Cassandra Goh

Junior School Weekly Wrap Up | Term 1, Week 6

Junior School Weekly Wrap Up | Term 1, Week 6

Dear Parents and Carers,

Week 6 was another action-packed week, with more new student lunches taking place, the Prep Hear To Learn visit, and finishing the week off with our Junior TAS Round 5 on Saturday.

Good luck to all our teams!

Toys On Campus

Recently we have seen an increase in the number of students bringing toys, collector cards and other personal items from home.

I remind you that these items are not to be brought to school please.

Playground equipment, sporting equipment and lunchtime club activities are arranged each weekday to occupy the students during their break times.

If a student has a special item they would like to share with their class, please check with the classroom teacher first - thank you.

Think U Know Sessions

As part of our Wellbeing Program here at Canterbury, the Prep – Year 6 students will be engaging in the THINK U KNOW Online Safety Program (ThinkUKnow.org.au) this Wednesday 8 March.

THINK U KNOW is a program developed by the Australian Federal Police and will be delivered by Senior Constable Mitch Collins, who has been working in partnership with Canterbury College.

The program will be delivered differently for each year level, so that the information provided is age-appropriate and relevant.

The focus for these sessions will be to support students to engage safely online.

Some of the topics covered will include:

• Online safety (including online games).
• Online stranger danger.
• Challenges they may face when interacting online.
• How to report to a trusted adult if things go wrong.

As part of Canterbury’s ‘It Takes A Village’ Partnership Program, Senior Constable Mitch Collins from Edens Landing Police Beat will also be holding a Parent Information Session on Wednesday 8 March from 5:30pm – 7:00pm, discussing the Think U Know Program followed by a Questions & Answers session regarding how you can support your son or daughter to engage safely online.

This session will be held in the Performing Arts Theatre over in the Secondary School Campus.

Please RSVP via this link - RSVP Link

Does School Attendance Really Matter?

Each parent of a child who is of compulsory school age, has the legal obligation to ensure their child is enrolled and attends a school, on every school day for the educational program in which the child is enrolled, unless the parent has a reasonable excuse.

A child should be enrolled in and attend school from the beginning of the school year, in the year that they turn the compulsory school age - six years and six months.

Each parent of a young person in the compulsory participation phase, has the legal obligation to ensure the young person is participating full-time in an eligible option, unless the parent has a reasonable excuse.

From time to time, a student may be absent from their educational program.

Parents comply with their compulsory schooling or compulsory participation obligation, by providing a reasonable excuse for these absences.

Parents should provide a reason for a child’s absence before, or on the day of the absence, or as soon as practicable.

Managing student absences and enforcing enrolment and attendance at state schools procedure - qed.qld.gov.au (27 February, 2023).

We do not support students missing periods of school time for holidays.

Parents are asked to complete an Application For Leave During Term Time and return it to the College at their earliest convenience.

The College does not provide schoolwork to students who take time off during a school term for holidays.

1 or 2 days of absence per week doesn’t seem much but...

If your child misses	That equals	Which is	And over 14 years of schooling	Which means the best your child might perform is…
1 day per fortnight	20 days per year	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1 ½ years	Equal to finishing halfway through Year 11
1 day per week	40 days per year	8 weeks per year	Nearly 3 years	Equal to finishing in Year 10
2 days per week	80 days per year	16 weeks per year	Over 5 years	Equal to finishing in Year 7
3 days per week	120 days per year	24 weeks per year	Over 8 years	Equal to finishing in Year 4

How about 10 minutes late per day?

He/She is only missing	That equals	Which is	Over 14 years of schooling that is
10 mins per day	50 mins per week	Nearly 1 ½ weeks per year	Over half a year
20 mins per day	1 hour 40 mins per week	Over 2.5 weeks per year	Nearly 1 year
30 mins per day	Half day per week	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1 ½ years
1 hour per day	1 day per week	8 weeks per year	Nearly 3 years

So if you want your child to be successful at school, YES attendance does matter!

Every Day Counts!

NB: The above figures were modified to match a Canterbury College school year.

https://clevelanddistrictshs.eq.edu.au/Supportandresources/Formsanddocuments/Documents/PolicyDocuments/Attendance%20Matters.pdf - (21 May, 2019)

Sun Safety

A reminder that sunscreen is available in all Junior School classrooms, and that teachers do remind students to use it before breaks and outside activities.

If your child is allergic to some sunscreens, please ensure they have access to one they can apply in their schoolbags.

Also in the realm of sun safety:

We have not made the wearing of rash shirts (rashies) for swimming lessons compulsory at this stage, although we strongly advise their use.

