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MOTHERS’ DAY
This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day. A special day to highlight the central roles our Mothers play in our lives. We also celebrate all the other women in our lives such as grandmothers, stepmothers, aunts, cousins, teachers and special friends who have helped to shape and form us into the person we are today
We pray to our Mother Mary to bless all the mothers of St Clare's School community. May Mother Mary bless you all, inspiring and energising you by her gentle example of love and perseverance. May she guide you each day as you care and guide your child/ren to grow and flourish.
Here are some snippets about Mother's from our Foundation Students
My MUM is the best because she...
Upcoming Dates
Friday 10 May
- Mother's Day Assembly - 8.50am
- SSV District Cross Country
Monday 13 May
- Foundation Incursion
Saturday 18 May
- Open Day 10am to 12pm
Friday 24 May
- P&F Trivia Night
Monday 27 May
- Reconciliation Day
Monday 3 June
- Year 4 Incursion
Friday 7 June
- Staff PD Day - NO SCHOOL for students
Monday 10 June
- King's Birthday Public Holiday NO SCHOOL
L-Z Kiss and Drop Construction
Reconciliation Day Monday 27 May - CAN YOU HELP?
This year we are focussing on the theme of Reconciliation Week - Now More Than Ever and incorporating the themes from Harmony Day (living in harmony and understanding each other) in one event which will occur on Monday May 27.
We will begin the day with a Welcome to Country at 9:00 followed by a Smoking Ceremony and Prayer Service.
After the prayer service, we would love for volunteers from across the community to join us and share something about their cultural background.
Please set this morning aside and come and join us.
This day is about understanding each other better - hence we would like your help..
Do you know someone (with a Working with Children Check) who could come in and share any of the following with a Learning Group or a level:
- Meaning behind Diwali and what happens during this festival
- Meaning behind Ramadan and what happens during Ramadan
- Meaning behind the Sikh religion and some of the traditions
- Meaning behind mandalas and traditions and beliefs of Buddhism
- A dance linked to your culture
- A game linked to your culture
Students are invited to dress in traditional clothing or orange clothing (the colour of Harmony Day) or to wear their school uniform and add a touch of colour or a token symbolic of their cultural background.
Please contact your child’s teacher if you are able to help out or alternatively, email Gab Verstraete: gverstraete@stclaresofficer.catholic.edu.au
The Foundation students have been doing fantastic learning so far this term!
We have been creating sentences that contain ‘who’ (character) and ‘what doing?’(action/verb), as well as responding to prompts in complete sentences. We are continuing to meet more of Milo’s friends including Daisy Dog, Gabby Goat, Leo Lion and Vicky Vulture.
We are currently learning about positional and directional language to describe the location of ourselves and objects. Our teachers read We’re going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen before going on our own walk to act out going ‘through’ the sandpit, ‘under’ the bridge, ‘up’ the slide and ‘around’ the gardens.
This week we have reached 50 days of Foundation. That means we are halfway to being Foundation students for 100 Days!
Kind regards,
Please keep in mind that the prizes selected at registration are goals and are not automatically confirmed. It is important to assess your child's fundraising progress and choose prizes accordingly.
If your child is close to reaching a goal for a specific prize but has not quite reached it yet, there is still time to continue fundraising until May 12 and then finalize the prize order.
Assemblies will be held on the following dates as detailed below. Parents are welcome to attend these assemblies.
- Monday 6 May at 2.30pm - Year 3 to Year 6
- Friday 10 May at 8.50am - Whole School Mother's Day
- Monday 13 May at 2.30pm - Year 3 to Year 6
- Monday 20 May at 2.30pm - Foundation and Year 6
- Monday 27 May at 2.30pm - Year 1 and Year 5
- Monday 3 June at 2.30pm - Foundation to Year 2
- Monday 17 June at 2.30pm - Year 3 to Year 6
- Monday 24 June at 2.30pm - Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4
We are now taking enrolments for Foundation 2025. As a rapidly growing school we find ourselves currently at capacity at Years 1, 3 and 4 for 2024.
For those looking to enrol for Foundation or any other level in 2025 we suggest you submit your enrolment forms as soon as possible.
LATE ARRIVAL AND EARLY DEPARTURE
Students arriving after 9am must be sigend in at the school office so should be accompanied by an adult/carers who can do so.
Likewise students being collected early must be signed out via PAM or at the school office prior to be collected by a parent. Only parents are able to collect students early - please provide the school with details if someone other than a parent will be collecting them during the school day.
Collection during the lunch break - 1.30pm to 2.10pm can be difficult. Therefore if necessay to collect students early we ask they you do so either before 1.30pm or after 2.10pm.
We remind you that every minute absent from class adds up and does impact learning time.
REPORTING AN ABSENCE
To report your child's absence please do so via PAM, email absent@stclaresofficer.catholic.edu.au or call 5940 6777
SCHOOL FEES
Here is the link for the St Clare's Parent Access Module (PAM)
St Clare's PAM
You username is the email address that you have registered with the school. The first time you log in we ask that you use the forgotten password feature to set your own password.
ALL parents must access PAM to receive up to date information and grant necessary permissions. Students will miss out on events if permission is not granted.
The Secondhand Uniform Shop will be open on the following dates for Term 2.
