Year 7 Camps and Student Leadership

It is unfortunate that Year 7 Camps have had to be postponed owing to the recent bush fires around Bunyip State Forest. Obviously safety of students and staff take priority in our decision making. We will look at moving the camp to a date later in the year and though the weather may not be as good, many of the same activities will still be run.

This will not affect the date of the election of Year 7 Forum Leaders. This is scheduled for Thursday, 14 March in preparation for the SRC Training Day on the following Thursday, 21 March. Two of the 8 Year 7 Forum Leaders are then appointed to the SRC. Year 7 students will give a speech to the peers in their house and then face an election. If successful, they will then go through an interview process before one Year 7 student is appointed in each house.

Harmony Day – Tuesday, 12 March

Harmony Day is almost upon us again and will once again be a highlight event on our calendar as we celebrate our cultural diversity and embrace who we are as a tolerant inclusive community. There will be many different activities and food stalls, so students are encouraged to bring money to buy some lunch or snacks at school. All students are asked to bring a gold coin donation on the day which will go to our Term 1 charity – Project Compassion. I have included the program so that it is clear the numerous activities happening during the day. Please ask your child what activity/activities they are looking forward to or intend to get involved in on the day.

The environment group is running a second competition contributing to the Term 1 Environment Shield at the end of Harmony Day. This is to link in with Clean Up Australia Day that has just occurred on Sunday, 3 March.

Students should be encouraged by parents to wear something appropriate on Harmony Day and to this end I have included the following dress code so that there can be no confusion.

Harmony Day Dress Code - 2019

Students are encouraged to wear clothing unique to their own culture or another culture to which they have a connection. This includes clothing commonly worn in that culture such as a kimono for students that have been on Japanese exchange or a salvar if the student has Turkish family background. National sports teams like the Socceroos or clothing that represents a country such as a top with their country name or their flag on it are allowed.

If students do not have any cultural clothing they may wear an orange shirt or top as orange is the official colour of Harmony Day and is a symbol which promotes cultural diversity.

All money raised goes to Project Compassion.

Summary

National dress of country of your heritage and/or ancestry and/or which you have some connection.
Day respecting our cultural diversity- NO disrespect to any culture, race or religion.
You may wear something orange or wear a top with you country’s name or flag printed on it. If you choose this option, then you may wear shorts/jeans/pants/skirt.
Do not mix and match school or sports uniform with non-uniform clothing.
No less than a T-Shirt (ie no singlets).
No Footy shorts.
No Footy Jumpers (Unless national colours-eg Australian Soccer Team, All Blacks Rugby Team). This means NO AFL Team Footy Jumpers.
No Thongs- appropriate footwear must be worn.
No Flags.
No Face Painting.
Normal rules for piercings and hair apply unless culturally appropriate.
Lunchtime parade in Central Courtyard.
Don’t forget to bring money for the wonderful selection of food and events at lunchtime.
If you are NOT wearing Harmony Day clothing...you are to wear full sports uniform as it is Tuesday, Week 2.
Gold Coin donation requested from everyone for Project Compassion.

Students are not permitted to wear any clothing that is not considered national dress such as AFL shirts, casual clothing or any clothing which may be considered offensive.

Students can check with their Learning Advisor if they are unsure if their clothing is appropriate for the day.

Students not following Harmony Day Dress Requirements will be given a uniform infringement (issue is rectifiable) or zero tolerance rules will apply (issue is not rectifiable).

MINDFULNESS

You may have heard a little bit about Mindfulness over the past few years. For some it is the latest educational gimmick and for others the solution to all our problems. The truth no doubt lies somewhere in between, however, in our Positive Education approach we recognise it to be so important that our staff did professional learning on this topic at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

Mindfulness is the practice of being present to the moment. It can be enhanced or practised through meditation, but is certainly not restricted to this. When we savour a delicious chocolate. When we listen intently to the lyrics in a popular song. When we give our full attention to a child who is trying to talk to us, we are practising mindfulness.

I am pleased to see a number of Learning Advisors encouraging and practising mindfulness in the morning Tutor Group. Kolbe House has been undertaking Mindful Mondays with significant success. The evidence suggest that if students can train their minds to be more mindful, this will not only improve mental health and wellbeing, but it will also translate to better attention to their studies.

