It’s amazing the things you find when you’re not looking for them.

If you’re anything like me, walking is/can be a chore. Usually, it feels like punishment for eating too much. You know what I mean: I overindulge with a few extra salt and vinegar chips, maybe an extra Krispy Kreme, and suddenly my wife gives me that look that says, ‘put your walking shoes on and get out there with me.’ Now, to be honest, Christine is an Olympic class walker (not literally, but it feels like it), so when we walk, it feels like a mix between trot and canter. As I breathlessly trail her, feeling every calorie of Krispy Kreme screaming at me, I realise that I can do nothing but gasp and chase.

While doing this though, I don’t really see anything, just the sand or path speeding by. This is why walking on a trail is so much more fulfilling for me. I have to go slower, and even though I have to watch my step, I seem to hear more things, feel more things, smell more things. When this happens, I experience a sense of euphoria because in the pace-slowing, I find meaning.

The other day we were walking on the beach, slower than normal, when I looked down between my steps to find the most beautiful scallop shell, orange and blue, crenulated, its symmetry perfect. I picked it up and put it in my pocket somehow feeling that this shell was a symbol of my life to this point. Symmetrical, ridged and beautiful, but also the colour: blue for the skies and orange for the setting sun. Blue for the beauty of life; orange for the realisation that I’m getting older.

Do you ever stop to think about what it all means?

At the end of their journey in the wilderness, the Israelites paused in front of Moses as he reminded them of their long wandering trek. At times, they wondered if God was still with them. At times, they wondered if God still cared. At times, they just wanted to go back to the way things used to be. Yet, when they reached the Promised Land, they recalled that God had been with them every step of the way.

God is the one you praise; he is your God who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Deuteronomy 10:21,22)

Moses made the people pause, just before they entered the Promised Land, to see that this journey of life is beautifully immense.

I hope you can experience the same.

As we hit the mid-term point for Term One, I am so pleased with how students have settled into their learning routines, engaged with their studies and their co-curricular opportunities.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Thank you to all our families who recently joined us for our Year 7 Parent and Student Information Night. As with the Year 10 and Year 12 Information Nights, these evenings are so valuable in partnering with our families to best support our young people through their educational journey. Thank you to those that also attended the Headspace Presentation for parents. It was such an informative and practical mental health session, that benefitted us all. Throughout the year, we will continue to host a range of Partnerships for Learning events, so that we can continue to connect over topics and strategies that will help our young people to thrive.

A reminder that on Wednesday 8 March, we are hosting an International Women’s Day Breakfast at the College. It will be a wonderful morning to gather together as women, share breakfast together and hear from three inspiring guest speakers. Here’s a link to the booking details:

https://www.trybooking.com/CFXVN

CONGRATULATIONS

Again, congratulations to those students who received academic achievement, academic endeavour and academic improvement awards at the recent academic award assemblies. I encourage all students to continue to strive for your personal best this semester, so you can be proud of your efforts, perseverance and results.

ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK AND RESULTS

A reminder to parents that they can access their child(ren)’s academic results via Parent Lounge. Over the next three weeks, results and written feedback will begin to appear in this space. To follow are some easy steps to access your child’s assessment results.

ACCESSING YOUR CHILD’S RESULTS THROUGH PARENT Lounge

Step 1 – Log into Parent Lounge through the website www.salc.qld.edu.au portals, Parent Lounge and enter your username and password.

Step 2 - Select Curricular Activities Due (left-hand side under the title Parent Lounge) then click View All Activities button (right-hand side at top in light blue).

Step 3 – Click on an activity (in the Activity Name Column) that says “Assessed” (in the Activity Status Column).

Step 4 – Results will show for that particular subject and assessment activity giving activity details, outline and assessment results. Please note, results will only show for subjects that say assessed in the Activity Status Column.

