Junior School Bulletin Issue 11 / 18 August 2017
Junior School News Cultural Experiences We have been inundated with visitors to the College from Japan recently, which has been a real blessing to our community. It has allowed our students to practice their Japanese speaking, learn directly from children living in Japan about their customs and to develop an understanding of their culture. Just as importantly, they had time to play with some kids from another country. Thank you to Sharon Taki and Kerry Forest who coordinated the events. A number of students participated in the Japanese Speech Contest over the weekend. We had some fantastic results which can be found in the following LOTE news article. MS Expo Our Year 6 students had the opportunity to visit the MS Expo last Monday night. It was a great opportunity for them to start thinking about Middle School, find out more about the elective program and meet some of the new students and their teachers. It is an important progression point in the children’s education as they transition from Junior School through to Senior School education.
Book Week Next week is Book Week and the Library has organized some fantastic activities to celebrate. Classes will be decorating their doors and there will be a character parade in the Multi-Purpose Hall on Friday morning, straight after drop off. It will be great to see our ELC friends participating in the parade as well. Active School Leaders As their name suggests, the Active School Leaders have been very active recently. Not only do they assist with carnivals and other sporting events, they also run activities for the younger students to participate in. Things such as obstacle courses, relays and dance lessons are amongst the favourites for lunchtime play. In Brief Celebrating the Good stuff • P - Years 2 and Years 3-6 discos were a great success. All money raised will go to 100% Hope. • All Hallows Touch – St Andrews Girls won the B Division. • Years 5/6 students sharpened their skills and had a great day playing Oztag recently. • Year 1 planted 1000 trees at Schusters Park.
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Year 5 students shared what they are learning at an assembly recently. We have a number of new chicks in the Prep rooms. As part of their Unit of Inquiry, the students are watching chicks hatch and grow.
Darrin Schumacher Deputy Principal Head of Junior School
Chaplains Chat The Fruit of the Spirit is not a coconut… this is a fun song sung by Junior School. It continues with the fact that the fruit of the Spirit actually is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. This is the fruit that God grows within each of us as we live our lives as His children. We all know that fruit comes from a plant of some description - a tree, a bush, a vine… We also know that the tree needs to receive nourishment if it is to produce fruit. No amount of self-talk, decision or determination will bring about the growth of fruit. It all comes down to what actually goes into the leaves and roots to bring about the ‘good stuff’. It needs plenty of sunlight, carbon dioxide, trace elements and water. Without these, nothing happens. It is no different for us as humans. Our character needs nourishment. Unfortunately, our natural environment is rather light on in nutritious input for our character. A clip on Youtube, entitled ‘The Story of Stuff’ highlights how we as members of western culture suffer from a cycle of watching TV which tells us through advertising that we are inadequate and the answer is to go and buy ‘stuff’. This makes us feel better but then have to go and work doubly hard to pay for it. We end up exhausted sitting in front of the TV again which reinforces through advertising that we are inadequate or as the clip says ‘You suck’ and then you go back to the shop buy more stuff and the cycle continues…. There does not appear to be too many other messages out there that counteract this situation. Our whole way of life revolves around us consuming to maintain the economy otherwise everything stops. In amongst the advertising there is the fact that each of us are ‘good enough’ in God’s eyes as we place our faith and trust in Him and His rescue of us through Christ. This makes all the difference to how we experience life. Living in the acceptance God has for us as His children breaks out of the cycle of feeling inadequate. Being cared for and nurtured by God brings the growth of beautiful fruit in our life and we don’t strive or strain for this to come about. It simply happens as we live out our identity as one of God’s kids. The fruit of the spirit is not a coconut - it is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control. May this fruit show forth in our individual lives and in this community as we ‘do life with God’. Graeme Schache College Chaplain
From the Deputy Head of Junior School & PYP Coordinator A Word from the Deputy Head It is wonderful to return to this special community after some time away on Long Service Leave. There is nothing like taking a break from the normal routine and heading off for an adventure with a loved one. I have been very blessed to take a six-week trip with my son, Joshua-Kaleb (JK). The focus of the trip was to explore as many of the natural ‘beauties’ possible at the places we visited. We spent time in Alaska, Canada and the United States. For a mum, having time alone with my son was priceless. I believe having a trip with one of your children (at any age) enables a memorable experience. These shared experiences create unique bonds and special memories that can be treasured forever. As part of this trip, a goal of mine was to embrace aspects of the IB Learner Profile and encourage my son to do likewise. We certainly became inquirers as we discovered new understandings about places through talking to people and asking questions, viewing exhibits and engaging in new experiences. There were many opportunities for us to sit (usually in front of the most magnificent scenery) and spend some time reflecting. We were able to give thoughtful consideration to the experiences we were encountering and how these experiences were influencing our personal development as global citizens at the present time and for the future.
