Newsletter Thursday 23rd February, 2023

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.

1AF Math News

IAF had a fun week in mathematics, learning about measuring length. We learnt how to use informal units such as; our hands to measure our height and dinosaur footprints to measure objects in the classroom.

All students had fun tracing their friends on large butcher paper and using their hands as informal measuring units. They started measuring from the bottom of the feet to the top of their head, wrote how many hands their height measured and coloured in to match their appearance.

Students used dinosaur footprints to measure different item lengths in the classroom. They measured their lockers, windows and tables. 

We hope you enjoy our work!

This week we also celebrated Shrove Tuesday by having a pancake picnic!

PARENTS PLEASE TAKE NOTE

Parents are NOT to use the student’s toilets. If in the event, you are needing to use the toilet, please approach the school office. Due to Child Safety regulations, no adult is to be using the toilets allocated for students. Parents will be approached by staff and given a reminder if we see this. Thank you for your understanding.

NAPLAN 2023:

All year 3 and 5 students will be completing NAPLAN testing, below is a list of those dates:

Wednesday 15^th March - Writing

Thursday 16^th March - Reading

Monday 20^th March - Maths

Tuesday 21^st March - Conventions of Language

Changes to the school timetable

Due to changes in our school timetable, please note the change of time that our classrooms will be open in the mornings.

Students can still be dropped off at 8.30am. Please do not drop off any earlier than this.

The gates will open 8.30 - students will gather in the colonnade to be supervised. Please do not leave your children UNSUPERVISED! The children are not supervised outside of the school premises.

8.40- Specialist teachers and leadership on duty- Children are to leave their bags outside their classrooms and they can then move to the basketball court with a teacher.  

8.50- Classrooms will open and children will move off the yard and head into class.

Please note, this does not mean that parent cannot enter the classrooms. They are still able to drop off their child/ren to the classes and pop in and say hello. Please remember however, this is the time that the students will begin to be getting settled for the day, so any conversations that need to be had with your child’s teacher, must be arranged at another time suitable for both parties.

Accessing your PAM accounts 2023

Due to an upgrade to our Parent Access Module (PAM), all parents will need to reset their password before regaining access to your PAM. Your user name remains the same which is your email address. You should have received an email asking you to reset the password for PAM.

If you have any concerns, please contact Alex in the office on 5943 9000 or ataylor@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

School Uniforms

At St Patrick’s, it is important to highlight to students the message around respecting our school uniform. The uniform represents our school and is expected to be worn with pride. Please be aware that I will approach and ask students about their uniform and will follow up with parents if necessary.

Please write a note to your child/ren’s classroom teacher if there is an issue with the inform for a particular period of time.

Some reminders:

• Socks- are to be ankle socks; white for girls and grey for boys
• Students are to wear black shoes and NOT (black) runners. Runners may be brought to school for your child/ren to change into for the playtimes;
• Girls are permitted to wear the school (Summer) dress or the school shirt and grey shorts
• Boys wear the grey shorts in Summer and the long grey pants in Winter (they may choose to continue wearing the shorts.)
• Sports uniform consists of the polo shirt with the school logo and the green track pants or green unisex shorts.
• School sports jacket is optional in the cooler months.

TERM DATES

PUPIL FREE DAYS:

These 3 Pupil Free days ensure that we can manage our commitment for all staff to continue to provide activities such as school camps for our students.

Please note, these dates are separate from our 8 Staff Professional Development days. Those 8 days are for our staff professional learning which will focus on Religious Education, Learning and Teaching and Student Wellbeing.

Most days we have Active Club before school where all our students can run around and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts !

Congratulations to Lillian, Max, Willow, Brody, Mason and Riley who represented St Pat’s at the Pakenham District Swimming Carnival yesterday. The weather was perfect for all to put in their best effort in the pool! 

Whilst the team did not walk away with any blue ribbons on the day, all of the students were a wonderful asset to our school. Riley managed 3rd place in backstroke! Well done Riley! They wore their uniform with pride, cheering and encouraging all competitors. Thank you to Mrs McDonald and Mr Beswick who accompanied the students to the pool and to Mrs Bateson, Mr Beswick and Mrs Britt who walked them to the pool last year for the trials in my absence in preparation for the District event.

Stay active!

Louise Breeden

Just a reminder for our Foundation Families that the Parent Workshop is on Wednesday the 1st of March. We are running two sessions that day, the first at 9:00am - 10:00am and a later sessions starting at 6:30pm - 7:30pm.