I offer two resources to help you understand mindfulness. One is from the Be You Website, an important resource for supporting the mental health of our educational community. This fact sheet is an excellent explanation of Mindfulness and can be found at: https://beyou.edu.au/fact-sheets/wellbeing/mindfulness

The second is an article by Tamara Lechner that was published in the Positive Education newsletter from Geelong Grammar. Both are worth reading.

MINDFUL PARENTING By Tamara Lechner

The alarm didn't go off, so you rush around getting all the kids up and dressed and pack their lunches. You get to your car and notice that you are low on petrol so now you have one more stop on your way. Your son drops his book bag into the mud and his lunch and books tumble out. He splashes joyfully in the puddle singing and smiling and when he approaches you for a hug you see the mud and pull away. “Not now - we’re late” you snap. Tears well up in his eyes and you silently berate yourself for always being late and for being so grumpy.

For parents, challenging moments like this that cause us to “snap” or “lose it” are regular reminders of how mindfulness can be such a valuable tool in parenting.

There are two parts to this: the first is being a mindful parent by making choices for your children and your family in an intentional way, and the second is parenting kids who learn to use mindfulness as a tool in their lives.

Parenting Mindfully

Start with intention. When you have a why behind your actions, it can help to ground your parenting. What’s the point of homework? If you see it as one more thing to check off a long list, you will approach it very differently than if you see it as a time to bond with your children and glimpse their learning process. When your son heads to the soccer field or your daughter goes to ballet, remember that you started these activities for joy and for exercise, the busyness they add to your family schedule can sometimes get in the way of remembering that there is purpose to their involvement. This allows you to stay out of the potential role of task master where you may encourage them to attain and achieve rather than to have fun and do their best. Practise having an intention to accompany every action.

1. Stay present. It’s easy to allow worry to take you away from the present. When you get a call from the school telling you your 5-year-old child has a reading delay and requires some extra testing, it’s so easy to imagine a future where they struggle in school and face frustration in the work world. They are 5 today. Deal with how this affects today. Not imagining the worst helps you be more effective at dealing with what’s happening in this moment. Worrying is like paying interest on a loan you haven’t been approved for.

2. Model and encourage communication about feelings. Communicating your feelings helps you and your family work as a cohesive unit. We are all wired differently so when things go wrong, we sometimes assume that everyone has the same reactions and beliefs. For example, my son has a messy room. Many of my friends have asked me why I don’t just “make him clean it up.” Years ago when I tried to bribe or force him it just led to him shutting down. When I asked him, “Why is your room messy?” I would have expected him to answer that he didn’t want to clean it but he what he explained to me is that when his room is all neat, he feels stressed out. He feels calmer when there’s a bit of chaos. I told him that mess for me causes a sense of disorganisation and it can be a source of stress. Our compromise: I am fine with his chaos as long as it is clean chaos and if I have company coming, he has to keep his door closed. Communication about why his room is the way it is and how I feel when I see a messy room led to us understanding one another better.

3. Listen. When you talk with your children about their day it is often either a one-sided, probing conversation that is initiated by you and gets one-worded responses, or a long-drawn-out story that the child initiates and you barely focus on as you cook dinner or drive to the next activity. Focus on opportunities to actively listen to your child. This means waiting to speak instead of directing the conversation where you think it should go. It also means not reacting or judging what they share. Become the kind of listener who asks great questions like “what did you like most about that” or “tell me about that”. Another pitfall to avoid is assuming you know why your child is sharing (this works with adults too!) I am solution oriented so when my child comes home complaining about a conflict with a friend, my nature is to try to help solve the problem. I’ve learned that some people like to talk about things and that is enough to help them feel better. Others need action. Asking a question like “How can I be most helpful?” or even “Do you want help, or do you want to vent?” can be extremely useful.

4. Admit your mistakes. Parents seem to think they must be perfect. We get frustrated when we don’t know what we should do and yet our children didn’t come with a manual. Sometimes we make a choice that in hindsight isn’t really aligned with how we want to parent (like snapping). It’s important to show children that we learn from mistakes so when they make one, they learn too. There is nothing wrong with pointing out that you made a mistake (“I’m sorry I snapped at you. That’s not the way I want to talk to you”) and then trying again (“I’ve taken some deep breaths. This helps me to be calm. Could you please explain to my why you drew on the wall with a Sharpie?”).

Raising Mindful Children

Parents today want so much for their children that there is danger of over-programmed children who control the home. The following are some important values to consider teaching and modeling for your children:

• Love yourself

• Be resilient

• Strive to do your best

• Happiness comes from within

• Have compas

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