Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

We are pleased to report that there has been an easing of some of the restrictions that schools have been adhering to. The following activities are now permitted with COVIDSafe measures in place: 

• Assemblies 
• Enrolment applications 
• Facilities licences 
• Incursions 
• Liturgical celebrations 
• Parent meetings 
• Professional development and staff meetings 
• School events and gatherings 
• School photographs 
• School tours 
• Sports (contact and non-contact). 

There are of course still some restrictions about how these events can run and the leadership team are working through these to ensure we are compliant but still able to welcome families back into the school to build a sense of community. 

Any parent or visitors attending school activities must comply with applicable vaccination requirements, face mask requirements, physical distancing, and practise respiratory etiquette and good hand hygiene.

Reception refurbishment

We have recently advertised a tender for the refurbishment of the school reception area with work proposed to start during the Easter holidays. This refurbishment is long overdue and important as we must be able to provide a child safe environment for all children and staff. The current admin block does not meet the child safe or OHS standards for a number of reasons including students being able to freely exit the school, members of the public being able to freely enter the school and enter classroom blocks. 

This will mean from the end of this term there will be significant changes to the working space of the admin team, Lia and myself, with the school office moving to the current Deputy office and Lia and myself moving into the meeting room and back office. 

Moving into these spaces will occur the last two days of term and the first two days of the school holidays. 

The existing foyer and main entrance to the school building will be unavailable during this time. The glass double doors outside of the Deputy’s office will become the temporary front entrance with a walkway being installed to allow access for the public to walk into the school grounds from the Seymour St gates. Attached to the walkway fences will be a locked gate that opens to the rest of the school to provide access before and after school for students and parents. 

Planning for a safe and supportive school community

On Friday 18 March 2022, St Michael’s Traralgon is participating in the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). The NDA is Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying. 

The theme for the 2022 NDA is Kindness Culture. St Michael’s Traralgon will demonstrate Kindness Culture by running age appropriate activities for each level that promote inclusiveness, respect and community belonging for all students.

Planning for a safe and supportive school community requires a whole-school community approach. Whole-school responses to bullying prevention build positive and supportive school environments by incorporating strategies for intervention at all levels, inclusive of students, teachers, parents and carers. 

Three key characteristics outlined in the national definition of bullying distinguish bullying behaviours from other forms of peer aggression behaviours which do not constitute bullying. The key characteristics of bullying include:

1. power imbalance
2. deliberate intent to cause harm, and
3. ongoing and repeated behaviour.

While the following behaviours of peer aggression do not constitute bullying, these behaviours may still be serious and require intervention at home and at school:

• arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
• single acts of social rejection or meanness, or
• isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
  

It is important for our entire school community, including our staff, parents, carers and students to have a clear understanding of the definition of bullying to be able to distinguish these behaviours from peer aggression, and correctly identify and respond to incidents of bullying.

Knowing the types of bullying behaviour can also help you identify if the incident is bullying, or peer aggression. While neither of these behaviours are tolerated at St Michael’s Traralgon they do require different management strategies, and the first step for responding is to correctly identify the behaviour. 

If you have concerns that your child is being bullied, please contact the classroom teacher in the first instance. You will be referred to the Principal if a satisfactory outcome is not achieved. If you believe the behaviour constitutes a crime, or is a serious incident of cyberbullying, please refer to the Bullying. No Way! website for information on how to report to other authorities and gaining further help. 

For more information, please visit the Bullying. No Way! website for additional resources. 

Explaining scary world events to our children

How do we explain to our children what our world is becoming? Natural disasters. Wars. Health pandemics. It’s a lot. The following article from parenting Ideas offers some suggestions to assist you to support your child during this time. 

Kind regards

Jodie