I hope the final term of the school year has started well for you and your family.

As I write this I am on my planned “road trip” – travelling across accessible parts of NSW and the ACT to visit dioceses and schools.

The unfolding flooding disaster has impacted families in various parts of the state. Please know our thoughts are prayers are with all those who have been affected by this disaster. I had planned to visit St Michael’s Primary school in Dunedoo to visit our Highly Commended Roger O’Sullivan Memorial Award recipient. Sadly, the rain and potential flooding resulted in a change of plans. I am so disappointed but have begun plans to travel to Bathurst in the coming weeks, I can’t wait to see you all!

I am looking forward to meeting parents, principals and staff and hearing about the ways you engage in your child’s learning as well as the barriers to engagement. At CCSP we are keen to work with diocese and school communities to support building opportunities to ensure all parents and carers can support their child’s learning.

Craig Duncan, Education Officer, Aboriginal Education in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and I recently presented at the Catholic Schools NSW and Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander State Education Conference “Transforming with The Spirit” in beautiful Leura. What joy to gather in such a magnificent setting and hear from our parents, carers and staff on the issues impacting engagement.

I was privileged to be able to meet and yarn with Aunty Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann – renowned Aboriginal Artist and educator, the first fully qualified Aboriginal teacher in the NT, 2021 Senior Australian of the Year and founder of the Miriam Rose Foundation.

Following the conference, I travelled south to meet with leadership from the Diocese of Wagga Wagga and visit St Patricks Parish School in Albury. Thank you for the beautifully warm greeting as soon as I stepped into the school, and the students… what wonderful ambassadors for their community! I am grateful to the principal – Liz Johnston, parent Fiona and teacher Marlo who met with me to share their thoughts and talk about engagement in Albury.

I am looking forward to the remainder of this trip and meeting many more of the wonderful people who make up our communities across NSW and the ACT and am reminded of the wise words of St Mary of the Cross McKillop “Great is the strength we possess in unity”.

Stay safe, take care of yourselves and each other my friends,

Catherine Garrett-Jones

CCSP, Executive Director

CCSP would like to acknowledge, thank and congratulate the school communities for their effort and commitment to building partnerships between home and school to enhance the learning outcomes of students.

Congratulations St Joseph's Primary School, Coraki, First Place in the 2022 Roger O’Sullivan Memorial Award for Family, School and Community Partnerships for Learning.

The independent judging panel noted the first place submission is a result of advice obtained in a survey of the community and supports students' learning of local knowledge and understanding as well as environmental growth. 

Christine Morrison, Deputy Chair, CCSP, Parent Assembly Cluster Coordinator, Diocese of Lismore and newly appointed CCSP Executive Director, Catherine Garrett-Jones, presented the award and prizemoney to the community of St Joseph’s Primary School, Coraki, in the Diocese of Lismore, on September 20.

Pictured L-R Brendan Moloney, Principal, Len Moran, Indigenous Education Worker, CCSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parent Sub-Committee, Cath Garrett-Jones and Christine Morrison.  

Pictured L-R   Brendan Moloney, Travis Schaefer, School Leader, Rachael Dawson, Teacher, Jo Kelly, Parent Assembly Cluster Coordinator, Rasharnie Smith, School Captain, Cath Garrett-Jones and Len Moran. 

Ms Jenny Allen, Acting Director of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Lismore, sent a special message for the community of St Joseph’s Primary School, Coraki, which was delivered by Janita Thomson, Lead, Family Partnership, Diocese of Lismore.

"School/Family/Community partnership and engagement is a key priority for our system of schools not only because of what the research tells us about its positive impact on young people but also because of the concept of communio in our Catholic tradition."

In this video, that was part of the submission, Len Moran, member of the CCSP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parent Sub-Committee, speaks about the project.

School Captain Rasharnie Smith led the community in prayer.

Award Recipients

2022 First Place

St Joseph’s Primary School, Coraki, Diocese of Lismore, for their School Improvement Plan Visual Appeal, Meeting of the Waters.

2022 Second Place

St Mary’s Grafton, Diocese of Lismore for their Family Faith and Fun Night initiative.

Highly Commended Award

St Michael’s Primary School, Dunedoo, Diocese of Bathurst for their St Michael’s parent engagement in the faith formation of the child initiative.

