If you are resilient you are able to cope reasonably well with difficult situations and things that go wrong and then ‘bounce back’. Throughout life children will need skills and attitudes to help them to bounce back. They will encounter everyday challenges such as making mistakes, falling out with a friend, moving house or school and losing in a sports competition. Many will also face challenges such as adapting to family break ups, a stepfamily, the illness or death of a family member, or being bullied. People Bouncing Back is the curriculum unit that teaches children the ten BOUNCE BACK! statements.

• Life is mainly good but now and then everyone has a difficult or unhappy time. 
• Things always get better even though sometimes they may take a bit longer to improve than you would like. It is important to stay hopeful and expect things to get better.  
• You will feel better and have more ideas about what to do if you talk to someone you trust about what’s worrying or upsetting you.  
• Unhelpful thinking isn’t necessarily true and makes you feel worse. Helpful thinking makes you feel better because it is more accurate and helps you work out what to do. 

No one is perfect. We all make mistakes and find out there are some things we can’t do well.  

• If you can find something positive or funny in a difficult situation, no matter how small, it can help you to cope better.
• We all need to take fair responsibility for the things we did or didn’t do that contribute to a difficult or unhappy situation. However we should not over-blame ourselves because circumstances, bad luck or what others did may have contributed to the difficult situation too.  
• If a situation can’t be changed you just have to accept it and live with it.  
• Don’t make yourself miserable by exaggerating how bad something is or by assuming that the worst possible picture is the one that will happen.  
• When something goes wrong it usually only affects one part of your life. Concentrate on the things in your life that are still going well.

Use the appropriate BOUNCE BACK! statement whenever you see the opportunity.  

• Consider displaying the statements on the fridge or somewhere prominent so they serve as a useful prompt for your child (and the rest of the family!).  A copy of the acronym is below.
• Don’t over-protect your child from the normal challenges that all children have at different ages (e.g. walking to school, looking after their own things, packing their own lunch). 
• Start by giving your child small age-appropriate challenges that require small responsibilities. Using small steps moves them towards becoming more independent and competent. 
• Don’t do things for them without checking that they are capable of doing it for themselves.  Encourage your child to talk about what’s troubling them and help them to find solutions. Encourage them to talk about how they are feeling and what they are thinking about the problem. Then help them to think about different solutions.  
• Gently challenge self-defeating talk (e.g. I can’t do this, I’m hopeless, dumb, useless) and helpless behaviour (giving up easily, expecting others to do things for them). Suggest they use helpful thinking instead (e.g. I made a mistake but everyone makes mistakes).  
• Don’t fight all your child’s battles. Children need to experience some difficult times so they learn how to bounce back.  
• Model effective solving of problems that are age appropriate for your child by talking ‘out loud’. Review different solutions to a problem and the possible good or bad consequences of the different solutions.  
• Avoid offering ‘quick fixes’ or ‘feel good’ options when things get tough. 
• Rather than distracting them with a movie or treats, let them sit with the bad feelings, knowing that you care that they are hurting, but that it is something they have to deal with, not escape from.  
• Help your child to take responsibility for what happens. When something doesn’t work out for them, draw up a pie chart with them of:

How much was due to me? 

How much was due to others? 

How much was bad luck and circumstances (i.e. being in the wrong place at the wrong time)? Also encourage them to consider the situation from the other person’s viewpoint.  

• When something bad happens for your child, help them to keep things in perspective by asking them: 

Does this really matter? Are you getting upset over very little? 

On a scale from 1 to 10, how important is this to you? 

What’s the worst thing that can happen? Do you think you can handle that? 

Encourage them to think about the parts of your life that are still exactly the same and still really good (e.g. they lost a friend but they still have other friends in their team, in the street to play with, their school work is going well, nothing has changed at home). 

These questions help your child to stop catastrophising and stop getting too upset over things that will get better or improve in time.

Until next week, as we journey together with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal

Fun & Games Mufti Day:

Next Friday 3 July the children will participate in a Fun & Games session hosted by Year 6. Each grade will come out throughout the day to participate in some fun games and activities. This will be a special treat for the children for all the hard work they have done over the course of the term.

 Students will be able to wear ‘Mufti’ - casual clothes on Friday 3 July. Please ensure that they wear appropriate clothing for the weather on the day. Footwear must be enclosed eg: joggers as the students will be participating in outdoor activities and enclosed footwear keeps toes safe!

July Vacation Care Program at Good Samaritan:

CatholicCare OOSH will be hosting a Vacation Care program on our school site during the upcoming school holidays. Please note that spaces will fill on a  ‘first in’ basis so secure a place!

More information is below.

Semester One - Parent Teacher Interviews:

Parent Teacher interviews will take place throughout next week. With the current restrictions of numbers of people on site it has been decided that teachers will be released from class for one day to conduct telephone interviews with parents. Interviews will be for 10 minutes and will take a future focus on learning for each child. Teachers will reference the remote learning period and also make comments on observations and learning engagement since returning to school for face to face learning.

 Please note that teachers will be calling the first number on the school Compass system. In most cases, this is the child’s mother’s mobile phone number. If you would prefer another number to be called eg: father’s mobile, please notify the teacher via SeeSaw or email the school office.

As teachers will be making phone calls ‘back to back’ they may need to schedule a further meeting face to face in Term 3 to continue the conversation. Your understanding of the importance of keeping to time is appreciated.

Preparing for Term 3 School Routines:

As we begin the preparation for the new school term, parents are advised of the following:

• The car line  gate will be supervised this week until 8:55am following this time the gate will be locked and parents will need to accompany students to the office for a late pass.
• On Monday 29 June the gate will be supervised until 8:50am following this time the gate will be locked and parents will need to accompany students to the office for a late pass.
• From the  beginning of Term 3 students will continue to walk safely to their classroom at the 8:45am bell. Teachers will be waiting for the students and all students will be in class by 8:50am. (There will be no morning assembly)
• The school timetable will return to the regular times therefore there will be no split breaks.
• From the beginning of Term 3, we will return to the normal dismissal time of 3pm.
• Afternoon car lines will begin at 3pm. Please ensure that the appropriate road rules are followed when entering the Parish carpark. 
• We will continue to adhere to the direction of parents not entering the school site for drop off, pick up or gatherings until we are advised otherwise.

We appreciate your support in working with us to ensure that all students are at their classrooms ready to learn by 8:50am.

Returning to Full Curriculum Delivery in Term 3:

Good Samaritan has focused on delivering Religious Education, English and Mathematics as well as including a student wellbeing focus since returning to face-to-face teaching and learning. From Term 3 we will return to the delivery of the full curriculum which will include planning, programming and teaching of outcomes in all the NESA Key Learning Areas.

At Good Samaritan we will continue to implement strategies that focus and support the wellbeing of students across the school.

School Assemblies:

From the beginning of Term 3 our weekly school assembly will be held on Friday afternoons at 2:30pm. Students will assemble under the shade sails. The school assembly will include:

• School Prayer
• Acknowledgement of Country
• National Anthem
• Principal’s Message
• School Messages
• Principal Awards (on designated dates)
• School Song

Parents will be invited to attend the assembly each week following the lifting of the gathering restriction for adults on school sites.

Term 3 School Supplies:

As we approach the upcoming holidays parents are asked to ensure that their child’s pencil case and school supplies are replenished. Having everything at their fingertips each day aids in the learning process allowing children to focus on the task at hand rather than worrying about not having the equipment to complete the task.

As we approach Semester 2 it is important that the students continue to wear the full school uniform. It may be a good idea to check your child’s uniform, including school hat, school shoes and joggers, to make sure that they will all ‘last the distance’ and that they satisfy the uniform policy until the end of the year. 

This is particularly important for Year 6 students.

The Value for this week is: 

 Gratitude:

I can demonstrate GRATITUDE by:

• Being thankful for the little things in life
• Showing gratitude for God’s Creation
• Saying thank you to a friend or teacher

Friday 3 July 

• Last day of Term 2

Monday 20 July 

• First day Term 3

Tuesday 4 August

• School Photos -WINTER UNIFORM TO BE WORN 

Friday 4 September 

• Father's Day Breakfast 

Friday 6 November 

• Grandparent's & Great Friends Day Liturgy & Open Day