General Notices
National Apology Day Breakfast - Excursion
Last week, a dedicated group of St Anne's College students braved the brisk morning to attend Shepparton's Apology Breakfast at the Queens Gardens. The significant event brought the community together to celebrate 15-years since the National Apology and the ongoing commitment to healing and reconciliation.
Our students represented the college beautifully and should be proud of their contribution. Two of our SOI students also played the courageous role in reading the apology to the near 400-people in attendance which again, should be incredibly proud. The onlooking staff certainly were!
After the ceremony, the group visited local murals, guided by College Koori Support Officer Tina, who shared the stories of the influential First Nations people who feature in the artworks.
The Resilience Project
The Resilience Project is committed to teaching positive mental health strategies to prevent mental ill-health and build young people’s capacity to deal with adversity.
We are implementing their evidence-based Teaching and Learning Program throughout our classrooms, staffroom and school community.
Teachers and students engage in weekly lessons and activities around the key principles of Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness (GEM) and Emotional Literacy to build resilience.
We invite and encourage all of our community to sign up for the community presentation on March the 29th. Martin Heppell will be presenting to the community the principles to build positive mental wellness.
The St Anne’s students will be participating in face-to-face presentations through the school day on the 27th-28th of March. This is such a positive opportunity for our children and young people.
Check out these great resources, that can support you, to bring The Resilience Project principles into your home:
- Kate McGrath, Deputy Principal Community Wellbeing
Reflecting on Empathy
With the commencement of Lent, I have been reflecting upon our catholic values and the way in which we as a Catholic community conduct our selves with the mindset that we are all made in the likeness and image of God and how our Catholic values and Catholic Social Teaching as well as our 2023 theme ‘Let the words you speak always be full of grace,’ correlate so beautifully with our Resilience Project principles, Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy.
Ash Wednesday on the Wednesday just past, calls us to reflect on the pillars of almsgiving, fasting and prayer. I want to particularly reflect on almsgiving and its correlation with empathy as we journey into the week ahead. We so often talk about ‘putting yourself in someone else’s shoes’. I certainly think this is so important to consider what another person is going through. Remembering that we “all wear an invisible backpack full of the bits and pieces happening in our lives. Some backpacks are light and easy to carry, some are much heavier and can a burden on the person carrying it. What challenges us however, is that we can never really know to the full extent of what a person might be going through. We can only draw on our own similar experiences and attempt to consider how a person might be going base upon what we know. Often, we only know part or more often, none of the extent to what’s actually going on. We only really know what is revealed and all too often people show up with a ‘backpack full’ that is hidden to the naked eye. This made me think on previous learning I had with psychologist Warwick Brewer. Warwick encouraged us all to imagine ourselves holding a mirror to ourselves when we interact with others and encouraged us to reflect on how we are showing up. It made me reflect on myself and consider how have I shown up for my people recently? Where have I demonstrated the act of kindness in the way I have interacted with my people?
Although we can’t always walk in the same shoes as others, we can however consider the shoes we wear and how we are walking in them. We need to be conscious to tread with kindness, compassion and gently towards one another. Knowing that many people come with a variety of experiences we know nothing about.
Take a moment to reflect on the principle of empathy:
Who has had a positive impact on you recently? What did this look like?
When have you had a positive impact on someone recently? How did this look?
- Kate McGrath, Deputy Principal Community Wellbeing
Financial and mental health support for people affected by floods
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by the floods and are experiencing financial hardship, you can visit the dedicated 2022 Victorian Floods Recovery page to see what support you're eligible for. Anyone in Victoria can call the Flood Recovery Hotline on 1800 560 760 for help with:
- navigating available supports
- clean-up
- temporary accommodation
- mental health and wellbeing support
The recovery hotline is open from 7.30am-7.30pm everyday. Press 9 for an interpreter. Detailed factsheets are available in a range of languages. Life in Mind has also put together a directory of mental health supports and information for young people impacted by floods.
- Kate McGrath, Deputy Principal Community Wellbeing
Every Day Counts!
Did you know, Students that attend school regularly are more likely to have higher paying jobs when they leave school and overall better health?
A day here or there doesn’t seem that much, but each day adds up. If a child misses 2 days a month, that can equal up to 4 weeks across the year. This equates to 1 year of lost learning across a child’s school journey from foundation to year twelve! Every day counts. Attendance is an important contributor to a student’s academic achievement and social engagement. When children miss days of school it can make it harder for them to catch up. They might fall behind and it impacts the ability to make important social connections and build relationships with their peers. This can attribute to increased feelings of anxiety and attribute to mental health problems later in life.
