Thursday May 8

Dear Families,

This week I have asked Katelyn and Hurley, our two fantastic School Captains, to write the front page of the newsletter. You will be able to read this below. At SBW, it is important that our students have a voice and we are developing their leadership skills. Earlier this week, we had our two School Captains as well as other students from across the school join our leadership team meeting. This was a fantastic opportunity and provided our students the formal forum to share their thoughts and experiences with the common goal of being the best school we can be. 

As we conclude Week 2, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the Mothers, Grandmothers, female friends, family members and role models a happy Mother's Day. Mother's Day gives us the opportunity to say thank you to all of the women in our lives for everything they do to support, nurture and assist us all. I look forward to seeing many of you in the morning at our Mother's Day Breakfast. Thank you to our staff who have organised this event and to the Britza family for their organisation of the Plant Stall.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Nic.

From our School Captains:

Late last term, in Grade Six, our leadership day taught us the values of a good leader and how to show them. Some examples of the values are respect, care, honesty, trust, love and kindness. We show these values by treating others how you would like to be treated, greeting people and helping anyone in need. We learnt that it takes great courage to stand up and speak in front of a group of people.

In our new school playground, students have been respecting the equipment by taking turns and using it responsibly. They use it with care and are responsible while playing on the equipment. Hurley and I participated in a leadership meeting about what we are going to improve around the school. We look forward to updating you further about our school next term.

Katelyn and Hurley

Last term as part of our fundraising efforts for Lent, we raised $716.15 for CARITAS. Caritas is a Catholic organisation that focuses on ending poverty, promoting justice and upholding dignity, particularly for vulnerable communities. They work in various areas including disaster relief, food security, and advocacy for social and ecological justice.

Last Thursday we gathered as a whole school at St Brigid's Catholic School to celebrate Mass. Father Jessie spoke to the students about the story of Jesus and the church at Easter time. Father Jessie will continue to work with our classes this term, both in class and at Mass. 

Sacramental Program 2025: (Reconciliation, First Communion & the Eucharist)

Inviting parents and children (Grade 3 and up) who have not yet signed up and are planning to join the program. Please contact the office as we finalise numbers and programming over the next period of time. 

In Grade Three this week, we have been busy catching up on all the important events that happened over the last few weeks whilst we were all on our school holiday break;

During the second week of holidays we celebrated Holy Week, the special last week Jesus spent on earth with his friends. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday with Jesus riding through the city of Jerusalem on a donkey. On Holy Thursday, Jesus celebrated his Last Supper with his friends, the 12 disciples. On Good Friday, Jesus died on the cross. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus' resurrection into Heaven with God.  Jesus is alive and is with us all today!   ALLELUIA!

Last Monday the world was saddened to hear the news that Pope Francis had died. We have been looking at the wonderful things Pope Francis did to bring peace throughout the world. We have created our own Prayers to honour the life of Pope Francis.

Last Friday, we celebrated ANZAC Day. On ANZAC Day we remember the brave men and women who served in the First World War. We wrote postcards from the soldiers and nurses.

Capturing and sharing photos of students is a meaningful way to celebrate and acknowledge school events and achievements. However, we must adhere to policies and photo restrictions to protect student privacy. Photos and videos of students taken by staff are only permitted to be taken on approved devices and many families have opted out of providing photo permissions for their children.

As a result, this may limit our ability to share images in newsletters, on social media or through platforms like Seesaw. We appreciate your understanding as we strive to celebrate our school community while upholding the highest standards of student safety and privacy.

Thanks to Darren and his team for their work over the holidays in laying grass out on the oval. Although this area is currently unable to be accessed, it will provide our students and community with an improved play area.

Students participating in the Children’s University program can receive ‘hours’ in their Learning Passports for attending. Please record this information on your activity logs.

On Tuesday, May 6th, our K–6 students participated in the ThinkUKnow program, an engaging and informative cyber safety initiative delivered by law enforcement and industry experts.

ThinkUKnow is a nationally recognised program that helps students navigate the online world safely and responsibly. Through age-appropriate sessions, students learned about topics such as staying safe online, protecting personal information, recognising trustworthy sources, and respecting online behaviour.

The sessions were designed to be interactive and thought-provoking, encouraging students to reflect on their own digital habits and ask important questions about how to use technology safely and positively. Each year level explored real-world scenarios that helped them understand how to identify and respond to online risks, including cyberbullying, scams, and inappropriate content.

At a time when technology is a central part of students’ lives both in and out of school, they must develop the knowledge and confidence to make wise choices online. We are proud to support our students in building the digital literacy and cyber safety skills they need for the future.

Thank you to the ThinkUKnow presenters for empowering our students and supporting a safer online community.

If you'd like more information or resources to continue the conversation at home, visit www.thinkuknow.org.au.

Next week, we will hold an unannounced lockdown practice with staff and students to test our response to a potential scenario that may arise within the school. As for fire evacuation drills, we recognised the value of testing this process and have plans in place to make this practice as least disruptive as possible.

If you have queries, please call our WHS Safety Officer, Kaylah Keogh, on 0487 068 786.

Please see below a link to our updated homework guidelines that have been developed by staff.