Dear Parents and Carers,
Today we welcomed a small group of new children to St Benedict’s. They were nervous and excited. It was lovely to watch how the parents who were experiencing this for a second or third time were feeling so relaxed about their child beginning school. Many children who begin school these days have already experienced more than just pre-school. They have often spent time in long day care as well and are quite used to meeting and playing with new children. We’re looking forward to a fun year of learning with our new community members in 2021.

Fran Tomadini will be teaching Kindergarten at St Benedict’s next year. Other teachers for other classes will be determined shortly.

As we welcome our new students and they begin the next part of their schooling journey, it is the perfect opportunity to consider some tips for helping our children with their learning.

You are your child’s very first teacher and you can continue to help them learn, right throughout their schooling. Here are some tips:

Praise effort and achievement
Your child thrives on authentic encouragement and praise. This increases their self-esteem and confidence, which can help them to do better at school. Encourage your child with genuine, positive feedback about their effort and achievements.

Have high expectations
Talk about realistic goals with your child and help them to set their own goals. If they have a setback, encourage your child to learn from their errors and move on.

Active listening
You can encourage most reluctant talkers to engage in conversation simply by listening to them. Use techniques that encourage further discussion, such as eye contact, posture and mirroring.

Make learning fun
Learning is more than just studying textbooks. You can help your child with numeracy and literacy by playing games, talking and reading together. As your child gets older, you can still play games (such as board games and cards), talk to them about books and films, and discuss news and current affairs with them.

Strengthen the communication lines between you and your child’s teachers
Both you and your child’s teachers want your child to reach their learning potential. Foster a strong relationship with your child’s teachers through respectful communication and by engaging in school activities.

Thank you for your ongoing care and partnership in your child’s learning.

God bless.

Rachel Smith
Principal

St Benedict’s Front Garden Make Over
Some of our students began planting our new garden this week. Over the next few weeks those students who purchased plants will be given the opportunity to plant their plants. If you missed out on purchasing plants at the end of last term, you may still do so. Payments can be made at the front office or via Qkr!.

P&F Working Bee
The P&F will be holding a Working Bee on Sunday 15^th November between 10am – 1pm. Due to Covid restrictions this is the only working bee we will be having this year. If you can help in any way, we would appreciate your support.

MGL Manila Christmas Hamper Appeal
During this most difficult time our MGL Manila Parish (also St Benedict’s!) is raising money for Christmas Hampers to bring some joy into the lives of families struggling just to survive. A family hamper costs between A$12-15. Our Canberra “MGL Mission Account” will transfer directly into our Manila Account. The bank details are: BSB 062.786. A/C number 027325, with reference “MANREL”. 

2021 School and Term Dates
Please be aware the term dates will be as follows for next year;

• Term One               1 February    -           1 April
• Term Two              19 April         -           25 June
• Term Three            12 July         -           17 September
• Term Four              5 October     -           17 December

St Vincent de Paul Christmas Food Donation

Each year our St Benedict’s school community donates non-perishable food to our parish St Vincent de Paul Conference. This food is then made into Christmas hampers that are distributed to people in our local community who are experiencing hardship. Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about the joy of giving without the expectation of receiving something in return. Families are welcome to donate as many non-perishable food items as they wish.  Please send all non-perishable food donations to your child’s classroom over the next 3 weeks. These will be presented at our Giving Mass this Friday 4th December.

We are also seeking donations of rolls of wrapping paper to decorate the hamper boxes.  

Community Meals Program: HELP NEEDED
The Community Meals Program freezer is one way we can assist families who are

experiencing hardship. We are seeking donations of frozen meals (homemade or store bought), frozen food and non-perishable food donations. If making homemade meals, please ensure that they are in a disposable container clearly labelled with the date made and ingredients. All donations can be brought to the Front Office. If your family requires temporary meal assistance, you can speak in confidence to any of our staff members.

Thank you so much to those who have made donations to this service. Your support is greatly appreciated!

School Mass 6^th November 10am
Our school will celebrate Mass this Friday (6^th November). Students in 3/4 Blue will lead the Mass in the church while classes participate online from their classrooms. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, Catholic Education has advised that parents, carers and visitors will not be permitted to attend school Masses. Thank you for your understanding.

Remembrance Day Liturgy 11^th November 10.30am
Our school will celebrate Remembrance Day outside in the courtyard in front of the Remembrance Cross. Catholic Education has advised that additional parents, carers

and visitors who do not have an active role in the service will not be permitted to attend. We encourage all our Defence families to let our Defence Support Teacher (Linda de Salis) know if you would like to be involved in this service. linda.desalis@cg.catholic.edu.au

All Saints’ Day Prayer

Dear God,

Bless the memories of your saints.

Thank you for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who have gone before us.

May we learn how to walk wisely from their examples of faith, dedication, worship,

and love. 

Let us rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place.

May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

So your kids are using TikTok
As we have discussed in previous videos and cheat sheets, Tik Tok has numerous risks. We are firm believers in adhering to the age recommendation guidelines of 13yrs+ for social media. However, that said, it is not against any law for a child to use under the age of 13yrs with parental permission.

