Issue 11 / 24 July 2015
Middle/Senior School Bulletin
Middle & Senior School News Thank you to all of the students for their stellar efforts and smooth transition back into the routines of College life. St Andrews is certainly a busy place of learning and to follow are a series of snapshots of the last few weeks:
Last weekend a number of students and staff participated in the Kokoda Challenge. I commend them on their ‘grit’ and wonderful achievements. The values of mateship, determination and perseverance, were showcased through the character shown by all who participated in the gruelling event. A special thanks to the teachers who worked with each of the teams, to the parents who were support crews and to the students themselves for taking on the challenge. Mr McGilveray’s team won the school division in a record time of 17 hours 15 minutes!
Thankfully the weather warmed up a little last Thursday for the Athletics Carnival. Congratulations to Gowandi House who placed first at the Carnival. Thank you to Mr Manion (Head of Sport) the groundsmen, the teaching staff, parents who attended and most importantly the students for their wonderful contributions on what was a superb day of athletics.
Earlier this week a number of Year 11 students slept on the College oval as part of their Service in Action project. A student driven initiative, the intention was to raise empathy, funds and awareness of the issue of homelessness on the Gold Coast. I’d like to acknowledge the character of these young people and also to thank Mr Schache, Mr Casey, Mr Smith and Miss Bible for their support of this opportunity.
I’d like to congratulate our QISSN Netball team who won their tournament over the break. After a great week of Netball our team won their Grand Final by 3 points. QISSN is a state wide event and it was great to see so many supporters travel up to Brisbane to support the girls. Thank you to Miss Yeo and Mrs Roper for coaching the squad.
Grades and the other two categories presented are based on Grade Point Averages. Senior School Awards Assembly was held today. The Middle School Awards Assembly will be held on Friday 7 August at 8:30am (WC). Parents are warmly invited to attend. Finally a reminder to all Year 9 & 10 families that the Senior Studies Expo and GOOGA Parent Night is to be held on Monday 27 July starting at 5.00pm in the Ruth Butler Theatre. This is a compulsory night for students. Please contact me should I be able to offer any assistance or if you have any feedback. Virginia Warner Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School
Middle School News Congratulations also to the Leo Club team who raised over $1400 for Cancer Research over their holiday break by running BBQ fundraisers at Bunnings.
Year 7 Canberra Trip With an uneasy joy I watch the minimum temperatures in our national capital regularly feature a ‘minus’ sign in front of them. With a greater sense of joy I watch the reports indicating regular snow falls in the alpine region. Over the next week the documentation for granting approvals for students to attend the upcoming Canberra trip will appear on Parent Lounge. Can I ask all parents to complete the necessary documentation so that our planning for the trip can enter its final stages? Throughout the coming weeks the students will begin preparation during classes at the College for the activities during our week away. Middle School Expo Monday 10 August will be the evening for our annual Middle School Expo. This evening is one of the significant events in the College Calendar as it provides a springboard for students’ studies in the coming year. Around the Secondary Campus there will be a multitude of displays and student-led activities highlighting curricular offerings in the Middle School. I look forward to meeting many existing and new families to the College throughout the evening.
