Year Level Camp/ Fun Day Dates:

TERM DATES 2025

2025 PUPIL FREE AND TIME IN LIEU DAYS:

The 3 Time in Lieu 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.

The Parent’s and Friends committee have organised a pie drive to be delivered fresh to the school from Emerald village bakery.

Your family will be able to enjoy a delicious treat/dinner whilst fundraising for our school!

Pie orders must be placed by 2pm Wednesday the 6th of August.

Please order through your CDF pay account.

If you do have any issues please feel free to contact the school.  

Pie’s to be collected from the school between 2pm-4pm on the 14th of August.

*Please note the P&F take no responsibility for squished pies once picked up

 Price list and different varieties available:

Slices $12 for pack of 6

• Hedgehog slice
• Lemon slice
• Caramel slice

Lamingtons $10.50 for pack of 6

• Strawberry Jam
• Chocolate Jam

Sweet Family Pie $19.00 each

• Apple
• Berry

Savoury Family pie $19.00

• Plain pie
• Steak, cheese and Bacon
• Steak and cheese
• Steak and pepper
• Steak and Mushroom
• Chicken, Leek and Chive
• Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

Other:

• 12 pack of Party pies $16.00
• 12 pack of party sausage rolls $16.00
• 12 pack mixed party quiche $16.00

Exciting news from Grade 1NC!

One of our students, Mindaugas (Min) is currently on a trip to Lithuania to visit with his relatives there and do lots of wonderful sightseeing!

One of the places his family is going to, is called the ‘Hill of Crosses’. The Hill of Crosses symbolises the love people have for Jesus. People from all over the world can take crosses with them to leave there, or make simple ones using sticks and stones.

Min’s mum and dad thought it would add to their experience, if Grade 1NC all decorated a cross for Min to take and place there. They provided the wood, had a special plaque made, and each student drew something special to them about Jesus. Min will place the cross and his parents will take a photo to send back to us, which will again be placed in the newsletter. Mrs. Chalmers also drew our school emblem on the cross. It is a wonderful experience for Min and the whole class is glad to be part of his journey. 

Hello everyone and welcome back for Term 3 at St Patrick’s.

The wellbeing room has been a hive of activity already this week. We are focusing on fine line drawing, rock painting, finger knitting and puzzles.

As always, we are open before school, recess and lunch, for those in need. Our Therapy dog Zahli will be joining us each Monday and Wednesday. Please feel free to pop in and meet her. She has plenty of love to give.

All students are being encouraged to reach out and utilize the ‘wellbeing warrior tags’ available in their classrooms if needed. Although all staff keep a close eye on the wellbeing of each student at school, this system is an added wellbeing process to help students take responsibility for their own mental health.

We see the importance for all students to develop their own understandings and recognition of personal feelings and emotions. This way, they begin to develop lifelong intrinsic tools to help them when times get tough.

Students will have access to the tags at any time they feel they would like to visit the wellbeing space to have some quiet time, chat through some issues they are facing or regulate some big emotions.

This week I’d like to chat about screen time.

Screen time – the big issue! But how can you help your child?

I’ve spoken about the online resource https://raisingchildren.net.au/ before. In this week’s newsletter I’ve provided some of their helpful information. The site is well worth a look for every parent.

1. You can help your child balance screen time and digital technology use with other activities. One of the best ways to do this is by working together on family rules or a family media plan. Your rules and plan will work best if they apply to everyone in the family, including you.

You and your child could talk about family rules that cover things like the following:

• Where your child can use digital technology – for example, this might be only in shared open spaces like the family room, but not in the car or bedroom.
• When your child can use digital technology – for example, mealtimes are free of TV, computers and phones, or no screens before school or until chores are finished.
• How your child can use digital technology – for example, this might be for making animations or checking a netball shooting technique, but not for playing Candy Crush.
• How you handle digital technology use for children of different ages – for example, there might be some games that your older child can play only when their younger sibling is out or has gone to bed.
• How your child can stay safe online – our articles on internet safety for children and internet safety for pre-teens can help you with inappropriate content, privacy and location settings, personal data safety and more. 

It’s OK if your rules include time limits to help your child balance screen time with other things like physical activity. For example, it might help to know that Australian physical activity guidelines say school-age children should have at least one hour a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity like running or jumping.

2. Aim for short screen time sessions

It’s good for your child to have short screen time sessions and take regular breaks, especially if they’re sitting or lying down while watching or playing. This is important for your child’s energy levels, development, sleep, and overall health and wellbeing.

Before your child starts watching or playing, you could talk together about options for keeping screen time short. These might include:

• using a timer to set breaks
• doing something active when the timer ends, like playing outside
• using natural breaks – for example, doing a victory dance when your child finishes a level in a game.

3. Get your child moving, especially outside

It’s a good idea to encourage your child to play outside several times a day.

