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Dear Parents and Carers
Next week is the last week of Term 1 and a short week with students having their last day of Term 1 on Wednesday 27 March. School dismissal will be at the normal time of 3.10pm.
On Wednesday 27 March (last day of Term 1) students are welcome to attend in Free Dress, we just ask that students bring a gold coin for our Caritas collection. Studnets will also receive an Easter treat on this day.
Friday 22 March - Year 2 Swimming #5, P&F School Disco
Monday 25 March - Year 2 Swimming #6 & Year 4 to Year 6 Cross Country Carnival
Wednesday 27 March - Last Day of Term 2, Casual Clothes Day with donation to Caritas
Monday 15 April - First Day of Term 2
In Year Three, we have been looking at Reconciliation and the importance of forgiveness. The students recontextualised this concept to be relevant for situations that they may encounter in their worlds. The students drew a comic strip to show a mistake that someone may make, a way to fix that mistake and how to move forward for the future.
In Year three, we were told to show kindness in a comic strip by asking for forgiveness when we make a wrong choice.
In Year Three, we were told to make a comic strip that showed a person saying sorry because someone did something bad
Last Friday we entered our first ever team into the Officer District Lightning Premiership competition. Eleven students participated in the Blast Cricket event and performed incredibly well. Our first match was up against Minaret College. We batted extremely well to score 114 runs off our eight overs. The result came down to the final ball with Minaret prevailing by just 2 runs in an enthralling contest.
We then bounced back in style defeating Officer Primary School by 70 runs after posting a massive score of 171. Our final group game was against Pakenham Primary School and we were chasing a total of 104 to win the game. We went into the final over three runs behind but with some excellent pressure batting, we were able to win the game to put us into the 3rd place playoff.
We won the toss and batted against Orchard Park Primary School and played our best cricket of the day to score 164 runs. In response, Orchard Park could only manage 104 as we were awarded with a 3rd place finish out of the 8 competing teams. Minaret College went on to win the tournament showing just how close we were to winning the event and moving through to the Division Championships. The majority of the other teams in this competition play weekly inter-school sport and have had 6 weeks of matches leading up to this event. This shows what a great effort it was from our students on the day. Most importantly, our students learnt the important value that we place on both winning and losing with humility.
Well done to Yug, Josh, Cruz, Nixon, Aiden, Alfred, Taj, Ricky, Dakshan and Ashton on the way you represented our school. A big thanks also to Brayden and Liam who were part of our training squad and were a big part of what this team achieved. We look forward to doing it all again next term when we enter the District Soccer Lightning Premiership.
Next Wednesday 27 March we will use all the coins in our Caritas boxes to make a sentence using our coins. Students are invited to wear free dress and bring a gold coin (or return their Caritas box with some coins in it) on this day.
Students can begin to return their boxes from Monday 25 March to their LG teacher.
Sacraments 2024
First Eucharist 2024
All students in Year 4 who are baptised Catholics and have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation are able to receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist this year.
First Eucharist dates for 2024 are:
Thursday 22 August Parent Meeting 7pm at St Patrick’s Parish - parents are expected to attend.
Saturday 31 August Commitment Mass 6pm at St Patrick’s Parish. All families are expected to attend.
First Eucharist Masses at St Patrick’s Parish (families register for one of these closer to the time)
Satrday 7 September 6pm
Sunday 8 September 10.30am
Saturday 14 September 6pm
Sunday 15 September 10.30am
Confirmation 2024
All students in Year 6 who are baptised Catholics and have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of First Eucharist are able to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this year.
Confirmation dates for Confirmation are:
Thursday 10 October Parent Meeting 7pm at St Patrick’s Parish - parents are expected to attend.
Saturday 12 October Commitment Mass 6pm at St Patrick’s Parish. All families are expected to attend.
Confirmation Masses at St Patrick’s Parish (families register for one of these closer to the time)
Saturday 19 October 3pm
Saturday 19 October 6pm
Cultural diversity is an inherent aspect of modern society. It enriches our communities by bringing together a wide array of cultures, traditions, and histories, contributing to our unique identity and strength. Embracing and celebrating this diversity is essential for fostering inclusion and a sense of belonging among children. By valuing every child's cultural background, we enable them to excel in all facets of life. Nurturing an environment of curiosity, open-mindedness, and respect for all cultures, will set a strong example for all young people. Through collective efforts, we can pave the way for a more accepting and vibrant future.
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.
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.