Around school on Wednesday, some students wandered with smudges across their foreheads or on their wrists. If one were to look closely, they could see the shadowy outline of the cross of Christ.

For Wednesday, was Ash Wednesday – the beginning of a yearly journey, a walk with Jesus to Easter.

If we were to talk about Ashes in the greater part of Australian society, most would understand ‘The Ashes’ as that famous cricket match 140 years ago when Australia beat England for the first time. As the English press pronounced that ‘English Cricket was dead,’ a group of Melbourne women burned the stumps and put them into an urn. The Ashes became a symbol of England’s great mourning.

Similarly, in the Bible, ashes were always a symbol of mourning. This sadness is not only the loss of loved ones following their death, but it also is the lament of the future. When someone dies, we lament and mourn the time that is no longer available to us.

Lament, a period of grief when times are tough, is not something we in Western Culture do well. We are much better at distracting ourselves from pain, numbing ourselves from shame and ignoring the fact that we are not permanent. To be involved in this season of Lent (and lament) is to remember that eventually our time will end.

But then, out of heaven, from this time of mourning, God shows up with the promise in Jesus, his Son. Although this present life is not permanent, eternal life with him has been granted. And ashes on the forehead are a sign of that promise.

Because we are in the midst of a difficult season, flooding, disease, war and other struggles, maybe it’s a great time to talk about the hope we have in Jesus.

God’s peace to you during the season of Lent and our joy for Easter.

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. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 challenges and this week’s flooding event, I commend those students that have been off school, on their commitment to work from home and keep up on missed classwork, as best as they can.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Thank you to all our families who recently joined us online 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. We are hopeful that this year, we are able 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. Shortly you will see advertised, an outstanding Cyber Safety Evening with Susan McLean, Australia's leading Cyber Safety expert. Please be sure to save the date; Tuesday 22 March 6:30pm.

Parents, may I also encourage you to join the newly established official Year Level Facebook groups for your child’s year level. This is an excellent way for parents to connect with and support one another through the Secondary School years.

CONGRATULATIONS

Again, congratulations to those students who received academic achievement, academic endeavour and academic improvement awards at the recent Senior School and Middle Schools awards 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.

WE’VE GOT SPIRIT!

Congratulations to all of the students for their wonderful participation and spirited competition at the Inter-House Swimming Carnival. A special congratulations is extended to Jubi House; led by the House Captains, Jarrod Wilson and Charlotte Roper (Senior School) and Lexi Karos (Middle School), on their victorious win, to all the competitors for their spirit, enthusiasm and participation. The event was terrific due to the active involvement and House spirit shown by all students! Sincere appreciation is extended to Mrs Libby Wood, the Grounds Staff and Sports Department team, and also to the staff for their assistance at the pool.

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 portals www.salc.qld.edu.au, 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 learning advisor.

Adele Ramsay
Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School

After the busy first couple of weeks back at school the CRC Senior Library is continuing to be a hive of activity. Lots of happy patrons using our space to the full extent. With the large number of rainy days recently, we have seen a delightful trend with students of all year levels accessing our board and card games.

BRIAN FALKNER VISIT

Most recently the CRC collaborated with the English department HOD - Jonathan Barker and the Year 8 English team, Tara Bible, Kate Forbes-Ewan, Kylie Meyers and Desiree Hughes to engage author Brian Falkner to come and inspire our Year 8’s with his story writing workshop. Brian's novels are available to explore here.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

We are also currently celebrating International Women’s Day, we would love for any teens to get involved by following this link and taking part in some of the activities. This year the hashtag #breakthebias highlights the following:

Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can break the bias in our communities.

We can break the bias in our workplaces.

We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.

Together, we can all break the bias - on International Women's Day (IWD) and beyond.

CRC OPENING HOURS

Monday to Friday 7:30am – 5:00pm

AFTER HOURS

(3:15pm-5:00pm)

Students in Years 7-10 will need to sign in at the CRC front desk and be signed out by a Parent/Carer or sibling in Years 11-12.
Students in Years 11-12 can sign themselves out.
Please see the Senior Library After Hours Policy on Parent Lounge for more information.

ASK A LIBRARIAN

Remember students may log in using student details to read eBooks 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

Senior Librarian: Trudy Slabosz

Library Aides: Cara Harrington and Brad McMillan

Library Tech: Deklan Kelly

The Library Team

SINGLE SUBJECTS IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

Single Subjects in the Junior School enrich our students’ classroom experiences. Our single subject teachers are:

Sharon Taki (Taki Sensei) – Japanese (ELC to Year 6)
Casey West – PSPE (Prep to Year 6)
Jayde Hardstaff – PSPE (Prep to Year 2)
Lauren Majinovic – Music ( Prep, Year 2, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6)
Jackie Brewster – Music (Year 1 and Year 4)
Ruth Duffy – Digital Technologies (Year 3 to Year 6)
Vikki Rees – Library and Media Literacy (Prep to Year 5)
Barbara Kristo – Library and Media Literacy (Year 6)

Here are some happenings in our single subject classes.

