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Dear parents,
As mentioned in my newsletter in week 3, parent teacher interviews will be scheduled for weeks 9 and 10 of this term. The school uses an on-line booking system to enable the smooth timetabling of parent-teacher interviews. This term, we will have two different interview timetables.
1. Students on a personal plan
Students who are on personal plans, including students new to the personal plan system, will recieve an email today from the Diverse Learning Team outlining the booking procedures for interviews.
The meeting for these students are scheduled for 30 minutes. This will enable discussions regarding the child’s personal plan to be incorporated into the parent teacher meeting.
2. All other students
For all other students, an email will be sent home next Wednesday with details on how to book an interview.
The interviews are the main avenue for communicating a child’s progress to their parents. It is essential all parents take this opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher.
Maths Problem
Congratulations to Nathan Alex who had the first correct answer drawn out this week. I was pleased to see a lot more students attempting the problem. This week’s problem is below.
School BBQ
Today we cooked 900 hundred beef sausages, 50 chicken sausages and 12 vegetarian sausages. Each sausage was put on a slice of bread. Each loaf of bread contains 16 slices (excluding crusts) that can be used.
How many loaves of bread would be needed to ensure every sausage was in a slice of bread?
CSIRO Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge
Just before the move the remote learning 17 eager students from Years 5 and 6 participated in the CSIRO Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge.
The students’ problem solving skills were put to the test completing online challenges ranging in difficulty. The challenges involved the concepts of algorithms, abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, creating models and simulations, and evaluating solutions.
Congratulations to Thomas Abad, Hugh Almond, Thomas Beeton, William Blackwell, Billy Carroll, Ethan Ciceran, Samuel Craft, Jonty Duvall, Quinn Duvall, Lucas Korab, Sean Loney, Rafael Paredes, Isla Parker, Sonal Perera, Esther Robin, Milana Sadler-Pather and Rhys Webster.
I commend each one of the students for stepping outside their comfort zone to tackle these challenges.
Congratulations to Hugh Almond who was awarded a distinction. Several other students were awarded credits and merits. Well done!
This is an excellent result given it is the first year our school has participated in the challenge. Thank you to Mr Hart for supervising the students.
I wish everyone a lovely long weekend.
God Bless
Peter Hughes
WHOLE SCHOOL FOCUS
The Whole school focus theme for this year is: Be Just Like Jesus This term we will be focusing on: Think Like Jesus: Jesus’ character and the way he lived offers excellent examples of ways we can copy him. We can do this by doing our best to live peacefully with others, study the scriptures, be gentle and humble, trust God, help others, make good choices, and always obey God.
Confirmation Connection:
Thank you Parents and Confirmation Candidates for participating in our Confirmation Connection event via Zoom on Tuesday Evening. It was a great opportunity for everyone to meet and join in prayer and reflect and to support all involved in preparing the young people for this major step in their faith lives.
As we all eagerly await the latest announcements from the government that will allow us to proceed with planning our Sacrament of Confirmation Masses, please keep the students, their families and those preparing them in your prayers.
First Reconciliation and First Eucharist Information Session
Please save the date: Week 10 Term 2
Tuesday 30 June 6:30pm via zoom
Attention all parents who have a child in Year 3 who will be making the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Eucharist! Please be aware and ensure you do not book a parent teacher interview during this time, as we really would like you all to be available for this important zoom meeting.
Sunday Mass:
Fr Mark and Fr Jiss invite you to please sign in to the Mass at 9.15am using Meeting ID 824-036-573 or click https://zoom.us/j/824036573
Trinity Sunday - Year A
7 June 2020
“God sent his Son to save the world through him.”
Something to Think About
Trinity Sunday celebrates the Mystery of God. Who is God and what is God like?
We believe that there is one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God is a mystery that we cannot fully explain. What are your favourite images of God?
The Story
In today’s Gospel John speaks of God’s great immeasurable love and the saving action of Jesus.
Jesus explains to a man called Nicodemus that out of God’s great love for the world God gave Jesus to us
The Scriptures
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 3:16-17
Jesus told Nicodemus:
"God loved the people of this world so much
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who has faith in him
will have eternal life and never die.
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people.
He sent him to save them!"
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK
Bedtime Prayer
Family Discussion
Trinity is a word that means ‘made up of three’, and today we celebrate the Most Holy Trinity that honours our understanding of three persons in one God. Who are the three persons that make up the Trinity?
Whenever we make the Sign of the Cross, we are remembering that we believe in the Holy Trinity: one God who is three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At their Baptism, Christians are baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Have a look at photos or videos from family baptisms. Make the sign of the cross on each other’s forehead to remember your Baptism.
Family Activity
Traditionally St Patrick was said to use the shamrock (three-leaf clover) to explain the Trinity as God who is three in one. Go for a walk or drive to your local park and go on a shamrock hunt. When you have found some, talk about how it is through the Trinity – the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit – that we come to know God.
Images from Unsplash.com, Pixabay.com and Flickr.com. Used under licence/with permission.
Contemporary English Version of Scripture extracts provided under licence from ICEL to Liturgy Brisbane.
Peace and best wishes
Anne Leet REC
Live Streamed Marriage Seminars Sundays in June
The local Archdiocese has organised a series interactive live-streamed presentations for Marriage & Family Month immediately after the 11am Online Mass at St Christophers Cathedral for the next three Sundays (14th, 21st, 28th June).
