Dear Parents

As many of you would be aware enrolment interviews are well underway. Those of you with children entering Year 7 are beginning to deal with the teenage years. The article below you will find informative and hopefully comforting as you and your children navigate this time of great change.

As the prefrontal cortex of tweens develops, they’re malleable, impulsive and impressionable. They’re capable of reasoning intellectually, interpreting emotions, and taking a moral stand, but they lack perspective or life experience. Sorting out social drama can consume large chunks of their time, and they tend to experience emotions in polarities. Any mishap can register as a catastrophe, and they have little understanding that negative feelings are temporary. They’re trying to figure out what coping skills work for them and where their strengths and interests align. They’re hyper-aware of an invisible audience judging their every move and picking up on their shortcomings and limits. It’s a time of insecurity, hormonal changes and contradictions. The only other time a child experiences so much development is between birth and age two!      

BEING A YOUNG ADOLESCENT GROWING UP IN TODAY’S RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD

Technology is omnipresent. Many tweens are online almost constantly which has many benefits but also poses a number of challenges: staying safe, being kind, dealing with bullying, making sense of violent news clips and pornography, cheating in school, multi-tasking, staying up too late and preserving one’s reputation. Looking at brushed-up photos on social media amps up worries about appearance, contributing to negative body images. There’s also the problem of online material being up there for good.

Tweens have more mental-health issues. Today’s families are more open about divorce, job losses and special needs; also, many parents are hyper-involved which can result in tweens having less autonomy and not feeling they have as much control over their fates. They often feel a lot of emphasis on achievement and competition. They need space to learn problem-solving skills, make mistakes, resolve conflicts and build a sense of confidence and agency.

Hate material is competing with positive identity work. Racism, antisemitism and homophobia are heightened topics in recent years, even while there’s greater interest in gay-straight spectrum issues, political activism and efforts to build emotionally healthy girls and boys. Things may be moving in the right direction. Tweens have always been tuned into justice and fairness, but today’s tweens are perhaps even more likely to take on an activist role, such as lobbying for the environment.

The key, as always, is finding the right balance – not an easy thing to do but, again as always, open lines of communication between tweens, parents and school are essential.

This Thursday it was the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

The staff and students gathered to give thanks and praise for Mary’s grace-filled and blessed life and to honour her assumption into Heaven. In the gospel, we heard Elizabeth proclaim that Mary was blessed because she believed with deep trust that the promise made to her by God would come about.

It is a reminder to each of us to put our trust in God who promises to be with us as we journey through life. We are called to make room for God in our lives and so become fully human and alive; more deeply the person God has called us to be.

Sandhill Artefacts, (Michael Lyons Narrandera) has provided our school with traditional "Coolamons". These beautiful, wood carved vessels will be used in special ceremonies, including school Masses, which will further enhance our commitment in celebrating our indigenous culture.

Amelia, Blaze and Jasper are pictured with the beautiful 'coolamons'. 

School fee invoices were emailed last week - for those who pay by the term, fees are due by the 6th September. Thank you for your support. 

On Wednesday the 7th of August, years 9 and 10 travelled to Canberra for very interesting tours around the Australian War Memorial and the Parliament House. We visited the War Memorial first and had an hour tour, year 9 looked at WWI and WWII while year 10 looked at the Vietnam War. Both tours had good feedback and positive comments from students, teachers and the War Memorial staff. After the War Memorial we went to Parliament House for another tour where we got to see the Senate and the House of Representatives. This tour only went for 45 minutes but was still very interesting. The tour also had positive feedback and comments from everyone involved. We would like to thank Mr Hughes, Mr Ellison and Miss Greacen for the opportunity to see two of Australia’s most famous icons, we greatly appreciate it. We would also like to thank Goodes Coaches for taking us to and from Canberra and from venue to venue, we appreciate your time and effort to make the day as great as it was. 

Written by Abby Skein and Jack Beavan. 

Keep an eye on the McAuley Electronic Calendar for all upcoming dates.