Parent teacher interviews for Years 7 – 12 were held last week. Thank you to the teachers and parents who attended. If you were unable to attend, and have questions about your child’s academic progress and development, please contact teachers directly as they will be all too happy to hear from you. Each semester Academic Award assemblies are held for students in Senior and Middle School to acknowledge academic achievements. Students who have achieved outstanding results across a range of subjects and/or who have shown significant improvement will be recognized. Awards are presented in three categories; Academic Achievement, Academic Endeavour and Academic Improvement. The Endeavour Awards are based on Effort
NAPLAN Data As part of its review into NAPLAN the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has indicated it will be releasing NAPLAN results earlier this year – possibly in early August. The College uses data from these assessment items to examine our students’ competencies within the areas of literacy and numeracy and adjusts our curriculum plans accordingly. I look forward to reviewing the year’s data and am happy to discuss any individual results with parents should it be valuable. Tom Casey Head of Middle School tomc@salc.qld.edu.au
Senior School News Flourishing As a part of our work on PERMA a series of talks with Senior School students around Acheivement and how to get set up for success were conducted last week. The focus was on productive study and organisational habits. This involved working through a term planner, establishing SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-framed) goals and identifying strategies that other students use to keep on top of their academic commitments and to achieve their personal bests. Of great use were the academic strategies suggested by Year 11 and 12 students which have been shared with all Senior School students. Community Involvment – The M in PERMA – finding meaning by helping others Our students are continually working towards finding meaning and purpose and we look to find ways of highlighting a sense of purpose and meaning through Christian Studies, Chapels and through opportunitites to be involved in helping others. In Term 3 we will run two special projects; Relay for Life and 40 Hour Famine. The Leos have registered for Relay for Life and while this is a new initiative they have already raised $1400 thanks to the Bunnings BBQ’s over the holidays. Students interested in participating can regiser their interest for Relay for Life, Saturday 15 August from 3.00pm to Sunday 9.00am at Ashmore Community Oval, Ashmore on this LINK. Team Name: St Andrews Lutheran College Leos Division: Schools
Congratulations to: • The Leos who ran 2 extremely successful BBQs at Bunnings over the holidays raising over $1400 for the Cancer Council. This will go towards our Relay for Life involvement in August. • Club Red Ambassadors (Tia Lightbody, Chelsea Vermillion, Keziah Veivers and Khali Robins) who have organised enough blood donations this year to save 111 lives. If you regularly donate don’t forget to register your donation with St Andrews. • All Kokoda teams who participated in the Kokoda Challenge last weekend covering 48km or 96km. At the same time raising money for under privileged children on the Gold Coast. A special mention to Mr McGilveray’s team who won the school division and set a new course record. • The 40 Hour Famine Ambassadors (Morgan Atkins, Maddie Mitchell, Ben Beggs, Khali Robins and Maddison Good) who have set a goal of raising $5000 for the world’s poorest in East Timor and Bangladesh. • Ty Sheers a St Andrews student who constantly looks for ways to make a difference to the lives of others. Ty (pictured) participated in the 96km Kokoda Challenge as part of the Kokoda Kids Youth Team and will now continue his training in readiness for the real thing in Papua New Guinea in September. Well done Ty, you continue to be a credit to the College. If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me on tanias@salc.qld.edu.au Tania Stewart Head of Senior School
Chaplains Chat We have established the school page for the 40 Hour Famine so any students interested in participating can register through this link. The team name is St Andrews Lutheran College. This year our goal is $5000 and we will need your help as either a participant or donor. St Andrews has a proud tradition of involvement with World Vision. Last year we raised over $3000 and since 1995 St Andrews has raised over $42000 for World Vision. This is the 40th year of the 40 Hour Famine and we would like to do that little bit more. Please help us by donating or making a sacrifice of food, technology and furniture for 40 hours.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 Recently, I have begun reading a popular Christian book entitled, “What’s so amazing about grace?” In the book the author Philip Yancey describes what grace is – underserved goodness or kindness towards others e.g. the “grace period” offered by rental car companies and those holding our mortgage – and then he goes on to provide a healthy critique of grace in society and in the church. Sadly, there are many examples Yancey is able to provide where grace is either not offered or the opposite of grace is given. Rather than focussing on the negative examples of grace so prevalent in the world, it is nice to think about the positive ones. For example, how is it that we can show grace toward others in our everyday life? The longer we dwell on
