FEBRAURY 6, 2025 NEWSLETTER

CHILD SAFETY STATEMENT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Parents and Carers,

We had an encouraging forum for our 1st Parents and Friends meeting.  Thank you to all who completed the volunteers form, this made it very easy to delegate most of our events to willing coordinators.  We are still looking for a key person to be the P&F coordinator and meeting chair for 2025. This role is made very doable by they shared structure set up by the previous executive committee.  

Thank you to the parents who put themselves forward to be the classroom parent representatives.  This parent is responsible for communicating with parents and who promotes a close network within the parent group. 

Our Opening School Mass will be held on Friday February 14th at 12.30pm in St. Patrick's Church.  The school leaders will officially receive their badges and be commissioned for their roles. 

This year the staff will be hosting a WELCOME BREAKFAST for all families, followed by time to visit their children's classrooms and meet the teachers.  More details to come.

We are actively seeking an ARTS Teacher for Terms 2, 3 & 4 to replace Hannah Wilson as she takes maternity leave.  Application documents are on our school website and are due by 5.00pm February 28th. 

Olga Lyons 

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS - 2025

Term 1  - Friday April 4 - RE PD (To be confirmed)

Term 2  - Tuesday April 22 - Collaboration

                Wednesday April 23 - Maths Curriculum

                Thursday April 24 - DOBCEL Strategic Plan

                Tuesday June 10 - Wellbeing PD

                Thursday 19 & Friday 20 September - RE PD

Term 3  - Monday July 21 - Structured Literacy PD

Final Day for Students in Term 4 - Thursday December 18

FROM THE REL - MICHELLE MALONE

CONDOLENCES

We send our condolence to Dylan, Riley, Peyton, Lincoln, Parker and Hunter Nelson on the recent death of Dylan's father.

FOUNDATION NEWS

OPENING SCHOOL MASS & COMMISSIONING

Our Opening School Mass will be held at St. Patrick's Church at 12.30pm on Friday February 14th.  Families are welcome to join us as we commission our school leaders and celebrate the beginning of the school year. 

Leaders to be commissioned...

THIS WEEK'S AWARDS

The following students will receive an award at this Friday's Assembly. The assembly will be held in the hall at 2.40pm.

• Foundation - James Kirkpatrick, Skylar McTaggart, Ivy Katsaros 
• Year 1 - Hazel Brian, Peyton Nelson
• Year 2 - Lenny Jewell, Molly Sheehan
• Year 3A - Ikoro
• Year 3B - Harry Parkinson, Xavier Down
• Year 4 - Otto Carrucan, Marley van den Berg, Hudson Malady
• Year 5 - Eli Shields
• Year 6 - Hamish Down, Tara Wolff
• Give Yourself to Goodness - Will Versace

CLASS REPS 2025

Thank you to the following parents who have volunteered to be a Class Rep this year. Class Reps liase with the teachers and parents and assist with organising events, such as our Easter & Christmas Raffles. The Reps will be in touch with the parents of their year level if they need help or donations.

CATHOLICCARE

We are very happy to continue our partnership with CatholicCare. Private counselling referrals are available from the school office on request. Students who have previously worked with CatholicCare will continue unless otherwise advised by parents. Our new  counsellor will we working on Tuesdays once their induction has been completed.

WORKING BEE - SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8

Each year we involve parents in 2 working bees to help keep our school community functioning and looking it's best.

Our first working bee in Saturday February 8th starting at 9.00am until 12.00pm.  

You could be asked to do some painting so please wear old clothing.  

The parents who have indicated that they can help are: Sarah McCallum, Jono Bleakley, Myra Murrihy, Scott Elliott, Emma McTaggert, Belinda Brown, Loren & Sam Tuck, Stacey Dwyer.

If you are available and would like to help please let the office know or just come along. All volunteers are eligible for the volunteer levy credit.

FROM THE OFFICE - JANINE & SHAE

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students. Families that have applied for CSEF funding last year do not need to reapply. New families will need to fill in the application form and provide a copy of their current Health Care Card. Forms can be collected from the school office or downloaded from the link below.

DOBCEL Family Fee Assistance Scheme

The Family Fee Assistance Scheme operates across all DOBCEL Catholic Primary Schools. Families who qualify for the scheme will pay $520 ($10 per week) for Primary School Tuition Fees.  Tuition fee discounts are available to holders of a means tested Health Care Card, Pension Card or Veterans Card and must be eligible for the education maintenance allowance.  Eligible families can present their cards to the office and complete an application form.  Forms and information can be downloaded from the link below. If circumstances change at any time the office need to be informed. 

Conveyance Allowance

To be eligible for conveyance allowance you must be travelling more than 4.8km to school or a bus. If you would like more information or a Conveyance Form, please contact the office.

Absences from school

In line with Catholic Education Office requirements, parents will now be contacted on the day if their child is absent from school and we have not received any communication regarding this. We would ask that parents notify us of their child’s absence as early as possible on the day (or earlier if the absence is planned). Our preferred method of notification is through PAM (Parent Access Module) or by ringing the office after 8.30am. Text message are sent to parents if notification of absence has not been received by 10am.

Canteen

The P & F's first canteen day for Term 1 is Friday February 7. All orders are to be done with CDFpay.

All canteen helpers must complete a Food Handling Module. Details have been sent to these parents.

CDFpay - THIS IS READY TO USE

St Patrick's uses CDFpay for online canteen ordering, uniform shop, events, fundraising, and over-the-counter purchases at our school. 

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’. Alternatively, scan the QR code or enter the following link in your web browser: https://user.cdfpay.flexischools.com.au/register
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).

After you have registered and entered your child’s details, you can:

• Add your child’s student card number to enable over-the-counter purchases.
• Top up your parent wallet and set daily spend limits for your child.
  • To avoid card surcharges, top up $50 or more using a debit card or bank transfer any value.
• Order and pay in seconds!

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.

SCHOOL DATES - 2025

SCHOOLZINE

Schoolzine is the platform that St Patrick's uses for our Newsletter, Sporting Schools Form and lots more. There are links on the Home Page to PAM, Latest Newsletter, School Calendar, eForms, Call Us, Website, Policies and Procedures, CDfpay, Newsletter Archive, Facebook Link, Child Safety and Canteen Menu.

To download Schoolzine click on the link below. The passcode to get access to this App is 8137

SPORTING SCHOOLS

Sporting Schools will commence next week, Tuesday February 4th. The program will run for 7 weeks, with the final session being on Thursday March 20. The program days for Term 1 are Tuesday and Thursdays 3.20pm-4.30pm.  You must register your child via the Schoolzine App. See details earlier in the newsletter regarding the App. Millie Kenna and Ben Kelly will be running the program.

Please only register your child/children the day of or the night before the session they will be attending. Cut off is 12pm. The form will not be live until Monday February 3.

Days are subject to change depending on the availability of Millie Kenna.

COMMUNITY NEWS