I believe that my son was the biggest influence and of great encouragement to me when it came to the moments of where I had to be courageous. High heights are definitely a challenge for me and with the particular places on our itinerary, it was time for me to embrace the challenge and demonstrate courage. There were a significant number of natural spots where we could just sit on the edge of a high cliff to immerse ourselves in the beauty that was before us. It was simply spectacular!
Japanese News MLTAQ GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY SPEECH CONTEST RESULTS Congratulations to our students on their outstanding results in the Japanese speech contest at Griffith University. Year 4 Eve Pattison 1st place Bailey Hawkins 4th place Cameron Potter Highly Commended HC Year 5 Sam Butterworth HC Ally Crawford HC Ruby Hanlon HC Year 6 Isabella Seymour 1st place Giselle Courtney 3rd place Jiya Donaldson HC Languages competition http://www.sbs.com.au/radio/national-languages-competition-2017 Japanese Visitors
I trust as parents you are looking forward to the up-coming Student Led Conferences where you can share precious time with your child/ren individually as they communicate with you the learning journey they have been experiencing. Bookings are being made available through the PTO system. The instructions for making a booking was shared in the parent letter that was distributed to all parents via an email. May you have the opportunity to celebrate with your child on this very important and special day! I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14 (ESV) Jacqueline Faulkner Deputy Head of Junior School PYP Coordinator
formation on the Library link on the Junior School page of the College website.
Junior Library News
Vikki Rees Junior Library
Character Parade There are a lot of excited students (and teachers) looking forward to Book Week. The character parade is set to start at 8:40am in the MPH on Friday 25 August. Please join us during this celebration and watch each Year level parade across the stage in their costumes.
Performing Arts News Peter Pan Auditions - Week 9 Our next whole of College musical is Peter Pan Jr. It will be on at The Arts Centre in Term 2, 2018. Students from Years 3 – 11 are welcome to audition. See the flyer for details.
Information Literacy Have you ever been overwhelmed when searching for information online? You are not alone. This feeling is so common in today’s society that it has been given the term ‘Infowhelm’. To overcome these feelings and to prepare for the research tasks they face in school, students need to be equipped with techniques and digital skills to navigate online successfully and responsibly. Information literacy can be defined as ‘the ability to use, organise, present and access information effectively for a given purpose or need’. At St Andrews, our information literacy programme incorporates explicit teaching of these skills during units of inquiry.
Priscilla Scott Head of Arts
Over the past few months I have worked closely with classroom teachers in middle and upper primary classrooms, encouraging students to critically evaluate sources, use effective online search techniques and be familiar with the research process. Something as simple as using a child friendly search engine, such as Kiddle or KidRex, can help students find websites appropriate for their age. If you would like to learn more about the research process or strategies to help your children when searching online, you can find more in-
Sport News DISTRICT TRACK AND FIELD St Andrews students performed exceptionally well at the recent HDSS Carnival that was held at the new Somerset College track on the Sunday 6 and Monday 7 August. Outstanding performances from Junior School students included;
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Cooper Shepley who finished 2nd in the 10 Years 100m, 200m and Long Jump. • Milla Jansen who won the 11 Years 800m. • Mitchell Brace finished 2nd in the 11 Years 200m. • Ethan Read won the 12 Years 800m and finished 2nd in the 1500m. These students qualified for the Regional Championships in September in these events.
