From Mr Coppin
The Importance of Cyber Safety and Raising the Age for Social Media
In today’s digital world, children are accessing the internet at younger ages, making cyber safety an essential topic for parents and educators. While technology offers great learning opportunities, it also presents risks such as cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and online predators. It is crucial for parents to have open discussions with their children about safe online behavior, including the importance of privacy, recognizing harmful content, and knowing when to seek help. By setting clear boundaries and using parental controls, families can create a safer online experience for their children.
One important movement gaining attention is the Raising the Age initiative, which advocates for increasing the minimum age for social media use. Many social media platforms currently allow children as young as 13 to sign up, but experts argue that this is too young for children to handle the pressures and risks of social networking. Research shows that social media can negatively impact young users’ mental health, self-esteem, and sleep patterns. By supporting efforts to raise the minimum age, parents and educators can help protect children from these risks and allow them more time to develop the emotional resilience needed for online interactions.
As parents, you play a vital role in guiding your children’s digital habits. Encouraging screen-free time, fostering in-person friendships, and modeling responsible technology use can help children develop a balanced approach to the digital world. It’s also important to stay informed about new online trends and risks, so you can provide the best support and guidance. By working together, we can create a safer online environment and ensure that children are better prepared for the digital challenges ahead.
On Monday 24 March 2025 students in Years 4, 5 and 6 spent significant time learning more from the experts at ySafe on how to be safe digital citizens and on Wednesday evening 26 March, we hosted the ySafe Parent Webinar to support parents in actively engaging with and guiding their children’s online safety journey. The Kambala Online Safety Hub has been designed by ySafe to provide our parents with cyber safety resources, how-to’s guides and practical information to support you and your daughter’s online journey.
Please CLICK HERE for a recording of last night's ySafe Parent Webinar.
Year 3 and Year 5 Camps - Port Hacking & Gerringong
We are delighted to share the below photos from the Year 3 and Year 5 Camps respectively. We look forward to hearing lots of stories upon the girls' return.
Year 3 at Port Hacking soon after their arrival this morning.
Year 5 on Camp at Chittick Lodge in Gerringong.
Junior School Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent-Teacher interviews with Class and Specialist teachers will be held during Week 10 of Term 1 (Monday 31 March- Thursday 3 April). Specialist teachers available for Term 1 interviews are:
Year 2- French, Music
Year 3- French, Art, PE
Year 4- French, Art, Music
Year 5- Science, Drama, PE
Year 6- Science, Drama, Mandarin
Interview times with your daughter’s teachers will be offered both before and after school hours. Most parents find 10 minutes sufficient time for interviews with their daughter’s Class teacher, plus 5 minutes with Specialist teachers and if their daughter’s Maths teacher is not their class teacher. If you feel that more time is necessary, please contact your daughter’s teacher to arrange a convenient time and date for a longer meeting. You may request interviews at other times throughout the year by contacting teachers directly.
How will these interviews work?
We will continue to utilise Zoom for our interviews as feedback indicates this works best for our busy parents and carers. Parent-Teacher interview bookings can be made using our online booking system at https://kambala.meettheteacher.com/ Once you click on the link you will be directed to the online booking system to schedule your appointment/s. The booking portal will be open from 5.00pm on Thursday 13 March and will close at 4.00pm on Thursday 27 March. A Parent-Teacher Booking Appointment Guide has been created to assist parents with their bookings. Please click here to access this Guide. Once you have made an appointment time, confirmation of your appointment time will appear on your screen. A confirmation will also be sent to your parent email address. If you need to amend your booking time, please do so via your confirmation email.
On the day of your Appointment
You can access Zoom links for all teachers on your daughter’s Sundial class page. Teachers will be alerted that you are in the virtual waiting room and will admit parents to begin the appointment at the scheduled time. Every effort to keep to the schedule will be made and we encourage parents to access the Sundial class pages ahead of the scheduled meeting times to support timeliness. Please note if you are running significantly late, you will need to reschedule your appointment as teachers must follow their pre booked interview times with other families. We kindly ask that you respect our teachers’ time and notify them in advance via email if you are unable to make your scheduled appointment time.
IT support
Should you experience technical difficulties during the event, please access ICT support by clicking on the ICT Support tile on the Sundial homepage. While we are doing all we can to prepare for a smooth experience, we appreciate your flexibility should there be any disruptions.
Easter Church Services at St Michael's Vaucluse - Thursday 10 April, 2025
We will honour our Anglican Heritage by having two Easter Church Services at St Michaels at Vaucluse on Thursday 10 April 2025 - the last day of Term 1.
Kindergarten to Year 3 will walk to St Michael's after lunch on Thursday. This will be followed by the Year 4 to Year 6 Easter Service thereafter.
Girls will need to wear their summer uniform and panama hat. Blazers may be required if the weather is Autumnal.
Winter Uniform - Term 2 - Outfitters
Please note that when students return in Term 2 they will be required to wear their Winter uniform.
Our Outfitters store operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7.30am - 3.45pm until the end of Term - Outfitters will not be open during the school holidays.
The last working day of Term 1 is Wednesday 9 April. Outfitters will re-open Week 1 of Term 2 on Monday 28 April, Tuesday 29 April (first day students return) and then as usual Wednesday and Friday. No appointments are necessary.
We will revert to our usual opening days of Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Week 2 of Term 2.