Reflection: Dear Parents,

Tomorrow, students may dress in crazy clothes

and have crazy hair, however please ensure they

are sunsmart and are wearing sensible footwear.

This Sunday is “World Day of the Poor” and

students are fundraising for the children who live

in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. Dressing up will

cost and least a gold coin donation and hopefully

some are more generous than this.

Tomorrow I will be returning from Melbourne

having received an award for the work the three

schools in the Western Trinity are doing to make

a difference in our learning and teaching and

student outcomes. More on this next week.

Next Monday, the Kinder Kids will transition

until 1:00pm. Melanie and I will be in Hamilton

for a South West Network Data Day. This day is

to unpack our data so that we can set goals in our

annual action plan for 2018. It is all about trying

to improve student learning outcomes.

On Tuesday 21st the Year 2-6 students will be

participating in Memory Lane Café at Henley

Park. The Year 4/5/6 students will attend from

10:00 – 11:00am and the Year 2/3 from 11:30 –

12:00. This is an opportunity for our students to

mix with the older residents in our community.

On Wednesday, some staff will be attending the

Western Trinity Senior Planning day in Coleraine.

This day is to prepare and plan for what will be

taught in first term 2018.

On Thursday, I will be in Warrnambool for a

Fountas & Pinnell Reading PD. We use this

program to identify the level your child is reading

at and the consequence support they may need

with their comprehension. Students are tested at

the beginning and end of each year using this

program. I have to be in Warrnambool the next

day for a Principal Meeting.

Ang

Important Dates Term 4

November

Fri 17th

Mon 20th

Tues 21st

Wed 22nd

Thurs 23rd

Fri 24th

Mon 27th

Tues 28th

Wed 29th

Crazy Clothes/Hair Day – gold coin

Ang & Mel in Hamilton – Data Day

Kinder Transition until 1:00pm

Memory Lane Café Henley Park

WT Senior Planning – Coleraine

Ang PD Fountas & Pinnell Reading

Principal Meeting in Warrnambool

Golf Clinic

Kinder Transition until 1:00pm

SAC Meeting at 6:30pm

Sarah Macdonald Speech Pathologist visit

Teresa – Maths Support

December Mon 4th

Tues 5th

Wed 6th

Mon 11th

Fri 15th

Sun 17th

Mon 18th

Tues 19th

Wed 20th

Swimming Program Commences

Whole School Transition

WT Junior Planning Day in Coleraine

Reports to go home

Parent Conversations

School Graduation Mass at 11:00am

WT Break Up in Coleraine

St. Mal’s Student Break Up – Last Day

School Review Staff

St Malachy’s School Advisory Council

Chairperson-Stacey Dubois

Vice Chair-Melanie Mulraney Secretary-Jess Sambell

Maintenance-Darren Ferluga

Parent Representatives – Kevin Mills

Brooke White

School Association Representative

Jenny Munro Staff Representative

Melanie Mulraney

Ex-officio members Fr John Corrigan

Maureen Payne

Angela Kealy

St Malachy’s School34 Lake St Edenhope, Vic 3318 Ph: 03 5585 1396 Mobile: 0428 913 777

E-mail: principal@smedenhope.catholic.edu.au Web address www.smedenhope.catholic.edu.au

NEWSLETTER

Vol 33 No 34 – 16th November, 2017

Pursuing fullness of life for all by inspiring faith, lifelong learning

and community engagement

Address: 34 Lake St Edenhope 3318

Telephone: (03) 55851396 Mobile: 0428 913 777 Email: akealy@smedenhope.catholic.edu.au

Catholic School Culture Sunday Church Roster

November 19th READER:

PRAYERS:

GIFTS:

LEADERS:

MINISTERS:

CLEANING:

LINEN:

COLLECTION:

LAWNS:

C McCann

G Griffin

T & A Kealy

C Heenan

H Munn, B Ryan

G Clarke

R Burgess

G McDonnell

D Brook

Sunday Mass Times 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Edenhope 11:00am Mass

World Day of the Poor At the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis

announced a new ‘World Day of the Poor’, which is to

be celebrated on Sunday, November 19th, 2017. He

describes the genesis and the idea behind this day.

“During the “Jubilee for Socially Excluded People”, as

the Holy Doors of Mercy were being closed in all the

cathedrals and shrines of the world, I had the idea that,

as yet another tangible sign of this Extraordinary Holy

Year, the entire Church might celebrate, on the Thirty-

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, the World Day of the

Poor.

This would be the worthiest way to prepare for the

celebration of the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ,

King of the Universe, who identified with the little

ones and the poor and who will judge us on our works

of mercy. (cf. Mt 25:31-46). It would be a day to help

communities and each of the baptised to reflect on how

poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel and that, as

long as Lazarus lies at the door of our homes (cf. Lk

16:19-21), there can be no justice or social peace. This

Day will also represent a genuine form of new

evangelisation (cf. Mt 11:5) which can renew the face

of the Church as She perseveres in her perennial

activity of pastoral conversion and witness to mercy.

