Writing

This term, FGW have been busy becoming amazing storytellers! We started by learning that great stories have characters, a setting, and a clear sequence of events.

Then we practiced:

• Starting with a capital letter
• Leaving spaces between words
• Finishing with a full stop

The students wrote short stories with a beginning, middle and end

Look at our amazing stories below!

Inquiry

Our Inquiry unit has focused so far on Caring for Our Special Place. Students have been learning about where they belong and how different places have special meanings and uses for different people. They described their own special places and explained why these spaces are important to them.

Here are some of the students’ work with beautiful drawings and heartfelt words showing how much these places mean to them.

Buddies

In our recent Buddy session, students worked with their Year 5 buddies to design and create imaginative monsters! This collaboration art activity sparked plenty of laughter, creativity, teamwork and students’ wellbeing.

Check out our friendly (and a little bit silly) monsters!

  

It’s been wonderful seeing how much joy and effort our student put into their learning each day. They are growing not only as learners, but also as caring, creative, and confident members of our school community.

As we continue the term, we look forward to more stories, more discoveries and more moments that remind us how special it is to learn and grow together. In all we do, we remember that God is with us, guiding our hearts, our friendships, and our learning.

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.

On Tuesday, our Hakha Chin parents came together for a warm and engaging community meeting followed by a lively cooking session.

Kham from the Southern Migrant Refugee Centre demonstrated simple pasta recipes, inspiring parents to try them at home for their families. We also welcomed Cheryl, a sewing teacher from St Patrick's Church, who invited parents to join her sewing classes and connect with other community members at the church’s meeting room.

It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our Hakha Chin parents and see them actively participating in school community events.  

Our book week parade will be held on Wednesday 20th August at 9am in our school stadium. 

Children can come to school dressed as their favourite book or character from a book. Parents and Carers are welcome to attend the parade.

Please remember photography or videoing is only allowed of your own children. 

Thank you to everyone who purchased items from the Pie Drive.

We hope you enjoy your delicious pastries, pies and slices!

School Closure Day and Pupil Free Day this term

Thursday August 21st is School Closure Day where the staff of St Patrick’s will be visited by Dr Elio Capra and we will be talking about Spirituality.

On Friday the 22nd August is a Pupil Free Day. Please note the students are NOT required to come to school on the Thursday 21st or the Friday 22nd. School will resume on Monday 24^th August. Thank you.

School Office- next few weeks

Cindy will be away on leave and therefore there will be only Megan in the office for the majority of the day. I ask all parents to please be patient with Megan during this time.

School Uniform

Just a reminder about our school uniform and the expectations that all students will adhere to this. Please note that grey tracksuit pants are not an acceptable solution for our grey pants. This is certainly not accepted in Secondary Schools.

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 09 September

Tuesday 14 October

Wednesday 12 November

Year 7 2026 Enrolment Interviews

Wednesday 29 October

Year 7 2026 Transition Day – Monday

8 December all day

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

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

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 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. 

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. 

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