St Patrick's Primary School Pakenham
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136 Princes Highway
Pakenham VIC 3810
Subscribe: https://stppakenham.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: principal@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 03 5943 9000

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"That they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I am in you"

Newsletter for the 19th of May

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Newsletter for the 19th of May

Newsletter Thursday 19th May 2022

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Good afternoon Parents/carers and guardians,

We have certainly seen and felt the chilly mornings this past week and on the bright side, I continue to marvel at the wonderful things Autumn gives us as the leaves fall from the trees and share the delicious colours of this season. As funny as it sounds at this time of the year, we have just renewed our Sun Smart membership and we will soon see new signs in our carpark. The suns UV rays can never be underestimated and it will be in August of this year that once again we will become vigilant in monitoring these things.

It is well into the second term of my Acting Principal role and as I reflect on the past few months, I can’t help to feel so privileged as I walk around the school and talk to the students. I am so pleased at the many students that greet me as I move around and ask how I am and to wish me a good day. The absolute joy as I do morning duty with Mr Beswick on The Avenue as the children hop out of the cars with big smiles and hi-fives, ready to greet the day. It is the simple things that make this job easier for me. There are many challenges I have faced and will continue to do so, however the smiles on the faces of those we care about the most and why we got into the job, is why we do it.

Congratulations to all of the students at both St Clare’s and St Patrick’s who made their First Eucharist in the past 2 weeks. Tomorrow morning, the grade 4s (as well as some students from grade 5) will be gathering for a whole year level mass to conclude the celebrations in receiving this Holy Sacrament. Thanks to the grade 4 teachers and Noleen Chalmers, our Religious Education Leader, for preparing the children so well.

Thanks to those parents who have already completed the Insight SRC survey either online or the paper version. Taking the time to do this means that the school gets the appropriate and necessary feedback to help us improve the way we operate at St Patrick’s. All families chosen to complete this survey has been done so randomly. If you were a family chosen to complete a survey, please do so by the end of this week. Thank you.

Thanks also to the parents who have responded to the 3 words task that we are using to help create our new Mission and Vision Statement. I have been delighted by the many wonderful responses coming through.

 

Take care and God Bless

Meg

 

HELP NEEDED- Can you help a family at St Patrick’s

I have a family who have reached out needing assistance to get their 2 children dropped home each afternoon after school. The students are in grade 3 and grade 6. They live in Jacaranda Way, Pakenham which is only a 4 minute drive from the school. If you are able to help, please contact the school office on 5943 9000 or email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

OPEN DAYS 2023:

School tours and enrolment

Tuesday 31st May- 9.30-2.30

Thursday 9th June – 9.30-2.30

Tuesday 21st June- 9.30-2.30

This year at St Patrick’s, I am pleased to announce that we will once again be introducing Open Days. Open Days are a great way to promote our wonderful school community and to ensure we continue to see our enrolments grow. If you have neighbours that are looking to enrol their children, please let them know about us. The Open Days allow for families to come in at any time during the day and to see the school in action.

Please contact the school office if you have a child that is due to begin school in 2023. If you would like to come for a tour, please contact the school office to make an appointment. Please let your friends and families know about us.

Changes to Rapid Antigen Test Surveillance Program

From Monday 23 May 2022, there will no longer be a recommendation for students to undertake twice weekly RATs on school days.

However, RATs will continue to be distributed to families as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this Term.

Please see below for further information.

 

Sick Students

This past week we have noticed a big increase in the volume of students we are sending home that are unwell. I ask all parents to NOT send their child/ren to school if they are sick with a runny nose, sore throat or a cough. Apart from these being Covid symptons, we are finding that parents are dropping off children and then having to collect them from school within the hour. The last 2 years in lockdown will see their immune systems not likely to cope with the common cold as it once did. Please be considerate when making these decisions.

