St Anne's news: Thursday 20 May 2021

Welcome to the St Anne's newsletter. Here's everything that's happening around our community this week.

In this email

 
 

Reflection

Lord, remind us that, along with our rights, each of us has duties and responsibilities towards others. Amen.

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Greg's Message

Dear Parents and Friends of St Anne’s
Last weekend many year 4 students received the Eucharist for the first time. The fact that most of us can recall our First Communion day highlights the importance of this special occasion. I congratulate the candidates - Will T, Casper P, Victoria M, Zac C, Dion R, Giulia F, Ted N and Thomas A - and thank their families and our staff for their wonderful support. Special thanks to Fr John who celebrated both masses with us.

Working Bee
Our second working bee for the year will be held on Sunday June 6, from 2pm until 4pm. Invitations are extended to all families.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

These meetings will occur on Thursday 24 June for the following classes:

  • F/1, 2/3 and 4/5. Students from these classes will be dismissed at 1pm on this day. 

This is a normal school day for 5/6SB.

Tara Smith (one of our teachers 5/6SB) will be on leave on June 24. Consequently,

  • 5/6SB conferences will be held on Thursday 29 July.


Open days/nights

We have planned three further open days/nights. These will be held on

  • Wednesdays May 26 (6:30m-7:30pm),
  • June 9, (9:30-11:30am) 
  • June 23 (1:30-2:30pm.)

Please promote these sessions to potential families.

LUNCHTIME CLUBS

Lunchtime clubs are booming. The clubs are Lego (Monday), coding (Tuesday), Glee (Wednesday) and chess (Thursday.)  We have been averaging around 20 students at these lunchtime clubs.

School Concert

The date for our school concert is Thursday September 2 at OLMC, Heidleberg. There will be one performance, held in the evening. Further details will be released in due course. Please keep this date free.

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Religious Education


CONFIRMATION

Sat May 22: Year 6 Confirmation commitment mass 5pm (candidates and families).

 

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Science Discovery Dome Incursion

 

On the 17th June all students and their parents will participate in the interactive and immersive Discovery Dome as part of their science inquiry learning.

Each class (child and parent) will have a 1 hour session in the dome lead by a presenter from the Science Discovery Dome covering the topic they are studying in class.

  • Session times : F/1 - 4.30-5.30pm
  •                           2/3 - 5.30-6.30pm
  •                           4/5 - 6.30-7.30pm
  •                           5/6 - 7.30-8.30pm

The students will also have their Inquiry work on display on this evening for parents to have the opportunity to see what they have been learning. 

We would like to thank the Parents and Friends Association for covering the cost of this incursion.

More information will follow in the coming weeks.

 

 

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Update to P&F Bank Details


Please note that the P&F Bendigo Bank account has been closed.

All payments for uniforms and other P&F related transactions should now be transferred to the following bank account:

Name            St Anne’s Primary School Kew East – Parents and Friends 
BSB               083347 
Account        586337910

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Sports

Physical Education
The last Melbourne Victory soccer clinic will be held this Monday.


Cross Country
Last Friday 25 students were involved in the North Balwyn District cross country carnival. This was a very satisfying number of children who participated. All children gave their best and really encouraged each other. Special congratulations to Francesco M on finishing 11th and qualifying for the Division carnival at Ruffey Lake Park on May 31.

Interschool sport
Our next match is against St Bridget’s on Friday 28 May. We will be playing soccer at Willsmere Park and mixed netball at St Bridget’s.

 

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School Readiness

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St Anne's Primary School 90th Anniversary Cookbook

St Anne's Primary School 90th Anniversary Cookbook

2021 marks the 90th Anniversary of St Anne's Primary School which was opened in February 1931 by the Josephite Sisters.

We will be hosting a series of events in the last week of Term 3 to recognise this significant milestone and as part of this celebration would like to put together a cookbook of family favourite recipes, with contributions from the St Anne's Community, to celebrate 90 years of St Anne's.

We are looking for parent volunteers to form a cookbook committee alongside some of our staff members, so if you love cooking, desktop publishing, being creative, or would just like to be involved, please let Dee McDonnell dmcdonnell@sannkewe.catholic.edu.au or Lisa Hodgkinson paf@sannkewe.catholic.edu.au know.

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Student Wellbeing

Anxiety impacts the whole family, here’s how you can help.
Written by Dr Jodi Richardson

When a child or teenager experiences the challenges of anxiety, it impacts the whole family. Children and teens will usually lean on one parent more than the other for support, comfort and reassurance, and the avoidance that usually accompanies anxiety can be time consuming to manage. Brothers and sisters begin to notice that when anxiety shows up for their sibling it can pull mum or dad away from them, and that brothers or sisters who struggle with anxiety can, at times, be parented quite differently.

These are just some of the ways anxiety impacts family life. It can leave us, as parents, feeling pulled in different directions trying to meet the needs of all of our children, our partner, and our own. Parenting an anxious child or teen can also be really upsetting and tough at times. It can be hard to know where to start to move things in a more positive, helpful direction. I’ve written five suggestions below to get you started.

Learn as much as you can about anxiety
Understanding that anxiety is the brain and body’s response in anticipation of a threat is an excellent place to start. When a child or teen is feeling anxious, their brain has detected a threat somewhere. It doesn’t matter if the threat is real, imagined or perceived, the brain and body will respond in exactly the same way. The anxiety response triggers a host of physical changes, such as increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, perspiration and shunting of blood from the stomach (to name a few), that will make an anxious person feel awful. Learning about these physical changes and why they’re happening help an anxious child or teen to understand why they feel the way they feel. They’re also more able to recognise their own anxiety when it shows up and draw on their anxiety management skills.

