A very big welcome back to Term 2 for all of Gawura families.

This year we are progressing with our Reconciliation Action Plan and Gawura Strategic Plan. We have employed the services of an Aboriginal consultancy firm called 2 Point Co who will help deliver this. There will be extensive consultation with all stakeholders who wish to participate. Please see this link for information about who 2 Point Co are and what they hope to achieve this year and click on the link HERE if you wish to be involved and 2 Point Co will contact you directly.

As part of the community consultation process 2 Point Co are offering you the opportunity to provide feedback to them about our Gawura School and the direction you would like to see it move heading into the future. If you would like to be part of either meeting then please click on the link below to say that you will attend. We want to hear from you and get your insight.

Session 1: online session: A drop in virtual Cuppa and Yarn
Stay for 2hrs and have a group yarn, or drop in and give your thoughts.
Two Point Co. Gawura Virtual Yarning Session (online)
Date: Tuesday 2 May 2023
Time: 6pm-8pm
Platform: Zoom (online)
Register: https://calendly.com/bianca-hunt/two-point-co-gawura-yarning-consultation

Session 2: Lunch and Yarn at the Redfern Community Centre
Join us for a group yarn and listen and share your view.
Two Point. Gawura In-Person Yarning Session
Date: Wednesday 3 May 2023
Time: 11am-1pm
Location: Redfern Community Centre
Register: https://calendly.com/bianca-hunt/two-point-co-gawura-redfern-community-centre-yarning-consultation

Our next Yarning Session With Parents will be on Tuesday 23 May 2023 on the 
Tribal Warrior Cultural Cruise 
Date: Tuesday 23 May 2023 
Boarding time: 10.15am 
Return time: 12.30pm 
Leaving from: Eastern Pontoon Circular Quay 
RSVP: By Monday 15 May 2023 to Daniela: dgiannini@sacs.nsw.edu.au

The students looked amazing last term at our annual Easter Hat Parade in the Cathedral. Gawura School was a sea of colour and the happy smiling faces of students and staff were a delight to see.

Please see a photo of our Yr 5 student Nyarla who met our Prime Minister The Hon Anthony Albanese at a recent South Sydney Rabbitohs match.

We wish you all a happy and safe fortnight ahead.

Mr John Ralph 
Head of Gawura

URSTRONG

I wonder what you were taught growing up about friendships? I wonder if you were taught how to build a friendship or what to expect from a friendship? Or even how to respond to friendship difficulties? For many of us, these questions were never explicitly addressed and we were left to our own devices to navigate the complexities and challenges of friendships. 

Throughout our Junior School and Gawura we explicitly teach the skills of friendship, and this term as part of our SEW (Social & Emotional Wellbeing) programme our students in Years 1, 3 and 5 will be focusing on these important issues. You may hear them talking about some unusual things like ‘friendship fires’ and the ‘friend-o-metre’ and wonder what they are learning. 

The URSTRONG friendship programme explicitly teaches children how to develop healthy friendships, how to manage conflict in a positive way, and helps students to grow strong and meaningful friendships.  As always, we acknowledge that raising great kids is a partnership and we want our School parents to be informed and involved, so URSTRONG offers free family membership to all their resources. If you would like to know more about the programme, watch the Language of Friendship videos and explore the resources with your child go to https://urstrong.com/parents/. There are also some resources in the back of the School student diary which you can use to help your child navigate any friendship difficulties, using the URSTRONG friendship principles which students are learning in their classrooms.

Mrs​​​​ Bronwyn Wake
Junior School and Gawura Wellbeing Coordinator and Psychologist/Counsellor

School holiday reading

We have been so happy hearing about the comings and goings and readings that happened during the school holidays.

To date, 99 students have already completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge, and many have started their extra reading for our weekly Prize Draw.

Our first winner for 2023 is Aiden Bhuyan. Congratulations Aiden! Your book of choice is on its way.

This term, library classes will focus on the consideration of Australia’s History since European Settlement from a First People’s perspective. We are looking forward to leading our students in some deeply critical and creative thinking that is appropriate for each stage.

We are also looking forward to National Simultaneous Storytime for 2023, Wednesday 24 May, where together with millions of other children right around the world, we will be reading Rebecca Young’s heart-warming book The Speedy Sloth.

