Pastoral Academic Care

PAC

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus 

POSITIVE MINDSETS

Wellbeing Element: MEANING AND PURPOSE 

Character Strength: Hope

Parent Wellbeing: A skill of social-emotional resilience is being able to solve your social problems. Describe a time you have done this and how you could do it better. (Acknowledgement: Rievich and Shatte)

Focus - Positive Mindset

Encouraging students to look at life optimistically and search for what is good in things and right about what they are doing generates positive emotions in students. They are thriving and flourishing. Happy people enjoy better health, are more likely to achieve what they set out to do and welcome challenges. 

When we teach our students about the amazing benefits of adopting an optimistic outlook in their lives and introduce them to the little positive actions they can do often, they shine. Their preparedness to adopt growth mindsets to learn and try new things to build their brains abilities is enhanced. 

The alternative is to look at life pessimistically and search for what is wrong with things. And guess what, people who adopt this negative way of thinking find plenty of things they perceive to be not right, because that is all they are on the lookout for. It’s a pity they miss out on the great things that are happening and could happen. As such, they seldom have those warm feelings of gratitude and appreciation. 

The zest of optimistic thinkers is contagious and rubs off on those around them. Unfortunately, this is also true for negative thinkers. Mix with positive people.

“Thinking positively creates uplifting spirals of hope for the future.” MW

Year 7

Wow, what a big week! A huge congratulations to those students who participated in the student led conferences. They were a great success. I managed to sit in on quite a few conferences and speak to many students after and it was overwhelming the amount of success the students felt. This is what some students had to say about the experience:

“I got a bit nervous but once I got in there it was ok and I am really proud of how I went.” 

“I thought it was good because I don’t normally show my teachers and parents what I’ve done so it was good to show them what I am capable of. I liked it because I got to have a voice about what my learning is and how I think I’m going.” 

“I really enjoyed it. I think it was good to have the parents involved in what we were doing because a lot of the time they don’t know what their children are doing and achieving at school. It is also a good time to talk to the teacher as we don’t always have that special time to talk with our teachers in the 60 minute lesson. I was proud of myself because I was so prepared and I felt very safe in my SLC because of the positive vibe in the discussion.”

“It was amazing to include my mother in my learning journey. I had lots of fun speaking and providing my parents with examples of my learning. Through the process I learnt that there are lots of ways that I can benefit my academic ability via caring more for my mental state.” 

“I liked it because it was my turn to talk about my learning. I liked involving parents in my learning.”

“I liked the idea of SLC because I could express how I think my learning is going and what I’m good at. The things that I learned about myself is that I can ask for help in classes. I don’t normally ask questions or ask for help but I now know I can. It’s a good way to say what I was worried about in class and be open with my teachers and parents. I’m normally scared to ask questions in Maths even though a lot of people would be thinking the same thing I now know I can ask questions without being worried about what others think".

A reminder to any parents, carers or students that haven’t booked a conference time yet to please do so in the next week. This is an opportunity not to miss. It was magical to see the students so engaged with their learning and being proud of what they can achieve. Each student was able to feel confident in expressing their successes and troubles in their learning. Everyone was able to set meaningful learning goals to work on with their parents and teachers for the remainder of the year. 

A reminder that students need to come to school prepared for their learning. This means bringing the correct books for their lessons, pens, rulers, scissors and glue. Many students are still coming to school with no pen and the incorrect books to write in. If you are unsure of your child’s timetable, please refer to Compass. 

Yolanda Kreuzen

Year 7 PAC

Year 8

Last week I was lucky enough to be part of the Student-Led Conference process for 8.2. It was awesome to see so many parents taking a keen interest in their children's learning. The three nights were a huge success for students who were able to identify their learning strengths and weaknesses - this isn’t an easy thing to do! Well done. For those parents who would still like to engage in the SLC process, please contact your child’s PAC teacher and arrange a time to meet. 

Congratulations to the Year 8 students who travelled to Inverell last week to take part in the Schools Cup Netball.

The Year 8 girls played so strongly, winning all rounds to get to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the girls, unfortunately, lost their game but played so well as a team and gave the opponents a run for their money. 

It would be wonderful to see more Year 8 students taking part in the extra-curricular activities we have on offer at the college. The weights shed is open most Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. There are also chess, drama, debate are a must for those who would rather a mental work out. If you’re interested in any of the above, keep an ear out during the morning notices to find out more Get out there, get involved and have some fun!!!

