GRATITUDE

To be grateful for what is -

instead of underscoring what is not.

To find good amid the unwanted aspects of life -

without denying the presence of the unwanted.

To focus on beauty in the little things of life -

as well as being deliberate about the great beauties of art, literature, music and nature.

To be present to one’s own small space of life -

while stretching to the world beyond it.

To find something to laugh about in every day -

even when there seems nothing to laugh about.

To search for and see the good in others -

rather than remembering their faults and weaknesses.

 To be thankful for each loving deed done by another -

no matter how insignificant it might appear.

To taste life to the fullest -

and not take it for granted.

To seek to forgive others for their wrongdoings -

even immense ones, and to put the past behind.

To find ways to reach out and help the disenfranchised -

while also preserving their dignity and self-worth.

To be as loving and caring as possible -

in a culture that consistently challenges this virtue.

To remember to say thank you –

for whatever comes as a gift from another.

To be at peace –

with what cannot be changed.

Bountiful God, we give thanks for one another, for all of creation, for the many blessings we have received and for all who have walked with us during Term 3.

(Joyce Rupp, The Circle of Life)

Thank You

To end the term with a prayer of gratitude seems very appropriate. Whilst Term 3 can be challenging, in terms of the wintry weather and the usual spate of lingering colds and flus, it is also one filled with many new and different learning experiences. It is no surprise that we are all ready for a break!

Thank you to everyone, students, families and staff for all that you have contributed to our school community in Term 3. Your ongoing support, hard work and care of each other is much appreciated. I hope that the holidays are enjoyable and bring you the opportunity to enjoy life at a less hectic pace.

Congratulations

This week we celebrate the ‘beyond school’ achievements of three students. We are delighted to congratulate:

Sonany Istaifo (9 Hughes) on being one of fifteen students from across the state to be elected to the Victorian Student Representative Council Executive.

Augustine Morris Jnr (10 O’Connell) who has been nominated for the Australian Olympic Change-Maker program.

Arabella Julian (10 MacKillop) who last week won the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Asian Champion in the Medium-Heavy weight division.

All three are absolutely outstanding young people who contribute much to our community and the community beyond our school.  These achievements are well deserved.

Start of Term 4

Students will return to school on Tuesday 8 October. This will be Week 1 / DAY 2 of the timetable.

Monday is a student free day as staff will be completing the final day of the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) program. BSEM focuses on positive education and wellbeing practices that support students’ academic and personal growth.

Initiatives such as the Positive School Wide Behaviours, the Gratitude, Mindfulness and Empathy (GEM) program, the CRC lesson structure, a school-wide focus on resilience, and the introduction of the Resilient Youth surveys all stem from our work with Berry Street in 2018. The first three days have been excellent so we look forward to completing this program.

Preparing for Term 4

School holidays are certainly a time for rest and recreation, however, the time between Terms 3 and 4 is more like a semi-colon than a full stop. It is a pause in the semester, a chance to catch your breath before the important final term. Some students will have projects or homework to complete over the break. It is a good idea to get this done earlier, rather than later.

With exams only 7 or 8 weeks away, the holidays are a good time to begin revision of Term 3 work and / or to catch up on any missed work. Those who struggle with organisation might use this time to put some order into folders. Filing old notes and worksheets might be a good start. Ensuring that you have all the stationery you need for Term 4 would help.

If students do little else during the break, it would be helpful to find some time for reading each day.

Term 4 Uniform

Families are reminded that Weeks 1 – 4 are a transition period for uniform. Students can wear either full summer or full winter uniform but not a mix and match of both.

Following the Cup Weekend, from Wednesday 06 November all students will need to be in full summer uniform.

The holidays may be a good time to check that students have all that is required.

Since our last newsletter…..

Over and above the day to day activities of the school since our last newsletter students, families and staff have participated in the following:

• STEM Club
• SACCSS Interschool Tennis
• Year 9 City Experience Day 2
• Year 8 Premier League Training
• Year 7 Arts excursions
• Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
• Year 9 Camp
• Year 7 History incursion
• Year 8 Reflection Day
• Shared Stories writing workshops

I am sure that students and their families are very appreciative of all these opportunities and the time and energy that staff put into organising and offering these experiences.

The Good Samaritan by Stephen S Sawyer

The 29^th of September is Social Justice Sunday.  At this mass on this day, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement for 2019 – 2020, Making it Real: Genuine human encounter in our digital world will be launched and discussed. This document affirms the positive possibilities for encounter and solidarity offered by new digital media, while warning of those elements of our digital world that may be harmful.  These include information overload; social isolation; marginalisation of the vulnerable; consumerism and fake news.

The Statement reminds us that the new digital media cannot be seen as neutral or ‘unaffected by any moral considerations’.  While many users do not realise it, the core business of social media platforms is to sell advertising and maximise profits. People’s personal lives may be reduced to data that is traded for profit or power, and it is used to target and influence us in ways previously unthinkable. Pushing users to more extreme positions and promoting fake news and conspiracy theories sells, but this is at odds with human solidarity.

The Statement amplifies Pope Francis’ call to us to ‘boldly become citizens of the digital world’, with the image of the Good Samaritan as our inspiration. We are called not only to love our neighbour, but to bring the love of God to the new global neighbourhood.

The Statement points out that we are called not just to be inhabitants of this new digital world, but active citizens shaping it. All of us – whether we are users, communities, industrial or political leaders – have a role to play in rejecting hatred, divisions and falsehoods. We have a duty to foster a neighbourhood that promotes those human attributes and social values that lend themselves to genuine human encounter - love, understanding, beauty, goodness, truth and trustworthiness, joy and hope.

The newsletter is published fortnightly and distributed on Day 10. Students will have a chance to read it before taking it home to families that evening.

Newsletter Days for Term 4 2019:             

Fridays:  19 October, 31 October (Thurs), 15 November, 29 November (Thurs) and 18 December (mailed home)                

The newsletter can also be accessed on Friday morning (Day 10) on the College website at http://www.crcstalbans.catholic.edu.au

For the last few weeks of this term, and into next term, Year 7 students are visiting the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) to have a close encounter with one of the contemporary art world's most famous works; 'The Weeping Woman' by Picasso. They will also discover a few details of other works in the gallery.

Reflection by some of the students:

NGV Excursion
On the 17th of September, Ms. Petruccelli’s 7 Avoca class visited the National Gallery of Victoria. In visual arts this term we have studied Picasso’s famous painting ‘The Weeping Woman’. We were thrilled to finally view this painting in person. We also viewed ‘The Banquet of Cleopatra’, and an assortment of interesting and creative sculptures. Overall, we had a marvellous time exploring the NGV, and have learnt a lot through this experience.
Danielle and Ana

‘I really liked seeing the old art and how they interpreted different things in ancient times.’ - Luka

‘We enjoyed our trip to the Art Gallery because of all the sculptures and paintings we saw, but we didn’t get to see as much as we wanted to because we were short on time, other than that it was fun!’
-Vincent & Jason

Pictured above: 7 Avoca who enjoyed the visit this week and below: Rania contemplates The Weeping Woman.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: SIX WAYS TO RAISE A RESILIENT CHILD

Want to help your children deal with stress and adversity? It’s easier than you think and can help our children navigate the stresses of daily life. While we may not be able to remove all their challenges, we can help them build resilience – the ability to overcome difficult experiences and be shaped positively by them. Our brains respond to the information around us, so resilience can be taught, modelled and nurtured at any age.

1. Have one-on-one time with each child, without distractions

Resilience comes from relationships; children need nurturing. It's not a magical inner strength that helps kids through tough times; instead, its the reliable presence of one, supportive relationship, be it parent, teacher, relative or family friend. It's quality, not quantity that counts. Ten minutes of fully focused attention is better than an hour when your mind is on other things. If you're on your phone at the dinner table, you're teaching them it's OK to always be distracted. And that they are not important enough for your sole attention. Make car journeys, meals and queues count. Chat, listen, talk about your feelings and encourage them to express theirs. Once these one-to-ones become regular, your children will know they always have a safe space to open up.

2. Give sleep a chance

Lack of good-quality sleep is a huge driver for stress: it has a negative effect on memory, concentration, cognitive function, and decision-making. One of the fastest ways to improve sleep is to limit screen time before bed. Issue a household ban on devices at least an hour before bedtime. Turn off the wifi, if need be. Earlier in the evening, insist everyone uses night-time mode on their devices, which swaps the blue light for a warmer glow. 

3. Get out and exercise

As well as keeping them physically fit, exercise will increase children's resilience. It actually strengthens the brain. Regular physical activity teaches our stress-response system to recover more effeciently. Put on the radio before dinner and dance around in the kitchen. Walk the dog together or go for a family bicycle ride. 

4. Teach delayed gratification

Resilience means understanding you can't always have what you want as soon as you want it. It's an important concept to pass on in the age of Amazon Prime, Spotify, Netflix, and Uber. Psychology teaches us that people who can accept delayed gratification lead happier, healthier lives. Without the ability to defer pleasure as a reward, our kids are losing an important skill for their wellbeing. One of the best ways to teach it? Playing board games. these require impulse control, turn-taking, and mental flexibility. They exercise the prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain involved in decisionmaking, emotional regulation and, yes, resilience. Board games are also a good way to model resilience by being a good loser.

But there are no shortage of other ways to encourage delayed gratification; learning a musical instrument; listening to whole albums instead of skipping from track to track online; mastering a new sport; even watching a TV series together week by week, instead of bingeing in a couple of sittings.

5. Eat the alphabet

Nutrition has a significant impact on mental health. Good-quality food changes the composition of our gut bugs, which helps send calm signals to the brain. Poor-quality, high processed food sends stress signals instead. A diverse diet rich in fibre, will lead to greater diversity in our gut bugs, which in turn will help make us more resiient and anxiety and depression less likely.

Persuading kids to eat more healthily can feel like an uphill battle, though, especially if they're fussy, so this is not about becoming a top chef - just trying a few tricks that can really benefit them emotionally.

I like to challenge the whole family to "eat the alphabet" over 30 days. I think it's a realistic goal to consume 26 different plant foods a month: A for asparagus, B for banana, C for chickpeas and so on. It turns healthy eating into a game and encourages children to try new foods. Turn it into a competition and see who can tick off all the letters first.

6. Model gratitude

Instead of pestering your children with questions such as, "How was school?" and, "What did you do today?", teach them to reframe their day.

The following is a game I learned from a friend, who played it with his daughter over dinner. Everyone must answer three questions:

1  What did someone do today, to make you happy?

2  What did you do to make someone else happy

3  What have you learned today?

I love this simple exercise for how it helps us all find the positive in every day. it teaches gratitude, nurtures optimism and recognises kindness. It doesn't matter what may have happened at work or school, or how stressed any of us may have felt when we sat down at the table; the whole mood seems to lift once we've played this game. I learn things about my kids that they'd probably never have thought to tell me otherwise. Try it. It might just become the highlight of your day.

Acknowledgement: Dr Rangan Chatterjee, author of The Stress solution Photo: Getty Images

Our very own Arabella Julian from year 10 was awarded the title of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Asian Champion in the Medium-Heavy weight division. The tournament took place this week in Tokyo, Japan.

This is what Arabella had to say about her goals and expectations going into the tournament:

“My main goal at this tournament is to go into the fight with the best mindset possible and to roll the way I would at training. To be aggressive, smart and hunt for the submission in every fight. I do expect myself to do well, purely because I know my capabilities and how hard I’ve worked to prepare for this tournament and any competition in general. After the disappointment of not performing when it was time at the World Championships this year, I view this as an opportunity to gain more experience and as a second chance. A second chance to accomplish what I couldn’t in California – which is to fight how I know I can and in a way that reflects the improvements I’ve made and the techniques I’ve been working on at training. Overall, the Asian Open is a great platform to test how well I perform under pressure and to showcase my jiu-jitsu on the international stage.”

Thank you to the StarWeekly Newspaper for their front page feature on Arabella.

You can read the article here.

Augustine Morris from Year 10, has been nominated for the Australian Olympic Change-Maker program.

The Australian Olympic Change-Maker program recognises and rewards students who are demonstrating the Olympic spirit through leadership and driving positive change in their communities. This can take on many forms – from minor to major, and from the ordinary to the amazing. Whether leading teams, coaching juniors, supporting seniors, making a difference at a sports club or a national cause, or effecting change on the world stage. Sprinter, actor and house captain, Augustine strives to be a positive influence on the lives of those around him.

Augustine has prepared a video submission for his nomination, outlining some of his achievements and his drive to make a difference.

Monday 7 October:

Staff Professional Learning (Day 4 for Berry Street)

(Students are not required at school)

Tuesday 8 October:

First day of Term 4 (Day 2 Timetable)

17 & 18 October:

Year 10 Outdoor Education Camp

Thursday 31 October:

Image 2019 Opening Night

Friday 1 November:

Inter-house Athletics Carnival

4 and 5 November:

Cup Weekend (Students not required at school)

20 – 27 November:

Years 9 and 10 exams

Wednesday 27 November:

Year 10 Picnic

Thurs 28 November:

Year 10 Graduation Mass

Fri 29 November:

Report Preparation Day

(Students not required at school)

2 – 6 December:

Year 11 2020 Orientation at CRC Sydenham

Thursday 5 December:

Years 7 & 8 Ball Sports Day

Final Trinity Day for Year 9.

Friday 6 December:

Final Day for students in Years 7 - 9

Wed 18 December:

School office closes