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| WEEK FIVE |
Book Week - Reading is Magic! |
| Thursday 22 August |
KM Meet the Teacher with Mrs Stewart |
| Friday 23 August |
Book Week Dress Up. Activity Day and Fundraiser Clothing Pool Open 2.45 pm Flexischools Lunch https://user.flexischools.com.au/login?returnUrl=%2Fhome |
| WEEK SIX | |
| Monday 26 August |
ACT Curriculum Working Group at St Matthew's |
| Tuesday 27 August |
Tennis Coaching Sessions |
| Thursday 29 August |
Tennis Coaching Sessions Author Visit: Aura Parker K-3 |
| Friday 30 August |
Parent and Carer Breakfast Year 6 Prayer Celebration and Awards Presentation Father's Day Stall Clothing Pool Open 2.45 pm Flexischools Lunch https://user.flexischools.com.au/login?returnUrl=%2Fhome |
| UPCOMING |
SAVE THE DATE |
| 20 September |
School Community Council Trivia Night - Spring into Fun! |
'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey - LAST CHANCE
The 'Partners in Learning' Parent Survey closes this Friday at 4:30 p.m. Please click on the following link to respond to the survey:
http://tellthemfromme.com/stmatthewspage.
At this point, we have had 52 responses.
The questionnaire covers several aspects of your perceptions of your children's experiences at home and school. It is based primarily on Joyce Epstein's framework for fostering positive school and community relations.
The data gathered from this survey informs our Annual Improvement and Strategic Plans and is shared with the Catholic Education Office. We would love for our Head Office to hear about the wonderful things that happen at St Matthew's Primary School and in our great school community.
Please know you are welcome to provide feedback at any point, and any concerns will be addressed immediately.
Belconnen District Athletics Carnival
Thank you to Mr Dillon Payne for coordinating the Belconnen District Athletics Carnival. His meticulous planning ensured that the carnival ran smoothly and provided a fantastic experience for all involved.
We also thank Mr. Hunt and Mr. Hargraves for their assistance on the day.
I would like to congratulate all the students for their enthusiastic participation and outstanding sportsmanship.
Congratulations to Alistar in Year 4, who achieved 2nd place in the 200m event. Alistar’s impressive performance has earned him a spot on the Belconnen team to compete at the ACT School Championships. Elsie from Year 6B will also compete as part of the team at this event. Best of luck to Alistar and Elsie!
Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the carnival’s success and to the students for their efforts.
Invitation Parent Breakfast 30 August
Attendance
The following table indicates the levels of attendance.
We want your child to succeed at school and know that you do as well. Please let us know if you require support in ensuring your child attends school on time each day.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Principal's Retreat Reflection: Embracing Goodness
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of attending a Principals' retreat where we explored one of the four transcendental values: Goodness.
The four transcendentals are fundamental concepts that are considered to be universal and essential aspects of reality. They are:
1. Truth – This refers to the pursuit of understanding what is factual and accurate and aligns with the nature of reality. Truth is about seeking and recognizing what is genuine and reliable.
2. Goodness – This encompasses moral and ethical values, focusing on what is virtuous and beneficial for individuals and society. Goodness relates to the idea of acting in a way that contributes positively to the well-being of others.
3. Beauty – Beauty is concerned with what is aesthetically pleasing and harmonious. It reflects the appreciation of form and proportion in art, nature, and human expression, contributing to a sense of delight and inspiration.
4. Unity – Unity refers to the concept of oneness and coherence. It emphasizes the idea of integration and wholeness, recognizing how different elements come together to form a complete and harmonious whole.
These transcendentals are often explored in philosophy, theology, and ethics, providing a framework for understanding and appreciating various aspects of human experience and the world around us.
Following our previous term's focus on Truth, we delved into the story of the Good Samaritan, reflecting on how we can embody compassion and love in our daily interactions. As we continue this journey, let’s strive to support and uplift each other, drawing inspiration from the Good Samaritan's example. Together, let’s make St Matthew's a place where goodness thrives.
Yours in truth, goodness, unity and love,
Mrs Sarah Lowe
Principal
Instant Messaging
What is instant messaging?
Instant messaging (or ‘IM’) apps are categorised by the ability to send and receive messages in real-time. This is also known as direct messaging (‘DM’) or private messaging (‘PM’).
How does it work?
Instant, direct or private messaging allows for a more private conversation to take place between users. For example, users can communicate in ‘private’, directly with each other, rather than on a public wall or forum. Some instant messaging also allows for a group chat where multiple users can be in the same conversation.
Instant messaging apps have expanded beyond being purely text based, with many apps now featuring video and audio call capabilities.
Popular examples include KIK, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Discord, WeChat, Messenger Kids and iMessenger. Many platforms, including social networking, gaming, image and video sharing apps, also have an in-built chat function or a complementary messaging service to allow for users to communicate directly.
Popular platforms with complementary direct message features include Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and TikTok.
Did you know…
The age restriction to join most social platforms above is 13 years.
What are the challenges?
With the ability to share pictures, messages and videos across various platforms, meeting people and interacting online can present challenges for safety and well-being. Additionally, many parents or carers may not be aware that the platform their child is using contains a message function.
