Thrive Newsletter Term 3 Week 2
Important Letter to our School Community Regarding Technology
Dear Parents and Carers,
Our children are growing up in an increasingly digital world. This produces many exciting opportunities for the future,
but also carries many challenges and risks. At CCS our care and concern for the youth of this generation extends to
their safety in the online world. While we are not giving specific parenting advice, we are seeking to support you with
some strategies to keep your children and young people safe.
Why? – Increasingly we have noticed a rise in very damaging and unsafe behaviours online amongst teens. At
school, we are left to navigate and support students when the damage and harm has occurred.
What can happen – When we say damaging online interactions here are some examples of what this can look this:
- name calling
- exclusion
- threats
- comments such as “you should go and kill yourself”, or
- sexualised and violent comments, pictures or exchanges.
We’ve even seen children getting older siblings, parents, cousins, or friends from other schools involved in the chats
to threaten others (both online, and in the physical environment) – this is highly inappropriate!
How it can start – Often what starts out as social groups, like on unofficial year group chats on Snapchat, which are
visible by most of the cohort, negative comments, bullying and exclusions start.
There is no ‘one’ person responsible. Nearly every day, when dealing with the fallout of this type of online behaviour,
we see comments, actions and interactions from all students, including “good” kids who seem oblivious to their
involvement. Anyone who sees these comments and ignores them are also responsible for the damage they cause.
We refer to this as the bystander effect when talking about physical bullying, but it also applies to the online
environment.
There is only so much that can be done here at school. Once these incidents are reported to us, they are
investigated and addressed as fully as we are able. We take every incident seriously. Sometimes this leads us to
reporting online to external agencies like the Police and E-safety Commission. Our challenge is that many of these
behaviours occur outside school hours and where we have limited authority and jurisdiction.
We need to work together… and here comes the challenging part!
Speak to your children about their online activities and particularly their involvement in social media groups. Please
tell them about their right to disengage, feel safe and make reports to the E-safety commission, school or police.
Teach your children about not accepting ‘friendships’ from people they do not physically know. Educate them about
leaving negative group chats and blocking those who have been involved in these negative behaviours.
Please note, many students are on platforms that they are not legally old enough to be on, or parents have no
knowledge of. We know that apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, Photo, Youtube and Tiktok which are increasingly
used to bully, harass or sexually exploit young people. In a recent casual survey of boys at CCS, a significant number
of them admitted that they had been targeted by or have seen Sexbots in action while they were using their online
Social Media platforms.
Taking Protective measures
According to Police Liaison Officers, a parent looking at their child’s phone/device to see what they have been doing
is NOT a breach of their privacy. They call it good parenting.
There are many great apps that can be installed on your child’s device to aid in monitoring, filtering and restricting the
use of your child’s device. Some of these are OurPact, Bark, Qustodio, Aura, Net Nanny, and Microsoft Family Safety.
These apps are often installed on a child’s device (can’t be deleted or turned off by the child) and managed by the
same app from the parent’s device. You might find a bit of pushback from your child to start with, but they will get
used to it. As their legal and ethical guardians please consider how you can best protect your child in this setting until
they are adults.
Another option is to install a managed router for the household wifi. Devices such as; Asus RT-AX55, TENDA RX2
Pro, Archer AX55, and Netgear Orbi. These devices help to filter what is being sent and received, can set ‘Bedtimes’
and limit time spent online each day.
Neither of these two options, though, are as effective as regular conversations and interest from parents and
carers. Having appropriate support from an adult can help children learn to negotiate negative interactions with
others. As mature as they can be, teenagers are still learning how to interact with each other. Their frontal cortex (the
reasoning part of the brain) is not yet formed, and as such they do not often have the ability to think about longer
consequences of their actions than the immediate.
So…
Let’s work in partnership. As we continue to educate our students in these areas, we also look forward to hearing the
stories of how you have supported your children to grow and mature and make better choices with their interactions
with their peers, both online and in person. If you have any questions about the technologies we have mentioned or
anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Regards,
Our Executive Team,
Mrs Faith Hull, Mr Matthew Callaghan-Lake & Mrs Carolyn Coulter
School Updates
Farewell Mrs van Beers
Last term we informed you that Mrs Carly van Beers will be resigning as our Learning Support Coordinator and will be leaving us. We are very sad to see her go and wish her a bright future as she retrains to become a Trainer and Assessor with TAFE NSW. We know she will make a big difference in the lives of the young people she works with. She will be very missed by students and staff alike but we look forward to seeing her as a parent around our school still. Again, we publicly thank Mrs van Beers for her dedication, support, love and great compassion for her students, their families and her colleagues.
