Newsletter Thursday 7th September, 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,

Today we celebrated our Book Week parade and my what a fabulous feast for the eyes. Thanks to our parents who I am sure have worked tirelessly to get costumes together and I also know that for some, it was a mad dash this morning or last night! Either way, how wonderful that we can come together for occasions like this.

Thanks also to my incredible staff for getting in on the spirit of things and dressing up and enjoying the moment with their students!

Last week, I had the pleasure of being away on the year 4 camp and it was such an amazing and special time. For so many of our students, we take for granted that they have been to a beach or tasted raspberry jam; but as we discovered, this is not the case. How privileged are we as teachers to experience these first-time moments with our students? Our students were enthusiastic, encouraged one another and gave everything a hundred percent! The camp staff commented on how well-mannered our students were and how involved our teachers are. Thanks to Annette Tanner and the year 4 team for the thorough preparation of the camp and all its activities. As a Principal, this makes me so very proud!

Yesterday our year 3 students visited Scienceworks and The Planetarium as part of their unit on exploring how the seasons change. Once again, I had such positive feedback about our children and how well behaved they were! See below for photos and more details about the day.

Take care and God Bless,

Meg

Church Building Project

Once again, St Patrick’s will enter another building project, however this time it will be our Church undergoing these renovations. This will commence at the beginning of September and there will be some changes to the way the Church car park is to be used by parents dropping off and picking up students each day. I ask all parents to use patience and remain calm as we navigate some alternative arrangements during the renovations. All changes will be clearly marked and staff will be available to help parents in the first few days of the changes. The main focus will always be the safety of our students and irresponsible behaviour and dangerous driving will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. More information will be given as we get closer to the time. Please continue to check updates on PAM and the newsletter.

2024 Planning

Planning has begun for the new school year. If you have a specific parent request for your child for the 2024 school year, this needs to be in writing to the Principal by Friday the 13^th October at the very latest. I ask parents to be respectful when making these requests and to understand that no requests will be guaranteed. The process of creating classes is extremely complex, and the final decision rests with the principal. The students and their needs are what will be considered first and foremost.

If your child/ren will NOT be returning to St Patrick’s in 2024, please contact the office on office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au at your earliest convenience.

Girls school uniforms and make up

Please ensure that the girls Winter uniforms are of an appropriate length. Dresses need to be just above the knees. Students will be spoken to if the uniform is deemed to be inappropriate for school. And NO make-up is to be worn. If the girls wish to wear something on their lips, it MUST be a clear gloss and not coloured. It will be confiscated if found and returned at the end of the day.

Just a reminder that school shoes need to be worn and not runners please. We have a second-hand uniform shop that is available to all families if they need. This is open on Thursday afternoons or by appointment. Please contact the office.

Assembly Changes:

We will not be having assembly on Friday 15th September as we have replaced it with a whole school Footy Parade. All families are invited to come along and join in. It will begin at 2:15pm.

Therapy Dog visit

This year we employed a tutor teacher, Kelly Wilson. Kelly also has a Therapy Dog, Zahli, that she will be introducing to the students at St Patrick’s. All the students will get a visit from her next week and Kelly will present to the students the special protocols and rules around therapy dogs and how they are used. The Therapy dog is a highly trained animal and will always be with Kelly and under her instructions. You can find more information below about Zahli.

If you or your child has any concerns around this, including allergies related to animals, please let your child/ren’s classroom teacher know.

Reminders for Term 3

Dates for Term 4

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 morning we had our book week parade, here are a few photos from this morning. Next week we will have a lot more uploaded !

Thank you to all our families who came out and joined in on the fun last Monday, it was wonderful to see and be a part of !

The last day of term is our AFL Day! Students are invited to come in their favourite jersey this day. We are hosting the footy day parade at 2:15pm, all families are welcome to come down and watch.

On this day we are also having a sausage sizzle, if you would like your child/ren to have a sausage you must get onto CDF Pay and order them before Wednesday 13th. Below is a guidebook and link to our CDF Pay page. Please contact the office if you require additional assistance.

We are looking for parent/guardian volunteers to assist with the cooking and serving of the sausages, if you have a current WWCC and are able to help out between 11:00am - 1:30pm please contact the school office.

https://stppakenham.cdfpay.org.au

Last week the Year 1s and 2s had a visit from Ascent Footwear and Athlete's foot who ran an engaging session teaching our students how to tie their own shoelaces. All students left with some goodies so they can practice tying their shoelaces at home too! Students can access the video using the QR code on the brochure below.

School_Newletter_Participation.pdf

School_Newletter_Participation _pdf 623.79 KB

 

Evolving canvas

This activity is all about taking your time. The students created layers on thick white paper using different tools such as sponges, rollers, brushes. Slowly they built their own unique picture.

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. 

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. 

Reconciliation - UPDATED