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Junior School Bulletin Issue 2 / 19 February 2016

Junior School News

other parts of the world complete. This activity, which the PYP calls a ‘Provocation’ gave them amazing insights into what life is like for other children and had them asking lots of very interesting questions that will guide their learning in the coming weeks.

Parent Teacher Information Nights It was terrific to see a large number of parents at our Years 3-6 information night. We had Mr Brett Lee, formerly of the Australian Federal Police Force, talk to the parents about cyber safety. He gave a very direct but optimistic view of how to keep our children safe online. Some of the key take away points from his talk were: • • • •

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Use Parental Controls. Stay Current – you don’t need to know everything on the internet, just the things that your children are using. Take Charge of Technology – Parents own the devices and the passwords. Rules and Boundaries – You are the parents and as such it is appropriate that you set the boundaries for how much time your children spend on the internet and what sites they are allowed to visit. Communication is the Key – Keep the communication open with your children. Get involved in what they are doing online. Developing the Whole Child The students in Year 6 are preparing for their trip to Sydney and Canberra, whilst the Year 4 students are looking forward to their three day camp to Tyalgum in Northern New South Wales. Trips and camps like these form a very important part of a student’s educational journey and help to develop the whole child including critical skills of independence and resilience.

Leave Requests During the term if your family is going to be away from school for a length of time, please send your request to me at darrins@salc.qld.edu.au and their teacher. If going on a family holiday, please try to avoid Term time as a lot of the learning that is done in the classroom is not easily replicated whilst away, and is difficult to make up afterwards. Year 2 Unit of Inquiry It looked like we had approved child labour last week when the Year 2 students were washing clothes by hand, transporting bricks across the oval, carting water and sweeping the pavers with palm fronds. The children were in fact replicating the jobs that other children of their age from

Years 4-6 Swimming Carnival Friday 26 February is the Years 4-6 Junior School Swimming Carnival. We look forward to seeing the students swim and trying to beat their personal bests. It is a great way to build house spirit. As always parents are welcome to attend. Mufti Day Our First Mufti Day will be held Tuesday 23 February. The proceeds from the day will be donated to the bush fire appeals that have been running over summer. Students have the option to wear casual clothes on this day. A reminder that the uniform policy states “On mufti day, students are to wear clothing that is neat, clean, in good repair, respectable in all aspects and suitable for the activities of a normal school day. Closed-in shoes must also be worn (no thongs or sandals).” Darrin Schumacher Head of Junior School

ELC News The ELC children have been expanding their knowledge of Chinese and Vietnamese food celebrating Chinese New Year last week. We had two wonderful families come and share a little bit of their culture and do cooking experiences with the children.

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.

The construction under the ELC is starting to ramp up. The children were well informed on Friday with Site Foreman Andrew visiting and giving an update which was received warmly by the children. Reminder please drive safely in the carpark. Bronwyn Waters ELC Director

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

From the Deputy Head of Junior School & PYP Coordinator

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) offers many benefits. One of these benefits is an in depth reflection process which occurs every five years once a school is authorised to offer the programme. St Andrews was authorised to deliver the PYP by IB in 2008. Since then we have completed one evaluation and we are now preparing to complete another one in October this year. Programme evaluation is both a service provided by IB to IB World Schools and a requirement. The purpose of the evaluation process is to ensure that the standards and practices of the programme are being maintained. It provides the opportunity for the IB to work closely with schools as a school strives to continuously improve all aspects of the programme. The process involves all stakeholders within the school community.

As part of this review process, all staff in the Junior School will be involved in a Self-Study. We will be reflecting on our practices and rate ourselves against the standards and outcomes since our last evaluation. We have been and continue to conduct student surveys as well as parent surveys to seek valuable input from all perspectives. Parents will be offered the opportunity to participate in an up-coming survey via the Parent Lounge on TASS in the near future. The evaluation process is a wonderful opportunity for us to receive feedback on the success of our programme implementation. It will also assist us to continue to deliver excellent learning outcomes for all of our students. At the recent Years 3-6 Parent Information Evening, I highlighted a Parent PYP Information Session that will be offered on Friday 11 March at 2:00pm in the Utilities Room. Please come along if you would like to learn more about the PYP Programme and the Evaluation Visit taking place later this year. If you are keen to attend please RSVP to Jo-Anne Levey joannel@salc.qld.edu.au or 5568 5901 by Monday 7 March for catering purposes. I look forward to seeing you there!

