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In this issue

 
Gawura news
Key dates
Message from our Wellbeing Coordinator
Music news
Library news
Sports news
Art news
Heart Mind Life Uniform Awards
Parenting tips
Another Theatresports victory!
G.A.T.E.WAYS Ignite
Bebras Computational Thinking
Andrean of the Year Awards
P&F Mother's Day Celebration
School Readiness talk for Kindergarten
 
   
   

Gawura news

   
   
       
   
 

A very big welcome back to Term 2 for everyone. I hope you all had a restful and peaceful break over the holidays. It was wonderful to see so many of our Gawura parents at the End of Term Assembly Awards for Term 1 back on Monday 4 April. The students who are receiving the awards love seeing you there and really enjoy having morning tea with you afterwards as well. 

On the same day we welcomed Aunty Pam Widders as a new staff member to our school. Aunty Pam will be our Aboriginal Education mentor in the secondary school and will also help deliver the Aboriginal Studies curriculum to our Stage 5 students. Aunty Pam will be attending our GPAC Meetings and Yarning Sessions with Parents this term.

On Wednesday 30 March we had to postpone the planned Paddle Polo session we had booked due to water pollution being present at the Spit Bridge after some heavy and consistent rainfall in Sydney. The new date will be next Wednesday 4 May. We look forward to the first of two sessions where our Indigenous students from Years 5-12 will be attending Paddle Polo which incorporates kayaking on Sydney Harbour. We thank Sydney Harbour Kayaks for this opportunity for our First Nations students to learn more about Paddle Polo and look forward to a second session which will be conducted in Term 4 this year.

Finally we will be holding the first Red Earth Departure meeting next Wednesday 4 May online from 6pm to 7.30pm. If you have any questions about this year’s On Country Tour to the Indigenous Homelands of Cape York then this is your opportunity to speak with the organisers of this trip. One of the requirements this year is that all travelling staff and students are ‘up to date’ with their covid vaccinations. This is a request directly from the Indigenous communities of Cape York as they have many hundreds of students visit them from all over Vic, SA, NSW and South East QLD during the dry season and they wish to mitigate their risk of covid getting into their community and in particular amongst the Elders and Traditional Owners (TO’s). Any student who is not up to date with their vaccinations will be ineligible to attend. Parents of students still have time to meet these requirements if need be. The Koori Vaccination Centre (located at 73 Pitt St in Redfern) takes walk ins with out the need for any bookings. This is in the Redfern Town Hall where we had our last Yarning Session with Parents.

We trust you all have a wonderful and safe fortnight ahead.

John Ralph
Head of Gawura

 
 
   
   
 

Key dates

Thursday 28 April  
Term 2 commences, K-12

Friday 29 April
Anzac Day and Term Service

Monday 2 May
Year 6 Parliament House Excursion

Wednesday 4 May Paddle Polo, 5-12

Wednesday 4 May On Country Tour to Cape York Pre Departure Meeting with Red Earth via online link

Thursday 5 May
JS Cross Country Carnival

Friday 6 May Year 3 History Excursion

Tuesday 10 – Friday 13 May NAPLAN

Thursday 19 May Year 2 Sleepover

 
   
   
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Message from our Wellbeing Coordinator

   
   
       
   
 

The Zones of Regulation

Each week in the Junior School and Gawura, students enjoy a SEW classroom lesson (Social & Emotional Wellbeing). One of the concepts which students learn about during this time is the Zones of Regulation. You may have heard your child say that they are in the blue, green, yellow or red zone. These lessons and activities are designed to help the students recognize when they are in the different emotional zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the zone they are in.

In addition to addressing self-regulation, students grow their emotional vocabulary, develop skills in reading other people’s facial expressions, perspective about how others see and react to their behaviour, insight into events that trigger their behaviour, calming and alerting strategies, and problem-solving skills. Everyone experiences all the zones—the Red and Yellow Zones are not the “bad” or “naughty” zones. All the zones are expected to occur at one time or another, our focus is on how students respond to these zones.

