Newsletter Thursday 2nd March, 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.

Good afternoon everyone,

Welcome to week 6. In today’s Gospel, Matthew uses the phrase, ‘..treat others as you would like them to treat you.’ This phrase is one we use at St Patrick’s whenever we discuss how we operate as a Catholic school. This is the key to respect and should be something that we always have in our minds when we interact with people every day. It is important that we continue to open doors and welcome all into our community. We are so lucky to have an incredible multicultural community that offers so many unique experiences. Let’s continue to celebrate all that we have.

Our year 2's will complete their swimming program tomorrow and next week our year 3's will begin their 2-week swimming program at Splash's.

Next week we will also begin our Program Support Meetings (PSGs) and the appointments are set up and ready to go for parents on PAM. These PSGs are absolutely vital in ensuring that both school and family are working together to support the students in their learning.

Our Family Learning Conversations (FLC) will be held in Week 8 (after the long weekend.) on Tuesday 14^th and Wednesday the 15^th March. During these 15-minute conversations, teachers will discuss with parents, carers and guardians, the results from assessments completed and talk about the goals that students will focus on. Please ensure you go onto PAM to book your conversation time.

As I am sure many of you will have noticed, our building works in the B Block are well and truly underway. The new roof has been removed and the new one is going on as we speak. Once this is done, all the other trades such as electricians etc. will be able to commence the inside of the building.

Over the next few weeks, I will be putting in information on the new Child Safe Standards that were released in July of 2022. These were in our newsletter last year; however, I am going to continue to highlight these. Each week, a new standard will go in. It is important for all of us have an understanding of these standards as well as the polices associated with them. All of these polices around Child Safety can be found on our website.

Take care and God Bless

Meg

PE uniform and illness/injury

It is important that students wear the correct uniform and footwear on the day that they have PE. The school polo shirt and sports shorts are the expected clothing along with sneakers with either laces or velcro straps. NO SLIP ON SHOES are permitted due to safety reasons. 

If your child is recovering from illness or is suffering from an injury, please advise me as early as possible prior to your child’s lesson day so that the activities can be modified or an alternative learning option can be arranged. 

If your child is suffering from a serious injury or recovering from such (eg: broken bone) please send a doctor’s certificate with a date confirming return to normal activity. This assists with maintaining the safety of students which is a priority at St Pat’s. 

Contact can be made via PAM or directly emailing me lbreeden@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au 

Active Club

It has been wonderful to see students arriving at 8:30am and taking part in Active Club again.

Active Club gives students the opportunity to get their bodies moving before learning each day. Active Club takes place on the big oval each day EXCEPT Tuesdays when students will be walking on the basketball courts. 

Some things to remember so that everyone can enjoy Active Club:

• Leave your bag outside your classroom before heading over to the oval
• Walk or run counter clockwise around the outside area of the big oval only (not through the middle)
• You can stay for the whole time or just a few laps
• Encourage each other to be active - let’s get everyone out there!
• If it is raining, it will be cancelled
• If the oval is too wet, it will be moved to the basketball courts and will be WALKING ONLY
• You must move quickly back to learning spaces when Mrs Breeden is wrapping up

Understanding Victoria’s Child Safe Standards

The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) commenced in Victoria in January 2016. Since then, we have seen how the Standards have improved safety for children and young people.

Changes in 2022 and 2023 have made our Standards even stronger.

Since 1 July 2022, organisations^[1] covered by the Standards have to comply with 11 new Standards.

The 11 Standards set out minimum requirements and outline the actions organisations must take to keep children and young people safe.

Each week, there will be a new standard for you to read about.

The Standards provide more clarity for organisations and are more consistent with Standards in the rest of Australia.

The 11 Standards include specific requirements:

• to involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
• for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
• to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments
• in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe.

Child Safe Standard 1 – Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued

• In complying with Child Safe Standard 1, an organisation must, at a minimum, ensure:
• 1 A child’s ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported.
• 2 Strategies are embedded within the organisation which equip all members to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal children and young people.
• 3 Measures are adopted by the organisation to ensure racism within the organisation is identified, confronted and not tolerated. Any instances of racism are addressed with appropriate consequences. 
• 4 The organisation actively supports and facilitates participation and inclusion within it by Aboriginal children, young people and their families.
• 5 All of the organisation’s policies, procedures, systems and processes together create a culturally safe and inclusive environment and meet the needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

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.

At St Patrick's we offer a variety of specialist classes, last week we went around taking photos to show you what the students are doing in these classes.

In our Performaning Arts class with Ms Mirabella, class 2KK had a blast singing, dancing and learning to create a beat on plastic cups!

In preperation for cross country next term class 2OG spent their PE lessons running around the oval and practising their skipping!

Ms Merrey had the students in 2NB taking photos and drawing self portraits in Digie Tech

4AT where very impressive in Japanese with Ms Ashcroft, all where eager to impress with thier language skill !

Each class has a session in the libary every week, these photos are from class 1LR

Our year 2 students have been completing their swimming lessons at Splash's since last week, here are some photos of thier lessons!

Last week a letter was sent out to selected families in regards a Program Support Group (PSG) meeting. If you recieved this email please do not forget to book in a time slot to meet with you child's classroom teacher and our Learning Adjustment Leader, Angharad Doran. A meeting time can be booked through PAM by clicking on the school interviews link. If you have any trouble booking online please contact the office and someone will be able to help you.

These meetings are a chance for you to discuss your child’s progress with the classroom teacher, to help set learning goals and to discuss any adjustments that will be made to the learning program to support the needs of your child.  You are welcome to bring support people to your PSG meeting. In order to make the best use of your meeting time we ask that you notify the school of anyone who will be attending with you at the time you book your appointment. Please indicate what type of support they will provide to you during the meeting eg help with interpreting, advocacy, allied health team etc. This will allow us to be well prepared and to have the relevant paperwork and school personnel organized ahead of time and to ensure that the meeting stays focused on the learning needs of your child. For any further inquiries email Angharad Doran (Learning Adjustment Leader) adoran@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au.

Grade 3 parents only: Please be aware that if your child is in Grade 3 you will not be able to book an interview time in the afternoon time slots of week 7 and Week 8 due to the swimming program as our teachers will be unavailable at this time. The 20th of March is not a swimming day and you can book in at any time on this day.

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.