  

The Avenue Exit

I have spoken to both the Cardinia Council and the Police about the irresponsible and dangerous driving behaviours I am seeing from parents as they exit THE AVENUE car park. In the next week, parents will see a new and very clear NO RIGHT TURN sign.  I ask all parents/carers and guardians to please do the right thing and obey the sign and turn left in the mornings and afternoons. I will continue to be patrolling our busiest times in the car park to ensure parents are doing the right thing. I thank you for your co operation in this matter.

 

Staff Updates

As mentioned last week, I am still currently in the process of engaging a teacher for grade 4GD for the remainder of the year. You will be aware that staff shortages are very common at this time, but particularly so in the teaching industry. In the meanwhile, Mrs Angharad Doran and Miss Katherine Mirabella will continue in the role.

 

Parents for school board

I am currently looking for new members to be part of the school board. We meet twice a term and during the colder months, the meetings are done online so we do not need to come out on the cold and wet nights. I would be very keen to involve new families to the school on the board. In terms of ‘workload’, there is not much to be done as the board is separate from the P and F committee. The board acts as an advisory service to myself on school initiatives. If you are interested, please contact the school office at 5943 9000 or email office@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au

 

St Francis Xavier year 7 enrolments 2023-TALK AND TOUR WITH HEAD OF CAMPUS

Any parents wishing to begin the process of enrolling their child/ren for Year 7 at St Francis Xavier next year, may be interested in one of their Head of Campus Talk and Tour dates. Families can register on their website. See below for details.

St Francis Xavier will also be holding specific tours (with translators for Chin speakers and people from South Sudanese languages) for our community and dates will be sent to you when they are confirmed.

Head of Campus Talk & Tour Dates 9.30 to 11.00am

21 June, 26 July, 6 September, 11 October, 8 November.

 

Covid Update

VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS PERFORMING WORK AT A SCHOOL

Any visitor or volunteer performing work at a school must be fully vaccinated (boosted) (with three (3) doses) with an approved COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid exception to attend on-site for the purpose of working.

  • Visitors or volunteers working on school sites include, but are not limited to:
  • Parent and Friends Committee members
  • School Advisory Committee members
  • Volunteers performing volunteer work at the school (for example, parent helpers and those participating in a school working bee outside of school time)
  • Volunteers attending school camps or excursions
  • Schools must collect, record and hold vaccination information for all workers, including visitors or volunteers performing work at a school whether inside or outside

This term, the covid mask mandate for teachers and students in years 3-6 has been scrapped. However if you would still prefer your child to wear a mask whilst in the classroom, that is not a problem. The school still has plenty of masks on hand. The latest Covid information is listed below so please read carefully.

 

WATCH FOR SYMPTOMS

If your child is unwell, even with mild COVID-19 symptoms, you must keep your child at home until their symptoms resolve and get your child tested with a PCR test (nose and throat swab) or complete a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).

If symptoms continue, your child should stay home and take another RAT or PCR test in 24 hours. If that test is also negative, your child may return to school if another diagnosis is confirmed (such as an underlying health condition or medication).

Checklist for COVID contacts

Checklist for COVID contacts

VACCINATIONS 

All students and their families are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.  Children aged 5 to 11 can now get vaccinated. Parents, guardians and carers are encouraged to book their child in for a vaccination at the first available opportunity.

Changes to Rapid Antigen Test Surveillance Program

From Monday 23 May 2022, there will no longer be a recommendation for students to undertake twice weekly RATs on school days.

However, RATs will continue to be distributed to families as they have been throughout this school year for the remainder of this Term.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents, guardians and carers will have them should they need them if their child(ren) is a household or household-like contact or if their child(ren) has COVID-19 symptoms.

Students who are identified as household or household-like contacts will continue to be required to adhere to additional safety measures, including wearing a face mask when outside of the home and receiving a negative result using a RAT on at least five (5) days out of the seven (7) day close contact period, to attend school.

Families must continue to notify the Department of Health and the school if their child(ren) returns a positive RAT result. Additionally, you should inform the school if any of your children are household or household-like contacts.

HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSEHOLD-LIKE CONTACTS

Household and household-like contacts are no longer required to quarantine but are required to undertake the following additional safety measures in the seven (7) days that would have been their quarantine period: 

  • Notify the school if returning during their seven (7)-day period;
  • Undertake daily rapid antigen testing five (5) times within the seven (7) days;
  • Wear a face mask indoors (if aged eight (8) and above) unless a lawful exemption applies; and are not permitted to visit hospitals or care facilities unless an exemption applies.
  • Household and household-like contacts are still permitted to participate in school activities, including camps and excursions, as long as they wear a mask when indoors (if aged eight (8) and above or have a valid exception) and complete five (5) rapid antigen tests within the seven (7)-day period that would have been their quarantine period.
  • A household or household-like contact attending an off-site activity during this period must notify the school they are attending under these requirements.
  • If a student, parent, guardian or carer cannot comply with the additional safety measures at any time, they must quarantine immediately for the remainder of their seven (7)-day household contact period to get tested on Day one (1) (or as soon as possible) and on Day six (6) of their household contact period and not attend school until a negative Day six (6) test result is received.

COVID-19 POSITIVE CASES

If your child has no symptoms and there is a positive COVID-19 case in their household, class, year level or other grouping, your child can continue to attend school in line with Victorian Department of Health advice.

Staff and students who receive a positive RAT result must register it on the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form available on the Coronavirus Victoria website https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/report as soon as possible.

Staff and students who receive a positive RAT or PCR test result must tell their school as soon as possible, and follow Victorian Department of Health advice.

Students who test positive to COVID-19 must isolate for seven (7) days and not attend school during that period.

Students who have recovered from COVID-19, are not required to get tested or isolate if they are re-exposed to a positive COVID-19 case within 12 weeks of ending their isolation period. If more than 12 weeks have passed since their isolation period concluded, students must follow the relevant testing and isolation advice depending on the type of contact they are.

Schools will regularly communicate to parents, guardians and carers about the presence and impact of COVID-19 in their school community. Parents, guardians and carers should expect to be provided with details of any impacted grade, year level or other grouping.

VENTILATION

The Victorian Government has provided air purifiers and new filters for all schools. Fresh air is the most effective form of ventilation to minimise the risk of transmission.

Schools are required to increase fresh air flow into indoor spaces (including shared spaces, staff areas and thoroughfares) whenever possible.

Using outdoor spaces will continue to be encouraged, where practicable.

FACE MASKS

Staff and students are no longer required to wear a face mask indoors or outdoors at school.

Everyone aged eight (8) years or over must wear a face mask when travelling to and from school, on public transport, taxis or ride share vehicles, unless a lawful exemption applies. This includes when travelling to and from activities, school camps and excursions on school buses or via public transport.

Visitors to primary schools are no longer required to wear a face mask indoors or outdoors at school.

Any students or staff members who wish to wear a face mask may do so, including those who are medically at-risk.

ACTIVITIES

COVID-19 will continue to be considered in all activity risk assessments. Guidance will be provided to schools on applying appropriate safeguards across a range of activities, including school camps and excursions.

Parents, guardians and carers will be made aware of the risk of exposure and will need to provide their permission for their child’s participation in extra-curricular, out of school hours or off-site activities.

VISITORS

Visitors on school sites should be kept to a minimum to support essential school activities or student needs.

Visitors will be required to comply with COVIDSafe measures, including physical distancing requirements and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene.

The use of Service Victoria QR codes for electronic record-keeping is no longer required in school settings.

Parents, guardians, carers and other adult visitors are no longer required to show evidence of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if not performing work or volunteering at the school. 4 April 2022

VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS PERFORMING WORK AT A SCHOOL

Any visitor or volunteer performing work at a school must be fully vaccinated (boosted) (with three (3) doses) with an approved COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid exception to attend on-site for the purpose of working.

Visitors or volunteers working on school sites include, but are not limited to:

  • Parent and Friends Committee members
  • School Advisory Committee members
  • Volunteers performing volunteer work at the school (for example, parent helpers and those participating in a school working bee outside of school time)
  • Volunteers attending school camps or excursions
  • Schools must collect, record and hold vaccination information for all workers, including visitors or volunteers performing work at a school whether inside or outside

KEEPING SCHOOLS OPEN 

Parents, guardians and carers are asked to respect the rules at their child’s school to help keep the community safe.