Student Crazy Day As stated previously students are asked to dress up

‘crazy’ tomorrow. This initiative has come from the

senior students who wish to raise money for the poor

children living in Sudan. This is all directly related to

our teachings of Catholic Social Justice. Students will

be sending any money raised along with their paintings

of comparing life in Edenhope to life in Sudan. Very

appropriate given this Sunday is World Day of the

Poor.

Learning and Teaching In the 4/5/6

Classroom Religion

During our Mission Unit, we have focused on

“serving others.” We have focused particularly on

Uganda, considering how our lives in Australia

differ from those who live in poverty. Students

have researched diseases like typhoid and malaria.

They have also looked at the distances Ugandan

children walk to get to basic services like water,

schools and hospitals, and have reflected on how

they can help others.

To finalise our work on mission and serving

others, students will select a volunteer who works

in a local or global capacity to serve others. They

will research their life and write a biography about

them.

Maths

We have completed our work on money and move

onto time, where students will learn about

conversion between 12- and 24- hour time,

between minutes, seconds and hours, as well as

reading and writing timetables.

We are continually exposing students to worded,

multi-step problems which take time to consider

what the question is actually asking! Additionally,

we continue to review number facts, operations

and counting.

English

We have just finished our work on writing a

recount. We were very proud to see the effort

students put into their post-test, with a great focus

on achieving the “I cans” we had worked so hard

on in class. Students used a variety of time

connectives, used plenty of rich descriptive

(“expensive”) words and began their sentences in

varied ways.

We have now moved on to writing narratives,

focusing firstly on using a scaffold to plan their

writing carefully. The students did a wonderful

job of rewriting fairy tales to have a ‘twist’!

PE We continue to develop tennis skills. We have been

focusing on developing forehand and backhand strokes

and improving rallies. We have also been working on

developing game sense, knowing where to stand and

move to when facing a ball.

Assembly Awards

Student:

Fletcher – great spelling results

Brianna – great spelling results

Archer – taking on new challenges in math sans

working hard

Josh Rob – sticking up for his mates and being a

great friend

Josh Ry – looking out for his friends

House:

Glenelg

Behaviour of the Week:

Putting the playground and sports equipment

away in the right place.

Leadership & Stewardship School Fees It would be greatly appreciated if any outstanding

fees could please be paid in full by Thursday,

November 30th. This enables us to tidy the budget

for this year and to plan for what we can do next

year. School Fees can be paid electronically into:

St. Malachy’s School War Memorial Fund

BSB: 083 633

Account Number: 515 780 181

Please include your family surname and initial as

your reference so we can track who has paid.

Parental and Consent Forms At the beginning of each year, we ask that parents

sign a ‘Parental and Consent Form’ which gives

permission for your child to participate in general

school activities for the coming twelve months

without having to sign a form each time we take

students offsite.

This form covers activities such as visiting the

Hostel or Barkala Flats, walking up the street or to

the Church or around the lake etc. Please sign the

attached form and return to school by the end of

next week.

Wellbeing Be Safe Be Respectful Be Responsible

The Resilience Project I am sure many of you have heard me speak about

the Resilience Project and how there are three

things we should be practicing daily: mindfulness,

empathy and gratitude.

In 2008, Hugh van Cuylenburg was fortunate

enough to spend a few months living and

volunteering in the far north of India. In this

desert community, there was no running water, no

electricity and no beds; everyone slept on the floor

of their desert hut. Despite the fact these people

had very little to call their own, he was

continually blown away by how happy they were.

It was this experience, and subsequent post

graduate studies, that have led Hugh to some

pretty simple conclusions about the things that we

need to be doing here in Australia if we want to be

happier. In a nutshell, he learnt in this desert

village that practicing gratitude, (appreciating

what you have not begrudging what you

don’t) empathy (thinking of the needs of others

and being kind) and mindfulness (being present in

the moments, not becoming distracted by

unhelpful or negative thoughts leads us to a

happier more fulfilling experience.)

Hugh will be speaking about mindfulness,

gratitude and empathy at the Dimboola Health and

Fitness Centre adjacent to Dimboola Secondary

College on Monday, 11th December at 2:00pm.

Parents, teenagers, community members and

leaders, teachers and welfare workers are invited

to attend. The presentation is free but bookings are

essential. SFYS@wuc.org.au by Dec 5th.

What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is a whole body-mind state of

awareness that involves ‘tuning in’ to the present

moment, with openness and curiosity instead of

tuning out from the experience. Mindfulness is a

state of being fully awake to life- being aware and

undistracted in the present moment. It is about

focusing our attention on the present, rather than

thinking about the past or worrying about the

future-which is often the brain’s default mode.

We can strengthen mindful awareness through

practice. Mindfulness can be developed through

formal sitting meditation, or through informal

everyday mindfulness activities that use the senses

to anchor the attention; mindful walking, listening

to music, eating or conversation. Mindfulness is

proven to support wellbeing and mental health by

reducing stress and allowing life to be experienced

more fully.

Benefits of Mindfulness with Children

Increased connectivity in the frontal lobe

of the brain which is linked to improved

attention, memory processing and decision

making abilities

Increased self-awareness, social awareness

and self confidence

Increased ability to self-regulate emotions,

especially difficult emotions such as fear

and anger, through breathing and other

grounding techniques

Improved empathy or the ability to

understand what another person is thinking

or feeling which improves children’s

awareness of others and helps them to

build positive relationships.

