Dear Parents and Caregivers,

What a wonderful and fun day we had for our school Athletics Carnival last week! It was great to see our students enjoying the competition, exercise and fun of the day. We were also delighted to have so many parents in attendance to see their children participate on the day. Thanks to Sarah Tarquinio for great organisation and making sure the day ran like clock work. Thank you to the STMPA and all parents who assisted with the cooking of 600 sausages, your help was much appreciated.

Construction on the carpark works have begun. Thank you for your understanding as staff parking on North Street entrance may make drop off and pick up more congested for some time. The car park is expected to be completed by the end of November.

Dreaming with eyes open is the theme next week as we celebrate one of our favourite weeks of the year in Book Week. We look forward to a fun week celebrating books and reading. Please see the information below about book week at STM, culminating in our Book Week parade on Friday, we look forward to welcoming many parents to our parade.

Father's day is fast approaching and we are delighted we can celebrate onsite on Friday 2nd September. We also have the Father's Day stall happening the same day. Please check the invitation in this newsletter and reply by next Thursday. We look forward to seeing lots of Dads and father figures at school for breakfast. Thank you to the STMPA for organising this event for our community.

Staff update

On Wednesday we were delighted to welcome our new principal David Hurn to STM. David had a walk around the school and met the staff and some students. David will return next Tuesday to continue his transition to STM and looks forward to meeting more of our students.

Amy Godfrey has been class teacher of 3B since the start of Term 3. We welcome Amy to our school and have been delighted with the manner in which she has adjusted to our staff. Amy is also a proud past student of STM.

Our PM class teacher, Deanna Panuccio has accepted a teaching position at Mary Queen of Heaven School in Greenvale for 2023. While we will be so sad to see Deanna leave us at the end of the year, this position as a foundation staff member at a brand new school is a very exciting one for Deanna and we wish her well.

We celebrated 2 new arrivals this week:

• Congratulations to LSO Belinda Surace on the arrival on 1st August of her beautiful baby girl, Seline.

• Congratulations to 3B class teacher Emma Kelly on the arrival of her baby boy Mason.

A reminder that school fee payments are now due. Thank you to all the families who have met your financial commitment to STM this year.

Lastly as planning for 2023 begins, could any families in Year Prep - Year 5 who will not be returning to STM in 2023 please let us know in writing asap.

Thanks for your continued support of our great school,

Geraldine & Leadership Team

In 2022, our school is participating in Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS). MACSSIS is an annual process whereby schools listen to the thoughts and feelings students, families and staff have about how their school can improve. These surveys help inform the ongoing improvement of schools across the Archdiocese of Melbourne. School staff, children in years 4-6 and school families are asked to complete the survey.

One of the main goals of the family survey is to identify the strengths and areas for improvement in our school. MACSSIS data benefits everyone within our school and provides valuable community insights on areas that each school can focus on. Our school believes it is important to encourage families to have a voice and contribute to shaping the ongoing improvement of the school.

Families will each receive an email with unique username and PIN to access the survey in the coming week. The survey is available online, can be accessed from Monday 29 August and needs to be completed by Friday 16 September 2022. This survey may only be completed once.

Our school would like to thank those who participate. We encourage you to send us a screenshot of the survey completion message to go into a draw to win a $200 Academy uniform voucher. Please send your screenshot to Kate Korber via kkorber@stmhadfield.catholic.edu.au.

Please keep a look out for the email which will come from ORIMA RESEARCH (not the school). I will notify our families once these have been sent out.

Thank you

Kate Korber

STMPA New Letter Update

If you have ever wanted a perfect day in winter, 8^th of August was it! A perfect day for the STM athletics carnival. It was heart-warming to see so many families and friends cheering on their little athletes and the kids having a blast taking part in different events.

The sports day sausage sizzle was a big success.

STMPA sold approximately 600 sausages and about 50 bottles of water fundraising a net total of $384.60 .

I would like to take this opportunity to Thank all the parent volunteers who helped us to make this a success. Your company and support made it very enjoyable.

A huge Thank You to Rita, Mary, Spiro and Natalie for getting everything that was needed to the grounds and for helping throughout the day, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without your support.

A big Thank You to all the STMPA mums and dads who supported the event, especially Amanda Hildebrandt, Veronica Pitt, Brad Shiells and Helen Karabatos. If I missed your name, my apologies and a big Thank You for your support!

Upcoming Events

• Father’s Day Breakfast – 2^nd September

Breakfast will be held in the hall between 7:30am and 8:30am.

Serving: Bacon and egg rolls, tea and coffee (please order your bacon and egg roll via the google link emailed out 17^th August or see above information)

• Father’s Day Stall – 2^nd September

From 9:30am onwards, time will be allocated to all grades

Siblings to shop together

• STM Art Show – 13^th October

Sports green will be available to those who would like to bring in a picnic with a coffee cart and a sausage sizzle catering to your food and caffeine needs.

• Parent Trivia Night - TBD

Vacant STMPA positions

Two positions are still vacant and seeking volunteers to join as STMPA Secretary and Classroom Representatives of 5B.

Communication Channels

Various channels (Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger) currently exist where regular information is shared amongst parents of each year level. Your classroom representative can direct you to the right channel for up-to-date information STMPA activities.

Regards

Umith Wickramasinghe

When kids need a parental push

Watching your child or young person manage their nervous moments can be challenging for parents, but it comes with the territory. How you react to an anxiety-inducing moment can influence the way kids approach uncomfortable situations in the future.

Sadly, avoidance is a well-entrenched pattern of behaviour that holds many kids back from experiencing life as they would like. The comfort zone that many crave to stay in can be like maximum security prison where there’s no escape. It’s incumbent upon parents to make sure participation rather than avoidance becomes the most likely response even when kids feel nervous and tense.

Holding firm in the face of resistance

Recently, Melanie, a mother of four, told me how she approached her teenage daughter’s nervousness about taking a part-time job. Fifteen-year-old Chloe, a quiet, thoughtful, studious girl wanted a job but was too nervous to go for an interview. Melanie took a firm stance with her daughter and insisted that she go for the job interview, despite some incredibly strong resistance.

Melanie said, “I drove Chloe to the interview. She was so nervous that she was shaking. As we got closer Chloe begged me not to make her do it. I felt so sorry for her, but I wouldn’t let her off the hook. I knew that if she wouldn’t do this then she’d always avoid the things that make her nervous. I told her that there was no option. This is something she had to do.”

Chloe was successful with the job interview. The first thing she did when she got home was to thank Melanie for holding her ground and insisting that she go for the interview.

Making decisions in a child’s best interests

There’s a natural tendency for kids to avoid doing activities where they may fail, struggle or even risk being laughed at. At such times, parents who can see the bigger picture need to make decisions for their child to prevent the development of negative patterns of behaviour that are so difficult to break. It takes significant parental sensitivity and courage to avoid taking anxiety-inducing activities temporarily away from a child or teenager. But it’s the right thing to do if developing a child’s confidence, rather than their feelings of helplessness is your goal.

Melanie’s daughter still feels nervous before she goes to work, but the nerves are getting less each time. Importantly, her courage account is being filled along with her bank account each time she heads off to work.

You should never underestimate value of a little parenting push, particularly if anxiety tends to be your child’s constant companion.

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