Dear Families

Welcome to Week 2 of the newsletter. I sincerely hope that parents are revelling in the good weather and experiencing the wonder that the beginning of Autumn is bringing us.

It has been so wonderful to have visited the rooms each week and to see how the students are settling into the school year. The threat of Covid continues to reign over us, however it is delightful to see our St Patrick’s community getting on with life.

RATS test have been distributed to the families and more of these will go out at the end of this week. I would like to thank parents for their ongoing contributions on keeping our community safe by regular testing and notifying the school of positive cases. Parents are notified of positive cases as they come though so please continue to check your emails. **Camp Australia are run separately from us, so they will notify parents of a Positive case whilst in their care.

We have had some maintenance work done around the school this week with the B Block having the roof and gutters cleared as well as the drains in The Avenue being kept clear to avoid the flooding. The school works carefully with Cardinia Council to also ensure the drains outside of St Patrick’s are also kept clear.

Covid Update

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

If there is a positive case at school…

The school will NOT be required to close as a result of the positive case attending the school.

If your child is not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they can continue to attend school, but you should monitor for symptoms.

Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 must get tested immediately using a rapid antigen test, or a PCR test if you can’t access a rapid antigen test. Students with COVID-19 symptoms must isolate and return a negative result before returning to school.

Students should continue with twice-weekly rapid antigen testing on school days.

Students who have recovered from COVID-19 do not need to participate in surveillance testing for 30 days after testing positive.

 If your child receives a positive COVID-19 result, you must:

• quarantine your child for seven days
• advise the school about the positive result
• ensure that your child stays home until their symptoms have resolved and they are well
• ensure that everyone in your household who is a close contact isolates for seven (7) days from the date your child is tested for COVID-19.

Advice and further resources about what to do if your child tests positive to COVID-19 or you are a contact, are available on the following Coronavirus Victoria web pages or you can call the 24/7 Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398:

Checklist for COVID contacts

Checklist for COVID contacts

• Checklist for COVID contacts - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-contacts
• Checklist for COVID cases - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/checklist-cases

Reporting your child’s positive test

If your child was at school during their infectious period, you need to report the positive case to office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or please phone the school office on 5943 9000.

If your child tested positive using a rapid antigen test you must also report your child’s positive test to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

General advice and support

Advice and further resources about coronavirus, including what to do if you test positive or if you have been told you are a contact, are available on the coronavirus website www.coronavirus.cgov.au or you can call the 24/7 Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

Other resources on the Coronavirus Victoria website include:

• information on symptoms - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/symptoms-and-risks
• how to get tested - coronavirus.vic.gov.au/taking-test-covid-19

Further information for languages other than English

For school information in languages other than English, call TIS National on 131 450. 

For translated written information about COVID-19 and health advice in languages other than English, visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/translated-information-about-coronavirus-covid-19

Parents, guardians, carers and/or students can also call the Department of Education and Training COVID-19 hotline on 1800 338 663 and they will help interpret. 

Please be aware that we are unable to provide any information about students, family members or staff who may test positive to COVID-19. I would ask that all in our community continue to pray for those who are unwell with COVID-19 and respect their privacy.

The health, safety and wellbeing of the school community remains our highest priority. We are committed to continuing to communicate with you as promptly as possible and supporting you and your children during these challenging times.

If you have any questions about the arrangements, please contact office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or call 5943 9000

Staffing update

Fil Vandertuin who has been our office manager at St Patrick’s for 23 years has begun a new job at St Francis Xavier in Beaconsfield. Fil certainly leaves behind a legacy and we thank her for her enormous contribution to the St Patrick’s community! Fil has been core to supporting many families and working alongside them through any hardships. I would like to acknowledge Fil and her work with us and wish her every success in her new role at SFX.

I am currently in the process of hiring a new administration officer for our school office. I ask parents to be patient when contacting the office over the next few weeks till we have found a replacement. Thank you.

Reminders for parents

Students have been arriving well before 8.30am and being left unsupervised. This is an enormous safety issue on many levels and I am asking parents to adhere to the 8.30 timeslot. If you have to come earlier, please do not leave your child unattended! 

The Avenue and the Church Car Park has parking for those parents/guardians/grandparents wanting to come into the school to drop off and pick up their children. Please DO NOT park in the drive in and drive out areas as this interrupts the flow of cars.

The Beginning of the Year Mass is this Friday at 11.30am and will be livestreamed to parents. Only the grade 6 students and their teachers will attend in person and the Captains for 2022-School, House, Social Justice and ICT leaders will be acknowledged at this mass. The remainder of the students will watch it from their classrooms.

Link for mass

Link

ICT message 

Thank you to all the parents who have set up their PAM accounts and given their consent to the ICT policy to allow your child/ren to use the devices at school. For those who are still to do this please do this as a matter of urgency as your child will not be alowed to access educational material on any school device.   If you need help setting up PAM please email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au or call the school office on 5943 9000.

Meg Escalante

Acting Principal