this question the more we realise there are a multitude of ways we can show grace toward others. Let me provide some examples to get you started: we can show grace towards others by overlooking small offences, not keeping a record of wrongdoing, providing more food than necessary, offering to help, laughing with others, valuing the gifts that someone else can bring, being a friend to someone without many friends or by listening (really listening) to someone else’s story. These are all acts of grace – undeserved kindness towards others and I bet you could think of more. It is no surprise then that people prefer to hang around gracious people – those who love them, receive them, welcome them and, sometimes, forgive them – than they do hanging around people who are always on their case, critical of everything, sticklers for rules and generally unhappy with life. The first is life-giving the second is life-crushing. I would like to encourage everyone reading this copy of the bulletin to think of five gracious deeds they could do this week to those closest to them. Please don’t feel ashamed or dismayed if you can recall times where you have been ungracious or unkind – we all have a tendency to do that – but, for now, let us think about how we may offer the gift of grace toward others. The greatest grace, of course, that humankind has received and that spurs us on to be kind and gracious towards others is the gift of grace the world has been given in Christ Jesus. God could have, I suppose, left the world to its own devices and its own destruction but, instead, he chose to offer the world through Jesus the gift of reconciliation and forgiveness. It was and is a totally undeserved kindness and one that we couldn’t offer ourselves even if we tried. It had to come from God. It was his way of saying, “Don’t worry about it anymore; I have forgiven you through Jesus. This was part of my plan. It is my grace toward you.” Nathan Glover College Pastor
We welcome our friends from our Japanese sister school in Week 4 this term. Thank you so much to the families who have agreed to host the girls and boys from Higashino High School. We look forward to a time of continuing to strengthen our bond with this wonderful school. Students of German language are preparing for their upcoming German Study Tour at the end of the year. Please keep up to date with the information which will be given to you by Miss Bible. Tutorials are of the utmost importance this term, particularly for Senior students. Tutorials are held in the Learning Hub on Wednesdays (Japanese) and Mondays (German) and by appointment with your teachers after school. Parents please keep in touch by email and we look forward to seeing you at the Senior School Studies Expo in Week 3 and at the Middle School Expo in Week 5. Rebekah Hill Head of Languages P-12
Student Development Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic Learning Our brains differ in the way they process information through different senses. Teachers at St Andrews take differentiation strategies seriously and endeavour to enhance learning opportunities for all students. We often find boys feel more of a need to wriggle and move in class, but both boys and girls find colour and graphic organising tools enriching. Understanding some of these traits as strengths that can be used to aid learning is useful for students, teachers and parents.
LOTE News Languages News We have a busy and exciting term coming up for Languages in the Middle and Senior school. Language Ambassadors have been appointed by Miss Bible and Mrs Hill to assist us and represent the College at upcoming events. Congratulations to Paris McKay-Holley and Ben Wooldridge (German) and Maddison Good and Chloe Harvie (Japanese) on your appointment. Welcome to Mrs Trina Nakahashi who is taking Mrs Marita Wilson’s Middle School classes during her maternity leave. We are very blessed to have you! Practices are under way for the prestigious MLTAQ Speech Competition which takes place at Griffith University (GC) on August 16. Viel Glück and Gambatte to the students representing us in German and Japanese.
Beyond differentiation in classroom activities to help students remain engaged, there are numerous learning environments that can help a young person discover their preference for learning. Discussion and discovery in Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic enriched learning environments can be a real breakthrough for students, and sometimes their parents alike. If you are considering your son or daughter’s study environment and practices, there are plenty of resources to help, this might further the discussion: LINK. James Nelson Director of Student Development
Sport News
Performing Arts News
QISSN Wrap-up 2015 During the recent school holidays our representative netball team travelled to Brisbane to compete in the annual QISSN netball tournament. There were 48 schools represented at this carnival covering locations across the entire State. The carnival is organised in 6 divisions.
Gold Coast Eisteddfod Below are the session times for this year’s Gold Coast Eisteddfod. All groups will receive notes before the end of Term with further details. NB: All sessions are at The Arts Centre Gold Coast. JS Dance Troupe
The team came into the carnival as the defending champions of their division. The whole team played well during the first two days of the competition, narrowly missing out on moving up to the higher division. Thursday and Friday were the finals days. It is hard to explain how outstanding this team played during these games. All their hard work and dedication, over many years, was rewarded with a win in their Grand-final. The win is actually tinged with a little sadness as we are losing 6 of our Year 12’s. These girls have played netball for the College since Year 7.
