TERM FOUR 

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

It was wonderful to welcome approximately two hundred and sixty of visitors into St Mary's last Friday for our Grandparents' and Special Friends' Day.

Commencing with Mass in the St Mary's Catholic Church, the day continued in a joyful way. The sumptuous morning tea, supplied by all of you, was well received, with many of our visitors commenting positively on the offerings. 

Year Six led us in a moving Remembrance Day Ceremony before the presentation of our whole school Australian-themed presentation.

I would like to thank everyone who joined us for this very special occasion. I would also like to thank the students, staff and teachers for their preparation and presentations.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like I thank our parent helpers, ably led by Reané Strode and Rechell Naughton, and all the families who donated food. Without you the day would not have been such a success.

Mission Day

Our end-of-year school disco for Years Three-Six is scheduled for Thursday 24 November from 5.30pm to 7.00pm in the Old Hall. Year Six organise and run the disco. This year, Year Six have chosen the theme Movie or TV Character. Entry to the disco is $2.00 and drinks and snacks will be available. 

Year Six will run a mini disco for K-Two during the afternoon session.

Health Matters

A reminder that we must remain vigilant with health matters. If your child is unwell, showing cold and flu symptoms or another sickness, please do not send them to school. Whilst there is a lot of hayfever around at the moment causing a variety of symptoms, we are also finding there are colds and other bugs circulating. If your child presents unwell at school, we will make contact with you to collect them. The health and safety of our students and staff remain one of our top priorities.

Please also be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of impetigo or 'school sores'. Attached is a fact sheet, for your information.  

Impetigo Information Sheet

Orientation 

In Week 8, on Monday 28 November, we invite our new 2023 Kindergarten students to St Mary's for a full Orientation Day.

The children are to arrive at 9.15am dressed in play clothes with a packed lunch, drink bottle and hat. Upon arrival, the students are to go to the Kindergarten classroom where they will be greeted by their Year Six buddy and Mrs Cummins. They will then have a short morning play before lining and moving to the classroom for learning activities.

At 2pm parents and carers are invited to attend a ‘Meet and Greet' afternoon tea in the Staffroom. During this, our Parents and Friends Association (P&F) Secretary, Reané Strode, will present some information about the P&F Association and how you can get involved.

At 2.40pm parents are invited to attend an information session in the Kindergarten classroom before departing at 3.00pm.

KIDS ARE HARDWIRED TO BE NEGATIVE… YOU CAN CHANGE THAT!

Overcoming negativity in children is possible. If you understand why humans are naturally negative, it is easier to make kids naturally more positive. This article contains 6 tips that will help.

Kids are hardwired to be negative. We all are. Back in our early evolution, there was so much detail and information in our environment that we focused on the negatives…the threats. No point focusing on the beauty of a sunset only to be mauled by a sabre-tooth tiger while you’re at it. It was a case of survival of the most negative.

This attention to negative details is what psychologists call, the negativity bias. It has helped determine the success of our species, but it has also helped lead to the epidemic of negative talk, depression and doom fatigue that we experience in the 21^st century.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE NEGATIVITY BIAS AND HOW IT IS AFFECTING CHILDREN?

As we have further evolved and predators and physical threats aren’t as common, we have still maintained our vigilance in identifying negatives. Our modern threats come in the shape of other people, our relationships, our emotions and challenging tasks like exams or performances.

• When we meet new people we immediately assess whether or not they are a threat. Studies show that we look for negative traits in others and even focus on faults in their appearance. We expend a lot of brain activity processing those negatives and much less attention and brain activity on positive features. When we think about other people’s actions, we are much more likely to attribute negative motives to people than positive motives. We are naturally suspicious.
• We experience negative emotions as more powerful than positive emotions. This means we hold on to hurt much longer than joy. Think about that for a minute. It’s sad. When positive and negative emotions are combined the overall experience becomes negative. So, your child had a pretty good day at school. She got a good mark in maths and had fun with friends at lunchtime, but after school she posted a selfie and only 43 people liked it. She felt humiliated and it became a bad day. Humans naturally lack perspective, especially some of our adolescents.
• It is interesting to know that we have more negative language than positive language when describing emotions. Try it yourself. Ask your child to write down all the positive emotions they can think of and then the negatives. The negative list is likely to be longer. The problem with this is, thoughts are trapped in language. To think positively, we need to have positive words. This means that we can conceptualise negativity more easily than positivity.
• The closer we get to negative experiences the more negative they become. This potency change is not the same with positive emotions. For example, the closer your child gets to an exam the more frightened they get. However, a party getting closer doesn’t increase their excitement at the same rate.

