Dear Parents

Thanks to all families for your cooperation with remote learning.  It is unfortunate that we are again in a lockdown and we are very much aware that this is a difficult time for families. If you need any help or support please do not hesitate to contact the school.  

Remote Schooling will continue until Tuesday 27 July 2021 (inclusive). Schools will be closed during this time, but will stay open for students in the following categories:

• Students of parents, guardians or carers considered an essential worker who cannot work from home.
• Where there are two parents, guardians or carers, both must be essential workers, working outside the home.
• For single parents, guardians or carers, the essential worker must be working outside the home.

Vulnerable students including:

• Children in out-of-home care.
• Children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health service).
• Children with a disability who cannot learn from home due to vulnerability or family stress.

We will be in contact with parents asap as soon as the situation changes. 

Reports / Family Learning Conversations

We made the decision last week to postpone Family Learning Conversations until next week in the hope that lockdown would be completed, however, this will not be the case on Tuesday.  The FLC”S will proceed and are now next Tuesday, the 27^th and next Wednesday, the 28^th. 

Due to the restrictions the FLC’s will be conducted as a Google Meet, however, parents will still be required to book a time using the following booking information; Log on to schoolinterviews.com.au ( Link ) and use code j9fyd.

Reports were distributed to families on the last day of Term Two. I hope that you have taken the time to read these reports as they will be discussed further at the Family Learning Conversations.   It is essential that you take the time to attend these meetings as strong lines of communication between home and school are important for your child’s development.

Grade 5 Camp

On advice from DOSCEL the Grade 5 Camp will be postponed.  We will update parents as soon as we know the details of where and when.  The Parent Information Meeting that was to be held tonight has been postponed until further notice.

2022 Enrolments

If you know of anyone looking to enrol their child at St Pat’s for 2022 please encourage them to contact the school Office on 5943-9000.

Sacraments / Confirmation Parent Workshop – Tonight 7.00pm

We will confirm Sacrament dates with families once restrictions have eased and the parish is aware of what is happening. 

The Confirmation Parent Workshop with Fr Elio Capra will be held via zoom, tonight at 7.00pm.  Parents of candidates need to attend, please use the following link.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://divinity.zoom.us/j/83793961384?pwd=Uk9pN0loRFBFTyt1bUw4akZaZjRjdz09

The following COVID Restrictions remain in place when anyone visits the school site;

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

• Masks are required to be worn by parents at all times when in the school.
• 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 wear a mask and 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 and asked to gain a medical clearance or negative COVID test before they return to school.
• Bubble taps are operational at school.
• An ample amount of sports equipment will be provided at school so we ask that students do not bring equipment from home.

Important Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 27^th / Wednesday 28^th July – Family Learning Conversations

Wednesday 4^th Thursday 5^th Friday 6^th August – Grade 5 Camp Sovereign Hill Ballarat - postponed

Regards,

 Simon

Applications are now due! 

The applicant must be one of the following:

1. a parent/carer (of the relevant student) who is:
   • on the first day of Term 1 (27 January 2021), the first day of Term 2 (19 April 2021) or the first day of Term 3 (12 July 2021) an eligible beneficiary of either a Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card, or
   • an eligible beneficiary of a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, or
2. a temporary foster carer, or
3. a student who is 16 years or older and holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card or Disability Support Pension Card).

The parent/carer must submit an application to the school by 13 August 2021.

If anyone has any questions or would like to discuss their school fee account, please contact Fil in the school office fil@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au   

Please download and fill in the form below if you qualify.

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

Confirmation - Grade 6 Students

22nd July - Parent Workshop - 7pm

21st August 2pm and 6pm - Confirmation Masses

Reconciliation - Grade 3 Students

14th October - Parent Workshop

20th and 21st October - Reconciliation 

The Grade 4 children have written some reports from camp.    Here is just a small sample of the wonderful work they have done.  Please take some time to read them. 

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

Events coming up early next term that you will need to give permission for!

Girls Footy

Gr5 and Gr6 Winter Sports

Gr 5 Camp

Gr 2 Excursion (TBC)

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.  

Please remember to update your contact details and any relevant medical details for your child.  

This can be either done via Operoo or contacting the school office.

The medical profile section of PAM has also now been turned on.   Please update this at your convenience.  We will still be using Operoo for any medical issues until the end of this year but as of the start of next year we will be moving to PAM for all communication and medical needs. 

Book club catalogue's went home this week!   Orders are due in by Friday 5th August.   All orders must be done on line via the scholastic web site.  

Please see the flyer below for instructions on how to order.   Cash payments will not be accepted!

St Francis Xavier are holding an information evening for Year 7 2023, for anyone currently in Grade 5.

The Information Evening is to be held on Tuesday 17th August but you must register your interest in attending on the St Francis website.  

Please see the flyer below.