Dear Parents,

Welcome back for Term 2.  We hope you have had a restful break and a holy Easter. As Simon informed you in the last Newsletter, he is on Long Service Leave for the first three weeks of term.  We wish him safe travels and hope he enjoys this special time spent with his family as they travel up the Eastern Coast of Australia.  Please be assured that you are free to contact either Meg or myself in relation to any concerns in Simon’s absence.  You can do this by contacting the office to make an appointment.

Some of our COVID procedures have relaxed slightly but we still need to follow many of them.  Please check the list below if you need any clarity around these.

District Cross-Country

Some of our children will be participating in the Officer and Pakenham District Cross Country at Toomuc Reserve on Friday the 7^th of May.  Congratulations to all those children who qualified.  Thank you to Louise Breeden and all who assisted her with the running of our school cross country.  It was a terrific event and it ran very smoothly.  It was from this event, that the St. Patrick’s District Cross Country Squad was chosen.  This process was based predominantly on a time basis as this next level is the first level of the pathway to state trials.  All information will be sent out if your child was successful in being selected for the St. Patrick’s squad.

Carparking, Gates and Car lines

The Avenue carpark is becoming very congested and does not cope well with parents parking and walking into the school.  If you are wanting to park and come onto the grounds it is our preference that you please use the Church Carpark.

Our gates are now closing at 8.50 am in the mornings as this is when the first bell goes. This bell is a signal for all students to move to classrooms to prepare for the day.  Instruction in the classroom and specialists start at 9.00am sharp.  This is to ensure we are making the most of learning time for the children.

If you wish to walk your children in to the school you must do so prior to the gates closing.

If you arrive after 8.50am to drop your children off, you will need to take them to the office via the slip road to ensure they are signed in and attendance rolls are marked appropriately.

If you are picking your child up on the slip road, staff are rostered there to assist but in particular with crossing this busy road.  We are asking children to wait for a staff member to assist with this to ensure they are safe.

Please also be aware that there is restricted parking on the slip road, and the council at times does monitor this and has in the past issued infringement notices.

Equipment from Home

Please note that there is an ample amount of sports equipment provided at school so we ask that students do not bring equipment or toys from home. Having students only use the equipment provided at school ensures that we can adhere to COVID safe cleaning requirements.

2022 Foundation (Prep) Tours

We are currently taking Foundation enrolments and running 2022 Foundation (Prep) Tours by appointment.  If you know of anyone considering St Pat’s for their child please ask them to call the school Office on 5943-9000 and book a tour.

COVID Procedures

I remind parents that the following procedures are in place for the safety of all;

• Masks are not required to be worn by parents at all times when in the school, only in situations where you are unable to social distance.
• Parents wishing to come into the grounds to drop off or collect their children must scan the QR code on the way in and wait out the front of the classroom. Please do not enter the rooms and social distance whilst waiting.  You must limit your visit to less than 15 minutes, gates open at 3pm at the end of the day.
• Parents waiting for children in the pick-up lines need to ensure that their children know which carpark to go to.
• If you do park your car you must walk over and collect your child. Please do not call for your children to walk across to your car unaccompanied. 
• Meetings with staff are by appointment only. Any parent that is going to be in the school for more than 15 minutes needs to sign on and complete the COVID form at the Office.
• Please communicate with staff via phone or email.
• The Office is open if required, however, please observe the density limits (maximum of 6 people). It is preferable to phone or email if possible rather than come to the Office.
• All extra cleaning and hand hygiene that was in place is still being adhered to.
• Please do not send food items to share with others when it is your child’s birthday as they cannot be handed out.
• If your child is sick, or displaying symptoms, please keep them at home. Children that present as sick or displaying symptoms at school will be sent home.
• Bubble taps are operational at school.
• An ample amount of sports equipment is provided at school so we ask that students do not bring equipment and toys from home.

Important Dates for Your Diary

• Tuesday 27^th of April – School Closure Day. The staff are participating in a Diocesan RE Day.
• Friday 7^th of May – District Cross Country
• 11^th-21^st May – Naplan.
• Monday 14^th June – Queens Birthday. No school.
• Friday 25^th June – Term Two concludes / Reports distributed.

Camp Dates 2021

• Year 3 – 10^th – 11^th June, CYC Adanac, Yarra Junction.
• Year 4 – 14^th – 16^th July, CYC The Island, Phillip Island.
• Year 5 – 4^th- 6^th August, Sovereign Hill, Ballarat.
• Year 6 – 15^th – 19^th November, Lady Northcote Camp, Glenmore.