If you have decided that you are okay with your child using TikTok, here is what to do and what to look out for to make it as safe as possible.

Make sure they are not being moved from another social media site or game onto Tik Tok by someone that they don’t know
This is a big one that I am hearing about far too often. Particularly for kids under 13yrs, but it may happen to older teens also. They make “friends” on games such as Roblox. Their new “friend” suggests that they connect on TikTok. Once they are both following each other, they can message each other for free. This includes sharing videos. This can become every parent’s worst nightmare in the blink of an eye.

If they are under the age of 13yrs, set the app up with your email address.
Set it up on your device so you have full access to it at all times and can see who is following them and who they are following. Make sure you set up notifications so you will be emailed with any messages that come through the app. Think of it as putting on training wheels. Monitoring your child’s online life under the age of 13yrs is extremely important. As they get older, you can lift the monitoring in line with their online maturity.

Set their profile to private
While they are too young to always make good choices, as they get older, you can lift this, especially when they know what is right and wrong online and how to block and report if things get weird. Make sure they are only connected to people that they know and are following legitimate sites.

Look for the verification symbol
There is a verification symbol on all social media sites that proves it is the actual verified celebrity or group.
There will be a little blue circle with a white tick in it next to the name. No tick, no follow. Predators can set up fraudulent accounts that may have a small spelling mistake or a similar version of a celebrity name.

Encourage them to speak up
Kids need to understand that an adult can help when they know what is going on and can help them.

Know how to block and report
This should be the case for every app that they use. You should always know the basics and spend some time
looking at how it all works before letting your child use it.

What are they looking at
You may never know what they see, and there is a lot of graphic content, porn, and other inappropriate content on TikTok. Make sure they know to get off the app immediately if they see something that makes them feel uncomfortable or worried.

Know how to take a screenshot
In case you need it as evidence. This is a great tool to teach kids as young as possible.

No videos on TikTok in school uniform
Or anything else that gives away too much personal information is critical. Remember, a school’s reputation can be destroyed in a heartbeat with kids posting videos on TikTok of them misbehaving someway. It is also a privacy risk; your child could be telling the whole world where they go to school.

Don’t give away any personal information.
Use a fake user name like “popcorn fairy” or something. Teach your kids never to give away things like name, address, age, phone number, where they go to school, etc.

Watch out for what is in the background
It is easy for people to determine a location, take a screenshot, and zoom in on a certificate on the wall.

Turn off location tracking
In your device settings, turn location tracking off for TikTok completely.

Set time limits
Be very clear about how long they can be on TikTok for, or they can be watching all kinds of stuff for hours!

Use a strong password.
Do not use the same password on TikTok that they do for everything else.

Beware of bullying
There is a lot of bullying on the platform as kids judge each other’s videos etc. Remember, being mean once isn’t bullying.

If bullying is occurring
Make sure your child knows not to respond
Take screenshots or screen record
Block and report the bully to the app
Support your child

If the bullying continues, please refer to our cheat sheet on cyberbullying to report it.

Remember, you can ask for help

If you have any questions, please email us. We are always happy to help.

We have tried to keep as many of our usual school events as possible. Please understand that in the current environment these events may be cancelled or the style in which they are held may change.         

6 Nov    1/2 Blue Mass 10 Nov School Board Meeting, 6.00pm
11 Nov  Remembrance Day
11 Nov  Remembrance Day Liturgy, 10.30am 3/4 Blue
13 Nov  DTT Session
15 Nov  P&F Working Bee, 10.00am - 1.00pm
16–20 Nov  Year 5 & 6 Activities Week
17 Nov  Year 5 & 6 Mini Golf Excursion
18 Nov  Kinder Orientation 2, 9.00—11.00am 
20 Nov  Year 5 & 6 Galleries Excursion
24 Nov  Parents & Friends Meeting, 6.30pm
3 Dec    Learning Showcase, 2pm
4 Dec    Mini Vinnies Giving Mass
4 Dec    DTT Session
8 Dec    School Board Meeting, 6.00pm
9 Dec    Kinder & Years 3 & 4 Advent Liturgy
11 Dec  Ways of Being Assembly
11 Dec  Semester 2 Reports sent home
14 Dec  Optional Parent Teacher Interviews
15 Dec  Optional Parent Teacher Interviews
16 Dec  End of Year /Graduation Mass, 10.00am
16 Dec  Year 6 Graduation Dinner, 6pm
17 Dec  Whole School Fun Day
17 Dec  Year 6 Big Splash Day
18 Dec  Christmas Concert, 12.30pm (Tentative)
18 Dec  Last Day of Term 4

The following notes were sent home this week.  They all relate to Years 5 and 6

Activities Week note 5/6

Year 5 / 6 Zoo excursion permission note 1

Year 5 Parent Assistance for Yr 6 Graduation

Year 6 Parent Assistance for Yr 6 Graduation

Yr 6 Graduation Dinner note

Please remember to check the Schoolzine App (SZapp) for all the latest school information.  You are able to register via either:

Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pidigi.schoolzine&hl=en_AU

School Fees

Thank you to all the families that have already paid their school fees. Please have fees paid by 11th November 2020.  If you have any concerns regarding fees, call or email Mrs McRae or Ms Smith.

