Dear Parents and Caregivers

Thank you to all our dads who joined us for the Fathers’ Day breakfast and activities this morning. It was a lovely morning and much fun was had by all! Thank you to Mrs Laura Marzo, Mrs Jennifer Doven, Miss Nat Brescacin and Mrs Linda Ford for co-ordinating, the P & F for their contributions and to all staff who assisted in various ways! Thanks must also go to the Year 1 & 2 students and teachers for their special assembly item for the dads.

New Access System

Works have commenced on our new access system and will continue over the weekend. The upgrades to the new gates should be operational by Tuesday or Wednesday. Current school policies and expectations will not change, however our ability to enforce these will be enhanced through the new system in order to improve safety and security.

A reminder that the main gates at James and Hamilton Streets will automatically unlock at 8.15am and will lock again at 9am. As is the current expectation, between 9am and 2.45pm, access to the school will be through the front office, however, the new system will allow easy exit through either gate. Just look for the exit button nearby. We ask you, however, to please be aware of not letting anyone in through these gates as you exit. Please be proactive and inform anyone trying to enter the premises that they must do so through reception.

The new system should not impact OSHClub – students can enter and exit through the side door of the hall. A reminder that should any parents requiring access outside school hours for organisation purposes e.g for sports training, please contact reception so that we can make alternative arrangements.

Child Protection Practices

Recently I heard the results of a national survey which indicated that parents were largely unaware of the work being done by schools around child protection. Hence, I thought this was a timley reminder to highlight for our parents the various policies and practices that we have in place at St. Michael’s. Just some of these include:

• A school code of conduct statement for all staff and parents: https://www.stmichaelsbass.wa.edu.au/policies.html. This is revisited annually with staff and at student enrolment interviews.
• We have recently been working on a student code of conduct
• Police Clearances, Working with Children Checks and National Employment History checks for all staff.
• CEWA Safe Schools Framework to guide practice
• All staff complete Mandatory Reporting training upon induction
• Annual online Mandatory Reporting refresher course for all staff
• A school policy review schedule to ensure the regular review of all school policies
• Whole school protective behaviours program for students

These are just some of the strategies we employ to maintain student safety and to educate all community members about child protection issues.

Next P & F Meeting

Please make a note in your calendars of the next P & F meeting which is scheduled early next term on Monday 21 October. Please also note that on Monday 23^rd September, the P & F have organised a parent seminar on body confidence for children and teens. This will be held in the hall from 6.30 – 8.00pm. For more information and the RSVP form please see the information in the School News section of this newsletter.

We wish all our dads a wonderful Fathers’ Day on Sunday and also wish our year 5 & 6 students all the best for a wonderful camp experience next week!

God bless

Dr Siobhan Galos
Principal