"For those who have been given much, much will be expected"
Luke 12:48
From The Principal
We have more wonderful news regarding our HSC students. Lachie Mumford has received a nomination for the Visual Arts HSC Showcase, Art Express. This is a great achievement and reflects an outstanding major work submission. This is the first time we have received a nomination for Art Express, so it is very pleasing. Congratulations to Lachie who has worked very hard to develop and refine his work over the course of the year. Congratulations also go to his teacher and mentor Mitch Raguse for his support and guidance. We now await news of the final selection process regarding the Showcase.
As COVID restrictions continue to ease it has been great to see the return of some inter-school sporting events. In recent weeks students have been involved in Netball and Tennis. One of the positive outcomes of the restrictions on travel between regions is that it has provided an opportunity for schools in the local area to collaborate and develop new connections involving sport. Our Sport and Coaching team have been very active in liaising with local schools to form partnerships to allow all our students to have the opportunity to compete and enjoy sport. Given the enthusiasm among the schools and the students, we plan to build on these connections and develop more regular opportunities for competition between the local group of schools next year.
Year 11 Reports were distributed this week and I congratulate the students on some outstanding individual and group results. Despite the challenges this year has presented, many students in Year 11 have shown incredible application to their studies and as a result experienced great success. Year 11 will formally commence their HSC studies next week.
I ask all our families to continue to keep Year 12 in their thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks as they undertake their HSC examinations. We pray that they can remain calm and focused and that all their study will ensure that they have prepared well and will be able to demonstrate their best. The examinations will continue until mid November.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
I have been in and out of Secondary classrooms as much as possible in the first week of the term and have noticed some wonderful learning taking place. I have seen some great use of formative assessment and checking of student learning by staff, which was great to see. Formative assessment is assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning and as its name suggests, it can form teacher planning and student learning in the future. Great teachers use formative assessment to gauge where students are at and to set a plan for where they want their students to go. My next step is to get down into the Primary school and drop in on some lessons there.
At our virtual Whole College Assembly, Mr Tobias welcomed all the students back and we were able to honour our cross country and tennis champions from last term. It was also an opportune time to remind students of our Term 4 expectations with regards to attitudes to learning, behaviour, uniform and commitment to supporting one another in a positive manner.
On the weekend I was reading a wonderful article about the importance of acknowledging and reinforcing resilient behaviour in our children. The key takeaways were that whilst it has been a difficult year, there is always someone worse off than us and that we should try to praise resilient behaviour and encourage our children to demonstrate it wherever possible. We have many different types of resilience and at present I am particularly interested in academic resilience and the Habit of Mind of persistence.
When we are babies and learning to walk we are so persistent and determined. We never give up - we keep falling down but we get back up again and keep going until we master the skill that we need to demonstrate in order to be able to walk. Brain and body in perfect synergy in order to achieve our goal. Somewhere along the line, our children lose the resilience that they demonstrated when they are babies and it is my contention that as parents we need to cajole, push, support and provide them with the honest feedback needed to encourage, promote and develop resilient and persistent behaviour in our children.
Our pastoral care programs will continue to be reviewed and resilience will be a key theme. However, academic resilience is also vitally important. Didn’t understand Venn Diagrams the first time - don’t give up, ask questions, complete examples, keep trying and don’t give up until you have a better understanding of the concept. That’s real learning and a tangible sense of satisfaction is developed at having conquered the challenge that faces us.
The famous English mountaineer George Mallory, who died whilst trying to conquer Mount Everest in the 1920’s, was famously asked by a newspaper reporter; ‘Why do you want to climb Everest, Mr Mallory?’.
The response was typically pithy, ‘Because it’s there!’.
