Newsletter Term 3 - 5th September 2024

Child Protection week: 'Every conversation matters'

 It's National Child Protection Week, and this year’s theme, “Every Conversation Matters”, is a timely reminder of how powerful everyday chats with children can be – especially when it comes to their online lives.  

The online world offers incredible opportunities but also has its share of risks we need to educate children about. We need to ensure children are prepared and protected before they start navigating it on their own. 

So, what can you do? The good news is that as parents, carers and educators, you can take practical steps to make a real difference.  Research shows that when we strengthen the support systems around children, we give them the best chance to stay safe online. 

To help you get started, in this edition you’ll find some resources at

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

• New resources for parents and carers to help protect children from sexual abuse online 
  
• New parent campaign 
•  Holding social media giants accountable to protect children online. 

The Power of Feedback

Effective feedback practices provide the bridge between assessment and learning. High quality feedback can improve student learning by as much as eight months. There’s a strong evidence base behind the impact of feedback. 

Our teachers have been implementing a range of practices and strategies that ensure feedback to students is deliberate, planned and focused on learning intentions and success criteria. This week, we began a cycle of collaborative planning, with an English focus, with Chad Ferris from IdeatEd.

There are 5 practices that can promote effective feedback - combining feedback and instruction, focusing on learning intentions and success criteria, intervening quickly, ensuring the feedback engages students in thinking and allowing time to enact the feedback. Effective feedback directs attention to the intended learning and/or success criteria, pointing out strengths and offering specific information to guide improvement (Stiggins, Arter, Chappius, & Chappuis).

The most important word in any student and teacher’s vocabulary is ‘yet’. When a student says: 'I can’t do it,' the response is, 'You can’t do it yet.'

Some of the feedback strategies being implemented across the school from K-6 are:

• A star and a wish
• TAG (Tell some thing you like, Ask a question, Give a suggestion)
• Success criteria
• Bump It Up Walls (models of levelled exemplars)
• Star and stairs
• Dot strategy
• Two box induction

Ask your child about some of the feedback strategies they have been practising in English to help them move their learning forward. 

Sally Curran (Primary Coordinator)

2024 CaFE Grade Reps

Kinder: Alicia Holmes, Stacey Tracey (Kinder Orientation Night, Set up Kinder FB group)

Yr 1: Olivia Day-Gorham, Amy Hinchcliff (Kinder Welcome Morning Tea)

Yr 2: Renee Davis, Alicia Holmes (Mother’s Day gifts)

Yr 3: Mel Balchin, Olivia Day-Gorham (Mother's Day breakfast)

Yr 4: Jess McGrath and Katrina Holway (Father's Day gifts)

Yr 5: Kym Flitcroft, Kellie Pickering (Father's Day breakfast)

Yr 6: Kate Pulbrook, Sharon Collins (Easter Egg raffle and eggs. Organise Yr 6 2024 end of year event)

Bathurst Diocesan Community Sport

Dear Parents,

Keep up to date with sporting events and achievements across the Bathurst Diocese. Search CEBD community sport or use the following link. 

https://sites.google.com/bth.catholic.edu.au/cedbsportcommunity/

Book Week at St Mary's Catholic Primary School is always a special event.We thank all families for making the day a wonderful event, by creating costumes, viewing the book week creativity and the tremendous support of the book fair.
Thank you to our wonderful teachers ensuring a great day was had by all and embracing the dress-up parade so wholeheartedly.

Thank you to Sarah in the canteen for creating a Book Week special menu.
The day continued to highlight the importance we all place on reading.

Thanks
Anne Fredericksen

Teacher/Librarian

SEVERE REACTIONS TO ‘NUTS’ & ‘EGGS’
As some of our students have a ‘nut’ and/or ‘egg’ allergy, we ask that nuts, nut
products and eggs NOT be packed as part of school snacks and lunches.
Sometimes even contact with nuts or eggs can trigger the severe reaction. This
severe allergy is called ANAPHYLAXIS and can be life-threatening.
Please, NO eggs, peanut butter, Nutella, nut products, etc. (Check those labels
to see that products do not contain nuts.)

