From the Assistant Principal - Wellbeing and Learning

Unity Day 2023

Oh Friday 23rd June is the Annual College Unity Day. This is that day that students get to celebrate their cultural heritage with the rest of the community. Students can dress in their cultural outfits and be part of the fashion parade. There will be a liturgy spoken in different languages, a smoking ceremony, cultural activities and a showcase of songs and dance from different cultures.

Keep your eye out for audition times for the showcase and watch for emails about choosing your cultural activity and being involved in the liturgy.

Hands off policy

St Andrews College has a strict hands-off policy. Tis policy and expectations is about respecting each other’s personal space. “We were just mucking around” is not an excuse for touch another student. We do not touch anyone, for any reason, be it in anger, affection or mucking around.

Breaching the hand off policy could result in an external suspension so be careful about touching others.

Uniform

All students should be in full winter uniform every day. As it gets colder students start to wear extra clothing. I suggest that thermal clothing that goes under the uniform be used. If a student wears non-St Andrews clothing they will be asked to remove it. If they wish to wear gloves or a scarf they must be navy or black.

All students are expected to have a College bag at school and to have it every day. Sports uniforms on a Thursday must be complete or they are to wear their winter uniform. No non-St Andrews track pants and leggings are to be worn to school.

If your child cannot wear a part of the uniform please notify the College either by phone or a written note. Students that come in the wrong uniform may be asked to do a detention, stay in the office or asked to go home to rectify their uniform.

Attendance

All students need to be mindful of how many days each they are absent. We understand that sometimes sickness and family issues affect attendance but sometimes we are ok to come to school but we stay at home. 

If a student displays symptoms of a cold or flu, please do a COVID test and get a negative result before they return to school. Please continue to notify the office and if they are sick please respond to the notification either via SMS or the compass app. 

If you need assistance with getting your child back into a normal attendance and school routine please contact the Leader of Wellbeing for your child year.

What’s in the Planner?

The key strengths to focus on are Optimism and hope. Being optimistic and hopeful helps you overcome challenges and give you a sense of purpose.

Negative thinkers have a fixed mindset; they always look for what is wrong and what they cannot do. People with a fixed mindset believe that they cannot get better at a task or make any improvement. The classic example is a person saying that they are no good at maths so they don’t try.

You need to have a growth mindset and believe that with hard work and help you can be good at whatever you do. If you work hard you can turn any situation around. Instead of saying, “I cannot do algebra” you say “I cannot do algebra –YET”

Using assertive language when dealing with situations is a great skill for the future. Say what concerns you, how you feel about I and what you would like to happen. Try not to be aggressive or too timid and never use SMS texts or emails to avoid personal contact. 

Being organised is essential in life and in work. Planning is an important part of being organised. At school, planning your work such as assessments will enable you to perform better. Everyone organises themselves in different ways. It is important to try different ways of organising to see which one works best for you.

Just a reminder that we should be exercising and eating healthy food if we want to flourish. Poor food choices and lack of exercise can have a negative impact on our wellbeing. 

Have you done the strengths survey yet? Go to http://www.viacharacter.org and fill in the survey to identify your strengths. To get bonus house points come and tell me your top 3 strengths.

Top character strengths to focus on is teamwork and curiosity.

God Bless

Mr. Nicholas Thrum

Assistant Principal