Last Friday 7 June the annual JSGS Grandparents Day was held. A very special thank you to all the Gawura grandparents, aunts and uncles who travelled from far and wide to attend the morning and to spend time their grandchildren, nephews and nieces. The morning started with a lovely service in the cathedral followed by morning tea in the Heath Centre and a special visit to the classrooms. A special mention goes to La Quaelah and BJ’s grandparents, Lee and Michelle, who travelled all the way down to Sydney from Lismore for the occasion.

A big congratulations goes out to our Gawura students who also represented our school at the recent ASISSA Cross Country carnival. You can see Annie and Talaara having a good time there after running over 2kms.

Our next GPAC Meeting will be Thursday 20 June in the Community Hub on Level 4. We hope to see as many of you as possible and of course our very own NAIDOC Assembly will be taking place in St Andrew’s Cathedral on Monday 24 June commencing at 9:30am followed by morning tea in the Heath Centre from 10:30am onwards. All members of the Gawura community are invited to attend this special morning. Welcome to Country will be performed by Uncle Allan Madden and we have secured the very special services of Aunty Norma Ingram who will be our Guest Speaker on the day. There will be other performances from the students and a video message from our middle school and senior college students. It should be a wonderful morning and we look forward to seeing you all as we celebrate NAIDOC Week for 2019.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Have a wonderful and safe fortnight ahead.

Mr John Ralph
Head of Gawura

For more photos, please go to our  facebook  page

To celebrate NAIDOC Week 2019, all of our families are invited to our assembly on Monday 24 June at 9:30am in the Cathedral. The Gawura students will perform around this year’s theme; Voice, Treaty, Truth.

There will be a morning tea following the assembly on Level 5, at 10.30am we would love you to join us. Please RSVP for catering purposes to Catherine Gunning cgunning@sacs.nsw.edu.au or Mr John Ralph jralph@sacs.nsw.edu.au or phone on 9286 9535

Let’s work together for a shared future.

Premier’s Reading Challenge 2019

Congratulations to the following students who have completed their challenge:

Alexandra Glazenburg, Aadya Dua, Lilian Smallwood, Madison Dockery, Siddhan Krishna and Gabriel Magee.

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

Congratulations to Anneke Ho who was our week 4 winner.

Finished the PRC for 2019? Well don’t stop reading!
The next draw will happen in week 9, so get your entries in.

Parent / Teacher Challenge 2019

Congratulations to the following extraordinary reading role model:

Mrs Chang (Jeremy Reaidi’s Mum)

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.

Celebrations in the library

The library is always a very busy space but these last couple of weeks the students have helped us celebrate National Reconciliation Week and World Environment Day. We’ve also enjoyed welcoming all our Grandparents and special guests into the library and wish to thank everyone who bought a book and / or donated one directly to the library. We’d also like to thank the incredible team at The Children’s Bookshop in Beecroft who provided the stall.

“Grandparents have a wealth of experience and time, and many love nothing more than make a significant impact on the lives of their grandchildren. What better way than sharing their love of books?” – Susan Day

Svetlana Paul
Information and Digital Literacy Coordinator JS and GS

Sensitive Kids

Michael Grose wrote an interesting blog this April. It is about disciplining sensitive children. He gives some good and sensible tips for both parents and teachers.

“Disciplining sensitive kids is usually never straightforward. Sensitive kids, those creative, empathetic types who generally wear their hearts on their sleeve and take even the slightest criticism personally need to be handled with care.

It’s tempting to avoid disciplining them altogether to avoid hurting their feelings. But sensitive kids need also to learn to become social and likeable so they can reach their full social potential. They also like to feel safe and secure so a permissive ‘do whatever’ approach is not for this group.”

Here are the suggestions for you to consider:

1. Give them a chance to make good

Most sensitive kids crave adult approval so a stern look or a change in voice tone is often enough to communicate your disapproval followed by some advice about better behaviour next time. Give them the chance to make good or to pick up their game and they will generally respond in kind.

2. Be friendly and firm

While friendly and firm discipline sounds like a cliché it is very much a reality for sensitive kids. Move close, speak quietly and assure them your relationship is not harmed by their poor behaviour.

3. Use consequences sparingly

If kids repeatedly break a rule or misbehave when the limits are clear use a consequence but make sure you deliver it like a neutral cop. Watch for a shame reaction and adjust accordingly. Importantly, try to work out why she or he is behaving poorly or breaking a limit or rule.

4. Replace time out with time in

Place them close to you – on a chair or similar spot – when they need to calm down or spend some time pondering their behaviour with them. Quiet time doesn’t need to be isolating time.

