St Ita's Primary School Drouin
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50 Victoria Street
Drouin VIC 3818
Subscribe: https://stidrouin.catholic.edu.au/subscribe

Email: admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 03 5623 7222

T3 W7 2023 Newsletter

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T3 W7 2023 Newsletter

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St Ita’s Catholic Primary School acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

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    VRQA AUDIT

    Over the past six month St Ita’s has been going through its VRQA audit, a lot of time and effort has been put into making sure we are compliant with state government expectations, and that our school is being run as a safe space for all those within it. I would like to thank all of the staff at St Ita’s who have gone above and beyond to make sure we are ticking all the right boxes. Great job!

    CHILDREN BRINGING HOT DRINKS TO SCHOOL

    One of the latest trends happening at St Ita's is kids turning up to school in the morning with Hot Chocolates or Coffees.
    As part of our Child Safe Policy we would ask that children finish their hot drinks before entering the school grounds as there are safety concerns relating to burns and scolds; as well as empty cups are being left out on the school yard creating rubbish.
    We thank you for your support in helping to keep St Ita's a child safe school.

    PARENTS AND FRIENDS MEETING

    I would like to say a heart-felt thank you to all the wonderful parents who have expressed interest in joining our school Parents & Friends Committee.

    Our Parents and Friends is a really important part of our school community, and presents a great opportunity to explore different fund raising and social initiatives which can have a positive impact on our ability to make improvements to our school.

    We had our first meeting on Wednesday 16th of August, and had a great turnout. Our online meeting today wasn't as successful as we would have liked but will look at alternate ways to connect parents online. We look forward to everyone getting on board and supporting our Parents & Friends Committee.

    SWEARING AT SCHOOL

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    This year we have had several conversations with students, across different levels of our school, who have been using language that is totally inappropriate and offensive towards other students and staff at St Ita’s.

    Swearing and abusive language towards one another is totally unacceptable and is definitely not part of the culture we promote at St Ita’s. Even more concerning, is when speaking with students who have been swearing or using offensive language at school they often justify their poor choice of language with, “Mum and Dad don’t care if I swear at home.” Or “I’m allowed to swear at home.”

    Could I please ask parents to be super vigilant in explaining to your child/ren that swearing or using abusive language in our school is totally unacceptable. At St Ita’s we are a community that shows respect for one another, and this is an expectation on all our students, teachers and parents.

    When do children start swearing?

    Children as young as 3 can use swear words that they hear people around them say. By the time they start school, children generally know between 30 and 40 offensive words. At around 11 years of age the swearing becomes more adult-like, and children learn most of the swear words from parents, peers and siblings.

    Most parents are acutely embarrassed about their child’s swearing, but often don’t have a clue about how to stop them. Unfortunately, the normal tactic of shouting or punishing a child for swearing can inadvertently cause the child to swear more. 

    If a child is repeatedly swearing, it’s useful to unpick why they’re swearing. There are 15 strategies you can use to stop them, and if one technique doesn’t work you and add in more strategies until the swearing stops.

    Why do children swear?

    To tackle swearing, it’s useful first to understand, why is your child swearing?

    • Is it copying words they’ve heard from parents, sibling’s family or friends?
    • Is it because they are upset or annoyed about a situation and swear to help others understand how strongly they feel about it?
    • Is it to get a reaction? Or to make people laugh?
    • Is it to annoy their parents, because they feel angry, upset or controlled?
    • Is it because the child is ‘entitled’ and feels the parents should give them what they want? So, they swear to ‘teach their parents a lesson!’ because they know how much it annoys them.
    • Is it because the child has a naughty or ‘rebel’ identity? Do they feel they can’t be good at being good? So, they’ll be really good at being bad.
    • Is it because the child is suddenly shocked, and the word slips out unintentionally?
    • Do they lack self-control generally, and don’t know how to stop themselves swearing?
    • For an older child, is it to fit in with their friends?
    • Or to look cool in front of peers?
    • Or is there a brain defect, such as damage to the child’s frontal lobe, Tourette’s or aphasia.

    10 WAYS TO STOP A CHILD SWEARING

    1. Don’t overreact

    Children will often swear because it causes a big reaction. Whether that’s shocked silence, shouting or laughter. If your child swears, try to act as if they have said a completely harmless word. And do your best not to laugh. If you shout at your child or get angry, inadvertently you’ll me making it more likely your child will swear in the future. So, stay utterly calm.

