Newsletter Thursday 12th September

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,

The Gospel this week tells us that Jesus was well aware of what was going to happen to him. He also wanted to let his disciples know that it did not matter about what others thought of him; but Jesus needed to ensure that his disciples knew that He was in for an insurmountable amount of suffering. And then asking them, are you willing and prepared to stay by my side when things get tough?

He indicates that his death and great suffering will not be final. He gave reminders sometimes of his future. At times the apostles must have remembered and wondered what he meant.

Jesus outlines the cost for us in verse 34. Anyone wishing to come after Me – to follow Me – that is, be a disciple, must do the following three things: he must deny himself; he must bear his cross and he must follow Christ.

What sacrifices do we make in our own lives to ensure that we allow the ones we love to stay safe and protected. Do we willingly allow suffering to occur because in the end it will bring great peace, and you will be remembered for the good things we did? And what if people do not remember?

Sacrifices are made every day, everywhere around the world. People are walking in Jesus’s footsteps; they want to carry on His word and be proud to stand up and say, Jesus is my Lord; the Light of the World. How wonderful to think we can have something to believe in.

Yesterday, our two Foundation classes went on an excursion to Healesville Sanctuary. Amazingly, the rain stayed away until they returned to school which was a bonus. The students were so very happy as they wandered around and visited the echidnas, koalas, dingoes, wombats and some slimy reptiles. The students learned about the habitats of the Australian animals and the many incredible features. The students were well behaved. In next week’s newsletter we will have some recounts from the preps themselves. Thank you to our Foundation teachers, Geraldine and Katherine for the organisation of this wonderful day. And another big thank you to our wonderful parent helpers, Anastasia, Pawan and Elena for their support as well. 

On Monday we had a visit from the students at Aspire Kindergarten in Pakenham. They came in for the morning to visit our foundation students and take part in our classes. They joined in with classroom activities, listened to stories, and learned some Italian with us.

God Bless

Meg

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.

The students had hands on experience in making a fruit salad and wrote a recount about it. They had an amazing time sharing this experience with their friends!

Today as a school and staff, we celebrated R U Okay day? You may have noticed the teachers wearing bright colours and really enjoying the wonderful atmosphere we have at St Patricks and to understand the privilege it is to work with our incredible students.

It is NEVER too late to reach out to those around us, strangers, neighbours, even our friends that we see all the time and just check in and say- R U OKAY??? These 3 simple words can make an enormous difference.

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 20^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.

We have a free dress day on Friday 13th September. We ask all students participating to bring a cold coin donation in, all proceeds are donated to our school Parish.

The Dental Van will be returning this term, 13th - 17th of September, if you would like your child to have a check up please fill in the attached form and return it to the office. We have printed copies as well if needed at the office.

Our AFL dress up day will be on Thursday 19th September. Students are invited to wear their favourite team jersey on this day. 

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

There has been an update on the 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: cases of pertussis are increasing in Victoria, mostly affecting children aged 10-12 years
• pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness known for causing a cough and can lead to life threatening infections in babies

• 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.

ACTIONS REQUIRED

• Principals are asked to:

Primary schools must NOT allow a student with whooping cough to attend the school for 21 days after the onset of cough or until they have completed five (5) days of antibiotics.

• Students younger than seven (7) years who are in proximity of a whooping cough case, and who have not received three (3) doses of the pertussis vaccine, should also be excluded for 14 days from the last date of exposure, or until they have completed five (5) days of antibiotics. 2
• Secondary schools and all staff that are not bound by the legislative exclusion requirements applying to primary schools but are encouraged to follow the same guidance to ensure staff and student safety. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Vaccination is the most important preventive measure against these diseases

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Vaccination is the most important preventive measure against whooping cough as it reduces the risk of infection and severe illness and protects those in the community who are most vulnerable. • It is recommended staff and students stay up to date with their vaccinations, including booster doses and seek medical attention early if whooping cough symptoms occur.
• remind the school community about the importance of seeing their General Practitioner if their children exhibit any of the symptoms listed
• consider any school community members (staff or parents/guardians/carers) who are pregnant or who have infants under the age of six (6) months, to ensure this important information is available to them.

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. 

SiMON Everywhere is an 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 use the link below if you would like to play in the Summer Cricket Blast for Pakenham Upper.

https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/710d29