While there may not be results posted for all subjects given it is still early in the year, it is always a good idea to revisit the assessment calendar with your son/daughter. If you need help, please ask your children to show you and to share with you their class OneNote. If you need help beyond that please contact your child’s connect teacher.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Over the last couple of weeks, students have engaged in a range of learning opportunities and excursions. These included a Year 11 Visual Art Excursion to QAGOMA in Brisbane, a Year 9 and a Year 7 Legal Studies and Economics Students visit to the Southport Magistrates Court, where they observed court proceedings and heard cases in the Magistrates Court. A Year 9 Art Pop Masters Workshop at the HOTA. This allowed students to tour the exhibition “Pop Masters” and then participation in a 2-hour workshop in which they played with composition, colour, line, symbolism and text to design large scale posters with the intention of public, wide exposure.

In Year 10, Business students visited James Street, in Burleigh. The purpose of the visit was to investigate and evaluate marketing strategies used by a small business. These students were able to understand marketing strategies utilised by an authentic small business. While Year 12 Hospitality students, experienced Green Field Dining, as they visited the facilities at Robina TAFE, talked to current students completing courses at the TAFE and enjoyed a meal prepared by the Robina TAFE students.

Just today, our Year 12 students attended a University Showcase event at the College. Representative from Universities and Colleges came to St Andrews to conveniently provide student with future pathways information. A huge thank you to Mrs Wrigley, Student Pathways Advisor, for the outstanding organisation of this worthwhile event.

On the sporting front, over 100 students from Years 7-12 were selected to attend a Sports Gala Day. This Inter-school Sport Gala Day included Touch Football, Tennis and Mountain Bike riding and our students competed against students from Lindisfarne Anglican College, Hillcrest Christian College and Pacific Coast Christian College. It was fantastic to see the comradery form between the students across the schools. We look forward to an ongoing interschool sporting partnership with these schools, with another sports gala day in Term 2.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT

Last week, 16 of our chess players attended a round-robin Chess tournament at Somerset College, run by the Gardiner Chess Centre. Well done to these students for representing the College exceptionally well.

The College’s well renowned group ‘The Saints’ (exceptional Jazz ensemble), played an outstanding set and entertained the masses at the Miami Marketta on Wednesday evening. Thank you to so many families in our community for coming along and supporting these fine musicians.

Our 2022, Innovate and Create Program Entrepreneur winners, flew to Melbourne on Wednesday to work with Xplor Technologies. There, the IC’22 students worked with specialist teams for two days before pitching their improved business idea to a large audience. Thank you to Mrs Myles and Ms Yeo for their commitment to this outstanding program and learning opportunity for our students.

Adele Ramsay
Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School

HYDROGEN GRAND PRIX KICKS OFF AT ST ANDREWS

Fourteen students of the College from Years 7-11 have nominated to be part of the inaugural year of the Hydrogen Grand Prix in Australia run by Horizon Education.

The students have organised themselves and their work schedules to produce a hydrogen cell powered remote controlled car that will explore the use of Hydrogen as an alternative energy source to power vehicles instead of fossil fuels. The vehicle is well into production with the Hydrogen Cell being fitted this week to the Chassis. They hope to be testing the vehicle next week and then get in some much needed practice working towards their first race.

The CCI building is a buzz with student endeavours.

RESIN TABLES

The Year 11 Industrial Skills Class (Mr Drummond) have been carefully constructing epoxy resin tables for this term’s project with many new skills being learned throughout this unit of study. Students have learned how to build a mould, mix two part resin and then using a vacuum chamber extract, all of the bubbles from the resin before it is poured into the mould. Some students have been involved in building a router sled used to flatten the surface of their tables ready for final sanding and finishing.

G CLAMPS

The Year 12 Industrial skills students are Fabricating G-Clamps with skills of machining, welding, tapping, and filing to produce a quality product they can be proud of. Students are patiently working through the steps required to fabricate their projects and will then decide what finish will be applied after a variety of choices are demonstrated.

ENGINEERED BRIDGES/ GANGWAYS

The Year 12 Engineering students have plasma cut their engineered bridges/gangways from plate steel and welded the frames together. They followed the Engineering Problem Solving Process to design and then prove mathematically their designs will hold the required weight with an engineering safety factor of 2.5 built in. The learning task has enabled the students to gain a deeper appreciation of what Civil and Structural Engineers do.

Greetings once again from the Secondary Library! These past few weeks has seen some exciting co-curricular events begin to take form and we’re excited to share the achievements of our wonderful students.

