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May God accompany you on the way.
Pope Francis
Dear families,
Welcome to the start of 2023 at St Paul’s Moss Vale. It has been delightful seeing the children’s smiling faces as they arrive at school. It is evident they have had a lovely break and rest and are now ready to dive into their learning at school. After three challenging years we hope that 2023 will be a positive year for all. The staff have all had a lovely break and feel refreshed and excited for this year.
Kindergarten began today and it was wonderful seeing how ready they all are for school and happy to be here. I would like to extend a very special welcome to all our new families to the St Paul’s community. This is the beginning of a very special journey as a family as your child attends school.
We begin the year with our new Vision and Mission Statements. Throughout the course of the year we will refer to them often and spend time unpacking what they mean for our community.
Our Vision for St Paul's is: With Christ at its centre, St Paul’s will be a compassionate community of faith and learning, respecting the dignity of all, where each student is inspired to achieve continual growth and success.
Our Mission for St Paul’s is: to ensure that every student is respected and educated in an inclusive, compassionate environment, continually growing in faith and learning.
On our first day back the staff celebrated mass with the staff of St Thomas Aquinas Bowral and St Michael’s Mittagong at the Catholic Church in Mittagong. This was a lovely opportunity for the staff of all three schools to come together. We then returned to school and went through important information and school based procedures that will set all staff up for a successful year. On the Second day all staff participated in the full First Aid course.
Term Overviews have been sent out today. These overviews provide school based information and class based information. Communication is essential for effective partnerships and the better we communicate with each other the better the partnership which ultimately means better results for your child. If at any time you have a concern please contact the classroom teacher through the appropriate channels. The sooner we hear about things the sooner we can support you and your child. We communicate through various means with Compass being the main form of communication. If you have any issues with receiving communication please contact the school office. This link takes you to the Parent-School Partnership Framework. It is a great document that outlines what we expect from each other to make this a successful partnership for your child.
This year we have welcomed some new staff to our school and some current staff have moved into new roles. We welcome Mrs Joanne Cutler in Year 1 and Mrs Rachelle Adams in Year 5. Both ladies come from other Catholic dioceses and are new to the area. They come with extensive teaching experience and have worked in a variety of teaching roles.
Mrs Jo Smith has moved into the library and will be teaching library skills, STEM (Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology), Music, Dance and Drama. We are very excited to be able to give dedicated time to STEM across all grades from K-6. We hope later this year we will be able to showcase what STEM looks like for your children and the benefits it provides to developing their problem solving, inquiry, investigation, collaboration and communication skills just to name a few.
Mrs Burton has moved into the learning support role and is working with Mrs Claremont, Mr Farrugia and Mrs Browne to ensure we have a thorough understanding of the learning support needs of our students and are supporting teachers in meeting these needs. Should your child meet the requirements to attend learning support you will be notified in writing. We do this as a courtesy. It does not mean there is an issue with your child, it means we believe a targeted and explicit approach will support and boost them with their learning. Learning support also covers our students who require extension so we will be working with the classroom teachers to ensure we are lifting the ceiling for our students in their learning.
Annual Improvement Plan
This year we will be focusing on two priority areas as part of our annual improvement plan.
Priority 1: Will focus on embedding our new vision and mission statements into all aspects of school life so we all feel more connected as a community.
Priority 2: Will focus on deepening the teachers pedagogical knowledge in the area of numeracy in order to increase our students' understanding of mathematical concepts.
Throughout the year staff will engage in professional learning to support these priorities. Later this term staff will attend, in stages, a professional development program called Launch, Explore, Summarise and Review. This professional development develops teachers' pedagogical practice in regards to mathematical problem solving. We look forward to sharing our learning journey with you throughout the year.
Finally I would like to wish everyone a blessed and happy year.
Lord, we welcome you into our lives at the start of another year.
We welcome your holy Spirit to be our constant companion,
Our guide, our wisdom and our strength.
