Issuu

Issue 2 / 20 February 2015

Middle/Senior School Bulletin

evenings. Please contact him directly if you have any suggestions tomc@salc.qld.edu.au These nights are held in the CRC at 7.00pm.

Middle & Senior School News Last Friday the Student Representative Council (SRC) hosted the Middle and Senior School Disco and the night was a huge success. Thank you to Ms Stewart, the SRC, the staff who supervised and of course to all the students who attended for making it a night to remember!

On Monday the Early Learning Centre (ELC) was officially opened. We welcomed many distinguished guests, unveiled the dedication plaques for the building and the 175 Years of Lutheran Schooling commemorative tree and celebrated the wonderful facility and the atmosphere for learning that the youngest St Andrews students thoroughly enjoy.

Also this week, Mr Casey hosted the first ‘Partnerships for Learning’ session for Middle School parents for 2015. The topic was ‘Adolescence’ and I’d like to thank Mr Casey and the parents who came along to discuss the challenges and joys of raising Middle School aged children over a Tim Tam. The partnership between home and the College is very important. Mr Casey is very open to ideas for topics for future

Pastor Nathan Glover – Induction Service – Monday 23 February Next Monday Pastor Nathan Glover will be formally inducted into our College community during the Middle and Senior School Chapel (8.30–9.15am). Students from Years 6–12 will attend the service and parents who wish to join us are welcome. Mufti Day – Rainbow Colours: Refugee Awareness Next Tuesday 24 February, our first Mufti Day for the year will see us asking students to bring in a gold coin donation to support the Australian Lutheran World Service response to the needs of refugees. Please encourage your child(ren) to wear Rainbow Colours to represent the Nations of the World and support for refugees. Students are asked to revisit the dress expectations which are listed in the Student Diary (Page 32). In March, a number of our students from Years 6, 9 and 11 will also take part in an ALWS Awareness Week event, which highlights the work of one of the welfare arms of the Lutheran Church. Swimming Carnival – Thursday 26 February The Inter-House Swimming carnival, our first major InterHouse event for 2015, will be held at Somerset Pool on Thursday 26 February. Students will travel to the pool by bus with the first event starting at 9.15am. Parents are welcome to attend. Professional Sharing Over this week and into next week our College staff are involved in State Panel meetings and in hosting professional development opportunities for teachers in other schools. It is a reflection of the calibre and expertise of our teaching staff that they continue to seek opportunities to lead and share their experience with teachers beyond our community. On Wednesday, Mrs Polentas is hosting a professional development session on Arduino; an open-source electronics prototyping platform, for IT teachers on the Gold Coast. On Friday, a number of College staff are hosting leaders from other Lutheran schools across Queensland who are coming to St Andrews to explore Positive Education, the AITSL Framework and the LEA Values for Learning in Community. Parents & Friends – Picnic in the Playground The P & F Association at St Andrews is an active group of parents who are committed to fund-raising and friend-raising for the benefit of the wider community. While there is an elected Executive Committee of hard-working volunteers,

all parents and friends associated with the College are in fact members of the Association. Attendance at functions such as the P & F Picnic in the Playground, on Friday 13 March (5.00pm in the MPH grassed area), is an opportunity for parents to meet and establish firm friendships. This will also be an opportunity for parents to meet our new College Pastor, Pastor Nathan Glover, and his family. Virginia Warner Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School virginiaw@salc.qld.edu.au

Chaplains Chat Hello St Andrews College Community. My name is Nathan Glover and I have been called by the College Council to serve as the new College Pastor, taking over after Pastor Terry who retired last year. He has left big shoes for me to fill and I hope to be able to fill them for you and also to bring my own gifts to the role. Thank you to the staff and students who have made me feel welcome thus far. A little background about me: I am a Queenslander from birth but have been outside the state for nearly 10 years studying to be a pastor in Adelaide and then serving in my first parish in central Victoria. I have always had a heart for school ministry and feel somewhat at home in the school context as both my parents were teachers in Lutheran schools. I am married to Aneisha and we have three children. Two of our children attend the Early Learning Centre and our youngest, Josiah (pictured below), was born at the end of January. In my spare time I enjoy reading books, taking photos, tinkering with computers and playing sport.