YEARS 5 AND 6 FUSE CUP ESPORTS COMPETITION

On Friday 24 February the Years 5 and 6 Just Dance Team attended Emmanuel College to compete in the FUSE Cup Inter-school Esport competition. Congratulations to

Anoushka M, Sadie R, Lincoln R, Darcey D

We are very proud of the entire team who made it through to the grand final and represented the College, demonstrating the Fuse Cup values of integrity, strength, inclusion, and teamwork and giving it their all throughout the day.

YEAR 7, 8, 9 AND 10 FUSE CUP ESPORTS COMPETITION (HOSTED BY ST ANDREWS)

We are pleased to announce the Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 FUSE Cup tournament will be held once again in St Andrews’ very own CCI building at the end of Term 1. Fun and exciting trials for the tournament took place over the past week and saw O1 transformed into an Esport arena where students battled it out in 'Just Dance' and 'Super Smash Bros' to earn a spot on the final team.

Congratulations to our Year 7 and 8 Just Dance Team:

Lexie D, Finn F, Lizzie H, Eadie P

And our Year 9 and 10 Super Smash Bros team:

Lochie C, Jack W, Noah R, Aaron T

READERS CUP (YEARS 7 AND 8 TEAM)

Well done to the following students who have qualified for the Readers Cup team for 2023. Let’s wish Dylan A, Imogen F, Cassia P, Clover R and their team captain Nahlah B, the best as they work towards representing St Andrews at the CBCA Readers Cup on Tuesday 6 June.

NEW FICTION BOOKS

A wide variety of new fiction books have also arrived at the Secondary Library. New titles include The Last Kids on Earthbook series, Ban this Book and a Glasshouse of Stars. There is also a collection of new non-fiction books like The School and Drop Bear that you may find interesting. Included in the new titles are some of last year’s CBCA short listed books, so stop by O1 and pick up some of these awesome reads!

SIGN-IN/OUT PROCEDURE FOR AFTERSCHOOL HOURS. CURRENTLY IN THE HUB (3:10PM – 5:00PM)

Students sign in and out electronically using their school email or their mobile phone number.

There is no need for parents/carers to sign students in or out. Students may leave the Library when they know their parent has arrived to collect them. 
All students must sign in and out, if in the HUB, between the hours of 3:10-5:00pm.
Students who are signed in need to stay in the HUB unless they receive permission from the supervising staff member to go outside.
An after-school detention may be issued to students who do not follow procedures.
Cases where students have not signed in or out will be followed up.
The direct phone number to contact the CRC after hours is (07) 5568 5906. 
Please see the Senior Library After Hours Policy on Parent Lounge for more information.

O1 POP-UP LIBRARY OPENING HOURS

Monday and Friday   8:30am – 3:10pm   

ASK A LIBRARIAN

Remember students may log in using student details to read e-Books through the Wheelers online platform. 

Your Librarians are always happy to help with research, finding resources, book recommendations and IT support. We also love to chat about books, life and the universe. Come in and chat to us or email us directly:  

Head of Library Services: Barbara Kristo

Teacher Librarian (Junior School): Vikki Rees

Senior Librarian: Trudy Slabosz

Library Aides: Cara Harrington and Brad McMillan

Library Technician: Deklan Kelly

Library Services Team

Last week, Year 6 students from our school undertook an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist schools in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $90 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

While, this camp has so many links to the curriculum there are also several social and emotional benefits for students. Some of these benefits include:

Developing social skills: Camps offer an opportunity for individuals to interact with other children who they might not necessarily hang with at school. Through this interaction, they learn how to make new friends, communicate effectively, and work in teams.
Building self-confidence: Participating in camp activities can help individuals build self-confidence and self-esteem.
Developing resilience: Camps provide a safe environment for individuals to challenge themselves and overcome obstacles. These experiences can help build resilience and the ability to handle difficult situations.
Reducing stress: Camps allow individuals to disconnect from their daily routine and technology, providing an opportunity to relax, recharge, and reduce stress.
Fostering independence: Camps encourage individuals to take responsibility for their own decisions and actions, which can help build independence and self-reliance.
Providing a sense of belonging: Camps create a sense of community and belonging, where individuals can connect with others who share similar interests and experiences.