    2. Empathise, then talk about the swearing later

    If your child has sworn because they were upset or angry, empathise with them. “Ooh! looks like that really hurt.” Or “It sounds like you’re really upset. That is so annoying.”

    Later, sit down and talk with your child. Start with empathising again with why your child swore. “DO you remember earlier when you burned your hand? That really hurt!

    Do you remember what you said? Can we talk about that?

    It’s not OK to say that word in our house.

    3. Explain what words mean

    It’s highly likely that your child doesn’t understand the meaning of the swear word. So, if they’re old enough, explain it to them.

    Then say “Can you see that it doesn’t make sense when you say; “I don’t know where the F**cking cat is!” That would mean you don’t know where the cat is that is having sex. It’s best to use words that say what you mean. If you want to empathise it, say “I really don’t know where the cat is.”

    4. Explain why swearing offends others

    It’s important to explain to your child “Lots of people don’t like swearing. To them it sounds angry or offensive Especially if it comes out of a child’s mouth. If other parents hear you swear, they won’t want you hanging around their child.

    If you swear, other people may feel offended or hurt. They’ll think less of you. And they’ll think I’m doing a bad job as a parent. And if you swear at school, and a teacher hears you, you can expect them to be much harsher than we are dealing with it. So, don’t let me down, OK?

    5. Find alternative words

    Sometimes a child will want to use a strong word to add impact to what they want to say. So, work out what other words your child could use, and teach them alternatives.

    Could they say ‘Merlin’s beard, Poo, holy moly, son of a monkey, cheese and rice, Oh, curses! Or anything that you’d feel happy for your child to say in front of their grandparents, when they’re upset or angry. For some children it can be useful to have a list of words in their drawer that they can’t use, and a list of those they can. Just to make it crystal clear what is and isn’t a swear word. Alternatively, you could also explain that swearing is OK provided they do it in their bedroom, and no one hears it.

    6. Teach your child to manage their anger

    It’s really important to teach your child ways to calm themselves down in the moment, from pretending to pull a toilet chain (and flush it away) to taking three deep breaths, walking away or saying a mantra in their head. “I’m OK. I can handle this!” It can also help to teach your child four ways to control their impulses, and get them to choose which one works best for them.

    7. Use role play

    Your child may be able to tell you exactly what they should say instead of swearing, but when they’re suddenly overwhelmed with anger, out pop the swear words!

    However, you can help them remember what to say by using role play. “Let’s go back to what happened. Pretend you touch my mug and it’s really hot. What can you say? Owwww! Yes, that’s good. What else? “Ah, ah, Son of a gun!” Yes, good one! And what could you say if I said, “Sorry, you can’t go to the party, we’re going to Grandma’s birthday meal that day.” What could you say then?” Awwww. Oh nooooo!  Yes, I really felt that! How do you think you could remember to say that?

    8. Stop swearing yourself

    Most children swear because they’ve heard it from their parents. It’s OK to say “Charlie, I realised I swore other day, when I hit my thumb with a hammer. I shouldn’t have said that. This morning you swore when your ball went over the fence. How about we both try and stop. Tell you what, if I say a word I shouldn’t say, I’ll put £1 in this jar, and if you swear, then you put 50p in, out of your pocket money. And then, we’ll use the money towards our electricity bill. Or if either of us swear, we have to spend 10 minutes doing something nice for everyone who heard us.

    9. Wear out the word

    If your child absolutely can’t stop swearing, you may like to try this reverse-psychology technique where you make the swear word a negative consequence. SO, if your child says the word ‘F*CK’ you get them to sit down and say the same word, over and over again a minute for each year of age – so a 4-year-old would say the word ‘F*ck’ again and again for four minutes. And an 8-year-old would say it for 8 minutes. One quick word of caution however, don’t get your child to do this if there is any chance of them being overheard! Lol!

    10. Catch your child talking nicely

    You may feel that this strategy is a bit lame. After all, you only notice your child’s language when they swear. But the best way to break a habit is to focus on the good behaviour. So for every half hour your child doesn’t swear, put a tick on a chart. 20 ticks mean they can earn a cheap or free reward – such as some time with you doing something they love.