All our classrooms have the Zones poster displayed and it may be helpful for you to also be aware of the zones, so that you can reference and reinforce the concepts at home. LINK

Some ways in which you can support your child’s learning at home in the Zones include:

  • Talk about the Zones as they apply to you in a variety of environments. Make comments about what zone you are in so your child understands it is natural that we all experience the different zones and use strategies to control (or regulate) ourselves. For example, “This is really frustrating me and I am moving into the Yellow Zone. I need to use a tool to calm down. I will take some deep breaths.”
  • Help your child gain awareness of their feelings by pointing out what zone you think they are in
  • Help your child brainstorm ways to self-regulate so their behavior is expected for the context.
  • Share with your child how his or her behavior is affecting the zone you are in and how you feel.  

Bronwyn Wake
Wellbeing Coordinator

 
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Music news

   
   
 

AMEB Success

Congratulations to Mycroft Stewart in Year 6 who passed his Grade 3 Piano for Leisure Video Repertoire exam with Honours.
 

Congratulations to David Kim in Year 6 who has been selected as part of the SACS Piano Trio who will participate in the Strike a Chord Coaching Programme.  Amali Cooray (Y9),  James Grennan (Y7) and David were successful in their audition and application to receive coaching for their group from expert musicians. This will occur in Term 2. Thank you to our school accompanist Ms Chen for working with these students on this project.


Thank you Parents and Students

Thank you to all parents and students who have been part of the cocurricular Music programme this term. We look forward to your continued support of our choirs and other ensembles. Being in a music ensemble is a large commitment and we are very grateful to you for your support in attending weekly. We look forward to more performance opportunities throughout the year and thoroughly enjoyed the performances at the End of Term Awards.

For further information or to join a Music ensemble, please email krobertson@sacs.nsw.edu.au

Please note that private tuition rolls over from term to term, so there is no need to enrol for these lessons again. In addition, ensemble membership is for a whole school year so if your child has been in an ensemble this term, their name will remain on the roll next term (and for the rest of the year) as well.

Mrs​ Kate Robertson
Head of Music (K-6)

 
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Library news

   
   
       
   
 

Anzac Day

 

Anzac Day is a day to remember the Australian and New Zealanders who served their countries with bravery as soldiers, or nurses, or mechanics, conscripted animals or the loved ones who were left behind. Stories are a powerful way for us to remember and honour those myriad perspectives and picture book stories, read aloud by gifted storytellers add a dimension of place, connectedness and emotion.

As we return from the holidays, teachers will be utilizing the resources available on Storybox Library to help ensure students understand the importance and significance of Anzac Day.

Scan the barcode on the right to watch stories about Anzac Day on Storybox Library. Please note the recommended ages for each title. Only some of the titles are appropriate for younger children.

Username: SACSLIB
Password: sacslib

Grateful for the empathy and understanding we can access through stories.

Nicole Cotter
Coordinator of Digital and Information Literacy – JS & GS

 
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Sports news

   
   
       
   
 

CIS Primary Boys Football Carnival

On Thursday 31 March, the ASISSA Primary Boys Football Team braved the weather to compete in the CIS Primary Boys Football Carnival. It was a tough day of competition with many excellent teams. The ASISSA team made it to the final and won in a close match 1-0. ASSISA were joint winners in 2016 but this is the first time that they have been the outright winners. Sports captain, Manning Gavagna, represented SACS with pride in this team. Well done Manning and to the whole ASISSA team!

Mr​ James Leedow
JS Teacher, Coordinator of Primary Sport

 
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Art news

   
   
 

What’s happening in the Art Space?

 
 

Focus on a JS Artist: Allan Perkins Year 4

 

Allan is a budding painter who has begun experimenting with an innovative art technique at home, which is best described as Marbled Painting. During the last 6 months his work has developed and has taken on a professional finish, becoming identifiably his own. He has made canvas paintings, framed works, jewellery, and cakes! His work is now extensive. Allan recently created and entered an outstanding piece of his work into the Australia Art in Nature Competition for Children:

 
 

Working ‘en plein air’ in the City – Architectural Drawing with Year 4

Our Year 4 students have studied the notion of architectural styles, with special focus on the Victorian Gothic buildings that are on our doorstep here at SACS providing a perfect opportunity for students to work outside and observe details closely, and then to create accurate sketched pieces.  The work of Charlotte S. is shown below:

 
       
   
 

Art and Competitions SACS 2022

Competitions can be a great way to work in a focused manner on a high level piece of art.  Each year, our students enjoy working collectively to enter several carefully selected Art Competitions. In addition, we encourage students to create at home a high-quality piece of art for our own in-house Young Andrean Art Competition.  