Overall, going on a camp can provide individuals with a fun, engaging, and enriching experience that can help them develop important social and emotional skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Darrin Schumacher
Deputy Principal Head of Junior School

It has been delightful returning to this wonderful learning community after a year of leave. I have been impressed by our students in these initial weeks with their unwavering commitment to their learning, while also demonstrating a remarkable level of care and concern for their fellow peers. We have had quite a number of students who have already this year been acknowledged with a ‘Caught You Caring’ award. The way our students support and uplift each other in their pursuits, creating a sense of community is truly remarkable. It is a testament to the nurturing and supportive home environments that you have created for your children.

As a learning community and as parents, our goal is to see our students/children thrive both academically and emotionally. One approach that has been implemented at St Andrews Lutheran College is the "Zones of Regulation." The Zones of Regulation is a framework designed to help children learn how to manage their emotions and reactions to various situations. By teaching children to identify their emotions and recognize how they affect their behaviour, they can develop self-awareness and self-regulation skills, which are essential for success in school and in life.

The Zones of Regulation framework divides emotions into four different color-coded zones: blue, green, yellow, and red. Blue represents feeling sad, tired, or bored. Green is for feeling happy, focused, or calm. Yellow is for feeling frustrated, anxious, or excited. Finally, red represents feeling angry, overwhelmed, or out of control. Children are encouraged to identify and express their emotions, understand how their behaviour affects others, and learn strategies to manage their emotions in each of these zones.

Using the Zones of Regulation has many benefits for our learners. For instance, it can help them to communicate their emotions more effectively and help them develop empathy for others. By learning how to regulate their emotions, they can better cope with difficult situations, improve their relationships, and increase their overall well-being. Additionally, this framework has been integrated into our Who We Are units, helping our students to stay focused and engaged in their learning.

https://www.zonesofregulation.com/free-downloadable-handouts.html

Let love and kindness be the motivation behind all that we do. (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Jacqueline Faulkner
Deputy Head of Junior School – Pastoral

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PYP, LEARNING AND TEACHING WORLD OF THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

Term One is well underway and our students are learning many new skills and knowledge. As a community of learners there are some upcoming events that I would like to highlight.

THREE WAY CONFERENCES

Students and staff are readying for our annual Three Way Conferences. The purpose of these Conferences are for:

Reflection on learning samples that students choose or are teacher choice that are a balance of knowledge and understanding learning samples, and skills-based learning samples including focus on our Approaches to Learning
Collaborative goal setting between student, parents and teachers

Parents can book a time for these Conferences through Parent Lounge. Students are expected to attend with their parents.

Conferences are running 8, 9, 13 & 14 March with some teachers offering some alternative times.

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN 2023 is once again online for Years 3 and 5 this year but has moved to Term One from Term Two. Students at St Andrews have already engaged in practice tests to familiarise themselves with the online environment and should feel well prepared for NAPLAN.

The tests begin Wednesday 15 March and will be finished by Tuesday 21 March. A more detailed timetable will go home to parents of Years 3 and 5 students in the coming weeks.

PYP PARENT ADVISORY GROUP

Thank you to the many parents who have expressed interest in joining this group/these groups. Meetings are once a term and will be offered in multiple time slots with the same content being covered. If you would like to come along but haven’t registered your interest, the times are Thursday 9 March from 8:30am to 9:30am, Friday 10 March 2:00pm to 3:00pm or Monday 13 March from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. Each of these sessions will be held in the Junior School Boardroom found in the Junior Administration building.

THURSDAY AFTERNOONS WHO WE ARE UNIT OF INQUIRY

All year levels are involved in Thursday afternoon Who We Are UOI learning and skill practice. The Year 6 cohort have been involved in service activities throughout the College, Early Learning Centre and Aged Care. These have been a wonderful opportunity for students to serve others and reflect on the way serving others impact the well-being of both server and those served.

The Year 2 cohort have been engaged in learning about positive relationships through the Arts. These sessions have utilised dance, drama, art and craft to explore how positive relationships build our community. The Year 2’s have enjoyed learning in the CCI building with Ms Harman.

