Good afternoon Parents/carers and guardians,

Once again this week the news has been dominated by the war in Ukraine. We continue to hear news of the senseless killing of helpless citizens, many of whom are innocent children caught up in this conflict. I ask for parents to remain vigilant when it comes to any content your children are viewing or hearing as this can be very traumatic for them. I hope that we can continue to pray as a community for this conflict to end soon and for peace to be restored to this region.

Today was wonderful to see the students dressed up in bright colours to celebrate the Easter Dress Up Day. It is events like this that remind us that life can be fun when we apply the simple things like dressing up and having a laugh. Thanks to all the families who have donated the many wonderful chocolate goodies that will go into the Easter Raffle! Thanks to our wonderful Parents and Friends Community for getting this organised!

Just a reminder that tomorrow Friday the 1^st of April is a School Closure Day. There will be no staff onsite tomorrow. The staff of St Patrick’s will be attending a Professional Development Day at Trinity Primary School in Narre Warren along with St Catherine’s School, Berwick. The staff will be participating in workshops that help promote student wellbeing.

Next week is the final week of the school term and the students finish on Friday 8^th April at 2.10pm.

Program Support Meetings

These PSG meetings, which are held every term with parents to discuss the needs of students with Individual Learning Plans, continued this week. Lisa McDonald, along with our clasroom teachers having ensured that these have been most successful and it demonstrates the powerful impact that school and home can have on students when we work together and keep communication open.

IMPORTANT SAFETY MESSAGE

I am continuing to see students arriving well before 8.30am and being left unsupervised. If this continues to happen next term, I will be contacting parents directly to discuss my concerns and to make alternative arrangements as this is not acceptable when we consider the dangers of leaving children unsupervised. Children are not to be here until 8.30am. Thank you.

Online Safety

In the last few weeks of this term, I have had the unfortunate task of dealing with many issues and concerns related to the childrens' use of social media. Communciation has been directed out to the grade 6 parents but this is not the only year level affected. I cannot express my concerns enough when I say to parents that children do not appear to be understanding the impact their actions on social media can have. It is absolutely vital that parents are maintaining a constant vigilance of what your child/ren are doing on social media.

One question to ask yourself- Do you leave your front door open to let strangers come in to the family home? No. So why do we think it is okay to leave the Cyber door open for strangers to walk in, figuratively speaking, into our children’s lives?

I would encourage all parents to log on to the e-safety commissioner website which is rich source of information for parents and children. I have included links below.

The E safety website

https://www.esafety.gov.au/

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/big-issues 

Take care and God Bless

Meg

Reminders for parents

Head Lice

There has ben an outbreak of head lice in our Junior School. Can I please ask that parents are checking their children for any signs that they may have this and go through the correct protocols to ensure it does not spread in school. Please see the link below for advice.

https://www.health.vic.gov.au/infectious-diseases/head-lice-resources

School Fees

Your School Fees statement will be coming out in the next few weeks. Please do not forget to let the school know if you hold a Health care card as you may be eligible for fee concessions. The simplest and easiest way to pay your school fees is to arrange payment via a direct debit. Catholic Schools do rely on the fees as a way of providing for your children and their education. If you are having financial difficulty, please contact the office at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Teacher emails

Please note that teachers will NOT be replying to emails after 5pm. If you send an email to a staff member after this time, it will be responded to in the following 48 hours. As I am sure you will agree, teachers have their own families and other responsibilities to attend to after this time. If the matter is an emergency, please contact the office at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or call 5943 9000

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Covid Restrictions

In our continuing efforts to keep both our students and staff safe, any visitors to the school office who are not vaccinated, must remain outside and the office staff will assist you there. I ask all parents/carers and guardians to please remain respectful and patient as we continue to work through these challenging times.

Mask Mandate for grade 3-6 and teachers to remain

This week the Victorian Government announced an easing of the mask mandate as of 11.59pm Friday the 25^th February. For primary schools however, this easing of rules only applies to our students in Foundation up to grade 2. For the junior level, it is still recommended that the students wear masks but that is a personal choice. For our students and staff in grades 3-6 however, masks will still be mandated until further notice. At this stage, it is likely to remain in place until the end of term 1.

Thanks for your understanding in this matter.

School Uniform

A uniform is meant to be worn with pride. It is especially important for our leaders of the school, our grade 6s, that the correct school uniform is adhered to.

Proper black school shoes need to be worn. Black runners are NOT acceptable nor are the wrong coloured socks and parents will be contacted if this continues to happen. If your child/ren are coming to school in clothes that are not our school uniform, communication must be made with the teachers.

Covid Update

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

If there is a positive case at school…

The school will NOT be required to close as a result of the positive case attending the school.

If your child is not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they can continue to attend school, but you should monitor for symptoms.

Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 must get tested immediately using a rapid antigen test, or a PCR test if you can’t access a rapid antigen test. Students with COVID-19 symptoms must isolate and return a negative result before returning to school.

Students should continue with twice-weekly rapid antigen testing on school days.

Students who have recovered from COVID-19 do not need to participate in surveillance testing for 30 days after testing positive.

If your child receives a positive COVID-19 result, you must:

• quarantine your child for seven days
• advise the school about the positive result
• ensure that your child stays home until their symptoms have resolved and they are well
• ensure that everyone in your household who is a close contact isolates for seven (7) days from the date your child is tested for COVID-19.

