A very big welcome back and to the beginning of Semester Two for 2019. I hope you have had an enjoyable break. The students have returned refreshed and looking forward to another big term of both academic and cultural learning activities.

I spent some time during the holidays organising our next On Country Tour this time to Yuin Nation on the South Coast of NSW. This is our second year running such an excursion. Thanks to Wolmorry Wellington (Year 9 ) mum Charmaine in helping us with advice and appropriate cultural learning activities for our time in Jerringa community (near Culburra) and offering contacts for further activities in Huskisson. The dates will be from Tuesday 17 September to Thursday 19 September. Last year’s Wiradjuri On Country Tour experience to Bathurst and Dubbo was superb and we look forward to seeing the different aspects of fresh water rock surrounding’s compared to the saltwater sandstone area of the Nowra/Huskisson region. We are hoping to visit other Indigenous nations in the coming years possibly even interstate.

We have a very busy Term 3 ahead. This week our students will be participating in Audiogram Hearing Assessments on Tuesday 30/7 and Wednesday 31/7. We are thankful for the very kind generosity of Dr Ged Foley (parent of three high school students at SACS) and his medical services of Sonic Health. This is a free service to our Indigenous Gawura students where only the Medicare scheduled fee will be charged. Gawura is proud to have had our students already participate in vision, dental and now hearing assessments all which contribute to a student’s successful engagement with the school curriculum.

We see our Year 5 students visit Lands Edge in Chowder Bay (on the northern side of Sydney Harbour) for two days from Thursday 12 September to Friday 13 September. We will also be holding our next GPAC Meeting this coming Thursday 1 August at 2pm in the Community Hub on Level 4. Next Thursday 8 August is the annual JSGS Athletics Carnival where many of our Gawura students are able to show their athletic prowess. We will also be holding our second round of Parent Teacher Interview’s for this year and we will be able to go through the Personal Learning Plans (PLP’s) of your child with you.

Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to seeing you at the many events that will occur throughout this term.

Have a safe and enjoyable fortnight ahead.

Mr John Ralph
Head of Gawura

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2019

There are only weeks to go until the 2019 challenge closes (August 30), so get your reading records completed and join the more than 80 students who are already eligible for certificates at the end of the year.

Congratulations to the following students who have completed their challenge:

Samara Lyons, Hiroki Takahashi-Zhong, Grace Shing, Alexander Pitts, Archibald Miles, Torren Winston, Asher Crosweller, Alicia Joseph, Reina Shi, Jamie Spittle and Elle Hadiprodjo.

For more information and the booklists visit the PRC website
https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

*If you attended a different school and completed the PRC there, please come and see me so I can request that your records be merged. Otherwise this will be your first PRC year. This is especially important if you are eligible for your gold or platinum certificates this year and if you are looking at earning your Premier’s medal.

Book Draw

Finished the PRC for 2019? Well don’t stop reading!

Congratulations to John Pongbumrungnate who was our lucky week 9 winner last term.

2 more draws will happen this term, so keep reading and go into the draw to win a book of your choice.

Parent / Teacher Challenge 2019
Congratulations to the following extraordinary reading role model:
Miss Sharp (1S)

Come on teachers and parents, grab a book and read alongside your child/ren and complete the Parent / Teacher Challenge this year.

Requirements for completion:
Read any 6 titles (in any language). Email me spaul@sacs.nsw.edu.au the titles and I’ll add you to our wall of wonderful reading role models.

Book Week is coming…

This year’s theme is Reading is my secret power and our annual book week parade is taking place on Friday 23rd August, so start thinking about your book, character and of course costume!

