Dear Families,

Feeling connected to our school community by feeling valued and having a sense that we are contributing is an important aspect of our wellbeing. Our children will also thrive if they feel connected to our school community and feel a sense of social responsibility and empathy towards others. The children learn this first and foremost through their families.

Some important ways to build community include PFA and School Advisory Council activities, reaching out to other families, interest and positive regard for all of our children, welcoming new families, attending school functions, completing surveys, reading school newsletters and helping in the classrooms.

Through identifying and contributing to the welfare of others we can develop a sense of integrity and satisfaction with our own connections to our community. Hence, through contributing towards the wellbeing of others we are in fact protecting ourselves from a lonely life of individualism and increasing our own sense of wellbeing.

Families who demonstrate joy in being part of their wider community are providing their children with a protective factor against the psychological and psychosocial problems that are rampant in our society today.

(Ref: Stanley, F., Richardson, S. & Prior, M. (2006) Children of the Lucky Country. MacMillan, Sydney)

Connectedness between staff and parents has been found to have a significant influence on student achievement at school. Our staff place a great deal of importance on the Parent Teacher Meet and Greet Meetings and value your attendance at information sessions and workshops run by the school.

10 Ways to Build Community in February & March

Thank you for attending Meet & Greets
Play with Clay Prep 2026 Experience Tuesday 11th Feb
PFA AGM 6pm Wednesday 12th Feb
Open Day Tours for Prep 2026 Thursday 13th Feb
Commissioning Mass and Open School 10am Sunday 23rd Feb (school open afterwards)
Open Day Tours for Prep 2026 Wednesday 26th Feb
KidsROAR parent zoom meeting on 26 Feb at 7:30pm
Welcome BBQ Friday 28th Feb (Information & RSVP coming soon)
Year 3 Reconciliation Workshop 5:30-7pm Tuesday 4th March
Ash Wednesday Mass 9:15am Wednesday 5th March

All Welcome to Our PFA AGM 12 Feb 6pm

One of the biggest ways to build a sense of community is by becoming part of the Parents’ and Friends’ Association. The PFA Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th February at 6pm in the staff room. All parents in the school community are welcome to attend. We are looking for parents to commit some time to work as a team to run the events for the children and parents. Without this support we will be unable to run as many events over the year as we'd like to.

At the meeting, we would like to share our achievements from 2024, including the purchase and installation of new netball rings and a contribution to the new Performing Arts interactive screen, grass maintenance and soccer goals. We will discuss the PFA's plans for 2025. We will confirm and fill the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary roles and set the Classroom Representatives and take the names of general members for 2025. Please read the attached constitution and role descriptions if you are interested.

Again, in reference to building community, our staff appreciated meeting with parents at the Parent Teacher Meet and Greet meetings. The meetings gave valuable insights into each student so that staff can form stronger relationships and also formed an open communication between teachers and parents which we hope will last throughout the year. We thank parents for making alternative arrangements for the 1:30pm early finishes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Eleven new students have enrolled in our school and it is our hope that they will quickly feel part of our school family and that they will SHINE BRIGHTLY. We commit to will get to know and appreciate them for their special qualities and unique paersonalities.

It has been an absolute joy to welcome our new Preps to school and I am happy to report that they have settled in to school beautifully under the nurturing guidance of Bianca, Mary- Anne and the St Leonard's staff. They have been having separate recess and lunch times to enable them to feel comfortable and to take over the school. The most popular activities have been the playground equipment, the dinosaur hunt and the sandpit and beach kitchen. It was lovely to hear the students' imaginative play as they role played storieswith their boundless energy and curiosity. Here are some photos of the Preps visiting me in my office and enjoying their time at school.

Prep 2026 Enrolments

Keeping up our school enrolments is also important to the future of our school as our funding is generated from school fees and government contributions. The reputation of our school is important and we hear many positive endorsements of our school from new families who take school tours. If you are on social media, facebook likes/shares/comments, instagram likes/shares and positive google reviews are always appreciated.

Please feel free to share the Prep 2026 open day dates with your family and friends. This year we have 3 Prep experiences to the timetable. These are designed for families with new Preps to get to know our school and our school staff.