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Cooper Shepley takes off in the 100m Final. • • • • • • • All Hallows Touch Early last Sunday morning, 28 excited young girls boarded the St Andrews coach and headed north to All Hallows College for the All Schools Touch Carnival. These girls were part of the 3 teams that have been training hard in preparation for this exciting event. As the day progressed, we were very proud of not only how our girls’ skills improved with every game, but also of the respectful way in which they conducted themselves as they represented the College with pride. All teams played their hearts out and we were very proud of the commitment and effort they put in on the day. The Under 13s went from strength to strength with each game and are sure to be a formidable force in the future. The 15s Girls put on a magnificent performance to finish in the top four against some very tough opposition, whilst the Under 12s came away with the B division shield after an exciting draw resulting in a three on three shoot out, where we proved to be too good for the opposition, scoring 2 tries to 1. Special thanks go to Mrs Wood, Miss Pett and Rachel for the time and effort they continue to put in to training and improving the skills of the girls and for their wonderful support on the day. Thanks also goes to the amazing parents who made the trip up to All Hallows to support the girls and the College. All in all, a great day was had by everyone and we eagerly look forward to the next one.
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In2Cricket / T20 Blast – continues each Wednesday afternoon until Wednesday 6 September. Mini Stars Basketball - continues each Thursday after school until Thursday 7 September. Palm Beach Basketball Coach Rodney Coxsedge assisting with our 5/6 Basketball Training on Friday afternoons in sport time. Years 3-6 ‘BEEP TEST’ Challenges – Week 6 in the MPH. Primary Schools OzTag Challenge at Mallawa Drive Fields – Monday 14 August. Junior Netball Practice Matches v Hillcrest at Hillcrest – Friday 18 August. Junior Netball Squad Possible Netball Carnival at Mallawa – Sunday 20 August (to be confirmed) Years 3-6 ‘Handball Comps’ – Week 7 in the MPH. Miami OzTag visits to PSPE Classes – Week 7. SLAPS Track and Field Carnival at QSAC – Tuesday 29 August. TFA visits to P- Year 3 PSPE Classes – Weeks 9 and 10. Regional Track and Field Carnival – Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 of September Round 1 Friday Inter School Sport – Friday 8 September. P-3 ‘Mini Commonwealth Games’ – Thursday 14 September. Junior Netball Samsung Cup Carnival at Sunshine Coast Netball Centre – Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September.
Andy Manion PSPE Teacher Junior School Sports Coordinator
OSHC News Last term we implemented a couple of new routines to the OSHC program. The first one was a song being played at the very beginning of OSHC each afternoon. The educators were finding it difficult to gain the children’s attention during group time so the song gives the children a chance to let out all of their energy before group time begins and has been a real success. The other new routine has been giving the kids the opportunity to serve afternoon tea. Typically this is an educator duty but each afternoon the children bound into OSHC to ask if they can be the “servers” for the day.
ACTIVE SCHOOL LEADERS Our Year 6 Active School Leaders continue to conduct lunchtime activities for Junior School students in Term 3. These activities include Mini Commonwealth Games challenges, Yr 5 Basketball training, Handball, Dance, Dodgeball and other Minor Games. They will be conducting the ‘Beep Test’ Challenge and Handball Competitions for Years 3 to 6 in weeks 6 and 7 respectively. OZTAG We have three teams competing at the Primary Schools OzTag Challenge on Monday 14 August at Mallawa Drive Fields. Our Year 5 Boys, Year 6 Boys and Year 6 Girls teams will be competing. CURRENT AND UPCOMING TERM 3 JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTING EVENTS;
The OSHC will be open and running a typical pupil free day on the Thursday 31 August, from 7am-6pm. Bookings are open and essential so please email if you need your children cared for on this day. Staff need to be arranged and will be dependent on numbers booked.