    When you keep commenting and pay attention to the good behaviour, especially when they were under stress or likely to swear, your child is much more likely to remember to use polite respectful language. If they forget- be as disappointed as they are that they forgot to use their self-control.

    It can take a while for your child to remember not to swear, but if you are utterly consistent about tackling this, pretty soon you’ll find the language your child uses is a lot more acceptable, and you won’t need to worry about what they say when they’re angry or annoyed.  Just make sure you keep you stop swearing too and soon you’ll be confident that the language at home is as clean as a whistle!

      Andrew Osler

      St Ita's Principal

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      IMPORTANT DATES

      Wednesday 23rd August - Melbourne Stars visiting Grade 2

      Wednesday 23rd August - Confirmation Workshop - Drouin 7pm

      Thursday 24th August - Confirmation Workshop - @ St Joseph's PS 4pm & 7pm

      Friday 25th August - Book Week Dress Up Day

      Monday 28th August - Grade 5/6 Science Incursion

      Tuesday 29th August - Grade 3/4 Science Incursion

      Wednesday 30th August - Confirmation Retreat Grade 6

      Wednesday 30th August - Reconciliation (Confirmation) - Drouin 7pm

      Thursday 31st August - Reconciliation (Confirmation) - Warragul 7pm

      Friday 1st September  - Catholic Primary Sports Day - Marist Sion

      Friday 1st September - Fathers Day Breakfast & Stall

      FATHERS DAY STALL & SAUSAGE SIZZLE/BBQ

      We will be holding a Father's Day Stall for students to purchase a gift for their Father or significant Father figure on Friday 1st September.  Gifts will be $10, and families with siblings will be able to purchase multiple gifts as a family.  Please log on to Flexischools to make your order CLICK HERE

      Our Father’s Day Sausage Sizzle/BBQ will also be held on Friday 1st of September. School will be open from 7.30-9.30 to welcome all Dad's onsite. We will have a snag in bread and there will be a coffee van onsite making coffees and Hot Chocolates for $5.00.  Classrooms will also be open from 9-9.30am so Dad's can pop in for a visit. 

      GRANDPARENTS DAY

      The date for our Grandparents Day liturgy has now been confirmed as Wednesday 6th September. On this day Grandparents will have the opportunity to visit their grandchild’s classroom, before attending a school liturgy and morning tea in our hall. At our school liturgy we will take up a collection for the local Drouin chapter of St Vincent de Paul.

      ANGLICARE PARENT SESSION - DEALING WITH FEELINGS

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      Parent Session- Dealing with Feelings

      Dealing with Feelings:

      Does your child (or you) have difficulty expressing feelings in appropriate ways?

      Does your child often seem to be anxious, angry, frustrated, jealous or sad?

      Would it be helpful to explore what other parents are doing to support their children?

      Anglicare Victoria is running sessions either school in person or on-line at no cost to families.

      Tuesday 29th August on -site here at school 9:30-11:30 am (in the old library) Enter via Admin

      OR Via Zoom Tuesday 5th September 6:00- 8:00 pm

      Register via https://forms.office.com/r/y1Z6ty8vnA

      For further detail contract Heath Mills on 0499 007 031

      ANGLICARE ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE ONSITE ON THURSDAY

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      Every family needs a little help from time to time. Are finances stressing you out?  Is parenting feeling a little too hard some days? Your children’s emotions difficult to manage? Is their behaviour disrupting the whole household and impacting their time at school? Anglicare Victoria Family Services are now located on site every Thursday to provide support in these areas, or even if you just need to have a chat.

      Completely confidential, non judgemental, we are here to support you and your family.  Contact Heath on 0499 007 031 or ask for Heath at the office any time on Thursday.

      CATHOLIC PRIMARY SPORTS DAY @ MARIST SION COLLEGE

      On Friday 1st September all Grade 5-6 students have a sports round robin and lunch at Marist Sion with the other Catholic feeder schools.

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      SIMON EVERYWHERE

      PARENTS WORKING ONSITE AT ST ITA'S

      A reminder to all parents who are entering the school as classroom helpers or parent support during speech and or OT sessions;

      • You must enter via the Admin Office and sign in via the iPad, where you will be required to enter your Working with Children WWCC) details.
      • Please ensure you have your WWCC card with you at all times as it is a requirement of DOSCEL that you carry this card with you whilst you are onsite. 

