It was lovely to see our students back last week. You can see BJ is hard at work with his writing task and our students quickly got back into the swing of things. We have started everyday with an Acknowledgement of Country which Jada is doing in one of our photos below. 

Gawura School will be conducting parent teacher interviews this coming Friday 22 May. If you have not booked a time yet, you can do so by the email that has already been sent. This is a great opportunity to speak with your child’s class teacher to find out how your child is progressing this semester.

A big thank you to all of our parents for getting the students ready for the return of phase one - back to school. It was such an easy transition that we have moved into phase two this week with Gawura students attending 4 days from Monday to Thursday. Friday is the only day of remote learning. If this week progresses well, we will move into phase three, the resumption of school next Monday 25 May. This will include the full 5 days a week but with a 9am start time and finishing the school day at 3pm. At the moment, our current school days are a little reduced in time as we transition through the various phases upon advice from the NSW Premier and NSW Department of Health. I will confirm if Gawura does move to phase three later this week. If so, this will begin from next Monday 25 May.

If you know of any friends or family who have a child starting kindergarten next year, please forward our Gawura Scholarship brochure inserted in this newsletter to them. Applications close on 20 July at the beginning of term 3.

If your child is coughing or has any flu like symptoms, please keep them at home and see a doctor. All the students at school are highly aware of the hygiene practices that will help keep Corona virus out of our school. We are in this together and together we can get through these unprecedented times.

Have a wonderful and safe week ahead.

John Ralph 
Head of Gawura 

Enrolments process for Gawura Kindy 2021 will start in June.

Please ensure you have applications in for any of your younger children, and also please spread the word to anyone you know who has Kindy 2021 age children.

Application forms are available from our school website www.gawura.nsw.edu.au or from Mr John Ralph jralph@sacs.nsw.edu.au or Mr Bruce Perry bperry@sacs.nsw.edu.au

Please take a look at the Scholarship Brochure at the end of this newsletter

Dear Year 6 SACS & Gawura parents,

We are looking forward to having you all in the Middle School in 2021.  No doubt you have some questions about the who, what , when, where and why of Year 7.  Given the current restrictions we cannot hold our regular transition evening on site, so we decided to create an electronic evening instead.  This will mean that you can hear from some of the key staff from Middle School. This will include the Head of School (Dr Collier), the Director of Learning – Middle School (Mrs Kate Layhe), the Year 7 Coordinator 2021 (Mrs Jessica Gardiner) and myself. 

The event is on Tuesday 19 May at 4.00pm.  This is the link to join the meeting: 
https://bit.ly/2zzUMX6

I look forward to speaking with you through the internet.  As current SACS & Gawura parents you are a very important part of the community and we value your support as we welcome new families in Year 7, 2021.

John Partington
Head of Middle School

Wellbeing Check

Whilst most children are resilient and seem to be demonstrating a remarkable capacity to manage during this challenging time, others are not faring as well. Some are experiencing a variety of emotions ranging from fear to anxiety, all of which are considered normal or natural responses to this current situation.

However despite this, it is still important for adult carers to remain vigilant for any signs of unusual distress or behaviour, even though your child may not have any prior history of a mental health disorder.

It was estimated that one in seven Australasian children experienced a mental health issue before the Coronavirus pandemic, therefore early intervention, diagnosis and treatment is even more important now. In the current climate, one useful thing you can do is help your child focus on the things that they can control –– such as their learning, diet, exercise and sleep.

In this Special Report, adult carers will be provided with a checklist that can be used as a guide in determining if there is any cause for concern. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report https://sacs.nsw.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-wellbeing-checklist-primary

SchoolTV is a SACS P&F funded initiative to support the parents and caregivers of our students.

Bronwyn Wake
Junior School Wellbeing Co-ordinator

Bronwyn Wake
Junior School Wellbeing Co-ordinator

Music Ensembles

With our planned full time return to school occurring from Week 5, please be advised that all Music Ensembles will recommence in face to face mode from Week 6 (week beginning 1 June).

The only exceptions to this are the Friday ensembles on 5 June, due to the Pupil Free Day. These ensembles (Junior Wind and Brass Extension, Junior Chamber Group, Junior Rock Band) will recommence the following week.