Schools will do everything they can to maintain continuity of face-to-face learning including the increased use of casual staff.

Schools will continue to make localised staffing decisions to ensure appropriate supervision can be maintained.

Schools will not be able to guarantee particular staff for any cohort and students may not have their regular teacher for a class.

LEARNING FROM HOME

We will continue to monitor the situation and where face-to-face learning is not possible, learning from home options will be supported for short periods.

Students who are required to isolate or quarantine will be provided with learning materials to support their continued learning. Schools are not expected to provide a full remote learning program in these circumstances.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Daniel 6DD, Anyieth 4SM, Riya 4AT, Alexander 4SM, Jason 3NC and Elijah 2KK !

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Date

Activity

23/05/2022 Grade 6 Incursion: Mad About Science
25/05/2022 District Cross Country
03/06/2022 Grade 5 & 6 Incusion: Tiger PAW
03/06/2022 Grade 2 Excursion - Wetlands Education Centre
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS 
TBA Diocesan RE day
03/10/2022 Data review Day
31/10/2022 Data analysis and report writing day.
19/12/2022 Whole 2023 staff planning and student handover
20/12/2022

Whole staff clean up and moving day

TERM DATES

2022 First Day Last Day
Term 1 31st January  8th April
Term 2 26th April 24th June
Term 3 11th July 16th September
Term 4 3rd October 17th December

TERM 2, Week 3, 2022 - CLASS AWARDS

✔️

Student

Comment

FIM

Deng

For doing great reading and writing this week, always trying your best. Well done!

FAF

Athiak

For actively participating in classroom activities and completing all tasks. Excellent work on segmenting and blending sounds during whole classroom and group reading tasks. Keep it up!

1GW

Joyce

For reading with confidence. Well done Joyce!

1RV

Mercy

For her confident retelling of the resurrection of Jesus using stick puppets. Well done Mercy!

1DO

Amelia

For actively taking part and sharing her ideas during class discussions.

2ET

Malika

For your constant contributions to class discussions every day. You have brilliant ideas and we love hearing them. 

2KK

Harrison

For such an extraordinary start to term 2. Well done for all of your hard work, determination and your enthusiasm throughout our daily prayer and song. Great job!

2KG

3RD

Mansimrat

For showing a great effort in trying to understand his learning tasks

3NC

Amity

For completing written learning activities to the best of her ability. Her presentation is always very pleasing

3RM

4SM

Nathan 

Following teacher instructions with a positive attitude. Well done on a great week. Keep it up!

4AT

Isabella

For always being mindful of what needs to be done and doing it without being asked. You are such a good organizer - reliable and sensible. It is a pleasure to give you a job to do because you do it so well. Thank you Bella!

4GD

Thomas

For his continued presence of mind and thoughtfulness of others

5RS

Aaron

For a brilliant attitude to all learning tasks. You always try your best and approach challenges with a can-do spirit! Keep up your excellent effort!

5SA

Maria

For her positive attitude to try her best and persevere through Naplan Test

5ES

Whole Class

For a great attitude towards NAPLAN this week.

6BC

Roohani For an excellent persuasive writing piece displaying strong evidence to support her opinions!

6TA

Van 

For consistently showing persistence in all areas of work

6DD

Japanese

2KG

For great engagement in the learning activity practising o’clock times in Japanese

STEM

5SA

For completing task instructions and working cooperatively to film and upload your reflections about your learning

PE

6TA

For supporting and challenging each other through the use of basketball stations (small group rotations) to apply their knowledge of invasion game skills such as keeping a ball away from an opponent.

The applications for government secondary schools where due last Friday the 13th. 

If you choose to hand the form in directly to your preferred school please provide a copy to the office.

If you are sending your child to a Catholic or Independent school please fill out section 5 of the document and return it to the office.

