Where everyone knows your name!
Calendar Dates- What's on.
NOVEMBER
17th Author Adam Wallace Incursion - No Assembly
23rd 2024 Prep Orientation Day - Session 2
24th Italian Day
29th Yr 3-6 STEM - Museum Excursion
DECEMBER
7th 2024 Prep Orientation Day - Session 3
11th 2024 Semester 2 Reports issued via PAM
12th Yr 6 Graduation
13th Whole School Orientation 11.30am
13th Yr 5/6 Water Safety Program
14th Yr 6 Big Day Out
15th Last Day of School - 1.00pm Dismissal
PLEASE NOTE: SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS IS BETWEEN 8.40AM TO 3.45PM ON SCHOOL DAYS.
PRAYER
Lord, we are waiting for the coming of
Your kingdom of love,
for peace around the world,
for honesty, for real justice,
when everyone truly shares the riches of the world.
Lord, you have given us so much,
Help us to be grateful and to live
like your Kingdom has come.
Amen.
From the Principal
Dear Families,
School Advisory Council Annual General Meeting
Last week we had the final School Advisory Council meeting for the year. A significant focus of the meeting was the positive direction that the school is taking as we continue to serve the St Philip’s school and parish communities now and in the future. In order to share this information two sessions will be offered on Monday 27 November at:
2.30pm – including afternoon tea, and
7.00pm – including wine and cheese
The same information will be presented at both sessions and will include details about:
- the school’s Master Plan
- applications for capital funding to support future building projects that have recently been submitted
- teaching and learning and the 2024 classroom structure.
Parents and carers from all families are encouraged to attend one of the sessions and to enjoy a catch up with others while enjoying a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of wine.
Scholastic Book Fair
Thank you to all families who visited the recent Book Fair. The sales we made totalled $911.00 which is a substantial amount for us. Using the commission $292.00 worth of books to add to our library.
Tomorrow we will welcome renowned author Adam Wallace to our school. Adam will share insights about his life as a popular author with the students to inspire them as they continue to develop their creative writing skills.
Prep 2024 Orientation
Last week we had the first of our 2024 Orientation sessions. There are two more sessions planned for the new students to enable them to become acquainted with the school. They will also attend on Wednesday 13 December when students from Grades Prep to Five will meet their 2024 classroom teachers.
Italian Day
We will celebrate Italian Day on Friday 24 November. Throughout the day the students will make pizzas for lunch and engage in Italian language and playtime activities. More information will be forwarded closer to the time.
School Assembly
A reminder that there is no assembly tomorrow because of the Author Visit. School assemblies will continue from next Friday at 9.00am. The schedule for the class presentation follows.
| Date | Class |
| 17.11.23 | No Assembly – Author Visit |
| 24.11.23 | General Assembly |
| 01.12.23 | Advent |
| 08.12.23 | Advent |
| 15.12.23 | Final School Assembly |
Warm Regards,
Michelle Worcester
Principal
TWILIGHT SPORTS
Earlier this month we held our annual Twilight Sports Carnival. Lovely to see the students participate in all the events organised by Ms Banks, with enthusiasm and fabulous sportsmanship. Thank you to the Sports Committee for setting up, cooking the BBQ and then packing up, thank you to our wonderful staff who ensured all events ran smoothly. So nice to see our wonderful community coming together for this event on a perfect night. Congratulations to Ethan A and Kiara H for achieving the first boy and girl to complete the Brendan McCole event. Heriot House took out the overall prize this year. Well done everyone!
Collecting Bread Tags
Thanks to everyone for your wonderful response in collecting bread tags! In the short time we have been collecting we have already amassed a large bag which will be donated to the plastic recycling company, Transmutation. Please keep collecting bread tags and place them in the collection box at the office.
Thank you
Recycling -Medicine Foil Blister Packs
We are also going to start collecting medicine blister packs, (eg. the foil packaging for headache tablets) Unfortunately these blister packs are unable to go in the regular recycling bins and end up in landfill. However, a company called Pharmacycle has created a special way to recycle these products by separating the foil and aluminium. We will have another collection box at the office for medicine blister packs which we will donate to Pharmacycle, please start collecting these too.
Thank you.
Shoeboxes
The Prep and Grade 1/2 classes are collecting shoe boxes with lids for a special Christmas art activity. If you have any shoeboxes that you no longer need, we would love to use them please. Shoeboxes can be left in the Prep or Grade 1/2 classrooms.
Thank you for your help.
STEM MAD Nationals.