Dates to Remember
P & F News J block recovery is progressing well with the project running to time with carpet being laid to the inside floors of the hall. The Ruth Butler Theatre to be the last part of the rebuild J Block. Friends of the theatre chair donations has now finished with a huge response from the families of the school raising over $20,000. These funds are greatly appreciated and we all thank you for the support. We would like to know the level of interest from parents and guardians who would like to SKYPE into P&F meetings through the school address. Please email your details through to pandf@salc.qld.edu.au so we can obtain the level of interest. The Father’s Day stall will be running on the Tuesday 29 August and Wednesday 30 August from 7.30am in the bus shelter. This is due to Junior School 3-way conference being held on Thursday. We are looking for volunteers to help man the stall during these mornings. Please contact Nicole Ainger if you are available to help at naa@ingwersen.com. au with all your details. The next P& F meeting is on Wednesday 13 September at 7.00pm in the J Block Upper West. We welcome all parents and guardians to attend.
VOLUNTEERS INDUCTION Our next Volunteers Induction will be held at 1:30pm Thursday 7 September 2017 in the Cecile Ryan Centre. Everyone who volunteers in the College is requested to have attended this workshop which covers such issues as Valuing Safe Communities, Child Protection, Privacy and Fire Evacuation. Please register with Karen Deacon either by emailing: jsadmin@salc.qld.edu.au or by calling 5568 5901. A reminder to all existing volunteers we request that you sign in and wear your name badge at all times while volunteering in the College. If you do not have a current name badge then once again, please contact Karen Deacon. This course needs to be attended every three years. We value highly the wonderful support all Volunteers offer the College in their various roles either in the classroom, on excursions, in the Library, Tuckshop, Uniform Shop or as Traffic Safety Attendants. These are just a few of the places where we find you helping out and we thank you for all you do. A welcoming cuppa and morning tea will be provided from 8.45am. Just come straight after dropoff and enjoy some social time.
AUGUST Sunday 20 National Book Week (20 - 25 August) ELC Family Service, Worship Centre – 9.00am Tuesday 22 Junior School Chapel, Worship Centre – 1.40pm Wednesday 23 Years 4-6 T20Blast Cricket, Top Oval – 3.30 – 5.00pm P-3 In2Cricket, Top Oval – 3.30 – 5.00pm Thursday 24 Mini Stars Basketball, MPH – 3.30 – 4.30pm Friday 25 Book Character Parade, MPH – 8.40am Year 2 Street Science Incursion Dance Night Year 2 Dad’s Night, Burleigh Brewing – 6.00pm Monday 28 Book Fair Week (28 to 31 August) Semitones Choir at Gold Coast Eisteddfod (Selected Students) Prep Little Green Thumbs Incursion Tuesday 29 Junior School Fathers’ Day Stall Years 4-6 Inter Lutheran Athletics Carnival (Selected Students) Assembly, Multi Purpose Hall – 1.40pm Golden Clefs Choir at Gold Coast Eisteddfod (Selected Students) Wednesday 30 Junior School Fathers’ Day Stall Junior School Dance Troupes at Gold Coast Eisteddfod (Selected Students) Years 4-6 T20Blast Cricket, Top Oval – 3.30 – 5.00pm P-3 In2Cricket, Top Oval – 3.30 – 5.00pm Thursday 31 P to 6 Student Led Conferences Mini Stars Basketball, MPH – 3.30 – 4.30pm SEPTEMBER Friday 1 Gold Coast Show Day Public Holiday
Animi Dance Adult Ballet Did you know Animi Dance is running an Adult Ballet and Stretch Class this year? No experience necessary! Wonderful for fitness and a lot of fun. Cost is $10, pay casually. All welcome! Day and time: every Tuesday, 4:15pm - 5pm Venue: J2 (in the Senior School) Contact Tina Tanguy tinat@salc.qld.edu.au for further information
LLL School Banking Do your kids know the value of money?
In today’s world of electronic payments and internet banking, it is difficult to teach children the value of money. When you’re at the shops, how often do you pay with actual cash? Australians only use cash for 37% of purchases, mainly for goods costing under $10. Our kids have learned that money lives in a plastic card, and lack clear understanding of how money works. The LLL recommends teaching kids the “three ‘S’s”: Saving: Have a savings goal. Instead of purchasing a birthday or Christmas present for them, let this be the motivation for saving. Spending: For everyday items: when you’re buying a coffee and your child wants a biscuit, they can use their ‘spending’ money. They’ll learn that once money is spent, it’s gone, and it’s a great way to talk about comparing the value of items. Sharing: Help your child to develop an attitude of giving at a young age. Let them choose a cause they are passionate about. One way to do this is with three clear jam jars with the labels ‘saving, ‘spending’, and ‘sharing’. Your child can tangibly see the growth as the money accumulates.