The Who We Are units will continue throughout the whole year with lots of different opportunities for our students. Each year level is inquiring around the main central idea: Understanding ourselves and others helps communities to thrive with a different focus according the year levels needs. Thursday afternoons in the Junior School are becoming very popular times as students engage in these activities.

As always if you have any questions or comments you would like to make about learning and teaching in the Junior School, please contact me via email karenk@salc.qld.edu.au

Blessings until next time,

Karen Koehler
Deputy Head of Junior School – PYP, Learning and Teaching

Wow what a busy month it has been. We have had many firsts for the year in the past few weeks.

One of the highlights was a visit from the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation where we presented them with a cheque from the proceeds of our Christmas Raffle. It was also a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to the medical team for taking such loving care of not just Elsie last year but all the children on the Gold Coast. We raised $1010.00 from the local community and look forward to hearing what the foundation will use the funds for.

We had Supermax visit to share about the Picture Products fundraiser we are running. This will support Supermax and Bryce with raising funds to purchase night light turtles for children in Australia and NZ diagnosed with Cancer. Orders need to be back before Mother’s Day and these would make great gifts for mothers and grandmothers!

Along with the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation and Supermax, the ELC students also had special visits from both Uncle Allan and the Aged Care Residents.

The ELC Staff participated in Professional Development sessions over the past month. These included Fire and Child Protection Training. These sessions help build skills and knowledge, and supports the rights of the child.

PARENT SURVEY

Thank you to the families that completed our first parent survey of the year. We will certainly take on the board the suggestions such as sharing information about staffing. ‘How can I get involved?’ was a great question raised in the survey and we love family input and help. One of the ways to effortlessly get involved is by donating your recyclable items to the buckets under the front desk. Cardboard and recycled paper are great for artwork etc. We also love having helpers for our Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls. There are lots of presents to wrap and children to help shop. If you would like to spend time in the rooms, you are also welcome to help with scrapbooks and classroom activities. An upcoming event that you may like to volunteer for is the Aged Care visit with Pre Prep 1 on 8 March. The children will be walking there, and you are welcome to walk with them. This is going to be a special event as we are having both television crews and newspaper journalists visit at the same time to document the program and partnership that we have with St Andrews Aged Care.

QLD KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM FUNDING

Don’t forget that if your child is in Pre Prep and you have a Health Care Card or your family received Family Tax Benefit A or B payment for the 2021-2022 financial year, you are eligible for a discount on your fees. Also, with the Inclusion Funding we have now engaged an Occupational Therapist and Speech Therapist to support the Pre Prep rooms in creating a more inclusive environment for all children. These allied health care professionals are supporting your children and the staff in the environments with a tailored approach to support and enhance learning. Speak to Phoebe, Teresa, or myself to get more information.

MEALTIME PRACTICES

We value input from families and when we receive feedback, we look at it and reflect on ways it relates to our practices. At the end of last year, we received feedback regarding our mealtime practices. Over our professional development days in December, we looked at some research material provided by a local speech therapist. We critically reflected as a team and all rooms have adapted and made changes to meal times. In all rooms posture is a key aspect to mealtimes. Junior Kindy and Pre Prep 1 children are sitting at tables for most meal times and Pre Prep 2 are continuing with picnic style lunches. We are also looking at the language and conversations around food and meals. We have also sent feedback to our management group QLECS around our food and nutrition policy from a family member. So, if you are interested in any of the ELC practices policies and procedures please reach out.

Please click here to read the Am I At Your Table flyer

REMINDERS

Shine Bright with Kindness Day will be held on Thursday 30 March. This will be a Mufti Day in the Junior School and in the ELCwhere students will be invited to wear neon or sparkly clothes.

Picture Product orders can be processed online. Orders and drawings are due back by 20 March so that your child’s creations will arrive in time for Mother’s Day. You can take paper home and do the designs at home or bring a picture in from home.

https://pay.pictureproducts.com/STACSB/92810/

UPCOMING EVENTS

You are invited to a Parent Catch Up session on 7 March 9:30am to 10:30am. Please use the link below to RSVP.

https://bit.ly/3SEGARh

MARCH

Wednesday 1- Tuesday 7 March
Hearing Awareness Week

Friday 3 March
Wildlife Day dress up

Sunday 5 March
Clean Up Australia Day

Tuesday 7 March
Parent catch up
Holi

Wednesday 8 March
Aged Care Visit Pre Prep 1

Tuesday 21 March
Photo Day

Monday 20 - Monday 27 March
Harmony Week

Friday 24 March
E-3 Mini Games

Friday 31 March
Easter Service

Families we have certainly had a busy few weeks.

