Catholic Education in Australia Celebrates 200 years.
Congratulations to our Swimmers
Our amazing swimmers won the Dendy District Swimming carnival this week. We are so proud of them. Congratulations to our swimmers who will be participating in the Beachside Carnival on Friday 5th March.
School Photos Friday March 5
School photos for 2021 will be conducted on Friday 5th March. All children should be in their summer uniform including black school shoes, (not sports uniform and runners). Hair shoulder length and longer should be tied back. (Jo Jo (oversized) bows etc are not part of the school uniform and should not be worn.)
Each child should return their own envelope regardless of whether payment is done online or included in a sibling envelope.
Please contact the office if your child does not have an envelope or if your family requires an additional order form.
Preferably please give these envelopes to your children to bring to school on the actual photography day. They feel better knowing that they have them to hand to the photographer.
If you would like a sibling group photo, this is a separate envelope/form and is available from reception.
Arrangements have been made with our school photographer to arrive at school early on Friday morning in order to take sibling (if required) and portrait photos of the children participating in the swimming carnival.
(Children that are participating in the swimming carnival can arrive at school by 8.30 with their siblings to sit for their photos. Class photos have been scheduled so that the years 4-6 will take place after lunch when the swimmers have returned.)
If you have any further queries please contact the School Office.
Award winners for assembly Week 5 Term 1 2021
Enrolments open for 2022/2023
Sibling enrolment forms are now available from the office. Please email the office and a form will be sent home with siblings.
Parish Education Board (PEB) Update from the Meeting 24.02.2021
Current members are:
Victoria Nguyen Jones - Chairperson (Parent)
Christina Cardillo - Secretary (Parent)
Jenny Hawkins - Principal
Fr Siby - Parish priest
Liz Hills - Deputy Principal
Brendan Fitzpatrick - Parent
Patrick Muscat - Parent
Maggie Pereira - Parent
Bernadette Gallagher - Staff
Kerryn Oliver - Staff
Plans are underway to distribute the parent resource list and update the register of parents with skills to offer the school.
Fr Siby joined the Parish in December 2020 and met the PEB online. Fr Siby wishes to work with the school to help and support the students and families in their faith.
Capital grant applications for 2021 were submitted in February for funding to support the internal refurbishment of the school as part of the school Masterplan. Approval is currently being sought from the Archbishop as part of the process.
Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) took over the governance of all Catholic in Melbourne schools at the beginning of the 2021 school year. New guidelines for policies and procedures will be implemented during the course of the year.
Team Kids Message
2021 Term Dates
Sacrament Dates are published below for your reference. Note changes as above for First Communion
Term 1
Zoom/Telephone Chats (optional) Feb 24 3:45 - 5pm
Education Advisory Board Feb 24 at 7pm
School Photos March 5
Confirmation Parent Information March 15 at 7pm
Parent and Friends Meeting March 16 at 7:30pm
Communion Parent Information March 22 at 7pm
Education Advisory Board March 24 at 7pm
End Term 1 March 31 at 1pm
Closure Day Staff PL Day 1 April 1
Term 2
Beginning Term 2 April 19
Year 5/6 Camp ADANAC April 19-21
Year 5 Reconciliation May 5 10:30am
Year 6 Confirmation May 7 7pm
Year 5 First Communion 5S May 8 9:15am
Year 5 First Communion 5J May 15 9:15am
Year 4 Reconciliation June 16 10:30am
End Term 2 June 23 at 1pm
Closure Day Staff PL Day 2 June 24
Closure Day Staff PL Day 3 June 25
Term 3
Beginning Term 3 July 12
Closure Day Staff PL Day 4Aug 20
Year 3 Reconciliation Sep 8 10:30am
End Term 3 Sep 17
Term 4
Beginning Term 4 Oct 4
Year 4 Reconciliation Oct 20 10:30am
Year 4 First Communion Oct 24 9am & 5pm
Closure Day AssessmentNov 1
Closure Day Planning 2022 Nov 19
School Swimming Nov 29 - Dec 10
End of term Dec 15 at 1pm
Star of the Sea College
We are pleased to let you know that our Application Portal for Year 7, 2023 at Star of the Sea College (Grade 5 students this year) is open (until Friday 20 August 2021 at 4pm).
We are excited to confirm our Virtual Tour next week on Thursday 4 March 2021at 4pm. The Virtual Tour will be via Zoom and will include a live Q&A session with members of the College Leadership Team. Families will need to make a booking for the Virtual Tour through trybooking www.trybooking.com/BOTDX.
Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.
Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.
Due to the latest lockdown, Fr Siby will distribute ashes to the children at a special liturgy on Tuesday 23rd February in the church. This year, the ashes will be sprinkled onto our heads.
