Principal

Welcome Back to Term 2!

A warm welcome back to students and staff!

As we gather in the halls of learning once again, I want to extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you at the start of Term 2. I hope your break in the Easter season was filled with joy, rest, and perhaps a bit of reflection on the renewal this season brings.

As we embark on this new term, let's carry forward the spirit of rejuvenation and new beginnings that Easter symbolises. Let's approach our studies and work with fresh energy and a renewed commitment to excellence.

Together, we have the opportunity to create a term that is as vibrant and promising as the Resurrection. So, let's make the most of it, supporting one another and striving to reach new heights in our learning journey. Welcome back, and here's to a successful Term 2!

Staff News

• We welcome back to the teaching faculty Mr Ricky Istifan and Ms Amanda Forgione after periods of leave.
   
• Ms Felicia Ho will be taking on the position of Acting Learning Enrichment Coordinator while Mrs Sinadinos is on parental leave. Any enquiries about this area of the College can be directed to her. 
   
• Mr Lachlan Hemmert has secured a permanent appointment as Library Assistant. Congratulations to him. He is well known to the student bibliophiles in the College and will be a wonderful addition to the team in library services.
   
• Ms Nirainithy (Nithy) Baladevan is our new Science Laboratory Manager replacing Mrs Bishop who will be stepping down to a Laboratory Technician role for two days a week. We are so appreciative of Mrs Bishop’s long and valued service to the College in the area of science. Her work and expertise made the move over to Scientia seamless and professional.
   
• Ms Taylah Cooper is our new PDHPE Teacher replacing Ms Brittany Treweeke. Ms Cooper is known to some of our students as she successfully completed her placement with the College last year with Mr Boggs. 
   
• Mr Sean Barry joins our staff as a new PDHPE Teacher replacing Mr Mifsud. He has been a PDHPE Teacher for the past 13 years, educating students in the UK and Australia with his last teaching appointment at Jamison High School.
   
• Ms Marie Marino is a new Visual Arts Teacher who will join the Visual Arts Faculty on a 0.5 FTE load (Tuesday – Thursday) and will take up classes that have arisen from our growth in Junior Secondary.
   
• Ms Lisa Townson will be joining us as a Geography Teacher and also relieving staff who need covers. Ms Townson will be covering some of Ms Ho’s classes to relieve her for the Learning Enrichment Coordinator position.
   
• Congratulations to Mr Alexandros Sinadinos and Mrs Katherine Sinadinos on the arrival of their son, Jacob. 

Executive Function Challenges and Learning: Four Ways to Help Your Teenager

As we begin Term 2, our minds refocus sharply on helping our boys improve their executive functioning. Our holistic approach, blending the academic challenges of school with mandatory co-curricular activities, is intended to really stretch the boys so they also build their executive functioning skills. That is, a set of cognitive skills that help us plan, organise, prioritise, and execute tasks. It is also responsible for our ability to regulate our emotions, control our impulses, and make decisions. Executive functioning skills are essential for school, work, and personal success.

Parents/carers will often voice their concerns about the struggles their son has with staying organised, the difficulties they observe when he tries to shift from one kind of activity to another and the effect that executive function challenges have on both oral and written communications. Here are four common challenges and what parents/carers can do to assist their son/s:

1. Learning challenge #1: Difficulty planning 

Your son has decided to apply for university or TAFE. Application deadlines are looming, though, and your son still hasn’t filled out any of them. The executive function challenge is the trouble of figuring out where to start or seeing how a big task can be broken down into smaller tasks.

How to help: Help your son break big or overwhelming tasks into more manageable steps — a technique teachers call “chunking.” For instance, take an essay question on a university scholarship application and have your son write out the steps involved on individual notecards: come up with thesis, create outline, write opening paragraph. Your son can then complete them one at a time.

2. Learning challenge #2: Not monitoring their work

Your son’s creative writing task is confusing to read. It keeps switching tenses and points of view.  Your son is having trouble with the executive function of not checking work or realising when he has made mistakes.

How to help: Encourage your son to read written work out loud to see if it makes sense. At first, you may need to have your child read the draft to you so you can point out inconsistencies.

3. Learning challenge #3: Gets overwhelmed easily

Your son has started off the year in a number of advanced placement classes, but drops them after a month because “it’s too much work”. These students are exhibiting challenges with their executive functioning and can easily become overwhelmed by what looks like a daunting amount of work.

How to help: Encourage your son to use course outlines to help plan and predict assignments. Show your son how to use a daily planner to map out the overall workload. The textbook’s website and other resources the teacher recommends can also help your son get through the material.

4. Learning challenge #4: Processes information slowly

Your son describes that he is having trouble keeping up with class discussions — and gets angry when it’s hard to get a word in edgewise. These students are challenged in the executive function of processing information. He may process language more slowly than their peers. He may also have a hard time finding the words to say and keeping emotions in check when they get frustrated. How to help: Practice conversation skills with your son, including how to say things like “Can you give me a minute to think about that?” and “I have something to add — just give me a minute to gather my thoughts.”

Like other learning and attention issues, difficulties with executive function don’t disappear over time. With help, high schoolers can learn to leverage their strengths and advocate for themselves, valuable skills they’ll carry into adulthood.

Key takeaways

• Breaking big jobs into small tasks will help kids stay organised.
• Planners, checklists, and other task management strategies can help.

The organisational skills learned now will help your son succeed as an adult.

In Memoriam

We keep the Vu family in our thoughts and prayers. Evalyn Vu, 11-year-old sister of Hunter Vu (Year 5), passed away during the holidays after bravely battling cancer for over two years. 

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything! 

**except divide by zero