School News

School Office Hours:

Monday -Friday

8:30am- 4:30pm 

59 414 436

Please note the school office is not open during school holidays

Student absences:

If your child is absent from school please note this on Xuno the morning of their absence or phone the school office.

SCHOOL SAVING BONUS

Dear parents and carers, 

In Term 4, 2024, families with a child enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will receive the one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.

The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education-related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks.

The School Saving Bonus is not available for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.   

Actions for parents and carers

Before 18 October 2024, the Department of Education is asking parents and carers to:

• Complete enrolment: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025. For more information, read about Enrolling in School. 
• Check your contact information: Ensure your email address and phone number is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting us directly.

We need to ensure your contact information is up to date as the Department of Education will email you twice:

• in October, to verify your email address
• in November, with your $400 School Saving Bonus and access to an online system.

Please check your junk mail regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email.

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. 

2024 School Concert - Wildlife Adventures Title and Poster Competition

I would like to great a huge congratulations to Zahra Wiseman from 1/2K for winning our school logo competition. Well Done Zahra! We are proud to have your submission for our school concert.

Wildlife Adventures Concert 

Our primary school concert, "Wildlife Adventures," was an unforgettable celebration of creativity and environmental awareness! With immense pride, teachers watched as every student stepped into their roles, giving their best efforts in a vibrant showcase of talent and teamwork. The atmosphere was electric, filled with smiles and laughter as families gathered to support their young performers.

The Prep children buzzed around like bees, effectively highlighting the plight of endangered species, while our enthusiastic “army” friends reinforced the importance of saving our wildlife. Grades 1 and 2 delighted audiences as they transformed into koalas and orange-bellied parrots, delivering an urgent message through song: it’s time to wake up and act now to protect our planet!

As the show continued, Grades 3 and 4 mesmerised everyone as mountain pygmy possums and corroboree frogs, conveying the importance of preserving these unique creatures. Our talented Grade 5 and 6 students showcasing the breath taking beauty of coral and the Great Barrier Reef through stunning dance and captivating songs.

The day was filled with joy and learning, leaving everyone inspired to take action for the environment. We couldn’t be prouder of our students for their effort and enthusiasm—they truly made "Wildlife Adventures" a remarkable success!

Thank you to Teagan Thomas, one of our Koorie parents for coming on stage to do our Acknowledge of Country on Thursday.

Congratulations to the following students for spending the last few terms rehearsing their lines and becoming the main cast for our concert

Sairah Mand - 5/6J

Isabelle Fuller-Griffin - 5/6J

Savannah Modaffari - 5/6S

Emi Donovan - 5/6J

Jaylee Doswell - 5/6S

Another congratulations to the students who worked hard to learn their lines for our guest characters.

Jordyn Davey-Bayley - 5/6L (as guest character in the Mountain Pygmy Possum scene)

Jessica Camp - 5/6J (as guest character in the Bee scene)

Marshall Clarke - 5/6J (as guest character in the Coral Reef Restoration scene)

Ella Ashton - 5/6L (as guest character in the Koala scene)

Liam Peach - 5/6L (as guest character in the Corroboree Frog scene on Wednesday)

Bonnie Lundquist - 5/6J (as guest character in the Corroboree Frog scene on Thursday)

Congratulations to the students who used their confidence and singing abilities to step up an be our singers for our concert

Ella Ashton - 5/6L

Bianca Rao - 5/6J

Lyla Softley - 5/6J

Ellie Taylor - 3/4W

Our students who were backstage hands, did an incredible job helping with props and sets for both our rehearsals and shows. Fantastic Effort.

Tyson Hill - 5/6J 

Cooper Mason - 5/6J

Akur Alier - 5/6J

The video will be available in October - A Xuno notification will be sent out when this is ready.

Whole School Concert Photos

Prep Concert Photos

Grade 1 and 2 Concert Photos

Grade 3 and 4 Concert Photos

Grade 5 and 6 Concert Photos

Band

Senior Dance Group

Junior Dance Group

Special Visitor : Tim Ahern

On Friday August 30th, some of our school leaders had a chance to interview local Pakenham resident Tim Ahern. The students across the 5/6 cohort came up with some questions they wanted to know about the history of Pakenham. Tim has lived in the area all of his life, is a member of the Pakenham Rotary Club and has volunteered across many community organisations. 

Tim shared with us his memories of what Pakenham was like when it was a true country town, with dirt roads and horse and carts for transportation. Most people earned a living from dairy farming or growing apples. His great grandfather started the first school in the area "Toomuc Creek." The school classroom was a bark hut. Later, this school joined with other small schools in the area to make what is now Pakenham Consolidated School. Tim told us that Army rd was named after the Salvation Army. After the war, the Salvation Army housed many returning soldiers that were homeless. When Tim went off to boarding school in Melbourne, Pakenham's population was only 3000 people. 

The students wanted to know where our house names came from. Tim told us that the names are from prominent families that owned land near PHPS. Our houses are: Murphy (blue house), Adams (green house), Kennedy (yellow house) and Anderson (red house). Tim was able to share with us what the families that our houses were named after did for a living on their properties. All of the families had apple orchards which were all around the Army road area. The Kennedy family also operated a sawmill as well as their orchard. The Anderson family had a dairy farm right on our school property. 

We thank Tim for his visit to PHPS, it was great to learn more about Pakenham's history.

Veggie Garden News

On Wednesday September 11th, two students from each class were selected to spend some time with Mrs H in the veggie garden. We were so excited to welcome two special visiors from Bunnings Pakenham; Jo and Bonny. They came bearing gifts! They gave us plants for our "five senses" garden beds. They also kindly donated two new watering cans, ten new trowels to dig with and twenty-four new pairs of gardening gloves. How generous!!!

Our garden beds are now all planted and look amazing. Here are some of the things we planted. 

TASTE: yummy strawberries and cherry tomatoes

TOUCH: lime lava, baby woolly bush

SMELL: sage, rosemary, thyme

SOUND: snap dragons, paper daisies

SIGHT: colourful violas