Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,

This week all our classes will begin the BOUNCE BACK! sessions. The sessions unpack the acronym BOUNCE  BACK! The first three sessions this week will cover:

CORE VALUES:

Our values are statements about how we think we should behave and what we believe is important. Our values are our moral map, which guide our behaviour and actions. The following values are taught in the BOUNCE BACK! program. Acting on these values can increase your child’s sense of being a decent, worthwhile person and help them to be more resilient.

Key messages to communicate to your child about values 

These values are reflected in our GSFM school rules & expectations

Our values are statements about how we think we should behave and what we believe is important. Our values are our moral map, which guide our behaviour and actions. The following values are taught in the BOUNCE BACK! program. Acting on these values can increase your child’s sense of being a decent, worthwhile person and help them to be more resilient.

Key messages to communicate to your child about values 

These values are reflected in our GSFM school rules & expectations

Your values are easy to talk about but harder to act on 

The real test is whether you still follow your personal values when it is inconvenient for you or when there might be possible unpleasant or uncomfortable outcomes for you. Nobody is perfect, but it’s important to try and live by your values even though you may not always succeed as well as you would like. Keep trying to improve. 

Being honest 

Being honest means telling the truth and not stealing; it means giving things back when they belong to someone else and ‘owning up’ when you have done the wrong thing. 

Being fair 

Being fair means following the rules and not cheating; it means returning favours and kindnesses, and helping others to get justice and a fair deal. 

Being responsible 

Being responsible means not letting people down. It means doing the things that you have to do without being reminded. It also means choosing sensible behaviour instead of silly or unsafe behaviour. 

Being kind 

Being kind means caring about other people and their wellbeing, and showing support and thoughtfulness to others. 

Being cooperative 

Cooperating means working together with someone to achieve something that you both want. It requires sharing ideas and resources, listening, encouraging each other, making sure that both of you have a say, doing your share of the work, and making decisions together that are fair to both of you. 

Accepting differences in other people 

Everyone is different from you in some way and that’s OK. If you accept that other people are different (e.g. in where they come from, what they look like, what they like to eat or do, and in their opinions) then you get to know more people (and not just those who are similar to you), you include people who are different from you in games and conversation, and you don’t tease or exclude them. 

Being friendly 

Being friendly means being kind and welcoming to others and trying to include people (even if they are not your close friends or they are people who are sometimes hard to like). This means looking in their eyes and smiling, saying hello, being kind and inviting them to join in games and conversations. Being friendly towards strangers is not a good thing to do until you are very sure they are safe people.

Being respectful 

Being respectful means treating others as you would like them to treat you. It means thinking about other people’s feelings and rights, being polite and using good manners, and not insulting or hurting others or their property. If you want people to respect your rights, then you have to respect their rights. 

Showing self-respect 

Self-respect means looking after yourself and standing up for yourself because you think you matter and should be treated well by others. 

What can you do to help your child develop and live by good values?

• Give your child positive feedback when they act honestly (e.g. when they tell the truth, own up to what they have done, avoid the temptation to keep something that belongs to someone else, and when they try to identify who owns something they have found that doesn’t belong to them).

• Play age-appropriate board and card games with your children. This provides an opportunity for you to reinforce playing fairly by following the rules of a game and not cheating. Playing games with your children also provides an opportunity for them to practise social skills such as being a good winner and loser.

• Help them to develop kindness and a sense of fairness towards others who are less fortunate than themselves. Model for them some ways to support others who are in need.

• Encourage your child to appreciate and return the kindnesses and favours they receive from others.

• Present different people’s points of view when talking problems through with your child. This helps them gain a sense of what’s fair for everyone involved.

• Give your child regular chores and give them positive feedback when they do these without being reminded. 

• Stress that people will trust and respect you more when you behave responsibly.

• Model cooperative behaviours for your child by working with them on a project (e.g. building a model) or task (e.g. tidying up the garage). Comment on how and why things went well (e.g. you both did a good share of the work, each did the part they were good at and each respected what the other person did).

• Provide opportunities for your child to socialise with their extended family, neighbours and friends, and participate in community groups such as clubs and sporting teams. Emphasise the importance of being friendly and accepting differences in people and discuss with your child how they might do this in each situation. Show them by example too.

• Never give up! Sometimes there is a ‘sleeper effect’ and values that your child didn’t seem to ‘take up’ at an earlier age pop up in their behaviour when they are older.

Ask your child what the letter ‘B’ ‘O’ or ‘U’ means in BOUNCE BACK! Ask them to name some of the emotions that they spoke about with their class. What story did they read/listen to that helped them understand that:

Bad feelings go away 

Other people can help if you let them 

Unhelpful thinking makes you more upset

Until next week, as we journey together with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal

July Vacation Care Program at Good Samaritan:

CatholicCare OOSH will be hosting a Vacation Care program on our school site during the upcoming school holidays. Please note that spaces will fill on a ‘first in’ basis so secure a place! More information is below.

Semester One - Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher interviews will take place throughout week 10. With the current restrictions of numbers of people on site it has been decided that teachers will be released from class for one day to conduct telephone interviews with parents. Interviews will be for 10 minutes and will take a future focus on learning for each child. Teachers will reference the remote learning period and also make comments on observations and learning engagement since returning to school for face to face learning.