Mrs Nicole Cotter
Coordinator of Digital and Information Literacy

Squash

Over the holidays, Kavin Shukla and Jamie Tan both travelled to Melbourne for the Australian Junior Squash Open which is part of the World Junior tour. This tournament featured the very best juniors from Australia as well as 11 other countries.

• Kavin Shukla finished 21st in the U13's (now ranked 28 in the Australian U13 rankings)
• Jamie Tan finished 26th in the U11's (now ranked 25 in the Australian U11 rankings)

Well done to both boys on this outstanding result, we look forward to hearing more about your exciting future in squash. A special thanks to Mike Dickens and the team at East Coast Squash Academy for their work and encouragement of these young squash players.

Junior School U12s Rugby Sevens

Our rugby sevens team gathered at Koola Park in the pouring rain on Saturday to take on St Patrick’s College, Strathfield and Trinity Grammar School. Arie Aalhuizen, Owen Barkway-Jones, Angus Carrick, Benjamin Gunning, Eddison Shepherd, Kavin Shukla, Ethan Wilkinson and me (Rafferty McGonigle) braved the weather to represent our School's U12s team.

It was our first game of the season, and we were a little nervous. However, before long, coach Wills and coach Matt had us warming up and there was no longer any time to be nervous. The whistle blew and within the first minute Benji Gunning had stormed down the pitch to score our first try and our confidence was secured. Before long, Eddie had also come from behind, swerved past the pack and touched down behind the line. We were tackling well, running together and passing fast. As the whistle sounded at the end of the first game, the score was officially 15-0 – the first St Andrew's win. Whilst celebrating our victory, Matt and Wills gave us some friendly advice as to how to raise our game for the second match. They told us that our individual playing and skills were good but that we needed to work on our structures and teamwork.

We were about to begin, when the opposing team (Trinity Grammar school) told us they were short on players, so Arie volunteered to go on the other team to make it rugby sevens again. The best moment of the first half was when Owen grabbed the ball from the ruck and sprinted down the pitch scoring a try, meanwhile the opposing team still thought that the person in the ruck still had the ball! In the second half, Kavin was on the opposing team in place of Arie. It was our kick to them. After five minutes, Kavin grabbed the ball and ran down the field. Although we flung our bodies every which way to tackle him, he kept on going and touched down, just as the whistle blew. The score at the end of that game was 18-3 our way. We left, celebrating our victory two wins and no losses – a great start to the season!

– Rafferty McGonigle

Junior School and Gawura Cross Country Carnival

The second sporting carnival of the 2023 school year is the Cross Country Carnival which is being held at Queens Park on Thursday 4 May. We are looking forward to students demonstrating their running talents at this event.

Parents and spectators are more then welcome to attend and cheer on our students.

Thursday 4 May
Queens Park

Programme for the day:

• 9am – Depart School on bus
• 9:30am – Assemble for beginning of the carnival
• 10am – 12 years boys (approx. 3km)
• 10:10am – 12 years girls (approx. 3km)
• 10:30am – 11 years boys (approx. 3kn)
• 10:40am – 11 years girls (approx. 3km)
• 11am – 10 years boys (approx. 2km)
• 11:10am – 10 years girls (approx. 2km)
• 11:30am – 9 years boys (approx. 2km)
• 11:40am – 9 years girls (approx. 2km)
• 12pm – 8 years boys (approx. 2km)
• 12:10pm – 8 years girls (approx. 2km)
• 12:45pm – Depart Queens Park
• 1:10pm – Return to school on bus or travel to Inter-School Sport locations

Saturday Sport

Saturday 29 April kicks off our Term 2 sports for girls and the Winter Sports programme for the boys.

The girls began their Saturday Sport Netball competition with games against Wenona and SCEGGS. Good luck to all our netballers this term!

The boys started their Rugby 7’s season with games against Waverley, St Pats and Trinity. Good luck to all the boys playing Rugby this season! We are still looking for more Rugby players. If you child is interested in playing Rugby 7’s this year, please contact the Junior School Sport Department jssport@sacs.nsw.edu.au
 

​​​​Mr Oliver Denny
Head of Sport, Junior School

Parenting strategies: The 4C’s for child mental wellbeing

By Eddie Chiu October 2020

This is a great article, well worth the read!

