SENDING HOME INFORMATION AND NEWS ABOUT EDUCATION(SHINE) 

Welcome to our sixth edition of SHINE.

Here at Holy Trinity, we are committed to working together in partnership with parents, teachers, and community members, to create an educational experience that fosters, strengthens, and enhances a variety of learning experiences for your child. 

Throughout the years gone by we have held numerous Parent Information Sessions. These sessions have been designed to support the journey of parents/ carers as they negotiate the education of their child. Last term, we began sharing significant aspects of learning at Holy Trinity though our SHINE platform fortnightly. This term our SHINE editions will continue to give us opportunity to connect with our parent community; by communicating about learning at school and  sharing strategies and suggestions for how parents/carers can further assist their child/ren at home. 

We hope this week you discover useful information about our ICT BYOD program- Years 3-6- shared with our current Year 2 families on Monday afternoon, by Caitlin Meany, our ICT Coordinator. 

After a wonderful week sharing our Year 6 Exhibition around the concept of UNITY, I would like to begin by sharing a prayer focus from this.  Our next fortnightly edition of SHINE will focus on the Exhibition experience at Holy Trinity. 

Lord Jesus Christ, at your Last Supper you prayed to the Father that all should be one. Send your Holy Spirit upon all who bear your name and seek to serve you. Strengthen our faith in you, and lead us to love one another in humility. May we who have been reborn in one baptism be united in one faith under one Shepherd. Amen.

Pope Francis says the following in regard to unity:

“To understand one another and to grow in charity and truth, we need to pause, to accept and listen to one another.  In this way we already begin to experience unity.  Unity grows along the way, it never stands still.  Unity happens when we walk together.”

Have a wonderful weekend and a peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families.

Philippa 

BYOD Program Information at Holy Trinity

Important Documents

• Student Acceptable Use Agreement
• Student Personal Device Agreement
• Student Acceptable Use of Digital Devices Applications and Networks Policy

On Monday, we presented information to our Year 2 parents about the BYOD program at Holy Trinity. I have provided information shared on the night and have included the Acceptable Use Agreements, technical device requirements (minimum), and other information relating to our BYOD Program. If you have any further questions, please email: caitlin.meany@cg.catholic.edu.au

Holy Trinity conducted a 1:1 iPad program in place in Years 5 and 6 from 2013 – 2015. We trialled a BYOD program in Years 3/4 in 2015 and after finding it worthwhile and effective, moved into BYOD from Years 3-6 in 2016 and 2017. This has successfully continued over the past few years.

At Holy Trinity, we believe it is important that our teaching and learning reflect the needs of students in today’s current climate. Within the classroom environment, a personal device also provides the children with multiple opportunities.

Why BYOD? Our BYOD Program provides:

• More choice for parents (not just iPads)
• Increased student engagement
• Greater access to research and information
• Unlimited ways to present ideas and apply critical thinking
• Central control for robotics
• No issues of work being deleted or tampered with by sharing a device
• A personal device can be tailored to individual needs
• Continued learning from school to home
• Exposure to different operating systems
• Security of personal logins and passwords

Over the last four years, we have had extensive changes to our wireless network. This included detailed mapping of our wireless, upgrade of routers to handle heavy traffic, and the ease of connecting a variety of devices. This created a safe, reliable wireless environment to support our BYOD model for Years 3 through to 6 continuing in 2023.

Therefore, in keeping with this plan, all students in Year 3 -6 will engage in this program by bringing a personal device to school in 2023.

What this means

At the start of the 2023 school year, all students in Years 3 - 6 will participate in cyber safety and digital citizenship boot camps. Once the students and parents have signed and returned the necessary acceptable use agreements, students will be permitted to bring their personal devices to school. If this provides difficulty for any families please contact our principal, Philippa Brearley.

 

Cyber Safety

From the eSafety Commissioner

The eSafety Commissioner has an extensive library of resources for parents and children about using technology and staying safe online. We strongly encourage you to explore this website and the available resources.  https://www.esafety.gov.au/

As children start to navigate the online world and interact with others more independently, they are more likely to be exposed to risks of bullying or unwanted contact, accidentally coming across inappropriate content or racking up bills through in-app purchases.

Your guidance can help them be aware of the risks and understand what is expected of them. Let them know you are always there to support them. 

