Newsletter Thursday 20^th October 2022

We the staff of St Patrick’s acknowledge the traditional owners, the Kulin nations, of the land on which we learn and play.

We pay respects to the Aboriginal Elders, past and present, who are our teachers.

We thank them for taking care of children and country for countless generations.

Good afternoon Parents/carers and guardians,

This week you will have no doubt seen the tragedy taking place in our own state of Victoria. Where once upon a time, we were talking of drought and dusty plains and now we have dams and rivers overflowing beyond what anybody would have expected. In amonsgt all of this we have seen the best of the community come out. Neighbours helping one another despite their own homes having been destroyed, volunteers turning up in droves to help clean up the devastation and feed the community.

In the interviews on the news, I listened as they talked about previous disasters they have lived through before and what are they going to do now-get on with it! They will not be beaten. What amazing resilience when many might say they have had enough.

I cannot help but think that this is a heartfelt message for our students to be hearing. There will always be heartache and setbacks in life BUT we can rise above it. We rely on the kindness of strangers and find strength with family and friends. It is also important to draw on our faith that things will get better. Sometimes the tunnel is never ending and all we can see is black, but there will be light if we allow ourselves to look deeper.

Take care and God Bless

Meg

Staffing News

I would like to congratulate the following staff on their new appointments for 2023.

Eliza Silva has been appointed a classroom teacher at Lakeside College in Pakenham. Eliza has been with us since 2016, 7 wonderful years. Eliza has been a classroom teacher, our Visual Arts and our Physical Education teacher here at St Patrick’s!

Jacki Taylor has accepted a position at St John’s PS in Koo Wee Rup as Deputy Principal and classroom teacher. Jacki has been at St Patrick’s for 15 years. In this time, Jacki has been a classroom teacher and held many positions of leadership including Level Leader, Maths and Learning and Teaching Leader and of course spent this year as my Acting Deputy Principal.

I wish both Jacki and Eliza the very best as they venture onto new schools and challenges! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the tremendous work you have done with our community. The impact on both students and parents will not go unnoticed. You will be sadly missed.

I would also like to congratulate Lisa McDonald who has been appointed Deputy Principal here at St Patrick’s for the next 3 years. Lisa has been at St Patrick’s since 2013 and has been one of my Acting Deputies this year and now I am thrilled to welcome her to the role officially!

There will be more staffing updates to come as I finalise this process.

Religious Education:

Mrs Noleen Chalmers

Religious Education Leader

Parish Renewal Program

Please take the time to read the promotional flyer plus the Program brochure below

NOONE uniform shop

On Wednesday I met with Jayne Markey, the Retail Area Manager for Noone, our uniform supplier. They have many stores and the one our families would be familiar with is in Beaconsfield. She informed me that Noone has a brand-new uniform shop opening in Officer on the 7^th November. This shop is located in Siding Ave near the local Cardinia Council Officers. It is much bigger and will hold more stock than the Beaconsfield store. They will be offering the days where families, both old and new, can book in an appointment to be fitted for new uniforms.

This information will be sent out to parents as soon as it is received. Noone offers a Layby system where no deposit needs to be paid. The process is that the uniform is stored away until you are ready to collect it and when you do, you do not have to pay for all of the items at once. For e.g. You set aside 5 pieces of uniform in December and when you collect in January, you may only want 3 items and these are the items you pay for and the other 2 are kept aside for you.

Pick up and Drop off of students-The Avenue

Please ensure that you are NOT dropping your children off until you reach the area where that is supervised by teaching staff. Some parents/carers/guardians are dropping their children off and allowing them to walk across a busy carpark and this is not safe.

Please think carefully and sensibly for the sake of all our students. Staff will not hesitate to approach parents if we feel that there is dangerous behaviour going on. We will not risk our students’ safety.

Families leaving St Patrick’s at the end of the year

As we continue to plan for 2023, any families who will NOT be returning to St Patrick’s next year are to notify the school in writing via email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

SAVE THE DATE

Grade 6 graduation and time Thursday the 15^th December 5-7pm. More details to follow.

Foundation Transitions

Last week we held our Foundation Information Night which was an enormous success. We welcomed new families as well as existing and discussed the ins and out of children starting school for the first time. The first of 4 transitions begins on Monday the 24^th October.

Book Fair

Book Fair is back !

The book fair will be in the Library again this year. Parents, carers, grandparents are welcome to come in with your child/ren to purchase any book/s. 

Children will be sent home with a wish list soon. Once book week begins you can send cash with your child.

If you would prefer to pay by credit card you can do so via the Lamont website www.lamontbooks.com.au

This is optional if you can’t come to visit the book fair in person. The online payment portal is now open, please ensure you select our school when filling out the order form.

If you have any questions please contact the office.

