Congratulations to the winners of the P & F Easter Raffle which was drawn at Assembly this morning:

1st Mrs Boss (4 Green Teacher), 2nd Htet Family, 3rd McMullen Family, 4th Tanios Family, 5th Jackson Family, 6th Mr J Inskip.

HAIR STYLES / SPORTS SHOES - During the holidays children will undoubtedly have haircuts etc in preparation for the term ahead.  A reminder to parents that hairstyles for the School Term should not  be exaggerated hair cuts that attract attention. Shaved indents etc are not permitted.  Hair for both boys and girls should be neat and tidy and of natural colour.  Parents are also reminded that if you are purchasing new sport shoes for your children, the shoes are to be predominantly white.  I thank you for your co-operation.

Resilience is a key factor for kids’ success, happiness and wellbeing. There are many theories about how to develop this important trait in kids, so it’s hard to know where to start. In reality, developing resilience in kids’ is easier than most people think. 

The big resilience lessons usually lay in the ordinary interactions kids have with parents and teachers when things don’t go their way.

Recently, I saw a mother give a simple, yet profound resilience lesson to her three year old. The toddler fell into his dog’s bowl, saturating his t-shirt and giving himself a fright. His mum quickly helped him saying, “Oh well!” The three-year-old bravely parroted his mother, saying, “Oh well!” and dashed off to play.

Adult reactions matter - It’s in our reactions to these and other every day mistakes, mess-ups, muck-ups and hurts where the big lessons in resilience are taught and reinforced.

The lessons for the three-year-old were simple but profound. “Oh well” meant:

• Stuff happens

• Don’t look for fault or blame

• Keep your perspective

• Pick yourself off and continue with what you were doing

How to react - The resilience lesson for this mother was equally as profound. When a minor mishap with a child or teenager occurs:

• Match your response to the incident

• Stay calm and be positive

• Don’t look for fault or blame

• Remember, stuff happens

Resilience lesson for parents – “Oh well” - Every day there are opportunities for parents to give their children lessons in resilience. A child misses being picked for a team that he had his heart set on joining. “Oh well. Let’s see how you go next time.” When a boy experiences rejection in the playground at school. “Oh well. You’ll find that some people don’t want to be your friend.” When a teenage girl doesn’t get the mark she thinks she deserves in an assignment. “Oh well. Sometimes we don’t get the marks we think we deserve.”

Match your response to the challenge to promote resilience - There are times when “Oh well” won’t cut it. When a child is bullied he needs your continued support. When a student’s continuous efforts at improvement are constantly met with criticism then you may need to act on his behalf and meet with a teacher. When a child always struggles to make the grade and is never picked for a team then you may need to help him make different choices.

These types of situations also present opportunities for daily lessons in resilience, but they require more parental support and teaching. The resilience lessons learned are deeper and include concepts such as ‘things will eventually go you way,’ ‘there are times when you need to seek help’ and ‘this too shall pass.’ Promoting personal resilience focuses on helping kids cope with life’s hurts, disappointments and challenges in the present, while building strengths for the future. Daily lessons in resilience are everywhere. You need to be ready to make the most of these valuable lessons when they come your way.

As mentioned previously children can begin the transition to winter uniform.  All students are expected to be in Full Winter Uniform from Monday 13 May 2019.  Please note during this transition period children must wear EITHER Full Summer Uniform or Full Winter Uniform NOT a combination of both.  I have included the Winter School Uniform Policy below:

SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY

The official school colours are GREEN and GOLD

Mrs Lillian Del Guidice

Assistant Principal

Happy Birthday to the following children who will be celebrating a birthday this week:

Natalia O, Sulabh P, Isaac R, Ema R and Addison T

Happy Birthday to the following children who are lucky enough to be celebrating their birthday in the School Holidays:

Luka C, Kai J, Anushka C, Havana V, Synod A, Keira C, Janet L, William M, Baxter B, Nyarnhom D, Sophia G, Giselle R, Ajok D, Alana L, Emma R, Felicity R.

Happy Birthday to Charlotte B who is celebrating her birthday in the first week of Term 2.

Congratulations to 2 Gold, 2 Blue (their first!), 5 Gold (their 5^th!) and 6 Gold (3 in a row) on earning Gold Stars in the past two weeks well done!! Sadly there are still FIVE classes waiting on their first gold star for the year, let’s hope they remember this week. There are quite a few outstanding loans, please encourage your children to return their overdue books. Thank you.

Premiers' Reading Challenge: All the students in Kinder and Year 1, of the parents that contacted me, are now registered and should receive  their logon details this week. If your child is in K-1 and you would like them to do the Challenge, but you have not let me know, it is not too late. Please send in a note and I will send home the logon details as soon as possible.

All students from Years 2 - 6 are registered – new students may still be waiting for logon details, they will be given out in Week 1 next term. Year 2 will be reading the books together in class and the books will be registered here.

Check the PRC website to make sure the books chosen by the students are on the correct list – if you have too many not on the list they will not be accepted. A reminder that Years 3 - 6 must read at least15 from the lists and may read up to 5 personal choice books; Kinder – Year 2 must read 25 from the lists and may also read 5 personal choice. Have a look at the PRC site:

https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html

Our Oliver Library catalogue will also let you know what books from the lists are available in our library. Go to oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev and type ‘premier’ in the search box. Then select the level required and the search results will indicate  available titles.  

Daily reading: Remember to try to read with your children each day, and let them see you reading too – they are good mimics! Holidays are a great time to relax with a book, encourage your children to take time out each day to read. If you are not already members consider joining Campbelltown Library – it is free to join, and provides access to so many more wonderful books. Eagle Vale Central is so conveniently located just down the hill!!

 "Reading for pleasure is the most important way to

advance literacy attainment in children.”

 National Literacy trust UK, 2006

Happy reading!

Mrs Sue Bryant, Teacher Librarian

Ready, set, go! On the 8th of April 2019, Mary Immaculate had their annual Athletics Carnival. Each grade experienced a variety of fun events throughout the day including; high jump, races, shot put, discus and long jump. Students from all grades encouraged and supported their own house colours, winning points for team spirit and efforts. Teams and individuals roared with encouragement as their fellow peers’ races commenced. At the end of the day, Mary Immaculate had their final cheer off and relay races. Four senior students from Therry, Farmer, Mitchell and Gibbs competed in the relay races readying themselves for the starter gun. “Bang!” As the gunshot fired and the relay begun all the teams cheered on the racers. Overall, the winning team of the day was…… MITCHELL with 1135 followed up by Therry with 1108 and in 3rd place was Gibbs with 1101 and a VERY close 4th was Farmer with 1099. The team spirit award shows the passion of each person and their love for their teams, which was most represented by Farmer with 220 points. This left all people feeling exhausted but also proud of their teammates!

Please complete the following slip to register interest in your child/children attending the ANZAC Day march.

My child/children ………………………………………….………………

Class/es …………………………………….…. will be attending the ANZAC Day march to be held at Queen Street Campbelltown on 25th April 2019.

Signed …………………………………………………….. (parent/guardian)