Newsletter Thursday 6th June

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.

Year Level Camp/ Fun Day Dates:

TERM DATES 2024

2024 PUPIL FREE DAYS AND SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS:

The 4 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.

Please note there have been a number of complaints about parents parking across our school driveways at the end of the school day.

Not only is this an illegal activity, but it is also making it very difficult for any pedestrians and particularly those in wheelchairs to access the footpath and move safely across to the other side.

If you are found to be blocking a driveway, you may be approached by a member of staff and asked to move your car. I have also informed the local council of what's happening and they will be conducting roving patrols and handing out fines.

Each year, School Sport Victoria (SSV) offers opportunities for students in Year 5 & 6 (12 years and under), who play representative sport, to trial for SSV Team Vic in various sports. In the first half of this year, Chloe (6RS) and Kelsey (6RS) were invited to trial for the AFL 12&under Girls Team and Grace (6RS) was invited to trial for the Football (Soccer) 12&under Girls Team. 

Chloe and Kelsey trialled for Stage 1 Region Trials in a full day in Malvern on May 17th which saw over 200 girls playing a series of short matches. The girls' efforts at this level were strong but their journey ended on the day. They enjoyed the experience and learned much that they can take away and add to their “AFL Toolkit”. 

Grace trialled for a half day Conference at Casey Fields on May 31st with close to 70 girls participating. She has successfully progressed to the State Trials which will occur on June 14th in Thornbury. We wish Grace well as she continues her football (soccer) journey.

Congratulations to all students for their outstanding efforts at these higher level events and to families who made time in their schedules to take them to their respective trials.

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. 

CSEF Applications are now due! 

If you have a current Health Care Card you may be eligible for the school fees concession program. 

The applicant must be one of the following:

1. a parent/carer (of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school) who is:
   • on the first day of Term 1 (29 January 2024), or the first day of Term 2 (15 April 2024)  a holder of one or more of the eligible financially-means tested cards (Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card), or
   • a temporary foster parent

The parent/carer must submit an application to the school by 23 June 2024.

If anyone has any questions or would like to discuss their school fee account, please contact the school office. 

Please download and fill in both forms below if you qualify.

If there are any changes from last year, this includes a new child starting at the school or any child who has now left the school, there is an additional form that needs to be filled out. Please come by the school office to collect it.

SiMON Everywhere is the new app our school uses to acces PAM and CDF Pay. We will be sending reminders through this app, as such please download and sign in. There is a guide below for your reference. If you are having any issues please contact Alex Taylor in the school office ataylor@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Have you logged into your PAM account yet! 

We use 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.