CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK 

We joined together as a College community on Monday with Mass to kick start Catholic Education Week.  We are one of 309 Catholic schools in Queensland and this week we celebrate and promote our distinctive mission and ethos.  Tomorrow (Friday) our teachers will spend the day reflecting on our Catholic identity and how we can work with our students to ensure we strive to live out our Christ values every day in all that we do.  The three values we focus on, enriched by the legacy of Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice, are humanity, justice, and wisdom.   

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES 

Student led Conferences are planned for Week 9 of this term.  Full details of dates and times will be released in coming weeks.  We will use Sentral Parent Portal for parents to book conference times.  Parents are encouraged to contact class teachers  via email to make a time to discuss your child’s progress throughout the year, however the conferences are one of the two formal occasions we host parents with teachers in a face to face setting. 

COVID and SIGNING IN  

As a College we have always had a sign in system for all visitors to our campus, as we are required to collect this information anytime.  With the introduction of the Qld Government QR Code, sigining in at businesses and venues has now become the ‘new normal’.  We will continue to use our College system ‘Passtab’ for visitors to our campus throughout the general working day.  This system requires visitors to manually enter their details (some phone models will store this information) or use their College Quickpin when entering and exiting the College grounds; eg classroom volunteers, service providers and staff use this system.  In the case of special events, eg Sports, Art Showcases, Performance, and other Community events outside of office hours we will use the Qld Govt issued QR Code as our sign in register.  Thank you for your support in following our signing in processes.  As we ask parents to limit their time on campus at drop off there is no need to sign in at this time.   

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM 

Throughout this term, our College will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in Prep to Year 9.  The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing. 

Our students have been learning to recognise if they are safe or unsafe in the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum. Our safety lessons will now be focusing on the second safety message: react. 

When children recognise that they are in an unsafe situation, we encourage them to think about what they could do to be safe again. They will have opportunities to think about ways to react using real-life scenarios. Our students will also learn that breaking the rules (e.g. saying no to an adult who is behaving inappropriately) is sometimes necessary so that they can become safe again.  

Please take the time to talk with your children about what they have been learning about safety and, in particular, the ways they could react if they are unsafe to make themselves safe again. Talking with your child about ways to stay safe will help them to develop life-long safety skills. 

Information about the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum can be found at www.education.qld.gov.au/child-safety-curriculum. 

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SURVEY 2021 – RADII 

Each family of the College should have received an email from Dr Jean Thompson, Research Manager at Research Australia Development and Innovation Institute.  This email contains a survey that is sent on behalf of the College to gather your views on the services we offer to the community.  The survey is both, confidential and anonymous. The responses are pooled and the aggregated data is sent in a report to the school. We use this data to assist us with our Annual Action Plan and strategic direction of the College to ensure we are offering a high standard of education.  We encourage all families to devote some time to this survey which takes approximately 20 minutes complete.  Access to the survey will close on 8 August 2021. 

Cate Brennan

Deputy Principal Religious Education