Newsletter Term 4 Week 5

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Families,

I hope you made the most of the extra long weekend and perhaps even backed the winner in the Melbourne Cup yesterday! We have our Year 6 staff and students back from what sounded like a funfilled, action-packed camp and have several students competing in the State Athletics in Melbourne today. In other lovely news, congratulations to Mr Bonney, Kelly, Bobby and Max on the birth of Charlie last week.

Remembrance Day
Each year on the 11th of November, Australia takes time to pause, remember and pay respect to those men and women who have fought and died in war protecting and preserving our country and its values. On Monday, our School will be represented  at the Remembrance Ceremony at the cenotaph. Each year the RSL awards a scholarship to one of our Year 6 students identified by their teachers as making a sincere effort with their studies and our community. This will be announced at Assembly this Friday.

Swimming  Program
Our Year 2 students have really enjoyed their time at the Swan Hill Aquatic & Recreation Centre while the Year 4 classes are excited to commence their swimming program this week. Conducted at SHARC, the Water Safety and Skills program for Years 1-4 forms part of our PE and Health curriculum. The program concentrates on building confidence in water, developing and mastering some basic strokes and teaching safety skills and knowledge around water.

2025 School 2025 School Captains
Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing the Year 5 students who had been voted by their peers to possess the leadership qualities that would make a great school captain and on Wednesday the successful candidates were selected. They are as follows:

School Captains: Mackenzie Hall & Mia Hirst
School Vice Captains: Oscar Rohde, Deacon Roberts, Ellie Woodburn & Ivy Patterson

They were all quite impressive in their interviews and think they will be terrific school leaders in 2025.

2025 Preparation - Families Leaving
I would ask that any family who believes that they will not be here at St Mary’s in 2025 to let us know as we are about to commence possible class structures for next year. The correct protocol is to ring the office and ask to speak to Kate to share that information. Thank you for your consideration.

I look forward to seeing you at assembly this week which is being led by 6O.

Kate

"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress

Key Dates

Wednesday November 6th
State Athletics
Thursday November 7th
Year 4 Swimming commences
Friday November 8th
Assembly 12.25pm - 6O
Monday November 11th
Year 3 Confirmation Retreat
Tuesday November 12th
Year 3 Swimming commences
Tuesday November 12th & Wednesday November 13th
RAK Incursion - Year 5
Friday November 15th
Assembly 12.25pm - 6K
Saturday November 16th - Sunday November 17th
Confirmation Masses - Year 3

Dates to Note

Wellbeing with Mr Prockter

Managing Anxiety and Building Resilience in Kids: How Nutrition Can Help
Anxiety used to be seen just as an innate condition of an emotionally fragile child or something triggered by significant life events. But medical science now understands more about the array of underlying physical and chemical imbalances that can trigger excess worry, anxiety and overwhelm.

This article will help parents arm themselves with information about some of the life changing links between common nutrient shortfalls and metabolic imbalances, to help your child live a happier, healthier, calmer life whilst also building resilience in the longer term.

Picky Eaters?
If you have a child who is sad, angry or anxious then he or she may also be a picky eater too. If so, this could be a sign of where to focus. It has been well documented that there is a significant relationship between unhealthy dietary patterns and poorer mental health in children and adolescents. So, especially if changes in eating patterns started in the months running up to the mood changes or they have always struggled with eating a healthy diet, then this may well be part of the overall picture.

Sometimes even children with great diets face periods of difficulties with their mental health. This can still sometimes be due to nutritional shortfalls because of specific metabolic needs or due to a compromised ability to digest and extract the optimum nutrition from the food they eat.

For a child (or anyone) to cope with stressful and anxious situations, they need the right store of nutrients to produce the correct balance of neurotransmitters to keep them happy and calm. Ongoing worry and anxiety can in themselves deplete nutritional reserves further, so this is why the right diet and/or food supplement support is crucial.

A Happy Gut A Happy Mind
The scientific and medical communities now understand the importance of our individual gut microbiome and how it can directly change brain activity and behaviour via the microbiota-gut-brain axis (which includes the immune, neuroendocrine, and neural pathways). In turn, this relationship directly influences stress-related and psychiatric issues including anxiety, depression and OCD.

