Newsletter Term 4 Week 6
Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Families,
Today, students making their Confirmation at the Parish Masses on the 16th and 17th of November, are spending the day with Fr James and Mary at a confirmation retreat at the Parish Centre today. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare for this next step in their faith journey.
RSL Award Winner
Congratulations to Jook Majur who has been selected as the recipient of the annual Remembrance Day Awards. Each year the RSL presents this award to one of our Year 6 students, identified by their teachers as making a sincere effort with their studies and our community. This year, Jook was nominated by our Year 6 staff and will receive a $300 scholarship to go towards his first year of Secondary Education.
Jook, together with Mrs Belinda Crowe are representing our school today at the ceremony.
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 last week the successful candidates were selected. They are as follows :
2025 School Captains: Mackenzie Hall & Mia Hirst
2025 School Vice Captains: Oscar Rohde, Deacon Roberts, Ellie Woodburn & Ivy Patterson
They were all quite impressive in their interviews and we think they will be terrific school leaders in 2025.
QR Sign-In option at Friday Assembly
It is wonderful to see so many family members and special friends attending our weekly assembly and staying on for lunch on Fridays.
To assist with streamlining the sign-in process we have introduced a QR code which you will see displayed at both entrance doors. If you prefer to continue to sign in via pen and paper we will also leave that as an option manned by our friendly school captains.
Fly into Foundation Program
We are really looking forward to Fly into Foundation, our Term 4 Transition Program for preschoolers who have enrolled at St Mary’s, which commences on Thursday 21st & Friday 22nd of November. This 3 week program gives our newest students the chance to become familiar with the learning spaces at St Mary’s, the routine of coming to school and the development of connections and relationships with some of the teachers at our school before starting here next year.
State Basketball
Recently the St Mary’s boys team qualified to participate in the State Basketball Finals and are representing our school on Monday 18th of November in Melbourne. We wish them all the very best and are very proud of their achievements.
Radio Awareness for Kids
This week our Year 5 students are working with John Broughton from Radio Awareness for Kids
developing their own radio segments. A former radio announcer John really knows how to hone the students' skills in capturing their key message in just a few seconds. We look forward to hearing what they produce when John sets up a radio broadcasting studio this week!
Learning Diversity and Wellbeing Update
As shared earlier in the term, Chris Prockter commenced the Acting Principal role in Sea Lake on 4th November, 4 days a week for the remainder of the year. He will be back at St Mary’s in his current role in 2025. He will be here on Mondays for continuity purposes and to keep in the loop with school plans for 2025. We are very fortunate to have a wealth of expertise on staff so Kyle Doran has moved to the LDL role Tuesday-Friday and Madeleine Nalder has kindly stepped up and will work with the leadership team supporting Behaviour Management, running Kyle's intervention programs and taking on some other aspects of his current role to support these changes.
This means that for the remainder of the year, Kyle is your first point of call for all things LDL ( but please keep Chris in the loop in any emails addressed to Kyle), and Mads is one of the leadership team members who will be supporting classroom and playground management. Chris and Kyle will work together on Mondays so they can keep each other well-informed of what is happening in the well-being area, and Mads will work with Kyle and the well-being team. Kyle's email is kdoran@smswanhill.catholic.edu.au
School Facebook & Instagram Page
Would you like to keep up to date with school events and see photos of our staff and students in action? Then make sure you follow our St. Mary’s Facebook page or Instagram pages Search for our school on Facebook or Instagram or use the links below.
St Mary's Primary School Swan Hill
#stmarysswanhill
Class Groupings 2025
Parent requests closed a few weeks ago and our teachers are putting the final touches to class groupings for 2025. In doing this, academic, social and emotional considerations are taken into account to inform decisions. We are fortunate that St. Mary's teachers plan learning activities that often allow our children to mix across the year group where they are working alongside all the children within their age and class grouping. School is a place where children learn how to relate to other children. It is important that children learn to mix with lots of children. In doing this, they learn about themselves in relationships and identify qualities within others that they find positive and assuring for themselves. We are also finalising staffing needs and will publish teachers and levels by the start of December. I would ask any family who believes that they will not be here at St Mary’s in 2025 to let me know as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration.
Look forward to seeing you throughout the week or at assembly this Friday, hosted by 6K.
Kate
"Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It"
Mary MacKillop - Sisters of St Joseph Foundress
Key Dates
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
Monday November 18th
Boys State Basketball
Thursday November 21st - Friday November 22nd
Fly into Foundation Session 1
Friday November 22nd
Assembly 12.25pm - 1F
Dates to Note
Wellbeing with Mr Prockter
Standard 4: Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing
Teaching Kids To Navigate Friendships
When a year four teacher realised the girls in her class needed serious help navigating friendships, she developed this simple and empowering program.
When Canadian teacher Dana Kerford realised the girls in her Year 4 class needed serious help navigating friendships, she developed GirlPower in 2009, a program that empowers girls with the tools to face friendship troubles head-on. Using simple-to-understand 'friendship facts' and other age-appropriate skills and language to enable kids to take control of their friendships, GirlPower and its counterpart for boys, GoodGuys, is getting results.
