From the Principal Team

Something for Everyone

There are some really great things featured in this week's newsletter that I encourage you to have a look at. 

We had an important whole-school incursion today with the Cyber Safety Project, see below for more including a link to parent resources. 

On the PFA page you will find information for our highly anticipated upcoming event. 

And on the 'Classrooms' page there are videos of Year 3 rugby, Active maps for students to travel safely to school on their bikes or scooters in the local area, and of course our amazing Preps celebrating 100 days at school. 

This week we will also be starting a further building process for accessibility in the school. We think this will be the final phase of helping to make our school grounds accessible and inclusive for all who visit, work or learn with us. It will mean some disruption to how we travel around the school over the next few months but there are some key areas that I am really looking forward to us improving. More details to follow soon. 

Cyber Safety Project

We had a wonderful day with the Cyber Safety Project today, working through the many things that students need to be aware of when playing and socialising online. 

As well as the parent webinar that parents can register for tonight, we strongly encourage families to look at the online resources the project provide. 

https://cybersafetyproject.com.au/families/

Resources such as the 'Digital Balance Challenge' and the 'First Phone Agreement' are really helpful conversation starters that can help you navigate the confusing space of keeping your children safe when using technology. 

So often the hardest thing can be knowing what is 'normal' for your children's peers, what they're allowed to use and which apps they are using. Resources such as these help parents get an idea of what is considered 'normal' usage and how other families are managing it. 

As always, we cannot stress enough the importance of having technology use in shared spaces and not behind a closed bedroom door, this includes a clear routine for where devices are charged overnight (hint: not in the bedroom). A few things we picked up from today that provide a really clear reason for why we need to manage usage of these applications: 

• The number of students using social media applications before they turn 12 has shot up from 48% to 84% since pre-2020 
• over 70% of students take their devices into the bedroom at night
• 44% of students report feeling worse about themselves after using social media. 

'Feeling bad about yourself when using social media' + 'using social media more' + 'using devices in bed' = Children who feel bad about themselves, sleep poorly and make poor decisions in social spaces that are difficult to take back or undo. 

Trent and Sam, the founders of the Cyber Safety Project, were previously teachers at a school in Blackburn, working with children in very similar situations to RNPS students. They understand the attraction and benefits of technology, and are realistic about how and why students are using certain platforms. I strongly recommend that all parents, with children of any age, make an effort to make the most of their resources and webinars. 

We are excited to be partnered up with the Cyber Safety Project as a research partner this year, evaluating the impact of these sessions plus the follow-up sessions to see how much students take away from lessons on cyber safety. The long-term evaluation we will conduct in November will show us whether or not students are holding onto these lessons and give us an idea of what to reinforce more frequently at school and at home. It's a great opportunity and when we're proud to be a part of. 

Community Business Directory

A reminder to any school family-owned businesses that the PFA would like to help link RNPS families with businesses in our community so we can better support each other. 

Register your business, however big or small, through this form and the PFA will be in touch later this year to develop the directory: 

Please share this link with anyone you think might benefit from being included in the directory. The more the merrier.