Dear Families,

Under the Domestic Animals Act 2000, domestic animals may not be taken on to school grounds, without permission of the Principal. So why is it that on most days you may see we have a dog at school. We have carefully selected two dogs to provide proven supporting benefits to our students and staff. Jasper, a three-year old Cavoodle, and Zac, a two-year old Groodle, are well known to our students and staff.

Jasper and Zac are non-malting dogs who have been introduced to our school community in a gradual and supported manner. We always ensure they are under the supervision and control of a responsible adult, who also knows which children in the school are nervous in the presence of dogs. Both Jasper and Zac are fully vaccinated, well-groomed and appropriately trained and responsive to commands.

Having a dog in a primary school has been shown to offer benefits for both students and the school community. Some of the advantages are:

• Emotional support: Dogs can provide comfort and emotional support to students. Interacting with a dog can help reduce anxiety, stress, and feelings of loneliness. This can be particularly beneficial for children who may be going through difficult times or facing challenges.
• Social and communication skills: Dogs can help improve social interactions and communication skills among students. Working with a dog as part of a structured program can encourage teamwork, empathy, and respect for others.
• Increased motivation and engagement: The presence of a dog can make the learning environment more enjoyable and engaging for students. It can serve as a positive reinforcement tool, motivating children to participate actively in various activities and tasks.
• Development of responsibility and empathy: Taking care of a dog fosters a sense of responsibility and empathy in students. They learn to understand and meet the needs of another living being, promoting kindness and compassion.
• Stress reduction for staff: Not only students benefit from having a dog in school, but teachers and staff can also experience stress reduction. The presence of a dog can create a calming atmosphere and contribute to a positive work environment.

Our two dogs have been warmly welcomed (with the Principal’s permission) into our school for the educational and therapeutic benefits they offer. Should you like further details, or a chance to see our dogs in action, please speak with either Tracy Mowlam (tracy.mowlam@cg.catholic.edu.au) or myself.

Walk Safely To School Day

Thank you to Woolworths at Lanyon for providing each of our students with a piece of fresh fruit and a bottle of water last Friday morning. (We certainly did not need a fridge to keep the food and drinks cool and fresh.)

Learning Journeys – Tuesday 13^th June

As we near the half-way mark of the school year, our students and staff would like to open our classrooms to share the good work that has been taking place. Please set aside some time on Tuesday 13^th June, between 3.00 – 4.30pm, to visit your child’s classroom and share with them their work. Further details will be provided in coming weeks.

Enrolments – Close on 26^th May

Our wonderful school is taking 2024 enrolments for all year levels. If you know of someone who is interested in their child joining us next year, please inform them that Kindergarten enrolments should be with us (online or in person) by this Friday, 26^th May.

Reconciliation Day Public Holiday

Next Monday, 29^th May, the ACT will celebrate Reconciliation Day with a public holiday. As it is a public holiday, all schools in the ACT will be closed on that day.

Active travel program evaluation

Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) is undertaking an evaluation of the school active travel programs, including the Ride or Walk to School, Active Streets for Schools and School Crossing Supervisor programs. As part of the evaluation, TCCS is requesting school communities to complete a short online survey about their travel habits to and from school. The survey can be accessed through this link or via the QR code below.

TCCS appreciates your support to evaluate these programs to continue to enhance the program offerings to schools.

Term Three Starting Date – Tuesday 18 July

Monday 17^th July is a pupil free day in all Catholic Primary Schools in Canberra. Teachers will be working together to enhance our planning and teaching strategies. All students will commence Term Three on Tuesday 18^th July.

It was once said…

Blessings to you and your family.

Matt Egan-Richards

Principal

matthewer@cg.catholic.edu.au

Why is Growth Important?

Growing our Minds  

Throughout the school year, we will learn about our brains and brain malleability, discussing how to strengthen our brains and become smarter.  We will learn how to embrace challenges and mistakes and to praise process, effort, and perseverance rather than specific abilities or talents.  In doing this we as a community, will support the development of a growth mindset.     

Growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and ability can be developed through the use of effective effort and effective strategies.  Value is placed on the process rather than the outcome. People with a growth mindset will embrace challenges, persist, and see effort as a way to improve.  They learn from other people’s success, embrace learning new things, become resilient, see mistakes as an opportunity to try again, learn from the mistakes, connect with others, strive and flourish. 

If we have a fixed mindset, we believe that our intelligence and talent are something we are born with and can’t change. This leads us to the false assumption that talent alone, without hard work, will lead to success. Extensive research has shown that children with this mindset give up easily and often avoid challenges.   

Why is having a growth mindset important? 

In a growth mindset, we see ourselves as growing and developing. We believe we can build any skill with effort, persistence and an understanding of the HOW. This can help us create a love of learning and an excitement around new challenges. We see the brain like a muscle, the more effort we put in, the bigger it grows. 

When people learn they have the power to grow their brain and develop their intelligence, they are motivated to try harder, persist when challenged, and embrace opportunities to learn.  These actions lead to higher achievement. 

How can I begin to promote the development of a growth mindset at home? 

