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Dear Parents and Carers,
We were blessed to have the Easter weekend as separate from the school holidays this year giving opportunity to walk the journey of Holy Week together prior to the weekend, and to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on our return on Tuesday.
Enrolling Now
If you have a child starting Kindergarten next year please complete the online enrolment form. We will commence enrolment interviews at the start of Term 2 with our current families.
3/4 Friday Recess Playtime
So much fun for many of the boys and girls in 3/4 who wanted a game of Red Rover - even though the Cross Country Carnival had exhausted them!!
Home - School Communication
At St Patrick's we highly value strong and productive communication between home and school. In the first instance most enquiries occur between you as parent and your child's teacher. This can be done by phone or email. Sometimes, as necessary our teachers will talk with myself or Mrs Grant or Mrs Ferris if they feel that a member of school leadership needs to be informed or involved.
Please take time to email your child's teacher if:
* You want to let them know something about your child including simple things like they are not sleeping well etc, or to notify a change in family circumstances
* You want to organise a conversation or meeting about learning and engagement at school
* You feel unsure about something your child has mentioned about learning or play at school
If your child comes home with a concern or worry, please
* Listen to them and check in with them about how they managed their concern while they were at school
* Ask who they talked with and if it was resolved by a staff member. ** Please note that school will communicate with you if we are aware of any concern that is noteworthy. We do not communicate all interactions that need a teacher's support to resolve.
* Tell your child the staff at school are always here to help them and to keep them safe, connected and learning.
Sometimes as parents we forget to acknowledge to our children that for every 'event' that has occurred there are as many accounts/versions of the event as there are people who were present. That is why when we look into what happened we listen to everyone involved to help us get close to the truth, which is somewhere in the middle of all the accounts.
Thank you for always bringing your concerns directly to school for discussion and resolution, this is the quickest way to move forward in a positive way.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Jo
FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL & CLASSROOM SUPPORT
Celebrating Learning - Out & About
Last Thursday 1/2 students went on an excursion to Potaroo Palace as part of their Science Unit.
Levi - I loved seeing all of the reptiles.
Matthew - My favourite part was feeding the animals.
Lincoln - I can't choose a favourite part because I enjoyed it all.
RE Future Dates for your calendar
- Week 11 Chapel Mass, Friday 9:15am (Families welcome)
- Reconciliation Mass- Sunday 26th May, 9:30am
- First Eucharist Retreat – Tuesday 20th August (Times TBA)
- First Eucharist – Sunday 25th August, 9:30 am Mass followed by morning tea.
Curriculum
At St Pat's, students engage in a wide range of learning experiences that align with the NSW syllabus outcomes. This term, Students in 3/4 have been participating in STEM lessons. They have used Virtual Reality technology to explore cave systems around the world. This was followed by working collaboratively to follow a design process to replicate some of the caves that they virtually visited.
Two of our St Pat’s kids have been competing in Sydney this week. Remmi has been competing in the horse events at the Sydney Show. Henry was representing our Archdiocese at Homebush swimming pool. Henry was competing in the 10 yr old freestyle and backstroke. He performed commendably. It was very exciting to watch him on the big screen, as the event was live streamed.
With great fortune we managed to get through our school Cross Country event without any rain! The course was very different this year which caused a few little hiccoughs.
Some students struggled with the distance, but with persistence still managed to finish course. Our more competitive runners, some of whom have been training for the event, will now travel to Wolumla on Thursday 2 May. Notes will be sent through Compass.
Cross Country Place getters
Social media and internet safety
Use of social media and its potential effects on children and adults is a hot topic, especially since the pandemic.
Navigating the world of social media and keeping our children safe can be a daunting prospect.
Once we are informed, we can make choices that we are comfortable with. It is important to recognise that our choices may differ from those of other parents. Your personal decision may be influenced by the maturity of your child/ren, your personal understanding of technology and the content you feel is appropriate for your child.
The following information on social media use in children was taken from the Kid’s Helpline website under the parent tab:
Young children mostly start using social media to play online games; they may then graduate to platforms such as Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook. Children as young as 6 access social media sites and their access increases with age
Social media can be enjoyable and beneficial for your kids
Risk does not always equal harm on social media. Social media can offer many benefits for your kids:
- To connect with family and friends
- Expand their social circle
- Share their creativity through music and art
- Explore different ideas
- Develop and express their unique identity
- Provide opportunities to learn with others
However, there are some concerns that we must all be aware of as potential risk when accessing social media, including:
-Potential access to inappropriate content
-Having their personal information shared
-Being groomed online
-Being embarrassed, harassed, or attacked on social media
-Accidentally downloading viruses or malware
Empower yourself and your child to take steps to stay safe
Talk to them about things they can do to minimise the risks. Educate yourself about the steps you can take if things get out of hand or potentially dangerous.
- Provide a clear expectation about their online behaviour
- Use strong passwords and update them regularly
- Encourage them not to share passwords with friends
- Teach them about the consequences of sharing something online
- Encourage them to connect only with people they know offline
- Keep identifying information to a minimum e.g. do not reveal their location
- Encourage them to talk with a trusted adult about online issues
- Contact Police immediately if you become aware of grooming on social media
- Change privacy settings so only friends and family can view their profiles and posts
- Be aware of what your child is doing online and who they talk with
To access this information online follow this link: https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/social-media-and-safety
Other resources:
The Beacon app is a great resource for helping parents navigate suitable online content for their children
Also, check out https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ for reviews of movies, TV, games, apps, podcasts and books, including reviews from other parents and children. This can be a helpful guide in checking whether the content of something is suitable for your child.
Thanks for reading, Sam, school counsellor