Staff New Roles
We have grown significantly over the last couple of years, making the role of Learning Support Coordinator particularly challenging for the school and just one person. As such we have made the decision to split the role into a Primary Learning Support Coordinator and a Secondary Learning Support Coordinator.
We congratulate two of our staff on accepting these roles. Mrs Elyce Kemsley and Mrs Samantha Jackson.
We like to introduce you to our new Primary Learning Support Coordinator, Mrs Elyce Kemsley. Mrs Kemsley has worked at CSS in different capacities over the last 8 years. She has predominately been teaching in Primary School both as a classroom teacher and as a relief teacher. Mrs Kemsley loves to share Jesus and His love for all.
Mrs Kemsley is passionate about seeing students supported in the classroom, achieving personalised goals and seeing students succeed in the school setting. She is looking forward to working with students, teachers and parents.
Another key part of this team will be Mrs Jacqui Nott who will be taking on developing, running and supporting whole school wellbeing development programs around mental health, bullying, trauma informed practice and diverse learning needs. She will be the Health, Culture and Wellbeing Coordinator.
As always, we encourage you to reach out to discuss any concerns. Elyce and Samantha will be working through the most urgent needs first in Term 3, particularly in regard to preparing our students who are transitioning to Kindy and Year 7 in 2025. They will of course be reaching out to parents over the next couple of weeks to touch base and make other individual plans, adjustments or changes.
We are excited about the new team, their passion, love for Jesus and a compassionate heart for all students to be successful. Please make them feel welcome and we look forward to a bright future for all of our students.
Senior Information Night
What’s Christianity All About? You’re invited to find out!
This short evening will begin at 6:30pm and the presentation (including ample time for you to ask your burning questions in an open Q&A with both Darryl and our Principal Faith Hull) will finish by 7:30pm.
At 7:30pm a yummy supper will be served for any who would like to stay and chat further. We will be all wrapped up by 8:30pm. Just come to the front office when you arrive and we’ll direct you where to go from there.
There will be creche/childminding available from 6:30 – 8:30pm. We’ll probably put on a movie (like Shrek or Frozen) and play some games while we have our ‘adult time’.
If you’d love to come please RSVP your interest by emailing: awatson@ccs.nsw.edu.au or phone the front office on 6662 5599
Term 3 Accounts
Dear Families,
Term 3 Accounts were sent out via email yesterday, (Wednesday 31/7). For any concerns or to organise or update your payment plan please email bursar@ccs.nsw.edu.au
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews are scheduled for next Thursday 8th August 3.30-8.00pm. An email will be sent out this afternoon with a link to make bookings with your child’s teachers. Please contact the office if you did not receive an email.
Primary interviews will be held in Primary Classrooms and Secondary interviews will be in the MPC. All interviews will be in 10 min time slots.
We highly recommend parents attend the interviews as they are an integral part of the Parent-School Partnership we seek to develop.
Now is a great time to talk with teachers and discuss how your child is progressing at school and ways you may be able to help your child.
The following teachers will NOT be available on the night:
- Mrs Boland (Secondary) sboland@ccs.nsw.edu.au
- Mr Young (Secondary) pyoung@ccs.nsw.edu.au
- Mrs Oosterbeek (Secondary) koosterbeek@ccs.nsw.edu.au
- Mr Prozinski jprozinski@ccs.nsw.edu.au
Please email them directly to schedule another time.
As we have limited booking times with each teacher, we ask families to only book one timeslot with each teacher, this is to allow all of our families to attend.
***eg. if you have Mr Callaghan-Lake for Maths & Science, only select 1 booking time per family, or if you have two children with the same teacher, only select 1 booking time***
If a longer time is needed to talk with the teacher, a later time can be arranged at the interview.
Or if you are unable to book an interview with a specific teacher on interview night, please email them.
The P&F will have the canteen running for snacks and refreshment purchases. Eftpos will be available.
Kindergarten 2025!
