Newman News Term 1 Week 4 – From the Vice Principal

Jo Dunn on 01/03/2019

Parent Engagement

Many thanks to parents and staff who attended and supported the Parent Information Evenings. These evenings are important to ensure parents have an opportunity to meet teachers, hear from the College Leadership Team and are informed about school-wide programs such as the Sacramental Program, Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum and Campus Wellbeing Programs. Leaders of Wellbeing are to be commended for their planning, preparations and presentation to our parent community.

I look forward to meeting parents each week at the Marian Campus for Fitness Friday, 8.20am – 8.45am. This is a wonderful way to start the day, where students can participate in a number of wellness activities while parents can enjoy a coffee (as part of Coffee at the College) and meet with the College’s Senior Leadership Team. I extend my sincere gratitude to staff from the Marian Campus for supporting this initiative and engaging our learners!

The next opportunity for families will be to attend parent, teacher, student interviews with classroom and subject teachers. The College uses PTO (Parent Teacher Online) for bookings and interview times. A notification will be sent to families leading up to these dates.

Save the Date – Parent Teacher Interviews

Family engagement is critical to a child’s academic success. By connecting with your child’s teachers, talking about school matters at home and being involved in school events promotes positive partnerships between home and school can support success at school.

  • Years 11/12 Parent Teacher Interviews: Wednesday 13 March, 3.40pm – 7.00pm
  • Years 8, 9 and 10 Parent Teacher Interviews: Wednesday 20 March, 3.40pm – 7.00pm
  • Year 7 Parent Teacher Interviews: Wednesday 27 March, 3.40pm – 7.00pm

Newman Parents Information Sessions with Dr Justin Coulson

9 Ways to a Resilient Child (content is most suited for Early Childhood parents)

Parents will learn the psychological secrets that build their child’s sense of identity, strengths and growth mindset in order to perform better, be happier and build resilience. 9 Ways to a Resilient Child is based on Dr Justin Coulson’s best-selling book and shows parents how to help their children cope powerfully and positively with the challenges that life throws at them.

Respectful Relationships; Love at Home

How to get along with your kids and help them get along with you (and their siblings)

We all say we get along just fine at home… but there are those uncomfortable niggles. There’s the eye-rolling, the disrespect, the lack of motivation to help out, and the sibling warfare. If we’re honest, most adults have been known to shout a bit too, and let’s face it, we don’t always listen that well to our kids. Conflict and friction at home cause more trouble than we need, and interfere with everyone’s wellbeing. Wouldn’t it be great if there were some simple, practical things we could do to help everyone get along better – starting right now?

Parents will learn the best ‘relationship rules’ for a happier family so home life really does feel loving… most of the time!

The presentation will be followed by a Question and Answer session.

eSafety Commissioner

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner is committed to empowering all Australians to have safer, more positive experiences online. The College’s Annual School Improvement plan identified eSafety as a focus area for the wellbeing of students. Key themes and ideas from the Keeping Safe curriculum and Wellbeing program will be presented to students and parents later this year. Newman Parents will host a Cybersafety information session to educate and empower parents to support their children in managing their online profiles and behaviour.

The Office of eSafety Commissioner website has excellent resources for families and children and I encourage parents to subscribe to the eSafety newsletter for additional information and education. Click here to visit their website.

Code of Conduct

A reminder to all families that the Code of Conduct can be accessed via the College website. The Code is mandated by Catholic Education Western Australia and the application of the code extends to all staff, students, parents, guardians, caregivers and volunteers.

The Code seeks to value the dignity of every person, foster positive relationships, ensuring confidentiality and accountability and supports professional boundaries. Events held during school hours AND outside of school hours that are associated with the College are also supported by the Code of Conduct. Any perceived breaches of the Code can be discussed with any member of the Senior Leadership Team. We thank you in advance for your understanding and support of how we strive to partner positively with one another.

Thank you to the Parent Representatives that have volunteered to oversee Facebook pages for the parents in their cohort. The Code of Conduct applies to all social media platforms and parents are reminded that if they have any concerns, they should direct them to the most appropriate member of staff that can respond to the concern.