If there is one thing I would like to contribute to the College – it is that every student would come to know the grace of God through Jesus Christ. The Lutheran Church rightly calls this the chief doctrine of the church and in my time at the College I hope to teach and live a Gospel of Grace towards others. I look forward to getting to know you and others in the College community throughout the year. If you need anything, my door is always open. Nathan Glover College Pastor nathang@salc.qld.edu.au

Middle School News Academic Awards Assembly Last Friday morning the Middle School held our first Academic Awards Ceremony for 2015. These gatherings afford us an opportunity for students to be acknowledged for their achievement, their hard work or their improvement. It was an absolute delight to see so many students being recognized for achieving a significant improvement in their grades during the second semester of 2014. Whilst I am usually loathe to highlight any specific group in particular, on this occasion there was a large number of Year 9 boys who have bucked the perceived norm in educational circles and have achieved a substantial shift in their grades – predominantly through small but noticeable changes in work habits. Mr Kotzur constantly reminds us of the importance of working hard to improve, and striving to do and be our best. Well done to all recipients. Year 7 Camp Last week was the annual Year 7 Orientation Camp to Burleigh CYC. In the past we have met with absolute extremes of weather during this event and, accordingly, it was a delight to have fine yet cool conditions for much of the camp. This camp is aimed at providing opportunities for students and staff to mix and develop positive relationships. I was lucky enough to be able to stay overnight at the camp and also was able to attend the evening session run by our Year 12 leaders who did a superb job in organising activities for the students. Enormous thanks must go to Mrs Lisa Roper and her Year 7 team for their organisation as well as giving up their own time and comfort for this annual event to occur.

Partnerships for Learning This week also was the first of our regular evenings for parents called ‘Partnerships for Learning’. Approximately once a month interested parents are invited to come along from 7-8pm in the CRC to discuss topics that may be of interest to those of us who live/work with adolescents. This week’s topic was on the rather general field of ’12-15 year olds’. Advance notice can usually be found in the College calendar, Facebook page, or via email. Tom Casey Head of Middle School tomc@salc.qld.edu.au

Senior School News

Student Development

Positive Education Character Strengths - By now all students in the Senior School should have completed their Authentic Happiness Questionnaire and identified their top five strengths. These should be recorded in your child’s Diary p21-22. Now the real test is how to use those Signature Strengths to be happier, have better relationships, improve health, boost performance and accomplish goals. In Learning Advisor time your child has been asked to share their top 5 strengths. They may have also talked about a time when they have used their strengths successfully and unsuccessfully, which strengths they felt were truly authentic to them and which strengths they would like to develop.

Telling Stories of Persistence Students are being exposed to a range of stories, images and quotes to inspire the valuing of persistence in chapels, LAG, year level meetings and some classrooms. These stories and examples have ranged from teacher’s sharing personal experiences overcoming learning difficulties, poverty, illnesses and the Kokoda Challenge, through to the Biblical account of Joseph (Genesis 37-50). Joseph is just one of many paragons of persistence in the Bible, which is a rich source of life and direction for us. I encourage families to revisit the story of Joseph at home and the importance of persistence, even during suffering, for in faith our challenges are a source of life and hope. Valuing persistence within school, team and family hopefully enshrouds a young person with this value, from which experience they might make it their own and develop this strength. Highly successful people persist when the going gets tough, when the chips are down or when hope seems lost. Building on what I wrote about Hope in the last bulletin, Hope grows as we persist and continue a course despite knock backs, we remain unfaltering knowing we can affect some changes which will improve future outcomes.

