Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,

Last night Good Samaritan parents were invited to a webinar hosted by Dr Adam Fraser. During this webinar Adam spoke about the importance of allowing our children to struggle as they strive in their lives.

By being able to guide our children through struggle and discomfort we actually lead them to a place of being able to strive. Dr Fraser spoke about 4 main points that don’t support children to grow:

1. Society values things being easy 
2. We think struggle is bad for us 
3. We don’t talk about failure 
4. The rise of the ‘Lawnmower’ parent (Parents who make sure the road is clear and free of obstacles for their children)

Struggle is good when it is controlled; when children are acknowledged for the emotions they are feeling within the experience. A huge part of this is through the conversations that we have with our children. 

Adam presented a model for the conversations that we have with our children. This is known as the ‘4H Model’. It involves 4 areas that I will explore over the coming weeks in our newsletters. The ‘4H Model’ is made up of:

Heart: the phase of recognising the emotions

Head: where we bring the logic into the conversation

Hands: the action phase - strategies to try to go forward

Hi Five: Reflection phase - What growth was achieved and what characteristics were displayed?

A huge part of understanding the behaviour of children, and ourselves for that matter, comes from understanding and reading our own emotions and the emotions of others. Have you ever thought about what the phrase ‘Flip your lid’ actually means? Dr Dan Siegal explains in this short video what is happening in our brain when our ‘lids flip’. It works to help us understand how our emotions actually work and why they can be overwhelming.

I hope that those parents who were able to attend the session took some great tips for conversations that will work to support your children through the struggle so that they can strive. I look forward to sharing more with you as the term progresses,

As we journey together, with Jesus,

Toni Sillis

Principal

GSFM Community Events - Calendar Update:

As we continue to live through the experience of the pandemic we are remaining COVID-19 vigilant at Good Samaritan. This means that we are aiming to ensure the welfare and safety of all within our community. Unfortunately, this comes with a cost particularly in terms of the community functions that we would usually enjoy together. Therefore, I have had to make the reluctant decision to cancel the following:

• Year 6 Camp
• Father’s Day BBQ Breakfast & Prayer
• Kindergarten 2021 Orientation to School & Transition to School Playgroup (further details to come)
• Our peer support program which has run so successfully for the last two weeks
• Staff Development Day planned for 11 September Students will now attend school on this day 

 I have put a pause on planning for:

• Year 6 Farewell Celebrations
• Grandparents & Great Friends Liturgy and Open Day
• Book Week Celebration which include gatherings of students, staff and parents

Restrictions Update:

The following will also now take effect for the remainder of term 3 in response to the tightening of restrictions in schools:

Parent/Teacher meetings will be done by phone or Zoom meeting; no face to face meetings will take place

• Students will stay within their stage groups for all learning tasks
• Whole school assemblies will be conducted via Zoom
• Stage meetings will continue as planned for no longer than 15 minutes duration
• Singing/chanting/choir and use of wind musical instruments is not allowed
• Band and Music Bus has been cancelled until further notice

I can only hope that our planning for 2021 will include our wonderful community being able to come together again.

Students displaying flu like symptoms:

• When the reason for a student’s absence is illness with flu-like symptoms (as outlined by NSW Health) students are required to be free of symptoms AND present a negative COVID-19 test, which must be sighted by the school, before returning to school.
• The school continues to encourage parents to have their child tested as soon as possible if they display flu-like symptoms.

Growing Up Digital Australia: Invitation for parents and grandparents to have your say!

Are you a parent, carer or grandparent of children aged 5 to 17?

Do you wonder how digital media and technologies that they live with might affect their wellbeing, health and learning?

If your answer to these questions is ‘yes’, we would invite you to share your views with us here!

The Gonski Institute of Education at the University of NSW are working on a ground-breaking research project called Growing Up Digital Australia. This international research project partners with Harvard Medical School, the University of Alberta and Alberta Teachers Association seeks to understand the health, wellbeing and learning impacts of growing up in a digital world on our young people. A number of Australian organisations are supporting this project, including Departments of Education, parent organisations and teacher associations. This longitudinal study will reframe issues surrounding children’s consumption of media and digital technologies moving into an evidence-based solutions to parents, educators and young people to live healthier, safer and happier lives here in Australia. 

The Growing Up Digital project Phase 1 worked with almost 2,000 educators from around the country and found out what is happening in classrooms through the eyes of teachers and principals. Now with this Phase 2 survey, it is your turn as parents and grandparents to have your say.