“According to the last “Young Minds Matter” national survey conducted in 2014, nearly one in seven (13.9%) children aged 4-17 years old experienced mental health issues in 2013. That’s nearly 3.5million children based on the 2020 population! Naturally, parents and caregivers are well-placed to help strengthen their children’s mental and emotional health.

The 4C’s help build mental and emotional wellbeing

The 4C’s are principles for parenting (Care, Consistency, Choices, and Consequences) that help satisfy childrens’ psychological, physical, social, and intellectual needs and lay solid foundations for mental wellbeing. We’ve provided some examples for each category below:

Care means showing acceptance and affection. For instance:

• Create a safe space for speaking with your child by being non-judgemental about your child’s issues.
• Demonstrate affection and soothe your child with hugs, kisses, praise, and encouragement.
• Basing your actions on love and care, e.g. “I wouldn’t be a good mother if I let you eat so many sweets”.
• Increasing your child’s emotional intelligence by helping them label their emotions and linking them with causes.
• Help develop empathy through perspective-taking, e.g. “I know confrontation is uncomfortable, but your friend is probably confused and upset because they don’t know why you’re not speaking with them – wouldn’t you be?"
• Being available to your child’s needs and making regular times to check-in about what is happening in their lives. This can include offering assistance by teaching, problem-solving, offering guidance, and practical assistance.

Consistency provides children with the view of a safe and predictable environment that helps develop their confidence.

• Being as consistent as possible in our attitudes, expectations, and applying repercussions helps children learn to make connections between their behaviours and the people/world around them.
• It is important that both parents are on the same page. This can sometimes require us to have a shared understanding of how to parent.
• Acknowledging uncertainty (e.g. during COVID-19) to help them understand their emotions and reactions, and assuring them that some routines (within control) will remain the same, e.g. “Feeling uneasy because of what’s happening in the world is normal, but we’re here for you. We’ll still be expecting you to do the chores and study, even if you can’t attend school”.
• Having sensitive conversations with your partner in private and not exposing children to adults’ concerns and stressors is important, especially in these times of change.

Choices help children develop autonomy and decision-making skills. 

• Providing choices available to your children, e.g. “you can either have a marshmallow now, or if you wait 10 mins, you can have three”.
• For older children, helping them understand all of the choices they have available, e.g. “I hear you’ve considered options A and B. Have you considered C, D, or E yet?”
• Helping children understand that avoidance or non-action is a choice as well that usually doesn’t help solve the root cause of their issues, e.g. procrastinating doesn’t help them get their homework done and probably increases their stress in the long-term. They can be given a choice of when, do you wish to do your homework before school or after training?
• When appropriate, explaining or demonstrating how to make calculated risks and allowing children the freedom to make small mistakes, with an emphasis on learning and resilience if things don’t work out.

Consequences means applying the repercussions you say you will, whether positive or negative. This can come in the form of rewards or punishments. Some applications include:

• First, make expectations of behaviours clear. For instance, Time Outs may be confusing for younger children if they haven’t been shown “clean your room” means placing all their toys back into the toy box. Provide “positive” suggestions which direct appropriate behaviour, e.g. instead of “don’t stand”, you can ask them to “sit still please”.
• Then, connect behaviours with their consequences, e.g. “You can speak with me politely about having ice cream, but if you choose to keep shouting, you will have to go to your room and there will be no ice cream for you”.
• Feedback should be provided as close to the un/desired behaviour as possible and emphasize your child’s behaviours instead of labelling their character, e.g. “You did something nice/unpleasant”, rather than “you are bad”.
• Encouragement of children’s efforts and the strategies they use, rather than their abilities, AND connecting it to positive consequences of learning and progress help develop Growth Mindsets, which can be associated with flexibility, resilience, and mental wellbeing. An example could be, “Well done, you paid a lot of attention and experimented with different solutions, which helped figure out the answer!” 

I hope you found some of these ideas helpful. We may not always get things right, but these ideas are a wonderful start.