All of this negativity is depressing…obviously. We are naturally negative and this is reinforced by the negative version of the world that is constantly fed to us by the media. It seeps in daily. The big question for me is why are we not more distressed. Why don’t we wake up and cry? Well, fortunately, there are two phenomena that keep us sane.

DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE THIS WAY?

Just because we have evolved as negative little doomsayers, doesn’t mean we have to stay that way. Psychologists have identified two factors that can save us from ourselves. Professor Lea Waters is a psychologist and president of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She says that the keys to overcoming negativity are emotional contagion and the elevation effect.

Emotional contagion means that we are able to catch positive emotions from others. If there are positive people around you, you are more likely to be positive. When someone smiles at you it actually takes effort not to smile back, even if they are a complete stranger. All of those motivational memes and cute cats in your newsfeed might actually be keeping you sane. Of course, negativity is contagious too. So we have to choose to be in the company of positive people and sometimes turn off the news.

The elevation effect is the theory that we are inspired to be better when we see other people behaving in positive ways. We can be inspired to be morally or physically better. Professor Waters uses the example of taking up running during the Olympics. Think also of the enormous positive impact of the recent cave rescue in Thailand. Twelve children and their soccer coach became lost and trapped in a cave after it flooded. The elevation effect was created by the rescue workers who came from around the world to help free the terrified children. The triumph of humans helping humans lifted us up as a species. We really do need heroes.

HOW CAN WE BE MORE POSITIVE?

Being positive is a life skill that we must teach kids. In her Melbourne Ted talk, Professor Waters tells us that, “Positive emotions broaden our capacity for thinking and they build our connection to other people.” They make us more resilient. Positive emotions give us social and intellectual resources that help us through bad times.

If we can help our kids be positive it is a gift that will serve them for a lifetime. So what are some things that parents can do:

1. Create rituals where you focus on the positive. My friend Jayne and her husband ask their kids every night at dinner, “What was the best thing that happened to you today?”
2. Teach kids lots of words for positive emotions.
3. Role model focusing on the positive instead of the negative. You don’t have to turn into an over-smiling crazy person, but aim for 60/40 positive to negative conversations at least. The talk in your house is a barometer for your kids. It tells them how safe the world is and what sort of future they can expect.
4. Read and share good news stories, they will lift you up as well as your kids. Did you know that the giant panda is no longer an endangered species? Or that scientists have created an Ebola vaccine that is 100% effective? Visit good news websites like these:

Good News Network

Good News

Some mainstream news companies now include a page of good news on their websites, like this one from the ABC

6. Practice gratitude with your kids.There is science behindthe idea that even two minutes of reflection on the good things in our life can lift a mood.

FINALLY…

Professor Waters says, “The more you see and share good, the more you want to see good.” It is self-perpetuating. In an era where we have the highest rates of depression and anxiety in our history, we owe it to ourselves, and our kids, to overcome the negativity bias and see the good.

https://lindastade.com/overcoming-negativity-children/

School Athletics Carnival

We are really excited to be able to finally hold our Athletics Carnival, after COVID restrictions and weather issues.

The date is set for Friday 2 December at Todkil Park. The day will be run as an official carnival, with distances measured and races timed. We will also present age champions for our 8yrs to 12yrs age groups.

Our Infants will attend and take part in running events, as well as modified field events as rotation groups.

Thank you to those who have already volunteered for roles on the day.

We are in URGENT need for the highlighted roles. If you can assist please email the office as soon as possible.

We are asking for volunteers for the following roles:

• 8yr team manager- Bec Scott, Pip Frost
• 9yr team manager- Claire McCormack
• 10yr team manager- Rechelle Naughton
• 11yr team manager-
• 12yr team manager- Katie Price
• Timekeepers
• Infants helpers- Cass Wicks

Bush to Beach Water Safety Program

Once again, St Mary’s is taking part in the Beach to Bush Program, an initiative from Surf Life Saving NSW.

Beach to Bush is a primary school-aged surf education program that offers students in regional areas of NSW an introduction to surf lifesaving. The weeklong program has a variety of resources that focus on beach and surf safety along with being safe around dams and inland waterways.

Pam, Hannah and Ian ran a fabulous and very interactive session with our students. They covered the five-point safety checklist when going to the beach, the importance of being sun smart and what to do when you are in trouble in the water.

Thank you, Surf Life Saving NSW, for a brilliant session!

