Welcome back Megan!!

Last year, we farewelled Mrs Megan Johansson (EAL/D teacher) as she and her family moved back to Sweden. Now, 12 months on, Megan (and the family) have returned to Australia for good. Megan has also returned to St Therese taking on a 5 day per fortnight role to work with Mrs Holly Degotardi to support students needing intensive English intervention. Holly will also be working 5 days per fortnight.

Kindergarten 2021 Offers of Enrolment Letters

These letters were sent out at the end of last term. Replies were due last Friday, 24 July. If you have not returned yours yet, please do so this week as we do have a waiting list and numbers need to be confirmed to the Catholic Education Office next week.

NSW OOSH Educator Day - 20 July

Today is a celebration of OOSH Educator Day so I would really like to acknowledge the work and commitment of Nicole, Kathy, Carmen to their role here at St Therese. It has been a trying time this year but they have carried on to always work towards making the children feel happy and cared for.

The link below provides a short video prepared at another OOSH venue but the message would be consistent with what happens here at St Therese.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgoctaat35sjowa/OSHC%20Educators%20Day_FINAL%20Graded.mp4?dl=0

Late Arrival

Parents are reminded that the morning bell goes at 8.50am. All students arriving after the gate is closed will be marked as late. As adults, arriving late at a meeting / appointment can cause some anxiety – this can also be the case for children.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Students with Disability (NCCD) 

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to provide de- identified information, already available in the school, about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2020). 

NCCD Parent Information

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fXnZ4AreMIGzpd9XRtJpQ80nN4dNuJ7qPOvsyvkwZzU/edit

Protecting your child from internet safety risks: tips

You can use a range of different strategies to help your school-age child stay safe while he’s using the internet.

Here are some ideas:

• Create a family media plan. It’s best to create your plan with your child and ask her for suggestions. Your plan could cover things like screen-free areas in your house, internet safety rules like not giving out personal information, and programs and apps that are OK for your child to use.
• Use child-friendly search engines like Kiddle, or content providers like ABC Kids, CBeebies, YouTube Kids or KIDOZ.
• Check that games, websites and TV programs are appropriate for your child. You can do this by looking at reviews on Common Sense Media.
• Use the internet with your child or make sure you’re close by and aware of what your child is doing while he’s online. This way you can act quickly and reassure your child if he’s concerned or upset by something he’s seen online.
• Check privacy settings and location services, use parental controls, use safe search settings on browsers, apps, search engines and YouTube.
• Find out how to make complaints about offensive online content.
• Block in-app purchases and disable one-click payment options on your devices.
• Make sure older siblings follow your internet safety rules, like watching only age-appropriate programs when they go online with younger children.

Trust between you and your child helps keep your child safe online. Calm, open conversations about internet use can help your child feel that you trust her to be responsible online. And if your child feels trusted, she’s more likely to talk with you about what she does online and tell you about online content and contacts that worry her.

It’s best to avoid using surveillance apps that let you secretly monitor your child’s online activity. Using these apps sends the message that you don’t trust your child. It’s better to talk openly about your own internet use and encourage your child to do the same.

If you do choose to monitor your child’s internet use while he’s online or by reviewing his browser history, it’s good to talk with your child about it first.

Covid - 19