This term in Learning Advisor time the focus is on the Character Strengths of Creativity: »» Curiousity »» Love of Learning »» Open-Mindedness »» Perspective »» Honesty »» Bravery »» Perseverance »» Zest These strengths are found in the Core Virtues of Wisdom and Courage. Congratulations to: • Student Representative Council, particularly the Executive, Ashley Hayes, Morgan Gabriel, Chelsea Blockey and Chad Nicholls, for the very successful Disco and Valentine’s Day rose sale. • All students whose efforts were recognised at the recent SS Academic Assembly with Academic Endeavour, Improvement or Achievement Awards. • Nicole Richards and Rory McLynskey who have accepted a position on the Gold Coast City Junior Council • Tia Lightbody, Khali Robins, Keziah Veivers and Chelsea Vermillion who have been selected as Club Red Ambassadors. • Leos Executive (Jon-Ross Gordon, Ty Sheers and Khali Robins) who organised and delivered Valentine’s Day cards to the residents at St Andrews Lutheran Aged Care last Friday. We spent 20 minutes talking to the ladies and gents as they finished their lunch. Some General Housekeeping - Please ensure that: • hair is neat, tidy and boys have a conservative hairstyle (as per the uniform policy p31 of Diary) • sports shoes are predominantly white • girls do not have facial piercings and earrings in the upper lobes of the ear Tania Stewart Head of Senior School tanias@salc.qld.edu.au

It is pleasing to see a number of debating, chess and sporting groups preparing for the season ahead and senior students initiating new programs to leave a legacy of their year of service and leadership. Extra-curricular activities offer a young person the opportunity to put in sustained and consistent effort without immediate reward or incentive and as such building within them the strength of persistence. If parents can help their children cultivate goals and associated actions to ensure persistence towards these goals (page 41 of Student Diary) it will help guide students and their teachers as they encourage persistence to achieve personal best performances. For example, specific actions that students can commit to which will bring improved results might include; 20 minutes of reading each night before bed to lift English mark from a B to a B+, or 4 morning runs each week at 7am to improve from 30th in Cross Country last year to finishing in the top 10 at the end of this term. Most importantly we want to encourage students to see that success is the product of a concerted effort to persist and to do their best. James Nelson Director of Student Development jamesn@salc.qld.edu.au

Performing Arts News

Sport News

Getting Involved in The Arts St Andrews offers a wide range of Bands, Choirs and Dance Troupes as well as performance opportunities ranging from Fete, Performer’s Register (MS/SS), Drama Festival and Musical.

Head of Sport On Tuesdays, Mr Manion will now be located in the HPE office under J Block with Mr Carter. This will make it much easier for senior students to contact Mr Manion regarding any Sports related enquiries. Mr Manion can also be contacted by email: andrewm@salc.qld.edu.au

Below are the rehearsal times for our groups: Choirs Semitones (Years 1-3) Wednesday 7.45am JS Music Room Golden Clefs (Years 4-6) Tuesday 7.45am JS Music Room MS/SS Choir (Years 7-12) Thursday 7.45am J17 NB: It is expected that all PAT Vocal Students are singing in a choir. This is to assist with their aural development and harmony work. Bands String Ensemble Monday 7.30am JS Music Room Mini Musos Wednesday 7.30am RBT JS Concert Band Thursday 7.30am J24 Concert Band Thursday 7.30am J24 Jazz Band Wednesday 3.30pm RBT Percussion Ensemble Monday 7.30am RBT Dance Troupes JS Dance Troupe Monday 3.10-4.00pm RBT Combined Troupe Tuesday lunch RBT MS Troupe Wednesday lunch RBT MS Elite Contemporary Wednesday 3.10-4.00pm J24 Any enquiries related to these groups can be emailed to: Choirs: kristined@salc.qld.edu.au Bands: paulo@salc.qld.edu.au Dance: paulag@salc.qld.edu.au / kimr@salc.qld.edu.au Musical As of 2015, our structure for Musicals has changed. Instead of alternating each year with a JS and MS/SS Musical, we will do one Whole School Musical (Years 4-12) every second year (with rehearsals commencing the year before). So we will cast our Musical Term 3, rehearse Term 4 and it will be staged early Term 2, 2016. Cilla Scott Head of Arts priscillas@salc.qld.edu.au

District Sport Carnivals and Trials Due to some changes within the School Sport South Coast region, ALL 10 to 19 year old St Andrews’ students will now trial via the HINTERLAND DISTRICT. This applies for Carnivals (Swim, Cross Country and Athletics) and Sports Team selection trials. The Gold Coast South (Primary) and Independent (Secondary) Districts do not exist anymore. Don’t forget to email or see Mr Manion if you are interested in attending District Sport Carnivals and/or Trials in 2015. Reminders will be in student notices and on the College website as trial dates approach, but it is every students’ responsibility to research the dates and contact Mr Manion if they are interested in such events. District Swimming Trials Congratulations to the following swimmers who have qualified to attend the Hinterland Green District Swimming Carnival for 10–19 year old swimmers at TSS on Monday 23 February 2015. We hope you produce some excellent swims on the day. 4B 4C 5C 5A 5C 5C 6B 5B 5A 6C 6A 6A 8C 7D 7D 8B 8B 8D

