Dear Parents,

A very warm welcome back to school after what has been a very chilly school holiday (for those of us who stayed in Melbourne). I hope you had time to relax and feel well rested for a busy term ahead. A reminder that students are expected to be in full winter school uniform this term. Please check all items of clothing and lunch boxes for name tags and encourage your child to be responsible for their personal items throughout the Term. 

Protective Behaviours Parent Seminar 22 August, 2019

St Paul’s School Hall 7pm -9pm

              AUSTRALIAN DATA

•  55% of six year olds cannot identify safe vs unsafe touching
•  1 in 5 children will be sexually abused before they turn 18
• The average age of first abuse is 9 years old
•  77% of parents are not confident talking to their children about abuse prevention strategies

This year the School Advisory Board have a focus on supporting parents and families on Child Safety. It was felt there is a disconnect between home and school and how many families are ill equipped to support their children in having conversations about body safety. As you will be aware the statistics are frightening. 

Last term the director of Protective Behaviours Victoria spoke to the School  Board about the work they do in schools and working with families. As a result, a parent Seminar has been booked for 22 August this Term. The challenge is to have all parents attend so that we form strong and supportive links between home and school. 

‘Protective Behaviours is a preventative life skills program which enables people of all ages and abilities – particularly children – to develop skills which promote resilience and which empower them to deal with a range of difficult, unsafe or abusive situations. Children are vulnerable to sexual abuse simply because they trust adults and seek their approval. Education and communication are the best safeguards to protect children, and studies show that children from as young as three years old can be taught about body autonomy, safe and unsafe touch, safety networks, early-warning signs and recognising and naming their feelings. All children should know the problem with adults asking them to keep secrets, and that they must always tell a trusted adult if they are feeling unsafe, unsure or uncomfortable.’

We encourage all families to support this important Seminar as we work together to ensure our children have a voice and that parents feel confident in talking to their children about child safety. This is a parent only event. The cost is $10 per family (plus booking fee).

Please click on the Trybooking link below to secure and pay for your booking. When booking the option is for a family ticket which is for one or two adults per family.

https://www.trybooking.com/BEEVQ

Beginning of Term Liturgy

NAIDOC Week 2019 was held nationally on Sunday 7 July through to Sunday 14 July. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. On Monday 22 July, we held a special Liturgy  to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This Liturgy was also an opportunity to pray for our families and the wider community. 

Curriculum

The Inquiry Unit for Term 3 leads us into the exciting world of Design and Technologies and Physical Sciences. Students in Prep to Year 6 will be challenged to use critical, creative and ethical capabilities to explore their world and to seek out the amazing opportunities to take action.  The students will explore, investigate, question and predict, generate ideas, plan and conduct experiments and produce solutions. Excursions and incursions have been planned to support this very exciting unit of work. Inquiry units will be further outlined in Class Newsletters which will go out in Week 2. 

Concert

During Term 3 the students will be preparing for our bi annual school concert  ‘.The Mysterious Dream”. The concert will be held at St Peter’s School Hall over two nights. This will allow us to open up enough tickets for all families, neighbours and extended families to come along and enjoy what promises to be a great night of entertainment. All students are included in the concert and will have the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Information will be going out to families over the next few weeks about costumes and sale of tickets. 

Concert Dates: Monday 16 September and Wednesday 18 September.

We will have a full dress rehearsal at St Peter’s on Friday 13 September. 

Book Week 19 August-23 August

This Term we will be celebrating Book Week in Week 7. In 1946 the CBCA established annual book awards to promote children's books of high literary and artistic quality. These awards are now the most influential and highly respected in Australia. It’s a wonderful opportunity at school to spend a week celebrating books, and Australian authors and illustrators. The theme this year is ‘Reading is My Secret Power’.  We have many exciting activities planned, including a book fair, a visiting author, a dress up day and lots of art activities and opportunities to engage in reading the short -listed books. 

Communication

A reminder that staff meetings are held every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher please send an email to arrange a suitable time. Newsletters will be sent out as a link via email each fortnight with a termly Class Newsletter sent this week via our school app, outlining the curriculum for the term ahead.

First Eucharist

Congratulations to the following students who have made their first Eucharist. We ask for God’s abundant blessings on each of you and your families:

Will Soderlund, Max Comito, Christian Savva, Leroy Hyland, Archie Hyland, Chris Mayne, Declan McDade, Thomas Savva, Alicja Kwapisz, Isabella McCormick, Ted Bitting, Grace Maguire, Kate Benedek, Ewan MacLennan, Lachie Soderlund, Asha Smith and Ashlyn Sandham.

We are looking forward to a wonderful term of learning, singing, dancing and fun!

Best Wishes,

Catherine