Middle/Senior School Bulletin Issue 2 / 19 February 2016 Middle & Senior School News The end of the first month of school is upon us already! And what a month of learning and experiences it has been. From awards ceremonies to Little Mermaid rehearsals; Futsal and Kokoda training, Senior Biology and Year 7 camps, debating meetings and so much more, life outside scheduled classes has been as busy and rich as the learning activities in academic subjects. On a daily basis I have the unique pleasure of being able to visit classes across Years 7 – 12 and to connect with the rich and diverse learning that happens at the College. As a College parent, I’d like to invite you to join me on visits through the classrooms. Simply email me virginiaw@salc.qld. edu.au if you would like to schedule a time.
St Andrews is committed to providing a positive education for all students with a strong focus on developing young men and women of character who understand the importance of growing and sharing your gifts with others. The commitment to wellbeing and the pursuit of success; academic and otherwise, is what makes St Andrews such a special school. Since the start of the year our Year 12 students have been setting a stellar example for our community. Their running of the Disco last Friday night was superb and really highlighted their ability to work together as a cohesive team. Today they faced the challenge of their first full day QCS test preparation session and showed the same unity. Planning is well underway on a number of fronts where they would like to make a difference within the College and beyond. As a cohort, they have shown a keen desire to leave a legacy for future years to build upon. I am looking forward to walking alongside them throughout the year as their plans crystallise and come to fruition.
Inter-House Swimming Carnival – Thursday 25 February Next Thursday our Inter-House Swimming Carnival will be held for all students in Years 7 – 12 at Somerset pool. This is a wonderful event based around participation and House Spirit and also a time for our top swimmers to shine. Parents are welcome to attend and share in the event. Hands for Helping Our first Mufti Day for the year will be held next Tuesday 23 February. All funds raised will go towards Bush Fire Appeals. This is a free dress day and we are asking students to bring in a gold coin donation to go towards support for families and communities who have been affected by the fires that occurred across our southern states over the summer break. Students are asked to revisit the dress expectations which are listed in the Student Diary (Page 34). Last Friday a group of our Leos visited the St Andrews Aged Care to bring some joy and love to the residents before Valentine’s Day. Our Leos club members for 2016 will be officially installed at a special afternoon tea this Friday in Main Administration.
Next Friday, a number of our Senior School students will recommence their support of Rosies and spend the evening assisting Rosies staff and connecting with people in need. In Week 6, a number of Middle School students will take part in an ALWS Awareness Week activities around the theme – Goodness Grows: Our Planet, Our People, Our Purpose. This will be a time to connect with students from other Lutheran Schools in Queensland and to explore the issues of our changing climate and the subsequent effects on people in poor communities. New Staff Jonathan Barker joined the St Andrews community this year as the English Head of Department. His experience spans a number of schools, including Rivermount College and Somerset College, where he held various leadership and management positions. Jonathan is very keen to share with the students of St Andrews his love of literature and work with the students to enable them to reach their individual potential. Jonathan completed his qualification at the University of Queensland. In 1996 he was awarded a ASSIF grant to study Asian culture and education in Thailand. A number of years later he moved to Thailand where he worked for the law firm White and Case as a communication consultant. Jonathan’s wife Melissa is Director of Allied Health/Speech Pathology for Gold Coast Health. Jonathan and Melissa have two young children, Rosabelle (3) and Sam (1). They are members of Trinity Lutheran Church at Ashmore. Rosabelle currently attends the Early Learning Centre at Trinity Lutheran College.
Chaplains Chat Being Open to God The school year has kicked off at a fair pace with all sorts of activities occurring that enable our community to grow and flourish. Parent nights have brought together staff and families to strengthen connections and the effectiveness of learning for students. Our students have participated in numerous worship events that build us up individually and as a community. It was a great joy to have the band Tasman Jude join Middle/Senior School Chapel last Wednesday to celebrate the goodness of God in our midst and His call on our lives. The band led our students and staff in an uplifting time of singing and celebration and for plenty of students this was a very positive event. In amongst the celebration though it was possible for students to simply observe in a detached, uninvolved manner if they so desired and this is a fair analogy for how all of life can be lived in relation to our loving God. In week 2 I shared the challenge with Senior School that God is always present amongst us, longing to input his love and guidance into our midst, but he respects us enough to allow us to reject His offer. It works the same way in the manner in which our students go about their learning – particularly the older ones. Teachers are constantly offering guidance and assistance but students need to be open and receptive to the input.
