TERM 2
WEEK 5
WEEK 5
The 2022 Lutheran Principal’s Conference, themed, ‘Embracing our Past, Inspiring our Future’ was a deep learning opportunity to connect with the history of the beginnings of Lutheran schooling and leaders that have set the platform for our schools of today. There was also a meaningful shift of focus on what the future of schooling will look like for us in years to come.
Principal's Learnings
Screen Time
Our two internationally acclaimed keynote speakers were outstanding! Michael McQueen is a previous Australian Keynote Speaker of the Year and was inducted into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame. He unpacked his latest book, Teaching for Tomorrow. It was reaffirming to hear about the connections we are making with meeting student needs at St Paul’s and the direction of our school. It aligns so tightly with proven data and research of world leading educators.
Dr Tom Nehmy, author of ‘Apples for the Mind’ presented a wealth of information on creating emotional balance, peak performance and lifelong wellbeing. As a clinical psychologist, he delved into the power of prevention and provided insight into creating positive mental health.
I look forward to going into more detail about the future of schooling at our next Parent Information Night on Tuesday 14 June at 6:30pm.
As a result of the global pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the amount of time people spend on screen-based devices. Families are transitioning back to pre-COVID routines, although data shows many are still struggling to re-establish the boundaries and rules around screen use. Some continue to deal with digital conflict and tech-tantrums on a daily basis. The latest research found that 77% of teenagers spend more than five hours on screens per day, but it is important to note that not all screen time is considered equal.
Parents play a crucial role in modelling a positive and healthy approach to using screens and assisting children to navigate the content they watch. It is better to model and mentor screen use, rather than monitor it. Children tend to do more of what they see us do, and less of what we tell them to do. However, it is still important to outline the risks and highlight the benefits of screen use to ensure you keep a balanced attitude. Encourage discussions around the issues that people experience in monitoring their screen time and be honest about your own difficulties.
As parents, we need to remain firm in their approach to managing screen time. Excessive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s overall wellbeing. Ensuring the correct privacy settings are in place is vital to prevent children from being inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content or online predators. We need to be mindful of the potential impact screen time can have on a child’s social, emotional, educational, behavioural, and even physical domains.
In this edition of SchoolTV, care-givers will be provided with a range of guidelines and strategies to help manage screen time at home. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.
If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to this month's edition
https://stpaulshenty.nsw.schooltv.me/newsletter/managing-screen-time
Yours in Christian Service,
Brad Moss
I want to share with you a little on our Learner Profile focus this term. Below are a selection of the video clips we’ve been watching as ways to explain and discuss what empathy is. This first one is from Sesame Street and it’s definitely one of our favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_1Rt1R4xbM
The last couple of weeks the focus has really been on – I can listen ‘first’. The following clip has helped us to see what empathic listening looks and sounds like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT6FdhKriB8
Our ‘Pat on the Back’ Fridays are proving to be a valuable time of connection and collaboration. We are all so impressed with our student’s ability to recognise empathy in others and also those who show empathy to their peers. I feel like we’re all learning more about the importance of showing empathy and love to each other.
Anyone can find the dirt on people, be the person who finds the gold.
Proverbs 11:27
I enjoyed showing new and existing families around on Tuesday at our Open Day. I found it was encouraging to reflect on the great things that are happening in our school within the classroom and outside. To be able to proudly talk about our staff team, briefly explain a snippet of our ‘why’, discuss our goals for 2022, show our strategic plan, discuss the Learner Profile and the Zones of Regulation was a valuable and rewarding experience. It’s great to look back over the past 6 months and reflect on all the great things that have happened so far this year.
We really do have an amazing school and I feel very blessed to be part of the St Paul’s community.
Blessings,
Hollie
TUCKSHOP
Monday 20 June
P&F TRIVIA NIGHT
Friday 29 July
QUEENS BIRTHDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Monday 13 June
mainly music
Monday 20 June
FIRST DAY TERM 3
Tuesday 19 July
PARENT INFORMATION SESSION
Tuesday 14 June
ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
Friday 17 June
YR 5 DISCOVERY DAY
Thursday 23 June
PARENT FEEDBACK SESSION
Tuesday 21 June
LAST DAY OF TERM
Friday 1 July
Philippians 3:12-14
Winter is here, and so is all the rain. It has been super chilly and wet outside. It feels as though we are in hibernation. Many outdoor activities have been cancelled, such as the planned athletics events. At St Paul's it was decided instead to have indoor gym activities which the children thoroughly enjoyed. This gym activity got me thinking about how we Christians exercise our faith. Lutherans often refer to this as “faith active in love.” Paul the apostle declares in Phil. 3: 14 “I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.” This is Paul’s shorthand for how active faith happens. Our faith is never still. The Christian has a goal to reach, that is, heaven or the “life above.”
We journey towards our heavenly prize knowing that “Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.” Let those words from Paul settle into your heart, because they concern YOU. That is faith. Faith knows that you have been won, claimed, by Christ.
And from that awareness comes an active faith, a faith that pushes through the cold and wet winters of life. The Christian has a foretaste of heaven, the “life above.” The tastiness of God, a God who gives himself in Christ, keeps faith going. We get to spiritually feast off Christ everyday and we taste heaven. In faith, we praise God, call on him, and give him thanks. In faith, we are drawn in empathy to serve our neighbors who are in need. As we love God and others, we encounter heaven on earth. And that keeps faith going. With the love of God in our hearts we push through the coldness of life. The Spirit warms our hearts to God. We are then warm people in an often wet and cold world. A warmed Christ-heart is an active heart. Such a heart is drawn to heaven and encounters God in the here-and-now. These divine-encounters, foretastes of heaven, keep faith in motion. And then the world gets to taste and see what it means when “Jesus has already won me to himself” for that “life above.”
In maths this week we’ve been gathering data and graphing our information. We started with our favourite fruit and interviewed the school to find out which would be the most popular. Watermelon was the resounding winner!
From the data, we’ve been asking questions like:
+ What is the least common?
+ What is the most common?
+ What is the difference between the highest and the lowest?
+ What do we understand from the data/information we’ve collected?
In writing, we’ve been learning about Information Reports. Our learning intention is: ‘I am learning to write a report to provide the reader with facts about a topic.’
Our Big Write last week was a task to inform the reader about facts relating to Winter. Below are some samples of our writing. Blessings,
Hollie Kinning
PBL and GYMNASTICS!
Visual Arts was our focus for Term 1, with all students investigating the Elements of Visual Arts. There were many opportunities in which demonstrations and artistic techniques were explored, with particular attention given to line, shape and colour by Kinder to Year 2 students, and line, shape, form and colour by Year 3 to Year 6 students.
In Term 2 we have shifted our attention to Drama through which we will be stepping into imaginary worlds, and developing our understanding of how people think, feel and communicate. By using their imaginations, students will engage in a series of drama games, mimes, improvisation, readers’ theatres and scripted dramas to become different people in different situations, so that they can observe and experience the world through different eyes.
Adults Only Dinner
Thank you to those who attended the Adults Only Dinner at the DCA last Friday, and thank you to our High Schoolers who so graciously offered their babysitting services to allow us to be free from parental duties for a whole meal! What joy! We had a lovely evening - good food, good company, what more could we ask for?
Major Raffle
In the not too distant future tickets will be sent home with students for our major raffle. Each family will be given a book of twenty tickets to sell. Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10.
First Prize: Helifly Scenic Flight Voucher for 2 People
Second Prize: Dressed Pig
Third Prize: Goods Hamper
The raffle will be drawn at:
Family Friendly Christmas in July Trivia Night
Shake out the mothballs from your Ugly Christmas Sweater (What? You don't have one? You might need to find one 😉) because the P&F are hosting a trivia night on Friday 29th July. This will be a family friendly event with special rounds for the kids, games during the night and a prize for the ugliest Christmas sweater.
More information will come out in the coming weeks but make sure you save the date in your calendar.
Week 6
Isabelle Willis
Eden Bisset
Week 7
Gabe Bisset
Blake Klemke
Louisa Lubke
What's the perfect way to warm up at lunchtime on a cold winters day? Hot Chocolate of course!
Hot Chocolates will be available for $1 at lunchtime each Friday.
If you find that you never seem to get around to returning cans and bottles for the 10c refund then we might have the solution you've been looking for! We will have a specially designated recycling bin in the lunch area for refundable bottles, and we would be happy to add yours to our collection. All money raised will be made available for the students to put towards resources and equipment, which they will collaborate their spending ideas with teaching staff.
Next Session
20th June