We entrust to you our work, our world, our families, our colleagues and our friends.
Open our hearts to receive all that this year holds for each of us.
We give praise and glory to you whose power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly more than we can ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)
We make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayers at your Fingertips B. A. Bretherton
Thank you and God Bless,
Parent Information Evening K-2
On Monday 13 Feb at 5pm there will be a parent information evening beginning in the school hall and then continuing into the three classrooms. This information evening is for new parents and current parents of Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2. This meeting is an opportunity for you to learn about St Pauls’ and what to expect. It is an opportunity to meet with the classroom teachers and ask questions you may have. It is encouraged that one parent from each family attend.
NAPLAN
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills. Each year students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in tests for writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
From 2023, NAPLAN is moving to Term 1 and will take place from Wednesday 15 March to Monday 27 March. The reason for this change is so that results can be returned to schools earlier in the year which will support teachers to understand the learning needs of their students and plan accordingly.
NAPLAN tests are just one part of our school learning assessment program and questions are primarily based on knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the prior year of schooling.
In preparation for NAPLAN 2023, our school will undertake activities to help students to become familiar with the format and functionality of the online tests. These activities are not an assessment of student ability and will not be marked.
Students and parents can access the public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site) to familiarise themselves with NAPLAN and the types of questions and tools available. Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not required nor recommended.
If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact your child’s teacher.
Year 3 iPads
This week the Year 3 iPads will be ready to begin being set up. Mr Farrugia will work with the students at school to set up their accounts and passwords. Throughout next week parents will be asked to come into school to sign the financial agreement and collect a pack with all the information that you require. Once this has been done your child can take their iPad home at the end of each day.
CODE 5 Rules Entry Way Markings
Last year the P&F were successful in obtaining a Veolia Trust Grant. This grant was to go toward playground markings. With a pending building project on the horizon we decided to place the Code 5 rules as you enter the school as it is unlikely this will be changed. This is a great way to remind the children and all visitors of the expectations at St Paul’s with the ultimate goal being to be Mission Stars. We are grateful to the P&F for their hard work in obtaining the grant and supporting the purchase of the playground markings. It looks great and brightens the entrance to our school.
Swimming Carnival
Tomorrow we are holding the St Paul’s Swimming Carnival. This carnival is a community event for students to not only be able to experience participation but also race competitively, if they choose, in order to be selected as part of the St Paul’s Team for the Western Region carnival. We cater for all students from Years 2 - 6 through a range of events from novelties, 25m any stroke races to the full swimming race program. There is no expectation for students to be competitive. The Swimming Carnival is about having a go. We encourage parents and carers to let their children know that regardless of where they come in a race, just having a go, is the main thing. Children who are not swimming competitively are encouraged to come and participate in the novelty events.
Kindergarten and Year 1 will remain at school and the Teachers have planned some fun activities for them to do.
Carnivals are about ensuring everyone can feel part of the day while being able to participate to their capability. This is very much in keeping with our new Vision and Mission statements. It is important as a community that we remember that swimming is not everyone's strength, however no one should feel that they cannot participate to the best of their ability and have a fun day.
Like all carnivals it is important we remember that a lot of organisation has gone into making sure this event is run in a safe manner. Therefore we remind parents and carers of the requirements:
- Children must come to school to be marked present in the morning.
- Classes will walk to the pool with their teachers. Given the weather forcast it is recommended children bring a raincoat.
- At the pool the children will sit in their house groups. Parents and carers are not to come to this area or on the pool deck. This is to ensure the events can run without interruption.
- Parents who wish to take their child home early at the conclusion of the carnival must have their child signed out with Mr Farrugia or Mrs Claremont.
- Children will be encouraged to get changed once they have finished swimming.
- Remaining students will walk back to school and normal pick up procedures will apply.