A very important first step to help your child can be the supplementation of probiotics, particularly if your child has had several courses of antibiotics (recently or in the past), or tummy issues such as gas, constipation, bloating etc.

A healthy, balanced diet full of real food, (fresh natural ingredients), meat and fish, fresh veggies and fruit, healthy fat and minimal refined sugar and processed food will all support a healthy gut.

Does Your Child Have Enough Magnesium?
For centuries, magnesium has been used as a relief for many ailments including mood swings, insecurities, and headaches. Magnesium is crucial for the functioning of the central nervous system and optimisation of your mitochondria (the powerhouse of every cell in our body) and thus essential in the prevention of cell health.

During periods of stress, magnesium is quickly used up by the body, which in turn can create more anxiety, which then has the knock-on effect of again depleting the levels of magnesium through stress.

Historically we all ate a diet that included higher levels of natural magnesium; but modern food production techniques have dramatically reduced the amount of magnesium found in many foods, increasing the need for supplementation and possibly increasing anxiety and mental health issues.

A fun and simple way to increase your child's magnesium levels are adding Epsom salts to the evening bath. Natural food sources of magnesium include nuts, seeds, oily fish, dark leafy greens, bananas, strawberries, buckwheat, cocoa, molasses and natural yoghurt. Magnesium supplements might also be a good option to ensure your child's stored levels remain consistent, especially if they have a narrow range of foods that they will eat.

High Cortisol
If the body perceives a threat or stressful situation it goes into "fight or flight" mode, and this can create physical sensations, such as, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, sweatiness or shaky hands and feet. These are caused by a rush of adrenaline and other stress hormones that prepare the body to make a quick getaway or "flight" from danger.

Cortisol is one of the chemicals produced by our adrenal glands, instantly giving the body the energy to cope with stress or danger. However, if these cortisol levels stay high for a sustained period, i.e. we are constantly in a state of stress, it can lead to various health concerns and in little people and teenagers alike, these can include mental illness, weakened immune system, weight gain, poor sleep, and a restricted production of serotonin (our happy hormone). Often leading to a sense of overwhelm, anxiety, low energy and depression. These symptoms can also create cravings for foods high in sugar and carbs which sadly exacerbate the situation.

The simplest and arguably most effective solutions are changing your child's diet and exercise. Avoid or cut down on foods with a high sugar content and reduce white carbohydrate intake. Try and ensure a meal isn't just carbohydrates but includes protein and fat too. Look to increase protein-rich foods and healthy fats. Aim for every meal also have a good source of dietary fibre and fruit & veg. Additional considerations are ensuring your child's diet is rich in omega-3, zinc and magnesium, introducing liquorice, chamomile and green teas. B vitamins can be helpful too.

Regular movement and exercise are great at reducing cortisol levels and thus relieving stress and anxiety. A good run around the park, kicking a ball, riding a bike or a simple walk in the countryside can make a big difference. Mindfulness and yoga are also great stress reducers for young kids and teenagers. 

More Omega-3?
Omega-3 essential fatty acids have had more research about mood and brain health than any other nutrient. Oily fish is the best way to get enough omega-3 to feed the brain, which in turn will help to calm anxiety and many other mental health problems.

Signs of an Omega-3 deficiency can include keratosis pilaris, a skin condition in which the top of the arms or even face are dry and rough bumps, often called chicken skin. Dry skin and hair and a thirsty child may also point towards a need for much more omega-3. If your child is allergic to fish or is a "fish-phobe" then other sources of omega-3 include flax seed, chia seed, walnuts, omega-3 rich eggs and organic milk.

By Lucinda Miller
Article from heysigmund.com
https://www.heysigmund.com/resilience-anxiety-and-nutrition/
Published 2017

Curriculum with Mrs Hall

Inquiry - Year 1 - Living things have unique features and needs for survival
In our Year 1 classroom, students have been exploring the fascinating life cycle of butterflies. Students discussed the four key stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), and adult butterfly. Each stage plays a vital role in the butterfly's growth and transformation.  The class had a special opportunity to observe their own chrysalis, watching carefully as it transformed, which brought excitement and wonder as they witnessed the real-life stages up close. This hands-on experience helped students understand the cycle in depth, linking science with nature’s amazing transformations.  

