NEWSLETTER 23 - 2nd August 2022

The nineteenth century French author, Victor Hugo, is quoted as saying, “Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves, keep intact your roots.’ The way we live is changing. Each year, our free time shrinks a little more as computers clamour for an increasing percentage of our attention. We are a part of, and a contributor to, the change that is associated with a ‘computer age’. The amazing contradiction of our age is not so much the ability to connect to such a wealth of information, but the apparent ‘disconnect’ that is so often associated with social media, one important aspect of our computer age. I am old enough to remember teaching ‘the Internet’ to academics at a university, exploring the amazing online databases and the growing importance of being ‘information literate’ – having skills in discerning ‘fake news.’ I remember vividly that almost always, the first search undertaken by these academics was…their own name. Research in the field of online information is burgeoning since the time at the turn of the last century that I was involved in these activities and a recent publication should provide us with a degree of confidence that our students/children are more aware than ever of the costs and benefits of the online information environment.  The Australian Government through the eSafety Commissioner published ‘Mind the gap: parental awareness of children’s exposure to risks online’ in February 2022. A summary of the findings of this comprehensive report is included in this Newsletter, however, five key findings include:

• Young people engage in a wide range of online activities and experience many benefits from using the internet:
  • Many children have gone online for health information, searching for material about menta and, physical health.  
  • A third of children looked for emotional support online from friends and/or mental health support services.
• Significant numbers of children have had negative online experiences: 
  • Close to half of the children surveyed were treated in a hurtful or nasty way online in the past year. 
  • A quarter of the children had themselves treated someone in a hurtful or nasty way online. 
• Almost all children did something in response to a negative online experience – most commonly telling their parents. 
• Many parents underestimate the prevalence of children’s negative online experiences, and many are not aware of their teens’ exposure to negative content or sexual material online.
• Children with restrictive parents are less likely to be exposed to harmful content, but they are also much less likely to engage in supportive and protective online activities.

Complementing this sudy was an earlier US study (2019) that drew from nationally representative surveys of 11 million young people as well as in-depth interviews. ‘iGen’, a book by Dr Jean Twenge, was the first book to document the cultural changes shaping today’s teens and young adults, documenting how their changed world has impacted their attitudes, world views, and mental health. With generational divides appearing to be wider than ever, parents, educators, and employers have an urgent need to understand today’s rising generation of teens and young adults. Born after 1995, iGen is the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person – perhaps indicating why some statistics indicate that they are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

Dr Twenge’s studies highlight the point that technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them; they are also different in how they spend their time, how they behave, and in their attitudes toward many topics; they socialise in completely new ways, reject once sacred social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. Anxiety and depression are very closely related to each other, being two sides of the same coin.

Without wanting to be labelled a Luddite, these recent, comprehensive studies are extremely interesting in that almost everything that you can do that is not on a screen is linked to more happiness - spending time with friends in person, going to religious services, sports and exercise, even homework. However, several studies have found that almost everything that is on a screen is linked to less happiness - social media use, ‘serendipitous’ internet searches, texting. Twenge’s studies highlighted two studies that followed people over time and the results concluded that spending a significant amount of time on social media leads to unhappiness but being unhappy doesn't lead to spending more time on social media. Another study randomly assigned people to give up their Facebook page for a week, or not. And those who gave up Facebook ended the week happier, less depressed and less lonely. Screentime in school, at St Patrick’s, however, is aimed to be purposeful and focused – the use of computers at St Patrick’s offers students, staff and parents considerable opportunities for enhancing outcomes, without compromising welfare, because the usage is time-defined, purposeful and often creative and collaborate. The research indicating the correlation between screen-time and unhappiness focuses more on social media rather than the educational use of computers.

