GENERAL NEWS
GROWING UP IS NOT STRAIGHT FORWARD
by Michael Grose
The pandemic has delivered change and upheaval to families on an enormous scale. Many parents fear for their children and worry about the impact that remote learning, reduced direct social contact and missed milestone will have on their children. Upheaval is not new for some children, particularly those who’ve experienced illness, a loss of a loved one or who’ve moved home and changed schools. Each change requires acceptance, adjustment and an attitude realignment to help them fit the new circumstances. Every change is an opportunity for a child to grow and develop, if they are supported, and they’re not overwhelmed by the experiences.
A child’s pathway to adulthood, and the accompanying journey of their parents, is generally viewed as linear. Growing up is seen as a straight-forward march from infancy, early childhood, childhood, adolescence, post-adolescence to adulthood. If COVID has taught us anything it’s that a child’s journey is full of twists and turns.
While your child has a developmental clock that keeps ticking over, it’s their experiences that determine their maturity and their ability to reach fully-fledged adulthood with the resilience, grit and adaptability needed to thrive. What are the experiences that will help children mature and cope with adversity when it inevitably comes their way? The experiences that develop maturity and coping capacities fit into two broad areas – challenging and positive experiences.
CHALLENGING EXPERIENCES
The challenging experiences that a child encounters enable them to build their coping capacities and develop their emotional resources that contribute to their maturity. These challenges include:
CONFLICT
Disagreements, arguments and rivalry is part of growing up. Whether it’s a dispute with siblings or a fallout with a friend, negotiating conflict is a developmental task.
REJECTION
Rejection by a friend or group is hurtful and feels horrible, but it also builds a level of social smarts and judgement necessary for navigating relationships in later life.
LOSS
This takes many forms including a friend moving away, the death of a pet and the passing of a family member. Loss is the cause of sadness, grief and heartbreak that can feel overwhelming. However, with time and support kids learn to cope and get on with their lives.
DISAPPOINTMENT
Losing a game, not being picked for a team, not receiving a gift they wanted are unpleasant but character-building experiences that help kids develop perhaps the most treasured resilience capability of them all – acceptance.
UNEXPECTED CHANGE
Although few kids like it, and many will fight it change, acceptance of change and the ability to adapt to circumstances is a short cut to maturity and resilience.
FAILURE
Mistakes are seen in three ways. They are activities to be avoided, signs of failure, or opportunities for further learning. Resilient learners know that mistakes, even initial failures, are part of every learning process so the risk of failure doesn’t hold them back. Children and young people grow from these experiences as coping and recovery generally build character, confidence and resilience.
POSITIVE EXPERIENCES
Though children and young people will inevitably experience challenging experiences, positive experiences help to balance the experience ledger by building a child’s identity, wellbeing and emotional collateral.
LOVE
Knowing that a child is loved and loveable is at the core of their self-worth. Self-esteem and identity built in adolescence needs a solid foundation of self-worth.
FRIENDSHIPS
Making and keeping friends is an essential life task linked to many aspects of happiness and wellbeing.
CONTRIBUTION
The ability to belong to groups through contribution fulfils a basic need. It allows children to experience real gratitude and feel needed, which builds self-esteem.
EXPECTATION
When life becomes challenging or when stress and anxiety build, children need something positive or fun to look forward to. Hope and anticipation are well-known antidotes to stress.
EXCITEMENT
Fun, joy, excitement! Any activity that shifts children’s and young people’s emotion from unpleasant, low energy to pleasant and high energy is a good thing.
PLAY
Involvement in enjoyable activities such as hobbies, interests, sports, music, games, creative and performance arts are central to healthy wellbeing. Activities that are fun, freely chosen and create flow (the ability to lose track of time) fit the criteria of play.
IN CLOSING
A child’s age and related milestones is a recognised marker of their development. However, their life experiences, as much as the number of birthdays they’ve had, contribute to their maturity, resilience and readiness for the wider world.
