Student 

Wellbeing

Bullying No Way week!

Last week, St Monica's Primary joined many other schools across Australia in coming together to promote inclusion, respect and belonging. This year's theme was Be Bold, Be Kind and Speak Up. We had various craft activities happening throughout the week in the library, culminating in our "pop of purple" Friday. Throughout the week every student in the school beaded their name. These names were joined to create a class bead chain with each member of the class threaded together. All classes were attached to make a wall hanging which is currently on display in the school office. The idea behind this activity was for each student to bead their name as a commitment to Being Bold, Being Kind and Speaking Up. It's created a lot of interest from visitors as well as students eager to find their own names! I want to thank all students and staff for supporting this initiative and we will endeavour to continue sharing this message well after Bullying No Way week has come to an end.  

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

This fortnight, we have a focus on the expectations in the yard during break time. We have been finding that our equipment isn't being put back or looked after as well as it could be. Our students are lucky to have access to basketballs, netballs, footballs, tennis balls, skipping ropes and various sandpit toys during each break. 

We are also monitoring our high traffic areas to ensure students are walking safely and being mindful of others.  

Mini Blitz: Be Friendly

It’s up to all of us to take care of our equipment on the yard,  

making sure it’s looked after and returned safely isn’t too hard!

Each week, we count up our pebbles across the whole school. Pebbles are earned by students who are following the school expectations! These pebbles are tallied up into house team and class totals. We announce these results at assembly. 

We recently had our first assembly for the term where we announced the winning team of our pebble challenge for Term 2. The winning house was Augustine! Congratulations to all of the students in Augustine who will receive a special hot chip and pizza lunch together in the coming weeks!

Attendance

You can view your child's attendance on the SimonEverywhere App. Attendance percentage appears just below the students profile when you click on the home icon. 

Each edition of the newsletter we share the attendance percentage from the previous two weeks. Below is a break down of the most recent fortnight. The aim is 95% attendance. During our last assembly, we spoke to all students on the importance of attending school regularly. While it's wonderful to be aiming for 100% we know that this is not always possible with illness, fatigue and family days all factors across the duration of a term.

 Shout out to our middle year levels in Year 2, 3 and 4's who got above 90%!

Cyber Safety/Online Gaming/Social Media

As part of our Bullying No Way action, our Year 5/6 students participated in an eSafety session on Wednesday. This session was a live interactive webinar designed to explore how choices in online chats can positively influence online friendships and peer wellbeing. The eSafety commission have wonderful resources that are available on their website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/

As well as the eSafety commission, as a school we are also fortunate to have partnered with a well renowned cyber safety organisation "Safe on Social." As part of our partnership with Safe on Social, we have a library of resources, cheat sheets and supports regarding any aspect of Cyber Safety/Online Gaming/Social Media. If you are finding any of these a challenge with your child, please feel free to reach out and we can provide some specific information and support in this space. 

For more information email: dboulton@smkangarooflat.catholic.edu.au

Parent Workshop Opportunity - Lael Stone

CatholicCare are excited to be hosting Lael Stone, parenting speaker, educator, and author for an upcoming parenting workshop ‘Creating Cooperation and Connection’ at The Capital Theatre on Tuesday 28th October at 7pm. Tickets are $10 including booking fee. Lael is a renowned presenter in the parenting space and we are lucky to have this opportunity within our community. Lael is a popular guest on many well known podcasts and I have no doubt this will be an engaging experience. 

See the flyer below for further information and booking link.

Fresh Fruit Friday 

This is a great initiative but please make sure children are still bringing a piece of fruit in their lunchbox for fruit break as fruit is not available all week. 

Season’s for Growth

 A grief and loss program

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Monica’s we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances, children and young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering a very successful education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks. Seasons for Growth runs for eight weeks and each weekly session is 40-50 minutes during school hours. The program concludes with a 'Celebration' session. Later in the year each group will have the opportunity to meet for a re-connector session to build on their earlier learning and to follow up how each child is going. 

Seasons for Growth will commence in term 2 and will be facilitated by Carina Johns(5/6 Teacher) and Bronwyn Fieldew ( Family Liaison Officer) who has received special training in the use of this program. 

For more information please contact Bronwyn at the school and/or express your interest in this program by filling out the email form below  which will be sent to Bronwyn Fieldew. St Monica’s is pleased to be able to offer this important program and we are confident that it will be a valuable learning experience for those who request to be involved.

Please send an email below letting us know if your child would like your child/children to participate in this program. Please include the following information: 

Student name, class and whether they have experienced separation or loss. 

Helpful Parent resources:

• rch.org.au
• earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au
• parentingideas.com.au
• australia.gov.au
• kidsafe.com.au
• betterhealth.vic.gov.au
• kidsmatter.edu.au
• youtube.com - Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University