Newsletter Thursday 8th June, 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.

This has been a big week at our school with multiple excursion. On Tuesday our Year 5 students headed off to St Francis to see what highschool life is all about. Our Foundation students had their very first excursion on Wednesday at Myuna Farm and had a blast. We also saw our year 2 students head off this morning to theEdithvale-Seaford Wetlands.

Next week is a short week for us with Monday being a student free day, we also have our last Open Day of this term on Tuesday. 

Take care and God Bless

Meg

PRIME drinks

These drinks are NOT to be brought to school under any circumstances. They will be confiscated and returned at the end of the day. Water is the only drink we would like to se be at school please. No Primas or fruit juice. Please help us to promote healthy drinking habits. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Building Project

You may have noticed that our B Block is coming along, however it will not be completed by the end of this term as originally thought. The building will be completed over the school holidays and the students will move in the first few weeks of term 3. We look forward to seeing our new building and being able to access the new facilities.

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 create 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 its 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

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.

First Holy Communion

Confirmation

Reconciliation

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)

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. 

Have you logged into 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.