We have now completed our first round of 2025 Kindergarten offers. We would like to invite families who may have missed this first round of offers but would like to look at enroling their child for Kindergarten in 2025. If you would like more information please contact the office by phoning 6662 5599 as soon as possible to secure an interview with our Principal Faith Hull and visit our website ccs.nsw.edu.au/enrolment/ to complete an enrolment application.
2025 Kindergarten students gain access to our free Transition to School Program that starts in Term 3 this year. If you would like to learn more about our Transition to School program visit https://www.ccs.nsw.edu.au/transition-program/
Camp Payments
Stage 3 Camp (Year 5 & 6) Camp Drewe Lennox Head : 18th – 20th September
Deposit: Friday 2nd August – $100
Second Payment: Friday 23rd August – $110
Third Payment: Friday 6th September – $110
Along with the signed permission letter we also need parents to go to the Burleigh CYC registration link below to register their child for Camp Drewe
https://book.venue.life/cycburleigh/register/1727-year-56-camp
Snow Camp (YEAR 9 & 10) 18th to 22nd August
Snow Camp is only a few weeks away! Please ensure all necessary permission forms are returned.
Please see the form below for Snow Camp packing details
Lion King Musical – Save the date!!
Wellbeing
Mental Health Change Makers
Recently our school was featured in the Batyr’s Mental Health Changemakers Magazine. Batyr visited our school in Term 1 & 2 this year to talk to our High School students about the mental health issues facing youth in the Northern Rivers and was part of their Casino project.
Sport
Zone Athletics Carnival
Students from Primary and Secondary will travel to Coffs Harbour next Wednesday the 7th of August to compete at Coffs CEX International Stadium.
The bus will depart from Casino Presbyterian Church at 6.00am sharp, students are advised to arrive 10 minutes early as the bus cannot wait as we need to be at CEX International Stadium in Coffs Harbour by 8.30am.
The Return journey should depart from Coffs CEX International Stadium in Coffs Harbour by 3.30pm and return to Casino Presbyterian Church by 6.00pm on Wednesday 7 th August 2024.
***please arrive at the church before the arrival time to pick up your children***
Students must wear sports uniform on the day. Students must compete in sports uniform or clothes which are modest (one piece or two-piece running suits, like swimming costume
design, are not permitted). Spikes are permitted for the 100m, 200m & 400m only.
Students need to bring Hat, sunscreen, large water bottle & Asthma puffer (if required). Food for morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea. A canteen is available, but you still need to bring food just in case.
Rugby League – Tackle Football
Some High School students have expressed an interest in participating in training sessions for Rugby League in order to learn how to tackle and be tackled. These training sessions will also help when our school plays an internal game (Week 7), CSSA Christian Schools tournament (Week 8), Titans Nines (Week 9) and
Summer Sevens (Term 4).
These sessions are also aimed at growing Rugby League in our zone and will be overseen by the local NRL Development Officer for some sessions and Mr McPherson for other sessions. Rugby League is a contact sport and carries with it all of the associated risks that accompany the game. In order to minimise the risk and develop safe practise, safe tackle method will be trained as part of the selection process for any future games.
This training will take place at school on Friday’s during sport and some lunchtimes throughout Term 3 and early term 4. In order to participate in this training, it is essential that students bring with them a mouthguard and appropriate footwear. Students may wish to wear headgear and/or
shoulder/chest pads; however, these are not essential.
Training on skills such as safe tackling method at school will help to ensure there is as little risk involved as possible during games. Parental permission is required in order for students to participate in this training. This training will involve an internal game. When we play a game against another school, then a new permission note will be sent home. Games will only be played against students of a similar age bracket.
Date: Friday Sport and some lunch times throughout Term 3 and early Term 4.
Time: Friday Sport (1.45pm to 2.45pm) and during some lunchtimes (1.00pm to 1.40pm)
Where: Casino Christian School
Cost: NIL
What to bring:
Mouth guard & Football Boots
Appropriate change of clothes (or you will not participate)
Water Bottle
If your child wishes to participate please return the attached permission note to the school office by Friday 2nd August, 2024
PASS & SLR Excursion – Games Night
Staff vs Students Volleyball
Congratulations to the CCS Staff who were victorious in their game against the students on Wednesday!