When Jonathan is not battling the hectic life of looking after a young family, he enjoys kayaking, swimming, boating, beach holidays at Emu Park and visiting the family property in Central Queensland. Jonathan has also experienced success in equestrian pursuits in the fields of Eventing and Show Jumping. Whilst at home, he enjoys spending time with his extended family and friends. After only a short time at St Andrews, Jonathan has felt very welcomed by the students and staff of the College and is looking forward to the year ahead. Please contact me at the College should I be able to offer any assistance. Every blessing Virginia Warner Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School virginiaw@salc.qld.edu.au
God offers each of us an inexhaustible supply of love and goodness as we share our lives with Him. All He requires of us is an openness to His working in our life. As God opens our eyes and we see life through the eyes of faith, rather than shutting Him down we are blessed with a perspective that is life giving. May 2016 be a year where we open our eyes and hearts to God’s work – his work of forgiveness and reconciliation through Christ, his work of lifting up the oppressed, his work of building unity amongst all people and may we flourish both individually and communally as his children. Graeme Schache Chaplain
Middle School News Year 7 Camp This week saw the annual Year 7 Camp. This event offers an opportunity for staff and students to begin the year with an emphasis upon the development of positive relationships. Held at the newly refurbished CYC Burleigh it is always a highlight for students with its emphasis upon outdoor activities and an early chance at a sleepover. Enormous thanks must go to Mrs Lisa Roper, the Year 7 Team and other College staff for their organisation, enthusiasm and reserves of energy during the two days.
Year 9 Leadership At the start of the year we acknowledged eleven Middle School students who had been awarded formal leadership roles this year. During the year Mr Ivett and Mr Tanguy along with myself will seek to provide a range of opportunities through which other Year 9 students will be afforded the chance to demonstrate and develop their leadership capabilities. Please encourage your son or daughter to participate broadly in life at the College and to actively seek chances to lead within the Middle School. Year 7 Literacy and Numeracy Throughout the coming term Mrs Lisa Roper and I will begin to adjust the timetabled Numeracy lesson each week to incorporate increasing elements of literacy. While we may think of literacy as the ability to read, at the College we include a much broader definition involving the accessing of both written and visual elements and a critical approach to how items are used in context. Please ask your son or daughter about these lessons in the coming weeks. Diaries Please take a moment each week to examine your child’s diary. Adolescent children are still learning the skills of organisation and having them explain their use of the diary to you would be a valuable exercise. Additionally, each week in the diary is a brief activity related to the College’s approach to Positive Psychology. It would be worth ensuring that they sit and complete this activity as part of their regular study routine. As always, please contact me should you wish to discuss anything further. Tom Casey Head of Middle School
Student Development Hope, Engagement and Wellbeing This time last year I reflected upon an article by Rebecca Barrett (1 March 2015) http://www.abc.net.au/news/201503-01/students-lack-hope-for-future-says-poll-gallupaustralia/6269960. The ABC journalist reported on the high number of adolescents in Australia with a diminished sense of Hope and Optimism about future prospects. These statistics are alarming as this mindset has a negative impact upon study success, school engagement and mental health. At St Andrews we continue to be focussed on the proactive building of Hope, Engagement and Wellbeing in students. The Positive Learning Framework at St Andrews continues to be one of our vehicles for improving student’s sense of realistic hope through the alignment of goals and values to specific behaviours that promote agency and mastery in our students. This framework aligns our activities in Learning Advisory Group (LAG) times, our overarching themes in Chapel (this term ‘Courage and Wisdom’) with practical tools for students to use in their diaries and daily walk to build their levels of Hope, Engagement and Wellbeing. Each term we persist with requiring students to set goals so that students may gradually refine the process and develop a real sense of agency as they design pathways to accomplishment and improved learning. We appreciate the support of parents and I encourage you to speak to your child(ren) about their goals and the actions they will be committed to take to make them come to fruition this term. Last year, we gathered data from students in Years 5-12 through the Gallup Student Poll to aid us in our intervention with particular year levels and teach skills that help build perspective, learn optimism and promote wellbeing. It was pleasing for us to see the high number of students who felt strongly connected to teachers and classrooms that affirmed their strengths, valued them as individuals and were hopeful about their future prospects. It was also pleasing for us to see the number of students who receive regular recognition for their effort and industry. These are just a couple of highlights from the data which informs us regarding the focus of conversations with students and programs which will promote their wellbeing and flourishing now and into the future. James Nelson Director of Student Development
Senior School News
residents and the students. Many of our students expressed real gratitude at having the opportunity to visit and there were even some tears as they realised how much their time and conversation was appreciated.