If you have any questions please contact the office directly.

This weekend will see the bulk of our students receiving Holy Communion for the first time. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
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Tiger PAW is a primary school educational program run by the Richmond Football Club. It is aimed to improve the physical, emotional and social wellbeing of all young people to help them thrive, feel connected and become future leaders.

There will be two sessions held on school ground on the 3rd and 17th of July for our grade 5 & 6 students. 

Our grade 6 class created a word map from the prompt

'We at St. Patricks' are..."

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This week students from grade 2ET created a drawing from the promopt: When I finish Year 6 at St Patrick's I want to be seen as ...

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The Scholastic cataloguess have been sent out for your child to bring home. This is a book club where you can purchase books for your child with 20% of your order donated to schools for the purchasing of valuable educational resources.

If you would like to purchase something from the catalogue please do so before the 26th of May. All purchases are done online, please refer to the last page of the catalogue for step-by-step instructions on how to process your purchase.

MANAGING SCREEN TIME

In this edition of SchoolTV - MANAGING SCREEN TIME

As a result of the global pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the amount of time people spend on screen-based devices. Families are transitioning back to pre-COVID routines but many are still struggling to re-establish the boundaries and rules around screen use. Some continue to deal with digital conflict and tech-tantrums on a daily basis. The latest research found that 77% of teenagers spend more than five hours on screens per day, but it is important to note that not all screen time is considered equal.

Parents play a crucial role in modelling a positive and healthy approach to using screens and assisting children to navigate the content they watch. It is better to model and mentor screen use, rather than monitor it. Children tend to do more of what they see us do, and less of what we tell them to do. However, it is still important to outline the risks and highlight the benefits of screen use to ensure you keep a balanced attitude. Encourage discussions around the issues that people experience in monitoring their screen time and be honest about your own difficulties.

Parents need to remain firm in their approach to managing screen time. Excessive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s overall wellbeing. Ensuring the correct privacy settings are in place is vital to prevent children from being inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content or online predators. Parents need to also be mindful of the potential impact screen time can have on a child’s social, emotional, educational, behavioural, and even physical domains.

In this edition of SchoolTV, care-givers will be provided with a range of guidelines and strategies to help manage screen time at home.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to the Managing Screen Time edition of SchoolTV
https://stppakenham.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/managing-screen-time

Have you set up your PAM account yet! 

Operoo is no longer being used!!!

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. 


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. 

Parish Secretary and Bookkeeper: Job Vacancy at St. Patrick’s Parish Pakenham.

A position has become available based at the St Patrick’s parish office, Pakenham.  The primary purpose of the role is to provide secretarial, administrative support to the Parish Priest and bookkeeping for the parish. Hours of work: 30 hours per week, 9.00 am to 3.00 pm Monday to Friday. Applications are to be addressed to the Parish Priest and emailed to parishoffice@stpatrickspakenham.com.au by Friday 20th May 2022. For a copy of the job description, please contact the parish office via email or directly on 03 5941 7315.

Our much awaited Church Renovation is about to begin and is anticipated to cost in the order of $4.2 million. After contributions from Parish funds, the “Be a Sponsor of Church Renovation” programme aims to provide extra funding for the Sacred Artwork that will adorn our new church as well as reducing the loan repayments to Catholic Development Fund and thereby reflecting our strong Parish Community.

Please see the flyers below for more information and keep up to date on the Parish webpage.   https://stpatrickspakenham.com.au/fundraising/ 

CSEF Applications are now due! 

The applicant must be one of the following:

  1. a parent/carer (of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school) who is:
    • on the first day of Term 1 (31 January 2022), or the first day of Term 2 (26 April 2022)  a holder of one or more of the eligible financially-means tested cards (Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card), or
    • a temporary foster parent

The parent/carer must submit an application to the school by 24 June 2022.

If anyone has any questions or would like to discuss their school fee account, please contact Cindy in the school office cbyrne@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au   

Please download and fill in the form below if you qualify.

                                                                                                                 

 Please read the flyer below from our School House Captains. 

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