Parents play an important role in helping children develop healthy attendance patterns.
Parents can implement consistent morning routines at home and help your child to develop healthy sleeping patterns by minimising and setting boundaries around technology of a night time and setting up expected bed times. Where possible, making appointments outside of school hours and taking holidays in the school holiday periods can also decrease your child’s rate of absenteeism.
There are few acceptable reasons why a child should be absent from school however if your child is unwell, due to bereavement or there is a religious reason, please make contact with the college to notify of your child’s absence through calling the administration office or by logging a parent notified absence on PAM.
If your child is showing signs of school refusal, please make contact with your child’s pastoral group leader to make a time to meet to discuss how we can work together to support your child to have success.
Set your child up for a bright future - Every minute of every day counts.
- Kate McGrath, Deputy Principal Community Wellbeing
Reminder about school arrival time
Students may arrive at school from 8:30am. Students should NOT arrive prior to 8:30am as they cannot be adequately supervised.
St Anne’s College officially opens for all students at 8:30am to allow adequate staff supervision to ensure student safety. Although the doors may be open prior to 8:30am, this does not indicate that students are able to be dropped off or arrive any earlier than 8:30am.
Our primary focus is on safety and students should not be left unattended while there are no staff to supervise. If your child walks, rides or scoots to school please talk to them about the best time to leave home so they arrive after 8:30am. We appreciate your support in keeping all students safe.
- Mel Formica, Wellbeing Officer
Unsafe driver behaviour unacceptable
Drivers utilising the college facilities and car parks are expected to adhere to our college values: Respect everyone and everything; Always do our best and Help others succeed.
Parents and carers are reminded that:
- The speed limit on adjoining streets to the college is 40km/h as signed.
- It is an offence to block the flow of traffic on a roundabout or pedestrian crossing.
- Five-minute car parking signs must be adhered to. Parents/carers who plan to be on the college grounds for longer than five minutes when dropping off/picking up their child are advised to park elsewhere to ensure a quick turnover of available car parking spaces.
- People reside around the college and we want to support them with being able to safely get in and out of their houses.
- The college has an obligation and courtesy to get the school buses away as promptly as possible and in accordance with their route timetable.
- The speed limit within the college car park area is 5km/h.
- Drivers must obey signage and direction from college staff at all times.
- Independent and capable students are encouraged to safely make their way to a meeting point and pick-up location a bit further away from the college car park.
- No U-turns are permitted in the car park.
- All vehicles entering and using the college car park must then continue to the roundabout within the car park at the western end and then return to exit the car park at the Wendouree Drive roundabout.
- Disability parks are only to be used by those who have an approved label to do so.
- It is a particularly busy time during pick-up and drop-off and more so on wet weather days. Model good behaviour to children and students - an extra five minutes of patience and courtesy ensures everyone gets home safely and with a smile.
- Abuse of any kind is not okay!
The many ways we communicate with families
Parents/carers are reminded that the Parent Access Module (PAM) is the main platform the college uses to communicate with families. Other forms of communication include the St Anne's College Facebook page, the fortnightly college newsletter - il giornale - and email.
Families are asked to ensure that they check PAM daily for important updates and information. PAM is the portal through which parents receive activity permission forms and daily messages. The college does not use printed paper forms/notes to communicate this information. Parents/carers can also use PAM to check on their child's learning areas and to send parent-notified student absences. PAM is also the portal through which students' reports are accessed. If you have misplaced or forgotten your PAM login details please contact administration at office@sackialla.catholic.edu.au
Parents/carers can download the SIMON Everywhere app to get live notifications on everything that happens in PAM. Just search for 'SIMON Everywhere' on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, download the app and sign in with your PAM account.
Follow us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/stanneskialla/
Committed to the safety of all children
https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/mandatory-reporting-child-protection-victoria-generic-factsheet
Feedback form available on PAM
There is a link in the parent resources section of PAM which gives access to a feedback form for parents/carers to convey any feedback they would like to provide to the college.
Learning session times for Semester 1, 2023
8:30am: Learning spaces open
8:55am - 9:05am: Pastoral Group
9:05am - 9:55am: Learning session one
9:55am - 10:45am: Learning session two
10:45am - 11:20am: Recess/supervised eating
11:20am - 12:10pm: Learning session three
12:10pm - 1:00pm: Learning session four
1:00pm - 1:35pm: Lunch/supervised eating/outdoor exploration
1:35pm - 2:25pm: Learning session five
2:25pm - 3:15pm: Learning session six
3:15pm: Dismissal