The program has been in high demand since she brought it to Australia several years ago, so Dana, her husband and their two children, seven and four, relocated to Sydney in January 2017 to roll the programs out to primary school children across the country. We asked her to bring her in-real-life bully management expertise to the issue of digital friendship conflict.
In what ways do anti-social playground/classroom behaviours migrate to the cyber dimension?
One of the biggest things we're trying to teach children is that conflict is a normal part of a friendship. Friendship Fact #1: No friendship (or relationship) is perfect. Once they understand and embrace conflict (realising they can put out their Friendship Fires™, as we call them), they are less likely to engage in stereotypical behaviours – which are ultimately all linked to conflict avoidance. This natural urge to avoid conflict is reinforced when children are told by adults to, "Just ignore them!" What happens is, they have to put out the Fire somehow, so they choose unhealthy ways to essentially make themselves feel better.
In the cyber dimension, it's very easy to 'avoid' conflict (i.e. not face it directly) while still trying to make themselves feel better. So, a passive-aggressive text message…or they don't tag that friend in an Instagram photo…or they share a Snap with everyone but that person they're mad at. All of these are subtle ways to reinforce an unhealthy urge to avoid conflict.
Does the process happen in reverse? That is, do some Friendship Fires arise first on social media and then make their way to the playground?
Absolutely. Children's online worlds are a big part of their social experience and hurt feelings, exclusion, gossip, 'The Silent Treatment'…all of these behaviours (referred to as 'relational aggression') happen on social media platforms all the time.
What are the most common friendship challenges in the online domain?
One of the biggest problems is that non-verbal communication (i.e. body language), which accounts for 80 to 90 percent of how we interpret the world around us, is removed from the online experience. We're left to make assumptions. Because of this, misinterpretations and misunderstandings happen all the time. Judgements are based on limited information. Tweens are susceptible to misinterpretation of that missing link, given their social-emotional competence (or lack of it).
Some kids who are eight to 12 years old are still learning how to read and write and sometimes it's as simple as that – a spelling mistake or a misplaced word. Simply put, they're too young. We use this example in our workshops: When your friend tells you something surprising, you might say, "Shut up!" You've got a smile on your face and you say it jovially, so your friend knows what you're really saying is, "Wow! Are you serious? That's amazing!" When you simply type those two words, removing body language and tone of voice, your friend may picture you with your eyebrows furrowed in a grumpy, annoyed tone.
One time a girl actually said in a workshop, "That happened to my Mum! She texted her friend and her friend texted back, 'Isn't that convenient!' My mum thought she meant it in a negative way, so she asked her friend about it and she actually meant it in a positive tone." I thought it was really great that her mum had shared that story with her.
Can children use the in-real-life solutions from your programs in their social media networks?
We define conflict in two categories: Normal conflict (which we call Friendship Fires) and Mean-on-Purpose behaviour. A Friendship Fire, a situation between you and a friend that results in negative feelings is very different from a situation where someone is intentionally trying to hurt you.
For Friendship Fires: We teach kids that Friendship Fires should never be dealt with online (they should always be put out face-to-face) and you should never type something you wouldn't say to their face. If a friend tries to engage in a Friendship Fire through text, for instance, here's what we'd recommend: keep it short and simple. Don't engage in a conversation over text and simply type, "I really care about our friendship. Let's chat in person! K?" If they're not ready to talk in person, just give them time and say, "No worries! Lemme know when ur ready to chat." Throw in a heart emoji or frog – something to lighten the mood and let them know you're aiming to resolve the issue and that you care about your relationship with them.
For mean-on-purpose behaviour: In our workshops, we teach children to say a Quick Comeback (a short statement) in a strong, sharp voice, when they hear or see Mean-on-Purpose behaviour, then walk away and report the behaviour to an adult. Online, we'd encourage them to also screenshot the behaviour and report it. They can type their Quick Comeback (e.g. "Not cool!"), but ensure they metaphorically walk away by leaving the conversation or blocking the person.
We use an example in our workshops called 'The Case of the Too Cool for School': Your teacher announces a poetry contest that you're super excited about, so you sign up. A classmate looks at you and says, "Anyone who likes poetry is a loser!"
A kid showed me their Instagram profile where an older student had posted hate-filled comments under every photo. "Ugly hair!" was one, with lots of profanity. Another kid got a text that said, "I like big butts." The other kid responded, "What?" The kid texted back, "Ya, like your big butt." Kids don't consider how their words transfer and think they're being funny. I've heard of too many parents getting involved – reading their kids' text messages, taking offence to what the other child texted, and calling the other child. This is highly discouraged!
You note that there are three participants in antisocial behaviour: the victim, the perpetrator, and the bystander. What can the bystander do to diffuse it?
