RUOK? Day

Today, after a busy Term 3, the students took some time to pause, connect and check in with each other for RUOK? Day. In the afternoon, classes buddied up across the school and shared in some fun activities together.

We encourage our families to continue the conversation at home too. A simple "Are you okay?" can open the door to a meaningful conversation and let someone know that you care.

For helpful information and ideas about how to ask RUOK?, visit the RUOK website: https://www.ruok.org.au/how-to-ask

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

Each fortnight, we have a school wide focus around our school values of Be Safe, Be Friendly and Be a Learner. We call this a Mini Blitz!

Our current focus is on being sun smart now that we are experiencing some warmer weather. Traditionally it's been hats for Term 1&4. The message from SunSmart is to now encourage sun safety from the start of Spring. We are encouraging and reminding students to wear hats and use the sunscreen available at various stations on the yard. From the start of Term 4 hats will be compulsory.

Mini Blitz:

Now the warm weather is finally here,
we must wear our hats for the rest of the year.

Pebble Tally

Each week, we count up our pebbles across the whole school. Pebbles are earned by students who are following the school expectations! These pebbles are tallied up and added to our thermometer below. Here's our updated tally. We have almost ticked over 7000 pebbles!

Weekly Winning Class

Our winning class for last week was 4TC who claimed their first win! They win the holding rights to our trophy which is full of a few little treats to share!

GEM Award Winners

Congratulations to our GEM award winners who have each demonstrated Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness during the past fortnight.

Congratulations to Ava, Arie, Stella, Taly and Jacob.

Lunchtime Clubs

We are fortunate to have some wonderful Year 6 students who organise, coordinate and run different alternatives for all students during Break 2 each day. Here is our current timetable for lunchtime clubs.

The Library remains open each second break for students to spend inside with Lego, blocks, colouring in, boardgames and quiet activities all available.

Attendance

You can view your child's attendance on the SimonEverywhere App. Attendance percentage appears just below the students profile when you click on the home icon.

Each edition of the newsletter we share the attendance percentage from the previous two weeks. Below is a break down of our first week back at school this term. The aim is 95% attendance. While it's wonderful to be aiming for 95-100% we know that this is not always possible with illness, fatigue and family days all factors across the duration of a term.

Each newsletter will include a visual graph (below) as well as the breakdown of numbers. We will track our attendance through these graphs each edition of the newsletter.

Unfortunately, we've had a number of illnesses go through our school recently. After a relaxing holiday break, let's hope we can all get back to feeling healthy again next term!

Breakdown of the last week:

Year Level	School Attendance Percentage
Foundation	73.29%
Year 1	87.48%
Year 2	86.83%
Year 3	87.15%
Year 4	85.66%
Year 5	93.06%
Year 6	83.86%
School Average	85.33%

Term 1 Attendance Summary

Term 2 Attendance Summary

Uniform

A reminder that our uniform remains a focus. As we shared with the students, we are currently transitioning between our old and new uniform. Our current focus is more on the "accessories" rather than our clothing. This includes tying up shoulder length hair, make up, dangly earrings, jewellery, nail polish and oversized bows.

Please read our uniform page on the newsletter for further information:

Cyber/Online Safety Resources & Social Media Age Restrictions

As part of our partnership with Safe on Social (Ctrl+Shift), we have a library of resources, cheat sheets and supports regarding any aspect of Cyber Safety/Online Gaming/Social Media. If you are finding any of these a challenge with your child, please feel free to reach out and we can provide some specific information and support in this space.

For more information email: dboulton@smkangarooflat.catholic.edu.au

School TV Cyber/Online esources:

Fresh Fruit Friday

Thanks to The Mckern Foundation for donating fresh fruit to our school weekly.

This is a great initiative but please make sure children are still bringing a piece of fruit in their lunchbox for fruit break as fruit is not available all week.

Season’s for Growth

A grief and loss program

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Monica’s we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances, children and young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering a very successful education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks. Seasons for Growth runs for eight weeks and each weekly session is 40-50 minutes during school hours. The program concludes with a 'Celebration' session. Later in the year each group will have the opportunity to meet for a re-connector session to build on their earlier learning and to follow up how each child is going.

Seasons for Growth is facilitated by Bronwyn Fieldew ( Family Liaison Officer) who has received special training in the use of this program.

For more information please contact Bronwyn at the school and/or express your interest in this program by filling out the email form below which will be sent to Bronwyn Fieldew. St Monica’s is pleased to be able to offer this important program and we are confident that it will be a valuable learning experience for those who request to be involved.

Please send an email below letting us know if your child would like your child/children to participate in this program. Please include the following information:

Student name, class and whether they have experienced separation or loss.

Helpful Parent resources:

rch.org.au
earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au
parentingideas.com.au
australia.gov.au
kidsafe.com.au
betterhealth.vic.gov.au
kidsmatter.edu.au
youtube.com - Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University

Student Learning

Book Week