St Mary's Primary School Crookwell eNewsletter

Term 3/4 Key Dates

Monday 21 September	Counsellor visit- please contact the Office for bookings
Friday 25 September	End of term
Monday 12 October	Staff Development Day - High Impact Teaching Strategy - Explicit Instruction
Tuesday 13 October	Students return for Term Four
Thursday 22 October	School Photos http://www.advancedlife.com.au/ CODE AN3 WE9 3JZ

Welcome

A big welcome to Matilda Rose who started last week in Year Three. We wish Matilda, and her parents Juanita and Phil, a smooth and happy transition into the St Mary's School Community and Crookwell district.

Our Year Three students are thrilled to welcome a new class member.

Thank you!

I would like to offer our special thanks to Kylie Salt for making printed plastic labels of our class tuckshop baskets and Lesley Peden for writing and submitting an application for a 'Yates Growing Good Gardens Grant'.

Thank you also to all of our Tuckshop volunteers this term.

The wonderful parental support we receive is one of the things that makes St Mary's such a positive school community!

School Photographs

Our school photographs will be taken on 22 October in Week 2 of Term 4.

To order photographs go to www.advancedlife.com.au and type in the nine-digit code AN3 WE9 3JZ. Alternatively, you may send back the envelope distributed in Week 8.

Sibling photographs can also be ordered online or by requesting an envelope from the Office.

Inclusive Education

At St Mary’s we recognise that each of our students is unique and special. They each represent differing family and cultural backgrounds and all have varying abilities.

The staff at St Mary’s supports our shared vision that all students in our school need to receive the support they require to engage purposefully in learning and experience academic success. We are committed to providing inclusive education.

Inclusion allows all students to access and fully participate in learning, alongside their similar-aged peers, supported by reasonable adjustments and teaching strategies tailored to meet their individual needs. Inclusion is embedded in all aspects of school life and is supported by our culture, policies and everyday practices.

At St Mary’s inclusion means:

All students feeling welcome
All students being able to learn in a safe and supportive environment
All students being able to access and participate in high-quality education and fully engage in the curriculum along-side their similar-aged peers
All students being able to achieve academically and socially with reasonable adjustments and support tailored to meet their learning needs.

The inclusive education we deliver at St Mary’s is not a ‘one size fits all approach’. We recognise that each student requires different entry points to help them access their academic, communication and social needs.

The following cartoon and quote highlight why an inclusive approach to education is essential.

Toys & Technology

At St Mary's we encourage students to leave their toys at home. We are happy to supply our students with equipment to play with at break time and are always open to suggestions about suitable play equipment and activities. If a child does decide to bring a toy to school, please be aware that they do this at their own risk. Whilst we encourage our students to respect other people and their possessions, sometimes things can get lost or accidentally broken. It would be a pity if this happened to something that is special to the child.

As there is an increasing amount of technology coming to school with students each day we ask that devices are clearly labelled. It is essential that all devices are left in the basket upon arrival at school. Labelling devices will ensure that they are returned to the correct students at the end of the day.

Recipes- Keep them coming!

Our St Mary's P&F Year Four coordinating team of Daria, Tash and Donna, are currently putting together a new St Mary's Cookbook. This cookbook will be filled with our families favourite 'tried and true' recipes. We encourage every family to contribute their best recipes for this cookbook. Let's make this edition as good as the last, which was produced in the 90's, when some of our parents were students at St Mary's.

Recipes can be emailed to Office.Stmarysc@cg.catholic.edu.au or sent in with your child.

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is a project of Samaritan’s Purse. It partners with local churches in developing nations to reach out to children by providing gift-filled shoeboxes to children in need.

As a school, we will aim to fill as many boxes as we can. Items can include small toys, hair accessories, a hairbrush, toothbrush, skipping rope, marbles, pencils, notepads, textas, handkerchiefs etc.

If you would prefer to send in a couple of dollars to go towards the $10 postage per box, rather than send in an item, this would also be appreciated.

What is the Eucharist (Holy Communion)?

The Eucharist (Holy Communion) is a re-enactment of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his crucifixion. At the meal Jesus shared unleavened bread and wine (the staple food of the time) and he instructed his disciples to continue to do this to remember him.

‘And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you (on the Cross); do this in remembrance of me.” … he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you (on the Cross). Do this in memory of me.”

Catholics believe that the piece of bread (host) that is "taken, blessed, broken and given" by the priest, becomes the life of Jesus which was taken, blessed, broken (on the cross) and given in sacrifice for us.

