PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Aspire not to have more, but to be more - Saint Oscar Romero     

Dear Families,

VISITING THE SCHOOL and QRcode:  Just a reminder that when visiting/entering the school you are required to QRcode please.  Please sign in and QRcode if staying longer than 15 minutes.

I read this open letter (below) on cyber safety, written by Carly McGauran who is a mum and psychologist and is well worth the read.  

Dear parents of primary school children, 

I know just hearing the topic “Cyber Safety” may make you feel overwhelmed but I really need you to hear what I have to say. Please keep reading all the way to the end. As a mum of three children aged 9, 13 and 15 years I know just how hard it is to keep on top of what our kids are doing online. None of us grew up in a “digital” world so we are all learning (and don’t our kids know that!). It can be so tough, certainly plenty of upset, conflict and tears over technology in my family over the years! As a psychologist for more than 15 years, and more recently combining this with work as a cyber safety educator, I see the truly devastating impact of children and young people who are exposed to unsafe situations and inappropriate content online...including:

1. Being groomed and/or abused by predators

2. Being exposed to pornography and/or hyper sexualised content 

3. Viewing drug and alcohol themed content

4. Playing games with or watching explicit violence

5. Seeing content related to suicide and self harm

6. Viewing horror content and other adult themes

7. Struggling with cyber bullying.

So I want to share with you today 10 steps (by no means an exhaustive list) you can start TODAY so your children can be safer and healthier online. I know your days are busy, so maybe even cancel something scheduled this week to make time for this!! If you sat with these children/young people and heard the first hand accounts that I have, you would not hesitate to make this a priority. So here goes......

1. Make sure devices are used in communal areas of your home and NO devices in bedrooms.

2. Ensure there is active supervision when kids are on devices (means an adult must be present and checking in regularly).

3. Set parental controls on all devices, games and apps. Parental controls are usually found in the settings. They can be enabled and password protected to ensure your child is playing the safest version. For example, Roblox can be made significantly safer by enabling the simple setting called“restricted mode” (designed for under 13's).

4. Remind your children often that it is never safe to talk or message people they do not know in real life (even if they seem really nice).

5. Reduce the risk of exposure to inappropriate content on YouTube by using the YouTube Kids app as long as possible and if allowing access to YouTube ensure that restricted mode is enabled. I also recommend, where possible, to cast YouTube to a TV for better adult supervision.

6. Delay kids having any social media accounts of their own! If you are looking for a messaging app for under 13's, then consider Messenger Kids (by Facebook).

7. Any time your children come to you with a problem, stay calm, take a few deep breaths and be curious instead of furious. Remember this is a teachable moment, an opportunity for your child to learn to make more healthy decisions and even more important than that....learn to trust that they can come to us.

8. Be firm when setting boundaries and even when kids say “everyone is on Snapchat” or “all my friends are playing it”, make your decision in line with what they need and not what they want...which can be very different! Don’t give in!

9. Visit Kids Helpline with your kids before there is a problem so they are comfortable doing so when they may need it.

10. Download the free, parent friendly Beacon app to help with all things digital.

Keep reading...

I thought it might also help if I share with you the sort of chat I’ve had with my children many times over the years.

“There is all sorts of content on the internet and a lot of it is not suitable for children your age. Just like it is important to eat healthy food to nourish your body, it is important to watch content that is healthy for your brain. If anyone asks you to watch something or do something online that makes you feel uncomfortable you are allowed to say “no”. Try saying “I'm not allowed to watch that/do that” and blame your strict parents. If you ever find yourself in a situation that makes you feel yucky, worried, scared or unsafe at all, you can tell me. I promise you won’t be in trouble. I can and will help you. No mistake you make will ever stop me loving you - seriously nothing!! If there is ever a time you need help and for some reason you can’t come to me, don’t forget you can talk to another trusted adult or contact Kids Helpline”.

I know our children absolutely love what gaming, social media and the internet has to offer but as parents we need to help our kids make safe and healthy decisions. I don’t have all the answers. I often worry about whether I’m making the “best” decision. I do know this though... We can change our minds as parents and reset boundaries. So if for example, you have allowed your child on social media, I urge you to re-think this. Also, us parents have to be okay with making unpopular decisions, navigate our way through the tears (theirs and ours!) and even being hated. If you are already doing this, keep going! Lastly, start having conversations about topics like pornography (even if it’s uncomfortable), there’s no such thing as a “perfect conversation”, just start. When our children become young adults our aim is that they are equipped with healthy habits, accurate information and critical thinking amongst other skills to manage the challenges of our world.

So from me to you - prioritise your self care so that you can show up as your best self and reach out to other parents - hang in there, we really, truly are all in this together.

Kind Regards,

Carley McGauran

Mum and Psychologist

SIBLING ENROLMENTS FOR 2022 DUE NOW

NEWSLETTER RELEVANCE 

Last newsletter, we asked for feedback regarding the relevance of  the newsletter.  

3 responded and 1 of those was outside of the school.  This was a very telling response. 

The statistics show:

-People view the diary dates more than any other page in the newsletter

-Community news is the least viewed page

-86% of email subscribers (22 people) open the newsletter

-Most view the newsletter on their phone

-3 minutes on average is spent in the newsletter

-The most opened newsletter was edition 4 (end of term)

-Only a third of parents are viewing the newsletter

Our thoughts are that there are many platforms to find information.  As of term 3, we would use daily messages on PAM, as is happening already, push notifications (must have SimonEverywhere) or email as the need arises and put out notices/bulletins to cover everything else like sporting achievements, class awards and special moments.

In PAM you will find - important information on daily messages (which is live - so that means, all messages that are up on daily messages are up to date.  You should be going in to Daily messages every day to check for new information and for any changes to previous information). There is also calendar to check for diary dates etc (if you click on the activity in the calendar you will see a description of that activity).   SimonEverywhere provides push notifications that are usually relevant to your child's year level, class, activity or reminder.  

PRAYER