SIGNS OF GOODNESS, WORDS OF THANKFULNESS AND ACTS OF KINDNESS

As we end Week 5 of Term 4, we wonder where on earth the time has gone! We observe friends or even our own families, where students are getting excited about moving from preschool into “big school”, Year 6 students are preparing to complete their journey with us and Year 12 students are graduating from high school. All of these milestones are incredibly important and special to our learning and personal journeys. 

What about all the other days in between? What is so special about those? How differently would we see the world if we believed that every day was a gift and worth cherishing? Would we treat others differently?

What we know right now is that the world is still a good place but we may have trouble seeing it because we are worried about what’s happening in it and many are struggling with something that no one may even see or know. We know that even through all of the challenges of the past 2 years (and maybe because of them) we still see signs of goodness around us. They don’t need to be big, they can be a kind word, a smile, an apology for hurting someone, giving of ourselves to another person because they need it.

We also hear words of thankfulness, including our beautiful thankful tree now residing in our admin block which has helped our community refocus our minds on the things that are good in our lives, and there are many things that we can acknowledge.

In our current state of worry and uncertainty in the world, it is easy to place our needs and wants ahead of others. We can even think that what we are experiencing is bigger than anyone else and not place it in perspective around how others are coping. Wouldn’t it be great to come to the end of this year with a sense of connectedness to others and an understanding of how simple thoughts, words and actions can make an immense difference to another person. How much better would we feel too! 

We invite you to recognise where you are right now, and how you can start the ripple with yourself and your family back into our community to acknowledge that we all are in this together and most likely, are all struggling with something. Before we make a comment or act let’s recognise the struggles of others and measure our response and make a positive difference. At school we spend a lot of time modelling restorative practices that heal relationships when something goes wrong. If we as adults can model this for our children, we will have more compassionate, respectful and resilient children. Don’t they deserve that from us?

Congratulations

Special congratulations to Charlize Miller (KSC) and her family who welcomed a baby girl named Frankie. 

Celebrating Faith 

This week, our Year 2 students led us in prayer to celebrate All Saints Day. We pray to the Saints we nominated for our Confirmation names, the Saints who have demonstrated heroism in following Jesus. We also recall to mind the many Holy souls that have departed, unknown but with God. We pray for all Saints to inspire our works of compassion. 

Socktober

A special thank you to all students and families that supported Socktober. As a school, we were able to raise $3,475 a big increase on last year’s $452. These funds go towards helping the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Thailand look after vulnerable children and their families. It is really empowering for the students to know that together, we can make a difference. 

Maths Olympiad

Each year 30 students are selected from Year 5 and 6 to participate in 5 monthly Maths Olympiad contests. The Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads (APSMO) provide opportunities for students to engage in creative problem solving experiences whilst developing logical and reasoning skills as well as how to be resourceful when solving more complex problems. The programs are unique in that they focus on students' ability to solve mathematical problems in a creative manner - as opposed to simply reaching a solution using a prescribed method. 

Creative problem solving focuses on the real-world application of maths, encouraging children to think for themselves and explore a range of problem-solving options. By encouraging our students to think through a problem or challenge in a holistic manner, we are helping them to reach their full potential in relation to mathematical problem solving and, in essence, to make sense of mathematics.

The Maths Olympiad competitions main aim is to:

• 
  Introduce students to important mathematical concepts
• Teach major strategies and develop flexibility for problem solving
• Foster creativity and ingenuity and strengthen intuition
• Stimulate enthusiasm and enjoyment of mathematics
• Provide for the satisfaction, joy and thrill of meeting challenges

This year our students were extremely privileged to be supported by Mr Pat Kelly. Mr Kelly worked alongside the students to build their capacity to problem solve as some challenges were extremely difficult. Unfortunately COVID-19 created some disruptions, however, students were still able to complete the 5 contests. We would like to acknowledge the following students who both finished in the top 30% in Australia: Eva Francis (6B) and Riley Robinson (6B).

Mr Kelly and I would like to congratulate all of our participants and we are  looking forward to next year's challenges.