Yet is a powerful word and a gift of time. When we let our child know they are not there Yet – it means that they are not bad or good at things. Learning something new takes time and if they do not know how to do something or understand something at first, that is not the end of the story.  They just do not know how to do it or understand it Yet! 

GROWTH MINDSET TIPS  

#1 Praise Your Child for Effort Instead of Talent 

The most important thing we can work towards as parents is to praise our children for effort, not talent. As a Mum of 3 big kids, I am forever telling them – great effort, keep going.. especially when they have a 3000 word assignment due by midnight! 

Research shows that children praised for outcome will choose easier tasks to prove they are smart and gain our approval. Praising children for effort on the other hand, is what leads them to choose harder tasks because they know we value effort. This is why children with a growth mindset ultimately reach higher levels of success.  

To support the growth mindset of our SCA community, please give praise freely for these growth mindset builders:  

• Things accomplished through practice: studying, use of effective strategies, perseverance, connection with others and concentration.  
• Choosing challenging projects, the harder path or at a basic level a different genre to read.  
• Trying different strategies, this could be when reading or finishing that Maths problem  
• Making improvements in every aspect of school life 

#2 Help Your Child Recognise Their Fixed Mindset Voice 

This one is a ‘biggy!!’ The story we tell ourselves is a choice. By understanding and acknowledging when we are using self-defeating and fixed self-talk, we can start to choose a growth mindset voice instead. Recognising that we have a choice of which voice to hear is a big step towards using a growth mindset voice. Over my career, I have lost count of the children that say CAN’T in the first instance – changing that to CAN is so important.  

Here are some growth mindset questions to chat around the dinner table: 

• What were your successes today? 
• Tell me 4 things that made you happy today?  
• You worked really hard on that.   What will you add next? 
• Name one person you are grateful for today and why? 
• What 3 things can you do for someone else this week? 
• What would you like to become better at? 
• Was there anything that made you feel stuck today? How did you overcome it. 

I look forward to hearing about your child’s successes in the coming weeks. 

Jo Reed 

Assistant Principal (Acting)

Winter Appeal Food Drive: The Vinnies Winter appeal is upon us and our Parish Conference has touched base to call on the wonderful support once again from our students and families. This year, Vinnies we are quite desperate for food items for our food parcels as we have had an enormous increase (over 200%) in companions they are supporting over the past 12 months. The Conference has asked for donations of the following “in date” pantry items that we could use in our hampers: soft taco/burrito kits, large tins of tuna, jars of tuna pasta bake and pasta sauce, rice, breakfast cereal, long life milk, coffee, tea bags, pasta, tinned tomatoes, baked beans, spaghetti and tinned fruit. In order to help ensure all items are covered, we are asking grades to focus on a different need (see table below). If you are able to help support Vinnies and the Calwell Conference by supplying a food item listed below, please send items in with your child any time between now and Friday 23rd June (Week 9).

CEO Winter Sleepout: As you may be aware, Mr E is once again participating in the CEO Winter Sleepout on Thursday 22^nd June. To support Mr E and to culminate our Food Drive, we will be holding a Uniform Free Day on Wednesday 21^st June (Week 9), with all monetary donations raised going towards the Sleepout. You can donate online earlier at this website or bring a cash donation on the day https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/fundraisers/mattegan-richards/act

Confirmation: This Thursday our Year 6 students will participate in the Confirmation Retreat Day at Holy Family Church. Our Sacramental Coordinator, Anne Gowen, is leading the day for our students to help prepare them for their Confirmation in Week 7. All students will attend this day, with activities provided for all students to engage with.

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday in the Catholic Church. Pentecost is often described as the ‘Birthday of the Church’, and a time to renew our commitment to continual re-birth of our own faith. This Pentecost, let’s call upon the Holy Spirit to be enlivened in our lives.

Rachel Kennedy

Religious Education Coordinator

Congratulations to the children who will be awarded white cards at the 8.45 am Friday Morning Assembly

2023 TERM 2

WEEK 8 (12th June to 16th June)

Monday 12th June  - Kings Birthday Public Holiday - No school

WEEK 9 (19th June to 23rd June)

Wednesday 21^st June - Uniform Free Day

WEEK 10 (26th June to 30th June)

Friday 30th June - Last Day of Term 2

All dates available on the School Calender 

https://www.sca.act.edu.au/calendar

Player of the Week 

Speckles – Peta

Smiggles – Kasia

Squiggles – Tahlia

Swifts – Indi

Skittles – Chelsi and Zoe

Sparkles – Isla      

Smurfs – the whole team      

Sunshines – the whole team

Stars – Jocelyn

Stars Report

This Saturday the Stars played against TVAFNC. They had a great game putting their shooting and defence skills to work, coming away with a 22-2 win. The team worked together and encouraged each other with our own little cheerleading team.

Congratulations to Chloe P (6B) who placed first at yesterdays Tuggeranong Region 12yo girls' cross country race.

Great effort Chloe!

2023 12&U Football (Soccer) Girls

2023 12&U Football (Soccer) Boys

 For further information : https://schoolsportact.org.au/sports/football-soccer/