IMPORTANT - Date change for Year 5 First Communion masses
Fr Siby has announced today that to avoid potential restrictions with numbers and in order to allow as many family members to attend this special celebration, the Communion masses will no longer be held during Parish mass times.
Instead they will be held on the following dates:
Saturday 8th May at 9:15am - 5S
Saturday 15th May at 9:15am - 5J
Notice of Parent Information Meetings for the Sacraments this term
The following workshops will be held either in the school hall or via Zoom depending on restrictions. Further details will be sent to school families. It is important you notify Jenny Hawkins with any questions, queries or requests around attendance at these meetings.
Monday 15th March Year 6 Confirmation meeting at 7pm
Monday 22nd March Year 5 Communion meeting at 7pm
Zoom parent meetings (optional)
Those parents and carers attending Zoom meetings scheduled for Wednesday 24th will need to wait in the waiting room and the teacher will admit you; families with PSGs booked are not required to attend the Zoom meetings on the 24th.
Teachers will send a link home. Please make sure you log in with a recognisable family name.
Assembly Awards Presentation Video
Last week, we held our first awards assembly. Due to the fact that parents can't currently attend onsite, the award part of the assembly was recorded. Here is the video.
Connection Video - Meet the teachers
This year, we can't meet you face to face onsite at school. Here is a video to help you put a face to a name and learn who our leaders and teachers are for 2021.
IMPORTANT SAFETY MESSAGES
Some parents are driving into the staff car park at drop off and pick up time. This means that these parents are driving in and out of the driveway just when there are numerous children and families using the path next to the busy back yard gates in Dalny Road.
Please keep our families safe and DO NOT use the staff car park and driveway to drop off or pick up your children.
Child Safety WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECKS WWCC
During the year (Covid restrictions aside) there are many occasions when we may request the assistance of parent helpers with activities. These activities may include: inter-school sports events, school excursions, classroom helpers, cooking, etc. In line with our Child Safe Policy, St Patrick’s requires that any parents who wish to help in this capacity must have a current Working With Children Check. Parent helpers are asked to bring their WWCC card with them when they sign in on the i-pad at the school office. WWCCs can be applied for online at http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au and are free for volunteers. We value the contributions of parent helpers across the school and strongly urge ALL parents to apply for a WWCC.
Enrolments open for 2022/2023
Sibling enrolment forms are now available from the office. Please email the office and a form will be sent home with siblings.
St Patrick's Parents & Friends (P&F) Updates
The Pink List is almost complete - Last chance to promote your business in our community pages!
The Pink list will be finalised shortly, printed and distributed. If you have not already received correspondence (via email or a letter) to confirm your childrens' details, please send a note to christiemalexander@gmail.com .This year we will be providing an electronic version of your grade and one physical hardcopy of the full school list to each family.
Don't forget to give your family business a plug by sending through details of your business and a logo to pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au , so that the school community can support you.
Have you joined the P&F Facebook group yet?
The P&F have several ways for you to keep across P&F activities. All notices are published in the Shamrock and where necessary via ad hoc notice via the Flexischools app. We also have a private Facebook Group: "St Patrick’s P & F news” which all members of the school community are welcome to join.
The Easter Raffle is coming!
The famous St Patricks Easter Raffle will be held again in 2021. For families who are able to support this marvellous fundraiser, we ask that you purchase a few Easter eggs or Easter themed stationery or books of any shape and size and have your children drop them into the school office. Tickets are $1 each, and you can buy one or many. Payment for raffle tickets will be cashless again this year via CDF Pay. Details of the Easter Raffle will be sent home with your children soon. Donations will be collected and the many prize hampers assembled. The raffle will be drawn on the last day of school at assembly (Wed 31st March 2021) and prizes will be sent home to be consumed over the holiday break. This fundraiser is definitely a favourite of the kids.
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Due to ongoing COVID restrictions, the secondhand uniform shop is currently operating offsite. Please email Kellie at heathcote.kellie@yahoo.com to discuss your requirements or to arrange to drop off donations. We have lots of stock available in sizes 4-10, limited stock of sizes 12+, as well as items like school and library bags and great quality school jumpers. All items are now $5 each. Payment is available via EFTPOS. We require donations of larger size boys and girls clothing 12+. Donations of all sizes are welcome (clean, no holes). All funds raised from the secondhand uniform shop go towards the Parents and Friends fundraising to assist in the purchase of resources for the school.
PatCare - Families Supporting Families
Members of the PatCare group support those in the school community who are experiencing hardship, grief, illness or other need – generally by providing meals / baked goods / kid-friendly snacks. You don’t need to be a whizz in the kitchen – every casserole, steak and veggies, batch of biscuits or chicken pie you provide is immensely appreciated. Every PatCare meal is one less thing that they have to do.
