Term 2 Week 10 2024

From the Principal

Dear Families,

As we embark on the school holidays, I would like to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the achievements and growth our students have experienced throughout Term 2. It has been a term filled with learning, discovery and personal development and we couldn’t have achieved this without your unwavering support and partnership. 

Highlights of the Term

• Academic Excellence: Our students have shown remarkable progress in their learning, with many achieving personal bests and excelling in various subjects. I spent last week reading report cards and have been delighted to read comments about areas of growth across Semester 1 and areas for continued development across the remainder of 2024. I encourage you to talk with your child about their report card and discuss what learning goals they would like to set for Semester 2. 
• Extracurricular Activities: From sports to arts, our students have participated enthusiastically, showcasing their talents and building essential life skills. We had many students participate in Burdekin and NQ Sport Trials all giving their best and doing themselves and our school proud. Students participated at the Burdekin Eisteddfod and proudly showcased their poem and song yesterday at our Eisteddfod Presentations.
• Community Engagement: We have had successful community events, including our sausage sizzle at Max Place Markets, Learning Breakfasts, NAIDOC Week and FACE Meetings which have brought us closer as a school community. We are looking forward to our Family Movie Night in Term 3.

As we move into the next term, we are excited about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Term 3 begins with our Athletics Carnival in Week 2 before we celebrate Catholic Education Week and Founders Day in Week 3. You will find the next term's calendar in the Newsletter this week. We hope that you find it useful in planning the upcoming term.

Thank you for your continuous support, whether it’s helping with homework, attending school events, or simply being there to encourage your child. Your involvement is invaluable and deeply appreciated.

As we begin the holidays, I hope you all have a restful and joyous time with your families. Please encourage your children to balance relaxation with some reading and writing to keep their minds engaged. On Monday at Assembly I challenged all the students to complete some writing over the holidays and bring it in to show me at the beginning of next term. I have already had one student take up this challenge and I am looking forward to seeing more writing pieces after the holidays.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back refreshed and ready for the new term on Monday 8th July.

Have a wonderful holiday

Take care and God Bless

Amanda

UR STRONG

Cyberbullying & Friendship Fires in a Digital World

Texting. Email. WhatsApp. SnapChat. Instagram. How do we manage conflict with friends online?

Based on an interview with Dana Kerford, Friendship Expert and Founder of URSTRONG, this information was originally published in the December 2016 issue of Girlfriend Magazine.

Why is it so important to hash out disagreements in person? When technology becomes involved, why do fights tend to get messy? How do we protect our kids from cyberbullying?

At URSTRONG, we talk a lot about the importance of keeping relationships healthy online. While digital etiquette and cyber safety are so important, it’s not always intuitive for kids and they sometimes forget to consider the many ways their messages can be misinterpreted. So much of how we communicate is non-verbal (80-90%) through our facial expressions, posture, and tone of voice. When we send a message to our friends online, those factors and nuances are removed and the person on the other end is left to infer how they said it. Unfortunately, if they don’t know the person well or have a ‘history’ with the person, they don’t always assume the best and tend to interpret messages negatively.

We use this example in our workshops:

When your friend tells you something surprising, you might say, “Shut up!” You’ve got a smile on your face and you say it jovially, so your friend knows what you’re really saying is, “Wow! Are you serious? That’s amazing!” When you simply type those two words, removing body language and tone of voice, your friend may picture you with your eyebrows furrowed in a grumpy, annoyed tone.

Messages being misinterpreted are among the many, many reasons Friendship Fires® should always be dealt with face-to-face.

Sometimes it’s really hard to express how you feel in person. Do you have any tips on over-coming this? 

Conflict is uncomfortable and not something we’re naturally good at handling. Technology has provided people with an ‘easy out’ so they don’t have to face conflict head-on. However, not dealing with it directly, face-to-face, leads people to choose inappropriate ways to manage their Friendship Fires®. Some inappropriate ways kids manage conflict include: gossiping, rolling their eyes, alliance-building, exclusion, not tagging them in an Instragram pic, posting a pic online that would make them feel jealous or left-out, passive-aggressive text messages, and so on.

On that note, we teach these steps for putting out Friendship Fires®:

1. Find a good time to talk, just the two of you.
2. Retell the situation.
3. Explain how it made you feel.
4. Have an open, honest conversation and talk-it-out with a goal of moving towards forgive-and-forget.

We always teach kids that Friendship Fires® should never be dealt with online and you should never type something you wouldn’t say to their face.

OK, so you’ve had a group squabble over text message and someone has said something they shouldn’t have. What now?  