      SCHOOL FEE STATEMENTS 

      School Fee statements have been forwarded to all families via Email, if you have not received your statement please make contact with us so that we can check your details and ensure we have your correct Email details. 

      Term 1-3 Fees are now overdue, please make arrangements to bring your account up to date as soon as possible.

      Direct Debit and Credit Card payments can be set up at any time, please contact School Admin to assist with putting these options in place. 

      Contact: admin@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au or (03) 5623 7222

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      ST ITA’S MEDALLION

      The winner of this weeks St Ita’s medallion is Hayden Diaz from Grade 3/4HN.

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      ST ITA’S STUDENT AWARDS

      Week 5 & 6 - Awards for Respect

      Sophie Gaze Foundation F Hope Wiseman Grade 3/4K
      Henlee Robinson Foundation L Annanya Badhan Grade 3/4K
      Rory Jager Foundation M Ivy Marshall Grade 3/4M
      Elias Martinez-Villalobos Grade 1C Hayden Diaz Grade 3/4NH
      Jax Marshall Grade 1G Evy Smith Grade 3/4O
      Selena Crimmins Grade 1GL Heidi Welch Grade 5/6A
      Aaylah Hill Grade 2AK Xavier Hynd Grade 5/6C
      Harley Murphy Grade 2M Devin Kirley Grade 5/6MW
      Winnie Jarred Grade 2ST

      AMBULANCE VISIT

      On Friday, 18th August, Grades F-2 had a visit from Ambulance Victoria, with a paramedic bringing in an Ambulance for the students to have a look through. It was a wonderful learning experience for our students.

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      PYJAMA DAY

      Thank you to everyone who donated a gold coin for Pyjama Day on Friday 18th August, we have raised over $900 to help St Vincent De Paul Assist a student Program. It is an education program aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty to provide funding to educate a student for a year, it assists with school fees, school uniform and school supplies. Every $100 raised assists one child.

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      STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

      Congratulations to our students who recently competed in the Cheer State Champs.

      Kayleigh even came down to support her team even though she couldn't compete!

      Willow, Kayleigh, Izzy and Georgia 

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      Congratulations to Mabel - after two months of Judo, she received a double grading on Saturday, which means she received a half yellow belt with two black tags toward her full yellow belt.

      Mabel was excited to have the chance to do her grading and was surprised to receive a double grading from her coaches.


      DROUIN HAWKS GIRLS FOOTY

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      Teacher: Mrs Catherine McKenna

      Email: cmckenna@stidrouin.catholic.edu.au

      AUTHOR VISIT

      Last Friday we enjoyed a morning with author, George Ivanoff. The Grade 3-6 students were inspired further to read his books through his storytelling and learning about his writing process. They can now make connections as to why he wrote the stories and the research he does before writing. We certainly learned a lot from him.

      Book orders will be arriving shorty! We also have many of his books in our library for the students to borrow.

      The students who pre-purchased books got them signed!

       

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      PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE

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      Congratulations to the first 6 students to compete the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

      Nathan, Holly and Natalie Hately, Lilly Winterton, Nardya Hart and Izzy Simsir.

      It ends on September 8th! Keep up the great reading up everyone!

       

      BOOK WEEK CELEBRATION DAY

      FRIDAY 25th AUGUST

      This year’s theme is Read, Grow, Inspire. Students may dress as a book character or dress to the theme.

      Our parade will be in the hall.

      Grades F-2: 9:10 and Grades 3-6: 10:15. Parents and families welcome!

      Book Week is all about celebrating reading, Australian literature, and libraries.

      The joy of seeing the children’s faces as they celebrate all things books and reading is worth it. If we can make costumes easier, hopefully Book Week will be easier for parents, students, and staff.