Parents and educators cannot afford not to be part of discussions regarding online engagement. There is no doubt that our involvement in the ‘computer age’ will continue to present us with the potential for enormous benefits, and the potential for considerable costs – as with being part of any era, if we feel that we are merely ‘flotsam and jetsam’ in the midst of a fast current, our engagement with the many benefits that we currently view in schools and in education of being part of the computer age may be lost. Thank you to all in our school community who support our endeavours to equip our children to be informed and active positive contributors to ‘their age.’

Regards   

Rod Linhart (Principal)

August 

Term 1 - Thursday 3rd February - Thursday 14th April

Term 2 - Monday 2nd May - *Friday 8th July

Term 3 - Monday 25th July - Friday 30th September

Term 4 - Monday 17th October - Thursday 15th December

*Student Free Day Friday 8th July 2022

The students in Year 3 have returned to school with enthusiasm.  This term we are learning to write informative text and we have been examining text about the unique bird called the Cassowary.  We will be developing our knowledge and skills over the term to locate important parts of the text, summarising, paragraphing and technical vocabulary. 

In Mathematics, we are learning to recall the multiplication and division facts of two, three, five and ten.  We will also be working on fractions, conducting experiments of chance and measuring items using mass and capacity.

In History we are learning how things have changed in our community and we will be examining items from the past and how they have changed to the modern day. In Science we are covering Biological Science, and Earth and Space Science.  We are looking forward to an excursion later in the term to reinforce our learning-more details to follow in the coming weeks.

Students who represented the school in Basketball and student Cross County Age Champions received medals during yesterday’s morning assembly. Congratulations to these students for their commitment, and deep thanks to the many parents and friends who supported the children in their endeavours.

We conferred badges to our school leaders for term 3 during yesterday’s morning assembly. Details regarding this process of selecting our student leaders are detailed below. We commend all students who nominated for these positions of leadership, and we congratulate the students who will take on the roles and responsibilities associated with these positions.

School Captains: per term; voted by students from years 3-6 and staff

• Consistently display WEST qualities (Welcoming, Encouraging, Saying sorry, Thanking)
• Be confident in public speaking – school assemblies, community events as required – and be involved in representing the school at such events.
• Have a heightened sense of the importance of being well-presented in their school uniform and in their general demeanour or manner.
• Be viewed as excellent role models by staff, students and the wider school and general community.
• Display reliability and a degree of initiative as required.

House Captains per term; voted by students from years 3-6 and staff

• Consistently display WEST qualities (Welcoming, Encouraging, Saying sorry, Thanking)
• Consistently display sportsmanship – not necessarily outstanding personal sporting abilities; rather a willingness to be involved and to involve others in sport.
• Be available, reliable and willing to assist in promoting sport and other student welfare programs.

Student Representative Council per two terms per class (Years 3-6); voted by students in their respective classes

• Consistently display WEST qualities (Welcoming, Encouraging, Saying sorry, Thanking)
• Be reliable and willing to assist in promoting student welfare programs

Term 3 School Captains: Ruby Anthony, Ryan Jackson

Terms 3 & 4

Martyn House Captains: Cameron Reeves, Claire Simpson.

Dooley House Captains: Lincoln McQueen, Tyla O’Toole.

Byrne House Captains: Thomas Marshall, Harrison Fawkner

Student Representative Council: Lakyn Dezoete, Lucy Chapman, Rose Evans, Kyan Mayes.

This Act legally requires members of certain professions within the community to report concerns, or suspected abuse or neglect of children to Child Protection Services, or to a Gateway Service. For example, all employees within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and Catholic Education Tasmania are mandated to report their knowledge, belief or suspicion that a child has suffered, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect; workers are legally obligated to report and may be held accountable if they fail to do so, which overrides any confidentiality and privacy requirements that may otherwise govern behaviour in this regard. Staff, therefore, are obliged to make notifications, usually through the principal, of any concern observed or communicated to them - staff do not investigate, nor interrogate.

Prep will be reading The Enormous Turnip Story at the Monday morning (8th Aug) assembly. This is part of our Talk For Writing program. We are looking forward to viewing this aspect of the literacy program. Parents and friends are welcome to come and watch. 

Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians create colourful displays, develop activities, run competitions and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. Our Bookweek Dress-up Day will be Thursday 25^th August – students can come dressed as a character out of a favourite book.  This year’s theme is, “Dreaming with eyes open…’. Students will also participate in a performance of a CBCA Bookweek Book of the Year shortlisted book, ‘The Imaginer’. A summary follows:

Penny has a massive imagination. She loves to draw up plans, gather her tools and turn sketches and scribbles into new creations. One day, she visits her grandpa’s house and is amazed at his gadgets and gizmos. He has a telephone hanging on his wall, an organ with bellows to pump and a contraption with a handle to churn homemade butter. Then. Penny discovers grandpa’s garage …

Christopher Cheng’s The Imagineer is a beautiful story about an inquisitive little girl whose imagination is sparked by the things around her. It also highlights the value of spending time with a grandparent and learning from their lived experience.

Our school book fair will commence on Monday 22nd August (2.55pm -3.15pm), Tuesday 23rd August (8.30am-8.50am & 2.55pm-3.15pm) Wednesday 24th August (8.30am-8.50am) 

I have received calls from some parents regarding the level of attendance of children in their child’s class in order for the parents to discern if there are any increased absences due to sickness which would assist them in ensuring the health and wellbeing of their own families. We are no longer obliged by the Department of Health to notify families of positive cases of COVID-19 in classes, however, I appreciate that the provision of updates of objective information regarding class attendance levels may assist in the wellbeing of some families who may have members who are immune-compromised, especially in the light of media coverage indicating the cases of COVID-19 and influenza in the wider community. As such, we will include class attendance for the preceding week in the Newsletter this term to assist some families in supporting their own wellbeing, and I certainly encourage families with concerns and/or questions to, in the first instance, contact me (Mr Linhart) to hopefully answer any questions relating to school information rather than relying on piecemeal information from other sources. As of next week, we hope to be able to provide a weekly update on the class percentages of absentees. 

We welcomed David and Lyndon from Metro Bus to the school last week. David and Lyndon discussed the bus code of conduct with students who use the bus service, and they provided students with a range of strategies to deal effectively as a participant of the bus service. We have put the passenger Code of Conduct – Incident Form on our school website as a reference source.

eSAFETY commisioner – ‘Mind the gap: parental awareness of children’s exposure to risks online’  https://www.esafety.gov.au/research/mind-gap

Children aged 8 to 17 are engaging in beneficial activities online.

Children are going online to learn, play and socialise:

• 87% watched video clips
  •    79% completed schoolwork
  •    67% searched for and learnt something new
  •    61% played games alone
  •    56% played games with other people
  •    51% used social media
  •    31% looked at news
  •    19% created and posted their own video or music
  •    16% posted their own story or blog
  •    13% discussed political or social problems.

Children are seeking health information and emotional support online:

•  17% – physical health information
  •    13% – mental health information
  •    13% – emotional support.

However, children also face risks online.

The majority of children talk to strangers online: 

•  55% communicated with someone they first met online
  •    12% met someone face-to-face after first getting to know them online.

Many children have negative experiences online …

•  45% have been treated in a hurtful or nasty way
  •    26% have treated someone in a hurtful or nasty way
  •    11% have experienced hate speech
  •    9% had their personal information posted without their consent.

… and experience significant impacts.

•  55% felt sad
  •    43% felt angry
  •    38% didn’t feel good about themselves
  •    33% felt left out / lost friends
  •    20% felt helpless, powerless
  •    17% their mental health was affected.

Children know what to do, and feel empowered to act, when they have a bad experience online.

Almost all children take action in response to a negative experience:

•  67% told their parents
  •    63% unfriended or blocked someone
  •    55% tried to get the other person to leave them alone
  •    50% deleted messages
  •    41% changed their privacy or contact settings.