Listeners will be able to interact online and ask questions of our impressive line-up of international, interstate and local Catholic couples speaking at 11.45am each Sunday from mid-June. See full program at https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/marriage-family-month-june-2020/
Free Online International Catholic Marriage Summit this week
Starting this Friday, 50+ high profile Catholic speakers & social media personalities will be appearing online with their spouses to share openly about the highs, lows and challenges of married life.
This free International Catholic Marriage Summit is the first of its kind. The instructions to the committed Catholic speakers was to ‘keep it real’. Talk topics include finances, grief, communication, conflict and sex. It should be a great resource for any engaged or married couple. Register for free here or at https://www.joyfuleverafter.org/
Award winning Canberra wine maker Tim Kirk and his wife Lara, a Catholic marriage educator, will be speaking on the topic: “I Can’t Make You Happy”.
Beating stress and worries about coronavirus (COVID-19)
by THE BRAVE TEAM on MARCH 15, 2020
There are a lot of negative and stressful events occurring in our world every day – but when something like coronavirus (COVID-19) becomes so pervasive that it affects almost every country in the world, and is talked about almost every hour of the day, our children and teenagers can become quite anxious.
They may worry about many different things related to the virus – whether they or their family members will get sick, whether schools will close, whether they will be asked to stay away from loved ones and friends, whether they will be safe, or whether the virus will ever end. Sometimes, it is simply not knowing what will happen that creates the most fear (for young people and adults).
Children and teenagers are very observant – they see things changing, they hear the news and they talk with whoever they can about what’s happening. For some young people, this is a natural and healthy way to manage their worries about the situation. But for other young people, excessive focus on the issue can increase their fears and become unmanageable. Either way, the chances are young people will have lots of questions and will be seeking reassurance from those around them, and those they trust. As parents and caregivers, you might be wondering how best to respond to these questions.
The BRAVE Team are a team of Clinical Psychologists and experts in child and adolescent anxiety and have put together a set of simple tips for you and your young person to manage the stress associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Stay calm yourself
Children and teens look to their parents to work out how to respond. When parents are not calm it sends young people the message that they too should be panicking. Pay attention to how you talk about the virus to your children, each other and other people. Stick to the facts when talking about the virus. Speak calmly about it. Behave in a considered and rational way. Fear is just as contagious as this virus – and it is not helpful. The best way you can ‘vaccinate’ your child against fear around COVID-19 is to remain calm and rational yourself.
Think about the way young people receive their information
It can be helpful for parents to consider the way in which children and teenagers consume information about COVID-19 coronavirus. Constant exposure to news broadcasting can cause additional stress– children can’t always recognise fine differences between facts and messages designed to convey exaggerated threat. Help your child receive factual information in ways that are young-person friendly. Focus on the messages that are most important to children (think about what you want them to do – Regularly wash hands). Don’t forget to pay attention to how you talk about the virus to your children, each other and other people. Try not to panic – children are much more likely to keep calm if you do too.
Think about how you can answer questions
When young people are anxious, they tend to focus on the worst-case scenario and seek a lot of reassurance. Remind your children that there are a lot of people out there working hard to keep them and their loved ones safe, and we need to help in whatever way we can. Be there to listen and answer their questions, but try and keep an optimistic outlook. Help them see the range of possibilities and focus on what you can do right now to keep safe and manage stress. Try not to let them continue asking questions over and over – instead engage them in other activities and use the strategies from our Guide for Parents and Young people below, which you can use, print and share.
Remember that everyone worries about different things
We also need to remember that children may have different worries than teenagers and adults. For many younger children, their fears may focus on being separated from loved ones (including pets and toys) whereas older children and teenagers may worry about getting sick themselves or social isolation and missing out on things. It’s important to acknowledge their individual worries and help find strategies to manage these.
Help your young person find a strategy that works for them
Help your young person find some strategies for managing their anxiety. This might include family activities which can distract from fear and focus on positive experiences, or it might be things like encouraging your young person to listen to music, rediscover old hobbies, practice relaxation or mindfulness or connect with family and friends online. Encourage them (and all family members) to focus on other things during these activities. Remember, young people learn through experience – set a good example and try and remain calm as much as possible. Try and keep to your family routines as much as possible, stay healthy and active.
Finally, remember that it is normal to feel overwhelmed by such events. Reach out and find the right support for you and your child if required.
About The Brave Program
The BRAVE program is an evidence-based cognitive behavioural program which helps people understand how anxiety works and identify strategies for overcoming fears and worries. There are programs for Parents of young children (3-6 years), Children (7-11 years), Teenagers (12-17 years) and Parents of Children and Teenagers.
If you are in Australia you can learn more about how to help your child or teenager manage stress and anxiety generally by accessing the BRAVE Self-Help program at www.brave4you.psy.uq.edu.au .
Please note that the program is only available to Australian IP addresses at this time.
Useful Links – Australia
Youth Beyond Blue: https://www.youthbeyondblue.com/ OR https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak
Emerging Minds: https://emergingminds.com.au/ OR this video on Talking to Children about natural disasters and traumatic events.
Kids Helpline: https://kidshelpline.com.au/ OR call 1800 55 1800
Reach Out: https://au.reachout.com/
Lifeline: https://www.lifeline.org.au/ OR call 13 11 14
