Newsletter Thursday 19th October, 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.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

As you will have no doubt seen on the news, there is conflict in the region of Israel that has affected the lives of many people. It's important to approach this topic with understanding and compassion, keeping in mind that conflicts can be complex. There are differences of opinion and disagreements among people in the region. My hope is that efforts are being made to find peaceful solutions. What I would like to acknowledge and highlight, is the importance of empathy and understanding for all those affected.

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.

Last Friday we had Gen Bryant here with her band and she spent the day with our students. She worked with each level on their own, then the choir and then we all came together in the afternoon. It was an incredible day as Gen and her band members used music and stories of Jesus’s love for us to create an incredible event. Every student (and teachers), were up dancing and singing and it was such an amazing thing to witness.

Gen works all around the world promoting the love and the word of Jesus. She uses music and song to get through to students and does it very successfully.

One of the most emotional moments of the day was when the choir sang with her and the band, to a song she had written herself. To watch and listen to the magnificent singing coming form our choir was something to behold. I hope to work with Gen in the future.

Below are a few photos from the day as well as a video link of a whole school performance.

Gen Bryant Incursion

Next Friday 27th October is our year 3 Fun Day! This will be a jammed pack day with many incursions booked until 7:00pm that night.

As this is a special day for our Year 3 students, we invited them to come in free dress on this day. Please keep in mind that they must wear close toed shoes and t-shirts that have sleeves ie no singlets.

If you need to pick your child up before the finishing time of 7:00pm please inform your classroom teacher beforehand as the gates will be locked from 3:30pm and the office will be closed from 4:00pm.

Below is a timetable for how the day will run, if you have any questions or concerns please contact your classroom teacher.

On Tuesday, the 17th of October, the grade 4's had a session of African drumming. All the children got a drum each and we had to repeat the beat that we heard.  The drummers came from West Africa from the countries of Mali and Ghana. It was very loud and we had a lot of fun. At the end, we had sore hands but we enjoyed the session.

African Drumming Video 1

African Drumming Video 2

This year we are holding a Colour Fun Run to raise money for our school playgrounds. The students have been given booklets that included a link to sign your child/ren up to fundraise on behalf of the school. All fundraising is done online and there are a range prizes for the students who fundraise. 

As this event is late in the year, all prizes will be delivered to the school next year in Term 1. For our current Year 6 students if you have a younger sibling we will pass it onto them, and for all other families we will be in contact with once the prizes have arrived.

Since begining our fundraising we have raised $4670! This is an amazing feat and we are so grateful to our community for getting involved. If you would like to contribute but you don't wish to set up an account you can donate directly to the school with the link below. Any prizes won through this page will be donated to families within our school community.

https://app.schoolfundraising.com.au/fundraising/st-patrick-s-5c21cd3c-2fe0-42bf-9e00-7f26fd8eb11e

I am riding 500k this month to help kick the butt of cancer. My goals is to raise funds to help these brave kids as they face the scariest time of their little lives.

Today the scholastic brochures have gone home. Please submit your order online as soon as possible as it is due by Friday 20th October.

Our school fee statements have gone out last week, please check your emails and contact the office if you have any questions or concerns.

Reconciliation - UPDATED

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. 

Because parenting doesn't come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting relating to youth mental health and wellbeing. Parenting is a learning journey and SchoolTV supports families by providing credible information from trusted sources with practical strategies to help alleviate some of the challenges being faced by young people today.

Watch video interviews with leading wellbeing specialists and browse a library of resources. Each topic is accompanied by factsheets, podcasts, books, articles, apps and other videos.

This award-winning resource helps families build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It will assist you in starting those conversations on topics that can sometimes be awkward or difficult to tackle.

Parents and caregivers are the greatest influence on a young person's life and SchoolTV focuses on empowering confident parenting.

Explore SchoolTV today!

https://stppakenham.catholic.schooltv.me/

Have you logged into 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.