Good afternoon families

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, grandfathers and special friends who celebrate this special day. I hope Sunday is a great day for all your families.

Thank you to the PFA and the year 5 mums who helped with the Father’s Day breakfast.it was wonderful to see so many dads at this great celebration. Thank you to Mrs Stefanec and the school choir. The choir sang so beautifully and the audience were in awe of their performance.

Student Safety and E-Bikes

Some of our students are travelling to and from school on e-bikes (motorised bikes) and e-scooters. Our concern is for student safety and wellbeing and those of the other students/families walking and/ or riding to school

I have put some information from the Victoria Police to support student safety and clarification regarding the law and these vehicles. Please find following the information from Victoria Police.

Leading into school holidays, local police, including Moorabbin Highway Patrol, will focus on the use of e-bikes and if police identify the e-bike is being used in such a manner that it falls within the definition of a Motor Bike police can:

· Impound the bike upon it being intercepted with $1050 tow fee applicable to the user.

· If traffic offences are detected such as speeding, unlicensed ($880), use unregistered motorbike ($950) then penalty notices can be issue to a person 15 years of age and above. If under 14 years, then the child is summoned to court for the alleged offences.

A motorised bicycle is a Motor Cycle if:

· the motor is not an auxiliary source of power (if the vehicle is accelerating or maintaining a steady speed on level ground or uphill without the rider pedalling, then the motor has become the primary source of power and it is no longer bicycle.

· the motors power output exceeds 200 watts, whether or not the motor is operating. POLICE ARE AWARE THE MOST COMMON E-BATTERY BEING FIXED TO BIKES IS 1500 WATTS.

· Bikes being converted to e-bikes are having both the bike chain and pedals removed with “motorbike pegs” installed.

These e-bikes are classified as “non-compliant motor vehicles” and under the Road Safety Act, Road Rules Victoria and Crimes Act offences apply:

· Unlicensed Riding

· Use Unregistered Motorbike

· Fail to Comply with standards of registration i.e. no indicators / lights

· Subject to dangerous / careless driving offences

In the interest of safety, St Louis does not permit the riding of any e-bikes or e- scooters on school property. If these e-bikes or e-scooters come to school they will be confiscated and parents will have to come to the school to collect it.

Smart watches

If any students wear a smart watch to school they need it to be on “school mode.” Students are not permitted to send messages during the day. If a student sends messages, the watch will be confiscated and a parents will need to come to the office to collect it.

District Athletics

Congratulations to the 68 students who participated in the District Athletic competition yesterday. The students represented the school so well and many of our students were successful enough to go through to the next level. Thank you to the staff who went with the students and supported them throughout the day.

Vibrant Parish Formation series

On Tuesday 9 September Father Andrew, Wendy Sullivan (Principal of St Brigid’s Mordialloc) Jodie Maranzo (Deputy Principal of St Brigid’s Mordialloc and myself are participating in the final session of this series. Evangelisation: Bridging the gap between parish and school.

It will give us the opportunity to talk about the relationship between the parish and our two schools. We are so lucky to have such a vibrant parish and a wonderful priest to work with.

Bullying No Way

On Wednesday 10 September we have a whole school incursion.

Bullying -No way is a program that works with the students in understanding what is bullying and what it means to be an upstander and not a bystander.

Parent Teacher conferences – 3.30pm – 8pm

Thursday 11 September is the first session of this term’s parent teacher conferences The students do not attend these conferences.

Enjoy your weekend

Carmel Stutterd

Principal

ST LOUIS PFA