Welcome to Term 2!

A warm welcome to all our families for the start of Term 2! Thankfully, after a unsettled period of weather over the holiday period, we have been blessed with lovely warm weather this week. It is great to have the sound of laughter and fun back out in the school grounds and students reaquaint themsleves with each other. I trust your child/children had a great break and has a renewed lease of energy for the term ahead.

With the weather in mind I would ask that all students continue to wear hats outside as temperatures continue to peak in the mid twenties degree range. We will use the first two weeks of term to transition to our winter uniform, however hats will help maintain protection from the sun as the warmth persists.

School Photo Day

This is a courtesy notice to let you know that Monday May 4 is our School Photo Day and we expect all students to be in their winter uniform.

Year 5/6 Camp

Our Year 5s and 6s attended two days of camp adventure and challenge activities during the last week of Term 2 at The Briars in Mount Martha. You can read David F, Mikkel and Alexander's recount of the experience here and read about some of the fun activities!

Orange Door

Our school cares about the safety and wellbeing of our students and their families.

Sometimes things at home or in a relationship are not OK or families can be worried about the wellbeing of their children or young people.

The Orange Door can help you to get the support you need, quickly and easily. It’s free and you don’t need a referral.

The Orange Door

The Orange Door can help families. They provide support for concerns with parenting, relationships, and family violence.

The Orange Door is a free intake and assessment service for:

• families requiring support for their child or young person’s wellbeing or development

• families needing parenting support

• young, isolated, or unsupported families

• individuals and families experiencing family violence

• adults using family violence

• young people using violence in the home.

If you contact The Orange Door, they can help by:

• working with you to identify the help and support you need

• supporting you with the wellbeing and development of your child or young person

• helping you make a safety plan if someone is making you feel unsafe

• connecting you to services that can help like counselling, accommodation, mental health and drug and alcohol services, parenting support groups, services for children, financial help, or legal assistance

• supporting you to access funding for basic living expenses and some other costs

• supporting you to change abusive or controlling behaviour.

Each Orange Door location across Victoria has their own phone number and email. Students and their families can also visit their local Orange Door in person for support, Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm for support. No appointment is needed.

To find your local service, see: The Orange Door – Support near you.

How schools connect with The Orange Door

Our school might talk to a student and/or their family about The Orange Door. We might encourage them to contact their local Orange Door to get advice and help if needed.

Ideally, a student and/or their family will get in touch with The Orange Door to seek advice and support.

Sometimes, schools might make a referral to The Orange Door without the student or their family’s knowledge or consent. Schools will do this if:

• informing a student and/or family increases the risk to their safety or wellbeing

• not linking a student to support increases the risk of their safety and wellbeing.

You can learn more about:

• The Orange Door and how they can help you and your family here.

• how our school keeps our students safe by reading our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and our Child Safety Code of Conduct.

MACS Family Survey

To honour our commitment to strengthening the Catholic education sector and to inform our strategic provision planning, we would like your help with building our understanding of our current families’ experience, decision-making and engagement with Catholic education.

The MACS Family Survey is part of our broader system‑wide research that informs our effort to ensure we meet our communities’ needs in the years ahead.

The survey is anonymous. All responses are confidential and will be used solely for the purposes of this research. To ensure confidentiality, we are partnering with Edified – a specialist education research firm – to support the design and analysis of this work. The survey takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete.

Participation is voluntary and families may complete the survey without providing identifying information.

MACS Family Survey

Easter Raffle

Thankyou to our wonderful families who donated items for our Easter Raffles which were drawn at the end of term 2. Please find attached some photos for you to view here.

Five Nights at Freddy's

This week staff came across some of our younger students looking at a book related to Five Nights at Freddy's that was brought from home. If your child has shown an interest in this book/movie, parental intervention is recommended given the following rating we have uncovered - go to the link for more information:

Motion Picture Rating (MPA)

Rated PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images and language.

Whilst the book was brought to school innocently enough, it does serve as a friendly reminder to be wary of what content our students are being exposed to and what they might expose others to if they bring such material to school. We request that any material that is rated outside the age bracket of our students (such as PG-13) not be brought to school.

Anzac Appeal

Anzac Day remains a significant day of commemoration for Australians. On this day we honour all who have served, and continue to serve our nation, in wars, conflicts and peace operations. It is a time for solemn reflection and to express gratitude for this service.

Anzac pins and writs bands are available to purchase from the office, or from some of our Senior Students after Assembly this Friday. These range from $2 to $20.

Prayer of the week