Advice for parents and carers 

• Keep the computer or device in an area of your home that can be supervised, check in regularly with your child to see what they are viewing.
• Stay engaged with their online activity. If they agree, consider setting up your own accounts with the sites they use most so you can see how they work and understand the risks. 
• Explore the online world with them to help establish that this is not just a solitary activity. Play games with them. Do a creative project together.
• Think about social media readiness. Most social media sites require users to be at least 13 years of age before they can register, although some sites are created especially for children under 13.
• Encourage respect and empathy. Teach them to avoid sharing or posting things that may upset others.
• Start building resilience. Teach your child that there are ways they can deal with material that worries or frightens them. This includes immediately telling you or another trusted adult of any concerns or uncomfortable material.
• Encourage them to learn about online safety by exploring the kids section of the eSafety Commissioner website. https://www.esafety.gov.au/kids

 Review your rules as your child grows older

• Be clear about how much time they can spend online, the apps they can use, the websites they can visit and what they can share or post online. 
• Refer to the eSafety Commissioner website advice about time onlineand online gaming if these are of concern.

 Technology tips for parents of kids 5 to 12

• Ensure your own devices are protected by a password or pin, so your child cannot accidentally come across inappropriate content.
• Use parental control tools appropriate for the age and experience of your child.  Be upfront and get your child on board. Let them know that these can be reviewed and changed as they get older and they continue to demonstrate responsible behaviour. Consider installing a ‘child-friendly’ search engine that will allow them to explore a limited number of sites.
• Check out Raising Children Network’shealthy screen time and quality media choices: 6-11 years. https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/play-media-technology/screen-time-healthy-screen-use/healthy-screen-time-6-11-years

Useful Resources

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-advice/online-safety-basics

This link outlines some online safety basics, a great place to start if you have young children you are beginning to use devices more frequently, with less supervision. This link also provides advice for particular age groups.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

This gives parents links to resources for talking about difficult topics such as cyber bullying, inappropriate online content, online gaming, and other topics which may be difficult, but are important to talk about.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide

This is a comprehensive guide which gives factual information about the purpose of different apps and websites that their children may be using. It also outlines how to report online abuse, ask for content to be removed or block someone, and keep your information private.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/skills-and-advice/family-tech-agreement

This is a must have for all families using devices inside and outside of the home. Just as we have an acceptable use of ICT agreement at school for all students and staff, you should look into having a family tech agreement in your home.

Guidelines to using social media

 From the Girl Wise and Wise Guys program.

This year students in Years 3 – 6 have been participating in the Girl Wise and Wise Guys programs. In the senior program there is a focus on students understanding the responsibilities and rights they have surrounding the use of the internet and social media.

See attached the info sheets our students have looked at, from the Girl Wise and Wise Guys programs.

Tips and Tricks for students using an iPad at school

Add apps to your Home Screen

Some websites that we use regularly do not have an app such as Maths Online. An easy way to get to frequent apps is to add them to your Home Screen.

You can add a website icon to your iPad Home Screen for quick access to that site.

From the website, tap the share icon, then tap Add to Home Screen.

The icon appears only on the device where you add it.

Remove apps from Home Screen

Some apps are necessary to have, but can clutter your home screen, or distract students from their learning.

In the home screen, hold down on an app icon. Click the – and select “remove from home screen”. The app can still be found via search, but will no longer appear on the home screen.

Schedule a Focus to turn on automatically

You can schedule your iPad to turn on Focus at certain times, which is a great idea for school hours!

Go to Settings  > Focus, then tap do not disturb.

Tap Add Schedule or Automation, then set the time for 9:00am – 3:10pm.

This will stop any disruptive notifications coming through during learning time.

Hide ads and distractions in Safari on iPad

In the Safari app , use Safari Reader to view a page without ads, navigation menus, or other distracting items.

Show Reader

Reader formats a webpage to show just the relevant text and images.

Tap AA on the left side of the search field, then tap Show Reader.

To return to the full page, tap AA, then tap Hide Reader.

Note: If Reader is dimmed, Reader isn’t available for that page.

Block pop-ups

Go to Settings  > Safari, then turn on Block Pop-ups.

Southside Corroboree Family Culture Day

Save the date, Friday 1 September 2023 10am-2pm, Boomanulla Oval. click here

All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mob in our southisde schools and their families are invited to a day of yarning, culture and fun at the Southside Corroboree Family Culture Day.

The purpose of the day is to provide our students and their families the opportunity to develop connection and relationships with each other through games, activities,
cultural learning and socialisation.

Activities could include weaving/string making, dancing, sport, craft, art, writing workshops, appearances by GWS, Raiders, CBR Brave, Brumbies.

Invitation to join the RAP Team

The RAP team; school staff, teachers, family and community members, will be TODAY Thursday 10 August at 3.30pm in the library. The meeting will review the 2023 actions and plan for the rest of the year. New members are very welcome. Please RSVP rose.lee@cg.catholic.edu.au.