For more details go to the Kids Matter Website

Urgent Attention Please

School Sores - Impetigo There has been a reported case of school sores at

St. Malachy’s so please check your child/ren

carefully as they are highly contagious. Please

seek immediate medical attention if you find

them. Keep the sores covered and please exclude

your child from school until they have dried or

crusted over. This could be between 3 -5 days.

Please consult with your GP on this matter.

Sport Shorts

Golf Tony Collier will return to school on Friday, 24th

to take the students for golf. The Year 4/5/6

students will be playing at the golf club so we are

after some volunteers to take students in cars. If

you are able to assist it would be greatly

appreciated. Please let the school know by

tomorrow so we can send permission notes home.

All students may wear their sport uniform next

Friday.

Swimming Program As our two week Swimming Program will

commence on Monday, 4th December please

ensure that your membership is paid up and that

you have completed the permission form attached

to this week’s newsletter.

As swimming is considered a ‘high risk’ activity,

a special permission form is required to be signed

before your child can swim.

Community Engagement Gardening Roster

Robinson/Payne Family

Please weed garden beds; it

doesn’t matter which one as

they are all being overtaken

with weeds.

Garden Working Bee On Friday, 1st December commencing at 8:30am

(to allow for hot weather) there will be a

gardening Working Bee at school. With all the

wet and warm weather the weeds are winning and

there is a lot of pruning and tidying up to be done

before the real hot weather and we need to be fire

ready.

We will also be having a big clean up in and

around the vege garden area so that we can start

fresh in 2018.

If you are able to come please bring all gardeing

tools, chainsaws and trailer so we can take the

rubbish straight to the tip and not have it lying

around the school as a fire hazard.

I would be most grateful if as many people as

possible could turn up and if you could please let

me know if you will be coming. Thanks Ang.

Please see attached handout from Julie Bruce on

Snapchat and Parents.

Foundation Year 1 Camp Recounts On camp, we went to the fantastic swimming pool

and the amazing puppet shop. At the swimming

pool I went down the deep end.

By Elias

On camp, we went to the pool and we had a swim.

We went to the park and the bus river bought us

snakes.

By Hudson

On camp, we went swimming and it was fun. We

went to the puppet shop and it was very fun.

By Grace

On camp, I played with a giant puppet dragon.

After the puppet shop we went swimming then we

went back to school and slept there.

By Olivia

On camp, we went to the puppet shop. Next we

went to the pool. We has a sleepover at school.

By Nyima

As we are

approaching the

end of the year

it is time to

return all

library books.

As an incentive

children who

return all of

their library

books on or

before

Wednesday 22nd November will receive 100

house points. After this date, the points will

decrease weekly as follows:

Books returned by

22nd November – 100 points

29th November – 50 points

6th December – 20 points

13th December - 10 points Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Mrs Robinson.

Brolga Exhibition Miss Farran has had the students very busy over

the past few weeks preparing brolgas for the

Brolga Exhibition which is being held at the Red

Tail Gallery. The opening of this exhibition is on

Saturday, 25th November at 6:00pm.

Please see students at work, making their brolgas.

Parenting Points Michael Grose

Don't let lack of confidence and anxiety hold your

child back

Children with healthy self-esteem and self-confidence

learn more, achieve more and are generally happier

than those with low confidence levels.

1. Model confident thinking Parents and teachers, play a part in modelling

confident thinking and behaviour particularly when it

comes to tackling new activities. In particular, let kids

hear positive self-talk when you tackle something new.

They should hear something like, “I’ll have a go at

this. If I don’t do so well then I can try again

tomorrow.”

2. Focus on effort & improvement Current thinking shows that people who believe that

they can increase their intelligence through effort and

challenge actually get smarter and do better in school,

work, and life over time. One way to develop a growth

mindset is to focus your language on effort an

improvement rather than on the results of what they

do. By linking success with effort you are teaching

them success comes from something other than their

purely ability, talents or smarts.

3. Praise strategy

While effort is key for achievement, kids need to try

new strategies and seek input from others when they’re

stuck. Comments such as “That was a smart idea to

tackle the hardest task while you were fresh!”(strategy)

and “You recognised the first few steps were the most

important but then after that you were right” are

descriptive statements that have significant

instructional value for kids.

4. Develop self-help skills from an early age A child’s self-esteem comes as a result of his or her

successes and accomplishments. The most important

competencies to build confidence are basic self-help

skills. These form the building blocks upon which

other competencies such organisational skills and

many social skills are formed.

5. Let them spend more time in environments

where they feel confident Some children thrive on the sporting field but struggle

in the classroom. While self-confidence tends to be

situational, it is also transferrable. That is, often when

you feel brave in one area of their life then these

feelings tend to merge into other areas. Confidence has

a snowball effect so increase the time your child

spends in areas where they shine to give their self-

esteem and feelings of self-worth a boost.

Most importantly, great parents and teachers have a

knack of communicating confidence in kids. They find

ways to let kids know that they believe in them.