Our 2022 theme: EGYPT (to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb) is an exciting ‘opening’ theme that should allow for young artists to create using the concepts of ‘exploration’, ‘discovery’, ‘mystery’, ‘curses’, or ‘adventure’ in either ancient or modern Egypt, or anything else you can imagine in the wonderful land of Egypt! Further information below regarding dates etc

 
 

What’s On ?

  • The LUME Melbourne is an epic adventure into art. Featuring the vibrant works of Vincent Van Gogh, this exhibition allows you to immerse yourself in large-scale world-renowned artworks, which come to life all around you! Until 30 June.
 
 

Mrs​ Miriam Daly
Visual Arts Integrator JS and GS

 
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Heart Mind Life Uniform Awards

   
   
 

Congratulations!

Click here for the latest Heart, Mind, Life & Uniform awards.

 
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Parenting tips

   
   
       
   
 

Bullying

In the first few weeks of school, playground issues, friendships between students and bullying often are words that begin to appear in conversations between parents and parents, or parents and teachers. St Andrew’s Cathedral School is indeed a safe, happy and calm place. We are blessed with beautiful children and beautiful families and we fortunately experience very few incidents of bullying. However, like every school, there is always the potential for some students to bicker and for some bullying patterns to begin to establish, if not brought to the attention of staff and resolved.

We find it is really important to understand the correct definitions, particularly for bullying.  It is often tempting to jump quickly to the label of “bullying” when in reality most incidents are simply that, one off incidents. Several educational websites define bullying as “an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious or hidden.” Michael Grose, a leading Australian parenting expert says “Bullying is a word that’s wrapped in emotion. For many people bullying is associated with bad childhood memories. It’s been estimated that around 40% of people have experienced some type of bullying in the past. The ghosts from the past are never far away for parents and can sometimes influence the way they react to current circumstances, including when their own children experience difficulties in their relationships inside or outside school.”

It is therefore important to recognise what is not bullying to prevent us throwing the “bullying” word around and making accusations that are incorrect. Conflicts between children are a normal part of growing up and are to be expected. Single incidents and conflicts or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not considered bullying, even though they may be upsetting and need to be resolved. Michael Grose puts it this way, “Bullying should not be confused with teasing, rejection, random acts of violence or physicality and conflict. While children will often tease or fight, this bickering should not be confused with bullying.” Thus the key word to understanding what bullying is, is ‘repeated’. When unwanted acts are repeated, this is bullying behaviour. The best way to stop it occurring is to identify it and report it to a teacher, the teacher is always in the best place to intervene and stop any bullying continuing.

The teachers at St Andrew’s are committed to maintaining a calm and healthy environment both in the playground and in the classroom. We work with parents to communicate if any incidents occur at school that may be of concern and we are always happy to listen if parents have any concerns. In partnership, we will continue to ensure St Andrew’s is a safe and happy school for all.

Joy Rohrlach
Year 5 Leader

 
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Another Theatresports victory!

   
   
       
   
 

SACS Junior School Theatresports Success

The SACS Theatresports will be adding another trophy to the school cabinet after the Junior School team of Alizah Hayes, Luca Murray (Year 6), Violet Bloxsom and Ili Karan (Year 5) played a tight Grand Final on Thursday night to be crowned the 2022 Theatresports School Challenge Primary Division champions. The ravages of Covid meant that many schools were unable to field teams in the Term 1 competition, and it was only three very keen schools – Tara Anglican School for Girls, Pymble Ladies College and SACS – that met in the Blackbox Theatre to play for the ultimate impro prize. Both visiting schools were bringing their A-game and it would take some improvising to defeat them.

