It has been a little quieter this week. We've not had any major school or Year level events. We've had the opportunity to breathe a little in our classes which has been very welcome.

I had the wonderful opportunity to teach in 4 Blue yesterday morning and 3 Maroon in the afternoon. What beautiful classes they are; full of enthusiasm, humour and curiosity. I loved being with them.

Community Council Meeting

Our Community Council met on Wednesday evening. A lengthy discussion was held about the vision for the use of ICT by students at school, i.e. ipads, laptops, Chromebooks and how they can transform the teaching and learning opportunities for our students. Each parent representative shared their experiences, thoughts and understandings and contributed some valuable insight into the school vision.

We also celebrated the success of the school fete, congratulated Heather Rattenbury on her amazing resourcefulness in obtaining a new drinks fridge for our canteen and finalised the fundraising plans for 2019. It's a great team!

Rotary Club Belconnen - Thank you

We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Belconnen for their kind donation of $400.

Every year the Rotary Club supports our school by giving a generous donation to assist families in our community that need a bit of extra help with school payments.

Feedback requested – Active Streets

The Active Streets for Schools program is an infrastructure program – supported by educational resources – to make it safer and easier for children to walk or ride to school. Our school will be supported by the program over the next four years.

Active Streets helps to make school environments safer and more accessible by providing a range of tailored solutions depending on the school and local environment. Improvements may include new or improved footpath connections, more dedicated crossings or traffic calming (e.g. speed humps) to ensure the trip is safe and easy for children to navigate.  

To commence the program, Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) would like to discover how children currently travel to and from school and find out where you think improvements can be made around the suburb and the school.

TCCS have set up a survey to gather this information. All the information collected will be de-identified and confidential. The final survey question asks about the type of infrastructure improvements our community would like considered through the program. To complete this question you can either:

• Provide an explanation in the text field in the survey, or
• Drop a pin on our Ride or Walk to School map and provide a comment

To drop a pin on the map, you will need to be signed in to a Google account, which is as simple as signing up if you don’t already have one. More information about setting up an account and dropping a pin on the map is available in these instructions.

TCCS will also welcome feedback about our Ride or Walk to School map, so please use the drop pin feature to comment on the highlighted routes. Alternatively you can print our map, write on the map and return it to TCCS.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to complete the survey. Your response will

Have a lovely weekend.

Matthew Garton (Principal)

THE MAN IN THE ARENA

“IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS; NOT THE MAN WHO POINTS OUT HOW THE STRONG MAN STUMBLES, OR WHERE THE DOER OF DEEDS COULD HAVE DONE THEM BETTER.  THE CREDIT BELONGS TO THE MAN WHO IS ACTUALLY IN THE ARENA, WHOSE FACE IS MARRED BY DUST AND SWEET AND BLOOD; WHO STRIVES VALIANTLY; WHO ERRS, WHO COMES SHORT AGAIN AND AGAIN, BECAUSE THERE IS NO EFFORT WITHOUT ERROR AND SHORTCOMING; BUT WHO DOES ACTUALLY STRIVE TO DO THE DEEDS; WHO KKNOWS GREAT ENTHUSIASMS, THE GREAT DEVOTIONS; WHO SPENDS HIMSELF IN A WORTHY CAUSE; WHO AT THE BEST KNOWS IN THE END THE TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT, AND WHO AT THE WORST, IF HE FAILS, AT LEAST FAILS WHILE DARING GREATLY, SO THAT HIS PLACE SHALL NEVER BE WITH THOSE COLD AND TIMID SOULS WHO NEITHER KNOW VICTORY NOR DEFEAT.”

 

I am in the arena whether I like it or not. In my faith, in my work, in my relationships… How about you?

 ¹⁰ … I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

I can’t claim this inspiration as my own, I am currently reading the work of Brene Brown.  If you are curious, you can read some of her research here.

https://brenebrown.com/

Stephanie Stewart
Religious Education Coordinator

Happy birthday to Finn S, Lucas M, Karam H, and Cameryn K who all celebrated a birthday over the last week.

In Week Seven we gathered an art group together and did some sculpting in the sand pit. Each student was given a one by one metre section of sand and chose a plastic animal they related to (a spiritual animal).

We discussed environments and how various environments are more suitable for different animals(including humans). We discussed the classroom, being outside and being at home and the various changes in the way we feel.

Each student designed an environment for their animal by using sand sticks and leaves. We all had a lot of fun.

Stewart McDonald

Student Welfare Officer

Families at St John the Apostle Primary School have access to a student and family counselling service provided by CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn.  The school counsellor can assist with a range of concerns relating to students' social and emotional well-being, including family conflict and relationship changes, mental health concerns, grief and loss, peer and social relationships, stress, and behavioural challenges.  The counsellor can provide individual sessions with students, facilitate groups, work with families and teachers, and refer to external supports and services.

