Newsletter Thursday 24th October

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.

I am asking please that all students, in particular our Senior school, to be wearing our proper School Uniform this final term. It is important that we still maintain a high standard of uniform and not use Term 4 as an excuse to become complacent about what we wear to school.

I will continue to ask all students to be wearing proper school shoes and uniform right up until the end of the year. I understand that students are growing constantly, however they will continue to grow for many more years and so I cannot always accept this as an excuse. We must remember that many students are adhering to the correct standards of school uniform and therefore, it is important that the students and their families please respect this. Secondary schools do not accept poor uniform standards.

If finance is a concern when it comes to uniform, please speak to your classroom teacher. St Patrick’s has a very good second-hand uniform shop that you can top up your child’s uniform with. It is a third of the price you would pay at the normal uniform shop, and the money goes straight back to the school.

We have had another terrific week of supporting each other to be the best versions of ourselves. In the wellbeing room a quiet space is offered to reflect or chat, depending on what each person needs. A wide range of sensory activities is also on offer for those students needing to regulate their behaviour or feel calmer.

It is a place where everyone belongs, our feelings are valued, and problems are solved.

The Wellbeing room and sensory garden will be in full swing again this term. It is open before and after school for pop in chats. We also run sessions at recess and lunch Monday to Wednesdays.

If you can help, I am looking for thick balls of wool to be donated this term. We are learning to hand knit, a powerful mindfulness skill. I’d be grateful for any donation.

We have exciting news to finally share. As of next year, we will have another Wellbeing member on board here at St Patricks. Very soon everyone will be able to meet Miss Zahli. She is a trained Therapy Dog and will be coming along to share in the fun, learning and wellbeing at school.

For the remainder of this term, Zahli will be visiting each Friday of about ½ hour. During these visits Zahli will be walking through the school with her handler, Kelly Wilson. It is a time to just wave to Zahli from a distance as she gets used to her surroundings a little bit at a time. This way everyone can learn to feel comfortable with Zahli too. Zahli is very excited!

Have a wonderful term, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need too.

With gratitude,

Kelly Wilson.

Meet Miss Zahli

The P&F will be running Popcorn Wednesday's for a few more weeks this term, starting on Wednesday 23rd October. Please note that the orders must be finalised before each Tuesday at 10:00am.

Each bag of popcorn is $2, and you can use the link below to access CDF Pay.

https://stppakenham.cdfpay.org.au  

The Scholastic Book Club catalogue has been sent home with students. If you would like to purchase anything from this catalogue please do so before Friday 1st November. All orders must be made through LOOP, you can find the log in link below.

https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

Student Write Ups 

The Year 6 jumpers for 2025 can now be ordered on CDF-Pay. All orders must be completed by 1st November.

We have sample sizes in the office and you are welcome to come in with your child to try them on before purchasing.

Over the weekend, we had a beautiful and reverent Confirmation celebration at St Patrick’s Church, with Bishop Greg Bennet and Fr. Jeff. Congratulations to all our newly confirmed students! A heartfelt thank you to the families and sponsors who attended and supported the candidates on this special occasion. We sincerely thank the school staff for their outstanding work in preparing the students. We ask that you continue to keep the candidates, their sponsors, families, and teachers in your thoughts and prayers during this important time of their spiritual journey.

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 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.