St Ita's Primary School Drouin
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50 Victoria Street
Drouin VIC 3818
Subscribe: https://www.stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/subscribe

Email: admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 03 5623 7222

T3 W9 2024 Newsletter

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T3 W9 2024 Newsletter

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St Ita’s Catholic Primary School acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

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    DROUIN REC RESERVE PARKING

    Thank you for your patience on Tuesday afternoon with car pick up at the Drouin Rec Reserve. Our plan moving forward will look like this.

    • Walkers will walk around the back of the cars, and through the gate to enter Civic Park.
    • Cars arriving before 3.15 pm can drive into the Drouin Rec Reserve and turn right to park on the grass in front of the old fire building. These parents can exit their cars to collect their kids safely.
    • Cars wanting to use drop-and-go can enter the Drouin Rec Reserve, and turn left drive around the ground, and pass the cricket nets where kids will be assembled for collection.

    Thanks for working to keep our kids safe and remember with practice comes perfection.

    NEW BUILD NEWS

    Our new school building is almost complete and is looking likely to be open and operational on the first Tuesday of Term 4. The finishing touches are being done to the external areas of the building, such as the decking, and the asphalting of the playground and around the temporary Grade 1 portables.

    Thank you to all our Grade 1 teachers, and kids for being so patient and working out of the Grade 4 rooms over the last two days while these finishing touches have been undertaken.

    Our new build is such an amazing new space and I’m so excited with the learning possibilities it creates for us. Ben the Builder we salute you. ?

     FOOTY DAY

    Next Friday 20th September, the last day of term, we will be holding our annual Footy Day Celebration. Students can wear their favourite sports team’s colours and participate in a series of special round-robin activities which the Grade 5-6 students have organised. There will be some great prizes to be won for students showing outstanding sportsmanship.

    Students are asked to bring a gold coin donation on Friday, which will go towards supporting our local Mini Vinnies program.

    TEACHING OUR BOYS TO RESPECT WOMEN

    Dr Justin Coulson is one of Australia's most trusted parenting experts and authors and holds a PhD in Psychology. He is the founder of Happy Families (a website of parenting resources and advice) as well as the co-host and parenting expert on Channel Nine's Parental Guidance.

    One day whilst being interviewed he shared this scenario. Several years ago, when my daughter was just 8, she came to me about a boy in her grade.

    “Dad, he keeps on trying to kiss me. Today at recess he kissed me twice on the face. I keep telling him to ‘Stop it!’ and he doesn’t.”

    Historically this kind of incident may have been called cute. Parents or staff members may have knowingly smiled and clucked about what a great pair these two would make.

    In today’s age… I was unhappy about this. The boy may only be eight, but he was old enough to understand respect and consent. And he was old enough to know that if anyone, girl or boy, says to “Stop it, I don’t like it!” then he should stop.

    No one’s daughter should be made to feel uncomfortable and afraid of going to school because a boy is overly affectionate.

    Is this where violence begins? Maybe… or maybe not. But it is undeniably disrespect. And pervasive disrespect leads to violence and harm.

    Teaching boys to respect women

    It has been widely reported that many people think Australia has a respect-for-women problem.

    Let’s review the statistics:

    • One in three women over the age of 15 have experienced physical violence.
    • One in five have experienced sexual violence.
    • One in four have been emotionally abused by a partner.
    • Men are almost always the perpetrators.
    • Approximately 70 women are killed each year by a current or former partner. Men are almost always the perpetrators.
    • One in four children in Australia experience domestic and family violence. Again, it’s predominantly at the hands of males.
    • Yes, women can – and do – offend violently. They harm others. And yes, these statistics have been called into question by thoughtful researchers who argue that a far more nuanced (and gender-balanced) view may be more accurate.

    But however you view these statistics, there would be few who would argue that there is significant room for improvement in respect to respect in Australia. And far too many girls and women are being disrespected – my daughter being just one example of where it can all ‘innocently’ and ‘harmlessly’ begin.

    Game changing ideas to teach boys better

    Here are just a few ideas for teaching our boys to respect girls, women, and womanhood, whether we are mums, dads, teachers, or another adult figure in their lives.

    Example, example, example

    If we show respect we will teach respect. This means we respect our children, we respect other adults, and we especially respect women. It means that we do not call girls or women names. We do not ever hit or threaten to hit girls or women. It means we listen to girls and women and respect their opinions.

    Speak kindly

    This is pretty basic, but at this age, it’s all it takes to show respect. Say please and thank you. Never say things like ‘shut-up’ or ‘get lost’ (or anything worse), whether to a child, or an adult, and regardless of gender. Respectful speaking teaches respect.

    Be helpful

    Teach boys (and all children) to recognise when someone needs help or feels lousy, and show them how to help.

    Monitor media

    Violent media is increasingly normal and has an undeniable desensitising impact on those who view it. While most 5 year old’s don’t enjoy violence, by the time they’re 9 or 10, they’re all over it. Some studies have shown that after playing violent games or viewing violent ‘entertainment’, people are less likely to show empathy or kindness. Minimising exposure to games and movies or tv shows that promote disrespect and inhumanity can help.

    Talk about the issues

    When you see disrespect, talk about it. Ask your sons how it leaves them feeling. How does it make the victims feel? What are better ways of responding to it? Such conversations promote empathy and perspective, and help our boys develop social awareness and conscience.

     

    IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

    1. Friday 20th Sept - Last day Term 3
    2. Friday 20th Sept - Football Colours Day / Activities
    3. Monday 7th Oct - Term 4 starts all students
    4. Monday 4th Nov - Pupil free day
    5. Tuesday 5th Nov - Melbourne Cup
    6. Tuesday 17th Dec - Last day of term 4
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    GRADE 1 EXCURSION

    Our Grade 1 students are off to Myuna Farm on Tuesday 17th September. The bus will depart school at 9 am, and students will return to school in time for normal school pick-up at 3.15 pm.  We hope they have a fantastic day with favourable weather conditions so they can learn as much as they can about the farm!

