From the P&F Association

Dear Santa Families

We are devastated and deeply saddened by the passing of Charlotte O’Brien last week. It is difficult to comprehend what has happened and it is normal for us to be searching for answers. At this time, it is important for our community to turn our minds to coming together with a focus on support – support the O’Brien family for their loss, support our children in their grief and support one another as a community. 

In communication with the school, the P&F supports the meal train initiative setup and continues to explore ways to provide assistance to both the family and the community. There has been a wonderful show of support for the family to date through this initiative and we thank the community for coming together.

We also believe that it is extremely important that we continue to support one another through grief as we are doing and continue to come together as a community.

Debra’s article below is extremely helpful and we strongly encourage you to read it and apply the suggestions as you see fit.

Change of Date Trivia Night – 25 October 2024 at Del Monte Hall

After careful consideration within the P&F and out of respect for Charlotte, her family and the community in mourning, we have decided to postpone the trivia night to Friday 25 October (Term 4 Week 2).

For those who have already purchased tickets and can attend on the new date, you do not need to do anything. For those who can no longer attend please reach out to us at pnfcomms@ssc.nsw.edu.au.

We look forward to bringing the community together and welcoming everyone to trivia in the new term.

Yours in friendship

P&F Executive

Upcoming Events

🎉 Santa Trivia Night! 🎉

Come along to the Santa Trivia Night for an evening of fun and a chance to put all your knowledge to good use!  Start forming your groups of ten!

 🗓 Date:       Friday 25 October 2024

⏰ Time:        6:30pm for a 7:00pm start

📍 Location: Del Monte Hall

Ticket price $55. The trivia ticket includes trivia, unlimited pizza from Miz Tutti and games. BYO drinks.

🎉Colour Explosion School Run 4 Fun🎉

The Del Monte parents would have received the Colour Fun packets by now. If you haven’t already registered your child please do so by following the instructions in your child’s sponsorship booklet to create a profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au. At the end of the fundraiser either order prizes to receive or donate to a cause.

 🗓 Date:       Friday 18 October 2024

⏰ Time:        T.B.A.

📍 Location: Del Monte Field

• Please make sure students wear a WHITE shirt and closed-in shoes.
• Students will be given free sunglasses and a rainbow headband for the event.
• Students will be covered in non-toxic, biodegradable colour powder from head to toe.
• Colour Powder is made of high-quality corn starch and permitted food colours. Safety data sheet is available upon request.

For further information, please contact Tatiana via ssprimary@ssc.nsw.edu.au

Parent Education

Grief by Debra Brodowski

As a community over the past week, we have experienced unimaginable shock and grief. It has been incredibly emotional and difficult to comprehend. Our brains, in trying to understand and process our grief have been feeling wired and on edge. If that’s how we’re feeling as adults, the young people in our lives have the additional challenge of trying to grieve without having their brains fully developed to do so. Our brains don’t become fully developed until well into our mid-20s, and so for our young people, this means that there are many things that will be more difficult to process as they grieve.

So how do we support our young people whilst we are also grieving as a community? The College has provided a comprehensive set of resources over the past from Headspace and Mackillop to assist, so I won’t double up here. Please refer to those resources already sent through. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some top tips that I am using with my own family.

Focus on what you can control

There is so much information at the moment, both on social media and in the news, that is adding to our responses to grief. For me and my family, we are staying away from these sources of information at this time. They only lead to more uncertainty which is not helpful to our grieving process. As a family we focus on what we can control. We ask if they want to speak about anything or ask any questions, and if they don’t that’s fine. We focus on how we can control our own distress and grief.

Safe people

It may not be immediate parents and caregivers who they want to speak with. As young people enter into their tween and teen years, they branch out in terms of accessing support. Parents aren’t the only source of support for them. We have identified safe adults that they can speak with (their choice, our endorsement), both within the College and also within the family/family friend unit. These safe people also know that they may get a call to have a chat and know that everything that is discussed remains private, and only shared with their knowledge if it is important for a parent/caregiver to know.

Community building

We are here to support in whatever way we can to support the O’Brien family as well as our friends in the Santa Sabina community. We connect with those who we care about and offer our support in any way we can.

As a family, and a College, and a community, we can support one another with care, compassion, and empathy to grieve the tragic loss of one of our fellow students.