JAPANESE FOR PREP

Our Prep students have enjoyed their first Japanese lesson in the Junior School.

For the first lesson, students learnt about the meaning of the flag of Japan and how to introduce themselves in Japanese. Through the central idea 'People express their thoughts, feelings and ideas in many different ways', students will learn the colours and emotion words in Japanese and be able to sing in Japanese, “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.”

It was wonderful to see all students engaged and eager to learn Japanese.

We look forward to watching our Prep students grow in their Japanese learning journey.
Sharon Taki

MUSIC FOR YEAR 3

Year 3 are learning a jazzy number on tuned and non tuned percussion instruments. Lots of noise, fun and learning!
Lauren Majinovic

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Students in Years 3 to 6 have embraced this new learning area and have started their digital journey strong! We began by contributing ideas for an essential agreement within our new Digital Technologies space and considered what would make the space a safe and supportive learning environment. Together, we have unpacked what Digital Technology means and explored the two strands of knowledge and understanding (systems and how they work) as well as processes and production (applying the skills to create, develop and design.)

This term we have been investigating digital systems, peripheral devices and computer components to give us a firm understanding and lay foundations for our journey ahead. Students have enjoyed classifying peripheral devices, sharing ideas of how technology has changed and contributing some inspiring questions to our ‘wonder wall.’

Where do people who invent technology get their ideas from? Rosie Year 3.

Will there be robots who think for you in the future? Isla Year 4.

What is a flash drive? Laylani Year 5.

Can devices be both input and storage OR output and storage? Lizzie Year 6.

Karen Koehler
Deputy Head of Junior School / Acting PYP Coordinator

BUILDING SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY

The concept of learning at school is most often associated with subject areas. Within these subjects is the development of academic, sporting and artistic skills. And yet, when you ask a parent what they want most from the school experience for their child, the answer often sits outside those areas and skills.

"I want them to be happy and confident in themselves".

"I hope they can make friends and get along well with others".

"I hope they can have the courage to face life's problems and solve them without too much stress".

Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides a foundation for safe and positive learning and enhances students' ability to succeed in school, careers, and life. SEL does not just happen incidentally whilst they are learning the "important stuff" like literacy and numeracy. Nor is it expected that children should only be taught this at home and automatically know how to behave, respond, and connect outside of the home environment. Effective social and emotional learning programming involves coordinating classroom, collegewide, family, and community practices that help students develop the following five areas of competency. These are self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness and relationship skills.

Are they being assessed on it for their school report? The answer to this is no. They will not be sitting any social-emotional exams during their schooling life. However, students will get regularly evaluated in other ways. Their ability to regulate emotions and be aware of how others feel will impact the development and sustenance of healthy friendships and relationships in every aspect of their life. Making responsible decisions and self-managing their actions will impact their learning, engagement, commitment, and independence.

The 'Approaches to Learning' framework, an integral part of the IB Program in the Junior School, links seamlessly with the five social and emotional competencies. This link ensures that students are explicitly taught social and emotional skills in the classroom. Lessons on SEL allow students to practice and hone those skills and apply these skills in various situations.

Family partnership plays a profound role in strengthening the impact of school approaches in SEL. For example, after school conversations with your children about their learning, which can be supported by SeeSaw links and Digital Portfolio's, helps foster different social-emotional development skills. Some examples could be using Zones of Regulation strategies for calming and motivating emotions and seeing what is best suited for home and school environments. Similarly, using Restorative Practices approaches to repair harm through concepts like apology letters and 'I statements' can be a way to navigate conflict at home.

Developing social-emotional competencies is a lifelong learning journey. Even as adults, our skills will be continually challenged and re-evaluated. Be patient with your child's journey. Be clear about your expectations and alignment to values, but give them the grace to make mistakes along the way. Allow them to feel the big emotions and experience the tough lessons that life throws at us. Sometimes the most difficult social-emotional life lessons are the most valuable.

Lastly, never be afraid to reach out to the class teachers to clarify what your child is learning about in SEL. We have many resources, links and guides about concepts and frameworks that can further enrich the home-based learning experiences.