Teach anxiety management skills
The changes in the body are a key to how we can teach anxious kids and teens to begin settling their anxiety response. Slowing down the rate of breathing begins to show the brain that there’s no threat, that they’re safe.  Encouraging longer, deeper, slower inhalation and exhalation helps to dial the anxiety response down and balance the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the brain. Movement is another important strategy to implement. Encouraging anxious kids and teens to move helps bring the anxiety response to a natural end.

Respond to anxiety with empathy
When your child or teen is anxious the very best and most helpful response you can give them is one filled with compassion, empathy and validation. Hearing ‘I can see this is really hard for you right now’, or ‘anxiety feels plain awful doesn’t it?’, or ‘I’m sorry you’re feeling like this’ all show your anxious child that you see them, you understand what they’re going through and that you’re there for them in that moment.


Take note of the patterns evolving when anxiety shows up

We all know how awful anxiety feels. Whether you’ve had experience with the normal kind of anxiety that settles after a stressful situation has passed, or you have ongoing anxiety challenges, it’s not much fun. Because it feels pretty awful, and often goes hand-in-hand with lots of painful and distressing thoughts, the obvious and natural response for anyone with anxiety is to avoid whatever it is that’s making them anxious. Wherever possible. This is a pattern most families observe in their homes. Social anxiety can see anxious kids and teens baulking at going to parties, separation anxiety gets in the way of sleepovers and school camps, generalised anxiety disorder can cause kids and teens to stop doing the things that provoke a lot of worrying, and kids with phobias want to make darn sure they’re nowhere in the vicinity of what it is that causes them distress and panic. It makes perfect sense, except sadly, avoidance only serves to dial anxiety up, not down. The alternative is inching anxious kids and teens closer to their challenges over time, and with lots of empathy and compassion. This is called step laddering or Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). A psychologist can support you and your family to develop a step-by-step plan.

Know when to get help
When anxiety is getting in the way of day-to-day functioning it’s a sure sign that extra help is needed. Although, I always like to tell parents, if you have any questions or concerns at all about your child’s mental health, any, the very best thing to do is to make an appointment with your family doctor for a discussion. Normal anxiety comes and goes with stressful situations. When you observe that your child or teen experiences frequent anxiety, anxiety that’s not clearly related to a known challenge, anxiety that stops them from doing what’s important or is getting in the way of day-to-day life, please seek the help of a professional. Your GP will be able to make an initial assessment and will reassure you that there’s no need for additional help, or that extra help is recommended and who to turn to next. Anxiety is treatable, the sooner the better.

Dr Jodi Richardson is an anxiety specialist available for parent presentations and staff professional development. Contact hello@drjodirichardson.com.au for more information.

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Term 2, 2021


TERM 2 2021 KEY DATES

            MAY

  • Sat 22: Confirmation commitment mass (year 6)
    10:30am
  • Mon 24:Soccer clinics
  • Tues 25: Grip Leadership
  • Fri 28: 4,5,6 sport

    JUNE
     
  • Wed 2: Parish Pastoral Council 7:30pm
  • Fri 4: 4,5,6 sport
  • Sun 6: Working Bee 2-4pm
  • Fri 11: Feast of Sacred Heart
  • Mon 14: Queen’s birthday holiday
  • Wed 16: Parents and Friends 7:30pm
  • Thu 17: Science Discovery Dome (whole school: twilight)
  • Wed 23: School advisory Council 7:30pm
  • Thu 24: Parent-teacher interviews (1:30pm-6:30pm); 1pm dismissal for students
  • Fri 25: End of term 2, 1pm dismissal

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Enrolments, uniform and school fees

School Fees 2021

Direct Debit form please download here.

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Our calendar, advertise here

Never miss out on upcoming events at St Anne's.

Sports clinics, P & F meetings, working bees and more - add our St Anne's calendar into your own calendar

You can add it into your Google account's calendar.

Advertise in our newsletter

To advertise notices in this weekly newsletter, please email notices to office@sannkewe.catholic.edu.au by 9am on Wednesdays.

 

Skoolbag app

The St. Anne’s Skoolbag app is a great way to keep up to date with everything that is going on at school.  We regularly send out alerts as a reminder to a current notice that needs attention.  It also has links to the newsletter and the school calendar. 

You can download it for free from the IOS Store 

Photos in the Skoolbag app

If you need the password to access photos in the Skoolbag app, please contact reception.

 

 
 
 

School hours

  • Monday        8.55am - 3:25pm
     
  • Tuesday       8.50am - 3.25pm
     
  • Wednesday  8.55 am - 3:25pm
     
  • Thursday     8.55am - 3:25pm
  • Friday          8.55am - 3:25pm

General information

School assembly is Tuesdays at 9am - parents welcome

Sushi orders Tuesdays

Lunch orders Wednesdays

Icypole orders Wednesdays

Tennis lessions, Piano Lessons and Guitar lessons are available - please contact the office to find out more.

If your child is absent. Please let us know via the Skoolbag app. 

 

 
 
 

Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)

Kew East Primary School Out of School Hours Care can be contacted on           
Ph: 03 98596052

 

 

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