Please remember sales are CASH ONLY
May
Wednesday 1 May 8:30-9:15am
Tuesday 7 May 2:30-3:10pm
Thursday 9 May 8:30-9:15am
Friday 17 May 2:30-3:10pm
Wednesday 22 May 8:30-9:15am
Tuesday 28 May 8:30-9:15am
June
Monday 3 June 8:30-9:15am
Friday 14 June 2:30-3:10pm
Wednesday 19 June 2:30-3:10pm
Tuesday 25 June 8:30-9:15am
In this edition of SchoolTV - SEXTING
As teens develop an interest in sex, technology and apps make sexting easy, and unfortunately, acceptable amongst today’s youth. However, many parents are shocked to learn that children as young as 10 are sending naked pictures of themselves to friends and classmates via text and social media. This type of behaviour is seeping into primary school playgrounds causing irreversible damage to young minds.
Sending this type of content is problematic for a child of any age, but over the years there has been a staggering increase of pre-teens using mobile phones to share sexual images and videos. Not only is this type of behaviour detrimental to a young person’s moral and ethical wellbeing, it also has legal implications placing them at risk of a criminal record.
In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to approach the subject of sexting with their children, as well as offer helpful strategies on dealing with the fallout should their child send or receive content containing sexual imagery.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this edition of SchoolTV and we always welcome your feedback. If you have any concerns about your child, please seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to the Sexting edition of SchoolTV
https://stclaresofficer.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sexting
CDFpay is a secure, safe and efficient method for ordering and paying for items through school.
Below you will find instructions for setting up your CDFpay account both if you are an existing parent "already have a CDF pay account" or a new parent.
Here is the link to head to our school CDFpay shop St Clare's CDFpay Shop
How to Help Kids Stay Safe Online
Adapted from: https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog Office of the eSafety Commissioner
- Start the chat
It’s not possible to be at your child’s side every second of the day, so it’s important to talk with them about online safety issues to help develop their critical thinking and ability to make good choices. It’s also good to let them know they can come to you for help if they have any concerns. You may feel they know more about the latest technology than you do, but you have more life experience to guide them.
- With primary school aged children use online devices in the open living spaces at home to make parent supervision part of the expectation for your child.
- Take the opportunity to set some boundaries around when and where they can use devices like tablets, smart TVs and gaming consoles, to help limit potential tech tantrums — you could even fill in an Early Years Family Tech Agreement
- Screen free time before bed is important for good sleep. Consider charging devices in a central location at a regular time each night to allow an hour screen free before bed.
- While you are all at home more, it’s a great time to co-view and co-play with your kids, so you can understand what they are doing and experiencing online.
- Learn about the games, apps, social media and platforms they are using at The eSafety Guide, including how to protect their information and report inappropriate content or conduct.
- Use parental controls and safe search options
Parental controls can help block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions. They can also monitor your child’s use of connected devices and set time limits. But beware! You cannot always rely on them — they should be used in combination with other online safety strategies.
- Parental controls are available on most tablets, smartphones, computers, TVs and gaming consoles.
- You can also download family safety controls or buy robust filters out of the box.
- You can set up child-friendly search engines, or select safe search settings on digital devices, to help prevent your child from stumbling across inappropriate sites and content.
- Check smart toy settings
It’s surprising how many toys or devices can connect online these days, from drones and smart teddies to tablets and wearables. While they can be both entertaining and educational, they can reveal your child’s personal details and location — and allow other people to contact them without you knowing. You can help keep them stay safe by:
- setting strong passwords
- turning off location settings
- limiting the amount of personal information shared.
The eSafety Gift Guide has advice on what to check for and how to stay safe.
- Look out for unwanted contact and grooming
Unwanted contact is any communication that makes your child feel uncomfortable or unsafe, even if they initially welcomed the contact. It can come from a stranger, an online ‘friend’ or even someone they actually know. At worst, it can involve ‘grooming’ — building a relationship with the child in order to sexually abuse them.
You can help by:
- making sure their accounts are private — including chat functions on games
- encouraging them to delete requests from strangers and any contacts they don’t know in person
- checking in with your child as they use online devices in the open living spaces at home
- reporting and blocking anyone suspicious on a website or service
- remembering that if suspicious online contacts become aggressive or threatening you should contact your local police.
- Know the signs of cyberbullying
Kids who are bored by long periods at home can pick at each other, and that happens online too. So it’s important to keep an eye out for cyberbullying. It can include mean posts, comments and messages, as well as being left out of online group activities like gaming.
- Remember, when they are away from school, kids have less access to their usual support systems, including friends, teachers and counsellors.
- eSafety research shows that girls are more likely to be affected than boys and the person doing the bullying is generally someone they know from school.
- Watch out for signs such as your child appearing upset after using their mobile, tablet or computer, being unusually secretive about their online activities or becoming withdrawn.
- Cyberbullying can make social isolation worse and the longer it continues, the more stressed kids can become, impacting on their emotional and physical wellbeing.
What to do if your child is being cyberbullied
As parents, our first instinct may be to ban our children from social media, disable the wi-fi or turn off the data access. But this can actually compound the problem, making your child feel as if they’re being punished and heightening their sense of social exclusion.
There are four simple steps that can help minimise the harm:
- report the cyberbullying to the social media service where it is occurring
- collect evidence of the cyberbullying material
- if the material is still public 48 hours later, make a report to eSafety — we work with social media platforms to have the harmful content removed.
block the offending user.