Welcome back to the second half of the year. We hope everyone was able to get some down time to spend with their children during the recent school holidays.
I was very excited to volunteer at the Kapunda Primary School food stall on the Saturday morning of the 24-Hour Motorbike Trial. A huge shout out to the Governing Council team for their organisation leading up to the event and ongoing commitment over the weekend. Thank you also to all of the volunteers who helped out working shifts throughout the event. The food stall was a huge success and raised a fantastic amount of money to benefit our school and students. While I was there, I had numerous people say how well organised it was – Best food stall setup! was one of the comments. Fund-raisers such as this take a large amount of time to organise so the more this is shared the better. Having family and community members commit a few hours at the event also lightens the load for those already involved in the preparation.
COVID and the uncertainty following this had a significant impact on family presence at school and we are working to change this back to “pre-COVID” days. Staff and families working together and supporting each other has the greatest impact on our students’ learning and wellbeing. Volunteering at school events, attending assemblies, engaging with teachers and classes, having students out and about learning about and working with our community are all ways we can build this connection. The fantastic Children’s Day event held on Monday this week was a wonderful example of this.
On Monday 4th August we celebrated National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day. This day is a chance for all Australians to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, language and culture. Our reception, year one and Aboriginal students joined the Kapunda Kindergarten and some Kapunda High School students at the Kapunda Town Square. Students were hosted by Ngadjuri Elders and family as well as members of the local community. Students participated in an Acknowledgment of Country, Art and craft activities, story time, music and even got to see some real-life animals! We were proud to be involved in such an inspiring community event to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and thank everyone who was involved in organising the event.
We are always on the lookout for family – parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles as well as community members to put their hand up to volunteer. There are a number of ways this can look. You may like to participate on one of our ongoing committees and be involved in the decision-making processes or you might prefer to be contacted to help out at actual events. We are also in great need of some volunteers willing to help at breakfast club during the week.
Volunteering opportunities include:
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
- Develops fun-raising plans and organises events. Involvement can be in the meeting and planning stage or volunteering on the day of planned events.
GROUNDS COMMITTEE
- Supports the development of school grounds through advising, planning and monitoring; to support an engaging, purposeful and well-maintained environment for out children to play and learn.
UNIFORM COMMITTEE
- Liaises with the school community to coordinate the design, purchase and selling of uniform items.
GOVERNING COUNCIL
- Works with the Principal and school on general oversight and governance for the wellbeing and development of the school community including advising on; local needs, school policies, buildings equipment and grounds and the financial management.
BREAKFAST CLUB
- Volunteer on a morning for about 1 hour to set-up and support students to access breakfast. Can be as frequent or infrequent as you can manage.
If you are interested in any of the above, or would like to talk to someone for further information, please contact the Front Office.
CYBER SAFETY
Cyber safety is an ongoing topic of conversation in the media and is of concern for all parents whose children have access to devices and social media platforms. At times, as parents we can feel like we are in the dark about what to do when issues arise. Issues relating to cyber safety are not limited to locations, schools or specific people – everyone who uses social media is at risk.
The eSafety Commission focuses on prevention by providing information about online safety risks, how to be safe on line and where to go for help. The eSafety commission can be accessed using the following URL/link https://www.esafety.gov.au/
The website provides information in easily accessible formats for schools, parents, children and young people and is a useful tool to develop our knowledge and understanding of the dangers and how to manage them. The eSafety Commission suggests the following approach for parents to enable young people to engage more safely on social media and manage difficult situations that can arise:
- Take screenshots / recordings of everything and record relevant URLs (links) (for Discord, keep message links)
- The general advice is not to engage with or respond to the abuse. Bullies usually like to know that what they say has been read and that the target has been affected by their words, so replying to messages can inflame the situation.
- Report the abusive material / accounts directly to the social media service – don’t delete without reporting. If you are not satisfied with the response from the social media service, they can escalate the matter to eSafety. Information about collecting evidence is available on the eSafety website https://www.esafety.gov.au/report/how-to-collect-evidence
- Restrict or block the abusive accounts
- Check that privacy settings are locked down to only allow people you know and trust to view your material and communicate with you
- Avoid looking at the material if it causes you distress
- Talk to a trusted adult e.g. parent, teacher, older sibling
- Report the cyberbullying to your school if it involves someone from school
The eSafety Guide | eSafety Commissioner has information about how to report and block abusive content across most of the social media platforms used in Australia.
SCHOOL UNIFORM/DRESS CODE
We have noticed an increasing number of students coming to school not wearing the appropriate school dress code. The dress code and expectations are set out in the School Uniform Policy, that is endorsed by Governing Council and was sent out to families at the beginning of this term.
The wearing of a school uniform aims to support students’ sense of belonging and identity within a team – just as a sports uniform does! School uniforms reduce peer pressure around having ‘name brand clothing’ or the latest trend and take the stress out of organising clothes on a daily basis. When the playing field is level, students can feel more at ease with each other and work together as a team instead of isolated individuals.
School uniforms are designed to enable students to engage in all aspects of the school day. Dress Code standards are in place to support student safety. The wearing of false nails, large earrings, facial piercings and jewellery can increase the risk of potential injury e.g. during play and sporting activities throughout the day. A recommendation of long hair being tied back is also to reduce the spread of head lice that, particularly at certain times of the year, can be prevalent in schools and preschools.
As a way to increase the standard of our school uniform and maintain strategies implemented to keep our students safe, teachers are providing reminders home to parents regarding any concerns with your child’s uniform. Please remember that we are here to assist you however we can, therefore if you are having any difficulties regarding the purchase of school uniforms, please don’t hesitate to contact us. A large number of recycled uniforms are regularly taken down to the Kapunda Community Thrift shop at 1 Kapunda Street.
Have a lovely weekend!
Sharon, Kerry and Dan
