Mercy Messenger - Term 1, Week 8 - 18th March 2022

Catholic Education Week
Last week, we celebrated Catholic Education Week with the theme, “Communities of Faith, Hope and Love”. Activities throughout the week included lunch time sausage sizzle and Lunchbox Concerts for students, a staff breakfast and staff lunch and our House Day Mass, celebrated by Fr Matthias. It was wonderful to come together and acknowledge all the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day.

Year 12 Formal
Another highlight of the week was our Year 12 Formal at the Mackay Entertainment Convention Centre. Congratulations to all of our students who presented so well. It was a great celebration for parents, students and staff. I reminded students that they are our hope for the future. As they draw closer to completing Year 12, they, together with their parents will feel some form of nervousness for the future. This is because they will have to move out of their comfort zone of senior schooling and enter into a new area of change. Change brings growth and adaptation. They should cherish these final months of their schooling, remain motivated to the end and embrace the future. Special thanks to Miss Samantha Nutt and Mrs Juliene Benson for their many hours of preparing this memorable night.

Parent Engagement Evening
Last Tuesday, we held our Parent Engagement Session - ‘Turning School Reluctance into School Resilience’. I wish to thank our College Counsellors who presented. I hope the families who attended found it useful. A summary of the information presented, together with additional helpful resources was emailed to all our community. In writing today, I wish to highlight the importance of attendance at school.

At St Patrick’s College, we have set a benchmark for students to achieve an attendance rate of 90%. Our special days, including carnivals, camps, retreats etc are also compulsory school days and not ‘optional extras’. These days form a part of who we are as a community.

I do understand that there will be times when being absent from school is unavoidable, as in the case of a serious illness etc. It is important that our House Coordinators are well informed of any special circumstances so that we will be able to support and assist families.

Attendance at school is vital for a good education. I draw your attention to the flyer below that shows how just one day away per week will calculate to 2.5 years away from school over a 13 year period. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s attendance, please contact our House Coordinators or Counsellors so we can assist.

St Patrick’s Community
I would like to welcome the following staff to our St Pat’s community: Lorraine McLennan, Alex Shepherd, Alex Pointing-Boyd, Joshua Wilson, Tatiana Picken, Todd Turner, Jasmine Breayley, Cassandra Poelstra and Michael Maunder. Welcome to St Patrick's College.

I was discussing with my class recently the idea of Jesus as a leadership role model. A common barrier to embracing Jesus as a leadership role model is scepticism about the relevance of his teaching to specific twenty-first century leadership situations. In many ways, we are in the same kind of situation as Peter was when Jesus asked him to take some highly unusual and unorthodox steps as he conducted his fishing business. (Luke 5:1-11)

What do you think was going through Peter’s mind when he replied, “Master, we have been fishing all night and we haven’t caught a thing”? It sounds as if Peter might have been thinking something along these lines: I’ve listened to Jesus address the crowds and speak with great power and wisdom. I really respect his knowledge of God’s Word and his skill as a teacher. But now he has asked me to do something that goes totally against my own knowledge and instincts about how to run my fishing business. Jesus doesn’t know fishing; I know fish and fishing. That’s my business, and what Jesus asks is not practical. Besides, doing what he says will probably be a waste of time and energy – and my workers are going to wonder if I have lost my mind!
When I was offered my first teaching job, I asked an old teacher friend for advice. She said, “I have one piece of advice that will carry you through your entire tenure in education: Don’t spend the majority of your time in the staff room!” I wouldn’t understand that until I actually began teaching. She also told me to think positive thoughts instead of focusing on the negative communication I would hear.
In education, it almost seems natural to complain because everything is constantly changing. However, our thoughts always should reflect what we can do to move with the change and work for good.
During my first year as a teacher, I worked with a teacher who said she would never make the changes that were being demanded of us. She did not return the following year! Well, that eye-opening experience taught me to have a positive attitude and do my best whatever was required or requested. As educators, it is our job to do all we can to meet the expectations not only of our students and parents but also of our leadership team. Rather than getting “hung up” on a request, spend your energy on how you can make the change work in a positive way for you and your students.

We are at that time of the semester when the assignments are beginning to mount up. This can be a new experience for our Year 7’s and not always a pleasant time for our older students.