The LLL provides savings accounts for children. The accounts have a good interest rate with no bonus hurdles to jump over AND we also pay a $5 gift for the first savings account opened for the child. Talk to the school office about opening an LLL Children’s Saving Account and participating in LLL school banking today, or visit www.lll.org.au for more information. Note: School Banking Day is Tuesday. Books can be left at Junior School Admin, Middle School Admin, Senior School Admin or Main Reception.
EDUCATION/LEARNING
insights Not in front of the children! by Michael Grose
The things parents say in front of their children have wide-ranging effects on their learning, confidence and behaviour. Ever said something about another person in front of your children, only to hear one of the kids repeat those words in public when the subject of your comments is around? Yes, children’s blatant honesty can embarrass the hell out of their parents. We need to be mindful of what we say in front of our children. But being embarrassed by our children is only half the communication story. As celebrated US psychologist Martin Seligman found in his ground-breaking research about optimism, children usually reflect the explanatory style of their primary parent by the age of eight. So, for instance, if a parent is a raging pessimist there’s every chance that their kids will pick up and convey the same ‘woe is me’ way of viewing the world from an early age. As parents, this means we need to be really mindful of how we present the world to our kids. Kids take their cues from parents as trusted adults But it’s not just with optimism or pessimism that we need to be careful about our messaging. Kids take their cues from their parents as they work out how to behave and belong in all sorts of ways. Tell a child he has a learning difficulty and he’ll believe it. Tell a child she has a behaviour problem and she will believe that. Tell them they are no good at maths and the message will more than likely stick. And why not? Children look at parents as wise, trusted adults who know a thing or two about the world. Even adolescents, who are renowned for wanting to challenge the authority and world view of their parents, still use their parents as significant reference points. Parents who talk down other people – including teachers, friends and family members – in the vicinity of their children are teaching those kids to devalue those same people. Even when we vent about someone else out of sheer frustration we are shaping our children’s views about those people. For all these reasons, as parents we need to be so careful about the messages we give out.
We're a Parenting Ideas school
parentingideas.com.au
‘I don’t have to do that work’ Recently I heard how a thirteen-year-old girl refused point blank to work for a teacher as her mother had said that the teacher’s expectations were unreasonable. Miss 13 cited her mother’s views when she refused to get to work saying, “My mum says I’ve got a problem with learning. She says you need to take it easy on me but you don’t. I don’t have to do your work!” This type of entrenched view is very difficult for a teacher to encounter without ridiculing the parents and the young person. However stories like this are more common than most people think. They reinforce the notion that parents need to be mindful of what they say in front of their children, whether that be about the child’s abilities, their teachers or anyone else. Negative views can easily shut down kids’ learning. Some children are quicker than others to latch on to even a skerrick of their parents’ negativity as an excuse either not to work or to lower the expectations of others. Sometimes it best to say nothing at all As adults we have all sorts of opinions that don’t necessarily need to be shared with our kids. We may hold strong political views for example, but if young people are to formulate their own opinions then it may wise to curb our opinions when they are around. Similarly, it may be smart to keep mum if our views about religion, sexuality and ethnicity are intolerant or don’t follow the mainstream. That’s not to say we don’t discuss these issues at home. Children and parents in healthy families are able to discuss all manner of issues, with even extreme views tolerated and challenged rather than mindlessly expressed and held as if they are the only possible truth.
Michael Grose Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 10 books for parents including Thriving! and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It, and his latest release Spoonfed Generation: How to raise independent children. A trailblazer in the parenting and educational scenes Michael regularly appears in the media throughout Australia in programs including The Project, The Today Show and ABC radio.
We're a Parenting Ideas school
parentingideas.com.au