Students do not need to re-enrol or re-audition. They will automatically remain on our rolls on the school system.

We are looking forward to making music together again.

Kate Robertson
Head of Music (K-6)

Welcome Back!

It has been so good to see our JS & GS students face-to-face again and to get some real books back in their hands! We’ve had lots of lovely catch ups with our most avid readers, hearing about the books they’ve read in these weeks at home: old favourites and some wonderful new discoveries which will be favourites of the future. Over the last weeks, more SACS students have completed the PRC 2020. Congratulations to each one! We have been encouraged by the increased use of our online reservations system by students and by some in our parent community. All of this means that more people are reading more of the books they enjoy – which makes us happy!

Latest PRC Completions:

• Liam Khoo (KM)
• Eliana Wong (KL)
• Samuel Cobb (1V)
• Madison Dockery (4S)
• Frank Cotton (5R)

National Simultaneous Storytime will be here in just a few weeks. On Wednesday 27th May, we hope that our whole school will join in with the rest of Australia to read Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas at the same time. This year the goal is for 1 million children to be reading together. At school, we will be reading the story with each Stage group during their lunchtime. We will also be sticking, colouring, puzzling and hopefully dancing! We invite students to bring their feather boas, tiaras and sparkles, glasses & hats to school for some dress-up fun at lunchtime. Let loose the divas! For anyone who is still learning from home, we will be sending out a pack of digital resources that children and families can use to participate in the event.

Nicole Cotter
Junior School and Gawura School Teacher Librarian

Co-curricular program

It’s certainly been challenging over the past couple of weeks for students, but well done to all who are giving our remote Co-Curricular program a go! We have some expert chefs, movie directors, journalists, maths whizzes and aspiring artists in our midst. They’re making the most of the opportunities they’ve been presented with in these tricky times and it’s awesome to see their efforts!

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

Parenting in the Age of Disruption

Michael Grose has written an interesting blog in March this year. Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and author.

“The future your children will inherit will be very different than the world we live in now." For instance, a university degree, once a guarantee of a well-paid job, will no longer ensure your child a career, let alone a steady income.  That doesn’t mean that we devalue education. Far from it, as all indications about the future of work suggest that your child’s ability to take on new knowledge and commit to acquiring new skills will be more important than ever. Continuous learners rather than those who close themselves off to new ideas and concepts will thrive in the future.

So how can we prepare children to thrive in a world where it’s estimated that over 20 per cent of today’s jobs won’t exist in just five years’ time? How do we prepare them for a work-life of multiple careers and job changes?

Recently, I spoke with Nikki Bush, well-known human potential and parenting expert in South Africa and author of a new book Future-proofing your child for the 2020’s and beyond.  Nikki believes that the future will belong to those who develop a broad range of personal capabilities rather than a narrow number of academic abilities. These capabilities include:

Creativity and innovation

With information being only a digital search away, knowledge is already easy to obtain in the digital age. The ability to think outside of the square and find new solutions to old problems will be one of the most highly valued skills in the new world of work. Bush maintains, that by tapping into children’s natural inclination to resolve their own problems in unique and not always adult-friendly ways (soup for breakfast anyone?), we can nurture the type of creativity that will help them succeed in the future.

Promoting personal resilience

Life doesn’t unfold in a straight line. It never has, but the future of work will have more twists and curves than ever before. Children will need to be resilient and flexible enough to cope with rapid workplace change and lack of security, as well as be able to manage risk to earn a living. Bush maintains that children’s resilience is enhanced when parents provide them choices and allow them to experience the full consequence of their decisions. She cites the example of a child who chose to coast prior to an exam rather than study hard, and then had to live with the consequences of performing poorly and not getting the grade he needed. It took a year of hard slog and study to recover from this set-back, but he got into the course he wanted with a full appreciation of the effort required to succeed. The future will belong to those who can live with and recover from these types of uncomfortable experiences.

