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Dear Parents and Carers
We are rapidly approaching the end of the 2024 school year. A few reminders for everyone:
- All students must have schools hats for outdoor play as per our Sunsmart Policy
- "Up Day" will occur on Monday 9 December, students will be in their 2025 Learning Group from 9am to 10.50am
- 2025 Student Leader speeches are being held from 11.30am to 1pm on Monday 9 December
- Orientation Day for Year 7 2025 students attending SFX is Monday 9 December
- Year 6 Graduation is being held on Thursday 12 December
- Last Day of Term is Tuesday 17 December. Students will be dismissed at usual time, 3.10pm
- Whole School End of Year Mass will be held on Tuesday 17 December at 9am
- School Office closes on Thursday 19 December for the 2024 year.
We have an abundance of lost property in the school office. If your child is missing any uniform feel free to come and check the lost property.
YEAR 3 CAMP DAY
On the 28th of October it was camp day for the year three’s. There were three activities but most people loved the Billy Carts. The first activity we did was Team Building. We did “Floor is Lava” and obstacles. The second activity was Crazy Chemicals, We got to make rockets and touch some science stuff. Lastly, we had billy carts. We built carts and we rode and we made our own. - 3EH
“In Billy Carts, we raced around The Egg while having fun at the same time.”- Estelle and Emma
“We liked the Billy Carts because we got to spend time with new people and have fun at the same time” - Nyariak and Scarlett
“We liked the Billy Carts because you had to work with another person and there was one your could ride by yourself” – Abram and Santi
“I liked the crazy chemicals because we got to pour a gel into water and it made a clear jelly that we could touch”- Rithmi
“We most certainly thought Crazy Chemicals was our least favourite because we had to wait tot long to start the experiments.” – Kolia and Noah L
“On camp day our favourite activity was team building because we learned how to do stuff together and had lots of fun in the games with new people.” – Hanit and Sienna
“We enjoyed the pizza lunch and the team building activities because you go to work together to beat other groups, and we beat the other teams in the speed button challenge.” Saanvi and Joseph
“We liked the Crazy Chemicals because we got to touch and play with toys made of different materials. The best one was the metals balls that burnt the paper when you smashed them together.” – Angad, Elijah and Shashin
“We liked the science activities because there was a giant slinky with stairs that it goes down. The Billy Carts were good too because we got to make our own cars with tools and we raced them.” – Dylan and Rivaan
“We liked the Crazy Chemicals because we got to put the ingredients together that made a rocket and little explosion.” – Aurora, Regina and Aker
“We liked the Billy Carts we had fun with other people and had to take turning driving and pushing each other in the cart.” – Mary and Sophia
As we are getting closer to the festive season, planning for Christmas and the holidays can become an overwhelming thought. What do you do to make this season as stress free as possible?
Read the following special report to ensure you and your family ‘Survive Christmas’ and make the most of the holiday season.
A Special Report: Surviving Christmas
Many people see Christmas as a wonderful time of celebration and an opportunity to spend time with family and friends. However, there are some that view it as a time of stress and hardship. This may be due to a combination of things: financial pressures, relationship issues and, quite often, loneliness, making it a very challenging time.
Often the true meaning of Christmas can be lost due to commercial exploitation, but there are a number of things you can do to create a magical Christmas, without the financial burden. Creating or maintaining traditions can contribute to a sense of comfort and belonging.
Unfortunately for some, there is also an ugly side to Christmas. Support organisations often report an increase in the number of calls from people seeking help due to their inability to cope during this time. If you, or a loved one, is finding that it is all too much, then it is important to reach out to a trusted friend, family member or medical professional.
In this Special Report, parents and care givers will be presented with a number of ideas on how to achieve a stress-free Christmas and where to seek help should you need it.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.
If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your special report:
https://stclaresofficer.catholic.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/surviving-christmas-au
Liz Hunt
Mental Health in Primary Schools Leader
Advent Symbols
The Advent wreath is one of the best known symbols of Advent.
- Traditionally made of evergreen branches formed into a circle with 4 candles held within.
- The evergreen circle is a symbol of eternal life.
- Green from the evergreen is considered a symbol of hope.
Advent Candles usually comprise of three purple candles with one rose or pink.
- The candles recall the weeks that pass until Christmas.
- Purple candles symbolise waiting, also penitential but not in the same way as Lent.
- Rose or Pink is used on the third Sunday of Advent to symbolise rejoicing, since the Third Sunday of Advent is referred to as Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday.
- They are lit, light used as a symbol of Christ being the light of the World coming through the darkness.
- Sometimes a white candle is placed in the middle, people use when lit as the representation of Christ entering the world.
Source: https://www.catholicapostolatecenter.org/symbols-of-advent
Good News: New CDFpay mobile app coming soon!
St Clare's will be using the new CDFpay mobile app for online events & fundraising purchases at our school from the start of Term 1 2025.
What do you need to do?
- Keep using your current CDFpay login to access CDFpay until the end of Term 4 2024.
- Use up as much of your CDFpay account balance as possible before the end of Term 4 2024. We will let you know the process for account balance transfers at the end of the year.
- Keep an eye out for further communications advising you when the new CDFpay mobile app is available to download for our school, and how to set up your new account.
Can I continue using the current CDFpay platform in Term 1 2025?
No, the current CDFpay platform will no longer be available, and you will be directed to register for a new CDFpay account.
We look forward to providing you with a further update soon.
SCHOOL FEES
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
REPORTING AN ABSENCE
To report your child's absence please do so via PAM, email absent@stclaresofficer.catholic.edu.au or call 5940 6777
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.
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.