5. Repair the relationship

It’s always good to revisit your child after discipline to re-establish good will. In a practical sense it’s not always possible. However, if your child is the more sensitive, worrying type make it a rule of thumb to check in with your child after discipline to make sure that everything is okay.

Joy Rohrlach
Stage 3 Leader.

Congratulations Musicians

Well done to Alex White (Year 6) on achieving High Distinction in his first grade Musicianship exam.

Congratulations also to Alison Ahn (Y5 clarinet) (pictured above) who came third place at the Northern beaches Eisteddfod in the Woodwind 14yrs & under section. Ryan Sim (Y6 Clarinet) (pictured above) also achieved 3rd place in the 12 and under Woodwind section and 2nd place in the Junior Championship section. This is an excellent achievement – Bravo!

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

ASISSA Cross Country

On Thursday 30 May we sent a 45 strong team to Queen's Park for the ASISSA Cross Country. This is a big step up from our school carnival, with over 100 of the best runners from our association in each race. We were lucky with relatively good running conditions and our students did us proud, with plenty of top 20 placings throughout the day. Congratulations to everyone involved and in particular those students who’ve now qualified for the CIS Carnival later this month – Georgia Wansey (4th), Harrison Bond (6th), Danielle Chapman (8th) and Emily Lin (9th).

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

The ICAS series is a competition designed to assess students' ability to apply classroom learning in new contexts, using higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. It is highly challenging, it is set 1 - 2 years above grade level, as such it is not recommended for all students.

This year all ICAS assessments have moved to Term 3, and the price has increased to $14.50 per test. An email will go out to parents/carers early Term Two with details on how to register your child for one or more tests. In the meantime, please save the below dates.

• Digital Technologies: Tuesday 3 September  Years 3-6
• Science: Thursday 5 September  Years 2-6
• Writing: Tuesday 10 September Years 3-6
• Spelling: Thursday 12 September Years 2-6
• English: Tuesday 17 September Years 2-6
• Mathematics: Thursday 19 September  Years 2-6

Students who perform exceptionally well on the ICAS assessments will be recognised in a school assembly in Term 4.

Lucy Birts
Gifted and Talented Coordinator, JS & GS

Dear Parents.

We are starting our 2020 Gawura Kindy Enrolment process by marketing for new applicants. We are also offering scholarships to Year 5 and Year 9 students.

We would like to ensure that all siblings of our current Gawura students have the opportunity to apply, so that they can be considered for enrolment. Hence, if you do have children who are Kindy, Yr 9 or Yr 5 age in 2020, please ensure you have sent an application form to me by the end of June.

Application forms can be found at https://gawura.nsw.edu.au/our-school/enrolment-application/ or email me at bperry@sacs.nsw.edu.au. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need any advice or help.

Regards. 

Bruce Perry                                                                                                          Registrar/Mathematics Teacher

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.

Early Bird Discount

Thursday 20 June // 7.30am-8.15am OR 1pm-2pm

Meet other parents, be encouraged and come together to pray for our school community at our Breakfast Meeting OR Lunchtime Meeting.

Muffins will be provided in the morning and BYO lunch for the afternoon meeting. Tea and coffee will also be available.

Felicity Brazel
0425 329 432

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.  Is anyone happy?  Let them sing songs of praise.”  – James 5:13

All Junior School and Gawura students, all Year 7 students, and most music ensemble students will be involved in our annual Showcase Concert in Sydney Town Hall. The concert will begin at 6.30pm, and all performers need to be in their starting positions for the concert by 6pm.

Date: Wednesday 26 June
Time: 6.30pm
Location: Sydney Town 

Tickets $10 - please contact Mr John Ralph at jralph@sacs.nsw.edu.au or on  9286 9535

Our annual sports day that honours the life of former student Kundayi Chiundiza is on Saturday 22 June at St Andrew’s Oval, Sydney University, with the first game kicking off at 9.00am and the final game, featuring the 1st XV, at 1.30pm.

Kundayi was a much-loved student who passed away in 2010. His enthusiasm and love of sport, music, friends, family and St Andrew’s was evident to all who knew him. His spirit of SACS Pride is honoured each year at this special day.

We encourage the whole SACS community to come long and support the blue and white.

The day’s matches are:

• 9.00 am:   13s Rugby v Redfield
• 10:00 am: 14s Rugby v Redfield
• 11.00am:   16s Rugby v Redfield
• 11.45pm:   OAA Game
• 12.15pm:   1st Girls Football v CCGS
• 1.30pm:    1st  XV Rugby v Redfield

Event Details

Date: Saturday 22 June
Location: St Andrew’s Oval, Sydney University
Time: 9.00am – 3.00pm