    LAST DAY TERM 3

    Friday 20th September will be the last day of Term 3;

    • Footy Colours Day - wear your footy colours to school
    • Junior Sports Activities (F - Grade 2) hosted by Grade 5/6 students
    • Assembly will be at 12.30 pm
    • All students will finish at 2.20 pm (School Buses will collect @ 2.30 pm)

    TERM 4 UNIFORM CHANGE

    A reminder to all families that starting Term 4, we will return to summer uniform. This means that ALL children must wear a hat for outside play.  No hat no play, children who do not have a hat will need to play under the shelter, or in a shaded area out of the direct sun.

    We encourage families to ensure all children are sent to school with a hat.  New or secondhand hats can be purchased from the school office if they are lost or misplaced.

    KINECT2DANCE

    In Term 4 our students will be participating in the Kinect2Dance program which runs for the full term and culminates with a whole school performance.  This year our performance will be held on our new deck, in front of our new build.

    DOSCEL - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Newsletter

    SCHOOL FEES

    School Fees for Term 1 - 3 are now due and payable. Statements have been forwarded to all fee payers, please ensure you check your statement and bring your account up to date as necessary. All school fees must be finalised in the year that they are incurred.

    Direct debit payments can be arranged at any time, please contact Beck Bradley (03) 5623 7222 or admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au to discuss payment options.

    STUDENT ILLNESS

    We currently have a large number of children and staff absent with a mixture of Gastro, Influenza, Whopping Cough and Covid-19. This has had a significant impact on our student numbers attending school, and also on our staffing, as many teachers have been absent struggling through illness.

    I can not stress enough, to all of our families, to please monitor children for symptoms and please keep your child at home if they are displaying any symptoms of Gastro, Influenza, Whopping Cough or Covid-19. Where possible please ensure your child has been clear of symptoms for a least two days before sending them back to school.

    We thank you for your support in keeping everyone in our learning community safe.

    STUDENT MEDICATION 

    We understand that from time to time students need to take medication while they are at school. If this is the case, please contact the Admin Office to complete a Medication Administration Form. 
    All medication must be delivered to the office in the original packaging, if it has been prescribed by your GP it must have the pharmacy labelling on the packaging including your chilld's name.
     
    Please Note: We will make every effort to help you with medication administration, wherever possible, medication should be scheduled outside the school hours, e.g. medication required three times a day is generally not required during a school day: it can be taken before and after school and before bed.

    STUDENT ABSENCES

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    ST ITA'S MEDALLION

    Congratulation to Taj Fairbank (F-HN) who was our St Ita's Student of the Week.
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    STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

    Congratulations to Saffron Staunton in Grade 6 who placed first in the 10-year-old girls,  Victorian State Irish Dance Championship.  This qualifies her to compete in the Irish Dancing World Championship next April in her hometown Dublin, which she will be attending!

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    PARISH NEWS

    Jesus rules

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    Recently a program took us into the streets asking, “Who is Jesus?” There were some interesting responses but the most troubling was, “He has a lot of rules!” Really?

    If people in our streets see Jesus as “the rules man,” no wonder there is disenchantment with him! That is the antithesis of Jesus. If Jesus had come to inflict rules, there were already plenty to inflict without inventing a bunch of new ones. He came with good news liberating us from harsh, arbitrary, man-made rules and focussing on what God really wants for us. Spanish priest, theologian and scripture scholar, Jose Pagola writes:

    “What God cares about is not religion but a more human and friendly world. What he seeks is a more abundant, healthy, and happy life for all. If our religion goes against life, either it is false religion, or we have misunderstood it. What makes God happy is to see us happy, now, and forever. That is the Good News revealed to us in Jesus Christ: God gives himself to us just as he is, as Love.” (Jose Pagola, Jesus: An Historical Approximation p446).

    Jesus asks us, as he asks the disciples in the gospel (Mk 8:27-35), “Who do you say I am?” Christians affirm our belief that, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, the redeemer.” We have come to understand Jesus as the second person of God in the mystery of Trinity and our eternal happiness depends on listening to Him. But, rather than the harsh, distant, impersonal notion of God we have created out of our own fears, ambitions and illusions, Jesus communicates a very different God who cares for us, seeks us out and wants the best for us as human beings. However lofty and awesome his titles, we fully experience Jesus, not as the “rules man”, but in personal relationship with him as brother, friend, mentor, companion on the journey.

    Deacon Mark Kelly

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    Check out our Catholic Parishes of Warragul & Drouin Facebook presence.

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    CAMP AUSTRALIA

    Camp Australia Co-Ordinator: Carmelina De Cesari

    Contact Number: 1300 105 343

    Website: www.campaustralia.com.au

    BOOKING & COMMUNICATION

    Due to our increasing numbers and the increased demand for before and after-school care services, our families are encouraged to book early to ensure Camp Australia can accommodate our growing student numbers utilising their services.

    We also encourage families utilising before and after-school care services to communicate with their children if they will be attending after-school care, students are often unsure of their collection arrangements which can be stressful for small children.  For our Foundation students, we suggest a note in their lunchbox or a Class Dojo to let their teachers know about collection arrangements.

    PUBLIC NOTICES

    DUSTIES NETBALL CLUB

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    The Dusties Netball Club is seeking expressions of interest for the Under 11's twilight netball team.  Kids born in 2014, 2015 & 2016.

    Please email wifncnetball@gmail.com by 15th September 2024.

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