Positive Education It was heartening in LAG last week to hear Senior School students talking about their Character Strengths and how they use them to overcome challenges and/or achieve their goals. What was also interesting was hearing how our young people realised that those same strengths could also be a disadvantage if overused and can sometimes get us into trouble. For example, anyone who has Honesty as a strength knows that occasionally they can be too honest or perhaps even blunt and those with Humour as a strength might have found that making a joke at the wrong time has been a problem. Achieving personal bests through the setting of goals is a big part of our approach in the Senior School and a formula the students have been working from might assist parents in identifying if their child has set a SMART Goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Framed). Goal Formula – By _____ I have/am _____ so that ____ and will feel ___. Example: By July 2016 I have completed the 48km Kokoda Challenge in under 8 hrs with my whole team so that all our training has paid off and I will feel elated at our achievement. (Wish me luck!) The Year 12 students have made an exceptional start to the year showing that they really are embracing our Goal of 2016, ‘Our Best Year Ever’ by creating a community of honour and respect. The Student Representative Council raised over $500 at our Middle and Senior School Disco which was very well attended. Thank you to the Year 12s for supporting this event.
Leos Visit to the Aged Care Last Friday 15 wonderful Leos visited our neighbours at the St Andrews Lutheran Aged Care to present Valentine’s cards and chocolate, and to share some music and conversation with the residents. Elliott Baylis provided the music and crooned the lunch time crowd with some old favourites. He is such a talent and the residents absolutely loved it. I was heartened to see what an impact the visit made on both the
Congratulations to: • Olivia English, Keely McVay, Hayden Verschuure and Jasmine Sheers for organising our first visit to the Aged Care for 2016. • Riley Kennedy, Ben Wooldridge, Darby Kenyon and a host of Year 12 leaders who assisted with the set up and running of the Disco. • Ben Allan, Holly Burnett, Nicole Richards and Rory McLynskey for their selection to be a part of the Gold Coast City Junior Council for 2016. It is great to see young people interested in local government and youth issues. If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me on tanias@salc.qld.edu.au Tania Stewart Head of Senior School
If anyone has any suggestions or comments and cannot make the next meeting please email the P & F at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au
Traffic Safety Traffic Safety at and Around St Andrews When it comes to Traffic and Parking the safety of St Andrews students is an important concern. By and large St Andrews families do the right thing when it comes to traffic safety, so it is always concerning when reports are received to the contrary. It is timely therefore to remind us that as a community we all bear responsibility to do the right thing when it comes to traffic safety. In the interests of the safety of all our students please exercise care, caution and patience when transporting your child/ren within the College and its immediate surrounds. It goes without saying that illegal and dangerous practices such as double parking, crossing double white lines, illegal U-turns, exceeding the 40km speed limit outside the College and crossing roads other than at designated crossings should not be happening as they endanger the safety of all in our community. Additionally, the College has a good relationship with its neighbours, and one that we would like to maintain. Please consider the College’s neighbours and local residents when dropping off and picking up your sons and daughters from school and avoid such practices as parking on nature strips, blocking drive ways, and parking in no standing areas. Thank you in anticipation of helping to keep St Andrews safe.
P&F News Welcome back to school and to all new parents, we hope you have settled into life at St Andrews. The next General Meeting for Term 1 is Wednesday 9 March at 7pm in the CRC. We welcome any new parents to come and find out what the P & F is all about. If you have any agenda items for discussion please email the Secretary by Friday 4 March at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au. It is a great opportunity to have input into College projects which the P & F fund, find out what’s happening in the College and meet the Principal.
Picnic in the Playground The annual Picnic in the Playground will be held on Friday 11 March beginning at 5pm. There will be jumping castles for the kids, music for the adults by St Andrews students and a relaxing atmosphere. It is also a great opportunity for parents to get to know each other. We will also be having a sausage sizzle and drinks for sale with all profits going towards the East Timor Service Learning.
