Increasingly, we are finding that many of our students are allowed to watch content that is unsupervised and well above their age range. This is extremely dangerous and impactful. Parents and carers play a key role in guiding their children as they navigate the online world and begin to learn through exploration, play and social interaction. The E-safety commission provides excellent resources and tools for families with young children as they navigate this space.

How do I choose age-appropriate content? 

Good-quality media can support your child’s learning, especially if it ties in with their interests or sparks their imagination. The following sites are highly recommended and can help you make informed decisions about your family’s entertainment choices. 

• Check age ratings and consumer advice for apps and games on devices your children use: via the App Store or Google Play, and for movies and games, the Australian Classification Board’s online database. 
• Commonsense Media  offers a database of apps, games and websites searchable by age and is an excellent resource.
• The Australian Council on the Children and the Media provides reviews of movies, apps and games, including gambling content advice, searchable by age and platform. 
• Raising Children Network  has advice about choosing video games, online games and apps. 
• NetAware (UK) offers a guide to popular social media apps, sites and games, including risks, age recommendations and safety tips. 
• The Australian Council on the Children and the Media provides reviews of movies, apps and games, including gambling content advice, searchable by age and platform. 

Primary Choir

The Primary Choir will perform a song at our Primary Chapel this coming week, Wednesday 30 March. The performance will be held in the MPC at 2:30pm. Parents are welcome to attend. Choir will commence in Term 2 with students from Years 1-6. Mrs Munro and Mrs Burton look forward to welcoming our new members in the CAPA Theatre each Tuesday morning, from 8:00am – 8:30am.

Vegie Week and The Big Vegie Crunch Thursday 31 March

Next week we are celebrating the wonderful power of vegetables, with Vegetable Week at our Crunch ‘n ‘Sip ‘n Move breaks each morning. Healthy Kids Association is encouraging NSW children to eat more vegetables as part of Vegetable Week & The Big Vegie Crunch. Statistics show that only one in 20 Primary School aged children are eating the recommended five daily serves of vegetables.

The Big Vegie Crunch 2022 is on track to exceed over 100,000 children from 400 Primary Schools across NSW taking part in the event, all eating vegetables at the same time and aiming to break the Crunch record.

This week of eating vegetables is a wonderful opportunity for your child to try some new varieties. Class teachers may have some fun activities throughout the week to promote vegetables and all classes will participate on Thursday at 10:00am for ‘The Big Vegie Crunch’.

Vegetable Week 2022 will run from Monday 28 March to Friday 1 April, with The Big Vegie Crunch to be held at 10:00am on Thursday 31 March.

Dates for your Diary

31 March – College Open Day (4:00pm) 

6 April – K-12 Easter Service (no Primary Chapel)

7 April – Primary Cross Country

28 March – Big Vege Crunch week

8 April – Last day Term 1

27 April – First Day Term 2

29 April –  K-6 Athletics Carnival (Mingara)

NAPLAN Practice Tests Week 10 - Years 3,5,7 and 9

The College will be running NAPLAN Practice Tests in Week 10, for Year 3 and Year 5 and Week 11 for Year 7 and Year 9. Tests comprise of an OMNIBUS Test (reading, conventions of language and numeracy), and/or a writing test. The aim of the practice tests is for students to become familiar with the types of questions they will experience in NAPLAN in May and for staff to familiarise themselves with the functions of the online platform. It is timed, but is not marked. We do not receive any feedback or results from this test. Please find attached schedule. All students must have their own bring earphones/headphones for the test.

We will be starting our enrolments for Kindergarten 2023 shortly. If you or someone you know has a child ready to start school, why not bring them along to our Kindergarten Information Session. Details are on our website.

Mobile Phones/ Smart Watches

A number of our Primary students are bringing and using mobile phones and devices of a similar nature to school. Whilst these devices can be a valuable safety tool for travel arrangements, they can also be a distraction to learning. For this reason, we ask that you not communicated with your child on their device during school hours as they are not permitted to use/check or have their phones or smart watches out whilst on school grounds.

If devices are being used during school time (recess, lunch or class time) they will be removed from the student and given to the Head of School to be collected at the end of the day. An email will be sent to the parents to advise that students are not to have their devices out at the bus bay as this can be a distraction resulting in students missing the bus. Students will be given a warning and if the device is seen again, it will be handed in to the Head of School.

Absentees

With the recent spike in COVID positive cases, many families are finding they are now in isolation. Please refer back to Mr Nash’s communication around isolation periods and ensure the College is aware of the reasons for any absences in this regard. With winter nearly upon us it is a good time to reinforce good hygiene habits of washing hands and sanitising as well as mask wearing if desired.

Khloe M (5P) - Dance

On Saturday 19 March there was a dance competition held in Hurstville called

HHI (Hip Hop International). This competition brings the best of the best hip hop crews NSW has to offer.

There were different divisions 7-11yo (Junior Division); 12-17yo (Varsity Division); 17+ (Adult Division); Mega Crew 30+ dancers.

Khloe M entered the competition in three different crews, the Junior, the Varsity, and the Mega Crew. The competition was very tight; Khloe has qualified for Nationals to be held in Brisbane on 7 and 8 May in all three crews. Wolfpack who placed 1st in the Mega Crew Division also took out the highest score of the night. Khloe is the youngest member of the Wolfpack crew with ages ranging from 10-30 years old. Khloe trains 10-14 hours each week to compete at this level. Congratulations Khloe.

Head of School Award

Congratulations to the following students for receiving the Head of School Award for Week 9:

Bailey P, KDL; Manaia D, KG; Everly K, 1C; Ophelia E, 1G; Ted R, 1S; James N, 2D; Skye B, 2G; Amelie C, 3B; Lucy O, 3D; Cruz H, 3PH; Asher B, 4B; Andrew S, 4BK; Emlyn C, 5L; Ethan D, 5PC; Khloe M, 5P; Jonathan G, 6MR; Alana F, 6S; Tamar H, 6T

Chess Club - Thursday mornings

Please contact Mr Gibbins via joel.gibbins@gpcc.nsw.edu.au for more information.