WII GAAY 2021 STUDENT EXCURSION
Last Wednesday and Thursday our four Wii Gaay students (Jace Single, Campbell Whitworth, Peta Jenkin and Gideon McHugh) were meant to attend their Wii Gaay excursion which was unfortunately cancelled due to current COVID restrictions.
The restrictions however, didn’t stop our Wii Gaay coordinators from organising a fun and memorable educational experience for all involved.
Instead of a physical gathering we were able to take part in a virtual learning hub where the students were able to interact with their peers from across the Diocese. The focus for our learning hub was 'Sacred Sites'. All students were given supplies to create their own artwork relating to 'Sacred Sites' and did a presentation via zoom explaining what they created and why.
Even though we did not gather in person, it was still a fun two days enjoyed by all.
STAGE 3 PUBLIC SPEAKING TOURNAMENT
Today we held our Stage 3 Public Speaking Tournament. The Year 5 and 6 students have been busy writing and presenting their speeches over the past few weeks, culminating in the finals held today. Congratulations to Ella Gallagher, Darcy Williams, Harry Hickey, Charlie McMurtrie, Molly O'Mullane, Toby Errington, Milla Panton and Anna Barwick who were the chosen finalists from their grades. They all spoke confidently and demonstrated outstanding public speaking skills. It was an incredibly difficult decision to judge these speeches of such high quality.
Congratulations to the following students.
Champion: Charlie McCMurtrie
Runner Up: Molly O'Mullane
Encouragement Award: Darcy Williams.
Thank you to those teachers who made time to teach our students such an important skill.
SSTS - SCHOOL STUDENT TRANSPORT SCHEME
Transport for NSW has moved the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) information and application portal to transportnsw.info. This is an exciting step in helping schools and families find all their travel information in the one place.
From 1 October 2021, customers who visit the SSTS website at https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts for school student travel will be automatically redirected to https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ticket-eligibility-concessions/school-student-travel. This means, no matter how customers try to access school travel information, they will land in the right place.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact us via transportnsw.info/contact-us/feedback/fares-concessions-tickets-feedback
STUDENT BUS PASS 2022 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!
ICAS EXAMS
Earlier in the year, Year 4, 5 and 6 students were given the opportunity to register for the annual UNSW ICAS Exams. With the recent COVID lockdown in the Tamworth LGA, we have moved the online exam dates to the following:
Digital Technologies - Monday 8th November
English - Thursday 11th November
Science - Monday 15th November
Spelling Bee - Thursday 18th November
Mathematics - Monday 22nd November
Catch ups - Thursday 25th November
All exams are held online and in the school auditorium from 11.45am on the above mentioned dates. Registered students will be collected from class.
KINDER ORIENTATION 2022
Our first of three orientation sessions for Kindergarten 2022 children began last Friday.
There were many excited faces leaving the school after a fun filled morning. We look forward to seeing their smiling faces again this Friday.
- Orientation Day 2 - Friday 5th November 2021 - 9am - 11am
- Orientation Day 3 - Friday 12th November 2021 - 9am - 11am
The Orientation Days for children are significant in helping children familiarise themselves with the school environment and helping to make the transition to ‘big school’ so much easier. These days are also used by teachers to make observations that may help us to cater for your child’s needs. Children should be dressed in appropriate casual clothing with a hat and closed in shoes. Your child should bring a water bottle and cut fruit for morning tea at each orientation visit.
There will be COVID-19 measures in place in order to comply with the NSW Health Guidelines.
ACCOUNTS
There will be no fee invoices issued this term. We would be most grateful if all outstanding accounts could be paid by the end of November. If you are experiencing any difficulties in paying fees or would like to discuss payment options please contact Mrs Robyn Burke or Mrs Shauna Lee on 67661500.
LIVING WELL, LEARNING WELL
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all our families on our three rules for living at St Nicholas Primary School.
- I am safe.
- I am valued, respected and cared for.
- I am a learner.
If we are following these rules, we are showing that 'Manners Matter' and that we value everyone's right to feel happy and safe at school.
Please take some time to talk with your child/ren about how they can demonstrate these rules at school and at home.
