From the Assistant Principal's Desk

A very warm welcome back to school for 2023. And how wonderful it is to see the happy, excited faces of our Kindergarten students. We also have new students to St Aidan’s across different grades and everyone from Kindergarten to Year 6 seem to be settling in well and enjoying school life.

MARCELLIN COLLEGE PRINCIPAL VISIT

Mr Mark Woolford, Marcellin College Principal, will be visiting St Aidan's on Tuesday 28th February. We welcome all parents of boys K-6 to join Mr Woolford in our St Aidan's School Library at 8.45am, with their children, to here about what Marcellin College has to offer.

LEARNING A LANGUAGE AT ST AIDAN'S - AN EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY

Many of you would be aware that over the past years we have used the LCF Fun Languages organisation to teach a variety of languages such as French, Spanish and Mandarin. This is offered one morning per week before school at 7.45-8.30 a.m. The cost of each lesson is approximately $25.

We are asking for expressions of interest from families who would like their children to learn an additional language. The choices of language for Primary age children are:

• French 
• German
• Italian
• Mandarin
• Spanish

If you would like your child to participate in the language class please email your interest to the School Office stating the language you would like your child to attend by next Friday, 17 February. We will then send out more information when we are aware of who is interested.

ONLINE SAFETY AWARENESS - SAFER INTERNET DAY

This week we celebrated Safer Internet Day and the children completed activities to raise their awareness of how important it is to be safe online. St Aidan’s has participated in this day for several years. The students regularly hear the message of how to maintain a positive digital footprint because everything we do online creates a trail of data and this data matters.  

It is so important for the children to understand some essential rules for being in the online space whether they are at school or at home:

• They need to treat themselves and others with respect online and off. 
• They need to be responsible for their behaviour online and off.
• They need to question what is reasonable online and off.
• They need to be resilient if they are experiencing a tough time online and off.

We encourage all families to be aware of and vigilant about your children’s online access and behaviour. We also encourage parents to have an open conversation about safety online and set expectations for your child to keep them safe. Many sites are recommended for over 13 years old although your children may want to access these. Technology has created many benefits but also many risks. Please discuss these considerations with your children and always ensure that you know how they are connecting on the internet.

GOAL SETTING AND GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CHILD MEETINGS NEXT WEEK

All the class teachers are looking forward to meeting with you and your children to discuss their goals, your hopes for them in 2023 and any other information you would like us to know to best support your child’s learning and development. A getting to know you information sheet has been sent home for parents to fill out. Please return these prior to your goal setting meeting as this will help teachers to establish goals for your child for 2023. All families should have received a confirmation of your meeting time by this afternoon. Please contact the class teacher through the school office if this is not the case. 

We have enjoyed a busy first two weeks of the school year and we look forward to working with you and your children for an exciting, challenging and rewarding year of growing in faith, learning, friendship and fun.

Warm regards,

Robyn Green