Newsletter Thursday 3rd August, 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.

St Patrick's Choir Newsletter   

The students of the choir have been very dedicated and have been working very hard.

The students are very eager and enthusiastic to be members of the choir and enjoy singing at school assemblies and at school masses. Our choir members work very hard and dedicate themselves by giving up lunchtimes to practice.  As a reward for their hard work and dedication we had a celebration with hot chips and lemonade at the end of last term.

Please click on the link below to watch one of our performances! 

School Choir Performance

Regards

Miss Katherine Mirabella

Reminders for Term 3

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. 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.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

I have returned to work after having an extended break spending time with friends in Port Douglas. I am very glad to be back with my St Patrick’s family and enjoyed spending some time with the students and teachers on Monday upon my return. It was pure joy to see their faces and smiles after 5 weeks! I am always filled with such pride as I walk around St Pat’s and see the work that students and teachers are doing.

I am pleased to say that the B Block has now been completed and the grades are slowly making their way back into that space. Today, some of the fencing has been removed and this will be finished next week. The 2 disabled car spots in The Avenue car park will be put back once the big skip is taken away next week. Students can once again access the school grounds using the original gate connected to the end of the B Block wall.

The A block wall is now under the hands of our architect and their engineers and work will begin on this once all the investigations have been completed.

Please remember that when collecting your child from any of the car parks in the school at the end of the day, that your child/ren should not be called to walk across any of the car park on their own. If parents are parking, please get out of your car and walk over to the school where you can collect your child in person and then walk them across to the car. We have seen too many near misses with children running out across the service road or the car park to get to their parents. This is simply not acceptable and parents will be approached if this behaviour is observed!

Take care and God Bless

Meg

On the 4th of September we will be celebrating Father's day with a few before school activities. All families are invited to come down and join us this morning, we will also have a coffee van on site !

Our Father's Day stall is happening on 22nd and 23rd of August. Please remember to purchase a token for your child/ren through CDF Pay. The link and instructions are below:

https://stppakenham.cdfpay.org.au

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 Foundation students celebrated their 100th day of school !

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100 Days of School Song

In celebration of the Women's World Cup we are encourgaing our students to be active everyday this month with these fun soccer challenges!

Confirmation

Reconciliation

This month on SchoolTV - Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity emphasises the natural variation in how an individual’s brain functions and how they perceive and interact with the world, leading to diverse ways of learning and communicating. While most young people are neurotypical, some exhibit variations in brain development, such as ADHD, autism or dyslexia, making them neurodivergent.

Embracing neurodiversity involves accepting, celebrating, and supporting neurodivergent children and adolescents without attempting to change or treat their differences. Using respectful language, challenging unhelpful attitudes, avoiding assumptions, and actively promoting inclusivity can help embrace neurodiversity effectively.

Acknowledging the unique ways neurodiverse young people do things and then adapting tasks and activities to ensure their full participation will encourage them to develop strategies that feel natural to them. It will help improve their mental health, wellbeing and sense of self. By recognising and nurturing their strengths, parents and caregivers can contribute to building an inclusive and compassionate society where all young people can thrive.

Learning more about neurodiversity, equips caregivers with insights into effective communication techniques, educational strategies, and parenting approaches tailored to the specific needs of their neurodivergent child. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek help from a medical professional.

Here is the link to this month's edition https://stppakenham.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/neurodiversity

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. 

SCHOOL FEES

Our Term 3 school fees have been emailed out to families now. Please check your junk folder if you have not received it yet.

Our preferred method of payment is direct debit, please see the attached form. This form can also be found on PAM in the 'Knowledge Bank' under commonly used forms.

We also utilise Centrepay which can be set up via your MyGov account.

If you have any questions please contact the school office.