"That they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I am in you"
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Newsletter Thursday 2nd November, 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.
Matthew 11:25-30
You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children
Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,
On Wednesday evening, Belinda Couch (Grade 6 teacher) and I, had the privilege of attending the Annual Rotary Primary School Public Speaking Competition. Students from local schools in our Pakenham area apply to participate in this activity. St Patrick’s was the only Catholic School to participate.
Two of our Year 6 students, Areng (6DD) and Addison (6BC) both presented speeches to the audience. Areng spoke about Resilience and Addison about Mental Health.
Both speeches were incredibly moving and the girls are to be applauded on the professional way they conducted themselves.
Congratulations to Areng who was awarded the Champion Speaker! Addison received a $50 gift voucher for her performance on the night. Both girls were amazing and I am so proud of their efforts. Their speeches and photos can be found further down in the newsletter!
It was an incredible evening and it was so heartening to see so many young people participate in this event and to share their stories and opinions on so many issues they are facing the world at this moment.
Thanks to Mrs Couch for her support of the girls and this project once again.
Tomorrow the school will be closed for the day. Our staff will be participating in professional development around our Whole School Approach to Positive behaviour. The day is designed to focus on the students’ personal social skills and the way to go about maintaining respectful and resilient relationships with their peers and teachers.
On Monday, all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sale will be closed for the day.
Just a reminder that the school will be closed this FRIDAY the 3rd of November, MONDAY 6th November and TUESDAY the 7th November. School will resume on WEDNESDAY 8th November.
God Bless,
Meg
Important Reminders
Friday 3rd November - School Closure Day - staff will be participating in Professional Development around our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour.
Monday 6th November – SCHOOL CLOSED
Tuesday 7th November – Melbourne Cup Day
Wednesday 8th November – Students resume
Friday 8th December - Colour Run
2024 Enrolments
If you have a child beginning at St Patrick’s next year, please come to the office and get an enrolment form. If they are younger siblings beginning at St Patrick’s, you do still need to complete an enrolment form. If you know of any families living in our area and looking for a school, please tell them about us. If they wish to make an appointment to have a tour, they can contact the office on 5943 9000 or email us at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
Church Building Project
The church has commenced their building renovations, this has changed 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.
Dates for Term 4
Year 6 Camp: November 28th - 1st December
St Patrick’s Christmas Concert: Thursday 7th December at 5.30pm
Colour Run: Friday the 8th of December
Year 6 Graduation: Wednesday 13th December 6.00pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Keisha 6DD, Lewis 6BC, Mark 5RS and Harleen 4PA !
| DATE | ACTIVITY |
| 3/11/2023 | Student Free Day |
| 6/11/2023 | Student Free Day |
| 7/11/2023 | Student Free Day |
| 8/11/2023 | Foundation Incursion - Water Saftey |
| 8/11/2023 | Year 3-6 - House Athletics |
| 9/11/2023 | Foundation - Year 2 - House Athletics |
| 13/11/2023 | Year 6 Camp Family Meeting |
| 13/11/2023 - 24/11/2023 | Foundation and Year 1 Swimming Lessons |
| 24/11/2023 | Year 5 Incursion - UPP Leadership |
| 28/11/2023 - 1/12/2023 | Year 6 Camp - Coonawarra |
TERM DATES
| First Day | Last Day | |
| Term 1 | 31st January | 5th April |
| Term 2 | 27th April | 23rd June |
| Term 3 | 10th July | 15th September |
| Term 4 | 2nd October | 18th December |
| 27/01/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 30/01/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 13/03/2023 | Public Holiday - Labour Day |
| 06/04/2023 | Data Review Day |
| 07/04/2023 | Public Holiday - Good Friday |
| 25/04/2023 | Public Holiday - ANZAC Day |
| 26/04/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 12/06/2023 | Public Holiday - The Monarch's Birthday |
| 07/08/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 03/11/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 07/11/2023 | Public Holiday - Melbourne Cup |
| 19/12/2023 | Professional Development Day |
| 20/12/2023 | Professional Development Day |
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.
| 24/04/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
| 08/08/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
| 06/11/2023 | Pupil Free Day |
FKG has been learning about ordinal numbers. We had a race and ordered ourselves from First to Twenty First!
Aden has created a drawing of the Year 3 Fun Day !
Our school Colour Run is on Friday 8th December, families are invited down to watch in the afternoon. The times will be confirmed cloaser to the date.
As this event is late in the year, all prizes will be delivered to the school next year in Term 1. For our current Year 6 students if you have a younger sibling we will pass it onto them, and for all other families we will be in contact with once the prizes have arrived.
Since begining our fundraising we have raised $6,117 ! This is an amazing feat and we are so grateful to our community for getting involved. If you would like to contribute but you don't wish to set up an account you can donate directly to the school with the link below. Any prizes won through this page will be donated to families within our school community.
https://app.schoolfundraising.com.au/fundraising/st-patrick-s-5c21cd3c-2fe0-42bf-9e00-7f26fd8eb11e
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.
