Dear Parents

Unfortunately, due to COVID we are operating in an environment that can change very quickly.  Today the Government announced that Victoria is entering another lockdown period and the school will be returning to remote learning as of Monday the 31^st of May.  Tomorrow (Friday the 28^th) is a School Closure Day. 

 A letter is being sent to all families today outlining our remote learning procedures for students and the following procedures are in place for families;

• Tomorrow (Friday) will be a Pupil Free Day. The school will be closed. Supervision can be provided for those that require it, however, no learning program will be offered.  Please fill in the accompanying form and return it by 5.00pm this afternoon if you are an authorised worker or your child is identified as vulnerable.  This form also covers next week.  As we are running a skeleton staff any applications after 5.00pm cannot be considered.  The students onsite must wear full school uniform, bring snack and lunch and their own drink bottle.  They will be supervised by a staff member who will not be their classroom teacher and as of Monday will access the same remote learning as other students. 
• We are implementing remote learning on Monday the 31^st as per Government requirements (please see accompanying letter for learning details).
• Camp Australia will operate only for the students of authorised workers or those identified as vulnerable.
• If your child is sick and not learning remotely on any day you will need to contact the School Office as we will be keeping a roll.
• The Office will be physically closed. All communication must be via email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or phone 5943-9000.
• Please communicate with teachers via phone or email.
• If you require ICT support from the school please email ict@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
• The Grade 4 Excursion to The Museum has been postponed from this Friday until June the 23^rd. This is because at the Museum they would be sharing public galleries.
• The Grade 2 Swimming Program will not commence on Monday due to lockdown. We will inform parents of the new dates once they are arranged.
• Eucharist (First Holy Communion) Masses have been postponed.  We will provided new dates when they are avaiable. 

Further information will be communicated to you as we become aware.   Thank-you for your support and cooperation.

Catholic Education Week

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter this week we are celebrating Catholic Education Week.  It is a wonderful opportunity for us to take the time to reflect upon the wonderful role Catholic Schools play in Australian Society.  It is pertinent to also remember all of the sacrifices that were undertaken by those before us to allow us to have the wonderful school that we enjoy today.

Term Three School Closure Day

Please note that the Term Three School Closure Day is Monday the 12^th of July which is the first day of Term Three.  Staff will be participating in a Learning Adjustment Day with Trinity and Don Bosco Primary Schools.

Fete Postponed

The Fete Committee had commenced preliminary work organising the Fete, however, unfortunately due to the amount of restrictions and COVID procedures required it is not a viable option for this year.  Therefore, the decision has been made to postpone the Fete until the same weekend in 2022 – Friday the 4^th of November.

Important Dates for Your Diary

• Friday 28^th May – School Closure Day
• Friday 28^th May – Grade 4 Excursion POSTPONED (new date Wednesday 23^rd of June).
• Monday 31st May - Remote learning commences 
• Monday 31^st May – Grade 2 Swimming Commences POSTPONED (new dates to be confirmed).
• Thursday 10^th / Friday 11^th June – Grade 3 Camp (still proceeding at this stage).
• Monday 14^th June – Queens Birthday. No school.
• Friday 25^th June – Term Two concludes / Reports distributed.
• Monday 12^th July – School Closure Day (staff attending Learning Adjustment PD at Trinity PS).

Camp Dates 2021

• Year 3 – 10^th – 11^th June Camp 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,

Simon

Are You Accessing the Parent Access Module (PAM)?

Over the last six months as a staff we have completed the background work to move onto the SIMON Management System for St Pat’s.  The benefit of this system is eventually we will be able to house all of our student information, assessment data, reporting data and staff information all within the one system. 

A major component in deciding to move to SIMON was also our intent to be able to streamline our mode of communication to parents.  Eventually all communication will come to families through an app called ‘SIMON Everywhere’ which will be a parent one stop shop for all school communication.  However, to get to this point we first need all families to be on PAM.  If you are not yet on PAM you need to search for an email from noreply@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au (please check your junk and spam folders), which contains a link to set up a password, or contact the School Office for assistance. 

Please make the effort to join PAM so we can get to our goal of using the efficient SIMON Everywhere App for communication.  I thank you for your cooperation here.  Please call the Office if you have any further questions.

Yesterday the Grade 5 students went on an excursion to Philip Island.  Below are some photos from the day and recounts from the students. 

Phillip Island Excursion - By Lincoln

On the 26th of May we went on an excursion to Phillip Island and everyone was excited. At 9 o’clock we went on 2 buses, 5RS and 5SA on a bus each and 5TA split between the buses. It was about a 1 hour and 15 minutes drive there. We went into the Koala Sanctuary. Once we got there it was pouring rain, luckily we all had a jacket or a jumper. When we got in there we ate our snack and a ranger talked to us about koalas and their features to help them survive in the wild. After she finished talking we went to look for koalas in the trees but we could also look at the ground to look for wallabies, possums and snakes. We saw about 5 koalas and 1 wallaby. The reason we went to the Koala Sanctuary was because in inquiry we are learning about adaptations, what animals use to survive. After we finished with the Sanctuary we went to the pelican feeding and a lady was talking about pelicans and how they survive in the wild. Once in a while she would chuck a fish to the pelicans. The reason we went to the pelican feeding is because we watched and read Storm Boy and 3 of the characters are Pelicans. After that we had lunch and went back to school and arrived around 1:45.

