Staffing news - It is with much excitement that I introduce our newsest staff member ....... Monty!! 

Monty is Cavoodle, he is currently 8 weeks old and his job title is "Education Assistant and Well-being Dog" His main role will be to provide emotional support to the students, staff and families at St Monica's. Monty's owner and handler is Mrs June Edwards and Monty will be on school grounds working for up to a maximum of 3 days per week. Scientific and Anecdotal research around having an Education Assistant dog in a school shows a range of benefits, including but not limited to: 

• Increase in school attendance; 
• Gains in confidence and increased motivation; 
• Decrease in learner anxiety behaviours, resulting in improved learning outcomes;  
• Enhanced relationships with peers and teachers due to experiencing trust and unconditional love plus many more. 

Monty will be trained to react and respond to people and their environment, under the guidance and direction of his handler. Some examples include: 

• Teaching empathy and appropriate interpersonal skills; 
• Help individuals develop social skills;  
• use as a non-confronting audience for student reading activities; and 
• genreal emotional support through animal assisted therapy which can come in many forms.  

Monty will work with multiple people within our community and he will always be supervised by an adult. Students and adults will always be asked to give permission for the support dog to be in their presence or involved in any activity with them. Our entire school community, including students, staff and families, will be kept informed about the role Monty plays. 

If you have any questions or concerns about Monty please contact our Assistant Principal Maggie Lloyd. maggie.lloyd@cg.catholic.edu.au

Welcome... we warmly welcome the Irwin family, Alexa in 2E and Danny in KB. We wish you a long and happy association with our school community.

Baby News... Congratulations to Dominic in 2L who became an uncle to baby Lorenzo this week!

Morning Assemblies - A whole school morning assembly will take place each Monday and Wednesday at 8.55am. Parents are welcome to join us for these assemblies as they take place outside. Please use COVID safe practices if you wish to attend. 

Peace and Blessings to all families,