We all mess up sometimes and occasionally ‘big emotions’ get the better of us. The first step in making it right again is acknowledging you messed up. Admitting you texted something you shouldn’t have helps to release the feelings of regret. Next, a genuine apology is in order…face-to-face! Have an open, honest conversation about how you were feeling and own the fact you typed/texted something you should not have. Let your friend know that you won’t do that again and next time you’ll talk to them in person if you’ve got a Fire® that won’t go out!

If a friend is starting a fight over text message, do you have any practical advice on what to say/do next? Is there something that is quite an effective reply?

Keep it short and simple. Don’t engage in a conversation over text and simply type, “I really care about our friendship. Let’s chat in person! K?” If they’re not ready to talk in person, just give them time and say, “No worries! Lemme know when ur ready to chat.” Throw in a heart emoji or frog – something to lighten the mood and let them know you’re aiming to resolve the issue and care about your relationship with them.

Do you have any tips for kids who might be feeling really upset following one of these ‘hidden’ fights? When is showing an adult a good idea? 

I would recommend they screenshot any unkind behavior they see online. If the Fire® feels big inside and they can’t seem to put it out, then talking to an adult and showing them what’s going on is always a good idea. Often kids don’t talk to adults because they’re worried they’ll make it worse (e.g. their mum calls the other kid’s mum, or the teacher tells the Principal and the Principal calls them down for a “meeting”, etc.). Parents, especially, sometimes overreact out of love for their child and a protective instinct that kicks in. If kids are worried the adult may over-react and are simply looking for advice and support, then before they open up to them, let them know what they need. For instance, “I need some advice with something, but I need you to promise you won’t overreact or do anything without talking to me first? Deal?” This sets the stage for the adult to be mindful and empathetic so kids can feel safe opening up.

Interview with Dana Kerford
Friendship Expert and Founder of URSTRONG

Religious Life of the School

Dear families,

We have come to the end of Term 2 and Semester 1. It has been an eventful term with lots on and I look forward to a busy Term 3. Thank you to everyone who came to support our events and celebrate with us. I wish you all a safe, peaceful break from routine and hope you find some quality family time.

We have had many unwell students lately, which has been evident in classrooms, let us pray for their speedy recovery. May the break be a healthy one for all of our families.

Next Monday is the Nativity of St John the Baptist. He is one of the few saints to have two feast days with his unique role in the history of Christianity. St John was the bridge between Hebrew and Christian teachings. If you think about it, this is an interesting concept as he never had the chance to be a Christian or witness Jesus as the Risen Lord.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Celebrated on June 24th, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist commemorates the miraculous birth of John, a key figure in Christianity who foretold the coming of Jesus. According to the Gospel of Luke, John was born to elderly parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had despaired of having children. An angel foretold his birth, and Zechariah, initially sceptical, was struck mute until John's naming ceremony, where his speech was restored, and he proclaimed the boy's destined role. John the Baptist later became a prominent preacher, baptising many, including Jesus, and calling for repentance and the coming of the Messiah. This feast celebrates his life, his pivotal role in Christian history, and the joy and hope his birth brought to his parents and to the world.

Learning Corner

Work is over for the semester and holidays are a time to rest and recharge the school brain ready for Semester 2.Your child will be bringing home a folio with work from all subjects except Mathematics and English. The skills and concepts in these subjects will be repeated and extended next semester. If you would like to see work and assessment samples for English or Mathematics, please make an appointment with your child's teacher. The focus and purpose of the folios are to show individual growth and progress in learning.

As you talk about the semester report with your child please ask them about the achievements that they were proudest of and something they could work on next semester. Ask them for suggestions on how they would work on this goal. You will find suggestions for a goal in the subject comments.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN student hard copy reports will commence arriving in schools across the state during July. As soon as they arrive at our school they will be sent home. 

Enjoy the holidays

Rita

Guidance Counsellor

In this edition of SchoolTV - INTERNET ADDICTION

In today’s digital environment, the internet can be viewed as a valuable tool for education, research and entertainment. Young people today tend to go from one screen to another, but how much is too much? Time spent in the ‘screen world’ has parents concerned that their kids may be missing out on real life experiences. Therefore, it is vitally important to a child’s wellbeing for parents to regulate a child’s internet use.

Internet addiction can cause significant psychological and social problems for children in years to come. The true effects on future generations is not yet known, but there are strategies that parents can implement now.

In this edition, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg discusses what causes internet addiction, who is most at risk and what parents can do to regulate the amount of time their kids spend online each day.

Here is the link to the Internet Addiction edition of SchoolTV
https://sfatsv.catholic.schooltv.me/newsletter/internet-addiction

P.A.T.H.

Book Fair

Athletics Carnival

Community