We all have our own Everest to conquer throughout our lives. Persistence gives us a chance but we have to stick at it and not give up. Let’s keep reinforcing this to our kids, especially during these challenging times.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Term 4, Week 3
Monday 26 October
Under 15 Girls Touch Football Trials and Training - 7.30am-8.30am - Oval
Primary Basketball vs RCC and Holy Family - 10.30am-3.00pm - BISC
HSC Examinations
Tuesday 27 October
Under 15 Boys Rugby Sevens Trials and Training - 7.30am-8.30am - Oval
Open Boys Cricket Trials and Training - 10.48am-11.18am - Cricket nets
HSC Examinations
Wednesday 28 October
HSC Examinations
Boys Secondary Basketball Trials and Training - 10.48am-11.18am - Courts
Thursday 29 October
HSC Examinations
Friday 30 October
HSC Examinations
Girls Secondary Basketball Trials and Training - 10.48am-11.18am - Courts
Primary Book Character Parade - Student only event - TBC
Under 15 Boys Rugby 7’s and Girls Under 15 Touch Football vs Xavier - 1.00-3.00pm - Ovals
Secondary Sport Years 7-10 - Periods 5 and 6
Term 4, Week 4
Monday 2 November
Under 15 Girls Touch Football Training - 7.30-8.30am - Oval
Tuesday 3 November
Under 15 Boys Rugby 7’s Training - 7.30-8.30am - Oval
Primary Chapel - 9.08am - Sent out as a recording
Open Boys Cricket Training - 10.48am-11.18am - Nets
Wednesday 4 November
Secondary Chapel - 8.48am - Sent out as a recording
Secondary Boys Basketball Training - 10.48-11.18am - Courts
Thursday 5 November
Secondary Chapel - 8.48am - Sent out as a recording
Friday 6 November
Secondary Girls Basketball Training - 10.48-11.18am - Courts
Open Cricket and Open Netball vs Xavier - 10.30am-3.00pm - Cricket; Netball - 1.00pm-3.00pm
Secondary Sport - Years 7-10 - Periods 5 and 6
From The Office
During the HSC Exams the Front Office won't be able to use PA.
Sports Update
Last week the Year 4, 5 and 6 Primary students were involved in Week 1 of the EAC school swimming program at Alstonville Pool.
For the older age group Primary students, the swimming program focussed on the following:
Year 4: Swim and Survive Skills
Year 5: Lifesaving Skills
Year 6: Water Polo
We were blessed with warm weather and some great swimming teachers, which has ensured that there have been plenty of smiles and laughs from students at the pool as they practised their swim and survival skills or learnt the Olympic Sport game of Water Polo.
A big thank you goes out to the Primary teachers for their class organisation and assistance during the week.
Mr Randall Evans
Sport Coach & Duke of Edinburgh Leader
Secondary News
Importance of resilience as students prepare for assessments in Term 4.
Term 4 is a busy term for students as they complete their final assessment tasks for the year. For some this is the first time they have at an exam and this can cause anxiety and stress. It is important for teenagers to develop resilience so they are able to cope with difficult situations. This allows them to navigate life’s ups and down and be able to bounce back when things go wrong.
Resilience: what you need to know
Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’ during or after difficult times and get back to feeling as good as before.
It’s also the ability to adapt to difficult circumstances that you can’t change and keep on thriving. In fact, when you’re resilient, you can often learn from difficult situations.
Your child’s resilience can go up and down at different times. And your child might be better at bouncing back from some challenges than others.
All teenagers can build resilience, by developing attitudes like self-respect, social and organisational skills, and positive thinking habits. Your support is also a key building block for your child’s resilience.
As a parent it is important to remember that you can’t always stop your child from experiencing problems or tough times but can help your child build resilience by being source of support.
Why your child needs resilience
Your child needs resilience to bounce back from everyday challenges like arguments with friends, disappointing test results or sporting losses.
Some young people face more serious challenges like family breakdown, family illness or death, or bullying. And some have more challenges than others because of learning difficulties or disabilities, or because they have more anxious personalities. Resilience will help them with these challenges.
As parents it is important to remember that resilience is more than just coping. It is about seeking new ways to overcome challenges and achieve goals.
Positive thinking habits for resilience
Resilience is about being realistic, thinking rationally, looking on the bright side, finding the positives, expecting things to go well and moving forward, even when things seem bad.
When your child is upset, you can help him keep things in perspective by focusing on facts and reality. For example, you could try gently asking, ‘Does this really matter as much as you think it does? On a scale from 1-10, how bad is it really?’