      Book Week Costumes- TIPS

      1. Make it easy. Use what you have in your wardrobe, dress-up box or craft box.
      2. Homemade costumes are awesome. Costumes shouldn’t have to cost you much.
      3. Student-driven costume choices make the student more comfortable in what they are wearing and builds excitement.
      4. It’s okay to work backwards from the costume to the book.
      5. No costume is wrong. Movie character, book related t-shirt. Honestly, everything is okay if it makes the student (or staff member) comfortable enough to dress up. You can even make a school uniform work.
      6. If you don’t have a copy of the book, print out a copy of the book cover and attach it to your costume in some way. You could safety pin it to the front or back of your costume or attach it to string or a lanyard around your neck. It makes it easy for others to see who you are dressed up as, relates it back to the book (which, let’s not forget, what it’s all about) and can make even a simple outfit a character-related costume.
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      BOOK SWAP

      STORY BOX LIBRARY

      Just a reminder to parents and new families that we have a subscription to Story Box Library. There is a link to the website below, or you can download the app. I encourage you to try it out.

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      AUDIO BOOKS

      If your child isn’t into reading, or if they haven’t found the genre that they love yet, get them listening to audio books. Also known as ear-reading, it’s a great way for our students to explore and develop a love of story. I use the app BorrowBox which is free through the Local Community Library-Myli.

      Scholastic Book Club

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      PARISH NEWS

      Be off with them!

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      Australians have a long history of struggle, with varying degrees of success, in dealing with “the other”. Particularly during the last century, Anglo-Saxon Celts have been joined by a long list of people of different races, customs and religions. Now we can’t conceive an Australia without Dutch pragmatism, Italian panache, Greek ebullience or Vietnamese diligence. But within recent memory all sorts of voices cried, “Send them away,” these “house-dogs.”

      More recently the cry has been, “Keep these house-dogs out, send these refugees (particularly Muslim refugees) away because they are not us”. They are “the other.” 

      This Sunday’s gospel (Matt 15:21-28) features the disciples urging Jesus to send away the Canaanite woman. As a woman and a foreigner she has no status, she is to be scorned and ignored. She is an annoying impertinence. Jesus too struggles under the weight of cultural and social expectation: this woman is from the not-us, from the despised enemy. How could she have a part in the reign of God, which Jesus is proclaiming? “Send her away”, the disciples urge as they had urged him to send away the hungry crowds before the feeding of the 5000.

      Despite his first inclination, Jesus comes to recognize, not a “house-dog’ but a faithful, loving woman in her human dignity, precious and beloved of God along with all his children. Jesus recognizes a broader vision of his own mission to all, regardless of gender, culture, nationality or religion. Drawing from the gospels, Pope Francis’ “three pillars” are: a passion for those on the periphery, reaching out to “the other” and above all, mercy as the cornerstone.

      For us the question is, will we behave like the disciples or like Jesus in this gospel? Will we offer Christ-like welcome or unformed disciple-like rejection?

      Deacon Mark Kelly

      SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

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      Child Workshop 2:

      Drouin: Wednesday 23rd August 7pm

      Warragul: Thurs 24th August 4pm, and 7pm

      Combined Reconciliation Rite:

      Drouin: Wednesday 30th August 7pm

      Warragul: Thursday 31st August 7pm

      SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

      Marist Sion Hall

      Friday 8th September at 7pm

      with Bishop Greg Bennet

      PARISH SACRAMENT ENQUIRIES

      Phone: (03) 5623 1642 Email: Warragul.sacraments@cdsale.org.au

      MIGRANT & REFUGEE SUNDAY UPDATE

      Theme for the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees:

      ‘Free to choose whether to migrate or to stay’.

      Arrangements are underway for our Combined parish celebration of Migrant and Refugee Sunday 10th September 10.00am Marist Sion College.

      The synodal path that we have undertaken as a Church leads us to see in those who are most vulnerable – among whom are many migrants and refugees – special companions on our way, to be loved and cared for as brothers and sisters. Only by walking together will we be able to go far and reach the common goal of our journey.

       

      Rome, Saint John Lateran, 11 May 2023. Pope Franicis

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      Check out our Catholic Parishes of Warragul & Drouin Facebook presence.

      PUBLIC NOTICES

      DROUIN HAWKS

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      GIPPSLAND TENNIS COACHING

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      WARRAGUL YOUTH THEATRE PRODUCTION

      DOSCEL - INDIGENOUS & TORRES STRAIT ISLAND NEWSLETTER

      ANGLICARE SERVICES

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      BELEZA UNIFORM SHOP 

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