Dear Parents, Guardians and Carers,

Our school concert rehearsals are well underway as we prepare for the concert next week. It is always an exciting time and a fitting end to all the hard work that the children and staff have put in to prepare each item. 

It is a great opportunity for our children to move out of their comfort zones and perform in front of an audience, this can be challenging for some as well as an opportunity to shine. For some children this week is the highlight of the year, they love the opportunity to shine on stage. For others it is a nervous week where their anxiety levels rise. However, for all, once they have stepped off stage the thrill of performing is real and their smiles light up the room. We are so proud of all of them for their willingness to have a go.

We acknowledge that there have been some challenges with the acquiring of tickets in particular for the evening performance and apologise to those who missed out on getting a ticket to the show that best suited them to attend. In our review of the concert we will reflect on those issues and make recommendations for how we do better with this aspect of the concert in two years time.

A special thank you again to Ashlea Vanyai and Alana Riseley for all their work in choreographing each item and teaching the children the necessary stagecraft to be able to perform the songs on stage. The teachers have also been fantastic in their support back in their classrooms as they provided opportunities for the children to rehearse in the lead up to the concert. A real team effort!

We look forward to our school community having the opportunity to celebrate the talents of our children together again.

Celebration of the Sacrament of First Communion

This week, our First Eucharist children start their preparation for this celebration with our parent information night on Wednesday night 19th October at 6pm in St Michael’s Church. In preparing our children to receive this sacrament we come to realise that they are being drawn into a deeper relationship with Jesus and also with the Catholic community. But this is not just a personal experience, it becomes a family experience because our children draw life from the environment in which they live; and the family and the Catholic community are the basic sources of that life. 

The Sacrament will be celebrated on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of November. We will keep you all in your prayers as you prepare for this celebration. 

Tricky Friendship Days - An article from Parenting Ideas 

Relatively small issues, like not being invited to a party, can arouse big, intense feelings in our kids. Because belonging is at stake, friendship challenges will always feel like a life-threatening experience – so be assured that most parents find themselves dealing with powerful tears and shattering disappointments after tricky friendship days.

It is easy for both parents and teachers to fall into the trap of trying to “dial down the drama” when our kids feel overwhelmed. However, minimising or dismissing strong feelings will only tend to ramp them up, because our tween’s brains seek to be heard and understood in the process of regulating. I’d also like to suggest that it denies our children the opportunity to master these big feelings. Our kids need to feel to practise the emotional regulation strategies they need to navigate life well.

I want to share three practical strategies that parents can do to support their tweens during these moments. Friendship challenges are an incredibly rich platform to help kids learn emotional regulation strategies, as well as social skills, and we want to capitalise on both as we coach them forward.

Strategy 1: Let's not fight the intensity

The more I learn about emotions the more I am in awe of our body’s way of coming up with solutions to discomfort, anguish and pain we experience. It doesn’t make any sense to judge that process but rather appreciate it. That’s why we want tweens to know there are no bad or good emotions. There are only healthy emotions, and each one of them is an acceptable and necessary part of being human. Ideally, we want tweens to feel safe to feel, without shame or guilt.  This means accepting emotions within our home, in the same way we accept anything else about ourselves (or our experiences) that we cannot change - our age, our height, freckles or ears.

Strategy 2: Ask questions that empower

Although it’s tempting (and much quicker) to offer children prescription answers to friendship problems, it won’t help them in the long term. The problem with childhood conflict always being followed by adult intervention, is that kids can get into the habit of projecting their wishful thinking onto someone else who they perceive as being more powerful than they are.

If our children focus their energy on recruiting support rather than problem-solving, they miss vital learning opportunities. We are best to ask questions that express a sense of curiosity and empower them to take ownership.

Strategy 3: Find a positive expression

Whereas there are times that we suppress our painful emotions for our own survival, emotions are far better off moving through our kids rather than festering inside them.

One of my dearly loved local psychotherapists wisely tells me that children who have imaginations become their own play therapists. Play is a distraction that pulls kids out of their heads and into their bodies. Any type of play including immersing themselves in craft, participating in drama, dance, or sport, or building forts, slides and adventure courses are all helpful..

In closing

Home really is the hero in kids’ lives. It is the emotional shield from all that hurts us, bothers us, and tires us. It’s a place where love is tangible, and we are cared for in ways that make it easier for us to move back into the world with a soft heart. It’s the Utopia that we all yearn for and strive towards. When they feel disappointed, lost, afraid or disoriented it will be the predictability of home that continues to welcome them with open arms and wise words. As you implement these strategies, know you are offering your tween the home they deserve.

~ Michelle Mitchell

Our school has a membership with Parenting Ideas. As part of this membership, you can attend the upcoming webinar ‘Handling tricky friendship days’ at no cost.

In this webinar, Michelle Mitchell offers a set of practical guiding principles to help empower children to handle tricky friendship days.

When - Wednesday 2 November 2022 8:00pm AEDT

To redeem - 

• Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-handling-tricky-friendship-days 
• Click ‘Add to cart’
• Click ‘View cart’
• Enter the coupon code FRIENDS and click ‘Apply Coupon’ Your discount of $39 will be applied.
• Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
• Fill in your account details including our school’s name to verify your eligibility. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your webinar and resources
• Click ‘Place Order’

Tickets for the school concert Blinky Bill - An Aussie Adventure are on sale now. 

All St Michael’s students will be involved in the concert, therefore they will not require a seat at the performance.

Tickets cost:  $10.00 per seat.

Seating is allocated.

We are having 2 performances one at 1:30pm and another at 6pm.

Tickets for the evening performance are now sold out.

There will be no restrictions on tickets to the matinee performance. We encourage grandparents and younger than school age siblings to come to this performance. Adult tickets will be $10, children under 5 will be $5 for the matinee only.

Matinee: https://gpactickets.latrobe.vic.gov.au/WebPages/EntaWebGateway/gateway.aspx?E=N&QL=S92|RIP1|VGPA|G~/WEBPAGES/EntaWebShow/ShowPerformance.aspx

Any child in grade 4 and above that has been Baptised and celebrated 1st Reconciliation is able to celebrate 1st Communion this term.

Some important dates for the calendar are:

Enrolment forms due – 14th October

Parent/ child information night – 19th October

Commitment Mass – 22nd /23rd October

Prayer letter Mass – 5th /6th November

Pin Mass – 12th /13th November

1st Communion celebrations:

Saturday 19th November 5pm  

Sunday 20th November 9.30am

Sunday 20th November 5pm

If you have not received an Enrolment form via the email that is registered at the Parish Office then please contact Sue Rickwood on srickwood@stmtraralgon.catholic.edu.au   Enrolment forms are due back to the parish office by October 14th.

Mission Day

Friday 28th October 

On Friday 28th October we will celebrate Catholic Mission Month with a special Mission Day at St Michael’s. This will be our next fundraising effort for the Goat Rearing Centre in Embider.

The theme of our Mission Day will be “Kicking Goals for Good!”. Across the globe sport is the great equaliser. Every child is able to play sport and, often, the less we have the more creative we need to get. Many children around the world, including Ethiopia, play with a ball made out of recycled goods - the ‘sock ball’. Even Pope Francis played with a ‘sock ball’ as a boy in Argentina.

As preparation for our Mission Day the children will complete a range of tasks in class to learn about the country of Ethiopia and the various concepts that are important in Catholic Social Teaching such as: creation, wellbeing, opportunity, service, peace and participation.

On Mission Day the children will come to school dressed for their favourite sport or as their favourite sports person. It might be a specific person or ready for the sport in general. Like other dress-up days the children need to wear appropriate footwear for school and are not to use face paint or hairspray.

To participate in the Mission Day we ask that the children bring along a Gold coin. 

Thanks for your continued support.

Each week students from each class are awarded Student of the Week certificates. These children are nominated for the example they have been within the school based on the School Wide Expectation focus for that week. The weekly focus will be from Wednesday until Tuesday the following week. Awards will be presented to students at assembly on Friday.

In Week 2 the School Wide Expectation focus was Safety : 

I have the right to feel safe in our school environment.

Icy poles are for sale at lunchtime during Term 4. They are 50 cents each. 

The following items have been found and are now in lost property. If you recognise them please come to the office.