The student and family counsellor is available at St John the Apostle on Wednesday and Friday.  There is no fee for this service however at times there may be a wait list.  To receive counselling a referral and consent form is required, which can be accessed at the front office.

Hannah Henry

Student and family counsellor

CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn

School photographs are scheduled to be taken on Tuesday 2 April. You should have received an envelope from your child during the week. If possible it is our preference that ordering be completed online to reduce administration and potential security issues related to the return of cash and envelopes on photo day. Parents who place their order online do not need to return the order envelope.

Orders for packages and sibling photographs can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our unique 9 digit advanced order code 21X CFH 6YT. Portrait and group package orders are due by photo day.

Should you wish to purchase a sibling photograph online, the order must be placed no later than the day before photo day. Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed. Sibling envelopes are available at the Office if required.

Full summer school uniform (not sport uniform) should be worn on the day.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please direct them via email to mailto enquiries@advancedlife.com.au

A reminder that full winter school uniform must be worn at the commencement of Term 2. Winter uniform orders will close next Friday, 5 April. For enquiries please email the Clothing Pool at stjohnsclothingpool@gmail.com

The messages all boys need to hear

by Maggie Dent

Research has shown that parents treat their boys and girls differently right from infancy.

For example, infant boys are touched more frequently and handled more roughly before the age of three months. Also physical punishment is applied more significantly for boys than girls in many Western countries. This is despite the fact that research also shows boys are more vulnerable and fragile.

Why do we do this?

The stereotypical belief that the only way to get boys to do the right thing is by shaming them, hurting them or being hard on them needs to be challenged every day because it is so deeply embedded into our society’s psychology. The scars this creates in early childhood fester deep inside and are often the source of future irrational rage and aggression.

This does not mean we do not discipline our boys or make them accountable for their choices and mistakes. It means we need to consciously choose the same warm discipline and communication that we tend to use around girls. We need to take much better care of our little boys — emotionally, psychologically, physically and socially. We need to stop shouting at them, hitting them, shaming them and speaking harshly to them (“Grow up!”, “Be a man”, “What’s wrong with you?”).

Communication for resilience building
We need to make it acceptable for boys and men to express feelings other than anger and this starts with how we speak to them day-to-day.

A good (generalised) example is how some people might respond if a child falls over. When a boy falls, he may be told by someone influenced by the old code: “You’re right mate, up you get.” A girl who’s fallen on the other hand may be greeted with: “Oh no sweetheart, are you OK? Come here. Let me make it better.” And offered a cuddle.

My issue with either approach is that neither child is being offered the opportunity to build resilience. The boy is being told he mustn’t feel anything and not to take pause at all — just get up and move on. The girl is being disempowered as it’s assumed she cannot pick herself up and brush herself off, but rather she needs help to bounce back from this hurdle. A more resilience-building response may be to say to either child: “Oops, you fell over. Are you ok or do you need my help?”

It’s a subtle difference in communication but the message our children get is that we expect that they are capable, their feelings are welcome (but not dictated to them) and we are here for them if they need us.

The trouble with boys
It seems when it comes to getting in trouble that our boys fare much worse than our girls. One reason for this may be because boys seem to be naturally more impulsive than girls from a young age and this can lead to them being poor decision-makers.

Michael Gurian, author of Saving Our Sons (Gurian Institute Press, 2017), writes about how males and females tend to process emotion differently in the brain. He writes that males tend to move emotions very quickly from their brains into their bodies. They also tend to sense the emotion but then shift it to areas of the brain that will work to solve the problem causing the emotion.

Females, on the other hand, tend to quickly shift emotions into the brain’s limbic system and to the ‘word centres’ of the brain. This could explain why many girls — not all, but a significant proportion — will tend to ‘talk it out’ when they have an issue but boys may be more likely to spring into action, and have a physical response, hurting someone or something in the process.

It is our responsibility to help our sons realise that they need to respect those around them when they are making these decisions.

A good starting point is for every family to implement the ‘three rules’: 1. try not to hurt yourself; 2. try not to hurt others; and 3. try not to damage things in the world around you … this sets an expectation for everyone in the household.

Finally, when boys muck up…

• Try to see the world through his eyes and practise responding, not just reacting.
• Allow him time to cool down and process the situation.
• Gently ask what was his intention?
• Help with work out which of the three rules he broke and what other choices he might have made.
• Forgive him for making a poor choice.
• Reassure him you still love him — ‘showing’ rather than ‘saying’.

Above all, our boys need us (especially we mums) to be firm, fair and fun, and to reassure them we love them unconditionally — no matter what poor choice they may have made.

Congratulations to Sasha and Samsara Rauraa for their amazing achievements at the Peoples Choice State Athletics Championships held last weekend.  Some awesome PBs achieved by both and they managed 3 Gold and 2 Bronze medals to end the 3 day Championship.

Well done girls!!!!