Dear Parents,

It has been a very challenging week for all of us at St Patrick’s as COVID impacted our community.  The decision to close the school was taken after receiving advice from our governing body DOSCEL.  The decision was not taken lightly, however, it was made to ensure the health and safety of all of our students and staff.  Remote Learning for all students will continue until the end of this week.

School will resume for the majority of our students on Monday the 8^th of November with the exception of grades 1MT, 2V and the other students that have been affected because they were onsite last week as the children of essential workers.  Again, I stress that if you have not been contacted directly by the school then you are not deemed to be a close contact.  Details of the Remote Learning program and Google Meets will be forwarded to parents of these children tomorrow (Friday).   Grades 1MT and 2V will return to onsite face to face learning on Friday the 12^th of November.

I thank everyone for your understanding. I am sure that you would appreciate this was an unforeseen set of circumstances.  The situation continues to evolve so we ask that all parents please keep abreast of all emails. It can change rapidly.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the staff who again adjusted quickly to the changed circumstances to ensure that the children’s learning continued in a remote format.  Their flexibility, and willingness to do whatever is required, is appreciated.

Please keep all of the community in your prayers this week, particularly the families that have been affected by the virus.   We have contacted these families and they are coping ok at the moment given the stressful circumstances.  With all things considered at this stage they remain in relatively good health.

Please watch for symptoms within your children and get them tested if necessary.  If your child does return a positive result we ask that you contact the school asap.

Camps

We have been advised that because Victoria is beyond the 80% vaccinated range camps are able to proceed with COVID safe procedures and plans in place.  This is wonderful for the students who missed the opportunity last year.   The Grade 5 Camp Parent Information Night is this evening at 6.00pm via Google Meet (your teachers will send you the link) and the Grade 6 Parent Information Night is Monday 8th November at 5pm.  

Grade 5 Camp – 10^th – 12^th November - Kryal Castle 121 Forbes Rd, Leigh Creek

Grade 6 Camp – 15^th – 19^th November - Lady Northcote Recreation Camp 1273 Glenmore Rd, Glenmore

2022 Enrolments

If you know of anyone looking to enrol their child at St Pat’s for 2022 please encourage them to contact the school Office on 5943-9000 or email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Uniforms

We understand that as students return for the last few weeks of the school uniforms may not fit as well as hoped and it is difficult to purchase uniforms at the moment.  We ask that parents are very respectful of our uniform policy and that students wear the uniform with pride, however, we understand that there may be some items that cannot be purchased.

Sacraments

New Sacrament dates are being finalised by the Sacramental Team tomorrow.   Noleen Chalmers (REL) will inform families of the new dates once they have been arranged.  If you have any questions please email Noleen noleen@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

Hats

Please remember that as we enter Term 4 it is compulsory for the students to be wearing hats when outside.

The following COVID Restrictions remain in place when all children return onsite next week;

• Initially, to ensure the safety of children, parents will have to drop their children at the black gates (staff will be on duty) and cannot enter the school. As restrictions ease we hope that this requirement will as well.
• We are hoping that with three entry points to the school we can avoid the need to engage staggered pick up times. We will monitor how the traffic flows next week. Both carparks will be open for drop off and pick up.
• Student Masks – As per Government regulations all students in Grades 3-6 are required to wear a mask whilst indoors (unless you have an exemption). Masks are encouraged for students in Grades P-2.
• Adult Masks – Masks are required to be worn by parents at all times when in the school.
• Please communicate with staff via phone or email.
• The Office will be open next week, however, if it is not essential please contact via phone 5943-9000 or email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au  
• All extra cleaning and hand hygiene that was in place is still being adhered to.
• Please do not send food items to share with others when it is your child’s birthday as they cannot be handed out.
• Bubble taps are operational at school.
• An ample amount of sports equipment will be provided at school so we ask that students do not bring equipment from home.
• COVID Exposure Sites – We ask that families please keep abreast of the COVID Exposure Site list and follow the Government requirements. If you have been exposed and are required to quarantine please contact the school.
• If your child is sick, or displaying symptoms, please keep them at home. Children that present as sick or displaying symptoms at school will be sent home.  It is our preference that they gain a medical clearance or negative COVID test before they return to school.