Mardi Frost
Acting Deputy Head of Pastoral Care

Community, Belonging, Nurturing, Inquiry, and Spirit are the five key words that underpin the ELC Philosophy. Over the past month we have been in the process of reviewing the ELC Philosophy for 2022. We have gathered information from current families, past families, members of our community, children and staff. During this process it has become evident that these key words underpin our daily practices and help bring the daily program to life.

Even though COVID-19 has restricted families from entering the centre, the team have tried to make valuable connections with families as best we can. From family photos, ‘All About Me’ sheets and parents contributing to program ideas, we have been able to connect with our ELC Community and also welcome our new families into the service.

The children have really started to build a sense of belonging and connection to their rooms. Building relationships, learning and inquiry is clearly underway and you can see this via displays in the room and by reading the daily program on Xplor.

PASOR REID VISIT

Pastor Reid brings a lot of spirit with him when he shares the love of God for us every Wednesday when he visits. It has been wonderful to see the beautiful connection the children are making with Pastor Reid as they develop their understanding of God within us and around us. Our management group, Queensland Lutheran Early Childhood Services (QLECS), have provided us with a brochure on our Lutheran Ethos which is available in our foyer for those that would like more information on what it means to be a Lutheran ELC.

PARENTS RETURNING TO THE ELC

As you read this newsletter we are getting ready to welcome families back into the ELC or welcome some families inside the centre for the first time. Please ensure that good hand hygiene measures are followed by sanitising your hands or washing your hands, on arrival and departure. Social distance as best you can, and if required or by choice, wear a face mask. Please check that you have your child’s door code ready for Monday 7 March when parents will be able to enter the centre again. Please see Bradley or myself in the office if you do not have your code.

INDIGENOUS CULTURE

Indigenous Elder, Uncle Allan, joined us last week for the first time this year. He played his didgeridoo, showed us a possum and kangaroo skin, and shared a dreamtime story with the children. Uncle Allan supports the service by building our knowledge on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, traditions and suitable practices. He also teachers us our local Yugambeh language. Learn the Language — Yugambeh Museum

PARKING

Parking in the ELC area can, at times, be difficult. We ask that you please quickly drop off your child in the morning during peak hours so other families can also park. This area should only be used by families who have children in the ELC and who have siblings in the Prep classrooms. Prep and Year 1 children should be collected from the Kiss and Ride Zone in the Bus Shelter.

PARENT INFORMATION EVENING ON SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

There will be 2 sessions available for parents. Both sessions will be presented by Erin Moore, Speech and Language Pathologist.

Session 1: 22 March, 6 pm. Introduction to speech, language, social communication early literacy skills, typical speech and language development and red flags.

Click here to book Session 1

Session 2: 5 April, 6pm. Strategies to improve speech and language skills. Questions and discussion opportunity.

Click here to book Session 2

COVID-19 ISOLATION

If you find yourself in home isolation, the Department of Early Childhood Education and Care team have put together some resources for families to support their children whilst missing out on Kindy time. Click here to access these resources.

HOME COOKING IDEAS

This cooking update comes from feedback from the recent survey. Here are 8 healthy muffin suggestions for some home cooking with your child to include in their lunch box.

Click here to access the muffin recipes.

Have a great few weeks, keep an eye on Xplor for communication.

Bronwyn Waters
Director of Early Learning

We have had an amazing month, the Junior Kindergarten children are all mostly settled, and coming into kindergarten with smiles on their faces, feeling secure and more confident.

Our current focus with the children is friendships and team work. The children have developed from playing alongside each other on their own, to interacting and choosing activities with each other at both inside and outside play. Small conversations are being initiated between the children as they get to know each other. The Junior Kindy educators are working hard to encourage children to engage with friends as they complete routine activities like hand washing and to begin to learn their friend’s names. We have been reading stories on friendships and being a good friend to consolidate their learning. Our devotion, which we read each day, also helps the children to focus on their friendships, kindness, and caring.

For the past two weeks Pastor Reid has visited Junior Kindy with his guitar. The children eagerly join in with him when he sings and then they listen to a short story from the Bible and a prayer. The children look forward to this special time with Pastor Reid.

Sensei Taki has begun visiting Junior Kindy this term for a Japanese lesson. This focus has been on greetings, transport, songs, games and words. Educators extend on the Japanese lesson by embedding it into extra group times throughout the week. This ensures that all the children are gaining the benefit from the Japanese lesson.

The children have completed a variety of learning and play-based activities. We have started to focus on numbers 1-5 by singing number songs and by individual number recognition. We have made some puzzles available that are a little more challenging as the children are ready for this. They are supported by the Educators when completing them. Threading activities have been provided to engage their fine motor skills. Children’s spontaneous choices are always encouraged by the Educators and often the children bring us books to read to them. Instigated from a story that we read, the children recently made and painted a friendship rocket.

The Junior Kindy Team

‘Who We Are’ is the unit of inquiry that the children have been exploring in Pre-Prep 1. This involved them investigating the central idea, learning about others. They have been learning about how we can connect with people that are the same and also different. As part of this unit, they were very busy learning to identify emotions and how they relate to actions and experiences. One of their favourite stories to read is ‘Have You Filled a Bucket Today?’ by Carol McCloud. This story helps the children learn about emotions and the actions that ‘fill up’ or ‘dip into’ our invisible buckets of happiness. “Sharing with others”, “giving my mum a hug”, “seeing a rainbow”, “when you be kind to them”, “when you help other people” are some of the responses the children have been sharing as examples of things that fill up their buckets of happiness. “When someone doesn’t play with me”, “when someone pushes me”, “when someone doesn’t listen” are some of the examples the children have been sharing when asked about bucket dipping. The class has demonstrated a strong interest in one of our group time activities ‘crazy tricks’. It involves the children being invited to show everyone a crazy trick. The children laugh or smile when their peer performs this action and it is a visible demonstration of making the connection to how actions and experiences impact the emotions we feel.

Modelling with playdough, writing with sticks in the sand, using tweezers to manipulate objects and materials, self-help button and zipper boards and pulling magnets off the whiteboard are some examples of the experiences that have been set up within the room during the last month. These intentional provocations support the children with dynamic learning outcomes. However, one of the main elements that connects each of these experiences is the development of fine and gross motor skills which will support each child with their writing skills.

We also had our first visit to the Library, Japanese lesson, continued our devotion time with Pastor Reid and had our first visit from Uncle Allan! We are looking forward to our next sessions with each of these experiences again in the coming weeks.

Pre Prep 1 Team

Do you ever see yourself fearing that the situation your child is in is too dangerous and they may hurt themselves, or do something that you feel is too risky? Children can’t develop to their full potential in a safe and familiar play environment. We want the best for our children but sometimes we still intervene too often and too quickly when they find themselves in a risky situation. Play has been called the ‘work’ of children and is an important part of their development. It helps introduce children to the world and to each other while also helping them build social skills and confidence. The research is still developing, but it appears that risk taking, and fear are an important and natural part of childhood play. Researchers have observed that all children push the boundaries and take part in some level of risky play, such as climbing up high, going fast or balancing on uneven surfaces. In Pre Prep 2, it appears that the children understand their own boundaries and will attempt risky play that just reaches those boundaries. Over the past few weeks, the children were introduced to our learner profile puppet, Ricky Risk Taker. Ricky helps children try new things and take risks (safely), encouraging them to test their limits and experience real life situations. We have observed the children taking these risks in the playground while also using the language associated with this type of play.

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Pablo Picasso

Risk contributes to increasing the self-confidence of children as they dare to face challenges more easily. Children are less likely to avoid challenges as they are more likely viewed as something fun. This increasestheir perseverance and independence. Risky play helps develop social skills, solve conflict and progresses physical development such as motor skills, balance, coordination and body awareness. As educators, we always support your child to take these risks ensuring their safety and encourage them to express their feelings if they are having difficulty or feel worried at any time. Be sure to ask your child about Ricky Risk Taker and how they express their emotions during this time and see what their understanding is. We look forward to learning more about each of our learner profile puppets and their skills as well as managing emotions through play. These learner profile attributes will assist the children in their everyday actions and inform them of who they are as a learner.

"Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child." Betsy Brown Braun

Pre Prep 2 Team

Age	Boys	Girls
12	Jye K	Summer J
13	Reid S	Isabel A
14	Noah R	Tori S
15	Kody B	Layla A
16	Ziah P	Madison R
Open	Maverick A	Madyson C

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Issue 2, Friday 4 March 2022

In This Newsletter

Chaplain's Chat

Pastor Reid

Secondary School

From the Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School

Year 7 Fibres and Textiles Electives

Senior Library News - Cecile Ryan Centre

Junior School

From the Deputy Principal Head of Junior School

From the Deputy Head of Junior School and Acting PYP Coordinator

From the Acting Deputy Head of Pastoral Care

Junior School Library News

Early Learning Centre

From the Director of the Early Learning Centre

Junior Kindy

Pre Prep 1

Pre Prep 2

Sports

Senior School Swimming Carnival

The Arts

Arts News

Community

Uniform Shop News

Alumni News

Important Dates March 5 - 26

Chaplain's Chat

Secondary School

Junior School

Early Learning Centre

Sports

The Arts

Community

Chaplain's Chat

Secondary School

Junior School

Early Learning Centre

Sports

The Arts

Community