For Friendship Fires: In URSTRONG we talk about a Friendship Sandwich, when you feel caught in the middle of two people who are having a Friendship Fire. The goal of a bystander is to not get caught in the sandwich because it's sticky and messy in there! Instead, they can stand up for their friend (e.g. "I think Sophie's project is awesome!") or say, "I'm not getting in the middle!" and immediately change the topic.
If this happens online – say, when someone uses a text to try to engage you in gossip about someone else, type "I'm not getting in the middle. Anyways, have you heard that new Ed Sheeran song?" This is what being a Friendship Ninja is all about: quick, savvy responses to keep things in the healthy zone.
For mean-on-purpose behaviour: We encourage bystanders to stand up to Mean-on-Purpose behaviour in the same way the victim does.
In the time since you founded URSTRONG, and as our children become ever more digitally connected, what changes are you witnessing in the friendship landscape? Are friendship difficulties occurring younger? Or does each incidence of anti-social behaviour typically involve a group dynamic?
Wow, this is such a great question because the answer is YES. With our first ever GirlPower sessions, back in 2009, my students didn't even have mobile phones. We certainly didn't have 'The Case of the Instagram Instadrama', one of the scenarios we discuss in our workshop, back then! There are a lot of benefits to the online world: kids are safer, they can connect with their parents more easily, they're learning more, they can feel they are part of a group, and can stay in touch with friends from all over the world. That said, technology has made friendships more complex.
However, there is one common theme in friendship that has definitely stayed the same, kids want to be liked and to get along. When children learn to manage conflict and it becomes part of their core, it fundamentally shifts our culture to a place of kindness and respect.
Inappropriate text messages, unkind Instagram posts, emotionally charged emails…these behaviours become a thing of the past because children (who then become adults) are master conflict-resolvers, not conflict avoiders. True blue Friendship Ninjas!
Article published by the Editor of Child Magazines:
www.childmags.com.au
RE with Mrs Davies
Remembrance Day Prayer
God our Father, Your Son Jesus gave up His life to free us from the power of sin and death. He showed us that the greatest love is in giving up one’s life for others.
Today, we remember those who fought and died for our freedom. We ask You to bless and console them together with their families.
Help us to understand the sacrifices they made in leaving their loved ones to face the horrors of war. May we never forget their generosity.
May Your Holy Spirit give us the courage to resist evil in all its forms and show us how to be peacemakers through prayer and action, lest we forget those who fought, suffered and died that we might have the freedom and peace we enjoy today.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen
Confirmation Celebrations
This weekend over Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th November a number of our children will be celebrating their Sacrament of Confirmation during Mass. They have been busily preparing for this special occasion through enrolment sessions, weekly activities to complete and through their Retreat which is being held at the Parish today. All family, friends and staff are invited to attend this special celebration.
Mass Times -
Saturday 16th November - 6pm
Sunday 17th November - 10.30am
PE with Miss Clark
State Athletics
Last Wednesday the 6th of November, we had 7 students from St Mary's compete at the State Athletics in Melbourne. These students can be extremely proud of their achievements for the day. The following are the results;
Jai P: 14th in Shot put
Judd O: 10th in 100m and 7th in 200m
Mia H: 12th in 200m
Mia H, Ivy P, Samantha P and Rubi K: 14th in Relay
Aarav B: 3rd in Long Jump
A special mention to Mia and Judd for both running faster times in their events at States than Regionals and to Aarav for beating his Long Jump record he made at Regionals by jumping 4cm further at State and receiving a medal for 3rd place!
A big thank you to all the parents who were able to drive our students to Melbourne for the opportunity to compete.
Golf clinic
This week in light of the NSW Open at Murray Downs Golf Club, there is an opportunity for the local schools in Swan Hill including St Mary’s to participate in a one hour golf clinic on Wednesday. There are 2 sessions split up into Year 3-4 students and Year 5-6 students. Unfortunately this is only limited to 25 students per session. However, the NEW Open is on from Thursday the 14th to Sunday the 17th and the best thing about it is that tickets are free!!!
You just need to register;
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2024-nsw-open-championship-tickets-894991001177?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
I hope that lots of our students can head down and see some fantastic golf and maybe even catch a glimpse of Cam Smith!
House Captain Interviews
Now that the school captains have been selected, I have received written letters and are very much enjoying reading them from those students that are applying for a House Captain leadership position for 2025. The next step is a group interview process. Mrs Quin and myself will let classroom teachers and applicants know when these interviews will take place.
In the meantime, students may like to start thinking about some answers to questions they will be asked at interviews such as ‘Why do you want to be House Captain?’ ‘What are your strengths?’ ‘Who is your sports role model and why?’. Interviews will be conducted as a group and everyone will be asked the same question and be given an opportunity to speak.
Goodluck to all the applicants!
St Mary’s tops
Still calling out to any student that has a St Mary’s top from a sporting event to please return them! There is one last sporting event for the year that St Mary’s has qualified for which is State Basketball. To ensure all our boys have the right size top and look the part please return them to my office, the front office or the note basket.
@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.
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!
