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Dear Parents and Carers
What a wonderful Celebration Harmony Day was last Friday. We witnessed a ray of orange through the school, as well as many students in Cultural Dress. Thank you to the amazing effort of parents and to our staff for the activities that students particiapted in on this special day.
Next week the Annual Parents and Friends School Disco will be held on Thursday 3 April. Please see details further in the newsletter regarding the purchase of tickets. Bookings close Thursday 27 March at 5pm and tickets are not available for purchase at the door.
CONGRATULATIONS
We are very proud of Olivia in Year 5 who has sucessfully qualified for the Southern Metro Region Swimming Carnival. This will be held next Wednesday 2 April, we wish Olivia all the best as she alongside some of the strongest swimmers in the state.
UPCOMING DATES:
Thursday 3 April - School Disco
Teaching Kids to Be Brave: Explaining What Courage Is
As the Year 5 and 6 students are starting to face the reality of school camp, commencing in Term 2. We know for some students this can be a scary and daunting experience.
As a parent or carer, it is important that we allow our children the opportunity to be brave and courageous. Encouraging them to step out of their comfort zone not only encourages a sense of adventure, but it allows a child to build resilience, confidence and happiness in themselves and for those around them.
Please read the article on School TV on, ‘How to build courage in our kids?’ by Karen Young
How to Build Courage in Kids.
We all want to feel safe. It's so smooth and un-splintered and unlikely to scrape you or embarrass you or leave you with bruises. Sometimes, 'safe and certain' might be the perfect place for our kids to be, but so much growth and the things that will enrich them will happen when they let go of the handrail, even if just for seconds at a time. Here are some ways to nurture their brave:
Speak of their brave as though they're already there
Kids and teens step up to expectations or down to them.
Speak to the courage that is coming to life inside them, as though they are already there. 'I know how brave you are.' 'I love that you make hard decisions sometimes, even when it would be easier to do the other thing.' 'You might not feel brave, but I know what it means to you to be doing this. Trust me – you are one of the bravest people I know.'
Give permission for imperfection
Failure and rejection are often a sign that you've done something brave. Every experience gives new information and new wisdom that wouldn't have been there before. It's why only the brave ones get there in the end – they have the knowledge, wisdom, and experience that can often only be found when you land badly – sometimes more than once. Give them space for imperfection – it's a growth staple.
You won't always feel ready. That's why it's brave
Let them know that it's okay to hang on while they're getting comfortable – while they're working on a plan, fanning the brave spark inside them (and it's always inside them), but then there will be a time to let go. When this time comes, it won't always feel like readiness or certainty. That's what makes it brave. And a little bit magical.
Try something new
Encourage them to do activities that push them to the edges of their physical or emotional selves – drama, sport, music. Anything that will help to nurture the truth to life that they are strong, powerful, that they can cope, and that they are not as fragile as they might feel sometimes will help to nurture their brave hearts.
Be the example
Everything you do is gold in their eyes. Talk to them about the times you feel nervous, or the times you've said 'no' or 'yes', when everyone else was moving in the opposite direction. Talk to them about the times you've pushed through fear, exhaustion, sadness, anger, to do the thing that was right for you. Talk about your risky ideas, the times you thought differently, did differently, and the times you felt small but did something big. Let them feel that the brave in you, is in them too.
For more information on this article please https://stclaresofficer.catholic.schooltv.me/content/blog/teaching-kids-be-brave-explaining-what-courage
By Karen Young
Article from heysigmund.com
https://www.heysigmund.com/building-courage-in-kids/
Immediate Crisis Support in Australia:
1800RESPECT - https://www.1800respect.org.au/
Kids Helpline - https://kidshelpline.com.au/get-help/webchat-counselling
Liz Hunt
Mental Health in Primary School Leader
DON'T FORGET TO BOOK THE DISCO TICKETS - NO LATE PURCHASES WILL BE AVAILABLE
Let’s get ready to DISCO!!!!! The P&F are excited to announce the 2025 Student Disco is back and it's going to be electric!
Held in the modular on Thursday 3 April, there are two scheduled sessions for the juniors and seniors. The night will include fun, games and lots of dancing! Let's light up the world as we encourage the kids to glow in their best neon outfits and accessories!
Tickets are $5 per student and can be booked now via the CDF Pay powered by Flexischools app - https://user.cdfpay.
Please note tickets MUST be booked online by end of day on Thursday 27 March - no exceptions or extensions. There will also be strictly NO door sales. Anyone without a pre-purchased ticket will not be able to join in so please book now - don't wait (you don't want to see those disappointed faces)!
We are also calling for parent volunteers with a valid WWCC to join in the fun and volunteer on the night. This is a great night and we need many, many volunteer hands to make this event work so if you're available, please sign up today - https://forms.gle/
Any questions, please feel free to give the P&F a shout 
SCHOOL FEES
School fee payment options 2025
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.
MEDICAL PROFILE
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.
