The Beacon 

Principal Message

Message from the College Acting Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, 

 

As a parent myself I am often greeted at night after asking my kids ‘How was your day?’ with ‘good thanks’. End of conversation. Our kids then crave ‘screen time’, whether that be gaming, SCREEN TIME, YouTube etc.

Screen Time, like most things, is neither a good nor bad thing providing it is consumed in moderation. Latest research suggests that two hours per day is the maximum amount of screen time a school age child should watch. Any more than 10 to 14 hours of viewing per week has a measurable negative impact on a child's academic performance.

Screen time can provide an educational and entertainment benefit to children; however research has clearly shown that excessive screen time makes children less sensitive to pain and suffering of others, more aggressive towards others, and less active.

Homework, studying, learning and performing at school also suffer from excessive screen time watching, as stated above.

So what are some of the steps that parents can take to limit the negative impact of excessive screen time? Here are some useful tips for parents/guardians/carers:

  • Limit the number of viewing hours. Approximately, an ‘allowance’ of 10 to 12 hours of screen time per week. Give the child the option as to how to allocate those hours per week, however they cannot be ‘banked’, that is, carried over to other weeks. This restriction on supply tends to make children more discerning in their viewing habits
  • Limit the programs/games your children watches/plays. As an adult you are in a position to make judgments that some programs/games are simply inappropriate for children of a particular age.
  • Do not permit screen time during meals. Make this a time when families can discuss the events of the day and matters of common interest, such as friendships and school related topics
  • Be a good role model. Limit your own screen time.

With younger children in particular;

  • Watch/play programs/games with them
  • Offer alternatives to screen time. Keep a supply of inexpensive fun things to occupy your children such as craft materials, model kits, origami paper, board games and puzzle books. Having such a supply on hand means you'll always have a reply to the retort that, "there is nothing to do."
  • Consider having a number of Screen time-free days in each week
  • Do not allow children to have a screen time in their own bedroom.
  • If a particular program is important to your child, but conflicts with other important things such as meal times, family social occasions or homework, record the program so that it can be watched at a time that best fits in with the family routine
  • Avoid morning screen time before children go to school. Early morning viewing has an effect on the rest of their day and creates time pressures that are simply not necessary.

Kind Regards

Mark Zahra

Acting College Principal

Messages from Assistant Principals

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Prep Werribee Zoo Excursion

On Thursday 15 and Friday 16 August our Prep Students went to the Werribee Open Range Zoo to observe animals in their habitats. They became Habitat Heroes’ and explored what animals need to survive. They were able to gain lots of information as they begin to make a habitat for a chosen animal in Investigations. Well done to all of our Prep students on their very first excursion and a big thank you to all of our Prep Teachers for making this excursion a success for our students.

 

Yr 1 Stay Late

On Thursday the 8 August our Year 1's had their Stay Late (at school) as part of the College’s camp program. Students participated and rotated through a range of activities on the night and were treated to pizza for dinner. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the event and it was a great opportunity for them to develop their independence. Well done to all our Year 1 students and thank you to all our Year 1 teachers and staff who made the Stay Late a huge success.

 

Kind Regards

Matthew Naudi

Assistant Principal Prep - Year 2

 

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

First of all, I would like to congratulate the Year 6 Team on organising an extremely successful camp at Phillip Island Adventure Resort. It was the first time away from home for a lot of students and the camp was a great place for students to build their life skills, independence and resilience. The students had a great time taking part in various challenging and fun activities – from ponding to the Circatron, to archery and the flying fox.

 

Elsewhere, ten of our Year 5/6 students are taking part in a great cause to help save local wildlife in the Wyndham area. As part of Love Your Locals Day, these students will visit Werribee Open Range Zoo next month to learn about wildlife conservation and sustainability in the west.  The children have already taken part in an online workshop with other schools in the area where they heard talks from experts about how Zoos Victoria is working to save local wildlife and the pupils will present their own ideas on sustainability and creating a safe habitat for animals. Aneeqa from 6DV had this to say about the initiative: “On Friday 6 September, ten students from both grade 5 and 6 will go to Werribee Open Range Zoo for a very good cause. It is to help our beloved endangered species. We have to decide either from the following three to research on:

  • The Eastern Barred Bandicoot -less than 1500 species left!
  • The Orange Bellied Parrot – only 50 left! Or the
  • Plain Wanderer – less than 1000 left!

We also have to create in interactive model for visitors to have a look at. Some ways for all of us to help those poor endangered species are to use less pest spray as most endangered species eat bugs, plant some smaller shrubs around your neighbourhood and DO NOT LITTER, as littering destructs the ecosystems!”

Well done to all our students involved in such a great cause.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all of our students that took part in the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette competition finals. Thank you to Mr. Raj for all your effort and hard work in preparing the students for this competition. 

 

Kind Regards,

Barry Devlin

Assistant Principal Years 5-6

 

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

The Year 7-9 students have had a busy last few weeks of Term 3 both in and out of the classroom. Our Year 7 students took part in an excursion to Deakin University where they explored future career opportunities and were exposed to a full day of what university life is like. The Year 7 students have also taken part in a range of digital technology excursions at the Wyndham Tech School where they have been participating in a range of activities using some amazing resources including the use of robotics.

Our Year 8 students continued their swimming program, with the girls completing it in week 5 and the boys starting their program this week. Our Year 7 and 8 (under 14) girls also took part in the regional Rugby league tournament and finished third on the day, meaning they will take part in the state competition next week.

Our Year 9 students have taken part in the Romeo and Juliet performance, which involved viewing the famous story from a different perspective as well as actually taking part in the performance. This links in with their current English curriculum, where they are analysing the Shakespeare story. The Year 9 students have also taken part in a history excursion where they visited the Shrine of Remembrance and were well educated on the meaning of the shrine and its importance to Australian history.

We look forward to a range of various activities in Years 7-9 over the next 4 weeks of the term including the regional athletics tournament where select students will be asked to represent the College as well as the upcoming Victorian State School Spectacular, where our College is greatly represented.

 

Kind Regards,

John Eskander

Assistant Principal Years 7-9

 

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

It’s hard to believe we’re over halfway through Term 3 already, so many exciting things have happened. We recently participated in the annual Australian Mathematics Competition. Over 190 students from Years 3 – 9 engaged in a range of activities to challenge their mathematical and problem-solving skills - our biggest year yet! A big thank you to Ms Proudfoot, Ms Higginbottom and Ms Currie who organised the event. We look forward to hearing the results over the coming weeks and congratulations to all those who took part. Look out for the opportunity to enter the competition next year.

This week we held a Mathematics Workshop for our parents around problem-solving. Thank you to the parents of both primary and secondary students who attended. We have workshops happening regularly across our terms, be sure to check the Community Calendar so you don’t miss out!

We also have several events over the next few weeks which are a chance to broaden learning outside of the classroom. Our ever-popular STEM night (science –technology – engineering – mathematics) is being held from 5:00 – 6:30 on Tuesday 3rd September. Get ready for the chance to design your own biscuits, engineer your own creations with lego, and win a range of exciting prizes! Our English & Mathematics Week is also taking place from 3rd – 6th September, and our theme this year is ‘Influential People’. The week will be celebrated with special lessons, a Writing Competition, a Book Parade for Prep – Year 2 students, and a dress-up day for the whole College. We look forward to sharing our love of English & Mathematics together!

Thank you for your ongoing support of the many curriculum events and opportunities that we offer.

 

Kind regards,

Claire Tierney

Acting Assistant Principal - Curriculum & Pedagogy