SCHOOL PHOTOS

We have rescheduled the dates for our annual School Photos. School Photos will be taken over two days on Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd of September (Week 7). All students will need to be in their full school winter uniform on both days. Photo envelops were sent home yesterday. Family phots envelopes are now available from the office.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS - Onsite

Parent-Teacher Interviews continue this week and next (Week 3 & Week 4). Please note that if your interview is during school hours (8.30 am - 3.00 pm), interviews will be conducted in the Auditorium. Please refrain from entering the learning spaces during school hours. Interviews before or after school hours will be held in your child's learning space area. Please adhere to social distancing guidelines, follow all signage and the teacher's request upon completion of the interview. We thank you for your support in keeping everyone healthy and safe.

House Colour MUFTI Day - Ozanam

Students in Ozanam (green) ONLY may wear mufti tomorrow Friday, 4th September.

Ozanam House students only- To celebrate your house day, you have permission to wear your house colours on the above day. This special day is the initiative of the student representative team (SRC) to highlight pride in our houses! You are allowed to wear clothes which are your house colours but we ask you to wear your normal joggers.

SCIENCE WEEK

One of the Science Week activities for this year will be ‘Sculptures By The Sea’ with a twist.

As you know Sydney hosts the famous ‘Sculptures by the Sea’ which is an installation along the Sydney coastline, however, at St Nicholas we will hold an exhibition called ‘Sculpture by The Tree’.’

So we invite you to design, create and build a sculpture made at home out of recycled plastic. We will follow the theme of this year’s Science Week - Deep Blue. The idea is to encourage our students to be creative thinkers and to celebrate STEAM activities in our school! Further to this, we must consider what rubbish goes into our waterways but to also think about other uses for plastic in our homes.

If you and your family would like to get creative and build a sculpture, all you need to do is think about the following:

The sculpture must have the idea of something from the Ocean.

It can be a realistic or abstract interpretation of an ocean object.

Materials - Recycle any plastic rubbish and build your sculpture though make sure it is weatherproof as it will be outside, facing the elements.

Delivery - Please deliver it to the Auditorium by Monday 17th August, NOT to the classrooms (as at the moment parents are not to come to classrooms).

Size - It must be larger than at least 30 cms in length

Title - Give your piece a title and an explanation as to why you named it.

CAR PICK-UPS - Road Rules & Common Courtesy

Parents are reminded to adhere to the road rules and traffic signs when dropping off or picking up their child/ren. Please note, there is a NO STOPPING SIGN at the corner of Carthage and Roderick Streets. NO STOPPING means NO STOPPING. Please remember this when using car pickups in the afternoon and drop-offs in the morning. Also common courtesy needs to be exhibited if the neighbours of our school are trying to access or get out of their own driveway.

MANNERS MATTER at St Nicholas School

Not just sometimes, but all the time.

Here at St Nicholas School we are revisiting this most basic of social skills: good manners. We make no apologies for setting high expectations in the area of good manners.

The following area is next week's focus;

1) Saying PLEASE and THANK YOU when we ask for and receive things.

Please work with our school on good manners by discussing these manners of focus with your child and modelling them at home. We must also be consistent in making children accountable when they do not use correct manners by gently pulling them up and bringing their lack of manners to their awareness.

POSITIVE PARTNERSHIPS - FREE WEBINARS

NATIONALLY CONSISTENT COLLECTION OF DATA

COMMUNICATION WITH SCHOOL

Our office is open between 8.00am and 4.00pm each day. For any queries, the most efficient way of contacting our staff during this time is via email.

admin@stnicholastamworth.catholic.edu.au

jgrady@arm.catholic.edu.au

SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS

All parents need to be aware our supervision of students

does not begin until 8.15am each day.

We are increasingly concerned that children are being dropped off and left on their own, unsupervised by parents before this time - often up to half an hour earlier. This is not a safe or acceptable practice. Currently students are expected to come in and sit in the Holy Family Courtyard unsupervised and wait. We cannot be responsible for any accident or potentially harmful incidents occurring. Please organise alternative care for your child if your child requires supervision before 8.15am.