Below are the dates and time that the Library is open for the book fair:

Monday 24th October: From 8:30 – 9:15am and 3:00 – 4:30pm 

Tuesday 25th October: From 8:30 – 9:15am and 3:00 – 4:30pm 

Wednesday 26th October: From 8:30 – 9:15am and 3:00 – 4:00pm

Thank you again for your support

Bunnings BBQ

The Parents and Friends will be hosting a Bunnings BBQ on Saturday the 19^th November from 9-4 pm. They will be looking for parents to help man the stand for a 2-hour block at a time. Please think about supporting this wonderful initiative and help to bring more recognition to our wonderful school.

Christmas Concert

I am pleased to announce that St Patrick’s will be bringing the Christmas Concert back. This will be held on Thursday the 1^st December and each grade will be performing. There will be more information to come so please keep the date free.

School Uniform Reminders

I would like to remind families please about the importance of wearing our school uniform with pride. I have noticed in the last few weeks that some students are not wearing the correct items and therefore this brings down the presentation of how we present as a school. If your child/ren does not have the correct uniform to wear for a particular day, they must have a note to explain this and this note is to be handed to the teacher. I will be asking staff to follow up if there are still issues.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Notifying the School of an Absence - IMPORTANT

Due to the increase in students not being at school, the office is taking several hours each day to chase up each absent student. I ask all parents to either use PAM or to contact the office directly to let them know that your child/ren will not be at school that day. We have a legal responsibility to know where the students are every day.

Parents please also note, that you are not able to talk to the teacher’s directly when ringing through to the school office. The teachers are in with the students and therefore staff cannot attend to phone calls to parents. If you wish to pass on a message to a teacher, please email them or ring the school office and ask the office staff to pass on the message to the teacher. Thank you.

Preteens Youth Group Grades 4, 5 and 6 students - DIVINE FAITH FORMATION PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN

St Patrick’s and St Clare’s along with the Parish is setting up the Pre-teens youth group. See the flyer below for the dates and contact numbers if you are interested. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know new people and to have time to discuss your faith whilst having fun and sharing some food and soft drinks. 

Please note that is is happening tomorrow.

COVID Update

With the new requirements coming through from the State Government, if your child/ren has COVID, they need to remain at home for a period of at least 5 days. it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that they remain at home after 5 days, if symptoms persist in order to minimise the spread of the infection amongst the other students and staff. I ask all parents to please be considerate of all families in our community and not willingly send an infected child to school. Please note that I will have no hesitation in sending a child home that is showing symptoms of any kind.

It is strongly recommended that students:

• Who test positive to COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five (5) days;
• Should not attend school after (five) 5 days if still symptomatic;
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school until their

symptoms resolve;

• Parents, guardians or carers advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result.

To assist with limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses, parents, guardians and carers

should be strongly encouraged to ensure that their child(ren) remain at home if they are unwell,

including if they have tested positive to COVID-19.

TERM DATES

TERM DATES - 2023

Please note that the below dates are subject to change

This past Monday our Year 4 students had an incursion where they got to witness and participate in African drumming.

With out next P&F Fundraiser (Hot Dog Day, the date of which to be confirmed at a later time) we will be using CDF Pay. This app will allow parents to put in orders and pay for them online. Below is a flyer with step by step instructions on how to set it up. 

Pakenham Upper Toomuc Cricket club are looking to start our first female cricket team in some time.

Its a great little Family club. Just up the hill at Packenham upper,

Season starts a week after the holidays,

Woolworths Junior Blasters (kids aged 5-7) is back at Yabbieland
Starting Wednesday October 19th, 8 x 1 hour sessions will run through to Wednesday December 7th

Each Junior Blasters Starter Pack includes
          - T-shirt with your name on it
          - Bucket hat in your choice of Big Bash team colour
          - Personalised plastic bat
          - Rubber ball

Sign up for our Junior Blasters program here: https://play.cricket.com.au/.../2238cd53-8ad8-eb11-a7ad...
Safe and inclusive for kids of all abilities
To ensure the safety of all participants, we use plastic bats and a rubber ball.
Activities use softer balls of different sizes, as well as blind cricket balls, so kids can participate and develop at their own pace.
We provide an environment focusing on kids abilities.
Each session includes skills activities and a game of backyard cricket
          - Welcome/Warm-Up (5 mins)
          - Activities & Games (30 mins)
          - Backyard Cricket (20 mins)
          - Closing and pack up (5 mins)

Get involved and enjoy some quality time with your child

The Junior Blasters program is designed for parents to get involved and spend some quality time with their child learning some simple cricket skills. Your involvement in the program has a huge impact on your child's enjoyment, skill progression and achievement.

The Blast Crew is a great first step for first time cricket parents to get involved and have some fun with your child and provide a great experience.

         Proud Sponsor of Community Cricket           

Have you set up your PAM account yet! 

We have been using PAM as 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.  

Access PAM via this link   Link to PAM 

PAM - 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.catholic.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. 

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.