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Dear Parents and Carers
We hope everyone was able to enjoy some valuable family time over the schools holidays and are recharged ready for Term 3.
There is lots planned with excursions, incursions, swimming, interschool sports, Book Week Parade, First Communion and Confirmation to name a few. Keep an eye out on the upcoming dates for the events.
As advised last term, Parent Teacher Meetings will be held on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 August. Bookings for these can now be made via PAM. These are opportunity to catch up with teachers and discuss the semester 1 reports. If you need any assistance with accessing PAM please contact the school office.
Term 3 also brings a strong focus on ensuring ALL students are wearing School Uniform perfectly and proudly. Some key factors to remember -
- School Shoes must be ALL black
- Sports Uniform & Runners are only to be worn on sport days
- Girls Summer Dress is only to be worn in Term 1 and Term 4, NOT in Term 2 & 3 with tights
- Girls Tights are worn with the Tunic ONLY, with the skorts it is only socks that are to be worn
- NO leggings or long sleeve tops to be worn under uniform
CAR PARK Safety
It’s timely to remind parents and students about Road Safety particularly as the the number of vehicles increases. Please ensure you travel safely through the carpark and with patience as both pedestrians and cars use the area. We ask everyone to use the designated school crossings when they are crossing Majestic Drive. Also, please ensure you follow all directional signage in the surrounding streets.
2026 Enrolments
If you have a child to enrol we encourage you to get the enrolment form and relevant documents in as soon as possible. Likewise if you know anyone looking to enrol encourage them to do the same.
Meet and Greet sessions for our 2026 Foundation students will be held this Term 3.
UPCOMING DATES:
The Foundation Students will be celebrating ‘100 Days of Foundation’ on Friday 1st August. We are encouraging you to dress your child as an elderly/100-year-old person! On this day students will participate in varied activities throughout the day that incorporate the number – ONE HUNDRED.
Please keep in mind Single Subjects will run as normal so we encourage students who have P.E on this day to wear runners.
We will have a short assembly and parade in the morning to celebrate this special day, and foundation families are most welcome to attend.
Social media can harm children's mental health. The question now is whether a ban will help or make it worse.
An ABC article written by political reporter Maani Truu discusses the government's decision to ban children and teenagers under 16 from social media at the end of this year. Please see below for the link to the article.
Over the next few weeks we are going to look at the Cyber Safety series from SchoolTV to explore the pros and cons of not only social media but the internet itself.
In this edition of SchoolTV - Cyber Safety
Young people today are growing up in an increasingly connected world where technology is part of their everyday lives –– for learning, socialising, and entertainment. While the digital world offers enormous benefits, it also comes with serious risks. From cyberbullying and online predators to inappropriate content and screen time concerns, navigating the online environment can be challenging for young people and their families.
Cybersafety is not just about blocking access –– it's about empowering young people with the knowledge and skills they need to use technology responsibly and safely. This includes understanding privacy settings, recognising scams, and developing healthy digital habits. At the same time, it's important for parents and caregivers to stay informed, have open and judgement-free conversations with their children, and lead by example through positive online behaviour.
In today's digital age, safeguarding a child's wellbeing must also include protecting their online life. This edition of SchoolTV will help you better understand the digital landscape your child is navigating and offer practical strategies to help them stay safe, confident and in control online.
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 contact the school counsellor for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to the Cyber Safety edition of SchoolTV
https://stclaresofficer.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/cybersafety-au
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
Hoop Time - Term 3
This term, our Year 3-6 students have the exciting opportunity to represent St. Clare's at Hoop Time.
Hoop Time is an event that brings together school children from across Victoria for single-day round-robin tournaments held at local basketball stadiums. The Hoop Time program allows children in Year 3 and 4 (junior) and Year 5 and 6 (senior) to participate in a fun competition that is officiated by qualified referees.
St. Clare's will be entering two junior teams and four senior teams this year.
Tryouts for juniors will begin in Week 1, and tryouts for seniors will begin in Week 3.
Junior Hoop Time - 31/7 - Cardinia Life, Pakenham
Senior Hoop Time - 2/9 - Cardinia Life, Pakenham
Here are the dates the secondhand uniform shop will be open this term.
A reminder it is cash sales only
July
Tuesday 22nd 2:30-3:15pm
Thursday 24th 8:30-9:15am
Monday 28th 2:30-3:15pm
August
Friday 1st 8:30-9:15am
Wednesday 6th 2:30-3:15pm
Tuesday 12th 8:30-9:15am
Tuesday 19th 8:30-9:15am
Wednesday 27th 2:30-3:15pm
September
Friday 5th 8:30-9:15am
Tuesday 9th 8:30-9:15am
Thursday 11th 2:30-3:15pm
Monday 15th 2:30-3:15pm
Wednesday 17th 8:30-9:15am
Here is the link to access PAM
Your usernsame is the email address you have registerd with the school. If you have forgotten your password please use the "forgotten password" feature to set a new one.
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.