The SACS squad opened their account with a solid Word-At-A-Time story that grabbed them a respectable 3-3-3 from the judges, a score they improved on in Round 2 with a hilarious Stunt Doubles scene about the danger of weightlifting without a spotter, which gave them a 4-4-4. As good as the SACS scores were, going into the final round the other teams were playing just as well, and it was anyone’s match. SACS finished with a Soap Opera set at airport customs, where we saw the true emotional turmoil a person can be thrown into when they can’t use a library card instead of a passport. The judges liked what they saw and awarded SACS a near-perfect 5-5-4, clinching them the match by a single point.

Congratulations must go to coaches Will Torney and Cameron Ryan for all their hard work, Mr Murray for all his tireless support and all the Junior School players for their enthusiasm and humour. But most especially, to the team for their match-winning effort.

SACS pride!

David Callan
Acting and Theatresports Coach

 
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G.A.T.E.WAYS Ignite

   
   
       
   
 

On Wednesday 30 March selected students from Years 1-6 had the opportunity to participate in G.A.T.E.WAYS Ignite. Students engaged with two workshops in mathematics and science.  G.A.T.E.WAYS is in its 28th year specialising in providing challenging and inspiring programs for highly-able, gifted and talented learners. These exciting workshops provided a pathway for many of our high ability learners to connect with like-minded peers in exciting and hands on challenges.

In the Years K-2 mathematics workshop students learnt about classification using mathematical categories and properties. This concept was explored using a range of creatures. Students investigated the characteristics of the creatures and how they could be classified using a Venn diagram. The types of classification were called sets. Sometimes the sets were not discrete but overlapped. This was why a Venn diagram was the most effective in categorisation.

In the Years 3-4 mathematics workshop students learnt about networks and traversable paths. A network is made up of vertices (dots) joined together by edges (lines). The order of a vertex is the number of edges connected to it. A circuit is a path that starts and ends at the same vertex. A network is traversable if you do not go over an edge more than once. A Euler path uses every edge exactly once (vertices can be visited more than once). Students looked at a range of paths and circuits to determine a pattern based on the order of the vertex. Below is an example.

 

 
       
   
 

In the Years 5-6 science workshop students explored genetics. They learnt about phenotype and genotype. Phenotype is an individual’s observable traits such as eye colour, height or blood type. Genotype is an individual’s genetic make-up. It can also refer to the alleles for a particular trait. Students used a Punnett square for traits using the alleles to determine genome type. This information was used to calculate genotype and phenotype ratios and percentages.

Here is an interview with Shaheli Peiris and Oliver Salmon, two Year 1 students about the workshops.

What did you learn in the workshop?
"I learnt about solids, gases and liquids. We did some experiments to see if they did three things. Could it be compressed, did it have a definite shape and did it have a definite volume? One of the experiments was using a liquid. We pushed with our hands on a syringe to see if could be compressed. We also used a marble which is a solid. It couldn’t be compressed. We then did experiment with vinegar and baking soda. They reacted to make a gas which expanded bigger than a bowl. We could tell this because we blew bubbles and they floated on top of the gas."

What was challenging about the workshops?
"We were given a scenario where we had to work out different orders for customers at a restaurant. We looked at a graph of types of food people ate. There were clues that we had to use to find out which person connected to the columns in the graph. This was a very challenging problem."

Mrs Emma Clemens
Gifted and Talented Coordinator JS and GS

 
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Bebras Computational Thinking

   
   
 

In Weeks 7-8 of Term 1 130 students from Years 2-6 participated in the CSIRO Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge. Computational thinking is a problem-solving process that includes a diverse range of dispositions. It requires the skills needed to think about how a computer might solve complex problems and create systems. Computational Thinking draws upon logical reasoning, algorithms, decomposition, abstraction and patterns. The skills assessed in the Bebras Challenge are highly sought after in the digital careers of the future.

Congratulations to the following students who achieved outstanding results. Honour Roll was awarded to Sam McConnell for full marks in the competition. High Distinction was awarded to Bill Pan, Lachlan Shi, Aayda Dua, Bligh Jordan, Genevieve Williams, Oscar Xu, Vanessa Yang, James Yeoh, William Kelly, Lucas Shi, Adele Wong, Mycroft Stewart, Emily Wang. Distinction was awarded to Tristan Lau, Yuelin Lou, James Yeung, William Edwards, Ili Karan, Lachlan Kent, Elijah Smith, Alex Chakar and Jonathan Liu.