Although the bread and wine physically remain the same, when it is blessed during the Mass it is transformed beyond human comprehension into the life of Jesus. This is called Transubstantiation (the real presence of Jesus in Holy Communion) and it is the most important act of worship.

We go to Mass to receive Jesus’ life into ourselves in Holy Communion just as he asked us to do. And by doing this we are united with each other and strengthened and nourished by Jesus himself for the journey of our lives.

After we receive Jesus at Mass, we are told by the priest to GO FORTH… This means that the Mass is only the beginning; that we are to take Jesus love and share it with all those we meet outside the Church.

First Holy Communion- this Sunday

Please pray for the children at our school and in our Parish who are preparing to receive their First Holy Communion at Mass this Sunday September 20.

All are welcome and encouraged to SHARE in this celebration as these children are welcomed more fully into the Faith community – a community to nourish and support them for life.

Catholic Mission Month- October

In the month of October, the Catholic Church (including all Catholic Schools) focuses especially on following the mission of Jesus - reaching out to do all we can to help those in our world who are struggling from injustice, poverty and neglect.

With every country around the world (including our own) affected in some way by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that now, more than ever, we stand together in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and support them in any way we can.

Next term our school focus values will be JUSTICE and SERVICE. In week 4 we will hold our MISSION day. This is a day of prayer and activities focused on helping those in need in our world. One of the popular fundraising activities on this day is – of course – the WHITE ELEPHANT STALL. If you are cleaning out your cupboards over the holidays please remember to put aside donations of goodies for this Stall. All donations may be dropped at school any time from the beginning of next term.

14 ways to help children with their worry

It’s sad to acknowledge that anxiety is the defining illness of our era. It speaks to our lifestyles, our social and economic climate and arguably our lack of enough real connection. It is sadder still to recognise that this illness is now affecting 7% of children aged four to seventeen.

When we picture a child with anxiety, we often think of a withdrawn, quiet soul who avoids making decisions and eye contact. However, the reality is these children can also present with temper tantrums or repetitive behaviours. What they all have in common is the feeling of being completely overwhelmed. It is an uncomfortable, distressing condition whichever form it takes.

IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM

We all experience anxiety in its most simple form. It is our brain keeping our body safe by getting us ready to fight, fly or hide. It is an evolutionary adaptation, designed to keep us safe from sabre-tooth tigers and other nasties that roamed the Earth in our most formative years as a species.

That simple form of anxiety is fleeting and disappears when the sabre-tooth tiger or final exam, or whatever the threat may be, disappears. More problematic anxiety is ongoing, unmanageable and there is no discernible trigger. That’s the sort of anxiety we want our kids to avoid.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

There are lots of factors that may contribute to one person developing anxiety but not another. These include:

Genetic predisposition
Traumatic life experiences
Ongoing life stresses, for example, a family breakdown
Chronic health issues
Personality traits.

Beyond Blue cites research that shows, “Children who are perfectionists, easily flustered, timid, inhibited, lack self-esteem or want to control everything, sometimes develop anxiety during childhood, adolescence or as adults.” The emphasis here is on sometimes. Just because a child is a perfectionist, it does not follow that he or she will have anxiety.

So, how do we help our children to manage their everyday worries, so that we can minimise the risks of those feelings escalating and becoming more problematic?

EARLY INTERVENTION

Ms Amanda Scott is a School Psychologist at Wesley College. She says that teaching children to effectively manage their feelings of anxiety and worry is very important.

“As kids become teens we sometimes have expectations that they should be able to manage their emotions better, but when they’re feeling overwhelmed that’s difficult. They are still learning. Adults shouldn’t jump in and solve problems, but they can guide them.”

HELPING KIDS TO MANAGE WORRY

Ms Scott suggests these strategies in helping children to manage their everyday worry and anxiety:

Acknowledge the feeling.It is important that worry is not dismissed or their experience minimised. Don’t say, “Don’t worry”, it has never worked… ever!
Help your child separate the rational from the irrational.In a reassuring manner, question the likelihood of the frightening source of their worry coming to fruition.
Help your child determine whether the feeling belongs to them or to someone else.Often kids take on worry and stress for their parents or their friends.
Modelling is a very powerful way of helping children deal with their big feelings.If we can talk through our own feelings, we can help kids see the process of self-regulation. That said, adults need to solve adult problems and not share them with their kids.
A powerful approach for some kids is to boss their worry back.If they can be shown that their worry is bossing them around, they can be empowered to fight back and tell their worry, “Back off. I’m in charge here”.
Avoid giving a child who is overwhelmed, too many choices.Our job as adults is to assess what a child needs and when. Obviously, when a child is in the hold of big feelings they need less stimulation and challenge.
As adults, we need to be fair and predictable.When kids know what the family’s and school’s boundaries are, they feel more secure. A lot of decision-making and guesswork is removed.
Ask, “Are we scheduling our kids too much? Are they too busy?”Kids respond well to ‘downtime’. They need to know what calm feels like, so they can find their way back there.
Help kids figure out what is their calm, happy space.It might be swimming, or drawing, or reading, or whatever. It doesn’t matter as long as they recognise it and use it to self-soothe when they are worried.
Consider your family talk. Is it positive?This doesn’t mean positive like one of those Nike motivational posters. It means, generally the world is a good place with a lot of good people. Children learn strategies to cope with feelings by observing the adults around them. Let it be positive.
Every night try to have dinner, as a family.This routine creates a space in the day for connection. It’s a space in the day where everybody is seen and heard. It creates a sense of belonging, which is very powerful.
Be mindful of your child’s sleep, diet, and exercise.Sleep is particularly important. A well-rested child is more able to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life.
Parents and teachers need to look after their own wellbeing if they are to help children.If you are struggling to manage your own feelings of stress or worry it is difficult to be available to guide a child through their big feelings.
Sometimes, your child might need a completely fresh perspective. Enlist the help of parents,those loving adults outside of the home who are invested in your kids. It might be an aunt or uncle, a friend, a neighbour or a cool older cousin. You don’t have to do everything alone.

Ultimately, your love, connection, and support are what empowers your child. That is something that is built over a lifetime. It is the eye contact that is held a little longer than normal, touching in passing and stopping what you’re doing to sit and listen to an exciting piece of news. Even if those little things have been overlooked in the busyness of life, it is never too late to start again.

If you are concerned about your child, there is no exact time to seek assistance. When you think emotions are unmanageable, act. Your GP is the person best placed to help you access the resources and specialists who can help.

Excerpt taken from - https://lindastade.com/helping-children-with-worry/

Supporting children to do their homework

Make it clear that it is their homework, not yours!

Help your children to understand it is their homework and their responsibility to complete it. Guide them and help them and eventually they will do it themselves. It does not have to be perfect! It is their work!

Don’t force them to do their homework!

Don’t make it a power struggle. Nurture your relationship, it is much more important.

Discuss expectations and consequences with them!

Have a calm discussion with your child at the beginning of every term. This will help give them a sense of ownership. Set the time when homework will usually happen and where. Decide together which privileges will be off-limits until homework is done. Decide on the consequences together if the homework is not done.

Don’t micromanage them!

It is possible for your child to do their homework on their own. As you support them in the early years, this help should become less and less. Some children are very independent and don’t need your help. They can just do it. Praise them for doing it on their own.

Create a distraction-free area for homework and studying!

Setting aside an area for study will help with focus. Make it an area where there is no TV or digital device distraction.

Acknowledge their good behaviour!

Be observant and find opportunities to praise your children for their efforts. Eg. “That’s great that you focused on your work for 20 minutes.”

Do your homework at the same time as them!

While your children are doing their homework, read, pay your bills, do an online study course so they see the importance of completing homework.

Homework is important, but there are other things that are even more important: Responsibility, persistence, commitment, curiosity, a love for learning. Homework is just one tool to reach these higher goals.

https://www.daniel-wong.com/2015/03/16/homework-without-nagging/

St Mary's Cookbook

We've had a good number of recipes come through, but would love some more.

If you, or anyone you know, are willing to share your favourite recipe(s) that would be fantastic!!! Please email them to Belinda Tarlinton at Office.Stmarysc@cg.catholic.edu.au

Coordinator's Daria Lawson & Tash McCormack

Tuckshop

Friday 18 September- LAST TUCKSHOP FOR TERM: Daria Lawson, Jackie Blowes and Maureen Lucock

Please note, some items may not be available due to the end of term.

Term 4 Roster

If you can help next term, please complete the form- Tuckshop Helpers

Remember, many hands mean less work!

If you have a date that you can or cannot do for Term 4, please let Rechell Naughton early so we do not have too many changes to the roster.

Parish Office

For Parish and Sacramental matters please forward your enquiries to Parish Secretary, Janet Haynes or Pastoral Associate Sr Rosemary via email or call into the Parish Office at the Old Convent Building on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

Email: Crookwell@cg.org.au

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

Phone: 48321 633

Address: 55 Wade Street (the Old Convent Building)