School Dismissal

Last week, every class reviewed the expectations for school dismissal. The support of parents/carers at the exit areas is appreciated. Waiting near the gates enables all students to walk to their parents from the waiting area. Having all students wait in the correct area enables supervision. It can be very busy at exit duty and the teachers' main focus is the safety of the children in their care. Please assist by ensuring your child stays with you, once you have collected them. 

Leaving School - Church Exit

To be safe, I will:

• line up with my grade in the quadrangle
• wait for the teacher on duty before walking to church exit along the path
• sit to wait and will not play or run around
• stay inside the gate and only leave with the person arranged to collect me
  

To be respectful, I will: 

• follow teacher instructions
• wait for the teacher on duty to lead to the exit
• follow the teacher, in my grade line
  

To be responsible, I will:

• walk with my teacher to the meeting area after the bell 
• sit in the correct area
• wait for my parent/carer and only exit the gate with them
• stay away from the play equipment, sand pit and cubby
• keep my device or phone in my bag
• watch for my parents and walk to the gate 
• take all my belongings with me
• only go to my designated pick up exit
  

PCYC Exit

To be safe, I will:

• walk with my teacher to my exit
• wait near the white gates for the teacher on duty
• follow the teacher to the designated area
• sit to wait and I will not play
• only leave the school grounds with the person arranged to collect me
  

To be respectful, I will: 

• walk sensibly to the designated area
• follow the teacher's directions
  
• leave the path free for people to walk past
  

To be responsible, I will:

• move promptly to the meeting area after the bell
• stay seated (and will not play with balls or run around)
• watch for my parents and meet them at the gate
• take all my belongings with me
• keep my device or phone in my bag
  

Catching a Bus 

To be safe, I will:

• move promptly to the bus bay via the paths
• sit in the correct area, in my grade lines
• stay seated while waiting for the bus
• not play games
• walk to the bus with the teacher
• behave safely on the bus
• not use my Chromebook on the bus
  

To be respectful, I will: 

• use a sensible voice level
• follow the teacher’s instructions
• listen to the directions of the bus driver
• show respectful behaviour on the bus
  

To be responsible, I will:

• listen for my bus to be called
• line up and be ready to board the bus
• take all my belongings with me
• keep my device and/phone in my bag
• ask permission to go to the toilet
• behave responsibly on the bus
• report irresponsible behaviour to the bus driver, if needed.
  

Medication at School-  Parental  Advice

If your child requires medication that needs to be administered during school hours, please bring the medication to the school office, where it is stored safely. This includes asthma inhalers.

Students can come to the office at an arranged time to have the medication administered by trained First Aid Officers.

The office does not have Panadol, unless parents supply and complete a form for their child only.

Thank you 

Children with communication devices such as iPhones and Smart Watches must be handed to the school office in the morning before class and collected at the end of the day. This includes any device capable of taking photos.

Please support your child to meet this school requirement.

If you need to contact your child during school hours please call the school office.

2025 Expressions of Interest for St Mary's OSHC

(Outside school hours care )

2025 Expression of Interest are due Friday 27th September 2024. Positions will be offered as of 28th October 2024. 

Positions are limited and are offered based on the order in which we receive enquiries. 

or families yet to notify St Mary's OSHC of their interest in 2025, please email the Service Coordinator via stmarysoshc@centacarebathurst.com.au

Thankyou 

Dear Parents & Carers

Please label students' clothing , so we can return them from lost property with ease.

Clothes that don't have names will be returned to the clothing pool, if not collected by the end of term.

Thank you 

St Mary's Uniform Shop

is run by  Parent Volunteers and is open from 8:45 am for an hour on  Friday Mornings. 

If you have put your order through Flexi schools it will be packed the following Friday and sent home with your child.