Dear Parents

Unfortunately, due to COVID we are operating in an environment that can change very quickly.  Today the Government announced that Victoria is entering another lockdown period and the school will be returning to remote learning as of Monday the 31^st of May.  Tomorrow (Friday the 28^th) is a School Closure Day. 

 A letter is being sent to all families today outlining our remote learning procedures for students and the following procedures are in place for families;

• Tomorrow (Friday) will be a Pupil Free Day. The school will be closed. Supervision can be provided for those that require it, however, no learning program will be offered.  Please fill in the accompanying form and return it by 5.00pm this afternoon if you are an authorised worker or your child is identified as vulnerable.  This form also covers next week.  As we are running a skeleton staff any applications after 5.00pm cannot be considered.  The students onsite must wear full school uniform, bring snack and lunch and their own drink bottle.  They will be supervised by a staff member who will not be their classroom teacher and as of Monday will access the same remote learning as other students. 
• We are implementing remote learning on Monday the 31^st as per Government requirements (please see accompanying letter for learning details).
• Camp Australia will operate only for the students of authorised workers or those identified as vulnerable.
• If your child is sick and not learning remotely on any day you will need to contact the School Office as we will be keeping a roll.
• The Office will be physically closed. All communication must be via email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or phone 5943-9000.
• Please communicate with teachers via phone or email.
• If you require ICT support from the school please email ict@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
• The Grade 4 Excursion to The Museum has been postponed from this Friday until June the 23^rd. This is because at the Museum they would be sharing public galleries.
• The Grade 2 Swimming Program will not commence on Monday due to lockdown. We will inform parents of the new dates once they are arranged.
• Eucharist (First Holy Communion) Masses have been postponed.  We will provided new dates when they are avaiable. 

Further information will be communicated to you as we become aware.   Thank-you for your support and cooperation.

Catholic Education Week

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter this week we are celebrating Catholic Education Week.  It is a wonderful opportunity for us to take the time to reflect upon the wonderful role Catholic Schools play in Australian Society.  It is pertinent to also remember all of the sacrifices that were undertaken by those before us to allow us to have the wonderful school that we enjoy today.

Term Three School Closure Day

Please note that the Term Three School Closure Day is Monday the 12^th of July which is the first day of Term Three.  Staff will be participating in a Learning Adjustment Day with Trinity and Don Bosco Primary Schools.

Fete Postponed

The Fete Committee had commenced preliminary work organising the Fete, however, unfortunately due to the amount of restrictions and COVID procedures required it is not a viable option for this year.  Therefore, the decision has been made to postpone the Fete until the same weekend in 2022 – Friday the 4^th of November.

Important Dates for Your Diary

• Friday 28^th May – School Closure Day
• Friday 28^th May – Grade 4 Excursion POSTPONED (new date Wednesday 23^rd of June).
• Monday 31st May - Remote learning commences 
• Monday 31^st May – Grade 2 Swimming Commences POSTPONED (new dates to be confirmed).
• Thursday 10^th / Friday 11^th June – Grade 3 Camp (still proceeding at this stage).
• Monday 14^th June – Queens Birthday. No school.
• Friday 25^th June – Term Two concludes / Reports distributed.
• Monday 12^th July – School Closure Day (staff attending Learning Adjustment PD at Trinity PS).

Camp Dates 2021

• Year 3 – 10^th – 11^th June Camp CYC Adanac, Yarra Junction.
• Year 4 – 14^th – 16^th July CYC The Island, Phillip Island.
• Year 5 – 4^th- 6^th August Sovereign Hill, Ballarat.
• Year 6 – 15^th – 19^th November Lady Northcote Camp, Glenmore.

Fees

2021 Fees were distributed to all families last week.  Included in these fee statements were the camp levies.  Please contact Fil at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu if you have any issues or concerns.

Regards,

Simon

Are You Accessing the Parent Access Module (PAM)?

Over the last six months as a staff we have completed the background work to move onto the SIMON Management System for St Pat’s.  The benefit of this system is eventually we will be able to house all of our student information, assessment data, reporting data and staff information all within the one system. 

A major component in deciding to move to SIMON was also our intent to be able to streamline our mode of communication to parents.  Eventually all communication will come to families through an app called ‘SIMON Everywhere’ which will be a parent one stop shop for all school communication.  However, to get to this point we first need all families to be on PAM.  If you are not yet on PAM you need to search for an email from noreply@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au (please check your junk and spam folders), which contains a link to set up a password, or contact the School Office for assistance. 

Please make the effort to join PAM so we can get to our goal of using the efficient SIMON Everywhere App for communication.  I thank you for your cooperation here.  Please call the Office if you have any further questions.