10 November 2017

Newsletter Articles

From the Principal

Resilience

Between stimulus and response, there is a space
(where) we choose our response.
Viktor Frankl

Many children find conflict stressful and difficult to resolve. How they choose to react to a problem can at times escalate it further. The terms 'acting' and 'responding' are quite different. Reacting is driven by emotions with a focus on defending ourselves. It is often sporadic and fuelled by body changes such as racing heart, churning stomach and a heightened sense of being alert. Responding, on the other hand, is mindful and logical and less guided by emotion. In choosing to respond instead of reacting involves focusing on breathing to calm down, being aware of what is happening in our body and actively releasing the tension. Mindful thinking and helpful self-talk increase resilience and in turn, help to resolve the problem. Reacting to conflict often gives the other person power over you, because they see you upset, responding is empowering yourself to be in control of your emotions and thinking constructively about your behaviour choices.

As parents and teachers, it is our role to help guide students to identify these responses and offer a constructive mindset to help them with these challenges.

College Fair a great success!

The College Twilight Fair was a great success! Walking around in the cold and wet conditions, I was very impressed by the commitment shown by a wide variety of students, parents and staff who supported this Community event. I was particularly impressed by the wood-chopping event hosted by the Lovell family. The commitment and dedication of Will, Owen and Lawson was fantastic. There were many different stalls with marvellous creations particularly the craft stall, an amazing variety of food on offer, as usual, the cake stall provided delicious take-home desserts and who could forget the-minute-to-win-it challenges. There is still time to purchase tickets for the College raffle (closing 20 November) see more details below.

An event of this calibre requires a lot of hard work and planning. Thank you to the students and parents and many staff members especially Mrs Sharlene Duggan, Mrs Nikki O’Neill, Mrs Kathy Cane Mr Des Kay, Mr Damian Burnett, supported by College Board members.

Thank you for the kind generosity of many community businesses and organisations who donated money and prizes, time and equipment. Without your valuable support, the College would be unable to host such a wonderful event - see details below.

College Fair

Thank you

Fair Raffle

This College Fair Raffle has some excellent prizes to be won including:

• Bicheno by the Bay Holiday vouchers
• Pennicott Boat Cruise voucher
• Duggan’s Gravel and Concrete voucher

These are only a few of the great prizes on offer!

Tickets are $2 each and available from the College Office. We ask that families please return all raffle books (sold or unsold) and additional raffle books are available from the College Office. The raffle will be drawn on Monday 20 November 2017 and winners published in the Huon News on Wednesday 22 November 2017.

General Notices

2017 School Fees and Levies

Thank you to everyone who has settled or has arrangements in place for 2017 School Fees and Levies. There is no doubt that families place a high priority on obtaining a quality education for their children and many families make sacrifices to meet their financial obligations to the College. If you require a confidential conversation with the College Business Manager: Mrs Kelly Du Bois, please contact her via the College Office (03) 6295 1541 to arrange an appointment.

Parent Survey

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jesse Cowen, who on the weekend won the “Telstra Business Centre Geilston Bay Junior Boy Tennis Championships" in the 10 and under boys singles! Well done.

Canteen Volunteers

The Canteen needs volunteers! If you can assist, please contact the College office outlining your availability. To work as a volunteer with vulnerable people (including children) anywhere in Tasmania each volunteer requires a current Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) Registration.

Kindergarten Enrolments

SMS Absence Notification

Is your child unwell? Need to contact the College Office? The College accepts SMS absentee notifications. Please SMS: 0488 863 246 with your child's name, year and reason for the absence. Please save this number in your phone for future reference.

College Uniform Shop

The College Uniform Shop has moved and is now located within the College the shop is open (term-time only):

• Monday’s - 2.30pm until 3.30pm
• Wednesday’s - 2.30pm until 3.30pm

Orders can be placed via phone or email. Ordered items can then be collected from the College Office or sent home with students. A copy of the current uniform price list can be found at the link below:

What’s been happening at SJCC?

Early Years Learn to Swim

Last week the K-Year 2 students participated in 'Learn to Swim' program and water safety lessons!

Year 10 Grote Reber Museum Visit

On Wednesday 1 November, Year 10 students visited the Grote Reber museum and Radio Telescope at Cambridge. As we arrived the telescope was collecting information about the centre of Black Holes to send to a Russian research team on the Space Station.

Our tour guide showed us the control room - a small demountable room full of electronic equipment that is used to control the telescope but also detects minute radio waves billions of light years away.

Students had the opportunity to play with a miniature radio telescope to help them better understand how it works. Using this telescope the students found the sun and heard the sound it makes, and Geoffrey found a geostationary satellite that was orbiting Earth.

Inside the museum, we learnt how Grote Reber was a pioneer of radio astronomy. He conducted the first sky survey in the radio frequencies and his radio antenna was the second ever to be used for astronomical purposes and the first parabolic reflecting antenna to be used as a radio telescope. For nearly a decade he was the world's only radio astronomer.

Students used the Virtual Reality Theatre, (provided by the Swinburne University of Technology) to view space documentaries in 3D. These included a comparison between our sun and other stars in the universe and what life on Mars might be like if humans were to live there.

Questacon

On Wednesday, the College Primary and Secondary students participated in sessions hosted by Questacon representatives. The sessions focused on force and pressure. Students had a great time interacting with the Scientists!

Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre and its programmes are administered by within the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Questacon strive to promote greater understanding and awareness of Science and Technology within the community. They are committed to making that experience fun, interactive, and relevant.

Athletics Carnival Champions

Overall Year 3 Boy: Darcy Direen
Overall Year 3 Girl: Anikah Jones
Track: Darcy Direen / Anikah Jones
Field: Darcy Direen / Anikah Jones

Overall Year 4 Boy: Jesse Cowen
Overall Year 4 Girl: Indiana Coulson
Track: Jesse Cowen / Maiya Jones
Field: Jesse Cowen / Indiana Coulson

Overall Year 5 Boy: Harry Brereton
Overall Year 5 Girl: Coral Lovell
Track: Harry Brereton / Coral Lovell
Field: Bailey Harris / Coral Lovell

Overall Year 6 Boy: Cameron Boucher
Overall Year 6 Girl: Isabelle Menzies
Track: Caleb Clark / Isabelle Menzies
Field: Cameron Boucher / Ivy O’Neill

Overall Year 7 Boy: Will Clifford
Overall Year 7 Girl: Hannah Brereton
Track: Will Clifford / Phoebe O’Neill
Field: Ambrose Brereton / Hannah Brereton

Overall Year 8 Boy: Travis Hickey
Overall Year 8 Girl: Brielle Gordon
Track: Travis Hickey / Brielle Gordon
Field: Jayden Richards / Leah Polley

Overall Year 9 Boy: Dylan Cowen
Overall Year 9 Girl: Jin Ju Redding
Track: Reece Scotland / Jin Ju Redding
Field: Dylan Cowen / Monica Robbie

Overall Year 10 Boy: Geoffrey Crowe
Overall Year 10 Girl: Alice Burleigh McCall
Track: Geoffrey Crowe / Alice Burleigh McCall
Field: Geoffrey Crowe / Alice Burleigh McCall

Community Notices