2021 Term 2, Week 9

Some memorable moments have been:

Year Six Camp

By Violet O’Brien

For year six camp we went to a place called Emu Gully near Toowoomba. I think that the whole grade can agree that it was an amazing experience that taught us all a lot of things. We all learnt about the ANZACs and how they fought strongly in the war, we learnt about courage, mateship, perseverance and sacrifice. We tried to use these qualities when doing group activities. At camp we were put into three groups called monsters, gangsters and ghostbusters. Not all of us had our best friend in these groups so we got to be with new people and cooperate no matter who we were with. The two highlight activities probably would be the buggies and the mud. During the Buggies, a lot of us like me drove an electric vehicle for the first time which was quite nerve racking but we all gave it a go and persevered the whole way. The mud was my personal favourite activity and was lots of fun. It took a lot of mateship and teamwork to get everyone through. An activity I think everyone had to use a lot of courage in was The Bridge Over the River Kwai. The bridge was skinny and high above a river so we had to trust our partner the whole way. The last activity was the boat ride. This was when we had to work in our group to get cargo to the other side of a stream quickly while getting sprayed by a hose. This is when we introduced the concept “holding the boat” meaning sacrificing something you have to be able to help others. I believe that we all put our hearts into the Emu Gully camp activities and got something even bigger out of it. I know it was an experience we will never forget.

Year 2 Australia Zoo

My Recount of My day at Australia Zoo by Iona Hewett

On Tuesday I went to Australia Zoo.  First we saw the koalas.  Next we went to Bindi’s Land.  We also saw tigers.  After that watched the croc show which was the last thing we did.  My favourite animal was the tigers because they have beautiful stripes and are very graceful.

Junior School Cross Country

by Poppy Andrews

This Cross-Country season for St Paul’s has been very successful in my opinion. St Paul’s may not win a lot of awards, but we have amazing team spirit and amazing encouraging people. At St Paul’s, Cross Country offers a lot of options such as QLD Running on Saturdays, the JTAS Carnival, Training and a very fun relay called the ANZAC DAY CRITERUM RELAY. This year Charlize Heathcote and Ryan Fanning lead St Paul’s as the Junior School 2021 Cross Country captains. Personally, I think they did a spectacular job in leading St Paul’s at the JTAS Carnival. Each Saturday afternoon our runners attended Queensland Running to get race practice. At Queensland Running there are many different choices on events you can do ranging from 500m to 8km. We had quite a few students attend this event in both Junior School and Secondary School. At the ANZAC DAY relay St Paul’s had an amazing turn out having most of the teams winning either 1^st 2^nd or 3^rd. At this event we also had both Junior School and Secondary School competing which brought the spirit to an even higher level. Our first individual carnival of the season was the Interhouse Carnival. At the carnival we ran many races, with each year level doing a different distance based on their grade. Everyone had a go and had a lot of fun. This is a chance for the Houses to earn points and show their house spirit. This year’s carnival was run on a different loop due to a number of days of heavy rain before the carnival making the course too wet. The different course worked really well as it was spectator friendly which meant people could cheer each other on all of the time. The next day we had approximately 25 students compete in the Bramble Bay District Carnival, which was held at Taigum State School due to the rain with 4 students being selected to represent our District at Met North. At the JTAS carnival we did not win a lot of team awards, but our most successful age groups were the open girls and the nine-year-old girls. St Paul’s has so many amazing people that can do so many amazing things. I find that really inspiring, that St Paul’s encourages people to strive to achieve their goals and to never give up. Cross Country at St Paul’s has been very successful throughout the years, and I hope it will continue that way and that the spirts stay high. Best wishes to Charlize Heathcote and Poppy Andrews who will compete at the Queensland Schools Championships in July after their selection at the Met North Regional Carnival.

My First Semester at Interschool Sport

By Evie Miller

I have represented St Paul’s for JTAS in swimming, athletics and netball. I absolutely love representing my school and being a part of our school teams.  I love my school and I love representing SPS in all different sports teams. I always get so excited for Saturday mornings when netball is on, or the excitement of swimming at Chandler, when I get to be with my teammates and compete together.   Working as a team is all part of being a good sport by showing good sportsmanship and leadership.  Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but we always work as a team and make sure we support each other all the time.  The excitement of singing the SPS war cry together as a team, makes all the hard work and effort worth it.