Thursday 6 August 11am
MS Song & Dance Troupe Thursday 6 August 3.30pm MS Elite Dance Troupe
Thursday 6 August 6pm
Semitone Choir
Monday 10 August 9am
Golden Clef Choir
Wednesday 12 August 5.30pm
MS/SS Choir
Thursday 13 August 2pm
Combined Dance Troupe
Friday 14 August 8am/1pm/6pm Sessions
JS Concert Band
Monday 17 August 5.30pm
Mini Musos
Tuesday 18 August 5pm
Concert Band
Thursday 20 August 11am
Percussion Ensemble
Thursday 20 August 7pm
Jazz Band
Friday 21 August 8.30am
Cilla Scott Head of Arts
Save the Children
Thank you to: Ashleigh Kemp, Mackenzie Hall, Keeley Holland, Yasmin Morrison, Carly Desfosses and Jacinda Pagels for your dedication and commitment to the team, and Miss Yeo for her ongoing commitment to our netball development program.
A big thank you to our knitters, crocheters, blanket assemblers and team recruiters from Save the Children! The 32 blankets and 12 toys from St Andrews will be distributed in Queensland to children who are helped by Save the Children’s Intensive Support programs.
Thanks must also go to Mr Matthew Kemp from ICD Group who has sponsored the team for the past 3 years. The jackets this year were superb in the wet weather. Next year the carnival will be held in Rockhampton. Ms Yeo and I look forward to selecting a new core group of netballers to carry on our strong netball tradition. Lisa Roper Coach
Save the Children would be grateful for us to continue with our support. So please keep knitting and crocheting. Toni Bartel Home Economics
Dates to Remember - July/August JULY Monday 27 Junior Council GC City Council (selected students) SS Studies Expo / Year 9 Googa Parent Night, RBT 5.00pm Tuesday 28 ICAS English Comp Years 6-9 Boys Champions Futsal Comp Wednesday 29 Years 10-12 Girls Futsal Champs German Study Tour Info Evening Thursday 30 Australian Maths Comp Years 9-12 Boys Champions Futsal Comp Friday 31 Years 9-12 Boys Champions Futsal Comp august Saturday 1 Higashino High School Visit, 1st-7th August Monday 3 10 to 19 Years Hinterland Track & Field Vicki Wilson Cup Netball Competition Tuesday 4 10 to 19 Years Hinterland Track & Field Wednesday 5 Year 11 Biology Springbrook Rainforest Excursion Thursday 6 MS Song and Dance Troupe MS Elite Dance Troupe Years 8 & 9 Animi Dance Troupe Friday 7 MS Academic Awards Presentation Assembly, WC 8.30pm QCS Prep Workshop AGCC Chess Comp (selected students)
5nthly
Mo zes Pri
It’s back!
Earn 1 sticker for every $10 you spend.
Starting now, when anyone from our College community - staff, parents, friends shop at Woolworths, they can collect stickers to place on sticker sheets. Completed sticker sheets can be placed in the collection box at Junior School Administration or handed into Senior School Administration. This means our College can choose resources based on its specific needs, across all learning areas, including Maths, English, Science, Art and Craft, Outdoor and Active, Music & more.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Karinne S. Our monthly prize winner for July
SENIOR SCHOOL STUDIES EXPO SCHEDULE OF EVENTS MONDAY 27 JULY 2015 The aim of this event is to give students and parents the opportunity to gather valuable information about key Senior School subjects and information so that students can make informed decisions as they plan their career pathway through and beyond their senior schooling.
Refreshments Refreshments including a coffee van & drinks are available on the night outside of J Block.