Phillip Island Excursion - By Peter           

On Wednesday the Grade Fives including me went on an excursion to Phillip Island. First we got on a bus. There were two buses and I was on the second bus.  I looked out the window with my friend, and at last we arrived at Phillip Island. We went to the Koala Sanctuary where a lady named Carla told us about koalas. The main reason we went to the Koala Sanctuary is because we were learning about Adaptations at school. After we got on the bus again, we went to the pelican feeding shore and watched the big clever birds as they ate the fish from an old lady. The whole reason we went to the pelicans is we read Storm Boy and we watched the movie ‘Storm Boy’. After that we had lunch and went back on the bus. On the bus me and my friend slept the whole time. When we got back it was still cold.

Phillip Island  -   By Jaka 

On the 26/5/21, all the grade 5’s went to Phillip Island and San Remo on a bus. When we got to Phillip Island, it was pouring like anything! Martin, a ranger from the koala sanctuary told us the features of a koala. He also told us why koalas in Victoria have a dark fur colour whereas in NSW and Queensland they have a light fur colour.

Then we went out for a walk around the sanctuary.

Most of the koalas were hiding between the Eucalyptus branches. One of the females started moving. We saw around 8 koalas.

After that, we went to San Remo to see the pelican feeding. Some of the pelicans were small and some were massive. After the lady ran out of fish, we had lunch, went back on the bus and came back to school.

It was the best excursion I’ve ever had! 

Phillip Island adventure… 26/05/2021 - By Joseph

On Wednesday we went to Phillip Island on a bus.

We travelled to the Phillip Island Koala Sanctuary.

We went inside to meet Martin. He took us into the sanctuary. There were so many trees and different types of animals, like snakes and wallabies.

A fun fact about koalas… whenever another male koala comes into their territory they fight and whoever wins takes the territory! 

We then travelled to San Remo. At San Remo we watched the pelicans getting fed. They had very funny and scary actions and they did lots of fighting.

We then ate lunch and then went on the bus back to school.

We played Empire when we got back to school.

We had a great fun day!!!

PHILLIP ISLAND RECOUNT - By: Apiel 5TA

On the 26th of May all the year fives went on excursion to Phillip Island. First we went to the Koala Sanctuary.The park ranger called Martin told us some facts about Koalas, like Koalas have two thumbs to get a good grip on things like Gumtrees known as Eucalyptus trees.

Then we went outside when it was pouring and we got to see 9 Koalas.

After all that we left the koala Sanctuary and then went to the Sanremo Pelican feeding.When ever the Pelicans came near us we all moved back.I didn't expect the Pelicans to be as very big as they were.

After watching the pelican feeding we ate lunch.

Then we drove back to school.

At school we played a new game called Empire.

That was our excursion, it was so much fun.

Phillip Island Recount -By Archer 5TA

Phillip Island; a beautiful coastal island at the bottom of Australia, and seeing it in person is as good as it gets. 

When I went during a grade 5 excursion, it was raining quite a lot, but the trip was worth it as we went to the koala reservation centre, as well as the pelican feeding in San Remo. It was quite fun, but the rain made it hard to focus at points, and would’ve been better if they had scheduled it for another day. At the reservation, a man had told us about the koalas, then led us to the viewing walkways. Despite the rain, we saw all 6 koalas in the area! The pelican feeding was over quite quickly, but was still interesting and fun to watch. The lady hosting the feeding told us about the pelicans while feeding them, which made it better. In conclusion, the excursion was a trip worthwhile, however weather conditions made it slightly harder to focus.

Phillip Island Fun...By: Amelia 5A

Yesterday, I went to a Koala sanctuary and a pelican feeding show at San Remo. I got to sit next to my friends on the bus and we played hangman and drew each other. 

When we got to the koala sanctuary we got drench  from the rain.We had to sit outside under the veranda to eat snack and it was freezing cold. 

First we went inside and Martin talked to us about koalas. He told us some facts about the koalas.

Some of them are 

- Their fur is waterproof.

- Koalas' claws are very sharp.

-Their Forelimbs have 3 fingers and 2 thumbs.

When we went outside, we saw some cute koalas and they were all huddled up trying to keep warm.

Next we went back on the bus to San Remo to watch the pelican feeding show. The pelicans kept coming close to us and I got scared. After lunch we got back on the bus and went back to school. 

After all of that we all had a great day and came back to school all safe and sound.

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.

Access PAM via this link   Link to PAM 

PAM, SIMON’s Parent Access Module

PAM (Parent Access Module) is our new 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. 

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. 

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2021

Sacrament Dates for 2021

First Holy Communion - Grade 4 and Grade 5 Students

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 

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 is still our main platform for communication!  All correspondence will continue to go via the Operoo email platform.  In most cases it will be in Operoo that you will first be notified of any upcoming excursions or events.  Most of these events must first be approved before they appear on any calendar.  

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 usingOperooo, 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

Fete Postponed 2022!