Newsletter Term 3 Week 5

Dear Families

The children had a fantastic time at the disco last week and it was great to see them participate in an extra-curricular activity, albeit with a number of refinements.  Many thanks to the P&F for organizing the event and to the small group of parents whom came to help.  I should also thank those, other parents, who were eager to help but understood the restrictions we had to put into place.

These refinements or cancellations of activities will be with us to at least the end of the year, I think.  The theme, as we move forward, is to be flexible and agile, with all the events planned for the rest of this term and the year.

In the week 1 newsletter, I shared some information from our Pupil Free Day, where I was fortunate to work with the school staff.  This week I would like to share with you part 2 – Thriving people.

What are the qualities of a school where everyone can thrive (students, parents and staff)?  God put us here to thrive not just survive!  Did you know people with a spiritual dimension to their life, consistently rate their wellbeing higher, than those who have no spiritual life.  As part of learning students’ names, I have been asking them to fill in a “Thriving People” survey and the results of the Year 6 students have been overwhelmingly positive.

Shortly every student in a Catholic School in South Australia will participate in a simple wellbeing initiative – A Classroom Pulse Check In. The importance of the crucial partnership between parents/caregivers as the first educators of their children and  teachers, more so than ever, cannot be overstated.

Please click on the view file below to find a parent letter that fully explains this survey.

Regards
Damian Weeks

Over the year Catholic Education encourages us to share summaries of specific documents.  Below are this term’s documents.

Bullying and Harassment Procedures and Concerns

The school will provide a positive culture where harassment/bullying is not accepted, and in so doing, all will have the right of respect from others, the right to learn and to teach, and a right to feel safe and secure in the school environment. At Star of the Sea School we celebrate our individual talents, skills and differences. We will all try to live as God wants us to.

“Love one another as I have loved you.” John 13:36

• To reinforce within the school community what bullying is, and the fact that it is unacceptable.
• Everyone within the school community to be alert to signs and evidence of bullying and to have a responsibility to report it to staff whether as observer or victim.
• To ensure that all reported incidents of bullying are followed up appropriately and that support is given to both victims and perpetrators.

To seek parental and peer-group support and co-operation at all times.

Policy for the Care, Wellbeing and Protection of Children and Young People 2017

South Australian Catholic schools place the highest priority on the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young people.  In South Australia Child Protection policy and practices support a proactive role in the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young people, the provision of child safe environments and intervention procedures for responding to abuse and neglect.

These responsibilities include:

• a duty of care to students
• responsibilities as mandated notifiers of child abuse and/or neglect the provision of child protection curriculum for every student
• a code of conduct to promote respectful and caring relationships

The full document can be viewed on the CESA website:

https://online.cesa.catholic.edu.au/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-13163/Policy+for+the+Care+Wellbeing+and+Protection+of+Children+and+Young+People+29+June+2011.pdf

Hello friends

I hope that these winter moments of late have provided some opportunities for connectedness and family time. 

Grounds and Maintenance Survey
Thank you for taking the time to complete the Grounds and Maintenance survey that was emailed to families in the past fortnight. The data will be collated and examined by the Grounds and Maintenance Committee and our School Board who will use the information to prioritise the grounds and maintenance initiatives moving forward. Thank you for your ongoing support of our school.

Visitors on school site
Please remember to sign in and out at the front office when you are visiting the school. This may include activities such as listening to children read or helping to clean desks. For WHS reasons we need to know who is on our school grounds during school hours. 

Please remember that any time you are on school grounds or in school buildings, to socially distance from children and adults who are not in your family. Hand sanitiser is available throughout the school for you to use.

School Crossing Monitors 
Thank you to our Year 6 students who are our School Crossing monitors. They perform a very important task and help to keep our school community members safe. Please remember speed limits around our school and be mindful of pedestrians. 

“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.”– Chinese Proverb

Thanks and Blessings
Matt Perry

Coronavirus continues to impact on our world and the operations of our school.  This will probably continue to do so for the remainder of this year.  You may recall, that as a Parish School, we take our

directions from Catholic Education SA (CESA) in this area.  CESA are following the advice of government agencies concerning how the current outbreak of coronavirus impacts students, staff and parents. Our focus is on minimising risk and ensuring we do all that we can to ensure our communities are safe.  The CV-19 theme for the remainder of the year is to be agile and flexible!

Playing surfaces have been a hot topic in the Grounds and Maintenance survey.  The building program comes to a close when the basketball courts, outside the Stella Maris building, are resurfaced.  This is planned to be done over the October School Holidays, however, it is dependent on the weather.  The oval surface is under investigation and we hope that a new surface will be laid over the Christmas holidays.

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

Have you heard of PLAY IT ON? Play It On is a company that provides funding to families who are financially challenged so their children can participate in a sporting club. Play It On believes that EVERY child deserves a chance to play sport regardless of their financial situation. Recent surveys show that half the amount of kids in lower socio-economic areas participate in sport than kids in other areas.

How You Can Help!
You can help by donating your old sport gear, such as balls, bats and boots by putting them in the collection boxes. Look out for these over the next two weeks. Play It On refurbishes the gear and sells it online; the money is then used to create funds to pay for the tuition fees for the children. If you also want to purchase good quality pre-loved sporting equipment, click on the following link.: https://www.playiton.com.au/shop/

We are also holding a raffle to support Play It On. The raffle will be held from Monday the 24 August 2020 for one week. Tickets are 50 cents each or 3 tickets for 1 dollar. The prizes are 2 signed Crows footballs (from better years) and other sport balls. The SRC will sell the tickets at recess and lunch times in front of the library.

Stella Foley, Henry Sciberras and the SRC