VENUE
TIME
ACTIVITY
J Block / Ruth Butler Theatre
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Senior Subject & Career Pathways Information Meet informally with the Senior Subject Teachers & Representatives from Griffith University, SCU, Bond University, Gold Coast TAFE, Careers Australia, Aurora, Ignite and the ADF Welcome Acting Principal: Mrs Virginia Warner
J Block / Ruth Butler Theatre
J1 & J2
Presentation for Year 10 students/parents
Selecting Senior Subjects and Career Pathways Director Learning and Teaching: Chrissie Wrigley
Worship Centre
Presentation for Year 9 students/parents
Becoming a Senior Student Head of Senior School: Tania Stewart and Year 10 Year Level Coordinator: James Nelson
Worship Centre
Presentation for Year 9 students/parents
Googa Camp Preparation Head of Middle School: Tom Casey and Year 9 Coordinator: Christophe Tanguy
St Andrews Lutheran College 175 Tallebudgera Creek Rd, Tallebudgera QLD 4228 P (07) 5568 5900 • E office@salc.qld.edu.au www.salc.qld.edu.au
“Where everyone is someone”
INSIGHTS Building parent-school partnerships
Teach your kids about time and place
WORDS Michael Grose
My mum used to tell me, “There’s a time and place for everything Michael, and this is not the time and place to behave like that!” My mum’s words came back to me as I watched three kids (tweens and early teens) try to out-wrestle and out-shout each other while they waited in an airport queue with their parents. Their noise and wrestling quite obviously disturbed and interfered with fellow travellers, but their parents made no attempt to rein in their behaviour. I couldn’t help thinking that there is a time and place for this type of behaviour and THIS WAS NEITHER OF THOSE!
Time and place is a brilliant socialisation lesson for children of any age or era to absorb. It starts by asking yourself as a parent: “What does this social situation reasonably require of my children at their age and stage of development?” In the above case it’s reasonable to expect tweens and teens to be able to stand in a queue without disturbing others for the ten minutes that it took to get service. It’s should be easy for that age group to show some self-control and consideration for others. That timeframe maybe a stretch for under fives, but some parental attention to distract them from being bored may do the trick. The principle is the same regardless of age or a child’s developmental stage, but the application varies.
Socialising kids It’s a parent’s job to socialise your kids. That is, it’s your job to develop a sense of OTHER so that they become aware of how their behaviour impacts on others. Many kids have L Plates when it comes to behaving in public so they need your assistance to behave according to the requirements of the situation – or according to the time and place. You do this by:
1 Giving your kids social scripts There are times when kids don’t know what to say or how to act in different social situations. “Here’s what you can say when you meet Mrs. Smith…..” is the type of preemptive social scripting that benefits most boys, kids on the autism spectrum as well as kids who need extra help to get on with others.
2 Regular behaviour rehearsal Practise appropriate social behaviours at home so kids know how to behave around others. For example, you can role-play a restaurant situation by serving your kids’ meals at the dinner table and expecting them to use their manners.
3 Just-in-time prompts It helps to remind in positive terms how kids should speak and act around others before entering a social situation or a special place
such as a church, airport or restaurant. “In church most people…….”
4 Teaching good manners Manners are social guidelines that teach kids how to behave around others. While some conventions change over time, basic good manners such as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ never change. They are the basis of a civil society. Kids are never too young to start learning manners.
5 Respectful use of consequences While the best discipline happens before an event (through behaviour rehearsal, prompts and teaching manners) there are times when the only way to get a message across about time and place is to DO something if the kids’ behaviour thoughtlessly or deliberately impinges on the rights of others. And the best action may be WITHDRAWAL from the place or activity that they are doing. That may mean that the kids (and you) miss out on an activity or being in a special place but such lessons are rarely forgotten and reinforce your important messages.
Time and place is a great parenting message for kids to learn. It’s about consideration for others; it’s about selfcontrol and above all else, it’s about fitting into different social situations.
e from Michael Grose. Join Stay one step ahead of your kids with great ideas & expert advic b.com.au. You’ll be so glad you did. Michael’s NEW Parentingideas Club today at parentingideasclu
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© 2015 Michael Grose