August 8 is a special date in the the calendar. Not only because it is my mother’s birthday (Happy Birthday Mum), but also because it is the Feast Day of Saint Mary MacKillop.

Saint Mary of the Cross, as she is now known, is a special person in Australia’s history. She is an influential female leader, who challenged the Catholic Church leaders, even disobeying their orders, to do what she believed was right.

Mary Helen MacKillop (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian Roman Catholic nun who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Mary was born in Fitzroy and a statue is located at St Patrick’s Cathedral, and at the site of her birth, which is only a few hundred metres away in Fitzroy.

Mary is known by the quote, ‘never see a need without doing something about it’. It's what drove her to start schools for those that could not afford it. She persisted and built a team of people around her, to serve those who needed it most.

It is Mary’s commitment to education and to those who need help that inspire us at Holy Family Doveton to provide the best outcomes and hope to all students within our care.

Social Media and Phone Use Late at Night.

Our students recently completed a survey as part of our partnership with the Resilience Project. What was concerning was that most students said they used devices between 10pm and 6am. Whilst this is concerning alone, it aligned with data that said many of our students feel quite tired and lacked sleep, which affected their learning.

We should be proud of the students for being honest with the survey. Our job as educators and parents is to help them realise the risks and damages of them being on the phone all night. We have worked with Linewize to provide some easily accessible information to keep children safe online. https://hfdoveton.onlinesafetyhub.com.au/

For me, who is guilty of spending too much time on my phone, I have had to consider what I am modelling for my young children. If they see me on my phone, the message I am giving them is that I value the phone more than face to face interaction. I am trying to keep my phone tucked away when I get home, so I don’t have it as a distraction and I am modelling positive behaviours to my kids. I am probably about 60% at the moment, but I am committed to improving, for the benefit of my children.

Open Day

If you or any family or friends have a child starting Prep next year, please encourage them to come to the Open Day next Wednesday at 8:30am. As mentioned, our Prep enrolments are well up, and filling fast.

Olympics

A huge congratulations to all of our student leaders who ran an amazing Olympics event. We are so proud that they stood up and got everyone involved. Whilst it may be a little more chaotic, the students get so much out of it, particularly learning that it is quite hard to lead a class and to get people to listen!

Thanks to all the family members who came along.

Next Thursday there will be a BBQ for parents at the BBQ area. This will just be for parents and not for our children (they’ve already informed me how unfair that is), but it is just to encourage our families to come along and meet other parents and feel comfortable in our school. There will be more of these happening as the weather improves.

Father’s Day

Our next big event is Father’s Day. Breakfast will start at 8:15am. We encourage all dads to come along and spend some special time with their children. If dad isn’t available, we are happy for every child to have a special person come along and share breakfast.

Lots of things happening:

Monday: Police buddies visiting 4/5 class.
Friday: 3-6 students visiting St John’s for Science class
Tuesday: 5/6 students visiting Melbourne State Library to meet famous author Andy Griffths
Thursday: District Athletics for Year 4-6

This is our commitment to provide the best possible opportunities for our wonderful students! .

We would also like to let you know that we have had new LED lighting installed throughout the school. This is due to a grant from the State Government. We are very thankful for this, it has made a noticeable difference and brightened up the rooms.

Chess Club Update