Dear Parents, Children and Friends,

School Camp: A Wonderful Time for Year Six Students
I had the absolute pleasure of spending three days with the Year Six classes at camp at Point Walter last week. Over the course of the camp all of the children completed challenging activities such as rafting, the flying fox, high ropes, canoeing and various vertical challenges. What has impressed me most has been the support and encouragement that the students have shown each other and the resilience, persistence and determination of each and every child as they each battled personal challenges, and at times, fear and anxiety.

I would like to thank Mr Giannasi and Miss Pearmine for their precision organisation of the camp and all activities. I would also like to acknowledge Miss Araujo and Mr Horrocks for generously giving up their own personal time to attend the camp. I feel blessed to have such dedicated staff who give so freely and generously to the students.

Kindy Enrolments for 2020 & 2021
We are currently taking enrolments and interviewing for Kindergarten in 2020 and 2021. I ask families to please ensure they have lodged their Kindy application by Friday 15 March so your child’s  place can be secured. I also encourage you to share this with your friends and family. Should you wish to take a tour of our play based, child centred Kindergarten program, please contact me at miranda.swann@cewa.edu.au or call 9404 2400.

We also have a limited number of Pre Kindy and Kindergarten places available for 2019. Please register your interest with the office.

Kolbe Faction Day
This Friday is Kolbe Faction Day. This day will be celebrated from 8.30am with a Liturgy in the Sue Grove’s Hall. We warmly invite our parents and friends to join us.

P&F Meeting
We had a fabulous turn out to our first P&F Meeting of the year with 20 families in attendance. I would like to invite you to join us on Wednesday 20 March at 7.15pm for our March meeting. I look forward to seeing you there.

Swimming Carnival
Next Wednesday 20 March is the school swimming carnival for all students in Years 3 to 6. The event will be held at HBF Arena Joondalup; with the first event beginning at 9am and the carnival concluding at 2.30pm. Children who are not being collected by their parents from the venue, as indicated on the swimming note,  will then be bused back to school ready for pickup. Please note that the final program will be sent home via email today. I look forward to a wonderful day together.

Feedback from Parent Communication Survey
I thank our parents for taking the time to give us feedback in our recent Parent Communication Survey. We had an incredible 150 responses! As outlined in an earlier newsletter, this will directly inform the direction of our school in regards to communication and will form part of our Effective Communication Policy.

So, what will we do and change in light of these results?

•  We will endeavour to ensure that all of our school communication at whole school level is sent via email or SMS. We will still continue to use Class Dojo as the main form of communication from teacher/class to home. We have received excellent feedback in regards to Class Dojo as a form of personal communication between the teacher and home and many have appreciated the insight Class Dojo provided into what is happening in the classrooms.
• In light of your direct feedback, we will be moving to a fortnightly newsletter from the beginning of Term Two. We will take some time to revisit the format of the newsletter in order to make a decision that we feel best suits the feedback we have been given. This will be focus in term 2.
• From the feedback, Facebook will continue to be utilised as a marketing tool, rather than as a form of major communication.

Camino  Pilgrimage
I am blessed to be going on Pilgrimage in Spain at the end of the month as part of my Principal Renewal Leave in Catholic Education. I will be walking the Way of St James; the route James the disciple took across Spain. I will be walking with 22 other principals and members from Catholic Education of Western Australia and will be walking over 300 kilometres in 20 days. I look forward to the peace, solace and opportunity for prayer and reflection this experience  will bring and look forward to returning to the community invigorated and refreshed.

Mr. Damien Purcell will be the Acting Principal whilst I am away. (30 March – 2 May) to I know you will show him your considerable support during this time. I look forward to joining the community

Sharing of Student’s Images
As you know, we seek your written permission to photograph or video your child to share and celebrate their day with you and our community. Some parents have chosen not to give permission for many reasons, including it may put their child at risk. Others simply want their child to be free from being photographed.
We understand parents like to film or photograph your child at assemblies, sports days and other activities. Our problem is that while staff know which students to exclude when we film or upload video or photographs, you do not.
Therefore, we want to allow you to record your own child, while helping us honour our promise to those students and parents who have not consented.
Please do not post on digital or any media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram) any photo or video that includes an identifiable child whose parent does not know you may do so. For example, if you are friends with the other child’s parent and you know they regularly upload photos to digital media or they are present at the assembly or sports day and know you are filming, you can assume they consent to you doing so.
We do not want to be forced to ban all parent photography and therefore ask for your cooperation in the best interests of all our students.

 Upcoming Important Dates

 May God bless our school and those within it.

Miranda Swann

Principal