Our Year Two students recently had the opportunity to experience firsthand some responsibilities children in other parts of the world have to assist their families. This learning engagement was developed to help students explore the central idea of their unit, â€˜Children around the world have different responsibilities but similar human needs.â€™ The students rotated around various stations of water carrying; brick making, sweeping and washing clothes. At each station iPads were used with a QR code so the students could watch a brief video clip of the responsibility occurring in the relevant country before they had a go at doing the job. The students quickly learnt that some jobs are quite exhausting!

Hello I’m Akachi, my name means God’s hand. I have lots of responsibilities. As an African child, I need to walk to school it’s about five miles from home. This can take me one or two hours to get there and home again. I love school because I learn lots and lots of new things. Some kids don’t always go to school because they help their parents harvest the corn. The reason for this is that otherwise, they wouldn’t have any food and they might die. We make our houses out of mud. First, we scoop up some mud, then we mould it into a cylinder shape. Then, we let it dry out in the sun. When they are dry, we stack the cylinders on top of one another and use more mud to stick them together. We get some straw to make the roof. Sometimes, it rains and our houses fall down. So, we have to make our house all over again. At school, we have a well and you have to pull up a long rope and at the end is a bucket full of water. You pull it up; it’s dirty water – yellow. Children drink this water. Rivers are a long way from school. We have to travel a long way with big plastic buckets and drink bottles to collect water from rivers. We wear the buckets on our heads home. The classroom is full of dust and dirt. It is a small, little building, filled with lots and lots of children. One little boy in my class is asked by our teacher to collect some branches. These branches are used to sweep the classroom and the areas around the classroom. It’s a long walk to try to find trees with branches. We don’t have a lot of money or things. Sometimes, we receive gifts from other places in the world, such as Australia. Things like sewing machines, clothes, blankets and toys. By Grace Lang 2C

The students also gained new knowledge as I shared my experiences as a ‘guest speaker’ from my recent trip to Africa. I was able to show some photos and video clips of children in their cultural setting taking responsibility in different ways at home and at school. Grace Lang from 2C took action when she went home and wrote a story about an African child (Grace even inquired into African names to give her character an authentic African name). Her story clearly and beautifully articulates the responsibilities a child in Africa has as a result of what Grace learnt from the presentation.

‘He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ Micah 6:8 Jacqueline Faulkner Deputy Head of Junior School PYP Coordinator

Junior Library News The Junior School Library is Under Renovation! What to do? As you are aware the Junior School Library is being renovated. Despite this, the work of the library does continue in this time. We are just a little harder to find and the physical resources are not accessible.

See more at this Sway: https://sway.com/DORG8zGKTrn0EHAy Other Activities this Term • Digital Learning Day 17 February – Activities 1st break in the Utilities Room • Makerspace: CraftAndConnect (information to come) We are looking forward to being up and running early next term in our newly renovated and expanded space. Classroom Libraries Classes are still reading and promoting a love of literature through physical copies of books and online resources. Each week classes have the option to participate in the “Have Books – Will Travel” initiative where classes read the book or books shared by the library staff. This book travels to the classrooms and then is passed onto the next class of readers. Relevant websites are also being shared to explore, learn and wonder. Classes borrowed resources last year in anticipation of limited access in Term One 2016. These resources are in classrooms. Teachers are also accessing online books through our subscriptions (e.g. Oxford Owl, Sunshine Online, Macmillan Digital Books). Recommendation: Become a Gold Coast Library Member You can become a member of the Gold Coast Libraries to borrow books. With your FREE membership you are also able to borrow books, e-books and audio books and access many subscriptions just for kids (e.g. Literacy Planet, World Book Kids and ZooQuiz) From The Gold Coast Libraries Website: “Play games, get homework help, find your next favourite author, read an ebook or learn a language. Just for Kids.” http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/library/games-fun-11096. html PYP and the Teacher Librarian Year 4 Students: Design the New Library We are also taking the opportunity to give the students a Design Challenge (with a ‘Real World’ connection) to Redesign the Junior School Library.

