Dear Parents/Carers,

Yesterday during the School Closure Day, our staff spent the day in a workshop with Student Wellbeing expert Georgina Manning. The focus of the day was to upskill our teaching staff and Learning Support Staff in two areas: Restorative Practices and Circle Time. These are two approaches that are commonly used in Primary schools to help students build and maintain positive relationships with one another and with their teachers. It is important for us as a school to develop consistent practice in the area of Student Wellbeing, because we know that if students feel happy and safe, they will learn at a much higher level than if they do not.

Circle Time is a powerful process that assists both the development of the individual and the individual as a member of the class or group. It generates a sense of belonging, which promotes acceptance and support within the community of the school. It brings together the teachers and children in an enjoyable atmosphere of cooperation. Children become more able to express their feelings and as they learn more about themselves and each other, a warm and supportive group atmosphere is built, along with improved relationships. Circle Time is also a time where teachers and students can explore common problems, such as playground/social issues, in a no-blame setting, focused on the development of necessary skills. This approach will form part of our preventative efforts in managing student conflict in our school; if the children have strong relationships, they are more likely to be able to work through conflict in a positive manner when it does arise.

Conflict between children in a school setting occurs on a daily basis in every classroom, so it is important that we teach our students how to manage it and this is where Restorative Practices comes in. Restorative Practice is a non punitive approach to dealing with conflict which accepts that we all make mistakes, can ‘fix’ the problem together and learn from our experiences. It is a shift away from blame, punishment and shaming children for wrongdoing, towards a model of honesty, problem solving, taking responsibility, restoring relationships, and building empathy and trust. From now on, our teachers will help children manage conflict using the following (age appropriate) questions to guide conversation:

Prep to Year 2 Questions	Year 3 to Year 6 Questions
What happened? How did this make you feel? What can we do to make things better?	What happened? How did you act in this situation? How were you affected? Who do you think was affected? How did it make you feel? What impact has this incident had on you? What has been the hardest thing for you? What needs to happen to make things right?

We are confident that these approaches will continue to improve the calm and settled learning environment we have at St Agnes’. Later in the year, our staff will be engaging in further work with Georgina Manning on mindfulness and meditation, with a view to implementing these practices with the students in the classrooms to help them develop positive mental health strategies early in life.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This Saturday 22nd May at the 6pm evening Mass, we have our first group of candidates receiving the Blessed Sacrament of First Eucharist. This year, the candidates will receive this sacrament in small groups and we have two further groups to receive the sacrament on Saturday 29th May and Saturday 5th June. All children from Year 4 and 5 are participating in the Reflection Day tomorrow, Wednesday 19th May, where they will learn more about the sacrament and some particulars about receiving it for the first time. Students in these year levels can wear casual clothes for this day. We wish the following students well as they continue their faith journey this weekend: Lexi M, Anastasia P, Patricia K, Nadia K, Alannah H, Niamh B, Sophia D, James S, Erica V. Families are encouraged to be prompt as the mass will commence at 6pm sharp.

Sacrament of Confirmation - Family Faith Night

A reminder for all Year 6 families that we have the Sacrament of Confirmation Family Faith Night on Wednesday 26th May at 7.30pm in the School Hall. It is expected that all students who are completing this sacrament will attend with at least one parent.

District Cross Country

On Friday, we had 41 students from Year 3 to Year 6 represent the school at the District Cross Country. All students competed with gusto and should be proud of their efforts. We have a number of students who finished in the top 8 place getters for their age group and will go off to compete at the Beachside Division Cross Country Championships. Please head across to the Sport page of the newsletter for more details about this.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

On Thursday 27th May, our Social Justice Leaders are organising St Agnes’ version of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, in support of the Cancer Council. This is particularly important to our Year Six cohort, who would like to remember and acknowledge George Billington. George started Prep with our current Year Six students, but George lost his life after a battle with Cancer half way through Year One. All families are invited to come along to share morning tea with your child from 10.30-11.00am on Thursday 27th May. The Social Justice Captains will be selling accessories in the colour yellow and tickets into a raffle over the next week or so, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Council. Please head across to the Student Wellbeing page for more information.

Fete

This Thursday at 7.30pm, there is a Fete Committee meeting. All parents are invited and welcome to attend this meeting. Our committee is also working hard with fundraising and sponsorship for our Fete. As part of this, one of our parents is organising a ‘loo roll’ fundraising order for ‘Who Gives a Crap’ toilet paper. This is the first of a number of fundraising events that our committee is organising and we ask all families to get behind these efforts, as the proceeds will directly benefit all children in our school. To support our school and place your loo roll order, click on the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/759566?bof=1. We encourage all families to also invite your friends and extended family members to place an order too!

More information is available on the Fete page of this newsletter.

Assembly

Assembly takes place at 2.40pm on a Wednesday afternoon in the Hall. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements. Parents are welcome to attend.

Wed 19th May - Year 6

Wed 26th May - Year 4

Wed 2nd June - Year 2

Wed 9th June - Prep

Wed 16th June - Year 6

Wed 23rd June - Year 4

Enjoy the rest of the week - We are nearly halfway through Term 1.

Kind regards,

Lachie

St Agnes' Newsletter

Issue 9 · 18 May 2021

In this issue