Assignments in these middle years are an assessment tool used to see how students can apply their knowledge in a more extended format than what exams provide. Students are often stepped through the task and provided time for completion in class, however all will need some time attributed to them at home, which increases as students move through the years. Here are some pointers for successful assignment completion for younger secondary students:

Understand the task - take clear notes in class and know what you have to do.
Plan ahead - don’t leave your assignment to the last minute, it will never be your best work!
Budget your time - Allow time for the fun stuff as well as study, there is room for it all!
Avoid distractions - find a quiet place and put your phone away, only use your iPad when necessary.
Avoid studying on your bed - too comfy! You need to work at a desk or table so you feel like you are working, the brain recognises this and responds accordingly.
Keep moving forward - if you are stuck, move on and see your teacher the next day.
Take breaks - you have to keep your saw sharpened, so take a spell and re-energise.
Get organised - make sure you bring everything home you need and take it back to school the next day.
Submit drafts and get feedback from your teacher - most important! It’s hard to nail it the first time so find out what you need to improve on.

Sometimes assignments may take the place of regular homework, and on other occasions it may be in addition. Typically it is expected that Year 7 students will do one hour of homework a week per subject on average. Some subjects are not “homework heavy”, while others are. When averaged out, a total of 5-7 hours of homework per week would be a reasonable expectation. This will increase year to year until the end of Year 10, when a child’s chosen senior pathway will dictate the amount of homework/study to be completed. For a student wishing to achieve a high ATAR score, up to 3 hours per night would be required. It is vital that our youngest students develop good study habits so they will be well equipped to cope with the pressures of senior studies in time to come.

Homework will normally be set by the class teacher using Google Classroom or the Student Diary. We would encourage all students to physically write down their homework in their diary, and to write assignment due dates in an assessment planner. The transfer from cognition to physical action does help embed what needs to be done in a child’s thinking - when we write something down we have more chance of remembering it - technology isn’t always the answer! By encouraging these good habits, we help set our children up for long term success.

This week an email was sent home regarding Extension Application processes. We have an established process to create equity in that all students have a relatively equal time to complete work. In these current circumstances where COVID-related absences are frequent, it is important that students are able to keep as up to date with school work as possible, while at the same time, teachers allowing students who have been unwell a fair amount of time to catch up. Communication with teachers and House Coordinators will ensure we take the best approach in supporting your child.

In week 6, myself (Year 8 and 10 Student Counsellor) and Darcie O’Grady (Year 7and 9 Student Counsellor) addressed the Year 7 cohort to discuss the difference between stress and anxiety and go through some strategies to manage their stress. There are a great deal of changes that occur when students move from primary to secondary school, and life does become more challenging. Educating students on how to manage the stress of life now is going to assist them in managing their own mental health more effectively as they get older.

During this presentation, we outlined the symptoms of stress and anxiety and their similarities, such as poor sleep, irritability, frequent illness, feeling overwhelmed and difficulty concentrating, to name a few. We also discussed why we have these physiological symptoms when we are stressed and anxious. When something triggers our anxiety or stress, our amygdala in our brain senses danger, releasing stress hormones throughout our body, causing these responses. These hormones force our attention to the “threat”. We went over what might be a trigger for them. There were lots of great examples, one in particular being assessment, especially oral presentations.

We also outlined the benefits of stress. A moderate amount of stress can strengthen our memory and attention span, making us more productive. It can also motivate us to succeed, build resilience, and boost our immune system.

The main difference we discussed between anxiety and stress is that stress is short term, and once the trigger has passed, we should return to a normal state. Anxiety however is a response to our thoughts. Once the fear or trigger has passed, a person with anxiety will then begin to worry about something else.

There are a number of strategies that you can put in place to assist in managing your stress. During this presentation, we focused on the following five:

Focus on the things you can control - if you can do something about your trigger, take action; if not, let it go.
Manage your time - we discussed setting limits and prioritising their work.
Take care of your body - physical health is integral for maintaining optimal mental health.
Use positive self-talk - being kind to yourself was our main focus here. We talked about being your own best friend and also encouraging yourself to do your best.
Talk to an adult or a friend - talking it out can be highly beneficial and help to get things off your chest. It can also help to get different opinions on how to manage your concern.

As adults we are regularly placed in stressful situations and it is important that our young people learn how to manage now, while they have the guidance of their parents and teachers.

If you would like any further information on how to assist your student in managing their stress, or you have any other concerns, feel free to email myself (donnetta_trannore@rok.catholic.edu.au ) or Darcie O’Grady (darcie_ogrady@rok.catholic.edu.au) and we will be happy to assist in any way we can.