Principal's Newsletter
Newsletter Thursday 18th April, 2024
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.
John 6:35-40
It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son should have eternal life
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst.
But, as I have told you,
you can see me and still you do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away;
because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will,
but to do the will of the one who sent me.
Now the will of him who sent me
is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me,
and that I should raise it up on the last day.
Yes, it is my Father’s will
that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’
Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,
Welcome back to all our wonderful families for Term 2. I sincerely hope that everyone has had a chance to spend some quality time with their children and feel rejuvenated to take on the new school term.
On Monday of this week, our staff joined with the staff of Mary MacKillop PS in Narre Warren, St Catherine’s in Berwick and Trinity PS also in Narre Warren. On this day, we listened to guest speakers whose area of expertise was in Neurodiversity. We participated in workshops that covered off areas including Childhood Trauma, Understanding Challenging Behaviour, Childhood Mental Health, Understanding Learning Disorders, Supporting children with ADHD, ASD, Developmental Language Disorders, Dyslexia and Understanding Sensory Processing. It was an incredible opportunity for all of the teachers involved to ensure that we are able to continue catering for the many diverse needs of a 21st century classroom.
As we venture into Term 2, I would like to reinforce the importance of families and students respecting the uniform of St Patrick’s. I am seeing too many students who are wearing black runners for their everyday shoes, and this is NOT our school uniform. Runners are acceptable for any sporting event, including their weekly Physical Education class. Runners may be brought to school and changed into at playtime, but the uniform policy and expectations are proper school shoes. Poor uniform standards are not accepted by Secondary schools and in fact they hand out penalties for unacceptable presentation. I encourage all of the students to wear their uniform with pride and I will be talking with the students about this.
This is also a reminder to students that earrings need to be simple - studs or sleepers and silver or gold/neutral colour. School socks are grey for boys and white for girls. No makeup or lip gloss is to be worn. Lip balm is acceptable to use but must be colourless.
This year on ANZAC Day (Thursday 25th April) we invite the student leaders to attend the local Dawn Service to represent the St. Patrick’s school community in paying our respects. Our captains, are encouraged to wear their school uniform, including any leadership badges. They will lay a wreath on behalf of the school with on of our Year 6 teachers, Mrs Belinda Couch.
This year, I would also like to encourage any other students to attend this service with their families. The students do not need to wear their school uniform, but they can if they wish.
The Dawn Service is held outside the Pakenham library and will be starting at 5.45-6.00am. It is recommended that anyone wanting to attend is there around 5.35am. Please be advised that in the past, there have been road closures along certain parts of Main St and John St to accommodate the service.
I ask all families to please take note of a change to one of our future School Closure Days. The original day was Friday the 16th August and this has now been changed to Tuesday the 20th August. This change of date will also be reflected in the Parent Calendar on PAM and SiMON Everywhere app.
St Patrick’s will be closed on Thursday and Friday next week:
ANZAC DAY- Thursday 25th April and Friday 26th April which is TIME IN LIEU Day for teachers.
School will resume on Monday the 29thApril.
Take care and God Bless,
Meg