Last week a email was sent out to all year 6 parents about the ordering for our year 6 jackets. This is done through CFD pay, below is a flyer that will show you how to set up an account and order your jacket. There is also a sizing guide for your use, Hip Pocket has informed us that they are getting samples in for students to try on in store to ensure you order the right size. Please make your purchase before next Friday the 24th of Feburary.

Once Hip Pocket has the full order they estimate production will take 2 weeks.

Below we have detailed Open Days for St Francis Xavier College and a flyer for St Paul's Grammar School in Warragul.

St Francis Xavier College

SFX College Open Day – Saturday 01 April 10.00am – 2.00pm (Both Officer and Berwick Campus)

Officer Campus Talk & Tour – 09.30am – 11.00am 

We are also looking at running the following Talk & Tours with a specific focus for different language groups to attend. 

South Sudanese:  

• Tuesday 07 March (with only attendees from this community – translator onsite and available 
• Tuesday 25 July (in conjunction with wider Talk and Tour planned as above – translator onsite and available) 

Hakha Chin: 

Year 7 2025 Parent Live Q & A Information Evening – Thursday 16 March 7.00pm – 8.00pm (registrations on our website www.sfx.vic.edu.au ). 

Year 7 2024 Orientation Day – Monday 04 December 

More information on Orientation Day will be provided late Term 3 or early Term 4. 

St Paul's Anglican Grammar School

School Fees – Government Assistance Programs

The School Fee statements for 2023 will be sent out in the next couple of weeks and an updated Fee Schedule can be found in the knowledge bank section of PAM under commonly used forms.     

However, there are some Government assistance programs for families who may be in need of this. 

CSEF

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

• school camps or trips
• swimming and school-organised sports programs
• outdoor education programs
• excursions and incursions.

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. A Special Consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families over terms one and two.

Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

Eligible means-tested cards

Means-tested concession cards must now be valid on either:

• the first day of Term 1 (Monday 30 January 2023)
• the first day of Term 2 (Tuesday 24 April 2023)

CSEF application form   (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

Conveyance allowance

The conveyance allowance is a State Government allowance that may be available to students attending government or non-government schools.

If you live more than 4.8km from your closest school you can apply for the conveyance allowance and:

• travelling by public transport or by private car, motorbike, bicycle or bus, and
• whose nearest school is not serviced by a free school bus provided under the School Bus Program

The conveyance allowance is a State Government contribution towards transport costs and is not intended to cover the full cost of transporting children to and from school.

 Application for private car travel  (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

 Application for public transport travel    (also available in the knowledge bank section in PAM)

School Bus Program

The School Bus Program is an extensive school bus network that provides free travel to eligible students. Students must be attending government and non-government schools and living in rural and regional Victoria. 

* Students are expected to use public transport where a service is available within 1.6 km (measured by shortest practicable route) of their home or closer to their home than the nearest school bus service. This applies to both students applying to access the SBP at no cost and to fare paying passengers. * * 

If your child is eligible, they can travel for free.

There are different categories that decide if your child is eligible for free travel. For more information read the eligibility guide below.

School bus program eligibility guide

Click on the link below to check if a school bus is available in your area.

School Bus Management System

Have you re-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 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. 

Covid Update

 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.

Student who are close contacts or social contacts are permitted to attend school but are strongly recommended to:

• if a close contact – regularly test for at least seven (7) days following their last contact with the person who has COVID-19
• if a social contact - test if they have symptoms of COVID-19
• wear a face mask when leaving the house, including on public transport, at work, school, and other indoor spaces
• let fresh air into their home or other indoor spaces by opening windows, where possible
• monitor for symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, cough, or fever/chills, and stay home and test if they present with symptoms
• Parents, guardians and carers should continue to notify the school if their child(ren) is a close contact.

JOB VACANCY: PASTORAL WORKER / SACRAMENT CO-ORDINATOR:  The position of Sacrament Coordinator and Pastoral worker has become available based at St Patrick’s Parish Office, Pakenham. We are looking to employ a person for three days a week (20 hours - which will include some evening and weekend work). The successful applicant will be responsible for the preparation and management of the parish sacrament programs including Baptisms, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation. This position forms part of the parish pastoral team and will be a support role to the other pastoral works in the parish. General hours of work: 20 hours per week, 9.00 am to 3.00 pm Wednesday to Friday. Applications are to be addressed to the Parish Priest and emailed to parishoffice@stpatrickspakenham.com.au by Friday 3^rd March 2023. For a copy of the job description, please contact the parish office via email or directly at 03 5941 7315.