Library bags for sale

The Junior School and Gawura library is an active member of K.O.A.L.A. (Kids Own Australian Literature Awards) and they have just released new cotton tote library bags for sale.  They are $5 each and all proceeds go directly to K.O.A.L.A. to help ensure kids have a voice in the world of Australian literature.  If you’d like to order one bring $5 to Mrs Paul in the library.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”– Neil Armstrong

Svetlana Paul
Information and Digital Literacy Coordinator JS and GS

Navigating Friendships - Ostracism

We all love being in a group and mixing with our friends. We love doing things together and sharing experiences. However, we have all had those friendships that have not gone as we had planned and there have been times, we all have experienced, where we were left out, excluded or even rejected. “Unlike in a family acceptance, a child’s or teen’s acceptance by peers is conditional and, as such, friendships can quickly change. Differing interests, unresolved grievances and changing personalities (I’ll add hormones in the mix too) can lead to peer relationship breakdowns, resulting in feelings of loss and sadness for a child.” (Michael Grose July Parenting Ideas.) It is hard for parents when they see their child upset when friendships flounder. Worse still when the breakdown of friendships leads to ostracism.  
                                                 
Michael Grose has written a blog in Parenting Tips, this month about Ostracism and he has given some great advice on how to help our children navigate this area of growing up. Here are his ideas.

Teaching kids about relationships.
Psychologist and author Collett Smart in her Teach Girls to Build Each Other Up webinar maintains that parents should proactively teach kids about how relationships work. She was referring to parents of girls, in particular but, boys too can benefit from learning about the nature of friendships. This relationship work can be both incidental and intentional. Smart maintains that we need to be continuously talking to kids about what makes a good friend; that not all friendships last; how they can break up kindly with friends and how they can assertively and respectfully stand up for themselves rather than be dominated by others.

Learning how to argue well
Smart maintains that learning how to (I would add, respectfully) argue is a normal part of healthy relationships. She says, “We haven’t taught girls how to be assertive. They learn to be assertive at home. Give girls (and boys) opportunities to disagree with us as parents so that they can be brave enough for them to do so outside of home with their friends.” Parents need to give kids healthy ways to express their emotions and frustrations about friendships so that they can learn to resolve conflict without taunting, being abusive or giving someone the ‘permanent cold shoulder’.

As always, Michael Grose has some excellent ideas on topics that are most relevant in today’s world and for us as parents and teachers in this world!

Joy Rohrlach
Stage 3 Leader.

Showcase

Thank you to our wonderful Junior School and Gawura community for your support of our 2019 Showcase Concert, Beyond.

This event was a wonderful celebration of music and community, and I was very proud of the way in which our students performed. Bravo!

AMEB
Congratulations to Anthony Wu who achieved a High Distinction in Grade 5 Piano. A wonderful achievement!

Eisteddfod Success
Alison Ahn Year 5 was awarded with Highly commended certificate for her clarinet performance at Sydney Eisteddfod clarinet 12 & under section. Well done Alison!

Junior Choir
We will be welcoming new students to the choir from Years 3-6 on August 26 at 7:40am. Please let Mrs Robertson know if you would like to join – krobertson@sacs.nsw.edu.au

Current students will be performing on August 15 at the Town Hall so please keep your eye out for an information email containing final details and remember to book your tickets https://www.trybooking.com/BBXHG

We will also be part of a concert with St Mark’s School from New Zealand from 2-3pm on Monday 12 August.

Exciting news!
A huge congratulations to Thea Sholl (Y6 - Drama Captain) who has successfully auditioned for a major role in the School of Rock production coming to Sydney later in the year. This is a wonderful achievement. Thea undertook a gruelling audition process to win this part and we are very excited to share her success!

HICES Music Camp
Congratulations to the following Junior School students who successfully auditioned to take part in the HICES Music Festival and concert this term:

Alison Ahn
Ilia Campbell
William Fife
Felix Kisa
Jessica Langley
Connor Nelson
Benjamin Su
Stephanie Whetters
Erin Winsbury
Bianca Zhu

Congratulations also to Mr Ben Milis who applied and was selected as one of the conductors at this event.

These students (and Mr Milis!) will perform at the Town Hall on August 21 in a large combined concert.

Kate Robertson
Leader of Learning - Music (K-6)

Congratulations Hereford

Gala Day was an exciting way to finish Term 2, with students having the opportunity to compete for the highly coveted Gala Day Shield. Congratulations to Hereford House who took out the first half of the year!

