Term 3 - Week 6 / 17th August 2023

Principal - Ms Katrina Dunne

An article entitled “Good Mental Health Habits For Kids”, from Michael Grose, one of Australia’s leading parent educators, addresses the necessity of nurturing good mental health in our children. He writes, ‘Now, it may seem strange to talk about this. Shouldn’t all children naturally have good mental health habits?' After all, childhood is supposed to be a pretty relaxed time of life, free from the pressures and stresses that come hand in hand with adulthood.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem that way. According to the Australian Psychological Society one in seven Australian children experience some type of mental health issue, with ADHD, anxiety and depression being the most common. Having good mental health doesn’t mean children don’t experience difficulties or worries and as a parent it’s useful to reflect on the mental health habits that you promote in your kids.

Here are ways to promote good mental health and wellbeing in our children:

1. Model good mental health habits: If you live constantly with stress then consider ways to actively minimise it, such as getting regular exercise, plenty of sleep and doing relaxation. Not only will this improve your mental health, and make you easier to live with, it will send a strong positive message that mental health is important. It’s worth remembering that kids learn what they live, so make sure they see good mental health habits firsthand.
   
2. Make sure they get enough sleep: Sleep is one of the building blocks of mental health and wellbeing. Many children and just about all teenagers are sleep-deprived at the moment. One of the single most powerful strategies to improve kids’ abilities to cope with stressful or changing situations is to ensure they get enough sleep.
3. Encourage your kids to exercise: When my parents would tell me all those years ago to turn the television off and go outside and play, they didn’t know they were promoting good mental health. Exercise stimulates the chemicals that improve mood and release the stress that builds up over a day. An hour’s movement per day seems the minimum for kids.
4. Encourage creative outlets: Kids should practise creativity if for no other reason than it helps them experience the state of ‘flow’. This is the state of getting so immersed in an activity that you forget about time and place.
5. Provide a space of their own: Children of all ages benefit from having some space of their own where they can think.
6. Talk about their troubles: A problem shared is a problem halved. Talking about what’s worrying you is a great way to remove the burden of worry and reduce anxiousness. Some kids bottle up what’s inside, while others will catastrophise a situation, which can make matters seem worse. If your child has a problem let them know that their concerns are important to you. Kids often can’t tell you what may be wrong, so be observant and gently ask questions to help gain a clearer picture of how kids may be feeling.
7. Help them relax: Make sure your child has a hobby or activity that relaxes them. The ability to relax and get away from the stresses of everyday life is essential. Some children who have real difficulty switching off may benefit from practising meditation or mindfulness, but most kids just need time to chill out so they can relax naturally.
8. Have two routines – weekday and weekend: Most households are pretty highly scheduled these days. There are routines for getting up, coming home, eating meals and going to bed. These structures are necessary when we’re busy. Families need a second, more relaxed weekend routine that helps kids relax and unwind. It’s important to have this release valve if families are flat out busy during the week.
9. Foster volunteering and helpfulness: Social isolation is a huge predictor of poor mental health. Encourage your child to be connected to and help others in any way possible.
10. Bring fun and playfulness into their lives: Kids should be the kings and queens of play however, some children live such full-on, organised lives that much of the natural fun and spontaneity has been stripped from their everyday life. Mucking around, which is code for having fun, is something many children of this generation don’t have time for. If you see your child constantly stressed or overwhelmed by events, change the mood by watching a movie together, joining them in a game or seeking other ways to have some fun.

These ideas seem common sense. However, as kids’ lives get busier these essentials get squeezed out. See these habits as the building blocks of mental health. Don’t ignore or trivialise them. Talk to your children and tie these activities to their and your mental health.

Prep Enrolments 2024

Does your child turn 5 by 30^th June 2024? Enrolment interviews for Prep 2024 will take place in Week 8 of this term. Please contact Deidre or Loretta in the school office to arrange an appointment for an enrolment interview. Our Mini-Mary’s pre-prep program will be held in Term 4.

Performing Arts Festival

We have many students entering in a variety of sections at the Performing Arts Festival next week. Thank you to our teachers and parents for supporting this wonderful community event. Classes will be transported to and from the Racecourse for all large group entries. Students are required in full formal uniform for Thursday and Friday next week. Good luck to all participants.