Our PatCare coordinator Sarah Luck (Grade 1Y) maintains a list of volunteers, and will reach out to each person in turn when required. Your contribution may be just a few meals per year.
A set of guidelines outlining the roles and structure of the P&F has been drafted for consideration by the school community. Pleaseclick on this linkto read the draft. The P&F Committee have already identified a need to include the role of the committee and P&F Class Reps, however, any comments or suggestions in relation to the guidelines can be sent to: pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au for collation and consideration at the next P&F meeting.
Pizza Night COVID Restrictions & 2021 P&F Calendar of Events
As the recent 5 day lockdown has shown, planning for COVID-proof events in 2021 continues to be difficult. We are devastated for the Prep families who are not able to hold their Pizza Night this week, but hope that this will be rescheduled as soon as restrictions are lifted. The Prep P&F Class Reps will be in contact with parents to communicate a new date, as will the Gr 2 and Gr 3 P&F class reps if postponement is necessary next week.
Please see below some of the planned P&F activities coming up:
St Patrick’s Primary School Parents & Friends Association
2021 Calendar of Events
Date
Event
Organiser
Term 1
Feb
Pink List
Christie Alexander
Fri 12-Feb-2021
Grade 1 Pizza Night
Gr 1 P&F Reps
Wed 17-Feb-2021
P&F Meeting #1
P&F
Fri 19-Feb-2021
Prep Pizza Night To be rescheduled
Prep P&F Reps
Fri 26-Feb-2021
Grade 2 Pizza Night Awaiting COVID advice
Gr 2 Class P&F Reps
Fri 26-Feb-2021
Grade 3 Pizza Night Awaiting COVID advice
Gr 3 Class P&F Reps
Tue 16-Mar-2021
P&F Meeting #2
P&F
Wed 31-Mar-2021
Easter Raffle drawn
P&F Committee
Wed 31-Mar-2021
End Term 1
Term 2
Mon 19-Apr-2021
1st Day – Term 2
Thu 22-Apr-2021
P&F Meeting #3
Fri 7-May-2021
Mothers’ /Special Friends Day Stall
Next P&F Meetings
All members of the school community are welcome to join our P&F meetings. Where COVID restrictions permit it, we hope to hold them at school so that we can meet in person. The next two meetings will be on:
Tuesday 16-Mar-2021 at 7.30pm
Thursday 22-Apr-2021 at 7.30pm.
2021 Term Dates
Sacrament Dates are published below for your reference. Note changes as above for First Communion
A HUGE THANK YOU to our families, children and staff for supporting each other to get off to a great start yesterday with Flexible Learning for 2021. Teachers were pleased to see the faces of nearly all children from Year 1 - Year 6 at the first Zoom meetings of the day.
Now that we are successfully up and running, this is a reminder that the first Zoom meeting today is at 9am. The second Zoom meetings is at 12:10 and the final one for the day at 2:30pm. These meetings are a perfect opportunity to reconnect with the class, check attendance, share learning and an opportunity for children to ask questions and be supported by their teacher and classmates.
Instructions for learning activities are accessible on the Flexible Learning tab for all year levels and specialist teachers on the Learning Community Site at this link.
All welcome to join our first P&F meeting - Wednesday 17th Feb at 7.30pm via Zoom
Unfortunately due to the current COVID lockdown, our first P&F meeting cannot occur at school, and will be held via Zoom only. All parents are welcome to join the meeting and contribute to our plans for the year ahead. There is no requirement to be a P&F class rep or part of the committee to be involved.
Parents can join via the link or meeting details below:
Pink List - We are waiting to hear from our last few families!!
The Pink List is a St Patrick's P&F grand tradition, providing families with details of parents and children in each class and grade in the school. It makes arranging playdates a breeze, and helps with learning parents' names and matching children to their parents.
Emails asking you to confirm your contact details have been sent to all families we have contact details for. If you have not received an email from our Pink List coordinator Christie Alexander (christiemalexander@gmail.com) please email her as we are missing your details.You can choose not to have your contact details included if you prefer. When school re-opens we will be sending notices home to the last few families we haven't yet heard from. Thankyou to all families who have responded - we hope to have the Pink List printed and available in the coming week or two.
Pink List Community Pages - Promote your business
The 2021 Pink List will include a list of businesses associated with our school community. We'd love to support you! Thankyou to those families who have responded so far. If you would like to promote your business for free, please send an email with details of your business to pandf@spmurrumbeena.catholic.edu.au
Icypoles still available each Thursday - payment via CDF Pay
If you missed the cut-off for icypoles last week, you can still pay for the remaining weeks in Term 1 ($3.00) per child using our cashless payment system: CDF Pay. Payments must be received by Wednesday 5pm to be counted for Thursday.