At this age, outdoor play can include:

• building and creating with equipment, furniture or other things they find outside
• playing tiggy, chasey or tag
• playing with balls, like kicking or shooting goals
• climbing trees.

Active play and physical activity for school-age children can happen indoors too. It can be simple things like dancing, doing star jumps, shaking their body, or throwing and catching balls.

4. Imagine and create

Creative activities like telling stories, dressing up or drawing are good for your child’s development. Activities like these help your child learn how to experiment, think, learn and solve problems.

Reading and storytelling with your child promotes brain development and imagination, teaches your child about language and emotions, and strengthens your relationship with your child.

5. Encourage play and friendship with others

When children play face to face with others, they develop important life skills. These include getting along with other people, making and maintaining friendships, being independent and learning how to sort out conflicts and problems. Face-to-face play also helps your child feel a sense of belonging.

You can support your school-age child’s friendships by arranging playdates and sleepovers.

6. Avoid screen time and digital technology use before bed

School-age children need plenty of sleep – 9-11 hours a night.

Screen time and digital technology use before bed can affect how quickly your child falls asleep and how well they sleep. If your child avoids mobile phones, tablets, computer screens or TV in the hour before bed, your child is likely to get to sleep more quickly and sleep better.

7. Keep digital technology out of bedrooms at night

If you keep mobile phones and other devices out of your child’s bedroom at night, your child won’t be able to stay up late playing games or messaging friends. This can also stop your child being disturbed in the night by messages or notifications.

When you help your child choose good apps, games, TV, movies and online videos as well as balancing screen time with other activities, your child will learn to make good choices about using free time when they’re older.

How screen time and digital technology use affects sleep

Your child needs enough good-quality sleep so they can play, learn and concentrate during the day.

Screen time and digital technology use can affect how quickly your child falls asleep and how long your child sleeps. This happens for several reasons:

• Screen time in the hour before bed can stimulate your child.
• Light from televisions, computer screens, phones and tablets might suppress melatonin levels and delay sleepiness.
• Your child might be tempted to stay up late to chat with friends or play games.
• Your child might be disturbed in the night by notifications, messages or calls.

Reducing the effects of screen time and digital technology use on sleep

Here are ways you can reduce the negative effects of screen time on your child’s sleep:

• Suggest quiet activities for your child to do in the hour before bedtime. This could be reading, listening to music or a podcast, doing a mindfulness activity and so on.
• If your child wants to use a device in the evening, encourage them to choose relaxing content and put the device away well before bedtime.
• Limit and monitor violent or stressful content at any time of day. This can affect sleep regardless of the time and length of use.
• Encourage your child to connect with friends during the day rather than late in the evening.
• Encourage your child to do outdoor physical activity or play during the day.
• Have a family rule that mobile phones and other devices are left in a family room overnight.

How much sleep do children need?

If you’re concerned about how much sleep your child is getting, it can help to know that children need less sleep as they get older, but teenagers still need more sleep than adults:

• Preschooler sleep needs: children aged 3-5 years need 10-13 hours of sleep a night.
• School-age and pre-teen sleep needs: children aged 5-11 years need 9-11 hours of sleep a night.
• Teenage sleep needs: teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep a night.

Have a wonderful week, go gently with yourself and others.

Kelly Wilson.

This week the Scholastic brochures will be handed out in class. All orders are made online via Book Club LOOP. Please follow the link below to make your purchase.

All purchases must be made before Friday 8th August 2025

https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/

Sibling Relationships

Sibling relationships are often a child's first and longest-lasting social connection. These bonds can offer companionship, support and opportunities to develop important life skills such as empathy, negotiation and conflict resolution. However, like all close relationships, sibling dynamics can be complex. Differences in temperament, age, needs and parental attention can all contribute to tension or rivalry. It's not uncommon for children to compete for attention, especially during times of change or stress.

As a parent or caregiver, your role in shaping the tone of sibling relationships is vital. Creating a home environment that celebrates each child's unique strengths and avoids direct comparisons helps reduce rivalry and fosters mutual respect.

By listening without judgement, teaching emotional regulation, and supporting each child's individuality, you can create a family culture where siblings feel secure and valued. This edition of SchoolTV offers insights to support young people in developing positive, lasting sibling bonds that can remain strong well into adulthood.

Here is the link to your Editionhttps://stppakenham.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sibling-relationships-au

Future Enrolments

This term, once again, we have had multiple inquiries for school tours, in particular for 2026.

With this in mind, can I please ask for any existing families who have younger siblings coming to St Patrick’s in the next few years, to please make sure they fill in their enrolment forms early as possible. St Patrick’s is looking to manage a high demand of places within the school community and places may become limited.

If your child will NOT be returning to St Patrick’s next year, you must also let the office know.

St Francis Xavier College, Officer school tours

If you are looking to enrol your child into St Francis Xavier, Officer, please note these important dates in your calendar.

