Newsletter Thursday 27^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 on Monday, we welcomed our new Foundation students for 2023 and they spent an hour with some of the staff playing various games and participating in some other fun activites. The students read stories, they drew pictures, they did some counting and they completed an activity where they made shapes with icy pole sticks. They were just amazing and were so engaged! They responded well to teacher instructions and were most co-operative during pack up time and also when they came to the floor to listen to stories. What a positive start! We look forward to welcoming them back in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow, Friday the 28^th October, we celebrate World Teacher’s Day. Below is a video that has been presented by our outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Ms Maria Kirkwood. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my staff at St Patrick’s; from my teaching staff, to the support staff, my admin and my maintenance crew. Together we work for the common good of educating our students, keeping them safe and ensuring they become responsible citizens in the future.

Please watch the video presented by Maria Kirkwood, our Executive Director of Catholic Education

Take care and God Bless

Meg

Foundation Transition/Second Hand Uniform Shop

The next transition session will be held Tuesday the 8^th November from 9.30-10.30. 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 these Foundation Transition for the 2023 Foundation families.

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. We encourage all students and families to come dressed in Christmas clothes. The concert will begin at 5.30pm.

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

NOONE uniform shop

Last week 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 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

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.

Religious Education:

The students in Grade Three enjoyed a fabulous Reflection Day of which the focus was Reconciliation. They were engaged in a rotation of activities – Art/Craft, Word Searches, making bookmarks about the parable of the Prodigal Son (or Forgiving Father), Drama and solving scenarios where forgiveness was key. This is a Word Cloud that has many of the words that the students felt about the day. Some were nervous and confused about what would happen, and then realised it was not so daunting.

Last night was the first of the Reconciliation evenings and tonight will be the last session. Overall, all students have prepared themselves well, including those students not celebrating the sacrament. Each and every student is aware of the importance of seeking forgiveness and of being truly sorry for their ill-chosen actions towards others.

We sincerely thank the parents for their support of their child and our school.

 

Noleen Chalmers

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION LEADER

SAVE THE DATE

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

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.

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.