Joy Rohrlach
Year 5 Leader

World Scholar’s Cup

On Friday 21 and Saturday 22 April, 18 students from Years 5 and 6 participated in the Junior Division of the World Scholar’s Cup at Queenwood School for Girls. Across the two days, students worked in groups of three to compete in four different events: Collaborative Writing, Scholar’s Challenge, Team Debate and Scholar’s Bowl. Whilst the competition presenters were unconventional and exhibited an exciting sense of organised chaos, the academic events themselves provided a highly enriching experience for our students. Our teams worked exceptionally well across the two days, and all successfully qualified for the World Scholar’s Cup Global Round – an incredible achievement!

Congratulations to Aiden Bhuyan, Bligh Jordan, Koji Takamura, Genevieve Williams, Isabelle Wood, Declan Wu, Oscar Xu, Vanessa Yang, James Yeung, Violet Bloxsom, Ava Chakar, Amy Codrington, Ameline Coveney, Henry Duke, Meera Joshi, Camilla Mao, Rafferty McGonigle and Archie Lo for their outstanding efforts at this competition.

Below are some reflections from four of the participating students about each of the events:

Collaborative Writing:

“Collaborative Writing was a task which involved 20 minutes of planning, 40 minutes of silent writing, and a final 15 minutes of giving and receiving feedback as a team. There were eight writing topics that you could choose from, though you couldn’t choose a topic that your teammate had chosen. It required some deep thinking, as it wasn’t any normal topic. It was supposed to challenge you to think out of the box.” – Koji Takamura

Scholar’s Challenge:

“The Scholar’s Challenge event involved answering 120 multiple choice questions in one hour. It was interesting as you could choose to circle between one and five bubbles for each question, though the more bubbles you circled, the less points you could receive. The most enjoyable part of the event was trying to answer the challenging questions.” – Oscar Xu

Team Debate:

“During the World Scholar’s Cup, we participated in the Team Debate event. This event was very fun yet challenging as we were only given 15 minutes to write a speech and 60 seconds to write rebuttals. I really enjoyed how this event allowed you to collaborate on each topic and incorporate each other’s ideas. The judges were very kind and supportive, which helped boost your confidence before getting up in front of each other. This was one of my favourite activities at the Scholar’s Cup.” – Ava Chakar

Scholar’s Bowl:

“The Scholar’s Bowl was a Kahoot-like game where you submit your answers as a team with a clicker. Unlike Kahoot, you do not accumulate points by being quick. This allowed teams to collaborate and discuss what the most likely answer was out of the five choices in the question. My favourite part of the Scholar’s Bowl was getting questions correct and celebrating with my team.” – Meera Joshi

Congratulations again to our World Scholar’s Cup teams!

Mrs Rebecca Lord
Gifted and Talented Coordinator, Junior School and Gawura

Research Study invitation

Researchers at the University of New South Wales are conducting a project about the lived experience of social and emotional support for gifted students with ADHD. This study aims to explore the experiences of twice-exceptional students within schools to better understand how to meet their social and emotional needs. The research is being conducted by Professor Terry Cumming, Dr Geraldine Townend and Sarah Fleming (UNSW School of Education) and is funded by the Australian Government Research Training Scholarship.

The research team are currently seeking students in Years 4, 5 and 6 that have been formally identified as twice-exceptional (gifted with ADHD) to participate in the study. Participation would involve a 60-minute face-to-face interview on-site at St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

If your child meets the above selection criteria and you would be willing for them to participate in this study, please complete the following Participant Information Statement and Consent Form and email it to researcher Sarah Fleming (Z5277498@ad.unsw.edu.au) at your earliest convenience.

Thank you in advance for your support of this research.

Mrs Rebecca Lord
Coordinator of Gifted Education, Junior School and Gawura

Congratulations!

We are excitied to announce that we have two debating teams in the octos! This is the best result that St Andrew's has ever had in the ISDA Debating Competition.

Our Primary A team won their make-up round against Kambala on Friday evening, placing them equal third in their pool. This was an especially brilliant result as Kambala was previously undefeated, and St Andrew's remains the only school in the pool to have defeated them!

Well done to Freddie Beck, Audrey Ash, and Josh Ahn who spoke clearly and effectively, and many thanks to their coach, Liv Bishara, for guiding them so well through this season!

Dr​​​​ Jessica Lim
English Teacher + TSAS Teaching Intern

Do you have your Winter uniform ready?

In Terms 2 and 3 our School switches to our Winter uniform.

Students are required to be in the Winter uniform now.

