Week 11 wrap up

The final week of Term 1 was a very busy one.  Thank you to Mrs Dell for organising and leading the Year 7 Pastoral Day on Tuesday along with Mr Bissell, Miss Parrish, Mrs Davis, Mrs Barling and Mrs Whiteman.   

On Thursday the annual RYDA Year 11 excursion occurred at Moruya Racecourse.  Thank you to Mrs Dwyer, Mr King, and Mrs Young for accompanying the students and to Mr Hanson for driving the bus. Finally, on Friday we had Xavier Day.  

Thank you to Mrs Lyttle, the Xavier House Captains, other members of the SLT, and staff for finishing the term with a fun day that also raised much-needed money for the Winter Vinnies Appeal.

Eurobodalla Youth Committee

Erica Shalders, Malachi Condon and Ruby Hodgetts received a certificate from Eurobodalla Shire Council acknowledging their generous contribution of time, effort and ideas towards Currents Battle of the Bands 2024.

Thank you also to Elsie Hann, Mitchell Love and Chloe Tyrrell for all their contributions to the ESC Youth Committee.

ANZAC Day

Thank you to all the students and families who were able to attend the ANZAC Day services across the region.  Carroll College had students at all services laying wreaths, participating in the marches and reading moving poems and reflections at the Dawn Service in Tuross.

Child Safe Advocate Term 1 Meeting

Each school across the Archdiocese has a designated member of staff in the role of Child Safe Advocate.  Here at Carroll College the Assistant Principal, Pastoral Care is the Child Safe Advocate.  The role is an important one in each school as the Child Safe Advocate leads, promotes, and assists compliance with our child safeguarding responsibilities. The key functions include:

• Oversee compliance with Child Safe related legal requirements.
• Provide leadership and support to school staff in child protection-related matters.
• Actively contribute to the Child Safe Advocate Portal to address and identify best practices for child-related areas of concern.
• Ensure the completion in Term One of the CECG Child Safe Standard Self Assessment.

Last term during Week 11, I attended the Term 1 Child Safe Advocate meeting in Canberra. Together with colleagues from other schools, we discussed the key focus areas and school needs in this space with leaders from the Child Protection Team. During the meeting, we looked at case studies of establishing a Child Safe Culture, involving students and parents in developing a child-safe approach, how to differentiate instructions about how to make a complaint, and ensuring child safety training across the organisation. Later in the day, a focus was highlighted on the relationship between disability and diversity and the Child Safe Standards. The ACT Commissioner for Children and Young People gave an update on the work her team is doing to listen to young people and finally, a representative from the legal team at CECG gave an update on current child safety issues.

Stepping away at busy times to attend meetings can be challenging but as you can see the issues raised and the information shared are important in our ongoing efforts to ensure we are offering the best support to our students, families, and staff.

National Families Week 13-19 May 2024

National Families Week is a time to celebrate with your family, connect with your extended family and friends, and share in the enjoyment of family activities within the wider community. No matter where you live – in our major cities or a remote community in the country – all Australians, are invited to participate in National Families Week each year.

The aim of National Families Week is to not only celebrate the vital role that families play in Australian society, but to also reflect on the critical role that families play in teaching, supporting and nurturing children as they grow.

Celebrating family diversity involves recognising and embracing the unique circumstances, backgrounds, and dynamics that make each family special. And finding opportunities to connect across differences including those in culture, language, gender, sexuality, ability, and age.

In National Families Week 2024, we are encouraged to celebrate the diversity within our family. And to celebrate the commonalities and differences between your family and other families.

eSafety Resources

As parents accessing reliable and useful resources around eSafety to assist with conversations with young people is important. The eSafety Commissioner site is always a great place to find these resources and has handy information for Parents https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents and Young People https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people.

Academic Care

In Term 1, Wellio invited parents to join in the free parent Webinars offered to our community. Wellio is the platform Carroll College uses to support the wellbeing component of the Academic Care program in 2024.

The next free webinar for parents will focus on practical strategies that will help your children manage phone addiction and social media. This will be next Tuesday night 14 May 2024 at 6.30pm. The topic will be Phones and Social Media. Here is the Registration Link  which will also allow those registered to be sent the recording: https://www.wellioeducation.com/en_au/webinars

• Reality vs Social Media: we discuss how students compare their lives with what they see on social media and the impact this has on their self-esteem. We'll share 3 simple strategies to keep them on track.
• Technology and Sleep: 73% of teenagers aren't getting enough sleep and their devices are a primary cause. We explain how you can limit the impact.
• Techniques to manage anxiety: A toolkit of strategies that you can use to help your child manage and prevent anxiety developing as a result of social media and phone use.

Below are the dates for other free parent webinars running across the year:

• Tuesday 14 May 6:30pm - Phones & Social Media
• Thursday 29 August 6:30pm - Building Healthy Relationships
• Thursday 31 October 6:30pm - Resilience & Setbacks

Parents can register to attend any or all of these sessions here and you can find marketing materials for each session here.

Academic Care Lesson Term 2, Week 2

This week across the college the following topics were covered in the Academic Care period.  Parents are encouraged to visit the Study Skills Handbook site to view the content covered to assist with a conversation with their child or to seek support for specific issues being faced.

Year 7 Study Skills – Home Study Environment

Year 8 - Sharing information online

Year 9 Study Skills – Mastering Middle School

Year 10 Careers and Study Skills – Mastering Middle school

Year 11 Carroll Day final preparations

Year 12 Study Skills – Managing Stress

Winter uniform reminder

The weather has started to get cooler. Students are welcome to transition to winter uniform. Everyone will be expected to be wearing their correct winter uniform by Term 2, Week 4. The uniform policy is in the link below. We would appreciate all families checking their child’s uniform including hair, accessories etc to ensure they are correct as they come to school. https://www.ccb.nsw.edu.au/uniform

The Pastoral Team are always ready to assist students and families. Please reach out to your child’s Pastoral Coordinator if you have any concerns or would like more information about how your child is doing.

Chisholm House Mrs Corrinne Dell corrinne.dell@cg.catholic.edu.au	MacKillop House Mr Greg McAteer greg.mcateer@cg.catholic.edu.au	Xavier House Mrs Karen Lyttle karen.lyttle@cg.catholic.edu.au
	Wellbeing Coordinator Ms Elle Boller elle.boller@cg.catholic.edu.au

Happy Mother’s Day this Sunday!

Kind regards,

Mrs Louise Ibbett
Assistant Principal Pastoral Care