Dear Parents,

It has been wonderful to have the children back with us at school, the excitement on their faces as they entered the school on Monday was a privilege to see.  After so long it was a joy for them all to return and see their friends and teachers again. I asked one of our senior students on Tuesday what returning to school had been like and she responded that she couldn’t believe how good it was to be back at school!

Whilst it is brilliant that we are all back at school we cannot ever lose sight of the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic, because of this we have rules and regulations that we must follow to ensure that we all remain COVID safe. Undoubtedly this makes school look different in many ways to what it had been before.

As a parent myself of three primary school aged children in a Catholic School I am reassured that their school has the same COVID procedures in place as we have at St Pat’s. They are being temperature checked, the staff are wearing masks and many procedures and rules are in place to cater appropriately for the times we are operating in.  

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the risk is minimilised as much as we possibly can. Listed below are the health and safety measures that continue to remain in place:

• No child is to be dropped at school before 8.40am. Parents are not to park but rather use the drop off lane. 
• As per last term when we were on-site we have a staggered afternoon collection. Families with a surname beginning with A - K need to collect their children at 2.55pm. Families with the surname beginning with L - Z collect their children at 3.10pm.  Again: we ask that you do not park and if you place your surname inside the front window it assists us enormously to hasten up collection.  
• When dropping off your children please do not wait for the temperature test to be done. If you child tests high we will wait and re-test them, and then call you if required.
• If you are running late for whatever reason please park in the service road at the front of the school and call the Office from the front gate. Admin staff will then come out and meet your child, temperature test and take them to their classroom.
• There will be no before school play and students will go straight to their classrooms.
• Promoting age-appropriate hygiene practices for all students.
• Every child must have their own drink bottle, bubble taps are switched off.
• Students need to bring their learning packs back with to school with them.
• Reminding all students to wash their hands with soap and water or when this is not possible, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser on arrival at school and regularly throughout the day.
• Reinforcing with students the following hygiene practices;
  • cough and/or sneeze into their elbows or a tissue,
  • place used tissues straight into the bin,
  • avoid touching eyes, noses or mouths,
  • not to share food or drink,
  • not to drink from water fountains or bubblers directly (they will be switched off).
• Extending school cleaning programs during the school day, including cleaning school playground equipment after use.
• Communication with teaching staff is via email, dojo or phone.
• The School Office is open by appointment only.
• Remote Learning work will not be provided for those parents that choose to keep their children at home.
• A critical aspect of the return to on-site learning will be a strict enforcement of the community requirements to maintain physical distancing especially at the start and finish of the school day.

For parents and guardians;

• Practise physical distancing and avoid long periods of time in close contact with other adults.
• Use the telephone, dojo or email to contact staff rather than visiting the school.
• Do not enter the school grounds.
• Adhere to the school’s pick and drop off requirements for students.
• Parents, guardians and carers will also be required to wear a face mask when attending the school, including when dropping off or picking up your child(ren) or if you are required to collect an unwell child(ren) from school, unless an exemption applies.
• If your child is experiencing signs or symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), they must not attend the school until their symptoms resolve and appropriate medical advice is obtained. This includes those showing even mild symptoms of COVID-19. Medical clearance confirmation needs to be emailed to the Office prior to return.
• The symptoms to watch out for are fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of sense of smell.

School Uniform

Again; I remind parents that we are aware of the fact that shops are closed and your child may have grown out of certain items of their school uniform.  If this is the case students may wear an appropriate alternative, such as their sports uniform for example, if they have a letter from their parents.  Reminder also that Noone are open for click and collect and online orders. 

2021 Foundation (Prep) Enrolments

We continue to take 2021 Foundation enrolments.  If you need enrolment forms, or know of someone else who does, can you please request them at office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Unfortunately, during this pandemic we cannot take tours or hold large gatherings, however we are holding meetings over the phone with those that inquire.

We enjoyed a successful online Prep Information Night on Tuesday night and we will be providing four transition dates for the children this year.  The dates and times are as follows;

• Monday 19^th October – 9.30-10.30am.
• Tuesday 27^th October – 9.30-10.30am.
• Wednesday 11^th November 9.30-10.45am.
• Thursday 19^th November – 9.30-11.30am.

End of Year Arrangements

Our end of year celebrations and procedures are still being finalised due to the fact that we don’t know yet what restrictions will be in place.  As things become clearer over the next few weeks we will inform parents of what we have in place.

This year all of the children will participate in a Christmas art activity towards the end of the year that will be kept as a gift from the school.  Creating the gifts in this way ensures that there will be consistency across the school in regards to what the children are given at the end of the year.

Fees

Where a family holds a valid Health Care Card there is a concession applied to the school fee account. This year to qualify, the card had to be valid before 14th April, however, for this year only, this eligibility period has been extended until 5th October.

If you have recently become eligible for a Health Care Card, please contact Fil in the school office by email: fil@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au . You will need to provide a copy of your Health Care Card and fill in the attached CSEF Application that is included with this newsletter. 

Please also feel welcome to call Fil if your family circumstances have changed and you would like a confidential discussion regarding fees.

Grand Final Public Holiday – Friday 23^rd

A reminder that there is no school next Friday, the 23^rd, as it is the Grand Final weekend Public Holiday.

Regards,

Simon

If any families are struggling at this time and would like to reach out for a chat or support please contact Meg Escalante, our Wellbeing officer, via email on mescalante@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au.  You can also see the leaflet below from the Be You website which has contact numbers for you to call. 

Monday 12th October was return to face to face learning.   

We had lots of excited and happy faces arriving to school on Monday!

Have you installed the new SZapp?   

Dont forget, Skoolbag will no longer be used after the 30th October!

 Follow the installation guide below to install the new app on your smart devices.  

Dear Parent/Guardian,   

By now you would of realised that Care Monkey has changed there name to Operoo so all the correspondance you would have recived from the Care Monkey Administrator is now Operoo Administrator.   When you log in to Care Monkey you will be redirected to the Operoo webpage but please update your bookmarks and links as soon as you can.   The way the program looks and the way you use it hasn't changed.  

Please remember to update any details in Operoo, for example change of address or phone number,  this will send us a message that your details have changed and we are then able to update our database.

Don't forget to upload your childs hayfever managment plans including symptoms specific to your child!

September 2020

Dear Parents

RE:  SUMMER UNIFORM  REQUIREMENTS

In light of the Stage 4 Covid-19 restrictions, Noone’s Melbourne metropolitan stores will continue to operate during the Stage 4 closure for contactless click and collect and postal delivery orders only.

The Beaconsfield store will be manned at the following times to answer any telephone queries and to process online orders only.

Monday – Friday    9am – 5pm

Saturday                9am – 12noon

Uniform orders can be placed online and will be sent via Australia Post.   Parents can also access their online order through Contactless click and collect from the Beaconsfield store.  Please note that while the shops are manned during these times to facilitate orders – it is CLOSED ie there is no face to face contact or normal store transactions.     Parents are asked to telephone the store on arrival to collect their online order only. 

Our Melbourne metropolitan stores will return to normal retail operations later in the year once the current Stage 4 Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

We look forward to assisting you with your uniform requirements.  For any further information or assistance, please contact the Beaconsfield store on telephone 9769 9093.

Click here for online shop