Please note: Blazers must be worn to and from school.

Please see St Andrew’s Cathedral School Junior School and Gawura uniform guidelines here.

Uniform Shop hours

The regular term time hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8am-3.30pm.
 

Mrs Larissa Taylor
Uniform Shop Manager

For information on new applications, updating your details or replacing lost cards, click here:

OPAL CARDS 2023

Sign up for the Gawura/NAIDOC working bee

Gawura is celebrating NAIDOC Week, commencing Monday 19 June. The highlight of the week is Gawura leading the Junior School assembly on Thursday 22 June. This year’s NAIDOC theme is “For Our Elders” and Gawura has some truly wonderful plans on how to do that.

Are you able to support this celebration by volunteering to make sets, create props or sew? A working bee will take place on Saturday 3 June. If you are available, please sign up here.

Book your place to witness this exciting discussion

Students, parents and staff are invited to be part of our exciting new seminar series Big Questions – providing stimulating, thought-provoking and interactive conversations by expert guests on interesting topics.

The first in the series is a conversation between Pastor Ray Minniecon, who represented Australia's First Nations' peoples at the 26th Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021, and Dr Andrew McGonigle, an award-winning volcanologist, inventor, pioneer and teacher. They will explore Environmental Stewardship from both Aboriginal and scientific perspectives.

The format will see our two guests on stage, sharing their knowledge, understanding and different experiences of the world around us. This will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Wednesday 24 May, 6pm
Chapter House

Year 3 parents!

All Year 3 parents are warmly invited to join us for Coffee in the Hub to meet other parents, key Junior School staff and the P&F.


Coffee in the Hub – Year 3 parents
Thursday 11 May, 8am-9am
The Hub

Please RSVP by Monday 8 May, 12 noon

Mother's! Aunties! Female carers!

Come and celebrate together at the Mother’s Day Celebration!

The P&F invite you to a night out filled with sparkling conversation - and maybe some sparkling wine! There will be music, dancing and lots of laughter at this fun student-free event. 

Come along and enjoy a night under the stars on the newly refurbished rooftop. All food, drink and entertainment included.

Friday 12 May, 6pm-9pm
SAH Rooftop 
Book your place by emailing community@sacs.nsw.edu.au.

Who are we and how do we work together?

There are many seen and unseen branches of the St Andrew’s family, and they connect and work together in different ways for different reasons. Learn more about how we all fit together. 

Please join the P&F for this wonderful opportunity to hear from our panellists and have all your questions answered.

The expert panel is comprised of: 

• Ms Nicola Warwick-Mayo, Executive Director of School Services, will explain our School’s unique governance, our relationship with the Cathedral and Diocese, School Council and Foundation.
• Lyn Jarvis, Director of Community Engagement, will share a little on the School’s relationship with the P&F, OAA and Hessians.
• Dr Julie McGonigle, Head of School, will outline how it all interacts, the various roles of key school staff and how it comes together to make the school community function and flourish.

The panellists will give a short presentation which will be followed by a Q&A session. On the evening, sign in at reception and come directly to the Community Hub.

Tuesday 16 May, 6pm
Community Hub, St Andrew’s House
Refreshments will be served.
You can also join online. A link will be provided closer to the date.

For enquiries, please contact the SACS Community Engagement Team: community@sacs.nsw.edu.au | 02 9286 9661

The 2023 Junior Andrean Awards theme is "The Opera House"

Junior Andrean Writer, Artist, Composer and Designer of the Year Competition

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of Sydney’s most iconic buildings, this year’s Andrean of the Year theme is The Opera House. Consider the ideas of its Sydney Harbour location surrounded by Botanical Gardens, ferries and crowds, its innovative design and creativity that reflects nature, or that it has been a place of performance, protest, Vivid light shows, and New Year’s fireworks.

You could even redesign or extend it for the 22nd century and reimagine what new things might take place there.

Judging and prizes
Entries will be judged on creativity, skill, audience engagement and originality in exploring the theme. Entries must be created in 2023 and no group entries are permitted.

- Junior Andrean Awards First prize $100, runners-up $20.
- Andrean Awards First prize $200, runners-up $50.
- Apprentices receive certificates.

Entries close Monday 16 October 2023

Click here to submit your entry.