Have a fabulous fortnight.

Cheers,

Katrina

Date Claimers

APRE - Mrs Kirsty Lines

Sacramental Program

A huge thank you to everyone who came to support our students on Sunday morning as they received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Ken Howell.  We look forward to welcoming Bishop Ken in October at the blessing of our refurbished classrooms.    Congratulations to Maddie, Beau, Peggy, Maggie, Zoe and Ruby!

Please see photos below.

Feast of the Assumption of Mary

On Tuesday we celebrated the feast day of the Assumption of Mary, a special day in the liturgical calendar.  Not only a Holy Day of Obligation, it is also our Parish feast day. 

The feast day commemorates the glorification of Mary, chosen by God to be the Mother of Jesus, the Christ.  The feast acquired a special status as a feast of Mary when Pope Pius XII in 1950 defined the Assumption as a dogma of faith.

We were especially proud of our Yr 4 class, who stepped up in the absence of 5/6 and led the school in the Mass.  Thank you all parents, families and friends who attended to support our students.  Please see photos below.

Wishing you a blessed fortnight,

Kirsty Lines

APRE

Learning Support News - Mrs Belinda Phillips

Next week we are lucky enough to have a support service team from Language Disorder Australia coming to work at the school. They will work with several students, teachers and myself. Their School Support Services multidisciplinary team of specialists will work with staff to develop individualised approaches that we can put in place to help our students who experience language and literacy difficulties. We are very lucky to have the specialist knowledge and support from these government funded services to provide further expertise to our teachers and improve learning outcomes for students. 

Last week, Mrs McPhee and I attended the Early Years Network Professional Development session with Toowoomba Catholic Schools. It was a great opportunity to liaise with teachers of the early years and explore relevant topics and teaching including the inclusion of decodable texts in early years reading. This aligns with the new Australian Curriculum Version 9 English Curriculum. There was such great discussion and wonderful teaching ideas, and it was reassuring to us that our reading approach and intervention focus is on the right path for early years’ reading success.  

With Science week upon us, I thought it would be very fitting to have Science as our Auslan sign.

Enjoy National Science Week!

Have a great week.

Belinda Phillips

The Auslan sign for this week is - 

SCIENCE

The action is just like you are pouring chemicals into a larger test tube.

Library - Mrs Michelle Sheehan

The countdown is on…Book Week Character Parade next Tuesday.

Need some inspiration, check out our Year 3 students from last year.

In the library we have been utilising the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week books as a stimulus for our lessons.

The Year One students enjoyed utilising the characters from the book, ‘Snap’ to upload photos to create a book character poster using the Popplet App.

The Year Four students loved listening to the story, Frank’s Red Hat and completed a comprehension Kahoot with both literal and inferred questions to demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Out Now Issue 6

Utilise Bookplus to explore additional content and to help with book selection.

There is so much more to Book Club than just buying books. You are making a huge difference to your child’s life through books and reading.

Your purchase also gives Rewards back to your school for additional learning and literacy resources.

Lego is still a popular lunchtime activity in the library.

Elliott showcasing his creation.

HPE and Sport - Miss Ashleigh Harding

It has been a busy start to term 3! We have welcomed QLD Touch Football, NRL and Cricket Queensland to our school to offer sessions for students. All students have consistently shown the Mercy values (especially excellence) with these external agencies. We have also held our school athletics carnival which led to 13 records being broken! A number of students attended the District Athletics Carnival, and we are excited to announce that 10 students were selected to attend the Regional Athletics Carnival in St George. The remaining district sport to take place is the Aquathlon (11-12 years) and Triathlon (13-19 years). Please let the school know asap if your child is eager to attend the Southwest trials.

All classes are currently completing the Daniel Morcombe unit for their Health component. This involves understanding how to be safe and to recognise, react and report in situations where appropriate.

Students have been showing off their skills during the breaks with our team competition. We currently have 8 teams (that students have nominated) and will be competing against each other in a variety of games. Teams will receive points for their efforts. The winning team will be selecting our fun lunch games in week 10!

Congratulations to the following students who have been chosen to represent the school at the Track and Field South West Regional Trials  on Thursday 31st August at St George. 

Best of luck to you all

August Birthdays

P & F News

Flyers