- The staff running the carnival have a job to do and a duty of care to the students so we ask that parents and carers refrain from trying to talk to them and ask questions about the carnival races.
- We ask that parents and carers refrain from taking their child home early so they can participate in the whole carnival. There are often relays at the end of the day that allow for multiple children to participate. It is anticipated the carnival will begin at 9:30 am and conclude by 1:30 pm at the latest.
- We ask that parents do not take their children to the canteen. Children will not be permitted to go to the canteen and must bring their lunch, afternoon tea and a water bottle.
- No student will be allowed to go home with another parent unless a letter has been provided to the school at the start of the day.
- All children are expected to be at school or attending the carnival unless there is a specific reason they cannot and this has been communicated through the office. This is a school day.
- We thank you in advance for your cooperation with this important school event.
Being Safe online
The Australian Federal Police have recently sent us a book called “Jack Changes the Game”. This is a great resource about online safety. Parents can access a version of the book on the website www.THinkUKnow.org.au. This site has great resources and recommendations on how to keep your child safe online.
We are seeing increasing issues with students who have been exposed to inappropriate and sexualised content online. Often the primary children engage in chat rooms where there are no boundaries and find themselves engaging in explicit language and use of materials in a sexualised manner. This talk often comes to school and younger children are exposed to it. Examples are; use of particular hand actions, language and emojis that have sexual connotations. Children think it is funny to repeat what they have learnt online or from others without realising the degree of disrespect they are participating in. Parents and carers are encouraged to look up the eSafety commissioner site to learn how to protect your children and keep them safe online. Technology is here to stay. It is necessary that we teach our children digital citizenship skills so they can use technology in the right way and not be exposed to harmful and disrespectful content.
Listening Interviews (Monday 20 Feb to Fri 24 Feb)
Listening Interviews will be held in Week 5 with the exception being Year 6 in Week 4. These interviews are an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and to talk about your hopes for your child this year. Interviews will be able to be booked through compass from next week (Year 6 parents will be able to book an interview this week). Look out for the notification on your compass app prompting you to make a booking. Interviews are only 10 mins long. If you feel you require a longer interview please contact the office.
In preparation for the interview you are encouraged to use the questions below to guide your thinking.
- What are your child’s strengths? What is your child good at? What does your child like doing? Personal interests?
- What would you like to see happen for your child this year Spiritually? Academically? Socially? Emotionally?
- Is there anything else you need to tell us about your child? Has anything changed medically for your child?
- What skills do you have that you could share with us to assist at school in the future?
Morning Procedures
Staff supervision of students begins at 8:20am. No student should be arriving at school before this time without prior approval from the principal.
When students arrive at school by bus they leave the bus and walk up the path along the side of the school. Students must come into the school immediately after departing the bus.
Students that arrive by car may be dropped in the 2 min drop off zone. Parents are not able to leave the car in this zone and come into the school. Students must immediately walk into school via the side path. Please discuss the importance of going immediately into school with your child. Sometimes children like to wait for their friends. It is essential for children to wait for their friends inside on the playground.
Do not leave your car in the drop off zone. The ranger and police do monitor the area.
Afternoon Procedures
Buses: Children line up in bus lines and are escorted by the duty teachers to the buses on Garrett St from 3pm. Bus drivers will be asking the children to have their bus passes ready for them to see. If your child has not yet received their bus pass in the mail then please contact Berrima Buslines for further information.
Walkers and riders: Leave from the Garrett Street exit after the first three buses have left. If you are going to be walking with your child, we ask that you wait out the front and once the buses have left you may leave with your child. No student should be leaving by car from this exit unless previous arrangements have been made with the principal. There are circumstances where a parent or carer may need to collect a student from the front entrance. This is arranged with the family and often occurs after the buses have left for safety reasons.
