Newsletter Thursday 8th August

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.

 

Kryal Castle

Kryal Castle 30.65 KB

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.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

This week the Gospel explains that this passage is part of a long dialogue where Christ clarifies the meaning of His miracles. Jesus has just explained that He, Himself, is the ''Bread of Life'' which people are meant to seek. Jesus tells us that no one can come to him unless God draws us to Jesus. With the Grace of God we can find the strength to make the choices that will transform us and Jesus will lead us to everlasting life.

This week, our Year 5's are completing the newsletter filled with many stories about camp. As mentioned last week, it was a great success, and this does not happen without the incredible work and support of St Patrick’s staff. Firstly, a BIG thank you to Shiny Antony for her wonderful organisation of the year 5 camp experience. From all the activities at Kryal Castle to Sovereign Hill, the students were kept entertained and learning so much about life on the Goldfields and in the days of medieval. Thanks also to Katherine Gronek and Noleen Chalmers, Paul Beswick and Catherine Edwads and Richard Oryem for also taking time away from their loved ones to be at camp with our students and make it a memorable occasion for all.

Thanks also to my staff back at school who keep things running smoothly!

Take care and God Bless,

Meg

We are experiencing a high volume of students (and staff) with cough and flu symptoms. Please ensure you keep your children home from school if they present with a nasty cough, runny nose or fever. We are continuing to rely on habits developed throughout the Covid lockdown and use the hand sanitiser every day before and after eating, entering the classroom and after the toilets.

Department of Health Warning for parents and families.

Increasing Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Cases

MAIN POINTS

• The Department of Health, Victoria has issued a health alert, Increasing pertussis (whooping cough) cases in Victoria.

• The key messages are:

o cases of pertussis are increasing in Victoria, mostly affecting children aged 10-12 years

o pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness known for causing a cough and can lead to life threatening infections in babies

o symptoms of pertussis may be very similar to other respiratory infections, especially in the early stages, meaning diagnosis by a doctor as soon as possible is important.

For contacts of diagnosed cases:

o The exclusion requirement only applies to contacts who meet all three (3) of the below

criteria:

- aged less than 7 years;

- in the same class as the student with the diagnosed case; and

- have not received three (3) effective doses of pertussis vaccine.

• Students meeting these criteria should be excluded for 14 days after the last exposure to the infectious case, or until they have taken five (5) days of a course of effective antibiotic treatment.

This term, I begin to plan for 2025 and will soon be looking at staffing for the following year. If you have a reasonable request for your child/ren in regard to classroom placement, this MUST be put into writing and be emailed to principal@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au. The closing date for this will be Friday 6^th September. Any requests coming to me after this date may not be considered.

Once again, these requests are never guaranteed and ultimately, the final placement of the students rests with me as principal.

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. 

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.