Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The arrival of spring this week has been welcomed by us all. Let's hope the cold weather and seasonal illnesses begin to ease now and we all enjoy some sunshine and warmer days.

How wonderful it was to see so many students and staff dressing up last Friday. The school was alive with colour and excited students as they made their favourite books characters come alive. Thank you for supporting your child in dressing up and for coming along to the parades. Thank you to our library technician Lou for planning and organising a great Book week for us all.

On Tuesday we had 30 students representing STM at the district athletics carnival. An excellent result was achieved by this team with 24 students progressing to the next level of competition - what a stunning result from our young athletes. Thank you to Sarah Tarquinio, Chloe Hand, Rachel Hanna, Talia Sita and Antoinete Frazzetto for accompanying the students to the event, the staff were full of praise for the sportsmanship of our students.

Sacramental Celebrations

We congratulate our Year 6 students who had the honour of being confirmed by Bishop Terry Curtin last night in the presence of their family, friends, teachers and parish community. The parish celebration of Confirmation gives the candidates strength in their faith and our parish and Church hope for the future. Now these newly confirmed must continue to grow in the faith and guide their lives by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I ask you to continue to pray for them that they will stay close to Christ and bear witness to the Lord in their lives. Thank you to Clara Pritivera and the Year 6 team Sarah, Natalie, Carly & Terri for preparing the students for this important step in their faith life.

Staff update

Our Deputy Principal and Literacy Leader Anneliese Gaulton is relocating to Queensland and consequently will not be returning to STM in 2023. The position of Deputy Principal has been recently advertised.

Our Learning & Teaching Leader Kate Korber is taking leave to travel with her family in 2023 and will not be returning to STM. The position of Learning & Teaching Leader at STM has been advertised.

I know that Kate and Anneliese are both much loved and valued staff members of STM and will be greatly missed by everyone in the community. They are both excellent educators who have certainly contributed to the high standard of learning in evidence here at STM. There will be an opportunity to farewell Anneliese and Kate at the end of this year.

Our LSO Jessica Vanieri leaves at the end of this week to prepare for the birth of her first child. We wish Jessica well and await her happy news in 6 weeks. We welcome Danielle Agius who will be replacing Jessica.

Fathers Day

This morning the STMPA are just cleaning up from the most wonderful Father's Day breakfast! It was so lovely that over 200 dads, father figures and children could gather to share breakfast and spend time together. The Fathers Day stall is now in action with lots of excited children purchasing special gifts for their dads and father figures. Community celebrations such as this are not possible without the enormous amount of organising that takes place behind the scenes. Thank you to the STMPA organising committee: Helen Karabatos, Amanda Hildebrandt, Jodie Pachauri and Cleo Glykokalamos. Special thanks to Rita Cardamone, Kate Korber and Umith Wickramasinghe for supporting the organising and the large group of volunteers who assisted last night with set up and today with pack up. Let's hope that we can now continue to gather onsite for many more community gatherings.

Celebrations of Learning begin next week with Year 2 sharing their learning on Tuesday at 2.30pm and Year 1 on Thursday at 2.30pm. We also look forward to welcoming the Penola Ministry Band who are coming to perform for Year 5/6 on Thursday. Please check the calendar for Celebrations of Learning in Week 10.

AFLM footy finals begin this weekend and we at STM are getting into the finals spirit with football sessions for every class over the next 2 weeks culminating in Footy Day on the 15th September.

Wishing all the fathers, grandfathers, uncles & father figures in our community a great day on Sunday. Let us praise those men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides. Let us praise those men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children. And let us praise those fathers who have died, but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.- Prayer of Kirk Loadman adapted by Debra Mooney, PhD

Thanks for your continued support of our great school,

Geraldine & Leadership Team

In 2022, our school is participating in Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne. School staff, children in years 4-6 and school families are asked to complete the survey.

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that each school can focus on. Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.

Families should have received your own unique pin code this week from ORIMA research. The survey is available online, can be accessed from Monday 29 August and needs to be completed by Friday 16 September 2022. This survey may only be completed once.

