Thursday 16th October 2025 

Gospel of the Week

Luke 18:1-8

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

God will see those who cry to him vindicated.

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. ‘There was a judge in a certain town’ he said ‘who had neither fear of God nor respect for man. In the same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, “I want justice from you against my enemy!” For a long time he refused, but at last he said to himself, “Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death.”’

And the Lord said, ‘You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays to help them? I promise you, he will see justice done to them.

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians,

The core message of the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1–8 is the importance of persistent, unfainting prayer. Jesus told this story specifically to his disciples "to show them that they should always pray and not give up". The parable provides two key points of contrast that reinforce this central message; While an unrighteous, selfish judge eventually granted justice to the persistent widow simply to stop being bothered by her, God is the opposite. He is inherently good and just, and he does not need to be coerced or wearied into action. The moral is, "if a corrupt human judge will eventually respond to a persistent plea, how much more will a righteous and loving God respond to the constant prayers of His chosen people?". The widow in the story had no one to advocate for her and no legal standing. She was powerless and at the mercy of a corrupt system. Nevertheless, her persistent appeals won out. This teaches God's chosen people to be persistent in their prayers, especially when facing injustice or oppression, because he will ultimately bring justice for them. 

This week, our year 1s visited Legoland and from all reports they had a fantastic time. The were very well behaved and loved the amazing exhibition that Legoland offers! Please see below for some more information about the excursion and there are lots of photos to check out.

Also, this week, our Year 5s held their UPP incursion which is short for Unleashing Personal Potential! This was run by a company called Aspire Higher Learning, which we have used many times, and the students had a very productive day as they reflected upon what it means to be a leader, both with and without a badge, especially as they enter their final year of primary school in 2026.

On Wednesday we held our second Foundation Transition and once again welcomed back the newest members of our community. I ran a parent information session once again which was well attended. It has been so wonderful to welcome many new families to St Patrick’s as well as welcome the youngest members of families we have had with us for many years.

I am currently working on the staffing for 2026 and there will be updates coming through on the progress of this over the next few weeks.

Thank you to all parents for your co-operation with the changes made to our carpark off The Avenue. We appreciate your understanding and using the crossing at all times both with and without children to keep everyone safe.

Take care and God Bless,

Meg

Cardinia Division Athletics Carnival 2025

Gold! Silver! Bronze!

Blue Ribbon. Red Ribbon. Green Ribbon.

Congratulations to the 10 qualifying students from St Patrick’s who represented our school and the Pakenham District at the Cardinia Division Athletics Carnival at the end of Term 3. All students put their best effort in on a tough day of competition with 5 of our 10 competitors placing in the top 2 in their events to progress to the Southern Metro Regional Carnival in Week 3 of this term. 

Efforts prior to the event day to practise their specific discipline paid off with the following results:

• Hannah H 4MR - Long Jump - 1st

• Aluk Deng 4VR - High Jump - 1st

• Srina S 5SM - Shot Put - 1st

• Maluil A 4MR - Long Jump - 1st

• Faith K 5SA - Discus - 2nd

These students will have received information about the event and specific permission slips have been sent out through PAM. Parents/Guardians requiring further clarification may contact me at school by leaving a message with our office staff or by emailing me lbreeden@stppakenham.catholic.edu.au 

Thank you to parents/guardians who took time out of their schedules to come and support the team and to Jayme-Lea Jamieson for ensuring students were ready and on time for their events. 

Special thanks to James, Gurtaj and Maluil who volunteered to help rake the long jump pit once they had finished their events. This displayed our St Patrick’s value, Cooperation. Your assistance was noted by the Division Coordinator and officials in charge of the event!

Stay Active!

Louise Breeden

Our Lost Property Basket is overflowing with a range of items. If your child has lost or misplaced any of their school uniform can we please ask that this basket is checked. You are welcome to check the basket before school or after school. 

Scholastic school brochures have been handed out in class. All orders are made online via Book Club LOOP. Please follow the link below to make your purchase.

All purchases must be made before Friday 24th October 2025

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.

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 

Wednesday 12 November

Year 7 2026 Enrolment Interviews

Wednesday 29 October

Year 7 2026 Transition Day – Monday

Monday 8^th December all day

Dates for your diary-

2025 PUPIL FREE DAYS-

Friday 31st October 2025

TIME IN LIEU (TIL)

St Patrick’s will also be closed for 3 Time in Lieu days (TIL) 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 Pupil Free Days. Those 8 days are for our staff

professional development which will focus on Religious Education, Learning and Teaching and Student Wellbeing.

TIME IN LIEU Dates - St Patrick’s will be closed.  

Monday 22nd August 2025

Monday 3rd November 2025

Friday 19th December 2025

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. 

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

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. 

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.

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.