As teachers will be making phone calls ‘back to back’ they may need to schedule a further meeting face to face in Term 3 to continue the conversation. Your understanding of the importance of keeping to time is appreciated.

Returning to Regular School Routines

This week you received a letter from CEDoW and myself regarding the easing of restrictions in school environments. At a local level this means that we will start to return to our regular school hours as we enter Term 3.

To be prepared for this the morning car line gate will continue to be supervised until 9am for the remainder of this week. On Monday 22 June the gate will be supervised until 8:55am following this time the gate will be locked and parents will need to accompany students to the office for a late pass.

On Monday 29 June the gate will be supervised until 8:50am  following this time the gate will be locked and parents will need to accompany students to the office for a late pass.

From the beginning of Term 3, we will return to the normal dismissal time of 3pm. Afternoon car lines will begin at 3pm. Please ensure that the appropriate road rules are followed when entering the Parish carpark. We will continue to adhere to the direction of parents not entering the school site for drop off, pick up or gatherings until we are advised otherwise.

We appreciate your support in working with us to ensure that all

students are at their classrooms ready to learn by 8:50am.

Returning to Full Curriculum Delivery in Term 3:

Good Samaritan has focused on delivering Religious Education, English and Mathematics as well as including a student wellbeing focus since returning to face-to-face teaching and learning. From Term 3 we will return to the delivery of the full curriculum which will include planning, programming and teaching of outcomes in all the NESA Key Learning Areas.

At Good Samaritan we will continue to implement strategies that focus and support the wellbeing of students across the school.

Police and Ranger Patrols: McGrath St And Cabbage Tree Lane

Recently both rangers and police have been patrolling the streets around Good Samaritan. To avoid a fine, and a loss of points, please adhere to the No Stopping & No Parking signs around the perimeter of the school.

 Staffing Update:

This week we welcomed Mrs Sutton back to Year 3. Thanks and gratitude is extended to Mrs Hobbs for her commitment to Year 3 following the remote learning period.

Unfortunately, Mrs Brassel is unwell and unable to return to work in Amaroo for the term. Ms Mangos has taken up this position, working with Mrs Huska in supporting the learning of our Good Samaritan Amaroo students.

School Attendance & Absences:

Below is an outline of the processes Good Samaritan will use to follow up extended absences from school. As a systemic primary school within the Wollongong Diocese, Good Samaritan adheres to the School Attendance Guidelines and Procedures of the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong.

As such, the following process will be used to support the regular attendance of students at school.

Step 1: 3 - 4 days absent

• Phone call to parents (if required ).
• Follow up with letter to parents if absences continue - arrange meeting with parents to discuss.
• Review situation for the following week. 

Step 2: 7 - 14 days absent

• Regular phone call to parents re attendance.
• Registered letter to parents re attendance.
• Referral to school counselor/Family Support.
• Meeting with school Principal.
• Head of School Services to be informed. 

Step 3: 14 - 21 days absent

• Inform Head of School Services.
• Regular contact to parents.
• School informs Catholic Education Office.
• Meeting with school Principal and Head of School Service (Action Plan agreed on and review date set).
• Registered letter to parents. 

Step 4: 22+ days absent

• Head of School Service with Principal to determine Action Plan. 

Step 5: Above 30 days absent 

• Report ‘education neglect’ (i.e., habitual absence or not enrolled) to Community Services (CS) Child Protection Helpline.
• Letter to parents from Head of School Services advising that the system has reported to Community Services (CS) or if not enrolled, also reported to Department of Education and Communities (DEC). If there are any concerns for the child’s wellbeing, normal child protection procedures apply - this can be made any time during the above procedure.

The Value for this week is:

GENEROSITY:

I can demonstrate GENEROSITY by:

• Offering support to others by giving my time to them 

• I can stop to listen and acknowledge another’s point of view!

• Sharing my gifts and talents and asking myself ‘How can I help others? 

Chicken Divas Colouring and Glitzy Chick Competitions

Thank you to everyone who participated in our National Simultaneous Storytime competitions.  All of the entries were of a high standard.  Congratulations to the following students for winning the colouring or glitzy chicken competition: Eadie KB, Jacob 1B, Zac 2G, Lucas 2G, Elias 3G and Ruby 3B.

It was a very difficult decision to be made as all the entries were super impressive.  One learning that can be made is that unfortunately some people didn’t have their name on their entry so missed out because the judges didn’t know who the work belonged to.  

We hope that those people who didn’t win will be happy for those who did and bounce back by having a go at the next competition that will be happening very soon in preparation for Book Week.

Borrowing

Borrowing of books will begin again in Term 3 but if there are any books that need to be returned we would appreciate them by the end of the term so all children can start Term 3 with no overdue books.

Premier’s Reading Challenge and SORA

We hope that those students who are completing the Premier’s Reading Challenge this year are continuing to use SORA to help them be successful in their efforts.  If you or your child needs assistance in using SORA please do not hesitate to contact either Mrs Cook or Mrs Medina in the library.

• Last day of Term 2

Tuesday 4 August

• School Photos -WINTER UNIFORM TO BE WORN 

Friday 4 September 

• Father's Day Breakfast 

Friday 6 November 

• Grandparent's & Great Friends Day Liturgy & Open Day