Dear Families and Friends,

Congratulations everyone on making it to the HUMP.  This week we conclude Term 2 and reach the mid point of the 2021 school year.  We have certainly had a little excitement and interruptions like 2020 but hopefully things settle down and we take advantage of every opportunity to learn and grow in the second half of the year.

As holidays approach can I take this opportunity to remind families of the great resources we have shared over the past two school years around online safety and behaviours.  Over the weekend their were some interesting media reports around the online behaviours of children.  Sadly the reports were generally negative and spoke about the increased issues around children spending a growing amount of time online as well as the content they were accessing.  Initially I presume they were worried about content that could be described as rude or not age appropriate but instead raised the issue of children accessing activities that increased the risk of anti-social behaviour and addiction.  It also spoke of family violence caused through arguments around parents trying to set limits on the time children spent online or by parents who refused to supply credit card details for their children to buy into different online gaming platforms.  As we head into two weeks of holidays when students will spend unrestricted time on devices can I urge parents to consider what boundaries and safety nets you are creating for your children - especially during the colder months when they are likely to be inside.

Last week we shared with families that we had activated everyone's new PAM account.  PAM (Parent Access Module) is the parent access point for the new online SIMON platform that we supply all our adminstreative features from attendnance, reports, sick bay and parent teacher interviews.  All families must activiate their account through the email that was sent last week.  If you are unsure please contact the office.  This week our rescheduled Parent-Teacher Interviews to be held in Term 3 Week 2 will be availablem to be booked so we request parents access PAM immediately.

I think I have mentioned previously about using the break to slow down and recharge the batteries, both parents and children.  Remember to think about how recreation gives us the chance to re-create.  We have had many individual and collective successes this year and I look forward to what we can achieve together in Terms 3 and 4.

Enjoy the break, 

Dave