Library
Book Club
Book Club Issue 5 orders are due by Friday 9th August
Orders can be placed online https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx
Book Fair
Book Fair is on Wk 3 Term 3 5-8th August. The Library will be open from 8.30-3.30 for students to make purchases. Payment can be made by Eftpos, cash or online by going to scholastic.com.au/payment
Book Week
Wk 4 Term 3 12-15th August
Book Week Parade Tuesday 13th August
This year’s Book Fair/Book Week theme is ‘Reading is an Adventure’. This year’s parade also coincides with our Grandparents Day!
Uniform Shop
All uniform orders must be paid at the time of purchase either in person or over the phone, we are no longer able to charge uniforms on family accounts. We appreciate your understanding.
Uniform shop hours are:
Mondays 8-11
Wednesdays 1-4
Uniform orders can be made at any time via the School Stream app or by filling out the uniform order form and returning it to school.
Upcoming School Events
School Holidays 8th to 19th July
Term 3
Week 1 (A) 22nd – 26th July
- Monday 22nd – Pupil Free Day
- Tuesday 23rd – First Day Back – All School
Week 2 (B) 29th July – 2nd August
- Wednesday 31st July – P&F Meeting 6 pm
- Friday 2nd August – Primary Assembly – 9 am
Week 3 (A) 5th – 9th August
- Book Fair 5th-8th
- Wednesday 7th – Zone Athletics – Coffs Harbour
- Thursday 8th – Parent Teacher Interviews
- Friday 9th – Zone Basketball – Port Macquarie
Week 4 (B) 12th – 16th August
- Book Week – 12th-15th
- Monday 12th – Senior Year 11 & 12 Information Night – 6 pm
- Tuesday 13th – Book Week Dress Up Day
- Tuesday 13th – Grandparents Day
- Thursday 15th – PASS & SLR Games Night 3.30-8.30
- Friday 16th – Primary Assembly – 9 am
- Friday 16th – Bullying Awareness Dress up Day (Wear Purple)
Week 5 (A) 19th – 23rd August
- Stage 5 (9 & 10) Snow Camp 18th-22nd
- Friday 23rd – Primary State Athletics – Sydney
Week 6 (B) 26th – 30th August
- Tuesday 27th – Year 7 & 10 Vaccination Catch Up’s
- Wednesday 28th – P&F Meeting 6 pm
- Thursday 29th – Fathers Day Breakfast 7.30-8.30am
- Thursday 29th – Secondary State Athletics – Sydney
- Friday 30th- Primary Assembly 9 am
- HSC Trial Examinations 26th to 30th
Week 7 (A) 2nd – 6th September
- Hospitality Work Placement 2nd-6th
- Thursday 5th – Primary Spring Social 5-7pm
Week 8 (B) 9th – 13th September
- Friday 13th Zone Netball & League – Ballina
Week 9 (A) 16th – 20th September
- Kinder to Year 3 Swimming – GSAC
- Stage 3 (5&6) Camp Lennox Head 18th – 20th
Week 10 (B) 23rd – 27th September
- Year 10 Work Experience 23rd to 27th
- Friday 27th – Last Day Term 3
- Friday 27th – Year 12 Graduation Assembly 11am
School Holidays 30th September to 14th October
Term 4
Week 1 (A) 14th to 18th October
- Monday 14th – Pupil Free Day
- Tuesday 15th – Students return to school
- HSC Exams – All week
Week 2 (B) 21st to 25th October
- Year 4-6 Swimming – All week
- HSC Exams – All week
- Friday 25th – Futsal Gala Day
Week 3 (A) 28th October to 1st November
- HSC Exams – All Week
- Year 4 – 6 Swimming ~ Monday 28th & Tuesday 29th
Week 4 (B) 4th to 8th November
- HSC Exams – All Week
- Tuesday 5th – Lion King Musical – 6 pm
- Wednesday 6th – Lion King Musical – 6 pm
- Friday 8th – Year 7 Orientation Day
- Friday 8th – Primary Assembly – 9 am
Week 5 (A) 11th to 15th November
- Wednesday 13th – Year 12 Formal – Clydesdale Casino – 6-9 pm
Week 6 (B) 18th to 22nd November
- Friday 22nd – Move Up Day – K-12
Week 7 (A) 25th to 29th November
- Wednesday 27th – P & F Meeting – 6 pm
Week 8 (B) 2nd to 6th December
Week 9 (A) 9th to 13th December
- Wednesday 11th – Last Day of School
Community Events
Casino