LOTE News Minasan konnichiwa! Welcome to another year of exciting opportunities for learning languages at St Andrews. We welcome Ms Konami Charlton to our team this year as she joins us to teach Years 5, 6, 7, and 8 Japanese in the Junior and Middle Schools. Ms Charlton is also running a Japanese Culture Club on Tuesday lunch times in the Learning Hub. Language is a real-life skill with many applications in whichever field your son or daughter chooses as their eventual career path. My ex-students often tell me about how they are using their Japanese in their present career, whether that be veterinary, hospitality or medical! In our classrooms students use their language skills for real-life and realistic purposes each week – finding out information from classmates on a topic, Skyping Japan, speaking with our Japanese and German assistant teachers, presenting information to the class or a small group, borrowing stationery items from each other, etc. etc. One of the most exciting real-life uses of language is travel. A group of 6 St Andrews girls joined with Trinity Lutheran College over the Christmas break with Miss Bible to visit Germany and had a fantastic time of exploring German language, culture and sights. This year we are running the biennial Study Tour to Japan and the expression of interest forms are due to Mrs Hill now.
There are a number of vacant positions still on the P & F Executive. If you wish to nominate for any positions a nomination form will need to be given to the secretary no later than 14 days before the next meeting. The nomination form is available on the College website www.salc.qld.edu.au/community/p-f/ If there is more than one nomination for each role, there will be a ballot on the night. If you would like more information about any of the roles contact: Daniel Renneberg - 0409 729 676 or Julieanne Andrews - 0421 795 411
If you have any queries about language at St Andrews, please email me at rebekahh@salc.qld.edu.au Rebekah Hill Head of Languages
Performing Arts News The Little Mermaid Jr The cast of the College Musical has been hard at work since last year to bring you the spectacular that will be ‘The Little Mermaid Jr.’ The sounds of those famous Disney songs can be heard from the Ruth Butler Theatre every Monday afternoon as students from Years 4 to 12 are involved in rigorous rehearsals. Everyone is very excited to perform on stage at the Arts Centre Gold Coast, working with a professional crew, in a professional theatre venue. The production is made up of a range of talented performers, including, solo singers, specialist dance troupes and a cast of colourful characters. However, by far the highlight of the show will be the massive ensemble of vibrant singing and dancing sea creatures.
Dates to Remember February/MARCH FEBRUARY Monday 22 Hinterland Swimming Carnival, TSS – 8.30am to 3.00pm Year 10 Destinations Little Mermaid Jr Rehearsals, RBT – 3.30pm to 5.30pm Tuesday 23 Mufti Day Wednesday 24 Year 12 Griffith Business School Outreach Thursday 25 Years 7-12 SALC Swimming Carnival Friday 26 SS Mens and Womens Assembly Lending a helping hand at ROSIES Saturday 27 East Timor Service Learning Training, CRC – 8.30am Monday 29 South Coast Regional Swim Carnival Little Mermaid Jr Rehearsals, RBT – 3.30pm to 5.30pm MARCH Wednesday 2 South Coast Regional Swim Carnival Year 12 Study Afternoon, CRC – 3.30-5pm Thursday 3 ALWS Awareness Day Excursion (selected students)
Nurses Note
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW BEFORE THEY SWIM AWAY! CLICK HERE FOR LINK Amy Anderson Acting Head of Performing Arts
Could all new students who have commenced this year please return the “medical record & consent forms” to the respective administration offices by the end of the week. This information is imperative for the College and our Nurse to be able to deliver the safest and most appropriate care for our students. The College Health Centre is open from 8.00am daily.
St Andrews Lutheran College Production of
Music by
Lyrics by
Book by
Alan Menken
Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater
Doug Wright
Based on the Hans Christian Andersen Story and the Disney Film produced by Howard Ashman & John Musker and written & directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Licensed exclusively by Music theatre international (Australasia). All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.
SAturDAy 16tH APriL 2016 12.30PM AnD 6.30PM tHE ArtS CEntrE GoLD CoASt 135 BunDALL rD, SurfErS PArADiSE
tiCkEtS $20 ADuLtS ALL ConCESSionS $15 tiCkEtS AvAiLABLE froM tHE BoX offiCE. PH: 5588 4000 or WWW.tHEArtSCEntrEGC.CoM.Au
J14
E15
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
3.30 - 5pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
7.15 - 8.15am
3.30 - 5pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
3.30 - 4.30pm
12.55 - 1.25pm
3.30 - 5pm
Please Note: Additional support for students is available by request / negotiation with the relevant teacher.