Finalists

Holy Family, Catholic Primary School, Lindfield, Diocese of Broken Bay for their Amazing me initiative.

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Mona Vale in the Diocese of Broken Bay for their Faith and Learning Walks initiative.

Loreto Kirribilli, Archdiocese of Sydney for their Mentoring and networking program.

On behalf of parents and carers, CCSP thanks teachers for the support they give to students in their care.

It has been a challenging few years for everyone, especially teachers. 

Hats off to teachers this World Teachers’ Day! 

We are encouraging students, their families and the community to celebrate teachers. Remember what teachers mean to you and your children. 

Your school community can acess ideas how to celebrate World Teachers Day at World Teachers Day.

Three years ago the Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell, advised to help prepare NSW students for life after school it would be compulsory to study Mathematics for the HSC. 

“Whether you are a carpenter or a software engineer, maths is a companion for life, we want to make sure that the new curriculum provides a level of maths concepts that will help every NSW student succeed in life after school,” Minister Mitchell said.

Full press release. 

The move also has the backing of high profile YouTube star and Cherrybrook Technology High teacher Eddie Woo who said it would help kids who didn’t like maths the most.

Source The Daily Telegraph Christopher Harris October 18 2022

Students in year 8, 2022, will be able to choose a maths course  for the HSC suited their ability and interest in Maths. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these changes speak with your childs' teacher. 

From 2023 National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be held from 15- 27 March. 

You can view all dates on the NAPLAN website. 

"This can be one of the most stressful times in a students’ life. It can also be very stressful for parents trying to support their children."

writes Dr Madeleine Ferrari, Clincial Psychology Lecturer, Australian Catholic University in a recent article in The Conversation.

Her article describes self compassion, what it looks like and how it can be helpful to everyone, not just students sitting the HSC. 

The article continues... But there is a superpower in the arsenal of every year 12 student that can be harnessed to manage this stress. This superpower fuels resilience, not only for exams, but for any difficult situation they may be faced with across their lifespan.

It’s called self-compassion.

The mental health benefits

"The most enduring relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves. Self-compassion means talking to yourself like you would talk to a friend.

Self-compassion encourages us to feel comfortable in our own skin. It allows us to generate our own feelings of warmth, reassurance, soothing and liking who we are."

It is associated with greater psychological well-being and a lower risk of developing symptoms of poor mental health. 

How can we learn and teach self-compassion?

Here are some ways to approach self-compassion, both for yourselves and your kids: 

Check yourself: before talking with your child about self-compassion, consider how you treat yourself when under stress. Do you notice when your self-critic is triggered? It is hard to be genuine when encouraging someone else to be self-compassionate if you are not.

Model self-compassion: when you make an error, try replacing “I’m so stupid I let this happen” with “I’m upset about this and that’s okay – anyone would feel this way in this situation”. Talk to yourself in a soft, calm tone. Whether you say it aloud or even just think it, your behaviour in that moment will change, and your kids will see this.

Talk about it: start a conversation with your child about their relationship with themselves. You could start with: “what do you tend to say to yourself or feel about yourself during exams?” or “what effect does this have on you?”

Help them spot self-criticism: encourage your child to notice when self-criticism pops up. Give the self-criticsm a name such as “Voldemort” or the “angry voice”. Say, “When you notice Voldemort is hanging around, gently ask yourself, what would you say to a good friend or a ten-year-old version of yourself in this situation?” This simple question is a powerful way to tap into the compassionate wisdom we all carry.

Give yourself a hug: to help calm yourself, give yourself a hug. Either wrap your arms around yourself or hold your hand on your heart or chest and notice the warmth. Research tells us we get a flood of oxytocin - the body’s “love drug” – and relax when we are hugged by someone we trust. Our brain and body has an almost identical reaction when we hug ourselves. Use as a this short-cut to trigger some feelings of self-compassion. 

This article is republished from "https://theconversation.com">The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

https://theconversation.com/self-compassion-is-the-superpower-year-12-students-need-for-exams-and-life-beyond-school-192086

Today’s world of work is characterised by career uncertainties and increased competition, which requires responsive strategies in preparing young people for study-to-work transition.

You can attend a free insights webinar that highlights the importance of promoting and developing your childs’ information seeking capacity, to better prepare them for study-to-work transition and lifelong learning.

