Today St Francis Xavier community recognised White Ribbon Day and the importance it has in our community.

White Ribbon Day, and the 2021 theme is ‘How Can Men Make Change?’

Within this theme the strong focus is on the action men can take to end men’s violence against women. The challenge though, is for all Australians to Learn, Give, and Take Action’

Men’s violence against women is an ongoing epidemic in Australia and, sadly, COVID has made the situation worse; lockdowns and social distancing have not only created a spike in violence, but also reduced the ability of victims to seek help.

To stop this, we need to change the attitudes and social norms that excuse or condone disrespect, sexual harassment and abuse. We know that to end violence against women, we must engage men, boys and the broader society in this work. So this week and in particular today, within our classrooms and across our school we are involved in activities and talking about White Ribbon Day so we can talk about what we can do in our everyday lives to make change.

Please continue these conversations within your families and these conversations are really important for us all.

So on Monday 13th December 2021 we will hold 2 separate assemblies...

12:00 – 1:00pm - Kinder/1/2/3 Presentation Assembly

1:00 – 2:00pm   Shared lunch – all welcome

2:00 – 3:00pm   4/5/6 Presentation Assembly

PLEASE NOTE - COVID Restrictions apply for all attending:

* On arrival, families are required to sign in with the QR Code

* Any visitor on this day must provide evidence of double vaccination status. 

* We request families observe social distancing throughout the event.

2022 Enrolments 

Enrolments for 2022 are now open, for quick and easy online enrolment form please see below link or QR code. 

https://enrolments.sfxlake.nsw.edu.au/nsw-schools/start

This week 4/5/6 class had a visit from Senior Constable Jane who works for NSW Police, based in Bathurst but visiting schools all over the region to engage and inform students. Our students came up with some great questions including how to become a police officer, what the job is like, about police dogs and horses, what sort of training they undergo, (and other questions about guns and handcuffs!)

Jane gave great information about the huge diversity of roles within the police force, and how police keep our community safe. She particularly focussed on cyber safety and reminded the students why Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook require you to be 13 years old to have an account.

Many of the students mentioned that they had had inappropriate content pop up when searching the internet, so please check in with your kids about this, and give them the chance to debrief. She recommended families think carefully about which apps their children should have access to and pleaded for families to regularly check who children are communicating with, and sharing videos and photos with. A funny little dance posted on TikTok can seem harmless, but remember we never know how far photos/videos/comments will be shared, and once posted we have no control over this.

Senior Constable Jane recommended families explore the safest option Messenger Kids and think about changing settings and filters to monitor what they are being exposed to online.

The talk was very informative, there were lots of great questions from our students and quite a few said they would consider joining the police force in the future.  For further information see https://www.tafensw.edu.au/iprowd  for more information on Indigenous Police Recruitment programs and https://www.facebook.com/messenger_kids_marketing/ for info on Messenger Kids.