Thursday 30^th January 2025

Gospel of the Week

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 2:22-32

My eyes have seen your saving power.

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;

because my eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

a light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.’

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

This week the Gospel tells us the lesson of these words is deeply important. They show us that we must not regard all communicants as true believers and sincere servants of Christ. The evil and good will be found side by side even at the Lord's Supper. Jesus shares a similar instruction when a disciple asks to be taught how to pray in Luke 11:1-4 (NIV). “He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins. He was waiting for the time when God would take away Israel's sorrow, and the Holy Spirit was in him. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he saw the Christ promised by the Lord. The Spirit led Simeon to the Temple.

Welcome to the 2025 school year. The staff of St Patrick’s have spent the last 2 days preparing for the return of our students. We have been involved in Professional development around First Aid, Learning Adjustment and planning many activities for the first few weeks. It has been so wonderful to walk around the classrooms and see the hard work the teachers have put in to ensure a safe and welcoming learning environment for your children.

I pray that this year be filled with many good things, and I ask all parents, carers and guardians to reach out to the staff if you have any concerns. I ask all parents to be mindful that we only want the best for all of the students at St Patrick’s and that we work hard to cater for individual children. Please keep this in mind in times of despair and feeling upset or disappointed. The bridge between school and home is vital and when we work well together and in harmony, this will be beneficial for all. Please contact your child/ren’s classroom teacher if you have any concerns.

At the beginning of the year, all year levels work on Learning to Learn unit. It is important to keep an open discussion with your child/ren around their expected behaviour and work ethic as we enter a new school year. The staff of St Patrick’s will continue to discuss/introduce that all 5 values of RESPECT, SAFETY, CO-OPERATION, COURAGE AND RESILIENCE will be adhered to both inside and outside the classroom.

With staffing news, Mrs Annette Tanner is taking extended leave due to her health and her position in Year 4 will be taken over by Mr Jake Richardson. Jake has been a regular CRT (Emergency teacher) with St Patrick’s for many years and he is extremely familiar with the students. He will be working and planning with Rosa and Janelle across the two year 4 classes.

We welcome Jake to the position.

God Bless

Meg

STAFFING 2025

ATTENTION PARENTS: School Uniform

I am asking please that all students, to be wearing our proper school uniform. It is important that we maintain a high standard of uniform throughout the school year and to wear it with pride.

I will continue to ask all students to be wearing proper school shoes and uniform right up until the end of the year. Runners are NOT school shoes. 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 unform 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.

Dates for your diary-

2025 PUPIL FREE DAYS-

See separate insert

TIME IN LIEU (TIL)

St Patrick’s will also be closed for 3 Time in Lieu days (TIL) 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 Pupil Free Days. Those 8 days are for our staff professional development which will focus on Religious Education, Learning and Teaching and Student Wellbeing.

Year Level Camp/ Fun Day Dates:

TERM DATES 2025

2025 PUPIL FREE AND TIME IN LIEU DAYS:

The 3 Time in Lieu 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.

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. 

Parents who would like to have their children baptised are required to attend baptism preparation. Please enroll through the parish website https://stpatrickspakenham.com.au/

For further details and assistance please contact

Mary Tresa Andrews

Religious Education Coordinator

mandrews@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au