Below are some reflections from a Year 3 student Benjamin McDonald about the competition.

What did the competition involve?

There were questions that were pretty hard to answer because it made your brain get really confused. There were lots of steps and information in the questions you had to remember to solve the problem. The questions involved patterns and codes. You had to look very closely and think very hard to find the answer.

Where there any real-world connections you made in the competition?

In real life you might be in a situation where you need to break a code or find a pattern. One of the questions was about watering different parts of a farm. You had to change the irrigation system that went to areas of rock and plants. You had to change the irrigation so that only the plants were watered. This was a good real world connection.

Below are two Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge questions, see if you can solve them.

Question 1: Adam, Emil and Sam stand in front of their school and face the indicated direction.

On their walk home they all make one or more turns at some point during their walk. Adam makes two left turns. Sam makes one left turn followed by one right turn. Emil makes one left turn. Each beaver lives in a different house. They only walk horizontally or vertically, not diagonally. They cannot pass through the dark grey squares. Which house does each beaver live in?

 
       
   
 

Question 2:
3 siblings want to eat breakfast from 3 bowls of the same design. The stack of bowls has many different designs. Bowls can only be removed from the top of the stack. What is the smallest number of bowls that need to be removed to get 3 bowls of the same design?

 
       
   
 

Mrs Emma Clemens
Gifted and Talented Coordinator JS and GS

 
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Andrean of the Year Awards

   
   
       
   
 

Andrean Writer, Artist, Composer and Designer (new) of the Year Competition

We are proud to announce this year’s K-12 creative competition theme is – EGYPT. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb, this year’s Andrean of the Year theme is Egypt. 

Consider the ideas of ‘exploration’, ‘discovery’, ‘mystery’, ‘curses’, or ‘adventure’ in either ancient or modern Egypt, or anything else you can imagine in the wonderful land of Egypt! 

This year we have a NEW category – Designer of the Year – can you design something about Egypt? Design entries must be no larger than one cubic metre made from either timber, metal, plastic, textiles and/or computer programme with your name and year level clearly marked. All entries to be submitted to Mr Bacewicz in the Design Centre (Year 7-12) or Mr Ryman (Year 5-6) – computer programme entries need to be provided on a USB and need to be able to be run on school laptops without additional/specialist software. All Designer of the Year entries must include a 3-minute video explanation of how your Design represents the theme, addresses a market opportunity and demonstrates your product in use.

Judging and Prizes

Entries will be judged on creativity, skill, audience engagement and originality in exploring the theme. Entries must be created in 2022 and no group entries are permitted.

First prize: $200 Secondary; $100 Primary
Runners up: $50 Secondary; $20 Primary

Click here for 2022 entry details and winners from past competitions. Entries close Monday 17 October (Term 4 Week 2).

Mr Brad Swibel
Deputy Head of School (Secondary)

 
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P&F Mother's Day Celebration

   
   
       
   
 

Come and celebrate with other fabulous females

Come and join the P&F and other parents at this fun, student free event.

Are you a marvellous mum, an awesome auntie or a charismatic carer? Come and celebrate with other fabulous females at the P&F Mother’s Day Celebration. Dinner and drinks will be provided and there’s no washing up afterwards.

Mother’s Day Celebration
Where: Chapter House
Date: Friday 6 May, 6.30pm to 9pm

To attend please RSVP to community@sacs.nsw.edu.au

 
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School Readiness talk for Kindergarten

   
   
       
   
 

Is your pre-schooler ready to start school in 2023?

Do you or your friends and/or family members have interest in enrolling at St Andrew’s Cathedral School? At this information seminar, you will discover some of the developmental milestones are that point to whether or not your child is prepared for the learning that takes place in Kindergarten. Our education experts will share their wealth of experience to help guide parents on how to best prepare pre-schoolers for a more formal classroom learning setting.

Attendees will also discover:

  • what the school readiness indicators are;
  • the latest research on how to give your child the best start in their formal education;
  • what questions to ask your new school to determine whether it is the right school for your child.

Wednesday 18 May, 5.30pm

Bookings are essential. Please register your interest for the School Readiness talk for Kindergarten on our website.

 
     School Readiness talk for Kindergarten    
     
 

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