NAPLAN

My NAPLAN Experience by Mahin Singh

In NAPLAN it was a challenging time and I loved doing it. All of my lovely friends also thought that NAPLAN wasn’t just about our subjects, it was testing our knowledge and just how we explained it. I felt very confident when it was time for NAPLAN, and I also felt a rush of luck. I knew I was prepared for it, and I also knew how amazing it was.

Prep

Pre-Prep Fire Truck

During Term 2 our Pre-Prep classes have been learning different letters of the alphabet!  For the letter ‘F’, on Tuesday 25 May the Pre-prep classes had a visit from the Bracken Ridge Fire Station complete with the fire truck!  The children all enjoyed sitting in the truck, looking at all the hoses and to finish off the visit, a blast from the sirens!!

Mrs Marianne Connolly

Director Junior School

To download the app and enable notifications, please follow the steps outlined here:

https://www.stpauls.qld.edu.au/instructions-to-download-the-school-app/

Term 3 School fees will be issued end of this term. It’s not too late to make a donation to the Building Fund and then claim it back at Tax Time. Thank you in advance

Pay Tuition Fees

Circus Rio is coming to the Pine Rivers Park at Strathpine from 24 June to 11 July and they have provided us with a number of Gold level Children’s (under 14 years) tickets worth $45 each.

If you are interested, please see Mrs Hart at the Tooth Reception. Note: Tickets available on a first-in basis.

It is vital that all contact details remain up to date so that we can contact you as necessary and continue providing your family with relevant information via email, phone and post.

As of last term, parents/guardians can report their child’s absence from school via parent lounge.  An email detailing the process will be sent to you in the coming days.

If you have forgotten your Parent Lounge password, you can reset this yourself via the Parent Lounge login screen. If you have forgotten your Parent Lounge username, please contact the School’s reception.

This change is another improvement in the School’s approach towards child protection as it adds a level of security and authentication to child absences from school.  If you have any questions please contact the Risk and Compliance Officer, Mark Barratt ([email protected])

Please note, if your child will be absent for three days or longer email your child’s House Leader.

Help her feel connected
When you connect with your daughter you help her to feel seen, heard and valued, which are vital psychological needs. You connect by helping her feel your delight when she walks into the room. You connect by stopping what you’re doing and really listening when she speaks to you, and by ensuring she feels truly worthy and loved.

Help her feel she’s enough
On Father’s Day 2020, a 12-year-old girl completed a quiz about her dad, answering questions such as “What’s your favourite thing to do with your dad?” “What’s your favourite memory of  your dad?” “What’s your favourite song to sing with your dad?”

One question asked her to complete a sentence: “I know my dad loves me because…” His daughter wrote, “Because I’m me, and that’s all he wants me to be.” Help your daughter feel that she’s enough because she is.

Help her navigate friendships with grace
Research highlights that girls have more friendship challenges and experience more relational issues than boys. Girls are more socially oriented. They fight more with words and emotions than boys who tend to fight with their bodies. Girls also ruminate more than boys. While fitting in is important for both genders, girls use social exclusion and relational aggression in unique ways that can really hurt.

If your daughter struggles with friendship issues there are no easy answers, however your attitude will make a huge difference. Gentle conversations that emphasise her value and worth, reinforcing your relationship are important when girls struggle. At some stage ask your daughter to reflect on these questions, “Do I like myself when I’m around those people?” and “Do I feel like I’m being true to who I am when I’m around these people?”

Help her love her body
Most girls want to feel beautiful. It’s a parent’s job to let them know they are – always. And that beauty comes from the inside. Never talk negatively about your daughter’s body. Body shaming doesn’t encourage healthier behaviour. It just makes girls want to disappear into the black hole of unworthiness. Remind her that it matters more what she can do with her body than how it looks.

Remember to let go
A parent’s job is to prepare them for life without them. You’re playing the long game, so the quality of your relationship really matters. Raising them to let them go is hard. But that’s just how it should be.

Dr Justin Coulson presents a related webinar: Connecting with teenage daughters

Our school has a membership with Parenting Ideas. As part of this membership, you can attend the upcoming webinar ‘Connecting with teenage daughters’ at no cost.

About
In this webinar, Dr Justin Coulson (father to 6 daughters) unpacks the science and provides practical real-world advice for parenting teenage daughters. You’ll discover what is really going on in their minds, how they really feel and what they wish you knew.