Our school would like to thank those who participate. We encourage you to send us a screenshot of the survey completion message to go into a draw to win a $200 Academy uniform voucher. Please send your screenshot to Kate Korber via kkorber@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au.

Thank you

Kate Korber

Head on over to our Week 8 Curriculum Newsletter to check out some of the awesome learning happening across our classrooms at STM! Click here to head on over!

STMPA New Letter Update

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, grandfathers, and father figures in the STM community and across the globe.

I’ve just come back from an extremely successful Father’s Day Breakfast. It was great to see so many dads taking time from their busy schedule to spend the morning connecting and having a great time. The demand for Bacon was high but we managed to keep the lines moving. Yes! there was a line almost all the way to the library.

Thank you so much to all the dads, grandfathers, and dad figures for your participation, laughs and friendly chats.

A big thank you to all the STMPA mums who helped make the breakfast a success. Without you we’d still have that long line of dads waiting for their bacon, eggs, and coffee. Thank you to all the wonderful STM staff who helped with organising, cooking, and setting up before and on the day.

Upcoming Events

Watch this space for news and updates on all upcoming events.

Term 3

· STM Art Show – 13th October

Sports green will be available to those who would like to bring in a picnic with a coffee cart and a sausage sizzle catering to your food and caffeine needs.

· Parent Trivia Night

Term 4

· Bunnings Sausage Sizzle – 6th November

· Mango Drive

· Tony’s Pies

· End of Year Parents Function

· Carols BBQ

· Christmas Family Movie Night

· Picture Products Fundraiser

Vacant STMPA positions

Two positions are still vacant and seeking volunteers to join as STMPA Secretary and Classroom Representatives of 5B.

Communication Channels

Various channels (Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger) currently exist where regular information is shared amongst parents of each year level. Your classroom representative can direct you to the right channel for up-to-date information STMPA activities.

Regards

Umith Wickramasinghe

Teaching your kids about consent

The concept of respectful relationships, including consent, has been discussed at a school level for some time, but it hasn’t yet gained universal traction with families. Lacking confidence and unsure where to start, many parents have struggled to make headway in this area. If this sounds familiar, these ideas will help you make a start.

Establish home as a safe place to talk

Is your home a place where children can talk about any topic? Sexuality and relationship education are subjects that many parents place in the ‘let’s talk about this when you are older’ basket.

Professor Kerry Robinson, who is in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology and the Sexualities and Genders Research Network at Western Sydney University advises parents to be factual when answering children’s questions, emphasising the importance of staying informed about the subject kids are interested in.

In a recent article in The Guardian, she said “…. have it set up early with your child that when they talk about certain things you give open, simple, honest answers. Then you set a precedent that you can build on.”

Professor Robinson also advises parents not to fob off children’s questions: “Straight away you’re setting a pattern of not answering and putting it off. Kids learn really quickly that this is a taboo subject. They will talk to their friends about it: they won’t talk to their parents and other adults about it because it’s taboo.”

Teach no means no

Children learn about mutual consent through their play and sharing. A child who doesn’t want to share their toys has a right to be left alone, rather than being scolded to change their mind. A parent who withdraws a privilege in response to a teenager’s poor behaviour shouldn’t be subjected to repeated attempts to negotiate a different outcome. Reinforce with children and young people that a no is not an invitation to ask again.

Emphasise choices

Framing behaviour as a choice is a central consent strategy for children or all ages. A young child who shares a toy with a friend can be told, “Good choice Harry. Now you can have fun together.” A primary school child who completes their homework assignment early can be reminded, “Now you’ve got plenty of time to relax. Smart choice.” The teenager who quietly helps you prepare a meal can be told “You could have done anything after school, but you chose to help me. I appreciate that.”

Teach kids to seek consent

Another important component of consent is that children and young people should also develop the habit of seeking consent from others. “Ask your sister if it’s okay for you to play that game next to her.” “Ask grandma if she feels like a cuddle right now.” Permission-seeking is another piece in the respectful relationships puzzle that you can reinforce with kids.

In closing

The best age to start teaching your children about consent is when they are young. The second-best age is whatever age they are right now. Consent education is too big an issue to ignore or leave to schools to manage. It’s something we all have to commit to if we want real change to occur.

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