Officer Campus Talk & Tour – 09.30am – 10.45am 

Tuesday 24 June

Tuesday 12 August

Tuesday 09 September

Tuesday 14 October

Wednesday 12 November

Year 7 2026 Enrolment Interviews

Wednesday 4 June

Wednesday 29 October

Year 7 2027 Enrolment Interviews

Wednesday 2 July

Year 7 2027 Parent Information Evening

Wednesday 7 May 7.00pm

Year 7 2026 Transition Day – Monday

8 December all day

We use 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, Media Consent Details and any relevant Medical Details for your child if they change.  

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. 

SiMON Everywhere is an app our school uses to acces PAM and CDF Pay. We will be sending reminders through this app, as such please download and sign in. There is a guide below for your reference. If you are having any issues please contact Megan McMenamin in the school office mmcmenamin@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

School Fee Statements have been emailed out to most families.   Please check your junk/spam folder if you haven't received it.   As in previous years, all Fees are charged at the start of the year with the expectation that they will be paid by the end of the school year.   This can be done as one payment or instalments, via Direct Debit, Bpay, EFTPOS or cash.   You can find Direct Debit forms in the Knowledge bank section of PAM, or ask at the school office.   If paying by BPay please use the code on your statement to ensure the payment comes off your fees.   

2025 SCHOOL SAVINGS BONUS (SSB)

The School Savings Bonus is a State Government initiative designed to assist
families with cost-of-living pressures. Under this funding, each eligible student is
entitled to a $400 bonus for application towards activity levies and uniform purchases
from approved supplier. Within our school, all CSEF applicants are eligible to receive
this funding. All families who have a Centrelink Health Care Card and have not
applied for CSEF in the past are encouraged to contact the school office and initiate
an application this year. Please refer to the below link for more information:

https://www.vic.gov.au/receiving-school-saving-bonus#non-government-school-
information

Health Care Card and School Savings Bonus

For those families who have an eligible Health Care Card your fees are still being processed with the concession rate to be applied.   If you haven't filled in a CSEF (Camps, Sports, Excursion Funding) form please download the attached form or pick one up from the school office.   This needs to be done as soon as possible so we can receive the funding and apply your concession.   This year it will also affect the allocation of the School Saving Bonus ($400) that the government announced last year.   So the sooner these forms are in the better. 

First Holy Communion

“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Lk. 22:19

 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,”

Mark 14:22-25

Key Dates

Bookings for your preferred time and link will be shared in the coming weeks.

                               

BE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. (Act 2:1-5)

 

For students in Grade 6 and have received the sacrament of First holy communion

Key Dates

Enrolment packs to be collected from the Parish	Tuesday 13th May 2025 – 1.00pm – 2.00 pm Friday, 16th May 2025, 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm Tuesday 20th May 2025 – 6.30 pm – 7.30pm Choice of enrolment dates and times: A fee of $20 will be paid on the day.
Commitment mass	14th & 15th June all weekend Masses Saturday- 6 pm, Sunday -9:00 and 10:30
Parent Workshop	Thursday 21st August 2025, at 7.00 pm
PARENT WORKSHOP (ONLY PARENTS) IT IS AN EXPECTATION THAT ALL PARENTS OF CHILDREN RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION WILL ATTEND ON THIS NIGHT
Blessing mass	23rd and 24th of August, all weekend Masses Saturday at 6 pm and Sunday at 9:00 am and 10:30 am.
Reflection Day at school	Tuesday 26th August. Time TBC
Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation	Saturday 30th August, 3 pm

 

Bookings for your preferred time and link will be shared in the coming weeks.

 

For more information please contact:

Mary Tresa Andrews

mandrews@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Religious Education Leader, St Patrick’s Primary School.

St Patrick’s Primary School will now use a NEW form of CDFpay that is different to the one that we have used in the past. The NEW CDFpay is powered by Flexischools and is an App based system. This is a way of collecting money for any Fundraising, Events and paying for school lunchtime treats like Popcorn for your students. 

Parents and Guardians will need to download the App and register. Instructions on how to register are as follows:

How to register for a CDFpay account

1.    Search ‘CDFpay’ on the App Store (Apple) or Google Play store, download the app, then click ‘Sign up now’ or enter the following link in your web browser:

Look for this App Logo and Download

2.    Enter and confirm your email address, then click ‘Sign up’.

3.    Check your email inbox and follow the prompts to complete your account registration (check junk/spam if lost).

Have questions? Visit https://flexischools.zendesk.com/hc/en-au/ for detailed FAQs or chat to the Flexischools Digital Assistant. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please complete the online Contact Form and Flexischools will get back to you directly. 

When you are set up on the App. you will be able to select the Event, Fundraiser or item to purchase for your student. The school will be notified when the payment is made. 

School Fees will continued to be paid via the Direct Debit arrangement, BPay or via Card in the school office.

We are selling St Patrick's Primary School branded beanies. These can be purchased for $12.00 from the office.

Perfect for the chilly mornings!