When
23 June 2021 8:00pm AEST

To redeem
1. Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-connecting-with-teenage-daughters
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Click ‘View cart’
4. Enter the coupon code DAUGHTERS and click ‘Apply Coupon’ Your discount of $39 will be applied.
5. Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
6. Fill in your account details including our school’s name to verify your eligibility. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your webinar and resources
7. Click ‘Place Order’
This offer is valid until 23 September 2021. If you’re unable to make the broadcast time, just register anyway and you will get access to the recording.

Dr Justin Coulson helps families be happier. His Goalcast and TEDx positive parenting videos have been viewed by more than 100 million people. He is the author of 6 books about creating flourishing families and raising resilient children. Justin and his wife, Kylie, are the parents of 6 daughters. Find the Dr Justin Coulson’s Happy Families podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. For further details visit www.happyfamilies.com.au

HELPFUL CONTACTS

• Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
• Lifeline 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
• Youth Beyond Blue http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/

ST PAUL’S SCHOOL CAREERS WEBSITE

Did you know that we have a SPS Careers Website?  You can find it on the School Portal or at https://www.stpaulscareers.com.au/.  Check out the Important Info section that has a Calendar of Events from Universities, Defence, TAFE, Expo’s etc!

Click here to see the latest newsletter, Career Tools from the website host.

USEFUL CAREERS WEBSITES

• My Future myfuture.edu.au
• Job Outlook jobsearch.gov.au/joboutlook

In Term 3, there will be a number of events to assist you in completing your application. More information will be coming out soon however there will be a QTAC information evening, an excursion to a major Careers Expo – TSXPO (numbers permitting) and an opportunity to attend a QTAC interview at school to help with your application.  An email with a link will be sent home soon for students to complete to ensure an interview will be organised.  Interviews will take place during the school day and be face to face only. These are not compulsory but highly recommended.

This year’s hands-on workshops will feature: biomedical science, education, law, midwifery, music, nursing, paramedicine, physiotherapy, social work, speech pathology and occupational therapy, sport and exercise science and visual arts. Plus, there are online webinars covering: arts, business and IT, criminology and criminal justice, theology, and philosophy.

Representatives from the ACU Weemala Indigenous Higher Education Unit will also be available to talk with you about how they can support you on your university journey.

Places in some workshops fill fast, so register online now at acu.edu.au/experience-acu

Please register here.

Overview:

Our goal is to support confident, young, First Nation and non-First Nation youth of between 12-16 years of age, through a run clinic to be held across 2 days of the mid-year school holidays in 2021.

Bramble Bay Runners and Walkers is a community, not-for-profit, group of First Nations and non-First Nation’s people that have been meeting for the past three years in the Sandgate area to encourage health, fitness, and a culturally safe space for friendships and understanding in our community. Bramble Bay RaW is affiliated with the Indigenous Marathon Foundation. As well as training three times a week, we complete fundraising throughout the year to subsidise entry into running events and our group running gear, as well as coordinate and run multiple community events including a NAIDOC and Reconciliation run/walk and other virtual Indigenous Marathon Foundation Events. Through this work we have been helping to continually encourage and support not only the health and fitness of our members but build a sense of community and further understanding of our First Nation culture as is shown through our increasing membership.

With the support of the Indigenous Marathon Foundation, we would like to create a free run clinic for 12-16 year old youth in our community, which would include guided support on injury prevention, running technique, health nutrition as well as an opportunity for our First Nations and non-First Nations youth to interact in a culturally safe environment. Throughout the clinic there will be not only the opportunity for fun and relevant learning in this space, but also the chance to help uplift the leadership skills and confidence in young First Nations people through participation and mentoring the younger runners/walkers.

Benefits for Participants and our Community:

• Engagement in health and fitness through education and participation in recreational activity.
• Improvement in confidence through culturally safe participation with fellow youth, education from the clinic professionals and mentorship across the 2 days.
• Fostering of Indigenous and Non-indigenous community and opportunity for understanding and friendship amongst our youth.

Details:

• 9.00am to 1.00pm on 6 and 7 July.
• Please bring sportswear, running shoes, comfortable clothes, and a water bottle.
• Please meet the RaW team near the Canteen on the main oval.
• Please register here.