assistant principal's message

Dear parents and carers,

Wow, we made it! We successfully got through the term threw everything at us!

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone for supporting your children and our staff in navigating the most complex term I’ve ever experienced.

School holidays are now upon us, and again they may be different than holidays of past. I hope that you are able to have some lovely time with your children and that even if you only stay within a small radius of your home, that you are able to enjoy some of the outdoors and some forms of adventure! I’d love to hear all about how this can happen when the children return to school.

For some children and families, technology and playing online games is a way of relaxing and for some connecting to friends. On Tuesday I joined a fascinating online session looking at ‘gaming’. Many fascinating statistics were presented, the one I found the most fascinating was on March 16-March 22 2020: sales of game consoles experienced a 285% spike in sales (COVID-19).

We know that many children successfully manage their online activities, especially when monitored by their families, for instance the computer being in a shared space in the house. Unfortunately for some vulnerable children, their use is unsafe and damaging. Since being back at school I have sadly been working with 3 families from our community in which their children are showing clear signs of gaming addiction. These children access technology including games throughout the night. This has resulted in compromised sleep, leading to tiredness, disengagement from school and school refusal. I say this as a reminder that parental supervision is critical as is being well informed! Following is a very informative website for families from the esafety Commissioner. https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide. I hope you find it useful.

If you are concerned about your child being at risk, please seek professional support and advice. 

Reports:

In case you missed the morning announcement today, just a reminder that by now all families should have received your children’s reports by Sentral, and if you’re not able to access Sentral via email. Unfortunately due to Sentral issues, we’ve only been able to email reports to parent number 1 listed on children’s enrolment forms. If you are parent number 2, and you’ve not received one when you require one, please let the office know and one will be sent to you today. Families who have already indicated that they’d like a hard copy report is also being sent out today.

Camp funds, your generosity is appreciated!

What a school! Yet again our school has demonstrated how incredible and generous a community it is. Thank you to families who have already donated monies which will be used to support families experiencing financial hardship, so that their children can attend camps. If you have these funds available, please continue to donate these to the Trevor Bowen Fund. It really does make a difference!

Please keep safe, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all next term.

Take care

Wendy