(for private study / computer use)
SS Study Room
(for private study / computer use)
MS Study Room
(Yr 12 students assisting Middle School students)
CRC
F1
Physics
Peer Tutoring
F4
L3 (Hub)
Japanese
Maths
L2 (Hub)
J14
Early Bird Study Club
German
CRC
English
Chemistry F3
12.50 - 1.20pm (Year 11)
12.50 - 1.20pm (Year 12)
Thursday
Friday
1.00 - 1.30pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
12.55 - 1.25pm
1.00 - 1.30pm
Tutorials by appointment. Please see Mrs Myles to organise a time.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Business Management
Monday
Tutorials by appointment. Please see Miss Yeo to organise a time.
J14
Room
BCT
Accounting
Tutorial
2016 Tutorials (Middle & Senior School)
Picnic in the Playground Friday 11 March Junior School Playground
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Please come and join the College community for our Term 1 social event. sausage sizzle & drinks for sale, all profits going toWARDS THE EAST TIMOR SERVICE LEARNING TRIP. • Jumping Castle • Entertainment • Coffee Van
• Sausage Sizzle • Undercover Area • Playground
Please RSVP by Saturday 5 March pandf@salc.qld.edu.au
INSIGHTS Building parent-school partnerships WORDS Michael Grose
Creating good study and work habits in secondary school Here are seven healthy and strong study habits that will serve your young person well throughout their school years and their lives. Natural smarts is not the only factor that will impact on your young person’s success at school this year. A positive attitude, a sense of resilience and a willingness to persist and work through difficulties will help. Perhaps more importantly, it’s your young person’s work and study habits that will have the most potent impact on the marks they receive at the end of the year. It’s worth keeping in mind that the study habits they develop in school also impact on their success in life beyond school. Here are seven ways to develop healthy, strong study skills that will serve your young person well this year and throughout their lives.
1 Establish a thorough homework process Doing the homework is one thing, but there are many steps in the process before handing an assignment in. Encourage your young person to: • Write down an assignment when it’s given orally • Ask the teacher clarifying questions if he doesn’t understand anything • Use a planner or some other organiser to plan his or time • Place his homework in a designated place as soon as its finished.
2 Establish a Study Zone at home Choose a consistent study or homework space that’s conducive to working. Encourage your young person to stick to this space. Some young people need absolute quiet when doing homework, while others work better with soft music. Contrary to the opinions of many teens, studies consistently show that loud music and/or TV are highly distracting to students. Don’t let your young person develop the habit of working in bed as this will make it difficult to go to sleep. Keep work and sleep spaces separate.
3 Establish a regular study time The establishment of a consistent and specific time to do home work has been linked to academic success. Help your young person work out the best time for him or her to crack the books – before or after dinner, or both. Encourage your young person to take regular breaks to keep their brain alert. Every hour – or whenever she feels frustrated or angry – she should get up and walk around, get a snack and let her brain recover.
4 Establish a way to stay organised Getting organised reduces stress levels and improves the chance of success. Consider a colour-coding system to keep assignments organised by selecting a single colour for each class (like science or history). Use that colour for that subject’s folder, highlighters,
sticky notes, etc. The colours will not only keep your teen organised but will also enhance his or her recall of the subject.
5 Establish good time management skills The best way to help your young person organise their time is to use a large wall calendar so they can jot down study, leisure, family and other activities. The visual nature of the wall calendar will enable you as a parent to help them stay on track as well.
6 Eliminate time robbers Many teens work inefficiently wasting time on mobile devices and other activities. Help your teen recognise time robbers and eliminate them so they can finish homework quickly and have more time to do other things.
7 Conduct a regular extracurricular audit Take a hard look at your young person’s overall time commitments. Help them reprioritise their commitments if much of their time and energy is taken up with a parttime job, extracurricular activities, and their social lives. While it’s important that young people have interests outside school, it’s equally important that these commitments don’t overwhelm or impact negatively on their study.
Want more ideas to help you raise confident kids and resilient young people? Subscribe to Happy Kids newsletter, my FREE weekly email parenting guide at parentingideas.com.au. You’ll be so glad you did.
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© 2016 Michael Grose