MRS BURFIELD

Recently Mrs Burfield received great news that she was officially in remission following her cancer treatment. This is so exciting and we look forward to her return in Week 6. Mrs Burfield would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers throughout this harrowing journey over the past 10 months.

DAMAGE TO SCHOOL PROPERTY

Today we were saddened to learn about the damage to one of our girls toilets. We assume this as accidental, but can never tell. In saying that, some of our students find that kicking doors, damaging padlocks and using equipment in unsafe ways is acceptable. We would appreciate if you could talk to your children about the importance of reporting damage of school property to classroom teachers, especially if they see those who cause the damage, as well as making sure we all look after school property. Classroom teachers and student leaders are continually talking about keeping property safe through our SPBL expectations.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY TERM 2

A reminder that Tuesday, 13 June is a Staff Development Day, following the King's birthday Long Weekend and no supervision will be provided on this day. Please contact OSH Club if you require supervision. School will resume on Wednesday, 14 June.

LOST PROPERTY

At this time of the year, as the weather changes day by day, we have an abundance of lost property. To help us keep lost property to a minimum please:

Ensure student name is clearly labelled on all property (please ensure older brothers and sisters names have been taken off and/or second hand uniforms do not contain the names of past students)
Practise routines with your child - eg getting them to take responsibility for their jumpers etc at home on the weekend, rather than just picking up after them.

Teachers continually monitor lost property. All lost property is sent to the office and re-distributed if items can be identified. There is also lots of lost property in the hall from OSH Club. Lost property items are kept outside the office.

DEALING WITH PLAYGROUND CONTACT

As mentioned in previous newsletters, please do not approach other students or parents regarding playground conflict/issues. The best person to speak to is your child's class teacher. Please call the office to make an appointment if you wish to discuss a concern.

COMMUNICATION REMINDERS

As per our Communication policy, please note the following:

All emails should directed to info@stpsutherland.catholic.edu.au Teachers should not be emailed directly unless prior arrangements have been made.
Urgent messages should not be sent via email. If you need to change an appointment or make adjustments to pick up etc, please call the office. This is to guarantee your message gets through in a timely manner.
Emails are answered within 3 working days. This is per Sydney Catholic Schools policy.

STUDENTS WHO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

A reminder that all children who use public transport to and/or from school do so in our school uniform. Please ensure you continue to talk to your children about how to remain safe while using buses and trains. This includes remaining in their seats for the duration of the journey.

WORLD SUPPORT STAFF DAY

This week we celebrated 'World Support Staff Day'. This was a day to celebrate those wonderful people who do so much behind the scenes and work above and beyond caring for your children and assisting teachers to implement programs of learning and create resources to help students positively engage in the learning process. From our office admin staff, to our wonderful LSOs, thank you on behalf of all members of the St Patrick's Community.

ABSENCES DURING SCHOOL TERM

Did you know that if a student misses as little as eight days in a school term, by the end of primary school they will have missed over a year of education?

In New South Wales, all children from six years of age are legally required to attend school or be registered for home schooling. Children are expected to attend all school activities, on time. Regular attendance helps your child: − develop the skills needed to access the world of work and other opportunities − to learn the importance of punctuality and routine − make and keep friendships.

Principals help to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of your child. Principals have to keep accurate records of student attendance and the reasons for any absences. Principals are responsible for accepting or not accepting a parent’s explanations for their child’s absences.

Principals may request further information from parents for long or frequent absences, even where they are explained by parents as being due to illness. When absences are unexplained by parents, or the explanations are not accepted by the principal, the school will work with parents to help address the issue. The main aim is to sort out what is preventing the child from getting to school and putting strategies in place to help. Sometimes, the school will ask support staff and other agencies to assist.

If you plan to take extended leave (10 days or more) during the school term, an exemption needs to be applied for prior to the absence. Please contact the office for more details.

SOCIAL MEDIA

For those of you who attended recent sessions with Saskia West, here is an article regarding social media that was spoken about during the sessions.

Concerns regarding usage of social media apps by primary school students

When it comes to cyber security concerns, a lot of focus is often placed on gaming or internet access that is centred around children being exposed to content they should not see or that is violent, sexualised or not age appropriate. This kind of content however can also be passed on by other student friends whose parents may not have as tight controls on their children’s usage of the internet.

There are many reasons for why our children want to have access to social media such as the desire to interact and have fun with friends outside of the school environment; to gain acceptance from peers; to share and learn interests; explore identities; to avoid being out of the loop of discussions being held online by peer groups; general peer pressure to do so.

Even if your child is only conversing with classmates it does not protect them from the dangers of social media. Other students may not behave the same way as your child. Your child will be exposed to other students' posts of themselves, what they are wearing, how they look, where they are going e.g. at another student’s house, party etc and then wondering why they haven't been invited. Other students may give out information that your child does not want them to give, including personal information. On snapchat these comments may be entered where it is only seen for seconds and then disappears without record. Some students may also use the online forum to put down other students over incidents or their actions that have happened even at school.

It creates a reluctance for students to report negative behaviour both at school and online for fear of being ridiculed or admonished by others online for doing so. It also means that the school may be completely unaware that students are putting up with bad behaviour and therefore unable to do anything about it. Your child may well be experiencing negative or bullying behaviour by others at school but suffers in silence rather than going to a teacher or even a parent and running the risk of online consequences.

Before you allow your primary school child to access social media please consider the following:

1. What are his/her friendships/social skills like? Because if friendships in real life have any level of drama, trauma, or tension, then those friendships will ignite on social media. Remember, social media can have cruel behaviour. Can your child carry on a meaningful, human-to-human conversation with a non-parent adult? If not, then they are not ready for social media. Help them to master face-to-face long before they’re tested screen-to-screen.

2. How well does he/she obey rules? Every child pushes back at least some of the time, but there is a level of defiance that rises above just normal child disobedience. Is there deception? Regular lying? If yes, then they are not ready for social media.

3. Does he/she have a strong heart? Is your child self-confident? Or, is he/she adrift in their identity, uncertain as to who they are or why they exist? Ask your son or daughter to name three amazing things about themselves. If they can’t do this, then they’re not ready for social media. Think about Instagram for a minute – are your children truly ready for “the whispers of Instagram?” The whisper that says, “skinny and sexy = followers and likes.” The whisper that shows them an endless stream of perfectly polished pictures. Few 13-year-old girls are even ready for that.

4. Is he/she at least 13 years old? Kids who begin using social media before turning 13 are beginning their journey into the social media ecosystem as a lie, and worse yet, one that is often condoned by parents. Many psychologists advocate for at least age 15 for mature social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.

5. Have you had direct and frequent conversations about awkward things? For children who are on social media, parents will need to discuss pornography, and sexual predators. Before using social media, your child needs to have heard these words for years and know exactly what they mean and what to do when confronted by situations that involve them. Go through every possible “what if?” scenario and ask yourself, “have we talked about that?” Just like scammers, new ways to get access to young people are being created every day. Does he/she know what to do when they see porn? (because they will) Does he/she know what a sexual predator is, can they recognize the signs, and are they confident enough to know what to do when approached by someone online? (because eventually, it will happen). If not, then your son or daughter is definitely not ready for social media.

Catholic Education Foundation.

In 2023, the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) is excited to be celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary- helping to create educational opportunities for our students. In that time we have provided over 36,700 bursaries with nearly 30% of those in the last 2 years. If you would like to support this cause you can do so via the information below.

News from our Family & Faith Educator