Congratulations to Belinda L, Jane M, Eliza R and Zara R who were selected to represent St Philip's at STEM MAD Nationals last Thursday. It was an incredible opportunity for the girls to showcase their own project 'Superwheels' as well as seeing the best STEM MAD projects from around Australia. There were many schools from New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. We even met students who had travelled all the way from Geraldton in Western Australia! We were amazed and inspired by the projects we saw and enjoyed meeting with other students to discuss their ideas and designs. Some highlights from the day were having the chance to vote for our favourite project, meeting Ryan from the TV Show Lego Masters and of course, having more free gelati! :-)
It was such a huge achievement for the girls to be invited to STEM MAD Nationals, they did an amazing job of continuously showcasing their project and speaking with judges, teachers and other students. Congratulations girls, we are all very proud of you!
A very big thank you to Lindsey Mitcham for his generosity in driving us all to and from the city to attend STEM MAD. Thank you Lindsey.
-Michelle Sherriff
PARENTS & FRIENDS
Thank you for your continued support of the school and the P&F.
Ashley Mitcham and Veronika McLindon
pandf@stphilipbbn.catholic.edu.au
See below for important P&F notices:
Cake Raffle
Thank you for your tasty support of the cake raffle!
Here is the sign up sheet for term 4!
The last 3 weeks of term are requiring bakers!
Cakes need to be delivered to the school office on Friday morning.
Please include your family name and ingredients.
Tuck Shop
Tuckshop is Open Tomorrow 17th November, Tuckshop will be closed on Friday 24th November as it is Italian Day.
Thank you to Nicole and the tuck-shop team for running tuck-shop.
Looking to get involved? Please contact: Nicole George - 0409 253 863
Entertainment books are another piece to our fundraising puzzle. When you sign up you receive 12 months of discounts and offers - and our school benefits - 20% of every membership purchased goes to support our school!
https://subscribe.entertainment.com.au/fundraiser/9a27151
COMMUNITY
Urgent update on Roblox and Online Safety
I want to share some crucial insights and feedback from our discussions with Primary school-age children over the past few weeks, focusing on the online gaming platform - Roblox.
Roblox, as you would all be aware, has captured our children's imagination, especially in years 3-6, becoming a significant part of their online world. However, some aspects of this virtual playground require immediate attention and action as parents and guardians.
During our sessions, my team and I have seen a noticeable increase in the number of young students interacting with strangers within the game, engaging in chats and in-game activities that sometimes cross safety boundaries. In instances where children were asked to role-play as a girlfriend/boyfriend, mum/dad, nurse, or doctor, and offers of free in-game currency (Robux) in exchange for more often than not, inappropriate interactions were reported to us. In some cases, we have had to report these to the police.
Roblox has privacy settings and features that allow us to safeguard our children's online experiences. These tools enable us to restrict who can communicate with our young ones and what content they can access, but it doesn't stop what they can see. But do not rely on this to keep your kids safe. It does not prevent them from seeing things that are wildly inappropriate.
Some of the content has become a sex fetish -if you search "Roblox Sex" online, you will get millions of links to adult entertainment websites where Roblox videos have been uploaded. I am very concerned that some of these "Roblox Sex" videos may be children's avatars engaged in these acts - there is no way to tell. Children have reported what is nothing short of in-game sexual assault to me on more than one occasion, which has been reported to the police. As far as we know, only one major Adult Entertainment company has made the word Roblox and all of the ways it may be written (R.O.B.L.O.X for example to circumvent security) completely unsearchable on their sites.
Our active involvement, guidance, and open communication are pivotal. Let's foster an environment where our children feel comfortable discussing their online experiences, assuring them they can always turn to us or a trusted adult without fear of being banned from games or devices. They will speak up without fear so we can help them stay safe. There are concerning behaviours being normalised on Roblox, such as children's avatars lying next to strangers' avatars or encountering avatars lying around together in underwear.
At Safe on Social, we educate children to perceive their interactions on Roblox as visiting a place rather than merely playing a game. We encourage them to envision Roblox as visiting a vast shopping centre alone. Imagine if your child was wandering alone in a real-life shopping mall, and a stranger offered them money for inappropriate activities. The immediate reaction would be to flee, seek a trusted adult, and report the incident to authorities. We emphasise that the same safety principles should apply online within platforms like Roblox. Talk to them about Roblox like they are going to a shopping mall. We aim to cultivate a sense of online vigilance and safety among children, encouraging them to respond to uncomfortable online situations with the same urgency and seriousness as they would in real-life unsettling encounters.
Please learn to navigate the online playgrounds your kids are in, ensuring that your children's online adventures are safe, respectful, and joyous. Making sure they know it is safe to speak up is a great place to start.
You can download our free guide to Roblox here
Warm regards,
Kirra Pendergast - CEO Safe on Social Group
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