Reimbursement for Activities Not Undertaken / Fee Assistance

Currently we have rescheduled many activities that have been missed throughout the year for this term.  At this stage we remain hopeful that they will go ahead.  If they cannot proceed parents will be reimbursed the cost.  If you are experiencing difficulties due to the pandemic please contact Fil at the Office for a confidential discussion regarding fees.

Regards,

Simon

Please read the article below in regards to helping children to cope with uncertainty during  COVID.

Using Play to support Children during COVID

Things are hard right now and if you need to talk about it or would just like to read some information on how to look after ourselves and our children, the following services will help you and articles will help you. 

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 visit the Be You website which has contact numbers for you to call. 

A Message From Your School Captain 

Lockdown has been tough, for everyone! We have been in lockdown for almost two years now, and we have stayed so strong. It has been difficult for everyone, from parents, to police, healthcare workers, teachers, politicians and especially us, students! We have been learning and doing work remotely, which was super challenging, but we got through it. St Patrick’s, our efforts have been truly spectacular! Although it hasn’t been easy, there were still so many great things that happened. We still got to see our teachers, and our friends remotely. We even got to see some cute pets that some of us have!

Some of us thought it was amazing, and some of us thought it was the worst thing that ever happened, but lockdown is now coming to an end, and we can finally see St Patrick’s Together As One again! I am looking forward to seeing you all, happy and healthy!

I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the people who have helped us get through this challenging time. Thank you parents, for dealing with us 24/7! Thank you teachers who kept us motivated along the way! And finally a huge pat on the back to ourselves, for being amazing every single day!

Stay safe and spectacular!

Pearl

Hello Parents and Students, 

As we all know we are in a small remote learning again but we know that we can get through it. We have done it for months on end. Just think about when we get back to school next week and you can see your friends and your teachers. It will be all back to normal soon. We can do this and everyone at school is looking forward to seeing you again. We wish you all the best through this week and the one coming.

Sophie 6R

Have you set up your PAM account yet!

From the start of 2022 PAM will be 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.  

A new app (SimonEverywhere) will soon be available to download to allow easy access to PAM but for now please save the PAM log on screen to the home page of your device or bookmark it in your browser.  

Access PAM via this link   Link to PAM 

SIMON -  a Learning Management Software solution for schools.

St Patrick’s Primary school is now using SIMON in the classroom to keep track of your child’s progress and learning as well as attendance.  SIMON will also be used for School Reports and Student Wellbeing.

PAM, SIMON’s Parent Access Module

PAM (Parent Access Module) is our new 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.cathlic.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. 

Hi Everyone,

Now that the weather is getting warmer and we are spending more time outside being active we need to remember to be Sun Smart.  I wanted to share some sun activities with you to help you remember.

This week I have include a colour by numbers worksheet.   Have fun with it and don't forget to send me the finished sheet to include in the newsletter.  

These activities are optional but a fun way to remember to be Sun Smart!

Don't forget to send me any finished work or photos of you being active. 

Operoo is still our main platform for communication!  All correspondence will continue to go via the Operoo email platform.  In most cases it will be in Operoo that you will first be notified of any upcoming excursions or events.  Most of these events must first be approved before they appear on any calendar.  

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 child's hayfever letters including symptoms specific to your child!

If you have any problems using Operoo, please call into the school office preferably on a Monday, Thursday or Friday and we will be able to help you.  

Reconciliation - Grade 3 Students

20th and 21st October - Reconciliation - New Dates to be confirmed

The Book Club orders that were ordered early last Term, before we went into lockdown, have arrived at school. 

However, due to the restrictions on movement the items have not been sorted through or distributed.   This will be done over the next week and will be given out to the students during week 6 (week beginning 8th November). 

Thank you for your understanding.

Terri Morris 

Have you installed the new SZapp?   

Skoolbag is no longer being used, install SZapp now! 

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

Please remember to update your contact details and any relevant medical details for your child.  

This can be either done via Operoo or contacting the school office.

The medical profile section of PAM has also now been turned on.   Please update this at your convenience.  We will still be using Operoo for any medical issues until the end of this year but as of the start of next year we will be moving to PAM for all communication and medical needs.