Play with Clay with Mrs Atyimas - 11th February
Storytime with the Principal - 24th March
Performing with Puppets with Cathy Ellis - 1st May

Commissioning Mass 23rd February

On Sunday 23rd of February at 10am we will be having our Commissioning Mass. We invite all families to attend. In addition to staff, students and parents being commissioned, badges will be presented to our School Captains, House Captains and Liturgy Captains. Our school will be open after mass and it has been a tradition for families to visit the school after mass and let their children proudly show them around the school. If you would like to come and bring a small plate of food to share with others, please feel very welcome.If you have any friends, neighbours or family wishing to enrol their child at St Leonard's in future years, they are most welcome to attend, too.

Access to Chromebooks

The 2025 Digital Technology Cybersafety Use Agreement (All students in Years 1-6) was sent out in Operoo to all parents last Friday and the 2025 Chromebook User Agreement (Years 3-6 only) was sent out on Monday. Please read through these Agreements carefully as you will need to discuss the relevant sections with your child/ren. Parents and students will need to sign their appropriate section in Operoo to acknowledge that you agree and give your consent to the conditions set out in the Agreement. If you have more than one child you would have received a copy for each child as each child needs to sign their own individual Agreement. Also parents will need to acknowledge and sign each Agreement received as well.

Both these forms are due back tomorrow. Your child/ren will be unable to have access to a device at school until your consent has been received.

Safer Internet Day

The internet is a huge part of our lives. The commission have launched new research that shows young gamers are calling for their parents, carers and other adults to understand what online gaming is like for them. Parents are encouraged to play games with their children to learn and understand the risks involved and share a language so that their child will speak to them more freely.

For schools and families: Download our educator campaign kit and sign middle to upper primary classes up to our virtual classroom webinars. If you’re a parent or carer, you can also join one of our webinars for parents and carers.
For families: The Better conversations about gaming resource includes conversations starters and tips aimed at helping parents and carers connect with their children about online gaming.

7 Steps to Helping Anxious Kids Return to School

If your shild is anxious about attending school, the first step is to speak to the classroom teacher, who may then seek further assistance from our wellbeing team. Psychologist Michael Hawton provides parents and carers with seven simple steps to enable them to support their anxious children to return to school consistently. It may seem overwhelming, balancing supporting your child through anxious thoughts and feelings and wanting to provide them with the best education and social experiences in their development. Michael Hawton, a psychologist, father and trained teacher with 30 years' experience, walks parents and carers through some simple steps they can implement straight away to set their child on the right track to returning to school consistently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAZVzotEPZU&t=739s

(The following was sourced from https://parentshop.schoolzineplus.com/enews?nid=21 on 8/2/24)

ROAR Parent & Carer Education Session

St Leonard's introduced ROAR 2 years ago as part of our commitment and obligation to ensure that all student feel safe and have the knowledge to talk to someone if somenthing is not right, no matter what it is. These are life-long skills and attitudes necessary for all students, parents and educators. I highly recommend that every parent and carer attend this zoom meeting on 26 Feb at 7:30pm. By attending the meeting parents will be able to understand and reinforce what the students will hear in their sessions at school, leading to more open channels of communication.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83792175580?pwd=QWla4d8m7ej0bXVn75belFxdPGuL9m.1

Meeting ID: 837 9217 5580

Passcode: 832662

Code Camp

Code Camp is offering two programs, including an exciting new Robotics program. The Robotics program will go ahead if there are enough enrolments.

After-School Coding: Wed, 5 Feb 2025 to Wed, 26 Mar 2025

*Robotics After-School: Wed, 5 Feb 2025 to Wed, 26 Mar 2025 (subject to numbers)

www.codecamp.com.au/stleonard

BRIEFLY

Choir permission forms are due now. Please read the Performing Arts page of this newsletter for more details and for permission forms.
Extra Curricular Activities.
Chess Classes are available at lunch times on Mondays commencing 10th February. Please use the discount code in the Operoo message if you are interested.

Wishing everyone a bright, shiny start to 2025.

Rob Horwood

Principal

Kids Unlimited Chess