Dear Parents,

Unfortunately, we have been placed back into a Remote Schooling format again due to Lockdown 6.0.  We understand that this is a challenging space to be in for families and at school we will do all that we can to support.  If you require any assistance please do not hesitate to contact the school. We are connected to many different agencies and support services and we may be able to assist.  Please note that this will be a confidential discussion.  Megan Escalante is the Student Support Leader at school and would be your point of contact along with your child’s teacher.

The school will be open for the very few students of essential workers..

All students at St. Patrick’s Primary School will continue with the full Remote Schooling program.

This means that all students who can learn from home, must learn from home, except where:

• parents, guardians or carers cannot work from home and no other arrangements can be made for the supervision of their child(ren)
• students are considered vulnerable, 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).

Classroom Google Meets operating between 9.30-11.30am and 1.00-3.00pm each day.  On Wednesday the Specialist Google Meets will continue as they have been. Once again, all work will be uploaded to Google Classroom. If you have any questions about this, please contact your child(ren’s) classroom teacher.

If you are one of the few families who need to send your child(ren) to school, please register your intention to send your child(ren) to St Patrick’s Primary School on the attached form. This will enable us to ensure that we have sufficient staff on duty to supervise students in attendance. This form needs to be emailed this afternoon to office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au by no later than Thursday 12^th August 5.30pm.

Please note that if you choose to send your child(ren) to school, your child(ren) will be supervised whilst undertaking the Remote Schooling program which has been designed by our school.  As such, your child will be undertaking the same program as those children learning at home.

In addition, I wish to advise you that your child(ren)’s teacher will not be supervising your child(ren) on-site, but will continue to support your child through the Remote Schooling program as previously advised to you.

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.

First Communion

Disappointingly the last of the First Communion Masses that were planned for last weekend had to again be cancelled due to restrictions.   Noleen Chalmers will inform families of the new dates once they have been arranged.

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 in 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.

Regards,

Simon

on_site_school_intentions_form_120821.pdf

Have you set up your PAM account yet!

From the start of 2022 PAM will be 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.  

A new app (SimonEverywhere) will soon be available to download to allow easy acces to PAM but for now please save the PAM log on screen to the home page of your device or bookmark it in your browser.  

Access PAM via this link   Link to PAM 

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 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.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

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. 

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

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2021

Sacrament Dates for 2021

Confirmation - Grade 6 Students

21st August 2pm and 6pm - Confirmation Masses

Reconciliation - Grade 3 Students

14th October - Parent Workshop

20th and 21st October - Reconciliation 

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. 

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. 

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.