Catholic Education is committed to continuing financial assistance into Term 4 to support families who have been financially impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

If your family is experiencing financial stress due to job loss, being stood down, reduction in work hours, business downturn or closure resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

If you have any difficulty paying School Fees due to Covid 19 please contact Mrs McRae or Ms Smith to see what assistance is available.  We are always here to help.

Student Banking

Commonwealth Student Banking is Wednesday.  Please ensure your bank book and money are sent to the Front Office via the class notebag.

Outside Education Day
Toward the end of year we may be having an outside education day.

Mrs Tomadini is collecting any unused CD's and reels of fishing line.

Please send all unused CD's to school and place them in the box that is outside the Kinder classroom.

Thank you.

Happy birthday to the following children who celebrate their special day this week: Ciru N, James N, Hubert K and Eli A.

Year 1/2B:  Olivia D and Zayn S

Year 1/2G:  Vincentia B, Laura K and Elias S

Year 3/4B:  Maria C and Ruby S

Year 3/4G:  George P and Erik E

Year 5/6B:  Himiona T, Matthew S, Mila M and Matilda R

Year 5/6G:  Arthur S, Rose G, Santino E and Amiah G

Year 1/2G: Jayden L

Year 3/4G:  George P and Georgia W

Year 5/6G:  Marissa M

P&F Working Bee
The P&F will be holding a Working Bee on Sunday 15^th November between 10am –1pm. Due to Covid restrictions this is the only working bee we will be having this year. If you can help in any way, we would appreciate your support.

Summer uniform is to be worn now.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our normal school clothing pool processes are not in place. If you need uniform, please email the school office.stbenedicts@cg.catholic.edu.au or contact Mrs McRae with a list of items required.  We will endeavour to fill your order and reply to you as soon as possible.

PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD/REN'S CLOTHING IS LABELLED WITH THEIR NAME.

Please check your child/ren are bringing their uniform home.  If they accidentally picked up someone elses uniform, please return it to the front office so it can be returned to the correct child.

If you require any summer uniform please email the front  office. office.stbenedicts@cg.catholic.edu.au

St Benedict's Parish
Office Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 12noon
Phone: 62957879
Email: narrabundah@cg.org.au
Web:   www.cg.org.au/narrabundah

Parish Team:
Fr Dan Benedetti MGL
Fr Rembert Fernando MGL
Fr Baiju Thomas MGL
Monica Nulley-Valdes (Parish Secretary)
Anjalie Upasena  (Parish Youth Minister)

Dear St Benedict’s community,

Please remember that 9am Mass is being streamed live and the 10am live streamed Mass has finished.

Those who wish to attend the Friday Healing Mass and the Sunday 6.00pm Charismatic Mass still need to contact Carmel Henry on 0409777743 or email  carmelhenry2@gmail.com

If you would like to have email updates from St Benedict’s Parish, please contact narrabundah@cg.org.au . Be assured of our prayers for the whole St Benedict’s community at this time. Please keep safe and if anyone would like to contact Father Dan, he is available through the Parish or through the school.

St Benedict, pray for us.

God Bless

Fr Dan Benedetti MGL PP
Parish Priest
St Benedict's Catholic Community Narrabundah ACT

School Travel for 2021 2021 school travel applications are now open
Applications for student travel in 2021 opened from Monday 12 October 2020.

Students who require a School Opal card or travel pass for 2021 can now apply online. A new application should be submitted if a student is applying for a school travel pass for the first time or requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students who have changed school/campus, changed address, repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should re-apply or update their details.

*Applications must be completed by the student's parent or legal guardian if the student is aged under 16 years. Students 16 years and over must complete the application form themselves.

Where there is a change of distance eligibility based on a student’s grade, the system will automatically update a student’s entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

If a student needs to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to
https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails 

Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2020 to ensure that current student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card remains valid. If their application is submitted after 31 December 2020, the system will automatically cancel an entitlement/card and a new one will need to be issued.

Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2021.

Students residing in Rural and Regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the commencement of the new school year from their nominated operator, this may be distributed via the school or sent direct to their address. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/Parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

New Concession Entitlement Cards
Transport for NSW will be replacing the below cards with Transport Concession Entitlement Cards (TCEC) from October 2020:  Senior Secondary Student Concession Card (16 years and over) – also used by Mature Secondary Students (18 years and over), Distance Education Students and Home School Students  Proof of Age card (when a student under 16 years of age looks older)  Boarder Rail Pass. All previous cards will be valid until they expire. Students who require a Transport Concession Entitlement Card should speak with their school administration staff.

Enquiries regarding school student travel can be submitted to Transport for NSW at:
https://transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/passes-concessions-feedback