Hoodies are NOT school uniform and as such are not to be worn under the school jacket to school or on out of school sporting/days/excursions. School sloppy joes or woollen jumpers are available at Swans and are be worn under the school jacket. Year 10 may also wear their Year 10 jumper.

Students should be in full correct school uniform when representing the school. This includes hats and white socks.

Parents, we ask for your support please.

BEST WISHES to our Public Speaking Reps who will do us proud in the next round of 'speak-offs' - which will be held in beautiful Gundagai this Wednesday 21st August.

We are very proud of you all - it can certainly be difficult to speak in public but these students are all showing such poise and confidence. 

Thank you to Tumut Toast Masters, Trish Matthews and Leonie Flint who have been coaching the children. We appreciate your support and time ladies. 

Year 5/6 Reps:  Hunter Stiles, Reese Boyd, Phoebe Oag and Georgie Austen

Year 3/4 Reps:  Oliver Henderson, Tyler Annetts, Zoe Bathgate and Cooper Ambrose. 

Our highly anticipated BOOK WEEK PARADE will be held next Tuesday 20th August.

This will commence at 11:30am when the K-6 children will parade their costumes to Blakeney Lodge. This will be followed by a Parent/Grandparent viewing parade at approx. noon. 

Year 8 enjoyed cooking chicken and ricotta sausage rolls last week during their practical Food Tech Lesson. The results look delicious!

As promised, please enjoy some great photos of the 'Great Ocean Cheese Your Own Creation Competition'. Students have brought to life their own imaginative dairy creations! Beautiful, nutritious meals which will now be judged for inclusion in the 2020 Great Ocent Road Calendar. Good luck everyone!

Thank you to our volunteers who continue to keep our canteens operational. Your support is very much appreciated.

NEXT WEEK'S ROSTER

Monday 19th: Anita Davis

Wednesday 21st:  Amilee McIntosh

Friday 23rd:  Amanda Sutton and Narissa Watts. 

DON'T FORGET KELLIE'S GREAT MEAL DEALS - Monday - Lasagne, Wednesday - Fettuccine Cabonara, Friday - Baked potato with ham, pineapple, cheese and sour cream.

Order via QKR! or the paper bag system. 

3/4 G have been very busy and interested in experimenting with the design and shapes of bridges.

This experiment displayed the strength of a simple paper bridge by adding an arch. Great work students....and Ms Gray.

As a follow up to the outstanding results in the recent Australian Geography Competition - we are now proud to publish photos of the students being awarded their certificates. 

Jordan Sanbrook - TOP 1% IN AUSTRALIA - AN OUTSTANDING RESULT Jordan!

Lauren Hannig and Jake Crane - HIGH DISTINCTION

Jacob Spicer, Kayla Smit, Gabriella Olsen, Jessica Kelly, Charlie Braun, Ellisha Olsen, Lucinda Roche - DISTINCTION

Maya Stiles, Joshua Smith, Elly Dumbrell, Maggie Dalisay, Oliver McKay, Emily Kelly, Matilda Cathcart, Liam Buckley - CREDIT

Luke Wen, Tatenda Muwandi, Bisman Romana, Amelia Grant, Matthew Mitchell, Lottie McMahon, Jacob Ambrose, Molly Webb, Chloe Turnbull, Daniel Smith, Russell Guppy, Scott Ferguson, Holly Bird - PARTICIPATION.

What a great result from our secondary students - the school community is very proud of you all. 

During Peer Support this week, the children looked at the notion that what they choose to spend their time on often reflects the values they have.

The activities assisted them in identifying ways to care for themselves and others, further developing understanding that they are caring when they notice the feelings and needs of yourself and of others.

During the week ahead, encourage your child to demonstrate they are caring by doing something helpful or displaying kindness around the home.

- Melissa Hotham. 

The following days have been allocated for Kindergarten Orientation: 
Tuesday 29th October, Wednesday 6th November, Thursday 14th November from 9:30am to 3:00pm. Interviews are currently underway with Principal, Parent and Child. Please contact the school to make a suitable time for your interview if you have not already done so.