School News

Dear parents, families and friends,

This will be the last newsletter for this term. It has been a slightly shorter term of 9 weeks, but by no means any less busy or jam packed with learning and activities. On Monday and Tuesday of this week the Leadership Team attended the MACS Flourishing Learners Conference. More than 1500 school leaders and MACS staff gathered to hear a variety of speakers on various topics to support and inform all the progress that is being made in curriculum development and pedagogical practices in MACS schools. It was a 'celebration of connection, learning and shared purpose, affirming our collective commitment to faith, equity and excellence for every MACS student.' 

Father's Day Breakfast

Last Friday we celebrated Father's Day with our Annual breakfast event. It was as always very well attended with everyone enjoying a delicious breakfast. Congratulations to all the lucky winners of the Raffle. Congratulations also to Poppy L who won the draw a potrait of your dad competition. A very big thank you to Jenna for taking the lead and organising everything and coordinating the action teams on the day. thank you to our Year 5/6 students who coordinated the sports activities and drawing competition.

No Standing Zone Parking

Again I must make mention of members of our school community parking in No Standing zones during afternoon dismissal. This is important and I ask you all again to please follow all road laws and parking restrictions due to the following reasons:

1. It sets a bad example for our students.
2. It upsets our neighbours. They live here, we don't.
3. It presents a possible danger to our students, blocking roads and obscuring vision.

Please see two images of cars that have been parked in No Standing zones during afternoon dismissal. I am not trying to name and shame, however I continue to receive complaints and photos of the offending vehicles, so I need to stress how important this is and this message is for everyone.

Road Safety & Traffic Awareness Program

Approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. Between 20 and 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years. The main reason behind these road accidents is not following or knowing traffic and road safety rules.

Trafficquiz.com is a free-to use website developed with the aim of spreading awareness regarding traffic rules and road safety rules. Through trafficquiz.com, students can learn and test their knowledge about traffic and road safety rules in an entertaining way, i.e., by playing quizzes. Teachers and parents can also use trafficquiz.com regularly to refresh their knowledge about traffic, road safety, and child safety rules. The benefit of being online is that trafficquiz.com can be used anytime, anywhere, on any device.

We request that you kindly share the links given below with students, parents, teachers, and the driving staff so that everyone can learn and be conscious about following road safety and traffic rules. This can save many lives.

The links are as follows:

1.    For Age group (5 to 9 years):

https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-junior-level-1/

2.    For Age group (10 to 15 years):

https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-secondary-level-1/

3.  For Parents (Child safety quizzes):

https://trafficquiz.com/child-safety-quiz-for-parents-level-1/

4.    For Parents and Teachers (Traffic & road safety rules quizzes):

https://trafficquiz.com/road-safety-quiz-for-adults-level-1/

5. Road Signs quiz

Why is it necessary?

·       About three-quarters (73%) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under the age of 25.

·       More than half of all road traffic deaths are among vulnerable road users: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.

·       Road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole.

Please support our school in ensuring our students are kept safe travelling to and from school and that they are being given good examples of following road rules.

Morning Routine - Developing Resilience & Independence

As you know we have assembly each morning at 8.40am. Following this the students and their teachers move into their classrooms to begin their morning routines including roll call and Good Morning Circles. The Good Morning Circle is important in setting up the day and ensuring the students begin in a positive frame of mind. I ask that from now on parents and families do not follow the students into the classrooms at this time as it can present a distraction as separation anxieties re-emerge. You are more than welcome to enter the classrooms between 8.30am and 8.40am, helping your child prepare for the day and letting them show you their work or classroom displays, and of course you are welcome and encouraged to join in with us at the assembly including Mindfulness and prayer. I also encourage all students to carry their own schoolbag to and from school. This helps them to develop responsibility and independence (a full back pack also slows them down).

Building B Capital Works Refurbishment Project Update

The Refurbishment Project will be going to tender during the school holidays with the tender opening on Thursday 9th October at 4.00pm. This is the next hurdle to overcome. We are hoping that the tendered quotes come in under budget. The working bees will continue tomorrow and into next term as we begin to make the move across to Building C.

Working Bee

The next working bee in preparation for the moving of classrooms is tomorrow from 10am to 2pm. We have about 8 volunteers at the moment, but we can always do with more. If you are able to lend even an hour or two, please drop in and give us a hand.

Gossip and Rumours

Again I need to remind all parents that there is no need and no place for gossip and rumours, especially if this is about other students or teachers. If you have an issue, concern or complaint then you need to bring this to the classroom teacher first. If they are not able to help you then they will direct you to bring this to me or any of the school leaders. I always take the time to listen and if needed to investigate and follow up on concerns. If a concern does not involve or affect your child, then I will not listen to it. If you are expressing a concern based on what you have heard from other parents, I will not listen to this.

I have said this before, if a concern or complaint has not be brought to me or another school leader or staff member then it is not real. If it is serious, then it should be brought to our attention. Gossiping solves nothing, conversations do solve problems. Lately there have been students going home and telling their parents misinformation about incidents involving students and/or teachers. These parents then contact the parents of the students supposedly concerned. The school then gets disgruntled emails or phone calls asking why they were told by another parent instead of by the school.

I am again asking everyone to refrain from gossip and rumour spreading. If there are any questions or concerns, then ask the school for an explanation or the facts (if there are any) before making a judgement. There are always two sides to a story, sometimes more.

National Child Protection Week

This week is National Child Protection Week (7–13 September), and this year’s theme is  Shifting Conversation to Action. There is a major focus on eSafety. The digital, online world is forever changing and expanding. It presents great possibilities for learning, communication and collaboration. However, it is also a minefield of dangers for children. There are reasons why movies, games, books, comics, magazines, music, websites and Apps have age restrictions. The content is deemed to be inappropriate for young children. The school does its due diligence in promoting, following and enforcing this. It is up to parents during out of school hours time to monitor and enforce this with their children. No child under the age of 13 (soon to be 16) should have access to Facebook, TikTok, Instagram etc. It is also very strongly recommended that children are not engaged in online chats and gaming. They are exposed to content and perform activities that they do not understand or comprehend. Too many times we are hearing about issues that are steming from online activity with the children not knowing what they are doing.

'It keeps them quiet or busy' is not a valid reason or excuse. 'All there friends have it or do it' is also not a valid reason or excuse.

We all need to work together to ensure the safety of our children. No is not a bad word. Waiting until the right age is a good thing. Monitoring our children while they are online is crucial to their safety. I highly recommend that TVs, computers, gaming consoles and phones (mobile) are not in children's bedrooms, they should be located in and used in open, communal spaces at home. There are other reasons as well that are supported by childhood and medical experts. I am happy to discuss these with anyone who would like to know more.

Important Upcoming Events:

• Saturday 13th September, 10.00am to 2.00pm - Working Bee (this is a big one!!)
• 16 and 17 September - St. Augustine's Art Show - 3.30pm to 6.30pm

• Friday 19th September Footy Dress Up Day
• Friday 19th September, End of Term 3, 1.15pm Dismissal
• Monday 6th October - Start of Term 4 - School Sun Hats must be worn

An important reminder for all families to complete the MACSSIS Family Survey from Orima. You will have received an email with a link this week from the school. Staff and students from Years 3 to 6 will also complete a survey. We take this survey seriously, using the data gathered to inform decisions and directions around our Annual Action Plan (AAP) and our 4 year School Improvement Plan (SIP).

Until next term, a wish all students a happy and safe Spring School holidays. To any families travelling domestically or internationally, safe travels.

Matthew Stead

Principal