Interactive platforms such as direct messages or chat functions can be used by offenders as a gateway to initiate contact with children online.
Without secure privacy settings, it can be possible for anyone to make contact using direct messages.
Some instant messaging apps or functions may have perceived ‘anonymity’, with limited verification required to create an account or begin using a service. In these situations, it can be difficult to verify another user’s identity and who they say they are.
Instant messaging group chats or conversations might include various users, including people your child may or may not be ‘friends’ with or on their contacts list, allowing them to communicate with people they don’t know.
There are also apps that allow for ‘secret’ conversations, which means the messages are locked to one device rather than the account and sometimes require a password to see them.
Tips for staying safe online:
- Talk to your child about their online interactions, who they might communicate with, and how.
- Encourage your child to question suspicious accounts or users and unknown, random, or unsolicited friend or follower requests.
- Strong privacy settings, including limiting direct message functions, can be vital in preventing unwanted or inappropriate contact.
- If you aren’t sure how an app works, research and download it yourself to learn its features, or sit down with your child and ask them to show you how it works. This can help you understand the potential challenges these apps might have and what precautions to take for your child.
- Should an issue arise, report and block inappropriate contact on the apps, games, and sites your child uses.
https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/index.php/resources-tab/parents-and-carers
Book Week Shadow Judging
Last Friday, our Year 4 Shadow Judging Team visited the National Library to hear the 2024 CBCA Book Week Winners announcement. The team also shared what they have been doing as Shadow Judges and presented their creative responses.
Congratulations to all the students involved and Miss Judd for organising this event.
Whilst at the National Library, our students were interviewed by the Canberra Times and appeared in Saturday's paper.
The photographs below were taken by Keegan Carroll from the Canberra Times.
Book Week Overview
Book Week Fundraiser
Author Visit Aura Parker
Our Catholic Faith handbook for families
Anita Heiss Reads Bidhi Galing
An online literacy event for all families to celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day Wednesday 4 September 7pm – 7.30pm
Indigenous Literacy Day is held on the first Wednesday of September and is an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Stories, Cultures and Languages (find out more here: (https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/ild). To celebrate this year, the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee has organised a wonderful online evening event open to all families in our schools.
We are delighted that Aboriginal Australian author Anita Heiss will read her book Bidhi Galing. Dr Anita Heiss AM is a proud member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales and one of Australia's most prolific and well-known authors, publishing across genres, including nonfiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, and children's fiction.
Her book Bidhi Galing (Big Rain) tells the story of the Great Flood of Gundagai in 1852 and the Wiradyuri heroes Yarri and Jacky Jacky, who paddled bark canoes through raging floodwaters, risking their lives to save countless others. Primary school students aged 7–12 – and their families! – will love this story and the beautiful book illustrations. It’s a chance to sit down together and enjoy a nice, quiet time listening and reading, which is a wonderful way to support children’s literacy skills at home.
Go to the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT website to REGISTER or complete the form here: https://ccsp.schoolzineplus.com/form/63.
Or use the QR code:
Invitation to ‘A Bluey Perspective’
Parents and carers are invited to attend a free event with ‘Bluey’ creator Joe Brumm at Merici College on Wednesday, 11 September.
The event aims to bring families together to listen to Joe talk about why he thinks Bluey has been such a success and the important role parents play in their child’s learning and development.
Partners in Parenting: Education (PiP-Ed)
Pip-Ed is a new, updated version of the award-winning, evidence-based parenting program, ‘Partners in Parenting’, offered to parents and carers of teenagers aged 12-18 who are refusing school due to anxiety or depression, reside in Australia, are fluent in English and have regular internet access.
The program is not recommended as a sole source of support for young people experiencing school refusal.
Although all parents can take part, the program content is not tailored for parents of teenagers living with Autism Spectrum Disorder or intellectual disability.
Link: https://pip-ed.web.app/
Book Recommendation - The Anxious Generation
The following book by Jonathan Haidt has been recently recommended.
The Anxious Generation is an urgent and insightful investigation into the collapse in youth mental health from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author.
Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces – communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around the world.
In The Anxious Generation, Haidt shows how, between 2010 and 2015, childhood and adolescence got rewired. As teens traded in their flip phones for smartphones packed with social media apps, time online soared, including time spent comparing oneself to a vast pool of others. Time engaging face-to-face with friends and family plummeted, and so did mental health.
But this is not just a story about technology; this profound shift took place against a backdrop of declining childhood freedom and free-play, as parents over-supervised every aspect of their children’s lives offline, depriving them of the experiences they most need to become strong and self-governing adults.
In this book, Haidt makes a compelling argument that the loss of play-based childhood and its replacement with a phone-based childhood that is not suitable for human development is the source of increased mental distress among teenagers. The Anxious Generation delves into the latest psychological and biological research to show the four fundamental ways in which a phone-based childhood disrupts development – sleep deprivation, social deprivation, cognitive fragmentation and addiction. Haidt offers separate in-depth analyses of what has happened to girls, and what has happened to boys, offering practical advice for parents, schools, governments, and teens themselves. Drawing on ancient wisdom and cutting-edge research, this eye-opening book is a life raft and a powerful call-to-arms.