Dear Parents, some important new updates to share with the you all in my article below:
My news update includes: Fantastic Fun - a great end to our Winter Sport Season, School Fee Reduction in 2021, Traffic Update, Important Calendar Dates for Term 4, Sports Day Update and Social Media Alert.
Fantastic Fun. On the last two Saturday mornings, the Football, Soccer and Netball Teams had their end of season presentations with Parent vs Players games. It was great to see both Mums and Dads revisiting their glory days in the games. (As the umpire in the football games I had to cope with a lot of backchat and even had to penalise some parents for “showing off”!!!) It was great to see how everyone enjoyed the games. They certainly seem to be a highlight for the children and all credit to a willingness to participate and enjoy. A sincere thanks to our coaches and managers for your wonderful work.
School Fees 2021 Reduced! Catholic Education SA is committed to making our schools excellent and open to all families. To value this commitment every Catholic Primary school will offer reduced fees in 2021. St Martin de Porres reduction will be $200 per student. Information explaining this with a link to the School Website was uploaded on Skoolbag on Monday, 28 September. This information can be viewed also by referring to the School Fees subpage.
Traffic. In an effort to respect our neighbours (to the school) can you please do the following when picking up and/or dropping off your children.
- No parking or waiting over driveways.
- Drive slowly when on Werlinga Road.
- Give way to any car leaving their property.
- Stay to the left hand side of the road (along the kerb) if you are lining up on Werlinga wanting to turn into Berrima Road. This allows cars wanting to travel straight enough space to do so safely.
Calendar - Important calendar dates for Term 4 are:
Please know that additional information for all the important dates above will be sent as separate notifications throughout the Term.
Sports Day
Thursday, 12 November at Bowker Street Reserve, Brighton.
This year we will hold our Annual School Sports Day at a Little Athletics Club. I chose to do this so that we can have as much family participation as possible. The Bowker Street Reserve is able to cater for our school very comfortably and being a Little Athletics Club they will provide the necessary equipment for the day. There will be two options available to parents on this day:
1. Arrive as a family at 9:30am (for a 10.00am start) at Bowker street Reserve, or;
2. Children whose family cannot attend will come to School at normal school time and be bused to/from School to Sports Day.
More details regarding Sports Day will be sent via Skoolbag in Week 1. Please look out for this notification.
! IMPORTANT ! Social Media
I have been responding to enquiries from parents in regard to the media on the distressing suicide video being shared on TikTok and other social media platforms. Fortunately, none of our children have been exposed to it. Unfortunately, many know about it and have referred to it in their friendship groups. This is an example of the challenges we face today as parents and educators with online content.
Attached are suggested talking points that you may wish to use with your children. Can I strongly suggest that you follow each of these dot points and have strong family protocols in place about the home use of the internet. The eSafety site is excellent for advice and information.
Tips for parents to help limit young people’s exposure to harmful content online:
Head to www.esafety.gov.au to find out the latest advice on apps, social media and online safety issues.
In closing, it was at this time in 2005 I was celebrating the Sydney Swans Grand Final win over West Coast. It was a day to remember! In an effort to support the children (especially the Crows, Carlton, Collingwood supporters who may never get the chance to experience such a day) I have hung my Grand Final experience in my office. You are welcome to come in and personally hear about the day.
God Bless,
Craig Fosdike