Fees

2021 Fees were distributed to all families last week.  Included in these fee statements were the camp levies.  Please contact Fil at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu if you have any issues or concerns.

Regards,

Anna and Meg.

Our next Sacrament is First Eucharist in May, and there will be approximately 180 recipients.

Thank you to all the parents that attended the Parent Workshop.  The next one is tonight, 7pm in the Parish Hall.  It is a requirement that you attend at least one Workshop. Please no children, not even the First Holy Communion candidate. 

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2021

Sacrament Dates for 2021

First Holy Communion - Grade 4 and Grade 5 Students

21st and 22nd April - Parent Workshop

Communion Masses - Every Saturday and Sunday in May - Booking details have been sent out via Operoo. 

Confirmation - Grade 6 Students

22nd July - Parent Workshop

31st July - 1st August - Enrolment Masses

7th and 8th August - Formation Masses

14th and 15th August - Formation Masses

20th and 21st August - Confirmation Masses

Reconciliation - Grade 3 Students

14th October - Parent Workshop

20th and 21st October - Reconciliation 

St Patrick’s Cross Country 2021

What a glorious day we had for the St Patrick’s Cross Country Event last term! It was sensational to be able to have an event like this again after so long. It was great to see many students wearing their house colours and displaying “Team Spirit”, encouraging all competitors.

It was evident that students had improved on their running skills with lots of comments such as “that wasn’t so bad” and “can’t believe I did that” and “I smashed my own goal”. Many students were able to “meet or beat” their goals.

The results were as follows:

4th AHERN 1205 points

3rd BOURKE 2664 points

2nd FLYNN 3145 points

1st HUNT 3499 points

Several students will now have the opportunity to represent St Pat’s at the next level of competition (Pakenham District). They will be notified about this in the coming week by me, with permission going out through Operoo.

Whilst there is much planning and preparation for these types of events, they cannot go ahead without the support of staff, students and St Pat’s community members on the day. 

Many thanks to those parents and carers who were able to help out on the day to ensure the safety of and encourage our amazing students. I understand that this can often mean rearranging your own work or other schedules to assist. It is greatly appreciated!

Stay Active!

Louise Breeden

SIMON -  a Learning Management Software solution for schools.

St Patrick’s Primary school is now using SIMON in the classroom to keep track of your child’s progress and learning as well as attendance.  SIMON will also be used for School Reports and Student Wellbeing.

PAM, SIMON’s Parent Access Module

PAM (Parent Access Module) is our new Parent to School communication platform.   PAM provides 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 can all be accessed via PAM.

Parents can easily book Parent Teacher interviews through PAM, and access teacher email addresses. 

Parents would have received an email from noreply@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au on Friday 5th March that contains instructions and a link for them to click on.  Please check your JUNK or SPAM mailbox if you do not receive this email.  PAM accounts are linked via your email address that we have in our systems.  If you have recently changed your email or you can not find the email sent on Friday please call or email us on office@stppakenham.cathlic.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

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. 

Have you installed the new SZapp?   

Skoolbag is no longer being used, install SZapp now! 

 Follow the installation guide below to install the new app on your smart devices.  

Operoo allows you to 'share' your account with anyone you choose.   For example if you would like your partner to help you keep track of things here at school all you need to do is click on your child's profile, click on green box that says 'share'.   Then fill in the persons details, ie name and email address,  you can even choose what level of access they have.  You can choose 'view only' or 'view and change'. 

Please click on the link for detailed instructions. 

httpss://supportoperoo.com/portal/en/kb/articles/how-does-a-user-share-a-profile-with-a-second-parent-or-carer

Please remember to update any details in Operoo, for example change of address or phone number,  this will send us a message that your details have changed and we are then able to update our database.

Don't forget to upload your child's hayfever letters including symptoms specific to your child!

If you have any problems using Operoo, please call into the school office preferably on a Monday, Thursday or Friday and we will be able to help you.  

Please keep an eye on your accounts as we will have lots of activities coming up this term. 

Paddy's Kitchen's purpose is to make a difference in people's lives, by providing a fresh, nutritious meal in a friendly environment.  Paddy's Kitchen serves every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month from St Patrick's Pakenham, Parish hall.  Dinner at 6pm 

www.stpatrickspakenham.com.au/paddys-kitchen