From the Deputy Principal

R U OK? Day

This Thursday 8 September is R U OK? Day. This national day of action is dedicated to reminding everyone that any day is the day to ask, 'Are you OK?' and support those who are struggling. The day is about inspiring people to start these conversatoins, and to look out for our friends. 

The R U OK? organisation recommends four steps to start a conversation that could change a life: 

When we actively listen to what someone is saying, to see what someone is doing, to know what is going on in their life or by noticing a change, we are encouraged to trust our instinct and start a R U OK? conversation. 

We are constantly reminded of the importance of good mental health for ourselves and others which can be challenging given the pressures that we face daily. Naturally, we want our students to feel positive emotions. 

Happiness has been studied in positive psychology for many years. The term happiness encapsulates a variety of emotions. A thesaurus search generates a considerable list of substitutes for the word 'happiness' - pleasure, delight, joy, felicity, jubilation, cheerfulness, just to name a few. 

Furthermore, research indicates that there is a strong link between happiness and gratitude. Practising gratitude helps people feel more of the positive emotions, enables us to relish good experiences, improve our overall health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships.

SchoolTV provides parents and carers with an opportunity to learn more about how to achieve happiness and the benefits of practising gratitude. Click on the link below to view the SchoolTV edition on Happiness and Gratitude. 

At St Mary's, we seek to foster positive relationships across the College community. Last week, we celebrated Manresa Week, which highlighted the significance of our House structure as it creates the optimum environment for students and staff to foster strong relationships with one another. 

At the Senior School year level assemblies last Monday, students were reminded of the St Mary's College Student Conduct Guidelines and Procedures that are shaped by our Presentation values: respect, relationships, responsibility and resilience, and the School Wide Positive Support Behaviour Framework. 

The College's Student Behaviour Support strategies encourage self-discipline, responsibility and an awareness of the rights of all people so that our learning environments are safe and supportive spaces for all.  

NAPLAN 2022

Last week the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority provided details about the NAPLAN 2022 results. Historically, NAPLAN results have been released in two stages: 

1. Summary (preliminary) information normally released in August, showing preliminary results at each year level and domain by state/territory and nationally. 
2. Full national report is released detailing the long term national and jurisdictional trends reported towards the end of the year. 

In a media statement issued last week, schools were informed that no preliminary results were to be released in August this year as closer analysis was required due to lower than usual student participation rates as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, flu and floods. 

The NAPLAN 2022 results detailing the long term national and jurisdictional trends will be released towards the end of the year as usual. 

Caroline Wilson-Haffenden 

Deputy Principal

Caroline Wilson-Haffenden 

Deputy Principal