Julia Boulton Innovation & E-Learning Leader Teacher Librarian

Nurses Note

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.

Japanese News Students in 2A had the opportunity to communicate with students at Fuzoku Elementary School via Skype. It was a fun and rewarding experience for all as the below photos show. Sharon Taki Junior School Japanese Coordinator

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 â€˜The Little Mermaid Jr.â€™ 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.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW BEFORE THEY SWIM AWAY! CLICK HERE FOR LINK Amy Anderson Acting Head of Performing Arts

Dates to Remember February/MARCH FEBRUARY Sunday 21 Year 3 Family Service, Worship Centre – 9.00am Monday 22 Hinterland Swimming Carnival, TSS – 8.30am to 3.00pm Little Mermaid Jr Rehearsals, RBT – 3.30pm to 5.30pm Tuesday 23 Mufti Day Chapel – 1.40pm WC Friday 26 Years 4-6 Swimming Carnival Monday 29 Year 6 Sydney/Canberra Trip 29 Feb to 4 Mar Little Mermaid Jr Rehearsals, RBT – 3.30pm to 5.30pm MARCH Wednesday 2 Year 4 Camp, Tyalgum Ridge Retreat 2-4 March

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.

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. 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 anyone has any suggestions or comments and cannot make the next meeting please email the P & F at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au 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.

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.

TSA's needed Traffic Safety Attendant Volunteers urgently needed on Fridays. Please contact Jo-Anne Levey joannel@salc.qld.edu.au or phone 5568 5901

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

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

INSIGHTS Building parent-school partnerships WORDS Michael Grose

10 confidence-building

strategies every parent and teacher should know

Instilling confidence takes more than heaping praise on kids. Here are 10 practical confidence-building strategies for parents and teachers of children and young people. Children with healthy self-esteem and selfconfidence learn more, achieve more and are generally happier than those with low confidence levels. Building children’s and young people’s confidence is complex. It’s more than being a praise robot and heaping positive comments on a child at the first sign of them doing something well. Confidence building requires a number of approaches that impact on how they think, how they feel and what they can do.

Here are ten practical strategies that you can use to build real selfconfidence in kids of all ages: 1 Model confident thinking Kids soak up the language, thinking and behaviour of those closest to them in their environment. Parents and teachers play a part in modelling confident thinking and behaviour particularly when it comes to tackling new activities. In particular, let kids hear positive self-talk when you tackle something new. They should hear something like, “I’ll have a go at this. If I don’t do so well then I can try again tomorrow.” This is far more effective than “I’m no good at this. I’ll probably stuff it up.”

2 Focus on effort & improvement Current thinking shows that people who believe that they can increase their intelligence through effort and challenge actually get smarter and do better in school, work, and life over time. One way to develop a growth mindset is to focus your language on effort and improvement rather than on the results of what they do. By linking success with effort you are teaching them success comes from something other than purely their ability, talents or smarts.

3 Praise strategy While effort is key for achievement, it’s not the only thing. Kids need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches – not just sheer effort – to learn and improve. It helps too to focus language on better and smarter ways on improving. Comments such as “That was a smart idea to tackle the hardest task while you were fresh!”(strategy) and “You recognised the first few steps were the most important but then after that you were right” are descriptive statements that have significant instructional value for kids.

4 Develop self-help skills from an early age A child’s self-esteem comes as a result of his or her successes and accomplishments. The most important competencies to build confidence are basic self-help skills. These form the building blocks upon which other competencies such as organisational skills and many social skills are formed.

5 Give them real responsibility From a young age start giving children responsibility for some aspects of their lives. By giving kids responsibility we are sending a powerful message that we think they are capable. Also they are learning the skills necessary to care for themselves.

6 Practise unconditional acceptance Your ability to accept children and young people’s best efforts in any area of endeavour, irrespective of the results, will go a long way toward determining their self-esteem and confidence.