Bullying No Way Week: Essential Online Safety Tips for Your Family
This week in Junior School, as part of the Bullying No Way: National week of action we have been talking to our students in years 3 – 6 about cyberbullying. This can be a complex area to navigate with students – both at College and at home. Parents and teachers have a very important role to play in helping children make decisions that keep them safe in the online world. There are a range of excellent resources around that can help us in this task. One resource that I have been looking at is the eSafety Commission website. The parent resource page covers many topics – cyberbullying, sexting, gaming, screen time to name a few. There are short videos to watch, advice on how to have tricky conversations with your child about these issues, depending on their age group, and advice about what action you can take as parents.
Perhaps your child has been bullied online, sent or received an intimate image, or come across pornography online. Conversations about experiences like these can be difficult. When you talk to your child about personal subjects, you are trying to balance a number of different things:
- respecting your child’s privacy while still making sure they are safe and happy
- giving them space to test their own problem-solving skills online but supporting them as they make their own way
- educating them about people’s different personalities but knowing you can’t make their choices for them
- establishing boundaries while being understanding and open
The parent resource page also has some excellent guidelines for basic online safety:
Be engaged, open and supportive
- Get involved with your child’s online activities as a family. Play games together. Talk about favourite apps, games or websites.
- Keep lines of communication open. Ask about their online experiences, who they are talking to and whether they are having any issues.
- Reassure your child they can always come to you, no matter what. Your child may not communicate openly about things that worry them online if they fear being in trouble if they tell you. Let them know you will not cut off internet or device access if they tell you they’re feeling uncomfortable or unsafe online.
- If you notice a change in your child’s behaviour or mood, talk with them about it. If you are concerned, consider seeking professional help – from your GP, a psychologist or school counsellor.
Set some rules
- Set rules for devices and online access, with consequences for breaking them. As they grow in online skills and maturity you can review your rules together.
- Get your child’s input — this will help them understand risks.
- Model behaviour that you would like to see. Children will be more likely to follow rules if they see you doing the same.
- Consider creating a family tech agreement (sometimes called a family media plan or family online safety agreement). This is a set of rules about how devices are used in your home as well as acceptable online behaviour. eSafety has created downloadable templates for families with children under 5 or those with kids aged 5 to 8 years. For families with older children, The Family Online Safety Contract from ThinkUKnow Australia is a good starting point.
Use devices, games and apps carefully
- Get to know the devices you and your children use and set them up for privacy and online safety. Take advantage of parental controls to monitor and control screen time and access to content, based on your child’s age and experience.
- Choose apps and games carefully, and visit the App Store or Google Play for age ratings and consumer advice.
- Refer to our advice about screen time and online gaming if these are of concern.
- The eSafety Guide provides valuable information about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your personal information and report harmful content.
- You can visit the Australian Classification Board’s online database, Children and Media Australia and Common Sense Media (US) for information about movies, apps, games and websites, searchable by age.
There are many good reasons to check out this helpful website: this may have been an issue for your child in the past, it may currently be an issue, your child may have a friend who is being impacted by these issues, or you may want to increase your own understanding in preparation for conversations you may need to have in the future. Whatever the case – I would strongly encourage you to have a look at the information and advice there – and please reach out to myself, the Wellbeing team or your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns. While we are actively involved in educating our students about how to stay safe online at College, we want to work alongside parents in this.
God bless,
Mrs Jenny Squire
Deputy Principal – Head of Junior School
Sport
IPSSO
The Winter IPSSO season continued during Weeks 3 and 4. In Week 3, we played against St Peter’s Anglican Grammar, which is always a formidable opponent. Our teams played with good sportsmanship and fought bravely. Congratulations to the junior boys soccer team, who won 2-0; the senior boys soccer team, who won 1-0; the junior netball team, who won 21-13; the senior netball team, who won 35-11, the junior AFL team who won 58-12 and the senior AFL team who won 65-10! In Week 2, we had a bye, which was also rain affected.
Gymnastics
We kicked off our gymnastics program during the first four weeks of term! These sessions, led by the fantastic team at Zing Active, are not just about learning fundamental movement skills. They’re about having fun, staying engaged, and, most importantly, staying safe. The gymnastics program will continue to be a highlight for the first six weeks of term.
3-6 College Sport
This week, our Year 3-6 students began learning frisbee skills from an expert coach and Oz Tag skills from our teachers. These skills will benefit them as they develop their sporting skills and prepare to participate in the House Cup at the end of the term.
Zone Athletics Carnival
On Monday, Week 3, we took around 50 students to represent the College at the CSSA Zone Athletics Carnival. Every student represented the College brilliantly, showing excellent sportsmanship, courage, and collaboration, particularly within our excellent relay teams! I particularly want to thank Mr Plunkett and Miss Phillips for looking after the students so well! Around 20 students qualified from the Zone Carnival for the CSSA State Athletics Carnival, which will be held on Friday 23rd August. The College has notified these parents. Congratulations to all our students who represented the College so well!
CSSA State Netball Gala Day
On Thursday, Week 3, our junior and senior netball teams represented the College at the CSSA State Netball Gala Day. They played with excellent sportsmanship and collaboration against schools from all over New South Wales! In a tough competition, they managed a couple of victories and had a great time! Thanks to Miss Lee and Mrs. Dransfield for coaching the teams and looking after our students at this event!
CSSA State Soccer Finals
On Thursday Week 3, our senior boys soccer team represented the College at the CSSA State Soccer Finals. This is the first team I can recall ever representing the College at this prestigious event! The team played brilliantly, securing two victories and progressing to the semi-finals. The semi-final was a close and tense encounter between two evenly matched-teams! The game finished 1-1 and went to a penalty shootout, in which we came out second best. This team played with tremendous courage, grace, collaboration, and sportsmanship throughout the event and made the College proud! This is the furthest in this competition that any OPAC boy’s soccer team has ever progressed, so we are incredibly proud of this history-making team!
CSSA and CIS Nominations
From time to time, the College can nominate some of our exceptional athletes to trial for CSSA or CIS representative teams. These teams are selected for high level representative competitions, drawing from almost 100 schools across NSW. If you would like the College to nominate your child for one of these events, please follow the procedure below:
- Go to the CSSA website to see the list and dates of these trials (cssa.net.au)
- Email me (jbarber@opac.nsw.edu.au), expressing your child’s interest, background, and skills in the sport
- If they fit the requirements of the trials, I will nominate them to attend
- Attend the trials with your child
Upcoming Events
Week 5
Monday (19/8)
- Gymnastics program during PE time.
Wednesday (21/8)
- IPSSO training at 7.45 am for all students selected in an IPSSO team.
- IPSSO games against Macarthur Anglican School. Volleyball and netball are at OPAC, and soccer and AFL are at Doohan Reserve. Junior games begin at 11.30 am, and senior games start at 1 pm.
Friday (23/8):
- CSSA State Athletics Carnival- selected students. Bus leaving the College at 7:30 am.
Week 6
Monday (26/8):
- Gymnastics program during PE time.
Wednesday (28/8):
- IPSSO training at 7.45 am for all students selected in an IPSSO team.
- IPSSO games against Wollondilly Anglican College. Volleyball and netball are at OPAC, and soccer and AFL are at Doohan Reserve. Junior games begin at 11.30 am, and senior games start at 1 pm.
God bless,
Mr Joshua Barber
Junior School Sports Coordinator
