Dear Parents,

In July 2021, the Victorian Government announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safe environments and protect children from abuse. 11 new Child Safe Standards and Ministerial Order No. 1359 came into effect for schools and school boarding premises on Friday 1 July 2022. They replace Victoria’s seven previous Child Safe Standards and principles (Ministerial Order No. 870) in place since 2016.

The new Child Safe Standards are underpinned by Ministerial Order No. 1359 which was gazetted by the Victorian Government on 10 February 2022. Ministerial Order No. 1359 defines the actions schools and school boarding premises must take to meet the requirements of the new Child Safe Standards.

The new Victorian Child Safe Standards are:

1. Culturally safe environments– Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.
2. Leadership, governance and culture– Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.
3. Child and student empowerment– Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.
4. Family engagement– Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
5. Diversity and equity– Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.
6. Suitable staff and volunteers– People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.
7. Complaints processes– Processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.
8. Child safety knowledge, skills and awareness– Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.
9. Child safety in physical and online environments– Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.
10. Review of child safety practices– Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.
11. Implementation of child safety practices– Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

Further information regarding Child Safety can be found here https://www.ceosale.catholic.edu.au/child-safety/child-safety

Catholic schools have long been committed to providing safe learning environments for all children whilst in their care and remain committed to the continuous improvement and review of policies and procedures for ensuring the safety of children.

Unwell Students

We have seen a spike in COVID cases, influenza and gastro in our school community over the last couple of days. We all play an important part in keeping our community safe. A reminder to not send children to school who are showing any symptoms at all or who are unwell.

Our staff have also taken a hit from these illnesses, as a school we will do everything we can to maintain continuity of face-to-face learning including the increased use of casual staff. We will continue to make localised staffing decisions to ensure appropriate supervision can be maintained, however, we are not be able to guarantee particular staff for any cohort and students may not have their regular teacher.

Three Score Years and Ten

Australians born a century ago could expect to live to a little over fifty years on average; now our average life length is 83 years (even older for women). The evidence is all around us in society: pretty well everyone in our affluent world is living way beyond the nominal “three score years and ten” suggested in Psalms and Shakespeare. Our readings this week focus us on the reality that we will all die, though it seems some people conveniently forget that.

Reflecting for a moment, we realise our lives are but an infinitesimal blip in time and space, so the issue is what we do with our little lives, how we impact the world and how prepared we are for our brief time to end. Both Luke (Luke 12:13-21) and Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 1:2,2:21-23) remind us of the foolishness of accruing power and property, to be left behind when we die, instead of heavenly things (Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11) which we take with us to glory in Christ.

Earlier this year my closest friend was there one moment and gone the next. Indeed, for all our average longevity, we know not the day nor the hour and so, whatever we hope of our merciful Creator, we don’t want to be found, when death comes, to have wasted our lives. 

In our human frailty, we must strive to live authentically in the world, putting behind us greed, evil desires, lies and so forth and instead bravely working in a Christ-like manner: open, loving, rejecting prejudices and biases among our brothers and sisters and calling-out causes of violence, marginalisation, discrimination and poverty. We make our goals “the spirituality of awareness, of choice, of risk, of transformation ….  the embrace of life, the pursuit of wholeness, the acceptance of others, the call to co-creation.” (Sr Joan Chittister, The Time is Now p16)

Deacon Mark Kelly          

Get ready! Our boxes are almost here.

Over the last two weeks our fabulous Foundation and Grade One students have been learning about the reading strategy,‘Inferring’. We have learnt that making inferences is like being a reading detective! We can use what we already know, along with text clues, to help us better understand what we are reading. What a super skill to learn and what fun we have had making inferences whilst looking at pictures with our classmates and reading texts with our teachers. Well done Junior students! Here is an example of one of the pictures we have looked at and the questions we have been asked, to help us make inferences.

• How did the puddle get there?
• What season do you think it is?
• Where are they walking to?
• How do you think the dog is feeling?
• How is the boy feeling?
• Do you think the dog is the boy's pet?
• Why is the boy walking alone?

NAIDOC week was celebrated during the school holidays. NAIDOC week celebrates and recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.The theme for this year’s NAIDOC week was “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!” which explored ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have taken action to fight for justice. The theme also considers ways Australians can stand alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as advocates and allies; and how the future might look when we all Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!

All students at St Angela of the Cross created a hand depicting various symbols and markings. These were then used as part of a display to urge students to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! And take action against injustices in our world.

Literacy news - HG L and TP

During Literacy, Homegroup L and TP  explored the importance of, and the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country. Students then explored what is needed in an Acknowledgement of Country and had a go at writing their own Acknowledgements. These were then used to create a Homegroup Acknowledgement of Country that we will say at the beginning of each day.

Homegroup L Acknowledgement of Country

“I would like to acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as the traditional custodians of the land as we meet here today in Australia. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and future. We care for the people, land, water and food. “

Homegroup TP Acknowledgement of Country

“Here is the land, 

Here is the sky,

Thank you to the Gunaikurnai.

As we gather together at St Angela’s, we acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as the traditional custodians of this land and recognise their continued connection to this beautiful place on which we learn and play.

We pay our respects to all Elders, past, present and future” 

We watched a video of some First Nations people saying their Nation and the country they live on (3-6mins), then we looked at the map of Aboriginal Nations in Victoria. We found the Gunaikurnai land and used Japanese to say “Gunaikurnai kuni ni sunde imasu” (We live on Gunaikurnai country).

Here are a few examples:

What do you 好き suki (like)? Before eating their fruit, students said “Apples が好きです。Apples ga suki desu” (I like apples).

Here are a few examples: