From the Head of Junior School

Issue 3 / 15 March 2013

Swimming CarnivalThe weather almost held out so that we could get our swimming carnival completed. Unfortunately it poured with rain during the last race which meant that we all got wet going home. Thank you to all of the parents who came along to support, it was great to see you all there. I would like to congratulate all of the age champions and place getters for their magnificent results. I would also like to say well done to the students who may have finished last, but did their very best and had a lot of fun. Congratulations to Binging for taking home the trophy.

Years 4 and 6 CampBy the time you get this newsletter the students would have just returned from their camps with many stories to tell. A more detailed report will appear in the next bulletin.

3 Way ConferencesJust a reminder to sign up for the 3 way conferences that are coming up on Tuesday 19th, Wednesday 20th of March, Monday 25th March and Tuesday 26th of March. You can book online by following the link to the conferenc-es found on the school website and following the instruc-tions on the PTO website. This will be a great opportunity for you and your child to meet with the teacher to discuss the progress of your child’s education. Bookings close on Monday 18th of March. When you come in for your confer-ence please supervise your children and do not allow them to play unsupervised.

Lego ClubMany students have taken up the opportunity to be involved in the lunch time lego club that happens once a fortnight. The students were building castles, airplanes, farms and all sorts of wonderful creations. This is one of many extracurricular activities that our students have the opportunity to get involved in hear at St Andrews.

P & F PicnicOne of the great things about joining St Andrews is the sense of community that belongs in this school. Thank you to all involved in putting on the picnic this afternoon. I hope you all had a chance to enjoy yourselves.

Easter Services at St AndrewsPlease come along and join the St Andrews congregation to celebrate Easter at the following services which will be held over the Easter weekend:Thursday 28h March Prep-Yr 12 Easter service in the MPH beginning at 9:00 am.Maundy Thursday Service and Celebration Dinner with Holy Com-munion (6.00 pm)Friday 29th March Good Friday Service with Holy Communion (9.00 am)Sun 31st March Easter Sunday Celebration with Holy Communion (9.00 am)

Darrin SchumacherDeputy Principal/Head of Junior School

Easter at St Andrews

Cyber Smart and Cyber SafeSafety Settings on your Social Media Sites Tumblr, Facebook, Stardoll, Yahoo, Myspace, Google+, Club Penguin – there are so many places where adults and children can connect socially. Each site has its own idiosyncrasies and settings to allow you to share as much or little information about yourself as you feel comfortable. So where do you start when it comes to making sure that you have the cor-rect settings for your children’s use of these social media sites? The Australian Government has published a website which gives you the information you need to know to help you with these settings - http://www.dbcde.gov.au/easy-guide/social_networking

Finally, how much information should you share about yourself and your children on these sites? The general rule is to decide how much information you feel comfortable sharing with a complete stranger in a shopping centre. The proper use of these sites can be a lot of fun and can help us to keep connected but please be careful about what you post online.

Recently Ms Jacqueline Faulkner and I had the opportunity to listen to Michael Grose who is the author of 8 parenting books. His popular parenting columns appear in newspa-pers and magazines across Australia. He appears regularly on television. Many of you will be aware of the articles that are included in our Junior School Bulletins.

I want to take this opportunity to share some of his thoughts on developing resilience in children. Michael says:

Resilience is a 21st Century parenting con-cept that every parent needs to understand.

Some kids are resilient by nature – their tem-perament helps them to be mentally and psychologically tough. You know those kids. They get straight back up after a setback or

From the Deputy Head of Junior School (P - 3)

disappointment. Rejection in the playground doesn’t faze them. Unfortunately, not every child has such natural resil-ience.

The good news is that most of the research shows that resilience can be nurtured and developed, particularly when parents themselves are resilient and they actively foster it in their kids. Resilient kids share four basic skill sets - inde-pendence, problem-solving, optimism and social connec-tion.

Building ResilienceFrom a resilience perspective parents need to coach kids through some of their more challenging moments and reviewing what they may have learned for next time. Avoid solving all their problems for them.

You can promote a lasting sense of resilience in your kids by:• Having a positive attitude yourself. Your attitude as a

parent impacts on their ability to bounce back from some of the difficulties they face. Make sure you model a ‘you can do it’ attitude for your child when he meets some of life’s curve balls.

• Look for teachable moments. Many kids’ learning op-portunities are disguised as problems. Make the most of these opportunities so that kids can grow and learn from some of the challenges they face.

• Make kids active participants in the family. Active par-ticipation in a family develops the self-help, problem-solving and independence skills of kids that are neces-sary for resilience.

• Build kids coping skills. There are plenty of strategies you can pass on to kids to help them cope when life doesn’t go their way, including acceptance, getting away for a while, and normalisation.

Promoting resilience in kids is a not a single event but a continuous process that requires parents to be supportive and empathetic when things don’t go their way. It also requires you as a parent to have an understanding of resil-ience, so you have faith in yourself, and your child’s ability to cope.

You might like to explore more of Michael’s insights through his website www.parentingideas.com.au

At St Andrews we actively seek to work closely with parents to develop resilience in all of our students. By promoting the attributes of the IB Learner Profile and the Attitudes,

Art NewsDo you enjoy singing?Our two Junior School Choirs are off to a fantastic start in 2013, under the leadership of Mrs Kristine Dennis. The Golden Clefs are working towards a performance at the Easter Service and both choirs are starting to prepare for Eisteddfod.

If you love to sing, or are in the Musical and would benefit from extra singing, come along to:

Golden Clefs (Years 4 - 6) rehearse Tuesday 7.45am in JS Music Room

Semitones (Years 1 - 3) rehearse Wednesday 7.45am in JS Music Room

Email kristined@salc.qld.edu.au if you have any choral enquiries.

Mini Musos UpdateOur Year 5 Mini Musos are also off to a great start under the direction of Mr Matt Pearson. This is the largest group we have had to date in this program and we are all very pleased with the progress the group is making. Regular home practise is essential to ensure the continuing devel-opment of the individual musician. Make sure there is a regular practise schedule - even 15 minutes a night.As a date claimer, we are holding a Mini Musos Soiree and Parent Afternoon on Wednesday 1st May in RBT from 3.30 - 4.15pm. This is an opportunity to listen to the ensemble, and meet the teachers.

Seussical The Musical RemindersThanks to all students for their fantas-tic work on the Sunday rehearsal - the show is coming together.

Remember to check the rehearsal schedule carefully each week. These are also available on Moodle under PAT Tui-tion.

at the heart of our Primary Years Program, we seek to help students develop qualities like caring, being balanced, tak-ing risks, and being principled. Please don’t hestitate to talk with your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about your child’s ability to settle in to their new environment at school this year.

Joy Schloss Deputy Head of Junior School (P-3)

God will generously provide all you need. 2Corinthians 9:8

Counselling Update

Book Review – ‘The Strong Sensitive Boy ‘by Ted ZeffDoes your son tend to be disturbed by loud noises, violence, and crowds, fearful of new situations, easily hurt by criticism, or hesitant about playing aggressive games?

Your son may be one of the 20 percent of all boys with a finely tuned nervous system. Sensitive boys tend to be creative, kind, and gentle, appreciating beauty and feeling love deeply.

In this groundbreaking book, psychologist Ted Zeff explores the unique challenges of sensitive boys, showing parents, edu-cators, and mentors how to help sensitive boys grow into strong, happy, and confident men. Dr Zeff offers practical advice on how to help your son increase his self-esteem and thrive in the family, at school, with friends, and in sports.

Most boys are taught from an early age to act tough and repress their emotions. Whenever boys do not conform to the “boy code” and instead show their gentleness and emotions, they are sometimes ostracized and humiliated. If boys express emotions such as fear, anxiety, or sadness, they are commonly seen as feminine, and frequently the adults and other children in their lives typically treat them as though these emotions are abnormal for a boy.

Dr Zeff’s survey of highly sensitive boys indicated that throughout their life they “usually” or “always” have been: creative, compassionate, intuitive, gentle, responsible, a peacemaker, and good at counselling people. They share these traits with such famous highly sensitive males as Abraham Lincoln; the great psychologist Carl Jung, Wolf-gang Amadeus Mozart and with many of the great male spiritual teachers.

Sensitive boys have a proclivity toward deep spiritual experi-ences which helps them find peace and stability, as well as a stronger sense of their own value and purpose.

With all of our children we need to identify strengths and help them build on these strengths in order to foster resil-ience and optimism and self worth.

Mardi Frost School Counselling Team

A reminder about the special recap rehearsal on the student free day of Term 2 Monday 15th April. Please note not all Company are required all day.10am-12.30pm, RECAP, Cast required:Company1pm-3pm, Gertrude/Espionage/ All For You, Cast Required:Gertrude, Horton, Cat in The Hat, Bird Girls ONLY

Priscilla ScottHead of Arts

BASIL SELLERS ART & SPORT PRIZEStudents from Gold Coast schools are invited to submit works in any medium that encompass Art and Sport com-bining. (Think about the swimming carnival, school sport, plenty of photo opportunities coming up). First prize is $2000 for the individual and $7000 for the school. Highly Commended works receive $500 each. Entries open 9/2. Delivery of work to Gallery 18/3. Exhibition 23/3- 14/4. Winners announced 22/3. More information see Mrs Har-man or www.theartscentregc.com.au (more info attached)

Ngaire Harman Visual Arts

District Sport Trials Dates for all of our College sporting events and District trials are on College web page. Students should email Mr. Manion to express your interest and then go and see him in the MPH to collect forms and register for the any trials that they are interested in.

Running Club Running Club for Years 4-12 students and their parents/caregivers with coach JK Faulkner is held on Mondays and Thursdays. Members should meet at the Top Oval at 7am. Sessions will go for approximately one hour. If conditions permit, we may have a cross country practice run at Schus-ter’s Park on the morning of Thursday 21st March.

St Andrews Cross Country CarnivalsYears 4-6 and Years 7-12 Cross Country Carnivals will be held on Wednesday 27th March at Schuster’s Park. (Weath-er and ground conditions permitting).More information will be emailed home very soon.

Inter Lutheran Swimming CarnivalOur awesome teams travelled to Brisbane and beyond for the annual Years 4-7 and Years 8-12 Inter Lutheran Swim Carnivals this week. Our Years 4-7 team led by Swim Cap-tains Mia Jenkins and Oliver Wheeler, did an outstanding job to finish in 4th position in the A Division of the South-ern Lutheran Associated Primary Schools.

Our Years 8-12 team achieved a victory in B Division of the Queensland Lutheran Colleges Sports Association, with the 16 years boys, Open Girls and Open Boys age groups win-ning their team events. Our Captains, Amy-Lee Holborn and Chris Graudins accepted the trophy on the College’s behalf.

Andrew Manion Head of Sport

Sport News

Dates to remember March

Sunday 17 Year 3 Family Service followed by Easter Egg HuntMonday 18 to Friday 22 Carnival Book FairTueday 19 Assembly 8.40am, Multi Purpose HallThree Way Conferences 3.00pm to 5.30pmWednesday 20 Three Way Conferences 3.00pm to 5.30pmMonday 25 Three Way Conferences 3.00pm to 5.30pmTuesday 26 Three Way Conferences 3.00pm to 5.30pmWednesday 27 Years 4-6 Cross Country CarnivalThursday 28Prep to Year 12 Easter Service, Multi Purpose Hall, 9.00am

Traffic Safety AttendantsTraffic Safety Attendants urgently required for Wednesdays and Fridays. If anyone can volunteer to please contact Jo Levey: joannel@salc.qld.edu.au

Term 2 Bus PassNow is the time to purchase your Term Pass from Main Reception.

Please ensure that you take note of the Terms and Conditions if choosing this option.

10 trip tickets are still available for $22.00 throughout the term.

TERM 2 2013AM & PM - $220AM Only - $110PM Only - $110

TERMS & CONDITIONS*Must be purchased before or within first week of school

* Term pass is non refundable/non transferable* Valid only for term dates shown on pass

* Valid only for student shown on pass, one pass per student* If pass is lost, please see Reception, replacement charge $2.00

by Michael Grose - No. 1 parenting educator

2013 Michael Grose

Michael Grose PresentationsPO Box 167 Balnarring Vic 3926 p + 61 3 5983 1798 f (03) 5983 1722 e office@parentingideas.com.auAll rights reserved. For more ideas, support and advice for all your parenting challenges please visit our website.

facebook.com/Parentingideas.com.autwitter.com/michaelgrose

parentingideas.co.ukparentingideas.com.au parentingideas.co.nz

The pitfall of using other children as benchmarksBenchmarking children’s progress with that of other children is not a wise parenting strategy. Inevitably, it will lead to parent frustration as there will always be a child who performs better than your own on any scale you use.

Have you ever compared your child’s behaviour, academic progress or social skills with a sibling or your friend’s children?

Comparing your child with others is a stress-inducing and, ultimately, useless activity.

But it’s hard to resist, as we tend to assess our progress in any area of life by checking out how we compare with our peers.

When you were a child in school you probably compared yourself to your schoolmates. Your teachers may not have graded you, but you knew who the smart kids were and where you ranked in the pecking order.

Now that you have kids of your own do you still keep an eye on your peers? Do you use the progress and behaviour of their kids as benchmarks to help you assess your own performance as well as your child’s progress? Or perhaps you compare your child to yourself at the same age?

Benchmarking children’s progress with that of other children is not a wise parenting strategy. Inevitably, it will lead to parent frustration as there will always be a child who performs better than your own on any scale you use.

Kids develop at their own rates

Each child has his or her own developmental clock, which is nearly impossible to alter. There are slow bloomers, early developers, bright sparks and steady-as-you-go kids in every classroom. The slow bloomers can cause the most concern for parents who habitually compare children to siblings, their friends’ kids and even themselves when they were in school.

The trick is to focus on your child’s improvement and effort and use your child’s results as the benchmark for his or her progress and development. “Your spelling is better today than it was a few months ago” is a better measure of progress than “Your spelling is the best in the class!”

Gender matters

It’s no secret that boys’ and girls’ brains were developed by different architects. One major difference lies around timing, or maturity. The maturity gap between boys and girls is anywhere between 12 months and two years. This gap seems to be consistent all the way to adulthood.

Quite simply, girls have a developmental head start over boys in areas such as handwriting, verbal skills and relationship skills. Boys benefit greatly from teaching strategies designed for their

specific needs. They also benefit from having teachers and parents who recognise that patience is a virtue when teaching and raising boys, as it seems to take longer for many boys to learn and develop.

Kids have different talents, interests and strengths

So your eight-year-old can’t hit a tennis ball like Novak Djokovic, even though your neighbour’s child can. Avoid comparing the two as your child may not care about tennis anyway.

It’s better to help your child identify his or her own talents and interests. Also recognise that the strengths and interests of a child may be completely different to those of his or her peers and siblings.

Avoid linking your parenting self-esteem to your child’s performance

As a parent you should take pride in your children’s performance at school, in sport or their leisure activities. Seeing your child do well is one of the unsung pleasures of parenting. You should also celebrate their achievements and milestones, such as taking their first steps, getting their first goal in a game or getting great marks at school.

However, you shouldn’t have too much personal stake in your children’s success or milestones, as this close association makes it hard to separate yourself from them. It may also lead to excessive parental pressure for kids to do well for the wrong reasons – to please you!

The maxim “You are not your child” is a challenging but essential parental concept to live by. Doing so takes real maturity and altruism, but it is the absolute foundation of that powerful thing known as “unconditional love”.