(Source: Online survey of 3,590 children in Australia aged 8–17, conducted July–September 2021. Data relates to the 12 months to July–September 2021. For online activities listed above, percentages indicate children who engaged in these weekly or more often, in the past 12 months.)

Mr Angliss presented the age champion chess medals to students during last Friday morning’s assembly. We congratulated:

Axel Bos (Year 3)

Leon Garrad (Year 4)

Livai Sesara (Year 5)

Logan Page (Year 6)

Logan also received the School Chess Champion 2022 for his overall results.

Congratulations to the following students who have received Student of the Week.

Prep: Abbey Bellchambers For your excellent attitude and application towards all learning tasks, Well done on the presentation of your work, it is very neat.

Year 1: Esther Bloomfield for your outstanding start to Term 3. Keep up the great attitude towards your learning!

Year 2: Jaxon Hampton For an improved focus in class discussions and when completing his daily written work. 

Year 3: Jacob Hingston for his contributions to class discussions and for his application towards improving his skills in Maths.

Year 4: Jakk Burgess for his positive attitude and application to times tables tasks. Keep up the good work Jakk.

Year 5: Jason Richards for the outstanding improvement in his attitude and application towards all learning opportunities.

Year 6: Brad Jones for the application and attitude towards his learning and presentation by using improved handwriting. 

Congratulations to our House Raffle winners this week: 

Dooley - Lily Nichols  Martyn - Mason Allford

Byrne - Indiana Bowkett

Mrs Badcock was on leave yesterday; Mr Linhart will be on leave this Friday and next Monday.

The canteen will be operating on a limited menu this Thursday 4th and next Thursday 11th August. The QKR app will reflect what is available to order on both days. We thank you for your understanding. 

Thank you most sincerely for the generous offer of assistance with the school’s request for a meal donation in support of the Barker family. The response certainly reflects the generous nature of our wonderful school community. Following on from a letter that was communicated to participating families, the meal preparation roster is below. Please contact Mr Linhart, Lennice or Tameka in the school office if your circumstances have changed in regard to this offer of assistance, or if you would like to offer a meal or lunchbox item. We are asking the meals to be brought to school to allow us to send the meals home each Tuesday and Thursday. Please ensure your containers are clearly labelled with your name for the effective return to you. Once again, thank you to the families who have volunteered their time and resources; the Barker family has communicated their heartfelt thanks for this gesture of support.

Winterfest Smartie Mosaics

Anette Victoria Barker, a young mother of a family who attended St Patrick’s, sadly died unexpectantly during the school holidays and our school is organising some funds that will offer some support for Anette’s family. Funds that we raise from the Latrobe Winterfest Festival will contribute to our school's offer of support to Anette's family. If you are able to spare 30 minutes on Sunday 14^th August, please nominate a time below that you can assist with the supervision of the activity, which will be located in the school hall. A school staff member will be in attendance at all times - help will be required in distributing mosaic boards and smarties, heating chocolate and cleaning up. Thank you. A link to the google form to nominate a time to assist is:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHcrZcJA5rCxd_7-fGUB9MaxB6exOk2tLm0szJGbb7UyDoZA/viewform

Please continue to follow Health advice regarding notifying us if your child contracts COVID-19. Some important considerations regarding the updated COVID-19 School Safety Plan include:

• Parents are welcome inside school buildings without masks – please sanitise upon entry and wear a mask if you are a close contact (as per Health instructions.)
• Positive cases are still required to isolate for at least 7 days.
• Close contacts are still required to follow close contact rules for 7 days including testing daily if leaving their home and wearing a mask (all persons 12 years and older) in indoor settings when outside their home.
• There is no need to sign-in at the school office unless you are collecting or dropping off your child outside the usual drop-off/pick-up times (always come to the school office and office staff will contact the class teacher please, rather than picking your child directly from the classroom.)

Colds and flu

• Students/staff with cold or flu symptoms are required to stay home and test for two consecutive days.
• If the person has twice tested negative on successive days for COVID-19 and their symptoms are mild e.g. a runny nose, there is no coughing or sneezing and, if a student they have indicated when asked that they feel well, then the person is permitted at school /workplace.
  