SICK BAY

We will always provide medical support to students to the best of our ability. However, our staff are not medical professionals, therefore cannot diagnose or treat any major injury or illness. It is not reasonable to expect staff to provide anything other than comfort and minor first aid. If your child presents to sickbay, you will be contacted and asked to collect them or find someone who can. It is paramount that your phone numbers are up to date, and you always have an emergency contact available. We appreciate your help with this important matter.

PICK YOUR BATTLES WISELY

Below is an article from www.parentingideas.com.au by Dr Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas and one of Australia's leading parenting educators.

Three-year-old Sam was tired and cranky. He refused his mother’s request to put his plate in the sink after a snack. Elsa, Sam’s mother, who was usually quite firm didn’t insist that her son comply. She knew that when her son got into ‘one of those moods’ it was best to leave him alone. “You’ve got to pick your battles,” said an exasperated Elsa to the other parents in the room. She also added, “You’ve got to pick the timing of your battles.” Tired and emotional kids are incapable of processing what a parent is saying. Reason goes out the window. This was a smart piece of parenting by Elsa. She could have easily locked herself into a battle of wills with her son, but it would have been a fairly pointless exercise. She may have won the battle, but at the cost of an agitated son and ongoing resentment.

Is winning your aim?

Often the battles we have with kids are about bigger issues such as power (“You should do as I say!”) and control (“This is the way things should be.”) rather than immediate issues such as cleanliness and tidiness. Good sense goes out the window when we get locked into disputes with children.

Do you choose the right time?

Like all parents, Elsa wants to develop good habits in her child, but wisely she picks the time and place to do so. The best time for productive teaching and habit-forming is when parents and kids are fresh and on good terms. Spending enjoyable one-on-one time with kids is such a wonderful opportunity for relationship-building and teaching.

What battles do you pick?

The battles you have with your children reveal a great deal about your parenting values. If you find that you stand your ground over a child’s disrespectful behaviour toward a sibling or friend then respect is a strong value you hold. If you always insist that your child uses good manners even when they are tired, then fair treatment and good manners are strongly held values. If you insist that your child is kind and generous to others, and you find yourself bristling at their selfishness, then generosity is more than likely a trait you value highly. We tend to fight hard for the values that we hold dearly, and become upset when our kids don’t follow suit.

Do you sweat the small stuff?

Sometimes children and young people can display a multitude of annoying behaviours and attitudes when going through difficult times. For instance, a young person may leave their bedroom messy, repeatedly sleep in, pick fights with siblings, continually argue with their parents and always come home late from school. If a parent fights with their child over everything then they are in for an emotionally draining time and a deterioration in their relationship. It would be better to ignore most of the minor misbehaviours and focus on the more significant behaviours such as how a young person treats others.

If, for instance, a young person continually swears at and is critical of a younger sibling, would you pick up on the swearing or the put down? I’d suggest that the put down is far more harmful than swearing and should be the focus of your attention. Often, we focus on the minor stuff at the expense of the more significant issues because it’s easier and less stressful that way.

Do you avoid all battles?

As much as we’d like always to maintain good relationships with our children, this doesn’t have to come at the expense of good child-rearing. The parent who never goes into battle with their children is generally not doing them any favours. This is known as the Laissez-faire or permissive approach where parents are high on relationship-building and low on firmness and boundaries. It’s far better for kids if you adopt a collaborative or authoritative approach where there’s a healthy mix of relationship-building and firmness. Parents who use this approach are generally adept at picking their battles, specifically those that should be ignored and those that are worth spending time and energy on. They also have spent a great deal of time building up enough goodwill with their kids that enables them to survive disagreements that they may have.

So, pick your battles wisely. Avoid using up energy and goodwill by fighting with kids over minor stuff, or when they are obviously tired and cranky. On the other hand, make sure you pick them up on the really important stuff regardless of their moods, which is where your parenting values come in.

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