Principals Report
Dear Families, Caregivers and Students,
As the weather is starting to warm up, the end of term 3 is slowly coming into view. There are one and a half weeks to go. Please be reminded that the last two days of term, Thursday 24th and Friday 25th of September are student free days. The last day of term for our students will be on Wednesday 23rd of September. Staff will use these days for professional learning in assessment and a staff retreat. A retreat will help staff connect on a deeper level to what they are called to do.
Last week you received a letter with regards to school fees. The South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools has announced that it will make Catholic Education more affordable by lowering the school fees of every Catholic diocesan primary school in 2021 under its Making Catholic Education More Affordable initiative. This is fantastic news for families.
The exact level of fee reduction in each diocesan primary school will vary from school to school and takes into account the circumstances and needs of families.
Our school is working with Catholic Education South Australia to finalise our fees for 2021 and these will be released in the coming weeks. There is more information about the initiative on the Catholic Education South Australia website at cesa.catholic.edu.au/fee-reductions.
Earlier this week I made you aware of distressing content circulating social media platforms. ESafety, an agency that supports online safety and security has contacted social media companies about the reports and will continue working with them to monitor the situation. If you encounter the content you are encouraged to report it to the social media platform it has been seen on, or to eSafety at www.esafety.gov.au/report/illegal-harmful-content.
As a school we have strong policies around what children can and cannot access online while they are at school. CESA has firewalls in place that restrict inappropriate content on the school’s server. I ask you continue to be vigilant about what your children access online at home.
Sometimes things that are posted out of school hours on social media by children can deeply impact student relationships within the school. The key is to stay involved in your child’s online activities in a way that makes your children understand that you respect their privacy but that you also want to make sure they're safe. As a school we cannot control how students use the internet at home. If your child is affected at school by home internet usage, please feel free to report the matter to me.
Last email I wrote about the importance of child safety on Verran Terrace during pick up. I asked everyone using this car park at the end of the school day to walk onto school grounds to collect their children; this avoids children walking unsupervised between moving cars. I do think safety in this part of the school has improved since and I thank everyone for your immediate cooperation. I was alerted to similar unsafe situations during pick up from the church car park. The same rule applies in the church car park as on Verran Terrace; you will need to come onto school grounds to collect your children and walk them back to the car yourself. The kiss and drop is available if you are unable to leave your car during pick up. Child safety is everyone’s business and I am grateful for your cooperation in this matter.
Today the school participated in the National Walk Safely to School Day. This nationally recognised initiative encourages parents and carers to walk to school with primary school age children to reinforce safe pedestrian behaviour and to promote the health benefits of walking. Today 81 OLOR students walked together with staff, parents and carers form the Berri Plaza to school. Student behaviour and safe road use was excellent. Scudda and Maddie from the 5RM Breakfast Show joined us on our walk and we joined them live on air.
Although it is only the end of term 3, preparations for next year have begun. I will share staffing and class structures for 2021 with you as soon as they are confirmed.
As parents it is normal to worry about our children failing. However, failing can be productive for children. “He who never made mistakes never made anything” is an often expressed proverb. Clearly making mistakes is part of the learning and the growth process. The value of failing is priceless. Yet, we feel so useless and scared to make a mistake. Shouldn’t it be a nice thing that, as humans, we get to fail a lot? Failing teaches us respect for others and for ourselves.
Never be afraid to admit that you “don’t know” or “can’t find” or “couldn’t do” something.
Imperfections are the gifts from God that connect us directly to other people. The gift of knowing what we lack in our own abilities is the gift we have to give to the abilities of others.
Have a great weekend.
Nanda de Winter