Developing Self knowledge

Personal knowledge of strengths, capabilities and talents has been a skill that we’ve neglected to develop in children. When the future is fluid and work continually changes, self-knowledge will become a passport to happiness and success. Bush suggests that children should continually develop their own talent profile, which will become a valuable resource both during and after the school years.
There are no guarantees for the future. Life doesn’t work that way. It’s good to know that there are some signposts to follow to help us prepare our children to capitalise on the opportunities available in the changing career and social landscape ahead.”

This is encouraging in these times and the article has some good ideas to think about.

Joy Rohrlach
Year 5 Leader

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Matthew 20:28

As part of my series on the IB Middle Years Programme and the transition from Junior School to Middle School I wanted to write a little bit about Service. While St Andrew’s has always held service close to its heart as a Christian school, it has become a much more embedded program thanks to the IB MYP.  ‘IB learners strive to be caring members of the community who demonstrate a personal commitment to service, and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment’, (From Principles in Practice, 2017).

With Service as an integral part of the school we appointed a Service Coordinator who works with students and staff to ensure they are a myriad of service opportunities. Some of these are student led, some are teacher led and many students do service beyond the school. The notion of service stretched as we look for authentic service activities within the classroom, so they are seamlessly integrated with their academic studies.

What is important in the MYP (Middle Years Program) is that students reflect on service and there are set learning outcomes which they need to respond to such as, becoming more aware of their own strengths and areas for growth, undertaking challenges that develop new skills, considering the ethical implications of their actions, among others. Students submit their service records to their tutor once a term so we can help support them to serve consistently over time.

In Term 4 all of Year 7 and 8 take part in service activities during tutor time which is such a joy to watch. We offer up to 15 different activities they can choose from such as knitting, card making, Christmas tree decoration making, salsa dancing, singing, acting, etc. At the end of the term the items are taken to an aged care facility in Maroubra and students in the performing groups perform for the residents. It is a heartwarming way to end the year.

I hope this little snapshot into Service in the Middle School has given you a feel for what your sons and daughters will be taking part in next year and the years to come.

Mrs Kate Layhe
Director of Learning: Middle School

Do you like Knitting?

An opportunity for Junior School students to take part in a Middle School activity.

Service is active and demonstrative care for others, which is aligned with out SACS Character Strengths and helps promote HEART, MIND and LIFE for all our students, including our Middle School MYP students. As a requirement of the MYP (Middle Years Program) each student must actively be engaged with and reflecting upon service. In the Middle School we do this in a range of ways from in-school clubs, to serving at home, to helping out families, friends and neighbours. Each term we fill in a Service Record electronically.
While service looks a little different to normal at present, one ongoing service activity is our knitted blankets for the aged. Students in our Middle School Just Knits club have been knitting squares in their own time during remote learning and so have many parents, grandparents, staff and friends from our wider school community.

If you are looking at finding a service project which you can do with your son/daughter at home that teaches them a new skill AND can contribute toward our SACS knitted blankets, we’d love you to join! Our squares are 8ply yarn or wool in any colour, cast on 25 stitches, knit until a square. You can check this by folding it on the diagonal. There are many useful Youtube links to assist with the process. Any finished squares can be dropped off at reception care of Mrs Skipsey. If you have unused 8ply yarn or wool that you no longer need, you can likewise drop them off – we would love them!

Lizzie Skipsey
7-12 Service Learning Coordinator, English Teacher

We are proud to announce this year’s K-12 creative competition theme is – SYDNEY. Our school is located in the middle of the best city in the world. Sydney is part of SACS DNA and we are keen to see how students will creatively represent it. This year we have a NEW category - music composer of the year – can you compose a song/music about Sydney?

Thoughts to get you started:

• Explore Sydney’s past, present, or future
• Explore Sydney’s setting (eg city) for your story, artwork, music
• Explore Sydney’s culture – diversity, multicultural, aboriginal
• Explore Sydney’s vibe – positive, future focused, busy, modern
• Explore Sydney’s beautiful natural setting – harbour, parks, headlands, towns, architecture
• Explore Sydney’s people – homeless, business, students, shoppers

Click here for 2020 entry details and winners from past competitions.

Entries close Monday 19 October (Term 4 Week 2).

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.