Newsletter 107 - August 31st 2023

Dear God our Father, we give you thanks and praise for fathers young and old.
We pray for young fathers, newly embracing their vocation; may they find courage and perseverance to balance work, family and faith in joy and sacrifice.
We pray for fathers around the world whose children are lost or suffering; may they know that the God of compassion walks with them in their sorrow. We pray for men who are not fathers but still mentor and guide us with fatherly love and advice. We remember fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.  Amen

Child Safe

The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a central and fundamental responsibility of Catholic Education. The Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Ltd is committed to strengthened practice for the protection of children in line with the Victorian Government child safety reforms.

Catholic school communities place the highest priority on the care, wellbeing and protection of children and young people. Founded in Christ and sustained by faith, Catholic schools seek to fulfil their mission of enabling each student to come into the fullness of their own humanity. This includes paying attention to the inherent dignity of children and young people, and their fundamental right to be respected, nurtured and safeguarded by all.

Catholic education has done much to strengthen its wellbeing and protection environment and remains committed to continuous improvement and review of its policies.

Supporting an absolute commitment to child safety, the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Ltd (DOBCEL) requires that all staff are familiar with and enact the Child Safe Standards. We work closely with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), the Department of Education and Training (DET), the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH), and the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) to mitigate the risks of child abuse through the promotion and implementation of the Victorian compulsory minimum Child Safe Standards and other relevant legislative obligations emanating from recommendations associated with the:

• Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
• Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations which culminated in the report titled Betrayal of Trust.

Policies and Guidelines

• Cross-sectoral Guide: PROTECT – Identifying and Responding to All Forms of Abuse in Victorian Schools
• DOBCEL policy: PROTECT: Identifying and Responding to Abuse – Reporting Obligations

There has been a review of DOBCEL and school policies and procedures to reflect recent Victorian legislative amendments with respect to managing the risk of child abuse. The updates to these policies complement the introduction of new Victorian Child Safe Standards, which commenced for all Victorian schools and school boarding premises on 1 July 2022.

Catholic schools must comply with legal obligations related to mandatory reporting and managing the risk of child abuse to ensure that all school policies and procedures are continually reviewed and updated to reflect Victorian legislative requirements. Mandatory reporting is a legal requirement under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic.) to protect children from harm relating to physical injury and sexual abuse and is non-negotiable in our schools.

The Victorian Child Safe Standards

On 26 November 2015, the Victorian Parliament passed the Child Wellbeing and Safety Amendment (Child Safe Standards) Bill 2015 (Vic.) to introduce Victorian Child Safe Standards into law. The seven Child Safe Standards and Ministerial Order 870 came into effect for schools on 1 August 2016.

The new Child Safe Standards are underpinned by Ministerial Order No. 1359 which was gazetted by the Victorian Government on 10 February 2022. Ministerial Order No. 1359 defines the actions schools and school boarding premises must take to meet the requirements of the new Child Safe Standards.

In July 2021, the Victorian Government announced the new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safe environments and protect children from abuse. The 11 new Child Safe Standards (listed below) came into effect for schools and school boarding premises on 1 July 2022.

The new Victorian Child Safe Standards support greater national consistency, reflecting the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, developed following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The new Child Safe Standards include new requirements, including:

• Focus on the safety of Aboriginal children and young people
• The involvement of families and students in child safety efforts
• Management of the risk of child abuse in online environments
• Governance, systems and processes to keep students safe.

As a minimum requirement for school registration, schools must take action in accordance with Ministerial Order No. 1359 to manage and reduce the risk of child abuse. The VRQA will continue to have responsibility for ensuring compliance against the standards in schools and school boarding premises.

Under Ministerial Order No. 1359, DOBCEL as a school governing authority must ensure that its schools contextualise, develop and implement policies, procedures and practices to create a child safe culture and environment.

New Victorian Child Safe Standards

1. Culturally safe environments – Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.
2. Leadership, governance and culture – Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
3. Child and student empowerment – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
4. Family engagement – Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
5. Diversity and equity – Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
6. Suitable staff and volunteers – People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
7. Complaints processes – Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.
8. Child safety knowledge, skills and awareness – Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
9. Child safety in physical and online environments – Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
10. Review of child safety practices – Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
11. Implementation of child safety practices – Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

DOBCEL schools can access guidance and resources to support implementation of the new Child Safe Standards and meet the requirements of Ministerial Order No. 1359 on the CEVN website https://cevn.cecv.catholic.edu.au under Child Safety.

The links below provide further information on Child Safety and the Child Safe Standards:

• Victorian Government PROTECT
• Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)
• Commission for Children and Young People
• Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
• Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
• Truth Justice and Healing Council
• Department of Justice and Community Safety.

School Assemblies:  Our assemblies are led by a different class each week and will happen on Friday afternoons starting at 2:50pm in the school hall.  Students are dismissed from the hall at 3:15pm.  We invite all our community to come along.  

Week 8: Senior M         Week 9: Middle C             Week 10: Whole School Assembly 1:50pm

Professional Development:

At St Patrick’s Primary School we are committed to Professional Development of our team.  At various times staff members will be working off site which may result in classroom teachers being out of the classroom. 

Wk 9: 5 & 6 September - All staff members will be out of their classrooms at various times throughout the school review process.  Mrs Celine Bush will be providing coverage as needed. 

On this special day and week let’s all be mindful of the sacrifice, dedication and love of the profession that it takes to be a teacher, school counsellor, education support, business manager, cleaner, groundskeeper in our community.   I’m grateful as are my colleagues to be working beside the quality and professional group of educators and people that we have here at St Patricks and our students are the benefactors of your impressive skill set.

Maryanne Comitti   Teaching and Learning leader 

Great Book Swap - happening at St Patrick’s Primary School,2023. Literacy is a major issue facing remote Indigenous communities. Has been temporarily postponed.

This term Social Justice will begin working on The Great Book Swap in support for Indigenous Literacy. The idea is that our school would donate any quality unwanted children’s books, and Social justice will then conduct a Book swap where students are able to purchase any of these donated books for a gold coin donation.  All money raised will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.  *Please send any donated books (in great condition) into school, thanks to those who have already donated.

Annual Fathers day/special persons Celebrations:  Our annual Fathers day/special persons celebrations will take place tomorrow night at 5pm Friday 1st September, 2023. 

*We will have an evening bbq and games where we invite all fathers and special male figures in our children's lives to come and celebrate as a community.   

Chelsea Duck - For the curiosity you've displayed throughout classroom discussions. We value your opinions, Chels, keep it up.

Imogen Nelson - For the wonderful self- motivation skills you display towards all areas of learning. Keep up the great work Immy.

Harry Sutherland - For your wonderful work when placing 2-digit numbers on a number line. You showed resilience and risk taking to get all your answers correct. Keep up the hard work!

James Hooper - For being willing to share your learning and understanding with your class mates. You always take risks and have a go, even for challenging tasks. What a great learner you are!

Marianne Duxson - For always demonstrating all learner superpowers. We are so lucky to have you in our classroom.

Lucas Papadopoulos - For using all of your learning superpowers to be the best learner you can be. I am very proud of you Lucas.   

Bill Lasslett  - For the amazing rhetorical questions you have been creating as part of our writing unit. Keep it up!

Lily Sanderson - For demonstrating a great understanding of the rules for adding the 'ed' and 'ing' suffixes to verbs. Well done!

Bailey Matthews - For the fantastic and creative ideas you have been putting into your rhetorical questions to persuade. Keep it up!

Awuomlual Kur - For the outstanding vocabulary you have been including in your writing. Remarkable work Awuom!

Archie MacPherson - For your excellent learning during Maths and for your impressive check-up assessment. Well done Archie!         

Monti Repper - For showing determination, persistence and improvement with your reading. Keep working hard  Monti!

Milla Mitchell - For the amazing complex sentences you have been creating during our sentence a day activity. Well done Milla!

Azariah Ciavatta - For your willingness to demonstrate examples in front of your peers during Maths. Keep taking risks in your learning Azariah.

The Victorian Government is investing $1.5 million from the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund to provide up to 95,000 Little Angler Kits to primary school aged children in Victoria.

The free kits provide a wonderful school holiday activity for children with their families and help ease the cost of living, providing a fun activity close to home.

Grade 5 students at all Victorian schools, including ours, will be offered the opportunity to receive a FREE Little Angler Kit. Grade 5 students have been selected based on the Victorian Curriculum focus, movement and motor development, and safety considerations.

The program is entirely voluntary. Schools were provided with the option to opt out of the program. Our school has opted to stay in the program so that parents can decide whether they want their child(ren) to receive a free fishing kit.

Parents of Grade 5 students can advise the school if they do not wish their child(ren) to participate for any reason whatsoever. We support parents in making decisions that align with their family values and beliefs.

The roll out of kits will occur through the second half of 2023 (16 October - 4 December) so that all participating children will have a kit in time for the summer school holidays.

The kits include a rod, reel with line, tackle tray, some tackle and information on how to use them to catch a fish. Please note that the tackle tray includes fishing hooks. The tackle tray will be wrapped in cardboard and placed inside a pocket inside the fishing kit bag, which will be sealed with a cable tie to discourage students from opening their kits until they are with a parent or carer.

Kits will be handed out to students to take home with them as soon as the school receives them. Teachers will tell students not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer, however parents can contact the school and request to collect their kit from the school themselves if they prefer.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority will create a Little Angler hub on their website, which will be live when the kits start being distributed. It will have useful information, instructional videos and online resources about where and how to fish linking to existing resources from Fishcare and new resources to be produced just for the Little Angler Kits program.

This initiative aims to grow recreational fishing participation in Victoria by actively encouraging primary school aged children to learn how to fish, as well as learning more about marine life and the natural environment.