Month: March 2022

Resilience is one of those commonly used terms and I often hear people make the statement, ‘kids these days don’t seem to have any resilience!’. Whilst this is quite the sweeping statement, what I do know, is that we all go through difficult circumstances and stressful life events. Whilst I would hope that as adults, we have developed strategies to cope, our kids are still in the thick of developing these as they navigate their way through adolescence. Many of these strategies can be learned and modelled by us as adults.

Whilst we would all like to know what the instant fix is, the truth is that the solutions implemented need to be given time to have the desired effect. Consistency is key.

The link below is a short video on some background on the topic of resilience and importantly, some practical strategies to help our kids implement and use ourselves, to both improve our resilience and wellbeing.

This is the first in a series of parent seminars that the Carramar Leadership team would like to offer as a resource for our parent and student community. Other topics to follow include:

• Responsible use of IT
• On-line gambling
• Brain development and organisation
• Drugs and Alcohol
• Sexualisation of women
• The need to move and
• Managing stress

Link to Resilience Seminar: https://www.loom.com/share/dc1ff678403543e9851fe84657022a8a?sharedAppSource=personal_library 

Mark Batten ( Dean of Makaria)

COMPASS DAY

Compass Day marked the official start of the Compass Program for Year 9 Carramar students on campus last week. Students took part in sessions with former Hockeyroos player Rachael Lynch and Ed Surry from CRU West about resilience, thankfulness and goal setting. Rock climbing, team strategy games and solo time in the second half of the day helped students grow and reflect physically, emotionally and spiritually. The Compass Program will continue to run throughout the year, focusing on the journey to adulthood for Year 9’s.

SPOTLIGHT ON READING

Reading is a benefit at any age for a wide variety of reasons. Some specifics about why reading really is good for you are: reading strengthens your brain, extends vocabulary, enhances knowledge, develops analytical skills, reduces stress, develops focus and strengthens empathy by opening our eyes to other lives and perspectives.

Reading is a marker of lifelong learning. The School supports reading with well-resourced libraries and specific reading programs across all year groups. As part of our support for reading we are spotlighting the reading of our School leaders.

Amanda Roberts

STEM ONE-DAY WORKSHOP

 

St Stephen’s School has no affiliation with this company and the post is simply an ad for their services if required.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM

 

St Stephen’s School has no affiliation with this company and the post is simply an ad for their services if required.

Motivation & Commitment

I have been a gym member for most of my life. I’ve been one of the many people who paid their gym membership but did not use the facilities. I’ve been frustrated with myself for ‘paying for nothing’. But when I dig deeper into this comment, I wasn’t committed. I had the motivation to join the gym and set goals for myself, but I was not committing to the plan. I was breaking the promises I had made to myself.

It’s easy to set goals for ourselves and be inspired after witnessing the accomplishment of others. We may be motivated in the beginning and that motivation may see us through the first few weeks. But what happens when motivation wanes and getting up with a 5am alarm turns into hitting the snooze button several times. That’s when we have a choice to make and that’s where commitment comes in.

Commitment goes beyond motivation. Motivation may have started you on the path, but commitment will lead to choices that can help you reach a goal. Commitment is the action it takes to reach the goals set by motivation. Commitment keeps us going past distractions, past failures until we achieve success.

In a culture where we hear stories of people achieving sporting, academic or career-based goals, we often want to “skip to the good part”, the success. But by doing this, we are skipping past the hard work, the sacrifices, and the reality of what it actually takes to reach a goal. We are skipping the valuable lessons learned along the way, of committing to an action and seeing it through to fruition without giving up.

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into a reality. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over scepticism” Abraham Lincoln

Sarah Stockton-Rice (Dean of Charis)

SPOTLIGHT ON READING

Reading is a benefit at any age for a wide variety of reasons. Some specifics about why reading really is good for you are: reading strengthens your brain, extends vocabulary, enhances knowledge, develops analytical skills, reduces stress, develops focus and strengthens empathy by opening our eyes to other lives and perspectives.

Reading is a marker of lifelong learning. The School supports reading with well-resourced libraries and specific reading programs across all year groups. As part of our support for reading we are spotlighting the reading of our School leaders.

Amanda Roberts

 

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN SCIENCE

In recent weeks, Year 7 and Year 8 Science students have been learning about the wonders of Chemistry.

Year 7’s made ooblek – a non-Newtonian fluid known for its dual personality. Prod it gently and it will flow like a fluid; give it a whack and it will feel like a solid surface.

Year 8 students are learning about physical and chemical change. Students witnessed some exciting (even magical!) Chemistry during class this week.

 

Year 7’s are learning about the states of matter and saw condensation in action when they made a cloud in a jar in their Science lesson.

SEEKING DONATIONS

Can you help the Mowamjum Aboriginal Community make hill trolleys??

We are seeking donations of old bike helmets, knee and elbow pads to assist the students in Mowamjum community to experience the thrill of hill trolleys.

No hills in Mowamjum!! It doesn’t matter, they have that covered, all they need is the resources.

Please donate if you have any of the above items at home and you are no longer using them. Donations can be given to your teacher for collection.

Donna Lund – Service Learning Coordinator

 SECONDARY ASSISTANCE SCHEME

The State Government through the Western Australian Department of Education provides an allowance to assist eligible families with secondary schooling costs.
Parents/guardians must apply for the Secondary Assistance Scheme (SAS) each school year (annually) – applications do not carry forward to future years.
To be eligible for the allowance the parent/guardian must hold a Services Australia (Centrelink) or Veterans’ Affairs card that represents a statement of income for the family.

The allowance consists of two components:
 $115 Clothing Allowance paid directly to the parent/guardian.
 $235 Educational Program Allowance paid directly to the school.
Application is made by the parent or guardian for student/s enrolled in Years 7–12 studying a full-time secondary course at a Western Australian non government (private) school.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Parent or Guardian must hold one of the following cards:
 Centrelink Health Care Card
 Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card
 Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Concession Card

PLEASE NOTE: The only Veterans’ Affairs Card that meets the criteria is a blue card that is issued each year and expires in December each year. This card is income means tested.

Further Information and application forms can be obtained from Reception.

Applications close: 8 April 2022

STEM ONE DAY WORKSHOP

St Stephen’s School has no affiliation with this company and the post is simply an ad for their services if required.