This project has Ethics approval, and poses no risk to you. Participation is voluntary and you will never be identified at any stage. By completing the survey, you have the chance to be entered into the draw for one of four $100 Coles Myer gift cards.

This Phase 2 survey will be open until 11 October, 2020. If you are a parent, carer or grandparent of any child aged 5-17, please complete the survey here. You may also share this invitation to take part in this research with others by sharing the link to the questionnaire. If you are a parent, we would be delighted if you would invite one of your child’s grandparents to take part in this survey.

To find out more about our project, and the results from Phase 1, visit The Gonski Institute of Education here.

STUDENT ATTENDANCE

At present there are many students with unexplained absences, it is important to tell the school and provide a reason for your child’s absence. To explain an absence, parents and carers are required to:

• log into the Compass parent portal and enter an explanation

All absences must be explained to the school. Schools are legally required to keep an accurate record of attendance. The New South Wales Department of Education and Communities may take further action in cases where children of compulsory school age have recurring numbers of unjustified absences from school.

Adding a Note or Approval

You can enter notes and approvals in advance, if you know your child is going to be absent from school. To do this go to your Home page and click on the 'Add Attendance Note/Approval' link listed underneath the name of the relevant student. This will take you to the Attendance screen, with a pop-up window to enter details of the note or approval. You can then select the applicable date range.  If the leave is greater than 5 days you will still require Principal approval.

You can also approve your child's unapproved absences or late arrivals. You will receive an alert on your Compass home page letting you know that your child/ren was marked late or absent and there is no note/approval on the system for it. Clicking on this notification will allow you to add a Note or Approval for one or more absences.

Choose the absent reason type from the dropdown list and a comment or further details. Please note that you cannot edit the notes or approvals once they've been saved, and you will need to contact the school if changes need to be made.

Car Park Safety

Safety within the Parish car park is everyone’s business. Students, parents and staff can only be kept safe if everyone is vigilant about their actions when using this space. It is every parent/carer’s responsibility to exercise safe actions within the carpark.This includes using the car park as indicated below:

• A safe speed of 10km/h when driving into the car park
• Do not exit your vehicle when dropping off or picking up students
• Ensure that children are well within the school gate when dropping off before moving off
• Ensure students have safely entered the car and closed the door when picking up
• There is no pedestrian access to the carpark when car lines have begun in both the morning and afternoon
• Gates into the school are closed and locked from the Parish car park following morning assembly
• Turn left only into and out of the carpark

Thank you to those parents who continually exercise the utmost care when accessing the school via the Parish car park. Every child’s safety is everyone’s concern.

Confirmations will take place during the first week of November, 2020 at SJV Fairy Meadow. (Dates to be confirmed ASAP)

Enrolments:  Saturday August 22nd, 2020- 9am-1pm- ST FRANCIS XAVIER CATHEDRAL - 36 Harbour Street, Wollongong.

Enrolment forms will be sent via Compass. A copy of your child’s birth certificate must be supplied with the enrolment form and $30 (cash or EFTPOS). Enrolments close on Wednesday 26th at 1pm. Please call the Cathedral Office (Phone: (02) 4228 6511) if you can’t make the enrolment day. No enrolments/payments will be taken via school.

Confirmation Sessions:

Session 1: Wed 2/9/20 or Thurs 3/9 6pm (45mins)

Session 2: Wed 9/9/20 or Thurs 10/9 6pm (45mins)

Session 3 Wed 16/9/20 or Thurs 17/9 6pm (45mins)

Session 4: Wed 23/9/20 or Thurs 24/9 6pm (45mins)

Sessions will be strictly one student and one parent (no siblings etc). Sessions will be at SJV, Fairy Meadow.

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In order to manage the physical distancing requirements, parents will continue to make appointments at the uniform shop to purchase uniforms.

This can be done through the Compass. 

If you would like to place an order with the uniform shop an order form has been added to the school website under parents/uniform. 

Please complete the form and return with payment to the school office. 

These orders will be filled on uniform shop days.

Monday 24 August 

• Premier Reading Challenge Due 

Friday 11 September

• Walk Safely to School Day 2020

Friday 25 September

• Last Day Term 3

Monday 12 October 

• First Day-Term 4

Monday 19-23 October 

• Book Week Celebrations TBC