Middle/Senior School Bulletin, Issue 6, 02 May 2014

Middle/Senior School Bulletin Issue 06/ 02 May 2014

Last Friday, a number of St Andrews students took part in the Burleigh Heads Anzac Day march and I would like to thank all of the families who attended.

Middle & Senior School News “…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward.” (Philippians 3: 13-14) As we enter the third week of Term Two and the Easter break fades in our memories the Secondary campus is filled with energy for learning and a focus on purposeful work.

Philippians 3 seems a fitting reminder for the start of term that life is about looking forward to new challenges, setting new goals for personal achievement and striving to be the best we can be in all aspects of our lives.

Over the past few weeks members of the Leos club have been working with a group of ‘60s or better’ through a joint initiative with the Lions club and teaching others “How to use the iPad.”

Over the break I read a beautiful book called Love Works

by Joel Manby. Amongst other things, he talked about the importance of ‘being’ goals and suggested that we should be asking our young people about their character aspirations, ‘what sort of person they want to be’ more often than ‘what they want to do’ in the future. Our focus on Character Strengths and PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment) across the College is a tangible way we can continue to foster these important discussions, the importance of character and a desire to seek to continually improve while instilling in our students a high level of self-awareness and communitymindedness.

Parent Teacher Interviews – Tuesday 6 May Next Tuesday, Parent Teacher Interviews will be held at the College and I encourage parents to attend along with their children. The partnership between parents and teachers is very important. The interviews provide the opportunity for students to reflect on Term 1 and to set targets for their learning in Term 2 with their Personal Best in mind. Final pieces of Term 1 assessment that were marked over the break may mean teachers are able to update students and their parents on current achievement levels. While parents are most welcome to contact College staff to discuss their child’s progress at any stage throughout the year attendance at these interview evenings is highly recommended.

Next Monday we are hosting a truly inspirational travelling group of Christian music artists - Endless Praise who will perform at our MS/SS Chapel at 8.30am. Their message is clear. We are loved by God and regardless of where each of us are on our personal faith journey’s we are indeed very blessed. Parents are invited to join us for the service.

A reminder that a full term calendar can be accessed on the College website.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should I be able to offer assistance or if you have feedback on any aspect of College life. virginiaw@salc.qld.edu.au God bless Virginia Warner Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School

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Senior School News Positive Psychology The Core Values that we will focus on during Learning Advisor time this term include; love, humanity and justice. This includes the character strengths of capacity to love and be loved, kindness, social intelligence, citizenship, leadership and fairness. No doubt we will spend some time this term on random acts of kindness or paying it forward. Recent research into acts of kindness revealed that when individuals witnessed lots of acts of kindness it made them less likely to help or act but when they saw occasional acts or experienced an act of kindness themselves they were more likely to pay it forward. Hopefully, what goes around comes around. If you haven’t seen the movie ‘Pay it Forward’ it is well worth it, there is also a book by the same name.

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Middle and Senior School Disco – Friday May 2 This is the annual Disco run by the Student Representative Council for Years 7-12 students. All parents should have received a letter this week about the protocol for this event.

7 Dangerous Apps That Parents Need to know About- by Kristin Peaks Sr. Digital & Social Media Specialist – Source http://www.checkupnewsroom.com/7-dangerousapps-that-parents-need-to-know-about Your child may be downloading Apps that you think are innocent and just a simple way for them to keep in contact with their buddies, but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

To keep your children safe, it’s best that you monitor their phone. Look through their apps, texts and pictures. They may feel that you’re invading their privacy, but if it is about safety and appropriate use of technology then it should not be a problem, especially if you are paying the phone bill.

Apps you need to keep an eye out for as you monitor your child’s phone and that can be very dangerous include: • Yik Yak – This App is one of the newest and one of the most dangerous. It allows users to post text-only Yaks of up to 200 characters. The messages can be viewed by the 500 Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to, and contributing, sexually explicit content, abusive language and personal attacks so severe that schools are starting to block the App on their WiFi. Although the posts are anonymous, kids start revealing personal information as they get more comfortable with other users.

• SnapChat – This App allows users to send photos that will disappear after 10 seconds. Once the recipient opens the picture, the timer starts. Then it’s gone.

From both the sender’s phone and the recipient’s phone. However, the recipient can take a screen shot of the photo and have it to share with others. This App enables kids to feel more comfortable “sexting” with peers.

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KiK Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under 18 for a number of reasons.

The App allows kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators chatting with your child. And again, this is an easy tool for sexting.

Poof –The Poof App allows users to make Apps disappear on their phone with one touch. Kids can hide every app they don’t want you to see on their phone.

All they have to do is open the App and select the ones they don’t want you to see. Very scary! The good news about this App is it is no longer available, which isn’t uncommon for these types of Apps. But, if it was downloaded before it was deleted from the App store, your child may still have it. There are similar ones being created constantly. Some other names include: Hidden Apps, App Lock and Hide It Pro. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with video chat added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – chat participants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger”.

You don’t have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find chat partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and try to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. There is a high risk of sexual predators and you don’t want your kids giving out their personal information, much less even talking to strangers.

Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming constantly on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he met on this App just last year.

Down – This application, which used to be called “Bang with Friends,” is connected to Facebook. Users can categorize their Facebook friends in one of two ways: they can indicate whether or not a friend is someone they’d like to hang with or someone they are “down” to hook up with. The slogan for the App: “The anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night.” If that alone doesn’t scare you, don’t know what will!

It’s overwhelming to keep up with your kids and their online habits. But just remember to check their phones often, and even more importantly have real life conversations with them. Discuss the dangers of the Apps and make sure they understand the need to keep personal information private.

Leo Club Congratulations to the core of our Leo Club who ran five BBQ’s and 4 iPad trainings for the 60s and Better group over the Easter Break. They also sent off cheques of $1500 for Radio Lollipop and $1000 for Leo Mel Maessen in her efforts for Love Hope Jump which raises money to help women affected by slavery in developing countries. While

there are are large number of students listed as Leos the lion share of the work is falling to a few and this is putting strain on those individuals. Part of making a community service group work is that we all pull together and do a little to share the load. I’d ask ALL our Leos to commit to ensuring they do their little bit this term.

Middle School News It was wonderful to see a number of our Middle School students marching at the ANZAC Day Commemoration at Burleigh last Friday and also to see so many of our students at the ANZAC Day events at Currumbin both earlier and later in the day either with their families or representing various service organisations. Such days provide a glimpse into the way in which the College community spreads into the broader community and I thoroughly enjoy meeting up with students and their families at such events.

Winter Uniform Now that the weather is beginning to turn slightly chilly it is worth a reminder that there is a simple equation for which warm ‘top’ to wear. For our regular formal uniform then a College jumper should be worn but only a tracksuit top should be worn with the sport uniform.

Above is a fantastic photo of Leo Ashley Hayes, Leo Secretary, and volunteers working with the 60s and Betters recently. Congratulations to Ashley, who was integral in organising 7 students to assist seniors in the local community with lessons on how to use an iPad. It was wonderful to see the camaraderie that developed between our young people and their mature age students. Also thank you to Claire Duncan, Morgan Atkins, Emily Crighton, Maddie Mitchell, Emily Wade and Courtney Dickinson.

Congratulations to: • The Senior Leadership group who ran a wonderful session of activities on the last day of Term 1 for the whole Middle and Senior School. They were enthusiastic, organised and excellent role models for the younger students. It certainly made the last day of term very worthwhile for all our students.

If you have any concerns or queries please contact me on tanias@salc.qld.edu.au Tania Stewart Head of Senior School

Year 8 Camp From Monday to Wednesday of Week 4 the students of Year 8 will be heading to Tyalgum for the first Year 8 Camp in a number of years. Documents relating to the Camp can be found in the Parent Lounge on the College Website. I ask that parents are particularly vigilant in keeping any medical or contact information up to date as this information will be transferred directly to the staff assisting with the Camp. I look forward to visiting the students during their time at the Camp and watching them participate in the delights that sharing time with peers in the outdoors can provide.

NAPLAN During the same week as the Year 8 Camp will be the annual NAPLAN testing for students in Years 7 and 9. The NAPLAN tests were originally devised as a means of providing parents with a ‘snapshot’ of how their child was progressing in relation to accepted national means and standards across the key areas of Literacy and Numeracy.

It is my son’s first NAPLAN this year and I have fought my Head of School urges to sit with him each evening in a simulated test environment in order to best prepare him for the coming three-day test period (although he can now shade within the lines of an answer circle). As part of our regular daily curriculum at the College we obviously incorporate some preparation for the Tests into Year 7 and Year 9; however, we also use the data from the series of tests to inform our practice as teachers within the College.

The best things that a student can do when the tests arrive are to have a good night’s sleep beforehand, eat a good breakfast and ensure that they have all necessary items for the tests.

I look forward to a wonderfully busy Week 4 in the Middle School. As always, please contact me if you would like to discuss any of these items further.

Tom Casey Head of Middle School tomc@salc.qld.edu.au

Chaplains Chat St Andrews as a Christ centered community approaches life with optimism, hope and ultimately in the face of adversity, and apparent evidence to the contrary, with confidence that all will be well. This expectation does not come from a denial of the sometimes harsh realities of life, or indeed the belief, that because change is a constant, that things must sooner or later get better. The confident life stance comes from the mystery of God’s chosen self-disclosure in Jesus. He did not deny the reality of suffering but entered into it and seemed to be overwhelmed by it but triumphed over death and destroyed its power. His resurrection was the defeat of adversity suffering and death. It holds out to us the promise of victory over adversity – whatever form it takes.

This is well expressed in the following from Christian writer Ron Rolheiser: “The resurrection of Christ challenges us to new life – to believe, precisely, that there are surprises hidden at the heart of death: that every scream, tear and cry is redeemed, and that God’s laughter is stronger than death.

Ultimately, belief in the resurrection asks us to believe that, despite a strong experience to the contrary, reality is gracious, light does triumph over darkness, love over selfinterest, justice over oppression, peace over chaos, fulfillment over hunger. Faith in the resurrection is the trust that, in the end, everything is good.”

St Paul knows something of this confidence when he says: ‘….but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’

Philippians 3.14 In this post Easter season may you know something of the confidence, hope and joy that Christ brings.

Pastor Terry Unger

Student Development Learning Organisation or Procrastination In my article at the end of last term I asked that parents might review their children’s Term 1 goals on page 39 of the Student Diary. The columns are set up to focus on committed action to improve goal attainment and then offer opportunity to discuss a sense of accomplishment and growth each term. Page 61 offers the opportunity to re-set goals and commit to actions to learn the habits which pre-empt learning success. Studies reinforce, that as parents and teachers partner together to help young people develop habits of organising work periods, planning to meet a range of demands from school, family, social and sleep, we will see benefits in their mental health, learning and engagement.

Planning chunks of time each afternoon or evening to review work from the day, practise similar examples of work from class, extend reading and wider perspective on content being covered in class are just some examples of what can be developed as habit. Many young people need help seeing these as important, and often seek only to do the bare minimum if neither parents or teachers follow up on homework, saying ‘my teacher set no homework’ or ‘my teacher won’t check if I finish my homework’ pushing the blame away from their own will or motivation to learn and succeed. These habits should be developed in addition to any homework or assignment preparation which students are held more accountable by teachers to complete.

Particularly as students transition from Middle through to Senior school, the habits and discipline of work become increasingly important. As curriculum time fills up and the pace of learning increases in Senior School it increasingly falls upon students to demonstrate independence and follow up with good study habits, whether or not teachers are implementing external motivations or dis-incentives.

We are promoting better use of the diary amongst our students and hope that parents might become progressively more familiar with the student diary as a means of improving young people’s approach to learning and organisation.

James Nelson Director of Student Development jamesn@salc.qld.edu.au

the accountability, security and proper conduct of the test, the QSA appoints members of the community to each test centre to complete duties on behalf of the QSA. This year the QCS tests will be held on Tuesday 2 September and Wednesday 3 September.

Careers News

A test centre is a secondary school, or another place approved by the QSA, where students may sit the QCS Test.

All test centres are located within Queensland and have a chief supervisor to administer the test on behalf of the QSA. Anyone interested in finding out more about becoming and/or applying to become a community representative should visit https://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/memos/14/024-14. pdf All information and appropriate application forms are to be found at this link. Note that completed application forms need to be handed in to SENIOR ADMINISTRATION on the ground floor of the Main Administration building by close of business on FRIDAY 23 MAY. Any enquiries about the positions and application process should be directed to Mrs Wrigley.

A Reminder that the GOLD COAST CAREERS EXPO next THURSDAY 8 MAY at ROYAL PINES; parents are urged to accompany their students after school to this comprehensive event which runs until 7 pm.

OPENTHDAY

WED 14 MAY 93% of AITC students graduate with a full-time apprenticeship!

Start your trade career in Year 11 and 12 and EARN while you LEARN at Australia’s most innovative Trade College. Join us at our Open Day and...

• Find out what makes this college’s education model so highly sought after by students and parents alike • Tour our unique College, with its state-of-the-art technology wireless classrooms and Fitness Centre • Participate in over 20 trades showcased with interactive demonstrations • Talk to our staff about our apprenticeships, traineeships and diploma courses available to Year 11 and 12.

Register to attend the OPEN DAY Wed 14th May 2014 from 4pm to 6:30pm.

Information sessions at 4:30pm and 5pm.

Sausage Sizzle courtesy of BUSSQ Super Fund.

Lucky Door prizes courtesy of Masters Robina.

281 Scottsdale Drive, Robina www.aitc.qld.edu.au CALL NOW! (07) 5635 0400

APPLICATIONS for COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES for the 2014 QCS TESTS are open now.

Each year, the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) invites expressions of interest from community members to nominate for the position of chief community representative or community representative for the QCS Test. To maintain

Sunshine Coast TAFE: Make the Most of Your Gap Year Taking a year off after completing your high school education is tempting. Sunshine Coast TAFE has produced a two-page pamphlet outlining the options available to you in order to gain life and work experience.

It can be downloaded here: http://www.sunshinecoast.tafe. qld.gov.au/Schools/Pages/default.aspx Endeavour College of Natural Health Open Day Saturday 3rd May, 9am – 12pm. All Endeavour Campuses.

Find out about careers in natural health, attend mini lectures to get a taste of the Bachelor of Health Science degrees, take a campus tour and get your questions answered by staff and students. http://www.naturalhealthopenday. com.au/ ACTU Worksite This website aims to provide information to young people about their rights at work. The site contains videos, articles, quizzes and more on what your rights are at work. http://worksite.actu.org.au/ Brisbane Careers & Employment Expo, Friday 23rd – Saturday 24th May 2014 @ Brisbane Convention Exhibition Centre.

Queensland’s largest careers, education, training & employment event will feature exhibitions from Tertiary and Vocational training organisations as well as employers and members of industry. Event entry is free. http://ncee.com.au/brisbane/ Defence Jobs Australia: Navy Trades Facebook Chat Thursday 1st May, 6.30pm – 8.00pm (AEST) Find out about the diverse range of trade roles on offer in the Navy. https://www.facebook.com/ events/1583708418521762/ Police Recruiting Information Seminars for May Brisbane Information Seminars are held at the Police Head-

quarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

-Saturday 3rd May, 1pm - 2:30pm -Tuesday 6th May, 6pm - 7:30pm -Wednesday 7th May, 6pm - 7:30pm -Saturday 10th May, 1pm - 2:30pm -Tuesday 13th May, 6pm -7:30pm -Saturday 17th May, 9:30am - 11am & 1pm - 2:30pm -Saturday 24th May, 9:30am - 11am & 1pm - 2:30pm -Saturday 31st May, 9:30am - 11am & 1pm - 2:30pm Regional Police Recruiting Information Seminars: - Beenleigh: Thursday 1st May, 6:30pm - 8pm @ PCYC Beenleigh, Alamein Street, Beenleigh - Coomera: Friday 9th May, 6:30pm - 8pm @ Upper Coomera Community Centre, 90 Reserve Road - You do need to reserve places at these events so book online at: http://www.policerecruit.qld.gov.au/seminars/

place with the Queensland mixed team.

Georgia Eller has been named as a ‘shadow’ player for the Queensland Under 13 State Soccer team. She may be called into the team to compete at the National Championships should someone withdraw.

Southern Cross Cultural Exchange Tuesday 6th May, 7pm - 9pm @ Brisbane Girls Grammar, 70 Gregory Terrace, Brisbane If you are considering applying for an exchange program, attendance at the information session is essential. It is an opportunity to gain a realistic overview of the process, the countries, the experience and the benefits of combining learning and friendship through student exchange. http://www.scce.com.au/programs/information-sessions/ Free Student Exchange Information Evening In Brisbane Hear from returned students, find out more about discounts and scholarships available and ask questions.

Wednesday, 7th May - 7.30pm Bright HQ, Suite 3A, 54 Vernon Terrace, TENERIFFE Visit www.studentexchange.org.au or call 1300 135 331 for more information.

performing well.

Christina Wrigley Director of Learning and Teaching christina@salc.qld.edu.au

Sport News Representative Cross Country Any students who wish to compete at the IDSS (13 – 19 years) Cross Country must email Mr Manion by May 2nd.

The IDSS meet is on Friday May 16th at Rivermount College. Mr Manion has selected teams for the SLAPS (Years 4-7) and Gold Coast South (10-12 years) Cross Country Carnivals which are on 19th and 21st May respectively.

More information and permission acknowledgement will be available via the Parent Lounge.

Student Sporting Achievements Kye Wylde and Kane Richards achieved some awesome results at the recent National Triathlon Championships in Bendigo. They both raced in the senior boys with Kye getting 2nd in Australia and Kane getting 9th. They also had great results in the relays with Kye achieving 2nd place with the Queensland Senior boys team and Kane achieving a 1st

Mia and Dylan Jenkins attended the National Age Swimming Championships in Sydney the week before Easter.

Mia had 9 swims for 9 Personal Bests and managed Silver in the 12-13 year old girls 400m Freestyle. She also made the Finals in the 200m Free (4th) and 100m Free (6th). Dylan swam very well in the 50m Free considering that he has not been able to train for 6 months. It’s great to see Dylan back in the water and Mikayla Van Kampen competed at the Grand National Equestrian Championships in Sydney on the 30th March.

The Grand Nationals are held once a year in Sydney and competitors need to qualify at competitions throughout the year within their State. All the qualifiers then come together in Sydney to compete for a Grand National title.

Mikayla competed in 3 events and now has 2 Grand National titles to her name.

Andrew Manion Head of Sport andrewm@salc.qld.edu.au

Art News Starbound Entertainers Festival Over the Easter Break our Contemporary and Jazz Dance Troupes competed in the Schools Section of The Starbound Entertainers Festival. Both troupes performed very well with the Jazz Troupe receiving a Highly Commended for their routine “A Little Party”, choreographed by Paula Guild, and the Contemporary Troupe winning the section with their routine “The Raven” choreographed by Kim Reynolds.

Well done all.

Jesus Christ Superstar We are well and truly into rehearsals for what promises to be a very impressive production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, featuring Nathan Lindsay as Jesus, Jonathon Aiello as Judas, Kelsey Caruana as Mary and Elliott Baylis as Pilate.

Priscilla Scott Head of Arts priscillas@salc.qld.edu.au

Dates to remember May Tuesday 6

Parent Teacher Interviews - 3.30pm - 8.00pm.

Friday 9

Year 12 QCS Workshop Monday 12

Year 8 Camp Tuesday 13

Year 8 Camp Years 7 & 9 NAPLAN Testing Wednesday 14

Year 8 Camp Years 7 & 9 NAPLAN Testing Friday 15

Years 7 & 9 NAPLAN Testing

Uniformshop News Volunteer Needed The Uniform Shop is looking for a volunteer on Wednesday mornings from 8am. You can usually leave by 8.45 but if you can stay later we have plenty of things you can help us with. Please phone, email or drop in if you can help.

Get Ready for Winter - All items now in stock Formal Uniform Winter Items (not to be worn with sports uniform) Formal Jumpers $78-$85 Girls Navy 70 Denier Tights $7-7.50 ea Boys navy long pants $33 - optional for Years 1 -6 Boys grey long trousers $35 - optional for Years 7-9, compulsory Yr 10-12 Winter Sports Uniform (not to be worn with formal uniform) Tracksuit Tops $60 and Pants $35 Optional items Navy Raincoat (folds up into own bag) $24 Navy Scarf with College Logo - $12 Navy Gloves - $5 Jacqui Desfosses Uniform Shop Manager uniformshop@salc.qld.edu.au

P&F News

We are selling the Entertainment Books again this year!

New this year, you have a choice: The traditional Entertainment Book Membership that comes with the Gold Card and vouchers or The brand new Entertainment Digital Membership that puts the value of the Entertainment™ Book into your iPhone or Android smartphone.

ONLY AT ST ANDREWS: Purchase a digital or book membership by Friday 9th May and go into the draw for a chance to win: 2 Hours free at TIMEZONE The price is $55.00 per book and $11.00 from each book goes to fundraising for the College.

Books are available from Reception, Junior School Administration and the Uniform Shop.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE NOW!

Welcome to Term 2, we hope you all enjoyed Easter and the many long weekends that we were fortunate to have.

The General P & F meeting for Term 2 is Wednesday 11 June 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 at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au by Friday 6 June. It is a great opportunity to have input into school projects which the P & F fund. Everyone is welcome.

We will soon be looking to form the Fete Committee for next year’s Fete, so if you are interested in helping out, please come to the next meeting. If anyone has any suggestions or comments and cannot make the next meeting please email the P & F at pandf@salc.qld.edu.au Daniel Renneberg pandf@salc.qld.edu.au

Parent Lounge Update As the year progresses we continue to add extra functionality into Parent Lounge to assist with further convenience and correspondence for parents to access student information. Outlined below are the enhancements which have been made for the start of Term 2.

Please note the link to access parent lounge has changed to https://tassweb.salc.qld.edu.au/parentlounge/PIALogin.cfm and is still accessible under the Portals section of the College website.

Address updates Address changes can now be made online. This function can be accessed by going to the Update Parent Details link from the menu bar and completing relevant fields. Please note these changes are inclusive of emails addresses.

The parent name field should not be changed as this a system requirement in this current format. If you have a change of name the College will need to see legal documents supporting name changes.

Parent Directory Parents are now able to share their contact information with other parents in their child’s year level. How much information you wish to share is at your own discretion. This can be accessed by going to the Parent Directory link from the menu bar and selecting an address to display and MAINTAIN. From here you can choose which information you wish to share out.

Payment of Accounts As advised earlier payment of school fees and current account balance checks can be made through the Make a Payment option from the menu bar. Payments are made through Westpac’s secure PayWay system.

Student Photos Official student photos have been updated against your child’s record in Parent Lounge. You will now be able to view the latest photo of your child.

SMS - Excursion/Camps Parents will now be notified via sms of return times from excursions and camps where applicable.

School Calendar The school calendar is updated on parent lounge. This calendar has an optional filter so you can select your child’s year level and only see relevant events.

The College also recommends changing your password to something familiar to yourself via the ‘change password’ link at the top right hand side of the screen after you login.

Regards

Jo Schaefer Information Technology Manager

INSIGHTS

Building parent-school partnerships

WORDS Michael Grose

Helping students get ready for the NAPLAN tests

The most resilient children and young people are those who rise to meet rather than retreat from the challenges presented to them. Perhaps it’s best to view the NAPLAN tests as good learning experiences rather than dreaded pressure tests.

During the second week of May Australian children in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The stated purpose of this testing program is to gain an overall picture of educational attainment levels to assist education policy and decision-making.

The program first implemented in 2008 has drawn some criticism from a number of different quarters, particularly in regard to the use of the information gained through the NAPLAN tests.

You’ve probably heard a number of different viewpoints expressed in the media over the last few weeks.

One view commonly put forward is that the NAPLAN tests put undue pressure on children to perform in test situations. If so, then perhaps the best approach for parents and teachers is to help them handle the pressure rather than avoid it.

The most resilient children and young people are those who rise to meet rather than retreat from the challenges presented to them. Perhaps it’s best to view the NAPLAN tests as good learning experiences rather than dreaded pressure tests.

Children and young people take their cues from their parents about how to handle many situations. American psychologist Martin Seligman discovered more than a decade ago,

through his research into children’s thinking styles, how closely a child’s explanatory style mimics that of the parent they spend most time around. Optimistic parents beget optimistic kids, just as anxious parents can beget anxious kids.

The impact of a parent’s explanatory style seems to be magnified somehow in small families where there are fewer voices to be heard.

As a parent it helps your child, if you take a positive view of the NAPLAN tests. It’s better to see them as learning opportunities for kids as well as opportunities to overcome any anxieties or nerves that these tests may bring on. It’s also worth remembering that many children don’t stress over these tests. The vast majority take them in their stride, wondering what all the fuss is about.

Whether your child stresses or takes them in his stride here are some tips to help prepare for the NAPLAN tests: 1 Take your cues from your child: If your child doesn’t worry about them then neither should you. Be careful not to create a problem that doesn’t exist by incessantly talking about, or worse, worrying about the test..

2 Focus on doing their best and trying hard: Choose your words carefully when you speak with your kids. As with all their learning activities place your focus squarely on effort rather than results.

The only pressure on kids should be to try hard rather than to do well.

3 Listen to any concerns they have: If your child confesses to some nerves then validate their feelings, rather than shut them down with a ‘get over it’ response. “Yes, sometimes tests can be a little scary, but they get easier every time you take them.” Use this as an opportunity to develop some emotional smarts, which starts with recognising how kids feel.

4 Give them some relaxation ideas: Anxious or nervous kids will benefit from some simple relaxation strategies. Taking some deep breaths, changing their thinking and exercising the morning of the test are some simple ways to help kids get some feeling of control.

5 Help them retain their perspective: One way to help children who become excessively anxious about an event is to ask what’s the worst thing that could happen? Okay, they may not do as well as they would like but the sun will still rise tomorrow, regardless of how well they do.

Keeping perspective is a life skill that we all need to practise.

A positive, caring parent attitude is one of the best gifts you can give a child when they are apprehensive or nervous about approaching any different situation whether it’s going on school camp, joining a new club or sitting a NAPLAN test.

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 © 2014 Michael Grose

parentingideas.com.au