All students are directed to apply sunscreen before their aquatic activities, and any student that does not have a rash shirt, is directed to apply further sunscreen.

Students without rashies will not miss any aquatic lessons.

It is our long-term goal to move to compulsory wearing of rashie shirts for the protection of our students, and it is our plan to provide parents with adequate notice for this to occur.

Wellbeing Incursions

This week we have some wonderful incursions running for our students including:

• Years 5/6 The Sacred Sister Project (Girls)
• Years 5/6 Rock And Water Program (Boys)
• Year 6 Bridge Builders Mediator Training (Nominated Students)
• Prep - Year 6 Think U Know Online Safety Program (All Students)

These valuable additions help our students to develop a world ready understanding of themselves, their peers and the wider community.

I encourage parents and carers to discuss the important topics covered in these programs with your children after the events.

Mother’s Day Staff

I am seeking expressions of interest from parents and carers to join a volunteer team to help plan and coordinate our Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Stalls in our Junior School this year.

For any families new to Canterbury, each year our parent volunteers purchase, collect, prepare, and sell a range of gift items in the lead up to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

A Market Stall Day is then held for our students to do their shopping during school hours - an event that students really look forward to with anticipation.

This year the Mother’s Day Stall will be held on Friday 12 May.

Volunteering on projects such as this is a wonderful way to meet other parents and really support the school.

There are a range of ways that you can support this project:

• Volunteer to help manage the project and team of volunteers.
• Volunteer to be a team member and help prepare and sell the gifts.
• Donate gift items: food items, personal care items, knick-knacks, craft items etc.

If you are interested in volunteering your time to this team, please contact Katrina Flower on  and we will arrange an on-campus meeting to get the project off the ground.

Further information will come regarding donations of items to sell.

Thank you in advance for your support of the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls for 2023.

Partnership Article

It can be hard to talk to your children about racism.

Some parents worry about exposing their children to issues like racism and discrimination at an early age.

Others shy away from talking about something they themselves might not fully understand or don’t feel comfortable discussing.

Yet others, especially those who have experienced racism, simply do not have such choices.

In this week's article, strategies for talking to children about racism are offered - Link to Article

Upcoming Events

Monday 6 - Tuesday 7 March	Bridge Builders Mediator Training
Monday 6 March	APS Sumo Robotics Challenge Excursion
Monday 6 March	Years 5/6 The Sacred Sister and Rock And Water Incursions
Wednesday 8 March	Think U Know Incursions
Wednesday 8 March	International Women's Day Canterbury Breakfast Students to wear a splash of purple.
Wednesday 8 March	Years 5-12 International Women's Day Lunch
Wednesday 8 March	Think U Know Parent Information Presentation
Saturday 22 March	Junior TAS Round

 

Yours faithfully

Michelle Leftwich
Head of Junior School

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by Cassandra Goh

Years 11 & 12 Formal Etiquette Lessons | Photo Gallery

Years 11 & 12 Formal Etiquette Lessons | Photo Gallery

Over the past few weeks, our Years 11 and 12 students have engaged in fine dining and etiquette lessons during their Wellbeing classes.

This experience saw our students sit down to dine in a restaurant, as our Hospitality students and their teachers served them.

While they shared a meal, Mrs Lainey Loneragan - the Managing Director of Etiquette & Manners Australia, taught them the nuances of social etiquette in formal dining.

How to correctly use their cutlery, how to know which glass to use, which bread roll to take, and how to manage themselves in a fine-dining setting are all included.

Our students also learned the etiquette of introductions, handshakes and dressing for each occasion.

Our Year 12s will put this learning into action at their upcoming Senior Formal, and we hope that our Year 11s will also embrace these skills at various events in the future.

This social knowledge will hold them in good stead as they head into the world.

More photos from this event can be found on our Facebook page HERE.

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by Cassandra Goh

Türkiye & Syria Earthquake Victims - Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser: Photos

Türkiye & Syria Earthquake Victims - Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser: Photos

The huge earthquakes over in Türkiye and Syria have caused massive destruction to whole neighbourhoods and towns, and cost more than 41,000 lives.

So we did our part by holding a sausage sizzle fundraiser, with all money raised being donated to UNICEF, to help fellow children impacted by this major disaster.

Thank you to all our students and staff who supported this worthy cause as we raised over $1,100!

Thank you also to Extraction Coffee Roasters for their great gift pack prize.

More photos are available on our Facebook page HERE. 📸

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by Cassandra Goh