Cars: If you are picking a child up by car then you must pick up from Innes Road unless an agreed arrangement has been put in place with the principal to collect your child from the front entrance. We deliberately keep cars and buses separated to ensure everyone’s safety. Children are walked in colour house groups by the duty teachers down the egress to the yellow painted line. We ask parents to wait inside the gate and below the yellow line. Once your child arrives please leave promptly. Pick up time is a busy time therefore we ask for everyone's cooperation to ensure everyone's safety. Children must hold an adult’s hand when crossing the road. Children are not permitted to walk out the gate to meet you. Parents must come inside the gate. This is to ensure everyone's safety and that no child can go through the gate without an adult.
Teachers wait until 3:10 pm before walking back into the school. Children who have not been collected by this time are taken to the office. We ask parents to please be prompt in collecting your children. Colour house order for arrival at the Innes Rd exit is Blue, Red and then Gold house.
Changes to pick up arrangements: Please notify the office by 2:30pm. It is very difficult for messages to be delivered after this time and can result in confusion. Children are not to go home with another family unless the school has been notified of the change. Please contact the school if there is a change to your child’s pick up arrangements. For younger children it can be helpful for parents to make a small card the same size as a bus pass that says what the arrangements are each day if they are not the same everyday.
We appreciate and thank you for your support with these arrangements as it ensures everyone is safe when going home.
Gym on Fridays for all classes
We have engaged a specialist sports company, Gymnastrix, to conduct gymnastics lessons with all classes on Fridays. The company provides qualified teachers, who deliver the program and assess the children against NESA syllabus outcomes. They also provide all the necessary gym equipment for the program. The cost of this program is included as part of your school fees. All children will need to wear their sport uniform on Fridays for Term 1.
Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Tuesday
On Tuesday 21 Feb Minnie Vinnies (Year 5) will be selling pancakes. Further details will come out via compass next week.
Staff for 2023
|
Principal |
Mrs Katie Browne |
|
Assistant Principal |
Mr Simon Farrugia |
|
Religious Education Coordinator |
Miss Catherine duBois |
|
Senior School Support Officer |
Mrs Eileen Norman |
|
Middle Leader 1 |
Mrs Tania Calla-Hunstone |
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Instructional Coach Diverse Learning Needs |
Mrs Mary Lou Claremont Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday |
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Year 6 Teacher |
Miss Catherine duBois |
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REC Executive Release |
Mrs Jo Smith - 1 day a week |
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Year 5 Teacher |
Mrs Rachelle Adams |
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Year 4 Teacher |
Mrs Yvonne Kiah |
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Year 3 Teacher |
Mrs Lisa Evans |
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Year 2 Teachers |
Mrs Jocelyn Ponticello - 3 Days Monday - Wednesday Mrs Louise Cassidy - 2 Days Thursday - Friday |
|
Year 1 Teacher |
Mrs Joanne Cutler |
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Kindergarten Teacher |
Mrs Tania Calla-Hunstone |
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Library / Music / STEM |
Mrs Jo Smith |
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Learning Support |
Mrs Margaret Burton Half days Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday Full Day Wednesday |
|
School Support Officer Office Administration |
Mrs Hayley Barton Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday |
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School Support Officer Classroom and Administration |
Mrs Maria Cervonaro Mrs Helen Gorton Mrs Michelle Gillespie Mrs Jodie Iliani Mrs Raelene Rowland |
PAT (Progressive Achievement Tests)
ACER’s Progressive Achievement approach is used in thousands of schools in Australia and around the world. The approach focuses on assessing and monitoring student growth over time and is underpinned by an understanding that students of the same age and in the same year of school can be at very different points in their learning and development.
Why do schools use PAT tests?
- They provide a measure of student achievement in each learning area
- PAT Adaptive uses a sophisticated computer adaptive assessment model to accurately target students’ abilities and to provide richer and more accurate diagnostic information about students’ achievement and needs.
- Entry levels are automatically assigned according to students’ estimated ability and their individualised test pathway is constructed as they progress through a series of ‘testlets’ – small blocks of test items.