Our routine is really flowing well with the children becoming more confident as we support their independence throughout the day. The children have been responsible for packing up their own lunch boxes and drink bottles. They have engaged in tidying our room and going even further with wiping tables, along with using the dustpan and brush. We are putting an emphasis on respecting their room and their environment. The children have reflected on how we can work as a team with the support of the tidy up song to initiate this transition. We have heard a few children singing along as we keep this time a positive part of what we do each and every day.

Home corner continues to be a wonderful place to be as the children dress up and act out different roles including looking after babies, cooking and talking on the phone. It is great to see them working together as a team and using their imagination.

The children have been working with clay on a regular basis. We believe daily sensory opportunities are necessary as it encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. The clay provided the children with a chance to mould and manipulate, building on those small hand muscles. Adding natural cuttings from the garden has been popular and gardens, cakes and animals were created with clay.

What pure pleasure the children were presented with as the rain poured down and they explored by leaping into big puddles, dancing in the rain, collecting water with buckets and laughing with their friends. We will always look for the benefits of a range of different environments and learning opportunities.

We were so privileged to have our first visit from the Aged Care Residents. The Junior Kindy children made their day and they made ours. Many smiles were shared across the room, as we sang some of our favourite songs, before we made cups of tea from our home corner, read books together and made some cards to thank them for sharing their time with us. As they departed, the children blew kisses through the window and there were some enthusiastic waves. We cannot wait for our visitors to visit again.

We have just started touching on emotions, what makes us all have different feelings, and what language and actions we can use in response to these feelings. Currently we are introducing the children to zones of regulation, using colours to represent each emotion.

We look forward to expanding our Term One goals to support interest and build on connection.

The Junior Kindy Team

What an exciting Term One we are having exploring our Unit of Inquiry, making friendships, and enjoying many incursions. We began engaging with the question ‘how can we communicate’? Our children really understood this question, and began showing one another non-verbal cues, such as a hand up for stop. As a class we explored sign language (we are beginning to look at greetings), non-verbal cues, facial expressions, and body language. During a group time we observed two children expressing themselves by sharing facial expressions and non-verbal cues used when people are upset with one another. Our children are beginning to explore new ways of communicating, rather than just talking (oral language).

We were excited to welcome Betty Get Better and her nurse, Tess, to the ELC from the Gold Coast University Hospital. She came from the Children’s Intensive Care unit to say hello and thank us all for raising money for them to buy new equipment. Betty Get Better shared some nurse hats and scrubs for the children to dress up into and shared how important it is to stay healthy and care for our bodies. We were so thankful to share this moment with them both at the ELC.

Just last week we began our Aged Care program where we have visits between the ELC and St Andrews Aged Care. We welcomed the beautiful residents into our classroom where we shared many stories together, sang songs, made play dough shapes, painted alongside them at the art easel, and created hand made love hearts for the residents to take back with them. We are so excited to share many more memories with them throughout the year. When we go to visit their facilities, we will take more creative experiences with us to explore and share with the residents. This program is to develop our care for others, share connections with our elderly and promote our Carrie Caring children. Tripp enjoyed getting to know one of the ladies as he stated, “I played with her.” Beau stated, “I wanted to play with them, but I did get a bit upset.”

Reminders

-We have changed our library day to Wednesday mornings. We will be leaving the ELC by 9:10am
-Thank you to all the families who have been putting their child’s morning tea snack in the white container.

February saw lots of exciting visitors to the ELC! We were super excited to welcome back the Aged Care Residents who were just as excited as the children were. We greeted the residents with some songs and then invited them to play games and participate in some fun activities. Throughout the morning, the children shared their love of arts and crafts and made bookmarks for the residents to take home with them. The children shared stories and led them around the classroom to explore different parts of our program. We look forward to heading up to St Andrews Aged Care in a few weeks’ time. Indigenous elder, Uncle Allan, visited and brought in some interesting objects such as wooden instruments, kangaroo skin and baby carriers hand carved from timber. We listened to Uncle Allan play the didgeridoo and had a go at making music using the wooden clap sticks and drum.