Advice and further resources about what to do if your child tests positive to COVID-19 or you are a contact, are available on the following Coronavirus Victoria web pages or you can call the 24/7 Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398:

Checklist for COVID contacts

Checklist for COVID contacts

• Checklist for COVID contacts - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-contacts
• Checklist for COVID cases - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-cases

Reporting your child’s positive test

If your child was at school during their infectious period, you need to report the positive case to office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or please phone the school office on 5943 9000.

If your child tested positive using a rapid antigen test you must also report your child’s positive test to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

General advice and support

Advice and further resources about coronavirus, including what to do if you test positive or if you have been told you are a contact, are available on the coronavirus website www.coronavirus.cgov.au or you can call the 24/7 Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

Other resources on the Coronavirus Victoria website include:

• information on symptoms - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/symptoms-and-risks
• how to get tested - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/taking-test-covid-19

Further information for languages other than English

For school information in languages other than English, call TIS National on 131 450. 

For translated written information about COVID-19 and health advice in languages other than English, visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/translated-information-about-coronavirus-covid-19

Parents, guardians, carers and/or students can also call the Department of Education and Training COVID-19 hotline on 1800 338 663 and they will help interpret. 

Please be aware that we are unable to provide any information about students, family members or staff who may test positive to COVID-19. I would ask that all in our community continue to pray for those who are unwell with COVID-19 and respect their privacy.

The health, safety and wellbeing of the school community remains our highest priority. We are committed to continuing to communicate with you as promptly as possible and supporting you and your children during these challenging times.

If you have any questions about the arrangements, please contact office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or call 5943 9000

TERM DATES

Today students and staff members where invited to dress up in anything easter related. Our prep classes have shared some photos from today!

Just a reminder to get you eatser raffle tickets back on Monday as the raffle is being drawn that following Thursday.

      

 

   

ANZAC BADGES FOR SALE

ANZAC DAY 25th APRIL 

We encourage everyone to come and buy an ANZAC badge so you can show respect to the fallen soldiers and show we care about their sacrifice for us. It will help the families to show that we care. The Social Justice Leaders will be selling the badges.

WHERE: A2 (6BC) 

WHEN: 8.30-9.00am week 10 & 11 

Monday 28th March- Thursday 31st March & Monday 4th-Friday 8th April

COST: there are badges ranging in price starting at $2-$5

PLEASE BRING CORRECT MONEY

We look forward to seeing you there,

Grade 6 Social Justice Leaders:

Lucas, Biak, Apiel & Latjhur

We did it ✅✅✅ St Patrick’s Cross Country 2022

St Patrick’s Cross Country Event was held on Friday March 25th. The conditions were perfect for all events. There was a great sense of community spirit and excitement as each group made their way to the start line and moved around the course. Students from FLYNN, HUNT, AHERN & BOURKE houses wore their colours with pride, cheering everyone as they worked towards our whole school goal which we have been discussing and has been displayed in the stadium all term.

Run all the way without stopping...I can do it!

Although some students did not reach this goal they certainly were on their way to it and have shown such vast improvement from when they first started practising many weeks ago. I am thrilled beyond belief at the effort of our students and they should be proud of their achievements no matter how big or small.

My biggest thanks to all those who helped today, especially parents and carers who were able to give time in their schedules to support on-course. Staff were also flexible with their learning times to allow learning of a different type to occur. Thanks to parents and friends who came to support students in our “Spectator Zone”. The cheering helped to push many along. Whole school events are only successful when the whole school community jumps in. 

St Pat’s Student Leadership Team were outstanding with their efforts assisting students in the Junior event. They displayed our school values through their cooperation with staff members, respect of students of all abilities and safety when they saw something not quite right on the course and fixing it up when needed.

Those students from Years 4-6 who qualify for the Pakenham District event (Week 2 next term) will be notified in due course. Placement in the Top 10 positions is considered along with qualifying times which are required at the next level. Students are well aware of this process and understand that a Top 10 placement does not guarantee progression to the next level. Permission for the District event will be sent via PAM shortly.

Keep active!!

Louise Breeden

Years 3 and 5 have Naplan testing this year. The dates are as follows:

To Parents of Students in Grades 4-6,

If your child has not received the Sacrament of Reconciliation but would like to do so, please let me know so that I can organise a time suited to your family and they can then go ahead with the other sacraments offered at their year level.

Thank you,

Noleen Chalmers

Religious Education Leader

Have you set up your PAM account yet! 

Operoo is no longer being used!!!

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 access 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. 

Our much awaited Church Renovation is about to begin and is anticipated to cost in the order of $4.2 million. After contributions from Parish funds, the “Be a Sponsor of Church Renovation” programme aims to provide extra funding for the Sacred Artwork that will adorn our new church as well as reducing the loan repayments to Catholic Development Fund and thereby reflecting our strong Parish Community.

Please see the flyers below for more information and keep up to date on the Parish webpage.   https://stpatrickspakenham.com.au/fundraising/ 

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. 

CSEF Applications are now due! 

The applicant must be one of the following:

1. a parent/carer (of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school) who is:
   • on the first day of Term 1 (31 January 2022), or the first day of Term 2 (26 April 2022)  a holder of one or more of the eligible financially-means tested cards (Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card), or
   • a temporary foster parent

The parent/carer must submit an application to the school by 24 June 2022.

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

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

 Please read the flyer below from our School House Captains.