Maramba Vision

Providing a caring environment where aspirations are nurtured, positive relationships grow, success is celebrated and a passion for lifelong learning is ignited.

Nurture. Innovate. Celebrate.

Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families,

ENROLMENTS FOR 2021

Enrolments are now being taken for 2021. Parents who are aware of friends, neighbours or relatives who have a child ready to start school in 2021, please let them know that enrolments are now being taken. As in previous years, Mr Wallace and I are available to answer questions from interested parents and children about our school.

Our Foundation students have enthusiastically enjoyed all the first semester has bought their way. It seems like yesterday they started their primary school journey with us. It never ceases to amaze us how quickly they settle to school life gaining confidence in all areas of their learning each and every day. As we reflect on the year to date we wish to acknowledge the contribution of all our staff, their warmth and friendliness, their sense of fun and their willingness to build strong relationships with their students and families are qualities we are very proud of at Maramba. They work diligently and very long hours during school terms. Their commitment is exemplified by all that they have done and are doing for our students during the COVID-19 emergency. Our staff quickly adapted to new ways of teaching and learning and the care and thought that they put into helping our students to learn from home. Special thanks to FOM for their continued tireless contributions across so many areas this semester.

USING APPS AT HOME

Did you know that over 20% of students in Years 5 and 6 are using at least one or more of these apps at home?

Whilst technology can be fun, educational and engaging, it also has its downfalls.

It has come to our attention that many students at our school are using apps not recommended for their age.

Parents are within their rights to approve, download and give permission for their children to use certain apps and/or programs at home, but we ask that you first learn what these apps do and what they can be used for, before allowing your children to access them.

It is important to know what your children are using online!

TikTok

iTunes Recommended age of use: 13+

Common Sense Media recommended age of users: 16+

Formally ‘musical.ly’, this app encourages users to make short movies/songs and upload these via a hashtag (topic).

The program allows users to live stream themselves and their content for others, and allows commenting and editing by third parties, if privacy settings are not used and content is posted publicly.

This app is widely used outside of school hours at Maramba and parents must be aware, that students can be subjected to online harassment, inappropriate content (tags) and can view offensive material and language.

WhatsApp

iTunes Recommended age of use:12+

Common Sense Media: 16+

This is a mobile messaging app, which people use to send personal messages, group messages (of up to 100 people) and video chat, without paying for text messaging fees.

The dangers of ‘WhatsApp’ include allowing users to see locations of others (if privacy settings are not set) and there is no way to report inappropriate use or language. People do have the option of blocking numbers.

Students at Maramba are in large group chats through ‘Whatsapp’ and ‘iMessage’, which allows them to receive hundreds of messages through ‘chats’ throughout the night, causing loss of sleep and unnecessary screen time.

Instagram

iTunes Recommended age of use: 12+

Common Sense Media: 15+

Snapchat

iTunes Recommended age 12+

Common Sense Media: 16+

Both of these social media apps (Instagram and Snapchat) are used for posting, messaging, image and video sharing/and adding special effects. Students are able to post and view ‘tagged’ content. Students can view extremely inappropriate content by searching ‘hashtags’.

Their content and location is also accessible by friends and strangers online.

Kind Regards,

Diane Morwood

Assistant Principal

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the students who will be celebrating their birthdays this week.