- There is a common achievement scale for all tests within a learning area (PAT scale scores allow teachers to compare achievement on the tests within each learning area regardless of year level and the specific test completed and to monitor progress over time)
- They are mapped to the Australian Curriculum
- They provide overall descriptions of the types of skills mastered and those still to be developed based on test performance
- Individual and group reports have automatically calculated scores and sorting functions that allow comparison of scores across students, strands, etc.
- They can be used to inform teaching and learning and to assist in planning effective and targeted learning programs.
Students in Years 2-6 will be engaged in PAT Reading and PAT Mathematics Adaptive tests during Week 5 (February 20th – February 24th). Students will be supported in their classrooms by their teachers to complete these online tests.
Thank you,
Sacramental Program
Information Session
There will be an information session on Wednesday 15th February at 6:00 pm in the school hall. This is open to families with children who wish to participate in the First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion program (mostly Year 3 students). We will be holding a Confirmation information session later in the year.
Traditionally, students in Year 3 will make their First Reconciliation and then their First Holy Communion in the same year. However, we understand that some students may have missed this opportunity, so these sacraments are open to older students as well.
- Reconciliation (Year 3 and above) – these students must be baptised Catholics (Term 1).
- First Holy Communion (Year 3 and above) – these students must be baptised Catholics and have made their First Reconciliation (Term 2).
- Confirmation (Year 6 and above) – These students must have completed their Reconciliation and First Communion (Term 3).
Parish email address:
Beginning of Year Mass
There will be a Whole School Mass on Tuesday the 14th February in the school hall, commencing at 12:00pm midday. We will gather together to celebrate the beginning of a new school year and ask God to bless us and guide us in all that we do. This is also an opportunity to welcome new staff members and students, including our new Kindergarten class. All are warmly invited to attend.
Ash Wednesday
There will be a Whole School Ash Wednesday Liturgy on the 22nd of February in the school hall, commencing at 12:00pm midday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time of preparation for Easter. All are warmly invited to attend.
Thank you
Catherine du Bois
Religious Education Coordinator
Please see below the calendar overview for Term 1 2023:
|
Week 3 |
Wednesday 8 February Swimming Carival Friday 10 February Gymnastics |
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Week 4 |
Monday 13 February K-2 Parent Information Night 5pm Monday 13 February to Friday 17 February Year 3 Ipad Pick Up Monday 13 February to Friday 17 February Year 6 Listening Interviews Tuesday 14 February Whole School Mass 12pm School Hall Friday 17 February Gymnastics |
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Week 5 |
Monday 20 February to Friday 24 February K-5 Listening Interviews Tuesday 21 February Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day Fundraiser) Wednesday 22 February Ash Wednesday Liturgy 12pm School Hall Friday 24 February Gymnastics |
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Week 6 |
Friday 3 March Gymnastics |
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Week 7 |
Friday 10 March Gymnastics |
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Week 8 |
Tuesday 14 March P&F Meeting 7pm - 8pm Wednesday 15 March Sacramental Program Information Evening 6pm School Hall Wednesday 15 March NAPLAN begins Friday 17 March Gymnastics |
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Week 9 |
NAPLAN Continues all week Friday 24 March Gymnastics |
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Week 10 |
Friday 31 March Gymnastics |
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Week 11 |
Thursday 6 April - Gymnastics Thursday 6 April - Last Day of Term 1 |
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Week 1 Term 2 2023 |
Monday 24th April - Pupil Free Day Wednesday 26 April Students return to school |
GYM ON FRIDAYS FOR ALL CLASSES
We have engaged a specialist sports company, Gymnastrix, to conduct gymnastics lessons with all classes on Fridays. The company provides qualified teachers, who deliver the program and assess the children against NESA syllabus outcomes. They also provide all the necessary gym equipment for the program. The cost of this program is included as part of your school fees. All children will need to wear their sport uniform on Fridays for Term 1.