Lloyd Honnery.

8 PAC

Year 9

The student led conferences were a huge success. Most students were enthusiastic, well prepared and they presented their material in a mature and respectful manner. Parents were very positive with their feedback and found the experience an enjoyable one. I would like to thank those students, parents, carers and the entire Year 9 PAC team who took the time to be involved. I expect these conferences will develop into a much anticipated event in future years.

This week’s PAC focus is Essential Sleep. The aim is to increase our Exercise and Vitality by sleeping deeply every night without interruption. Being electronically connected 24/7, many of us are not having enough deep sleep to be physically and mentally healthy. Our ability to concentrate in class may be severely affected as a result.

There are no shortcuts or substitutes of a long deep and uninterrupted sleep.

To have sufficient sleep, avoid caffeine and large meals before bed. Phones off at 8.30pm because the blue screen light activates adrenaline which makes sleep nearly impossible. Use a neck supporting pillow and firm mattress and keep your bedroom dark, quiet and well ventilated. By the end of the school day, your mind and body need at least 9 hours to rest your eyes and recharge your vital organs.

We are also focusing on a few other areas over the coming weeks. 

1. The uniform blitz is continuing across all year groups. If a student can’t be bothered to wear the correct uniform they may be required to perform some type of service to the school community.
2. Punctuality is a major life skill and should become learned behaviour. Students need to learn that there are consequences in life for being habitually late. Whether it’s to work, to a sporting event, to school or to class during the day.
3. Preparedness for class. Please ensure your child has the necessary equipment to fulfil the requirements of an effective days learning. Items such as pens, pencils, something to write on, a ruler, a calculator and a fully charged device are essential for them to have in their bags every morning.

Congratulations to this week’s award winners. Commendation Certificates for Blake, Emerson, Jean, Ethan and Ronald with a Year Leader’s Award.

Thanks for your support. Stay warm.

Peter McLeish

Year 9 PAC Leader

(on behalf of the Year 9 Pastoral Academic Care team)

Year 10

Year 10 have had a few busy weeks after a successful subject fair and subject selection night hosted here at O’Connor. It is my hope that Year 10 have now chosen their appropriate subjects going into Year 11 with the guidance from their teachers, parents and carers and subject coordinators. In the next few weeks the subject lines should be available for students to finalise this process. The focus for the next few weeks for year 10 should be to continue to work hard and develop appropriate techniques to ready themselves for the stage 6 course as it will be a challenge to maintain focus for rest of this busy Term 3. Students have also had the opportunity to have SLC (student led conferences) with their PAC teachers and parents. SLC opportunities have continued as a PAC focus this week and PAC teachers have had learning conversations with students about how they are going and how they can improve. Overall the feedback from Year 10 about the process has been mostly very positive.

Mark Fulloon

Year 10 PAC  Leader

Year 11

Congratulations to Lara Walters for receiving a Principal’s Award this week.

Well done to Madi Barnden Hyde for umpiring at the recent netball carnival in Inverell. 

This week in our PAC period we will be looking at our learning strengths and how we can use them to our best advantage when preparing for exams.  All students were asked to complete a quick survey created by Andrew Fuller. It is also available for adults to complete, so if you would like to give it a go, here is the link. https://mylearningstrengths.com

We then divided into groups that had similar results from the survey. It is hoped that as a team of learners, the students are able to bounce ideas of others to create some successful study patterns and maybe some new techniques that they may like to try.

Vicki Channon  and the Year 11 PAC team.

Year 12

Our Senior Success Night was a really worthwhile time to meet with students, parents and carers. Some really informative information around HSC, ATAR’s, Early Entry and Scholarships was shared and discussed. If you were unable to attend and have questions around these things please contact Mr Russell.

With Trial Exams commencing Monday, study and preparation for these has been a major focus over the past fortnight. Students have been spending PAC time ensuring that they are organised and implementing study habits that are most effective for them individually. During Friday’s PAC period we had a presentation from Emily Fraser, the School Counsellor around managing stress and anxiety. We have also been covering some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of sitting exams and discussed aspects such as what to bring to an exam and the importance of being on time. This is a stressful time for students and families and if you have any concerns or worries please contact Mr Russell or your students PAC Teachers so that we can assist. Our Yr 12 PAC Team would like to wish all students well as they complete their exams.

James Russell

Year 12 PAC