Principal’s Message

Dear Parents & Friends

Welcome back to Term 4.

We have a lot happening this term and we will keep you in touch via our social media platforms. If you haven’t done so, could I urge you to download the Schoolstream App onto your mobile device. Messages come through from the school clearly identified which grades they relate to, so you don’t have to spend time looking at messages that don’t concern your family. In light of the Years 6 and  5 excursions coming up this term it would be nice to know that parents can be kept in touch, particularly if we happen to be running late.

Years 5 and 6 Excursions.

Thanks to the parents who have spoken to the school about concerns with the excursions for their children. Our aim for for every child to have the best experience that they can and with us having any additional information helps us to achieve this. Most students, in our experience, are anxious about going away and this is normal, it should never be a reason for them not to go. Please continue to discuss with the staff any concerns you or they may have. If you have financial concerns please contact me.

School & Parish Mass

Can I please request that we make an extra effort to attend the School & Parish Mass on this Saturday Night at 5pm. We will have 4 students who will be confirmed on  the night by Father Joel. These students attended the Tournament of the Minds in Sydney and I would appreciate as many of the Year 6 classmates turning up as possible to show their support.

ICAS Testing

For a number of the years the school has offered participation in ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) Testing of students. Over the past couple of years the numbers have fallen to a point where it is no longer viable for the school to participate in these competitions.  As such we will not be offering these tests in 2019.

Fortnite Online Game Do your children play this game?

Albury Police are getting reports of frauds relating to online gaming accounts used by children.   The reports relate to the improper use of online accounts, mostly related to the game Fortnite.

To use/play this game, children must have a user account, which is then normally linked to a parents credit card/bank account. If  the users of the game want to purchase something online related to the game, like gaming weapons etc, the game owners charge money for them, which in turn comes off the linked credit/bank account. To do this or not is entirely a family decision.

What is happening though, is that children are sharing their log on account details with others. The issue is that the bank account/ Credit Card are linked to the login, not the computer, so anyone who has the login has unlimited access to unsupervised spending in the game. If you think that this would never happen, we have been made aware of a family who had a $500 bill run up by someone their child had shared the logon with.  If this happens you have no recourse as you have approved the use of your account via the logon.

The other issue is that once shared, you lose all control over who else the login is shared with and who can gain access to your children online and potentially your finances.

We are constantly talking to children about the need to be safe online, this includes sharing logon and password details. Please have this conversation with your child and take appropriate action if they have shared information.

If you need more information or assistance the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is a great place to start.

Missing School Jumper

Can I please request that you have look at your jumpers before they finally get put away for the year. We are searching for a jumper belonging to Ashley Carty, it is clearly labelled with her name. If you do find it, it would be gratefully appreciated if you could return it to school.

Lost Property

We have well over two basketfuls of lost property, most of these are jumpers or track tops. Given the cost of these I would be asking that you check if you are missing anything. At the end of October the entire amount will be sent to be washed and then sold via the clothing pool.

Summer Uniform

Most of the children have started transitioning to Summer Uniform. Please note that Summer Uniform also means wearing a school approved hat. Student will have until Monday 29th to be in correct uniform, including a hat.

Families leaving the school

Around this time of year we start to hear of families who are leaving the town and so will not be continuing with us in 2019. If you are in this situation could you let us know as soon as possible. We do have waiting lists in some grades for 2019. Thanks.

Best wishes for the term

Rob