2023 Canberra/Goulburn Sports Trials

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FROM YEARS 3 TO 5 IN 2022

This information has also been posted on our St Mary's School Facebook page and the CECG Sport Facebook page with updated links and information on the Canberra Goulburn Sport webpage.  https://www.sport.cg.catholic.edu.au/nominations

Touch Football

Open to boys and girls from Years 3 to 5 in 2022. Closing date for registration is 5th Dec with the trial on 7th Dec at Lyneham ACT

 Archdiocese_of_Canberra_and_Goulburn_Touch_Football_Trial_Information_2023_002_.pdf

Basketball

Open to boys and girls from Years 3 to 5 in 2022. 

• 2023 Canberra Goulburn Tennis and Basketball trials will be held on Friday 2 December 2022.
• Registered students to date:  Harley White

Archdiocese_of_Canberra_and_Goulburn_Basketball_Trial_Information_2023_004_.pdf

Book Club

Book club was distributed to children today.

Please order through LOOP by Thursday 24^th November 2022.

This is the last issue for 2022.

To order, the web address is:

scholastic.com.au/LOOP

LOOP enables parents to order and pay for your child’s order online using a credit card or voucher if you have one. Books will be distributed at school. For a quick start, just click on ORDER

• OR Register first to save your details for next time
• Select your school and your child's class 
• Add your child's first name & last initial (so the school knows who the book is for) 
• Enter the item number from the Book Club catalogue
• Follow the instructions for payment and submit
• All orders are sent directly to the school for submission to Scholastic. Books will still be delivered to your child's classroom if you order by the close date.
• Afterwards, there's no need to return paper order forms or payment receipt details back to your school! 

Please contact me if you experience any difficulties.

Student of the Week Awards

The Student of the Week Awards go to...

Kindergarten:Macie-Lee Charnock, Ivy Hewitt, Noah O'Brien, Sullivan Stephenson

Yr. 1: Denzil Hills, Abby Crosbie

Yr. 2: Flynn Storrier, Bodi Cooper

Yr. 3: Flynn Reeves, Imogen Hewitt

Yr. 4: Jaydan Costello, Elsie McItosh, Charlie Bensley

Yr. 5: Mia Butler, Lachlan Kilborn

Japanese Award

Awarded to Year Five. Well done!

Parish Office

For Parish and Sacramental matters, please forward your enquiries to Goulburn Parish Secretary, Sharon Cashman, via email. Alternatively, call into the Parish Office at the Old Convent Building. Sharon is available in Crookwell on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month from 11.30am-3.30pm

Parish Associate: Sr Rosemary Hart

Email: Crookwell@cg.org.au

Website: http://cg.org.au/crookwell/Home.aspx 

Phone: 48321 633 

Address: 55 Wade Street (the Old Convent Building)

Running for Premature Babies- "Premmie Marathon Challenge"

Current kindy parents, Amber and Stuart are taking on the Premmie Marathon Challenge for the charity "Running for Premature Babies", the charity which helped their baby boy survive.

Nix (who starts Kindy at St Mary's next year and joins his brother Hendrix here) was born nine weeks early on the 17th November 2017, coinciding with Annual World Prematurity Day. Nix spent his first days at newborn intensive care unit at royal Women's Hospital, Randwick, with the aid of equipment that was funded by the Running for Premature Babies Foundation. Without the aid of this equipment, he may not have survived.

This year, Stuart is going to celebrate all that Nix has overcome, and to raise more needed funds for premature babies, he will run from their home in Laggan to Goulburn and as far back as he can physically and mentally handle. His goal is to raise $10,000.00 for a charity that has given their family so much.

To donate to their cause: www.runningforprematurebabies.com/fundraisers/stuartmcwilliam3165/premmie-marathon-challenge

(Excerpt taken from the Upper Lachlan Gazette)

Ready-Set-Connect

We warmly welcome teachers, support staff, parents and carers to attend our disability networking event Ready-Set-Connect being held for the Goulburn region on 9 December.  

Ready-Set-Connect is an informative (and fun!) event based on a speed dating format.  It connects teachers, support coordinators, people with disability, and parents and carers with NDIS service providers.

National and local providers will be sharing information with you about their NDIS services and products.

This event will help you keep in touch and up to date with services in your local community. In the space of a little over two hours, you will build your connections and get to meet a variety of providers.

It's FREE for Attendees! Come and join us.  Let us know you are coming and register as an Attendee by going to our website www.onecommunity.net.au or using the link below.

Event details:

Vicar Of Dibley- CADS performance - LAST CHANCE THIS WEEKEND

Crookwell Twilight Christmas Fair

Charlotte's Web Performance

Triple P Parenting Program

Disco

The last disco for the year will be 25 November.

TAFE NSW Goulburn Open Day