1st March 2013 Dear Parents INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS & ASSESSMENTS (ICAS) FOR SCHOOLS 2013 Years 4 - 12 Your student is invited to take part in the 2013 Australasian Schools Competitions: COMPUTER SKILLS (Years 4-10) Tuesday 21May $9.60 per student SCIENCE (Years 4-12) Wednesday 5 June $9.60 per student WRITING (Years 4-12) Monday 17 June $19.50 per student SPELLING (Years 4-6) Tuesday 18 June $12.90 per student ENGLISH (Years 4-12) Wednesday 31 July $9.60 per student Note that all Year 12 students will be entered for English with entry fees paid for by the College. All other years this competition is optional but highly recommended. MATHEMATICS (AMC) (Years 7-12) Thursday 1 August $6.60 per student MATHEMATICS (ICAS) (Years 4-12) Tuesday 13 August $9.60 per student Note that all Year 8, 10 & 11 students will be entered for Maths with entry fees paid for by the College. All other years this competition is optional but highly recommended. The competitions take place each year in schools throughout Australia and the South Pacific Region. They provide opportunities for all students to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external assessment situation. All students receive a Certificate and an individual Results Letter indicating which questions they answered correctly, as well as the average mark for their state. The documents are suitable for inclusion in a portfolio. The Results Letter is also useful for highlighting students’ strengths and weaknesses in Mathematics. Certificates are awarded to each year level as follows: High Distinction to the top 1% of entrants in the state Distinction to the next 10% of entrants in the state Credit to the next 20% of entrants in the state Achievement to the students who are placed in the top 20% of their Year Level at their school, but do not qualify for one of the above state Certificates Participation to all students who do not qualify for one of the above Certificates. Medals are awarded to the top student(s) in each Year Level in each state. Schools receive valuable statistics which enable them to compare their achievements with the rest of the state. You can access the UNSW Educational website: http;//eaa.unsw.au/etc/prepare to help prepare your child for competition papers. There is a section that provides practice questions . Yours faithfully

Christina Wrigley Jacqueline Faulkner CDA & DIRECTOR LEARNING & TEACHING DEPUTY HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

If you would like your student to participate, please book and pay on line via the College website. You will find the information under “News” on the left hand side of the Home page.

The closing date is THURSDAY 28 MARCH

Celebrating 20 years 2013Semper Fidelis To Whom It May Concern, We are currently seeking expressions of interest to sponsor the St Andrews Lutheran College P&F Association. We are looking to partner with a limited number of sponsors to assist us to develop events and facilities for the students of the college. One of our major events is the bi annual Fete that is set to be held on the 25th May 2013. This is a major event in the area and attracts many thousands of people on the day and is a great opportunity for our sponsors to promote their businesses. We appreciate that the allocation of funds towards advertising is limited and we are looking to offer a long term partnership that is beneficial for all parties. With this in mind we are offering the following sponsorship package over a 2 year term:

Major Sponsorship Package (3 only) - $1,500

¥ Advertising on the St Andrews P & F Newsletter which is distributed to over 750 families of the College every term for a 2 year period.

¥ Advertising on the front page of every Fete newsletter. These newsletters are distributed to every College family monthly increasing to weekly as the big day approaches.

¥ Your business name will be featured on any raffle tickets which are sold by College families.

¥ Your business will appear on the Fete programme which will be distributed to all College families and on the day of the Fete.

¥ Your business will appear on flyers which will be distributed to local businesses leading up to the Fete.

¥ First right of refusal as major sponsor for the next 2 year period. The sponsorship package is limited to 3 businesses only with no crossover in the type or category of business amongst them. We feel that the extended term of the arrangement and the exposure to a captive market is great value and we would appreciate your support. If you would like to apply for one of these sponsorship packages please email fete@salc.qld.edu.au with your package preference. If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0417 733 547 or on the above email. Yours faithfully, Steve Dignan Fete Convenor

Parents & Friends Association Fete 2013

Celebrations Art Exhibition

St Andrews School Fete May 2013

What does Celebration mean to you?

Painting and Drawing Photography Mixed Media Ceramics and Sculpture Wearable Art

Medals and prizes to be won!

GET CREATIVE!

Entry forms will be available from Middle and Senior Receptions or Art Room. Entry $5 or 3 or more for $12 and handed in Monday 20 May 2013. Further details on entry form. Cathy Osborne 0407406650