Dear Parents & Parishioners,

Some years ago, prior to COVID-19, Our Holy Redeemer undertook some work with The Resilience Project. As part of the program, Martin Heppell delivered a turbo-charged evening presentation for our parents.

Martin’s presentation focused on mental resilience, where he emphasised the values of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. These three concepts are the keys to resilience in both adults and children. Martin also spoke repeatedly of the opportunity presented to our children by allowing them to fail. We grow from our experiences of failure; it makes us stronger and more resilient individuals.

Gratitude is the ability to focus on what you have got, not on what you don’t have. It’s about paying attention to the great things we already have. So many people focus on the ‘if and then’ model of happiness, e.g. ‘If I buy this car, then I will be happy’. But once the car has been purchased there is still dissatisfaction, so the model shifts to ‘If I get this job, then I will be happy’, and the cycle continues on. In Australia we are seven times more likely to notice a negative as opposed to a positive; we ruminate on the negative. Billy Slater, who played rugby league for the Melbourne Storm, practised gratitude for two years and could not have been happier.

Empathy is simply described as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. When you perform a kind act for someone, your mind rewards you by releasing the chemical Oxytocin. Mindfulness is the ability to shut off disruptive thoughts and enjoy the present moment.

When trauma strikes in our lives, we drop down the mental health spectrum. However, if we practice gratitude, empathy and mindfulness we build our capacity to bounce back from such an event.

So how do you practice gratitude? Martin strongly recommended that you write down three things that went well for you during the day, e.g.

What was the best thing that happened to me today?
Who am I most grateful for today and why?
What am I looking forward to most about tomorrow?

If you can continue this simple practice for 21 days, your brain can be rewired to scan the world for the positive. According to the University of Massachusetts, if you continue the practice for 42 days you:

are less likely to get sick
have higher levels of energy
feel happier
are more enthusiastic
are more attentive
are more determined
are more optimistic
have a better quality of sleep
have lower levels of depression and anxiety.

This very pratice turned around Dustin Martin's life and resulted in his most successful AFL season when playing for Richmond. Might be worth commencing this practice with your own children. The results may surprise you.

Prep - Year 2 Parent Gathering

Thank you to Tara and Andrew Sutherland for generously opening up their home last Friday evening to host the parents with students in our junior school. We had a great turn up on the night, including many of our new families.

School Uniform

When Julia Gillard was Prime Minister of Australia, she said:

"Part of a high quality education is learning how to present yourself to the world, and that is what a shool uniform is all about .... having a uniform helps undercut the kind of unhealthy competition we can see at schools to have the latest, most expensive, fashionable gear."

Our Holy Redeemer's Uniform Policy articulates, "A school uniform instils in students a pride in their own appearance, and recognition of themselves as an integral part of the school community. Equality, health and safety, and expense are also factors that contribute to the establishment of a Uniform Policy."

At OHR we believe that a school uniform:

Promotes equality amongst all students
Further develops a sense of pride in, and identification with our school
Provides durable clothing that is cost effective and practical for our school environment
Maintains and enhances the positive image of the school in the community.

We would like to thank all families who have endeavoured to support the school instill a sense of identity and pride by ensuring their children are dressed in full school attire on a daily basis. However, there are some students who attempt to wear their runners on non-sport uniform days, while others wear socks which don't correspond to the summer/winter or sports uniform requirements. We ask parents to support us by ensuring students are appropriately and proudly dressed. If cost of uniform is ever a factor, please bear in mind we have a good second-hand uniform shop.

Signing In and Signing Out Students

If a student is late to the school, that is anytime after 8.45am, they must be signed in through the VPass system in the office as a 'Late Pass'. Similarly, if a child is signed out during the school day to either attend an appointment or if they unwell, they must be signed out on the VPass system under 'Early Leave Pass'. If you are new to the VPass system, Heather will assist you.

As you can appreciate, an accurate account of all students on-site during school hours is critical, especially in the event of an emergency.

Crossing Safety

Kris, our Crossing Supervisor, would like parents to remind their children to dismount from their bikes when using the crossing at the intersection of Union and Mont Albert Roads. This is an important part of road safety when riding a bike.

No Assembly this Monday

Due to the fact that our students in Years 5 & 6 will be attending the Halogen Young Leader's Day at the Melbourne Convention & Exibition Centre on Monday, there will be no assembly.

Open Mornings

On Wednesday 12 March, we will host the first of two scheduled Open Mornings for prospective parents considering enrolling their children in 2026 and beyond. The school will be open to visitors, between 9:00am and 10:30am. A great morning is planned. We will commence with a gathering in the hall where the students will treat our visitors to a number of exhibitions and performances. The Senior Students will then take on the responsibility of showing our guests around the school.. Afterwards our visitors will be invited to the foyer of the hall for a cuppa.

If you are available between 10.00 - 10.30am to talk to the visiting families over a cuppa, please don't hesitate to send me an email.

If you know of anyone considering a school for their child, please encourage them to come along to our special Open Morning and to also arrange a personal school tour.

As you can appreciate, we are working towards finalising our 2026 Prep enrolments by the middle of May.

It would be gratefully appreciated that all existing school families who have a child commencing school in 2026 complete an enrolment form and submit it to Heather.

School Closure Day

Our first school closure day for Staff Professional Learning will take place on Monday 24 March.

The focus of the day will be 'Strengthening Evidence-based Pedagogies' in which the staff will delve deeper into the work begun last year under MACS' Vision for Instruction, a system-wide approach to achieving teaching and learning excellence.

Parent Helpers

Are you interested in becoming a parent helper this year? If the answer is 'yes', please head to the Learning & Teaching News page for details of an induction session being facilitated by Mrs Lisa Canty.

Managing Big Feelings Parent Webinar: 6 March

As a follow up to our Starting School presentation with Carley McGauran in 2024, we present the Managing Big Feelings webinar. This webinar is primarily targetted at parents/carers with children in Prep (Foundation) though to Year 2. This session is not to be confused with Raising Kids in a Digital World which is scheduled to be held later in March.

The Managing Big Feelings session is desgined to support parents/carers to show up in the most helpful way when your children experience big feelings. The goal is for parents and carers to feel more informed and empowered.

Managing Big Feelings

Presenter: Carley McGauran

Date: Thursday 6 March

Time: 7.30pm (75 min)

Here is the link for parents to register for the webinar :

bit.ly/bigfeelings2025

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank

School News

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