Principal's Report

New Policy

Dear Families,

We have recently reviewed our Pastoral Care Policy which is now being used with students at Galilee. The policy was endorsed by the Galilee staff and School Education Board. The policy explains strategies and steps to be followed if a student does not follow a school rule. The policy will be sent home to families in the next two weeks once we have had time to review it in practice. Below I have listed the rationale behind the policy:

Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School has a strong commitment to student safety as is reflected in our Vision Statement: “LOVE by fostering a safe, inclusive, active and positive community”. We continually strive to ensure that every student is safe from harm including all forms of abuse.

We exercise zero tolerance to abuse as stated in our Child Safety Policy and Code of Conduct. Corporal punishment is not used to discipline students at Galilee.  As a Catholic school, Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School endeavours to instill into its community of students, staff and parents and friends, the values of:  

Co-operation  

Shared responsibility  

Equality  

Self-respect  

Mutual respect  

Empathy for others  

Equal opportunity.

Our Pastoral Care Policy and Student Wellbeing are central to our beliefs and actions.

At Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School we strive to create an environment, which facilitates the development and experience of responsible self-discipline.

Student Wellbeing is the concern and responsibility of our total school community. We work together to build an effective climate for pastoral care and to develop support structures for all staff to assist the teachers in implementing our Pastoral Care Policy.

This policy is consistent with:  the Child Safety Code of Conduct; Anti-Bullying Policy; Parents, Visitors and Volunteers Policy;  Staff Meeting and Staff Code of Conduct (Staff Procedures Handbook).

Galilee Trivia Night

What a fun night was had by all who attended the 2017 Trivia Night.  Thank you to all the families, past families, and staff who came to support our annual fundraiser.  We had over 150 donations of vouchers, items and experiences to auction off on the evening in the silent and live auction.  Thank you to all the families who donated items, sought out donations and to our local businesses who so generously supported our school.  Thank you to our MC and live auctioneer Brendan Coburn who sold the four live auction items in a thrilling bidding war and to the families who bid with such enthusiasm to win the items.  We thank you for your generous support. 

There were many laughs to be had with the Trivia competition won by the team named Hot stuff, by a formidable margin.  There was some fancy footwork (or not so fancy) on the dance floor and even a late night karaoke session.  A huge thank you to Kellie S for sharing her son Frank’s amazing story about living with kidney disease and all the family have gone through to support him with both parents donating their kidneys for him.  Importantly Kellie shared that whilst Frank couldn't take preventative steps against kidney disease, we can.  Donations were taken on the night for Kidney Health Australia and we will announce how much in the coming weeks along with how much we raised on the evening for our school community.

The evening could not have been such a success without the hard work of all the volunteers who put together the event.  A special mention does need to go to a few of our parents who have spent countless hours behind the scene preparing and organising the night:

Sally C - for pulling together the entire evening

Emma K - setting up and managing the events Facebook page and helping Alison coordinate all the donations

Alison B - for coordinating all the donations, descriptions and wrapping of hampers

Helen Di N - for the endless graphic design works

Olivia W - for coordinating the behind the scenes logistics of the evening

And to Chelsea M, Annalise W, Maureen W, Steph S, Ellis J-Z and Jess C for spending hours doing all the other jobs that needed doing.

And finally thank you to Wendy, Tegan and Brighid who spent countless hours fielding emails, phone calls and requests from the Committee in the lead up to and on the evening.

Daily 5

Last Monday, all of our teachers from Prep - Year Two visited another primary school to see Daily 5 being taught. In 2017, we have introduced Daily 5 as model for teaching English to our students. The program has been encouraged by Catholic Education Melbourne as a model that promotes lifelong learning. 

At Galilee, we have two literacy leaders being Miss Cox & Mrs Gerecke. I thank Miss Cox for her coordination and continued training with the staff. If you have any questions about Daily 5, please ask your child, their teacher or Miss Cox.

Please read the Leadership & Management section for more details on Daily 5.

Cybersafety-Cyberbullying

Earlier this week, we sent home an email to Year Six families following a cybersafety issue with students while at home. Last week, we had Susan McLean, facilitate sessions educating our students and parents on issues involving cybersafety. Susan and the staff at Galilee, have reminded the families that students are required to be a legal age of 13 or more to be able to participate in social media platforms. Parents are encouraged to review what their children are posting, if you have allowed them to participate in social media. Our ICT User Agreement is on our website and contains specific expectations of students and parents.

Cyberbullying will not be tolerated at Galilee and there are consequences for anyone who is involved for the protection of everyone.

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using, or threatening to use, electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as mobile phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.

Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.

Students may have their ICT access suspended and be subjected to other consequences listed in our Pastoral Care (Discipline) Policy. Information on parental conduct can also be found in the following policies: Parent Handbook & ICT User Agreement (both on our website) and the Parents, Visitors and Volunteers Policy (sent home on Caremonkey). Cyberbullying related to anyone at Galilee (students, staff or parents) or threats of cyberbullying, by parents as stated in the above policy, may lead to a parent losing access to the school premises and will be reported to the police. 

School Closure Day

As stated in previous communications, August 25th is a school closure day. On this day, we will be hosting three other schools with a focus on Student Wellbeing. GOSH will open if there are enough families booked in for the day. If you will be needing the service, please book through GOSH or Camp Australia by Friday 18th August.

Condolences

Our condolences are offered to the Hanlon family , mother of Timothy (past student of Galilee), who passed away last week from illness.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Peace & Blessings,

Simon Millar