Dear McAuley Families

Happy St Patrick’s Day! My Dad (who was Irish) used to say “…everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day!” St Patrick is one of the world’s most popular saints and I suppose celebrating this day reminds us all of the lovely Irish wit and sense of fun we all love to enjoy. It was always a sentimental day for my Dad thinking of home and family. God bless him and all our "Irish" friends and family. 

The calendars are full at home and at school and these busy times can test our resilience.  Whilst we can’t shield our young people from the problems of the world we can and should build their ability to cope with adversity and challenge. I often quote to you the writings of Linda Stade (lindastade.com) and have recently read about 5 powerful ways to build resilience in our kids.  She suggests these things:

1. Safe Adults: Every child needs a “safe person”, an adult who they can trust and feel safe with. For many young people this can be someone at school.  Work to help your child recognise who that person is or could be.
2. Ritual: in our busy lives we can lose track of significant rituals. We need to focus on those things that always happen (the way we celebrate birthdays, the school prayer, family celebrations, Sunday lunch and so on).  Ritual builds resilience.
3. Involvement in Communities: Belonging to a group and a place helps us all feel connected. Schools provide that through class groups, year levels, house groups and so on.  Our children should be involved in a number of teams and groups all with different connections.
4. Mindfulness: A focus on the “moment” helps us all lower our stress levels and be more rational in our decisions. Switching our negative thoughts can assist us feel calmer and more positive.
5. Model Resilient Behaviour: We all need to teach emotional regulation and resilience. We teach those things through modelling. Our kids need to see us work through and talk through our tough times by naming our feelings and showing them the good times will come.

Congratulations:  We have had some outstanding results from our Rep Swimmers and other sports over the last few weeks. Congratulations to them all. These excellent results show the success we can gain from hard work and perseverance.  We are lucky to be able to enjoy many opportunities and I thank the staff and parents who are involved as volunteers to assist.

Building Program:  There was a building meeting this week with representatives from Catholic Education, Architects and the Building Contractor to look at final plans and options. We anticipate that the works in the Primary School will begin by the end of the month and be complete in Term 3. As you know there will be construction and renovation on both campuses this year totalling somewhere in excess of $1.5m.  This is very exciting news and will no doubt massively lift the resources and facilities offered here at McAuley. I am grateful to the patience and flexibility our Year 5/6 classes are showing whilst using temporary “digs” until the works are completed.

Reconciliation: Thanks to the work done in class and at home the Year 3 children were well prepared for the Sacrament of Reconciliation this week. Thank you to our staff and families for their commitment to the sacramental journey of their children. My prayers and best wishes to all. Thanks to Miss Mason and best wishes also to our Eucharist Candidates who are doing their preparation this week and enjoyed their Retreat Day with Miss Mason and Mrs Bathgate.

Community Council AGM: A reminder about our Community Council AGM and election of office bearers to be held TONIGHT Thursday 18 March at 5.00pm. The meeting agenda was emailed out earlier this week. Please make some time to be involved in our Community Council as we work to further build our community and improve the resources of our school.

Mary our Mother… Look after us.