You can also help your child understand that a bad thing in one part of her life doesn’t mean everything is bad. For example, if your child gets a poor exam result, you could point out that it won’t stop her from playing weekend sport or going out with friends.
If your child is being hard on himself, you could suggest more helpful self-talk instead. For example, he might say something like ‘I’m going to die of embarrassment speaking in front of my class’. You could suggest alternatives like ‘Public speaking isn’t my favourite thing, but I can cope’, or ‘Public speaking isn’t my strength, but it’s good to try new challenges’.
Your child is more likely to feel positive if she can see that difficult times are a part of life, and that things will get better. It might just take longer than your child would like. You can help your child with this by talking about how you or people you know have gone through tough times.
Tips for resilience as teenagers prepare to complete tests and assignments:
Below are a few tips that can be used to support teenagers as they prepare to complete tests and assignments this term.
- Avoid cramming as this can produce high levels of anxiety and is not helpful in trying to learn a large amount of material.
- Instead of trying to memorize all of the intricate details from an entire semester’s worth of notes and readings, try combining everything and learning the larger, main concepts first.
- When studying, try to create questions that could possibly be asked on the test. Try integrating ideas from lectures, notes, books and other readings.
- If it is impossible for you to cover all of the material for the test, choose one portion that you know you will be able to cover and present well.
- Change your attitude - It can help to change the way you think about sitting exams. An exam will not predict your future success or determine your self-worth. Changing your attitude can actually help you enjoy studying and learning.
The key to assessments and exams is being prepared. Know when the task is due in and spend time prior ensuring all aspects are completed. As you support your teenager this term, remember that the teachers and school staff are available also to support your child if they are struggling with developing their resilience.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
Adapted from online advice on raisingchildren.net
Are you up for the Water Night Challenge?
Thursday 22 October is Waternight. Waternight encourages families to use no taps between the hours of 5pm and 5am. By remembering the importance of water within our society we can all work to save water. Some strategies that can be used to save water include:
Primary Update
Book Week
Don't forget that next Friday 30 October is our annual Book Week parade where we invite all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 to come to school dressed as a book character. Whilst the parade will look a little different this year, we still look forward to a fun filled morning celebrating the joy of reading.
Kindergarten - Year 2 Athletics Afternoon
Traditionally an event led by our Year 10 PASS students, the Kindergarten - Year 2 Athletics afternoon will be teacher led this year and held on Tuesday 17 November. The afternoon will be dedicated to fun and engaging athletics activities to best prepare our youngest students for upcoming carnivals in their older years. Parents are still unable to attend due to COVID restrictions, we will certainly share the joy via photos in the newsletter.
Library News
Last Book Club for the Year!
Buying some books for Christmas but don’t want to spoil the surprise? Simply order on-line and check the GIFT ORDER box and it will be available for collection at school by you and not given to the child.
Orders can be placed directly online with payments made by Visa or Mastercard. Paying online also unlocks great benefits and special offers throughout the year.
You may also pay by cash or with cheques payable to Scholastic Australia.
Scholastic Book Club Orders must be completed online or given to me by THURSDAY 29 OCTOBER 2020.
Mrs Fiona Wilson-Jones
Library Resources Centre Manager
Canteen
Please note there are new prices on all menu items.All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.15am.The canteen will operate Monday to Friday.
The revised menu is below for your information and is also available on the College website.
All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.15am.
Please place the money in a paper bag of sufficient size to fit all of the lunch items.
If you are ordering a drink with your lunch please provide two (2) bags. Please write the information on the LOWER half of the bag. If money is short we will substitute items to the value received.
REMEMBER, if ordering RECESS, you must have a separate recess bag.
RECESS: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Recess Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A
Recess
Cheesymite Scroll
Pack Sultanas, Small
LUNCH BAG 1: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Lunch Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A,
Lunch
1 Snack Pie
LUNCH BAG 2: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Drink Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A,
Lunch
1 Orange Juice
Any change required will be placed in the bag for return with the lunch order.
Christine Hall
Canteen Coodinator
Community News
