Principals News

Dear Families, 

Thanks for all of your support throughout the term. We have had a number of events, and we are seeing increasing engagement which is what our goal is. 

Our school has been nominated as Finalist for Monash Health Awards, through initiatives such as Breakfast club. Thanks to Glenis who leads Breakfast Club, our students who drive it and our whole staff who always seek to evolve to support what our families need. 

This week, Art from our school will be displayed at the Doveton show and our Dance Crew will perform at 10:30am. The Doveton Show is a great local event and I look forward to seeing some of our families there. 

A reminder that After School Care opens at the start of next term. A coordinator is being appointed and I will send an update over the holidays. Supporting After School Care, supports our school. Information about rebates will be out soon. 

I am writing this from the Australian and New Zealand Primary Principals Conference. There are over 900 Principals in attendance. All share similar successes, but certainly, all the same challenges. 

One such challenge is Digital Safety, which has been a focus in the media. It has been interesting that the Government pressure has already forced some changes by the big companies, however, we must caution that age limits have been around for a long time. Kids still use the apps. Therefore, simple bans alone will not keep children protected. 

I have some simple suggestions to help keep your kids safe. 

• Show this photo to your child and see how many of these apps they know. It is important we do it non-judgmentally, as we want to gain trust. Ask them to explain how they use it, the good and the bad. Then, go to esafety.gov.au and type the app in the search bar. The experts provide a short snapshot about the benefits and the dangers. Some of these your children should definitely not be on! 

• Understand that most of the challenges the children face online, are the same dangers and issues they face in the real world. The biggest challenge is generally relationships with their friends through chat. Unfortunately, children say things online they wouldn’t say to someone's face. (Adults do it too). However the important part is, they don't seek help, because they are worried they will get in trouble and lose the right to the device. Therefore, any help seeking should be praised. Look for changes in behaviour as to a sign something might be happening. 
• Be optimistic about technology. (This can be hard, and we should be worried as well). At the New Zealand Conference we have heard from Dr Jordan Nguyen, an Australian doing amazing things. Sit down with your child and watch his short You Tube series he is releasing. What you start to understand is that with a clear purpose, technology is allowing people to do amazing things. Explore the future

If we are curious and interested with our children, it allows us to drop those important lessons about the dangers of technology in context. 

We often use technology to create scary stories. Some stories are! However, many of our children will have jobs that don’t exist. That's not scary, because many jobs today (think social media, uber) didn’t exist in 2005. Yet, we are adapting well. 

A reminder that we have a school closure on the first day of term four. So students start back on Tuesday 8th of October.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, Pauline Moran and Julie Feddersen have left on a pilgrimage to Spain. Year ¾, due to the teacher shortage, they will have a few teachers, but all experienced and will work together to ensure continuity, with Mrs Drossaert and two experienced teachers from other schools teaching the class. 

We understand for working families, holidays are challenging times, however I do hope you get the chance to have a special time, even an hour, doing something with the children these holidays. 

Paul