SPORTS UNIFORMS
Sport uniforms are to be worn on the following days for each class:
Kindergarten - Wednesday & Friday
Year 1 - Tuesday & Friday
Year 2 - Monday & Friday
Year 3 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 4 - Wednesday & Friday
Year 5 - Thursday & Friday
Year 6 - Thursday & Friday
LIBRARY
Kindy – Thursday Odd Weeks
Yr 1 - Wednesday Odd Weeks
YR 2 – Wed Even Weeks Wk 2, 6 and 10, Thurs Even Weeks Wk 4 and 8
Yr 3 – Tuesday Odd Weeks
Yr 4 – Monday Even Weeks
Yr 5 – Monday Odd Weeks
Yr 6 – Tuesday Even Weeks
KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS ARE OPEN FOR 2024
If you have a child who is ready for school in 2024 or you know someone who has, our enrolment period is now open. We have had strong demand for places in recent years for the limited spaces we have available. Applications can be picked up from the school office or downloaded from the school website. The first round of interviews will be conducted during Term 2 and the first round offers of enrolment will be made at the end of Term 2.
On a weekly basis you will receive an email regarding your child’s outstanding/unexplained absences.
- You can go into compass to your child’s records and update the unexplained absence.
- You can print this and fill in the reason for the absence and return it to the office.
- You can ring the office and the office staff will enter the reason for the absence.
If you are recording your child's absence on compass, please put in the reason for the absence eg Illness due to cold, tummy upset etc.
PERMISSION NOTES
Thank you to those families that have returned the Consent for for use of student's image and/or work and the CEDoW Technology Agreement. All students are required to complete these forms. Hard copies are available via the office.
MEDICATION
Only medication that is prescribed by a doctor is permitted to be dispensed at School upon completion of a “Consent to Dispense Medication” form which is available from the office. The form and the medication are to be given to the office staff in the original packaging with the student’s name and dosage. We are not permitted to administer Panadol unless prescribed by a doctor and the necessary form completed. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
If your child is Asthmatic or Anaphylactic please ensure the necessary plan has been forwarded to the office along with any medication so that it can be processed. We also need a "Consent to Dispense Medication" form to be completed.
PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES
See document from CEO below:
INJURIES
If a student has sustained an injury please inform the school office as we have to do a care plan and risk assessment. Please also forward any ED report or doctor letter as well.
LEAVE FOR STUDENTS
If a student is going on leave for 10 days or more, parents will need to apply in writing and in advance for this leave.
If you change your address, phone number or email, please inform the school office so that we can update our records.
WITHDRAWAL
If you intend to withdraw your child from the school, the withdrawal form is available from the office. We currently have a waitlist, so advance notification would be appreciated.
BOOK CLUB
In the first issue of Book Club for the year, there is a free book offer. Last day for orders are Monday the 20th February.
ONLINE CHESS LESSONS
CHILD SAFETY HANDBOOK
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MOSS VALE NETBALL
NAVIGATING ONLINE FRIENDSHIPS
This 30-minute webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people in secondary school.
It will cover:
- how to support young people to have safe and respectful relationships online
- what to do when something happens at school and ends up on social media or private messaging apps
- how to report to social media platforms and eSafety.
Thursday 23 February 7.30pm
AUSTRALIAN PARENTS COUNCIL NEWS
SAFER INTERNET DAY
Today, February 7 is Safer Internet Day.
Technology has evolved dramatically in the last 20 years, creating huge benefits and opportunities. It has also exposed us to risks with real-world impacts. This is why online safety awareness is so important.
The theme for Safer Internet Day is:
- Connect safely and with purpose – by keeping apps and devices secure and using social media in positive ways.
- Reflect before we act – by taking a moment to consider how what we do and say online may affect others.
- Protect ourselves with knowledge – by telling family and friends about the eSafety Commissioner and how they can help.
Here is some more information: