SECONDARY NEWS
From the Assistant Principal
Miss Kim Bailey
kbailey@arm.catholic.edu.au
Family Conferences
Family Conferences began last night for Year 7 and continue throughout the week for Years 8, 9 & 10.
- Year 8 - Tuesday 21 March
- Year 9 – Wednesday 22 March
- Year 10 – Thursday 23 March
On each of the afternoons, teachers will be available from 3.45 – 5.45 pm in the Holy Trinity Hall.
Thank you to all families for attending the conferences.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN testing concludes this week for all students in Year 7 and Year 9.
If a student is absent on one or more of these days, catch-up sessions will be held. They should ensure that they are rested so that they can complete the tests to the best of their ability.
Monday - Conventions of Language
Tuesday - Numeracy
Harmony Week
Students can wear a touch of orange with their sports unifor on Thursday to celebrate Harmony Day.
What is Harmony Week?
Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism and the successful integration of migrants into our community.
Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world, and we should celebrate this and work to maintain it.
Harmony Week is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.
Why wear orange?
Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and the encouragement of mutual respect. Australians can choose to wear something orange during Harmony Week to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.
Our Cultural Diversity?
Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country - from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world.
Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.
An integrated multicultural Australia is an integral part of our national identity. All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own cultural and religious traditions, as well as take on many new traditions. Collectively, these traditions have enriched our nation.
STUDENT PHOTO CHALLENGE
Use the instaframe shared via email and upload a photo that you think represents the Harmony Week theme of everyone belongs.
It can either be a photo of a group of students here at school (make sure you have permission to take & upload the photo) or an image you have found online.
Fit your own photo/image into the instaframe provided (see example below). You may need to resize the images to fit in the instaframe.
Upload your image for a chance to WIN!
Staying Safe Online
ThinkUKnow (http://www.thinkuknow.org.au) is a website that provides information for parents and students about cyber safety and the responsible use of technology. Understanding how young people use the internet and what they enjoy doing will help you to recognise any suspicious or inappropriate behaviour. It will also help you to talk with your child about their online activities if they think you understand the online environment.
Living Well, Learning Well
Ready2Learn
Pastoral Care teachers will be checking in with the students in their class each morning to ensure that they are Ready2Learn. All students have received the information below and were encouraged to show their families and discuss how to be Ready2Learn each day. Pastoral Care teachers will be able to help students start the day in a positive way. Please ask your child about this and support them to be Ready2Learn
Students are being asked to ensure that they understand these elements and have all their equipment and uniforms by the start of Week 6. The infographic also outlines what to do if there is a problem with doing this and who you can go to for assistance.
Making Contact with Teachers in the Secondary
If you have any questions or concerns about your child's learning or wellbeing please make contact with Miss Bailey, your child's Pastoral Care teacher or their subject teacher. We are only too happy to assist.
7 - 10 Staff Email Addresses
Miss Kim Bailey
Miss Claudia Cush
Mrs Angela East
Mr Peter Ehsman
Mr Anthony Gaias
Miss Alana Goldman
Mrs Mary-Jane Guest
Mrs Lee Grady
Miss Sophie Hayden
Mrs Malynda Hiscock
Mr David Koch
Mrs Stephanie Marshall
smarshall3@arm.catholic.edu.au
Mrs Veronica McCormick
Mrs Christine McLachlan
cmclachlan@arm.catholic.edu.au
Mr Matthew Pye
Mrs Jane Taylor
Mrs Katherine Townsend
Mr Blake Uebergang
Mrs Carrie Watchirs
Easter Fair Cake Stall
The Easter Fair for 2023 is rapidly approaching! It will be held on Friday 31 March, from 5:00-8:00 pm. Class parents are running each of the stalls.
Years 7,8 & 9 will be responsible for the cake stall at the Easter Fair. We need parents who may be able to assist with our cake stall on the night. If you could spare some time to volunteer, it would be greatly appreciated. Please indicate on the return slip three preferences that would be the most convenient time for you. We will contact you shortly to confirm your time slot.
We are also calling for donations of baked goods (e.g., cakes, cupcakes, slices etc). They will need to be brought to school on Thursday 30 March, and Friday 31 March, to keep them as fresh as possible. These can be dropped off at the Front Office. PLEASE NOTE – all baked goods MUST have the ingredients that you used clearly written on the packaging.
If you would like to just donate some ingredients, we have some lovely ladies offering to do the baking. The ingredients can be given to your child’s Pastoral Care teacher or dropped off at the Front Office. Below are some suggested ingredients:
- Condensed milk
- Icing sugar
- Desiccated or shredded coconut
- Brown sugar
If you have any further questions, please contact Hayley Johns (Stall Coordinator – phone 0427667772) or Karina Hutchings (Stall coordinator – phone 0402863992).
BUILDING CONCENTRATION SKILLS
Many students find it difficult to concentrate and stay focused when they are doing their schoolwork at home. So what can we do to improve concentration levels? Try these top tips:
- IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT: Have a good hard look at the environment you are trying to concentrate in. Is it noisy? Are there more exciting things happening around you? Is it too hot? Too cold? Are you uncomfortable? Too comfortable? What can you do to make the space more conducive to concentration?
- BLOCKS OF TIME: If you are someone who finds it difficult to concentrate at home, don’t try and study for too long at a time. Instead, tell yourself you will work for 20-30 minutes then you can have a break. If you know it is only 20-30 minutes, it is much easier to concentrate than if it was for an indefinite period of time.
- ANCHOR TO THE PRESENT: Create a focus word that brings you back on task. We all daydream. The key is to start to pay more attention to when you are doing it and then immediately take action. If your keyword, for example, was ‘orange’, when you notice you are day-dreaming say ‘orange orange orange’ to refocus your attention to your work.
- RESET THE BRAIN: Sometimes, you just need a time-out from what you are doing in order to be able to concentrate again. If your attention is constantly wandering, then get up and have a drink, walk outside, or kick a ball – just take 5 to 10 minutes to clear your head so you can come back fresh to your work.
- WORK OUT PEAK TIMES: Start to pay attention to what time of the day you are most focused. That’s when you need to do the harder work or the work that requires the greatest concentration. If you know you get tired after dinner, don’t leave the difficult work until then.
- CARROT AND STICK: Some people are motivated by working towards rewards, others by avoiding punishments. Give yourself a target time to focus with a little reward at the end if you achieve it – or maybe a little punishment if you don’t!
WHY STUDENTS NEED TO TURN OFF DEVICES AT LEAST HALF AN HOUR BEFORE SLEEP
Artificial light from electronic and other devices generally emits a blue light (it may not look blue, but that is the underlying light). Blue light is a type of non-visible light at a very short wavelength.
What does blue light do to the human body?
Non-visible light has a lot of energy, and studies show that a lot of exposure to this type of light can impair your sleep cycle. During sleep, lots of essential physical processes take place, and it is also when learning from the day is consolidated in memory. This means that having enough sleep is vital for students.
Blue light is naturally generated only during the day from sunlight. When it gets dark, naturally occurring blue light ceases, signalling the body to produce melatonin, the hormone associated with sleep. Using artificial lighting and devices which emit a blue light at night confuses the body clock (the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle) by stopping the body from producing melatonin. This can result in disrupted sleep patterns, including difficulty in falling asleep, and staying asleep and shortened sleep duration.
Those at greatest risk from night-time exposure to blue light are those with existing sleep disorders and adolescents who often experience delayed sleep patterns as a result of biological changes.
What can students do to limit their exposure to blue light at night?
Some suggestions include:
- Be exposed to sunlight during the day to assist in accurately setting your body clock.
- Stop using all electronic devices, preferably an hour before bed.
- Get a red or orange reading lamp, which does not emit blue light.
- Use blue light-blocking glasses at night.
- Install a program or app on your computer or device to change the type of light it emits. A variety of programs are available, including F.lux, EasyEyez, Night Filter, Zzz iPhone filter, Bluelight and Twilight.
- Invert the colours on your smartphone or iPad, or Kindle, or change the device to the night-time setting.
- Turn the brightness down on your device for a few hours before bed (not perfect, but better than nothing!).
HOTmaths
All students in the secondary department have a subscription to HOTmaths for 2021. Each student will soon have an individual log-in, enabling them to complete set work or revise content they need assistance with. It also allows their teacher to set work and track progress.
What is HOTmaths? It is an interactive online maths teaching and learning program for students based on the NSW curriculum.
In a few words, HOTmaths is:
- Connecting students, parents and teachers with each other and the world
- Making maths more meaningful and engaging
- Building confidence through success in learning
- Providing curriculum-based teaching, learning and assessment material
- A first-rate learning management system
- An effective and inexpensive home tutoring system
- An online resource accessible 24 hours a day
Students in Years 7 to 10 are encouraged to use their HOTmaths subscription. The program is a very effective tool for the revision and consolidation of lessons taught in the classroom. We encourage all students to utilise their subscription and hopefully gain greater confidence in this subject. If parents have any queries regarding this, they will be able to discuss the matter with their child’s Mathematics teacher at the Parent/Teacher meetings.
Ready2Learn
Pastoral Care teachers will be checking in with the students in their class each morning to ensure that they are Ready2Learn. All students have received the information below and were encouraged to show their families and discuss how to be Ready2Learn each day. Pastoral Care teachers will be able to help students start the day in a positive way. Please ask your child about this and support them to be Ready2Learn
Students are being asked to ensure that they understand these elements and have all their equipment and uniforms by the start of Week 6. The infographic also outlines what to do if there is a problem with doing this and who you can go to for assistance.