Young Writers Award Presentations
As a school we are very proud of ALL our shortlisted finalists and are proud to announce the following;
Winners: Hattie M, Miyana B
Highly Commendable: Indi M, Vidura R

RE with Mrs Davies

Sacrament of Confirmation 2024- Year 3 and above
Below are some other important dates to remember;
Confirmation Retreat - Monday Nov 11th
Mass Celebration - Saturday Nov 16th 6pm or Sunday Nov 17th 10.30am

PE with Miss Clark

Tennis Hotshots
Last week on Thursday the 31st of October, St Mary’s had a team represent our school at the Division Tennis Hotshots competition. Our team consisted of 8 boys in Year 5 who played both singles and doubles at the Swan Hill Lawn Tennis Club. Hotshots Tennis is played on a smaller sized court with modified equipment including smaller racquets and low compression tennis balls. Games are played to 11 points and each player gets 2 serves each. Out of the 3 schools we played, we drew with the first school and lost against the other two schools. Several of our boys won their singles or doubles matches during the day however we missed out on finals unfortunately but the boys can be super proud of the way they conducted themselves during each match. The boys had a lot of fun and I hope they are keen to participate again next year. Well done to Jai P, Deacon R, Harry B, Steele W, Leo E, Charles M, Jameson B and Sebastian C.

Regional Basketball
On Friday the 1st of November St Mary’s had both girls and boys teams qualify for the Regional Basketball competition held in Swan Hill at the stadium. Both teams have been training in the gym at recess and lunch times playing against each other to best prepare them for the day. With some very tough teams at this level of competition both our girls and boys teams can be very proud of their efforts. Especially since we would have had some very tired students who just got back from Year 6 camp! 
The girls won all three of their matches to make the semi finals but lost only by 2 points. An amazing effort by Rubi K, Mia H, Ivy P, Marley B, Arie W, Lily N, Daisy M and Ruby E. A big thank you to Mrs Parsons for coaching the girls.
The boys team won all their matches and made it to the Grand Final. The Grand Final was extremely close and even went into overtime. The St Mary’s boys never gave up and found another gear to come away with a win! An amazing achievement by the boys team as they have qualified for States in Melbourne on November the 18th. Well done to Dayne P, Henry O, Vann N, Will O, Ryder W, Hamish L, Archie O and Deacon R and to coach Mrs Lawry!

State Athletics
St Mary’s has 7 students competing in the State Athletics this Wednesday the 6th of November. For most of these students it is the first time they will compete in a State level competition. They have come either first or second in the School, Division and Regional Athletics to qualify for the State level which is an amazing achievement!. We wish these students the best of luck. Go St Mary’s!

Jai P: Shot put
Mia H: Relay and 200m
Ivy P: Relay
Rubi K: Relay 
Samantha P: Relay
Judd O: 100m and 200m
Aarav B: Long Jump

@2 Murlong Before & After School Care

The Out of School Hours Care program, @ 2 Murlong, is operating out of the gym hub and provides before and after school care for school age children in the Swan Hill area. Please express your interest via the following link;

https://prodadmin.myxplor.com/enrollment/index/dHdBOThsSW9JeHUxYTEwaHNxZlMrdz0

News from the Office

Working with Children Check
A reminder to bring your Working with Children Check with you if you are coming on to the school grounds for volunteer purposes. 

Country Bus Travel
Country Buses are to be used for registered travellers only. If Country Bus travel is required in an emergency, please contact the office so that the appropriate paperwork can be completed. 

Coming in 2025 - Changes to CDFpay
Information will be provided to families prior to the end of the year in regards to changes to CDFpay.

Poppy Appeal
We have items available to purchase from the front office for the Poppy Appeal.

News from the Canteen

Volunteers Needed:
We are always on the lookout for volunteers in our school canteen. You just need your VIC WWCC. Volunteer hours at 11.30am-1.30pm. Please email office@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au if you are able assist

Ordering from the canteen:
Recess and lunch orders are placed online only via CDF Pay. The orders close at 9.30am each day, so it is recommended you place your order the night before. Our canteen is a very busy, so late orders will be offered limited options. Please contact the office if you need help with CDF Pay.

https://smswanhill.cdfpay.org.au

Canteen Roster

Just a reminder to sign in at the office when you are on canteen duty

Student of the Week

Happy Birthday!

What's happening in 2U?