From the Principal...   

Dear Parents and Friends,

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums at St Therese's Primary School.

While Mother's Day 2020 was spent in isolation and many families where unable to connect with their grandmothers or other special family and friends, I hope that you found the day restful with your beautiful children.

Being a mother can be challenging and yet rewarding. When I first became a mother, twenty-three years ago, my life changed forever. Before then I thought I knew what true love was, it was not until I held my first child that I could really know what that meant!  When my children were little, I thought that being a mother would get easier as they grew but I was wrong. As my children grew, so did the challenges! Now they drive and lead lives of their own, and I still worry about them every day and love them without measure! 

On Mother's Day, I often think about Mary - Jesus' mother.  What faith she must have had when she discovered that she would give birth to God's only son, Jesus Christ. What distress she must have felt when  Jesus was lost in the temple and what utter agony she must have felt when Jesus died on the cross. Through it all, she demonstrated the unconditional love of what motherhood means!

 I hope that you enjoyed the video that the children took part in making. I have attached it again for you here in case you missed it on Caremonkey on Friday, along with some artwork that the children did for their mums. 

On-Site Learning School Update

On Tuesday, 12 May 2020, the Premier, Daniel Andrews has announced the phased return to classroom learning. A letter is attached that outlines the steps involved that will see all students back to school as normal by Wednesday, 10 June 2020.

Cyber-Safety Online Workshop - Thursday 14th May 8:00pm - 9:30pm

With our children now being given more time online, it is now even more important to understand how we can keep them safe in a digital world.

CEOSale has created an opportunity for schools to provide parents to participate in an exclusive webinar 'Cyber Safety: Parenting in a Digital World' on Thursday 14th May from 8:00pm - 9:30pm. 

The webinar is through Inform and Empower, who is a trusted eSafety provider and approved through the eSafety Commissioner. The webinar is co-presented by Carley McGauran (psychologist) and Martin McGauran (primary school teacher) from Inform and Empower.

The webinar focuses on cyber issues including managing devices in the home, keeping safe online, unsafe apps, and social media. If you are unable to attend the webinar a recording of the event will be made available.

Details of how to attend the webinar are included in the flyer attached. I urge all parents to consider taking part in this event. I will certainly be there!

Families requiring assistance 

I am pleased to pass on this information.

Are things tough right now? If you live in Cranbourne, Hampton Park or some of the surrounding suburbs, CISS might be able to help.

What we can help with?

• Food and supermarket vouchers
• Petrol vouchers
• Chemist costs
• Education costs
• Counselling for adults and children
• Financial counseling and support to negotiate bills
• Referrals to other services like housing
• Lots of other information and support available...

All you need to do is call us on 5996 3333 between 9:30am and 4:00pm Monday to Friday. You can have a chat with one of our friendly volunteers who will see how we can help you.

Attached is the CISS brochure for more information

Website is http://www.cranbourneiss.org.au/

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

Each year, schools are required to submit data on students with disabilities to the government.

It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or ‘help’ at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disabilities.

Consent is not required for this data to be collected.

The following link contains a fact sheet for parents regarding NCCD and the process involved in collecting the data. The information has also been included in four languages (Arabic, Simple Chinese, Vietnamese and Tagalog)

Please check out the 'Remote' Community News page for great learning from across our school! If you would like to share your own remote learning photos of your family, please don't forget to email them to me so I can include them in the newsletter! principal@sttcbourne.catholic.edu.au 

Have a happy week,

Michelle Bruitzman