Ethan Read Joshua Horton Fynn Andrews Scarlett McMurtry Shae Williams Madyson Cloherty Daniel Craig Tim Hornsey Charli Lewis Saoirse Harding Matthew Gabriel Tom Atkinson Ben Batchelor Kali Williams Samantha Todd Ieuan Watkins Misha Varley Gabrielle McGuire

10B 10B 10B 10G 10G 10G 11B 11B 11G 11G 12B 12B 13B 13B 13G 14B 14G 14G

St Andrews Swimming Carnivals Years 7-12 THURSDAY 26 February Years 4-6 FRIDAY 27 February To be held at Somerset College Pool. Hopefully all students have received permission to attend our Carnivals via the Parent Lounge by now. Buses will depart at 8.30am so if students can meet their teachers at 8.15am on the day, that would be great. Please remember to bring adequate food and drinks, sunscreen, hat, togs, towel and wear your sports uniform with HOUSE SHIRT. NO ZINC or HAIR SPRAY please. Representative Futsal Teams are just about all selected in the Senior/Middle School. We had a great turnout to trials and it looks like we will be fielding even more teams this year (4 girls teams and 8 boys teams). The numbers are so great that especially in the girls and younger boys 12-15 we have had to change training to the COLA with two courts - Mr Hibbs If you have any questions please contact Mr Manion at: andrewm@salc.qld.edu.au Andrew Manion Head of Sport

Dates to Remember - February/March Monday 23 Installation of Pastor Glover Year 6 & MS/SS Chapel 8:30am - WC Hinterland Swimming Carnival – TSS Year 12 Tech Studies Excursion Tuesday 24 Mufti Day - ALWS - Rainbow Colours Year 10 Geography Excursion Wednesday 25 Year 12 Griffith Business Workshop Year 11 Legal Studies Excursion Thursday 26 Years 7-12 SALC Swimming Carnival Friday 27 Scholarship Applications close 4.00pm MARCH Friday 6 QCS Prep Workshop Saturday 7 Academic Scholarship Testing

P&F News We hope everyone is settling back into the school year. The General Meeting for Term 1 will be held on Wednesday 11 March at 7pm in the CRC. We welcome any new parents to come along and find out what the P & F is all about. If you have any agenda items for discussion please email the Secretary at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au by Friday 6 March. Attending meetings is a great opportunity to have input into school projects which the P & F fund. Everyone is welcome so please join us. If anyone has any suggestions or comments and cannot make the next meeting please email the P & F at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au Dates for General Meetings in 2015 We only meet once a term, so put these dates in your diary. All meetings start at 7pm in the CRC.

SCHOOL CROSSING SUPERVISOR WANTED • Casual rates start at $27.49 per hour • Training provided • Equal opportunity employer Ask at the Junior School Administration for an application package. * All staff are required to undergo a medical and working with children Blue Card check, which will be provided by DTMR.

Term 1 – Wednesday 11 March Term 2 – Wednesday 10 June Term 3 – Wednesday 12 August Term 4 – Wednesday 25 November - AGM Picnic in the Park The annual picnic in the park will be held on Friday 13 March 5pm–8pm. There will be jumping castles for the kids, music for the adults and a relaxing atmosphere for parents to meet some of the teachers at the College. A sausage sizzle and drinks will be available for purchase to assist in funding the event.

REMINDER: TO ALL PARENTS Please ensure all Tours/Excursions are accepted via the Parent Lounge. This is a requirement for the beginning of each year.

Fete Chocolate Drive Goal â€“ 600 + blocks of chocolate WE NEED YOUR CHOCOLATE !!! we need a minimum of 600 chocolates to make this event a success, so when they are next on special, please grab a few for the Fete. CHOCOLATE BED: A $2 coin toss game where you have the opportunity to win chocolate bars. Chocolate bars are spread over an old style metal bed and if your toss lands on a chocolate bar â€“ you win that bar. Great fun for all ages.

Picnic in the park Everyone welcome

Friday the 13th of March 5pm - 8pm Jnr School oval

LIVE MUSIC

by our senior students Please RSVP to pandf@salc.qld.edu.au There will be a jumping castle for the kids. Yo u c a n p u r c h a s e a s a u s a g e s i z z l e , s n a c k s & drinks or bring your own food and drinks. Bring a chair or picnic blanket & enjoy getting together with the school community.

School Fete

Saturday 16 May

Bring everyone! 10am - 4pm

Rides *LIVE MUSIC* Showbags Coffee Chocolate Bed ART tattoos House of Horror

Talent Show

Cent Auction

Fairies & Pirates

Crazy Hair

Food Markets Great Prizes & lots more! you can h Donate to el ow stalls p V H Sell Raffle o l un Please keep an eye T i c k ebte ss e n d i n g

soon to We will ickets t e l f f a ic home r fantast h t i w l l se ss that a l c e h T s a prizes! ost win m e h t sells ay. pizza d

out for the different stalls that will be at the fete and donate to help create fantastic stalls & prizes. All donations are much appreciated.

eer We a re lo oking paren t for s t o stalls h e l p ,as ru up an sist with n Pleas d clean u set p&f i econtact p. f you the c a n in an y wa help y.

Please contact PandF@salc.qld.edu.au if you can help

INSIGHTS Building parent-school partnerships WORDS Michael Grose

10 golden rules for parenting success in 2015

As the requirements for effective parenting shift and there seems even less time to juggle family life, here are 10 golden rules to guide you on your parenting journey. The requirements for effective parenting are changing rapidly, just as the profile of parents is changing. Australian parents are now older than ever (30-34 is now the peak child-bearing age group). Families are smaller than ever (over 50% have two children or less). And as children as a percentage of the population shrink (1 in 6 of our population is under 15, compared to 1 in 3 in developing countries), we are less knowledgeable about children than ever.

influence your children is talk to them. The kitchen table is one place to do this, but there are plenty of other places where you can talk. If talk becomes difficult, try driving with a child or young person in the car with the radio off. They are bound to break sooner or later.

2 Lean on others

Here are 10 golden rules to guide you along your parenting journey in 2015:

A recent Australian survey found that 50% of parents are seriously struggling with their parenting, yet only 10% of this group would ask for help. I suspect there are many reasons for this including fear of being judged a poor parent; that parenting is expected to be hard; and lack of trustworthy support networks. Author Steve Biddulph once said that parents don’t parent well in isolation. He’s right. It’s incredibly important to build your support networks and get ‘sparents’ into your child’s life. Start by working closely with your child’s teacher; a natural ally!

1 Talk more

3 Build confidence

With families shrinking, kids getting busier and tech devices rapidly multiplying the opportunities for family members to engage in face-to-face talk is under serious attack. Regardless of their age, the best way to

With so many parents reporting that they have a child experiencing anxiety it would seem that we are currently experiencing a crisis in children’s confidence. It would also seem that we have somehow forgotten how

If you add to this mix that children are growing up at the speed of light, information technology can make parents seem redundant, and increasingly parents claim lack of time is their biggest impediment to effective parenting. So what is a parent to do?

to absorb children’s fears, insecurities and anxieties, and instill a sense of confidence that these can be overcome. Using a mixture of coaxing, coaching and cajoling parents need to find a way to impart in children a sense of courage to put themselves in new or potentially awkward social situations; to have a go at activities where failure is a real option; and to contribute to the wellbeing of others, which reduces anxiousness and fear. 4

4 Aim for redundancy The great irony of modern parenting is that as families have shrunk parents actually do more, rather than less, for their kids. There are many reasons for this including lack of time to teach; it’s simply easier to do a job ourselves, and the new expectation that ‘good’ parents do everything for their kids. The new ‘strict parent’ is someone who expects their kids to wash their own clothes, cook a meal, and read a book to a younger sibling. The impertinence! Here’s a six-word slogan to help you remember: “When kids can, let them do!”