This term, our Unit of Inquiry, How We Express Ourselves, has sparked inquiry through other avenues rather than the traditional conversations. Throughout the unit, the children have been discovering the different ways they can express themselves other than using words. Instead, they have used art, music, and dance to communicate their feelings and express their ideas. This has created opportunities for children who are not confident communicators to share their ideas and engage with others.

To assist with the different dynamics and learning styles of the group, we have split our morning group times into two. With the smaller group sizes, we can have a more interactive group time and provide the children with opportunities to participate and share their ideas. Outside, Stacey leads a Gross Motor Skills program to help build on children’s development of the muscles in the arms, legs and torso. Gross motor activities are important to everyday physical activities like walking, running, throwing, lifting, and kicking. Gross motor abilities also form the basis for fine motor skills and relate to body awareness, reaction speed, balance, and strength. Inside the classroom, I have incorporated basic literacy and numeracy skills through games and the interactive whiteboard. We also use games to build on the children’s language skills and social interactions.

Visiting Mrs Rees in the library has been the highlight of the month. Pippa shared her love of the library saying, “I like going because there is lots and lots of books there”. The library has been a wonderful experience for the children as they become more familiar with the school grounds and spend time with Mrs Rees talking about our unit of inquiry.

REMINDERS

Library is Friday at 9:20am. Please wear closed in shoes and your St Andrews shirt if possible.
Label all belongings so if things get misplaced, we can locate them easily.
Put sunscreen on your child on arrival.

Finally, have fun!

Until next time,

The Pre Prep 2 team

GALA DAY

St Andrews, Hillcrest, and Lindisfarne held their first interschool sport program which included Tennis, MTB, and Touch Football, all played simultaneously. Students demonstrated great sportsmanship, skills, and teamwork in a competitive and enjoyable environment. The sports gala day was a huge success and highlighted the school communities' passion for sports.

The interschool sport program not only provided an excellent opportunity for students to compete against their peers but also allowed them to represent St Andrews in a variety of sports. The program will continue next term with AFL, Volleyball, and MTB. This gives students the chance to participate in a range of sports, including those they may not have previously considered. Thank you to all the staff and students who participated and made the day such a success.

FUTSAL

The U14 Futsal Competition Summit Cup is a highly anticipated event in the State, attracting some of the most talented Futsal teams from across the region. Recently, St Andrews and Pimpama faced off in this prestigious tournament, with both Colleges fielding formidable teams. The St Andrews boys' team proved to be too strong for their opponents, delivering a resounding 6-0 victory. The girls' team, on the other hand, suffered a narrow defeat, losing 3-2 to the Pimpama side. Despite the mixed results, both teams showed exceptional skill and sportsmanship throughout the game, impressing spectators and officials alike.

FRIDAY NIGHT TOUCH

Friday Night Touch has recommenced for the year. St Andrews is the largest club in the Palm Beach Club Touch Program. Age Groups range from U8-U16.

Congratulations to the U16 red team for their win on Friday. Most students are just turning 15 this year in the team so it is a fantastic achievement for them all.

Freddie Wood
Head of Sport - Secondary School

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Issue 2, Friday 3 March 2023

In This Newsletter

Chaplain's Chat

Pastor Reid

Secondary School

From the Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School

Technically Speaking

Year 9 Legal Studies at Southport Court

Mathematics Update

Secondary Library News

Chess Club News

Junior School

News from Deputy Principal Head of Junior School

A Word from the Deputy Head of Junior School – Pastoral

News from the Deputy Head of Junior School – PYP, Learning and Teaching

News from Year 2

Early Learning Centre

News from the ELC Director

News from Junior Kindy

News from Pre Prep 1

News from Pre Prep 2

ELC School photo Information

Sports

Sport News

Junior School Swimming Carnival

The Arts

The Saints at Miami Marketta

Community

Important Dates 5 March - 31 March

Uniform Shop News

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Chaplain's Chat

Secondary School

Junior School

Early Learning Centre

Sports

The Arts

Community