Dear Families,
For the latter half of this week, I have been away on camp with our Challenge Learning Community children. Professionally, school camps present significant challenges, indeed this is becoming such a serious problem that a number of my principal colleagues have chosen not to organise camps for their schools anymore.
The cost of school camps keeps increasing, and as a Catholic school, I am very mindful of the financial burden that this places on families, especially those with multiple children. There are significant costs for the school as well. Sending the number of staff we need to use to cover our duty of care obligations and ensure we recompense their time outside of their usual work hours has a substantial financial impact at a time when we need to be fiscally careful and, in our case, when we have many other cost pressures.
Our duty of care obligations is also not taken lightly. I know how seriously the staff who plan and attend camps take this matter. They are very well aware that they are responsible for a large number of children and that they are looking after your most precious gift.
We might then ask why we continue to organise camps when there appears to be major drawbacks in doing so. However, when I sit here and watch these children, the answer is simple and outweighs all the negatives. A school camp provides children with learning experiences that they will not get at school and are unlikely to get anywhere else. It allows children to develop their social interactions with their peers and teachers outside of the very controlled environment of a school.
I often find that the relationship between the children and their teachers is stronger after a school camp, which is why when I was teaching, I tried to organise camps at the beginning of the school year. This was often an important foundation for me to set up a good relationship with my students.
School camps provide children with unique learning experiences; ones they will remember for a lifetime. I am sure if I asked most of you, you would be able to recall an experience you had attending a school camp.
In the context of our school community, it gives some of our children a chance to get away from home for the first time (which is challenging for some) and to gain experiences that they may never have had before: eating a new type of food, sharing a room with other people, and apparently for some, being asked to clean up their room when it gets messy! Again, these are critical, deeply embedded life skills that will support our children long into the future. There might be a time when we are no longer able to organise camps, but I hope and pray this day never comes because, when I watch our children shine on camp, I see what a positive experience this is for them.
On a completely different note, this week we celebrated Ash Wednesday and started the 40-day period of Lent. I know some of the classes enjoyed celebrating Shrove Tuesday (or pancake day). Our teachers have spent time teaching their children the meaning and purpose of Ash Wednesday and how this marks the beginning of Lent.
The gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is one of the most profound scriptural passages. It challenges us to reflect critically on ourselves; to consider whether we do things to gain the attention of others or because it is the right thing to do. Is that not in some respect the meaning of Lent? Lent is a time when we can truly consider what we do to help others and how we do this.
As a Catholic educator, Lent is one of the most relevant ways in which we can connect faith to life and make this explicit in teaching our children.
Project Compassion 2025
With the beginning of Lent this week, our school has once again committed to raise funds for Caritas Australia through Project Compassion. Last year our Project Compassion fund raising efforts we hugely successful and we are hoping to even better this effort in 2025. Throughout Lent, students will be exploring stories of people, families and communities Caritas Australia support with funds raised through Project Compassion. Each classroom has a Project Compassion box for students to donate towards this very worthy cause and I look forward to providing weekly updates towards of our fundraising efforts.
Car Parking Concerns
I sincerely apologise to those who have heard this before, but it is necessary to once again raise the matter of parking around the school. This seems to be an on-going cause for concern, and the lack of courtesy and patience displayed by some parents and guardians at school drop off and collection time is quite frustrating. Despite repeated reminders and almost weekly notices in the bulletin, there are still parents and guardians who are not doing the right thing.
Again, I appreciate that parents and guardians are sometimes in a hurry, especially in the morning when you are trying to drop your children off before work, but surely, the safety of a child is more important than having to wait an extra few minutes or a short walk to a car park space not directly around school. There is plenty of parking in nearby streets, but there is simply not enough on the roads directly surrounding our school for all of our parents.
I am particularly concerned at the moment by the parking on Oldbridge Boulevard. I have recently witnessed parents parking right on the corner of the junction (which is a traffic offence), parking on the verge and even double parking in the road. I frequently get parents and guardians complaining that they received a traffic fine for illegal parking, and sometimes this is legitimate, but there is not much I can say when parents are fined for parking that is clearly unsafe or breaches the road rules.
I am asking again, please park safely around the school for the safety of all our children. I am sure that no-one wants to be responsible for an accident involving another person, particularly one of our children.
The Ten Commandments (for parking) at St Lawrence of Brindisi: (slightly tongue in cheek)
1. Thou shalt not leave your car in the waiting area on Waterway Boulevard in front of the school: This is a short-term waiting area. Parents must not leave their cars to bring their children into school or to wait in the courtyard while they go into class.
2. Thou shalt not park in waiting zone on Brewer Way: this forces those who are waiting to enter the Kiss n’ Go to wait in the road, which is a traffic offence and can lead to them receiving a fine.
3. Thou shall enter the Kiss n’ Go from the southern end of Brewer Way: Please be fair to those who have done the right thing and have queued up.
4. Thou shalt not double-park.
5. Thou shalt not let your children out of your car while stopped in the road.
6. Thou shalt park safely and correctly; your car should not be sticking out into the roadway)
7. Thou shalt not park on the verges: I do not have enough cones or time to put them all around the school in the morning and collect them each evening!
8. Thou shall use the available parking provided in the local streets: a short walk or a child’s safety – which matters more?
9. Thou shalt use the supervised crossing provided on Waterway Boulevard: parents and guardians should not cross the road by the staff car park. The school crossing has been provided by Melton City Council for the safety of our children. Please model safe practices to our children.
10. Thou shalt not park your car near a junction: sorry, but other drivers cannot see through your car!
Upcoming Dates:
March
10/03: Public Holiday
11/03: PSGs
12/03 – 24/03: NAPLAN Testing Window
Prayer Service: Grade Two & Three / Grade Four – Six @ 2.40pm
17/03 – 21/03: Catholic Education Week
19/03: Confirmation Parent Info Night @ 6:30pm
Prayer Service: Grade Two & Three / Grade Four – Six @ 2.40pm
PSGs
21/03: Harmony Day
St Patrick’s Day Prayer Service (Snr School @ 9.15am/Jnr School @ 11.30am)
22/03: Confirmation Commitment Mass @ 5:00pm
26/03: Prayer Service: Grade Two & Three / Grade Four – Six @ 2.40pm
27/03: PSGs
Exploration – Grade Six Learning Expo: 2.30 – 6.00pm
28/03: School Photos
April
02/04: Easter Prayer Service (Exploration – Grade Two)
03/04: Easter Picnic
Easter Prayer Service (Grade Three – Six)
04/04: End of Term One: Early Close @ 1.30pm
God bless,
Bill Hill
PRINCIPAL