Newsletter Thursday 10^th November, 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,

How glorious has this week been as we finally see the incredible Spring weather break through and begin to dry up our playgrounds. I have inspected the E Block as it draws nearer to being finished and cannot wait for the juniors to move back in. It will be a great fresh start.

This week, we hosted our 2023 Foundation students once again on Tuesday morning. It was great to welcome parents to the parish centre for a cup of tea and also to look over our school uniform. Thanks to some of our ESOs who helped out on the morning. There are 2 more transitions to go!

This time of year continues to bring a sense of excitiment as well as a sense of dread. The upcoming festive season is meant to be a time of love and sharing of meals, parties and being with loved ones. However, we all know that there are many in our own community, our country and worldwide, who do not have this in their lives. They may be lonely, sick, anxious or scared. Financial burdens during this time of year will be one of the biggest impacts on families as interest rates rise and the cost of living increases. Still the pressure to keep working and provide for our familes and all the pressure that Christmas brings will, no doubt, bring many to despair.

As part of our Catholic community, we have a duty of care to one another. We need to reach out to the poor and needy. We need to recognise when someone needs to be heard and be seen. Now is the time to show our catholic selves, our catholic might and to be there for one another.

Take care and God Bless

Meg

Staffing 2023

This week I am pleased to announce that we will be adding Performing Arts to our Specialist program for 2023. This will be a wonderful opportunity again for our students to explore their imaginative and creative side. I am also thrilled to announce that Ms Katherine Mirabella will be our Performing Arts Teacher in 2023. Katherine has had a successful association with St Patrick’s. Katherine has been a regular CRT this year and has held the position of classroom teacher in grade 4SM (earlier this year) and 4GD for 2 days a week. I would like to congratulate Katherine on her appointment.

This week, Ms Pei Lim, our tutor teacher who has worked closely with the grade 3 team this year, has accepted a classroom teaching position at St Anthony’s Noble Park. Pei has been with St Patrick’s this year as a CRT and tutor teacher. I would to congratulate Pei on her appointment and thank her for her service to our St Patrick’s community.

Billy G’s Fundraising

An enormous thanks to the P and F committee for the organisation of the Billy G’s Cookie Dough Fundraiser. As you will have read in last weeks newsletter, money has been made to support the funding of a new playground for our school.

Once we have received the cookie dough families will be informed and pick-up can be done from the church between 3-6pm.

P and F Hot Dog Day

Due to lack of parent helpers, the Hot Dog Day has been cancelled. We have only 2 P and F members on the day and we need a minimum of 3 helpers. If you would like your child/ren to enjoy the hot food day, parents will need to put their hand up to assist. You do not need to be a member of the P and F to help.

Camp Australia Acknowledgment of Country

Our students attending before and after school care have created wonderful pictures of Acknowledgement of Country which is displayed in the stadium. I was invited down to look over their work and was so thrilled to see the amazing effort. The wording was done by the children and DJ Armstrong, the coordinator of Camp Australia in consultation with Jeanette Haha'akolo who is the Aboriginal community advisor for Cardinia Shire Council. Please see the photos attached.

Foundation Transition/Second Hand Uniform Shop

The next transition session will be held Wednesday the 16^th November from 9.30-11.30. The students will stay and have their morning snack and enjoy a separate playtime. There will be coffee and tea available in the Parish hall on this morning for any parents wishing to stay around during that time.

The second-hand uniform shop will be open during the Foundation Transition for the 2023 Foundation families only.

Building Update

This week and next week, our refurbishment of the E Block is being completed and the week beginning Monday the 21^st November, our junior grades will move back into the E block.

Then our years 3, 4 and one year 5 grade will then move into the portables for the remainder of the year. Most of these grades will remain until May 2023 when the B Block is expected to be completed.

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. Families will be asked to gather from 5pm onwards with a picnic to share with each other. Please ensure you are wearing all your Christmas finest. The concert will begin at 5.30pm.

In the event of bad weather, the concert will be moved to the stadium.

New NOONE uniform shop now open!

We are delighted to announce that the new Noone Officer store is open. Please find attached the location map and information flyer.  Our school uniform will be available at this location from this date going forward.  I encourage you to go and visit the store and have a look anytime you are free.

Attached for your convenience the new student fitting letter for the 2023 new students.  This letter has the direct link to their online booking calendar for parents to make an appointment for a uniform fitting at the new Officer store.

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

Thank you to the parents who have put in their requests for 2023. Please note, the timeframe for this is now closed and I will not be accepting any more requests for 2023 classroom placements.

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.

SAVE THE DATE

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

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. SEE FLYER BELOW.

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.

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

House Athletics Event:

Due to the ongoing extreme weather conditions we have postponed the event.

It will now occur on Friday the 18th of November

New permissions forms have gone out as the old ones are now irrelevant. Please make sure you submit these forms via PAM as soon as possible, no late forms will be accepted.

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.