. OUr students really enjoyed this incursion and he even signed a few books for them!

Here are two articles written by some of our year 4 students about the author visit:

A Visit From George Ivanoff

Written by Benjamin and James 4PA

George Ivanoff came to see the year four, five and sixes to give them a sneak peek of his new book MONSTER ISLAND. 

George Ivanoff gave us the best advice. He told us to keep practicing to read and write everyday and if someone teases you about something you enjoy don’t let them make you stop doing it. 

After George Ivanoff finished his presentation he signed students' books for them. We are really looking forward to reading more of his books. Especially Monster Island and his You Choose series. 

Author Visit at St. Patrick’s Primary School

Written and illustrated by Ava and Harleen 4PA

George Ivanoff came to our school and talked about some of his books. He introduced us to his new book Monster Island and many others including Creepy Crawly Chaos.

He read snippets of some of his books and showed us some of his drawings from when he was young and those he completed during lockdown. They were quite interesting. Some of his drawings were inspired by his love of dinosaurs, Pokemon and Doctor Who. 

George Ivanoff told us a story from when he was in high school and what he learnt from his experience. He told us three things:

1. Don’t give up!
2. Keep writing and reading.
3. If someone tells you your drawings or anything you enjoy are bad don’t listen to them and keep doing what you love!

In the end we asked George Ivanoff some questions and learnt some more facts about him and finished with a book signing. It was a great experience!

All we Knead is Bread by 4AT

Last week as part of our Inquiry unit we did an experiment to see what yeast does. We mixed sugar, yeast and warm water and put it in a bottle. We attached a balloon to the top of the bottle. We waited for the yeast to ferment. When it did, it gave out a gas :carbon – di – oxide. This went into the balloon and blew it up. Here are some pictures.

The next day we used the yeast in our bread making. The yeast made bubbles in the dough and it doubled in size. We baked the bread and then got to enjoy eating warm scrumptious bread.

Bread without yeast is flat and is called unleavened bread. During the Last Supper, Jesus used unleavened bread.

The Last Supper

On Tuesday, we read about the Last Supper and then got to act it out. We used little cups filled with apple cordial instead of wine. We used pita bread. We remembered what Jesus did.

He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it saying: Take and Eat. This is my Body.

Then he took the wine, blessed it and shared it saying: Take and Drink. This is my Blood.

Then he said “Do this in memory of me”.

Every time we celebrate Eucharist, we are doing what
happened at the Last Supper.

We prayed especially for the children in our school who are making their First Holy Communion this year.

First Holy Communion

Confirmation

Reconciliation

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. 

 

Below is the AGM nomination form. This meeting will be held on Wednesday the 31st of May at 9:00am followed by our normal P&F meeting. Venue to be confirmed.

St Francis Xavier had their upcoming production of 'The Wizard of Oz' at the Beaconsfield campus. Tickets are $15.00 for a child and $17.00 for an adult.

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

The dates are as follows:

Thursday 25^th May 7pm

Friday 26^th May 7pm

Saturday 27^th May 1pm and 7pm