We have an exciting term coming up, with Athletics Carnivals, International Tour Matches, K-2 Mini Athletics and the Cricket Blast Cup to name but a few highlights. We’re looking forward to seeing our young athletes in action again and good luck to all for the coming term!

Tony Dunseath
Coordinator of Sport and Cocurricular K-6, PDHPE Teacher

Calling all Change Agents - StartUp SignUp Now

Changing the world isn’t easy, but it’s possible and it’s people like you who are making it happen right now. How? They are entrepreneurs. You can be an entrepreneur, how? Follow these easy steps:

1. Go to Schoology
2. Sign into the course Innovation and Enterprise: StartUp
3. Use this code to join M3TP-WZG2-52XXX
4. Follow the directions.

Congratulations – you have just completed Stage 1!
Remember what you do matters….

Mentors Call Out

In August, SACS will once again be launching StartUp, an eight-week program that encourages students to build an entrepreneurial mindset and learn about the process of creating a start-up of their own!

During the process, students work with mentors and develop a range of skills and key attributes that will build their entrepreneurial capacity. Would you like to be involved? Then we’d love to have you as a mentor!

As a mentor, you will guide a team of students in their product design, business model planning and assist them as they prepare for their final pitch. You can be an email mentor, or a workshop mentor.

If you are interested in getting involved in the program, sign up here https://talents.ramenlife.co/register-mentor (ramenlife is a Startup community management platform. All terms and conditions are available on the website).

If you wish to be involved in another capacity please do not hesitate to contact Corinna Bailey cbailey@sacs.nsw.edu.au

The Anglicare Food and Clothing Drive is on again this year at SACS!

As part of their Take Love Campaign, St Paul’s House and Canterbury House have teamed up to partner with Anglicare for this worthy service. Our school community is invited to donate clothing and food that will be distributed to those in the greater community who are in much need of these material goods.

Here are the details:

When: Term 3 – Week 5 (19th -23th August)

Where: SAH Foyer – a collection stall will be set up from 7:45am- 8:25am.

What: Donations of clothing in good condition and food that is canned or packaged

We look forward to the gracious and generous spirit of SACS we have always seen in previous years.

Thank you
Mr Sahlstrom & Mr Kim

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” – Acts 20:35

Come along and witness St Andrew’s music students performing alongside the world-class a cappella vocal ensemble The Idea of North.

Event details:
Date: Tuesday 6 August, 6pm
Location: St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney Square
Price: Adults $20, Students $10

Come and see the 2019 Middle School Drama Ensemble production of Girl Asleep by Matthew Whittet.

Caught in the headlights of her 15th birthday in 1970s Australian suburbia, Greta wishes she could be anywhere else. And strangely enough ‘anywhere else’ is exactly where she finds herself – a peculiar Through-the-Looking-Glass existence that transforms the weird hypocrisy of the adult world into something absurdly beautiful. The nasty girl who make school a misery, her almost too-romantic imaginary boyfriend and her eccentric mother all crop up in her tour of her own subconscious. But eventually, even a girl asleep has to wake up. From the wry, warm and wonderfully distinctive voice of Matthew Whittet comes a play about being lost in the jungle of teenagerdom and coming out the other side.

Details

Dates:

• August 15 - 7pm
• August 16 - 7pm
• August 17 - 3pm, 7pm

Location: Black Box Theatre, Senior Collge, BBC

Help us raise $1000 to get new books to remote Indeigenous communities!

Come along to The Spirit of Sport Winter Dinner this year featuring Matt Hall as our Guest Speaker.

Tickets and more information coming to the SACS website soon.

Wednesday and Friday Appointments Available.

I would like to advise you that we have secured the services of a very generous doctor in the city who is willing to see our Gawura students and their families free of charge (he will bulk bill through Medicare) if the need arises. Dr Shuo (Shore) Zhao is located at Level 1, 70 Pitt St, Sydney. You can book an appointment with him on any Wednesday and Friday morning between 8am – 12pm.The number of the practice is 02 9233 3399.

We understand that many parents already have their own doctor that they use, possibly even through the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) in Redfern but this is just another option for you to use if you choose to do so and one that is located in the city, near our school.