Join the authors, Thai Vu and Subra Ananthram from Curtin University, and Dawn Bennett from Bond University, as they provide strategies to support effective information seeking in workplace learning and adaptation.

Tuesday 22 November at 4:00pm (AEDT)

Register here.

The CCSP website has a page with information about upcoming webinars. Visit the page here.

Learn about TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat andYouTube to help your children stay safe online.

The free webinar will include case studies, research and targeted advice so you can support the young people in your life to have safe, enjoyable online experiences.  

Free webinar developed by the eSafety Commissioner.

Wednesday October 26 at 7.30pm - 8.30pm 

Register here

Health professionals are concerned about the popularity of vapes and increase in young people trying vaping. 

On November 17, CCSP, in conjunction with the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, will be offering parents and carers the opportunity to attend a webinar with Paul Dillon, Director and founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA).

Details how to register for this event will be available on the CCSP website Upcoming Webinars.

Paul Dillon has been working in the area of drug education for more than 25 years. Through his own business, DARTA he has been contracted by many agencies and organisations across the country to give regular updates on current drug trends within the community. He continues to work with many school communities across the country to ensure that they have access to good quality information and best practice drug education.

Some facts about vapes. Young people may think they are simply inhaling flavoured water, this is far from the truth. Vapes can have the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, often called ‘vapes’, are electronic devices designed to deliver vapourised liquids into the lungs. There are many different styles of vapes available and they can be difficult to spot. The main ingredient in vapes is propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine or glycerol, and they often also contain nicotine, flavours and other chemicals. Vapes may contain harmful chemicals that aren’t listed on the pack.
The biggest misunderstanding about vapes is that they are harmless compared to cigarettes. This is not true. Vapes are not safe. Source NSW Health.

NSW Health is urging parents and carers to find out more about vaping and talk with young people about the risks. 

NSW Health have created factsheets for parents and carers. You can access the above fact sheet here  or a different Vaping fact sheet for parents and carers here. 

There is a separate factsheet for young people.

What you can do as a parent or carer?

There are ways you can help protect your children from vaping:

• Whether you suspect your child is vaping or not, take the time to talk to them about it and help them understand all of the risks. It is never too late to have the conversation.
• Try to start the conversation with your child in a relaxed easy-going way, perhaps taking the cue from around you, such as a note from school, a news story about on it, or seeing people vaping on the street.
• If your child is vaping, encourage them to stop, let them know that help is available and you are there for them.
• Learn about the different types of vapes available and the risks associated with using these products.
• Set a good example by being tobacco or vape free.

Support to help your child quit vaping

• Book an appointment with their general practitioner or other health service for help to quit vaping.
• Quitline counsellors are available to answer any questions about vapes on 13 7848 (13 QUIT). Quitline is a telephone-based service, offering information and advice. Quitline counsellors provide tips and strategies, and help to plan your child's quit attempts, based on their own needs and preferences. They can also help you think of ways to approach a conversation with your child or loved one about vaping.
• The Aboriginal Quitline is also available on 13 7848. Run by Aboriginal counsellors, the Aboriginal Quitline is a telephone-based confidential advice and support service.

CCSP suggests if you have concerns about your child vaping speak with your child and teacher. 

If your child is starting school 

Nurturing your child through transitions

If your child is entering secondary school

NSW Police would like to advise all school communities of the increased possession of gel guns by young people in NSW.

These guns can be purchased legally in Queensland (Gold Coast) but are illegal in NSW and are considered to be firearms.

A firearm that is typically constructed of plastic and is operated either manually by a piston air pump or automatically by means of a battery-powered motor.

These firearms discharge hydrated gel balls by means of a spring and air operated by a trigger mechanism. They cannot discharge the hydrated gel balls by means of an
explosive. They often have an outward appearance of various handguns, shotguns and rifles in existence.

What happens if someone is caught with a gel blaster?

Because these are considered actual firearms in NSW, a person who supplies, acquires or possesses an unregistered firearm could be arrested and charged for
possession of a firearm (under Section 36(1) of the NSW Firearms Act 1996) which holds a maximum penalty of 5 years for a FIREARM or up to 14 years for a PISTOL or
PROHIBITED FIREARM. Possessing 3 or more where at least one is a prohibited firearm carries 20 years.

Read the flyer from NSW Police. 

Gel Blasters

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