  

Rapid antigen tests

Schools and the TCEO will allocate rapid antigen tests to CET personnel (staff and students only) as per the following schedule:

• Provide one (1) test when requested due to the person being symptomatic.
• Provide five (5) tests when requested due to the person having household close contact status.

COVID-19 testing

• If staff or students have symptoms, they should stay home and test for COVID-19.
• If it is less than 28 days since they had COVID-19, they do not need to get tested but should

still stay at home if unwell.

• If the test is positive and the person has not had a COVID-19 infection within 28 days, the person is considered a confirmed case.
• If the initial test result is negative and symptoms continue, students and staff with ongoing symptoms are advised to take a second test the following day.
• If the second test remains negative, this is sufficient to enable a return to work or school.
• If a person has returned 2 successive negative rapid antigen tests and still feels unwell consider

taking a PCR test.

• Positive rapid antigen tests must be registered on the Tasmanian Government COVID-19 website by the confirmed case or their parent/carer.

Confirmed cases

Should a student or member of staff test positive for COVID-19 they must:

• Isolate for a minimum of 7 days, provided outside the 28-day reinfection exclusion period.
• Isolate for a further 3 days if they still have symptoms on day 7.
• If test positive using a rapid antigen test, register the result with Public Health using their online declaration form or phone the Public Health Hotline 1800 671 738.
• Notify household close contacts of the need to observe close contact requirements when leaving their homes.

Angus Anthony (Year 2) has lost his softshell jacket. It is named and is a size 10 or 12 if found could you please return it to Angus in Year 2. 

Our school beanies have been very popular with our students, especially on these cold mornings. Beanies are still available and can be purchased from the uniform shop for $16.00.

We gratefully appreciate our volunteer parent coaches who offer coaching immediately after school on some days, and we acknowledge that a quick ‘catch-up’ amongst parents after school can offer the only face-to-face opportunities for parent get-togethers. As a shared space between the Latrobe Early Learning Centre (who use our hall and playground before and after school, from 6.30am until 6.30pm) parents who are briefly catching-up after school or watching any sport coaching are expected to be active in their supervision of their child or children, and be respectful of the Childcare requirements that the school grounds are for Childcare use after 3.20pm unless a school event, such as sporting coaching, is taking place. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Whole school assemblies have commenced again each morning – parents are welcome; please follow the COVID Safety Plan protocols – sanitize and observe personal distancing.

Karlie offers discrete counselling services to students upon both parent's signed request. Request forms are available from the school office or can be downloaded from the school website.

Parents are welcome to contact Mr Linhart at any time to discuss issues relating to their child’s education. It is important for parents to always make contact with Mr Linhart or their child’s teacher if they require elaboration or clarification on any issue. The school phone is diverted to after hours to ensure your question should be answered.

The 2022 Devonport Basketball Spring Primary School Roster will commence on Friday, 2nd September until Wednesday 7th September for Grades 1 & 2. If your child wishes to play in this roster, registrations will be open on Friday, 5th August and close on Friday, 19th August. Registrations can be completed through the following link.  https://www.playhq.com/basketball-tasmania/register/4acf47

Primary School Tournament

This Tournament will be held on the 23rd, 24th & 25th of September and will be played across venues in Ulverstone, Devonport and East Devonport.  More information will be provided in forthcoming school Newsletters.

‘Inquiring Minds’ Birth to 5 program - a ‘Set-Up for Success’ Catholic Education Tasmania initiative.

Our ‘Inquiring Minds’ birth to 5 program operates each Friday during school term time from 9.00am to 10.30am;This program involves a considerable focus on communicating to parents the learning intentions of important activities that are associated with early years learning. Mrs Klug will be working to engage parents in early years learning experiences that will ensure children who are enrolling in Kindergarten, will be informed in regards to developing key social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills and understandings.