“So it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:5
From The Principal
Thank you to all those parents who attended the Parent and Teacher Interviews last week. It was wonderful to see parents back on-site and engaging intensely with teachers about students and their learning. I am sure that both groups enjoyed the opportunity to speak to each other face to face rather than on a phone call or in a Zoom meeting. I also think everyone would agree, that for some, it was an opportunity to rekindle connections and for many a chance to meet each other face to face for the first time. All the feedback confirms it was a very productive and much needed opportunity.
I often refer to Term Two as the ‘academic term’ and like to remind students that the good efforts made to complete class, home and assessment work now, sets them up for academic success throughout the year and beyond. Parents often ask how they can support students with their learning and I thought I would share with you something about the work of Professor Carol Dweck from Stanford University and the findings of her extensive research into the mindset of individuals and how what we value about learning, impacts on their approach and success as learners.
Her studies highlighted that using praise that focused on effort and the process of learning, rather than the outcome, created better learners who achieved more of their potential. Praise focused on effort created an understanding in learners that:
- Success in learning comes from hard work.
- Making mistakes is an important part of learning.
- Persistence is a core component of learning new concept.
- The ‘struggle’ associated with learning is important in the process of mastery.
- Taking on a challenge is the fun part of learning.
She highlighted the fact that all of the great achievements in human history were made by people that worked incredibly hard, made lots of mistakes, failed many times but persisted and eventually achieved.
Her studies found that praise centred on results (Well done you scored perfect marks!) or ability (Well done you must be really good at maths) created a fear of failure, identified having to work hard to solve problems as a weakness and that learning is only difficult if you are not smart. The high expectations of success impacted negatively on their desire to take risks as a learner and therefore they achieved less of their potential.
Her advice to parents and teachers was to applaud hard work, celebrate effort, encourage students to keep struggling and working with difficult challenges and to acknowledge mistakes and failure as the first step towards learning and understanding.
Some tips for talking to children about learning
- Ask about the process they used to develop a project.
- Praise the strategy used to tackle a problem.
- Acknowledge the effort they put into an assignment.
- Encourage them to keep working at something they haven’t mastered yet. Professor Dwerk spoke a lot about using the word ‘yet’ as it suggests possibilities and potential.
- Congratulate their persistence.
- Talk about what they have learned from their mistakes.
Praising effort and valuing the processes of learning creates a love of learning and individuals who love learning achieve more of their potential.
A reminder to all our Mums that there will be a special Mother's Day Morning Tea this Friday in the Ezzy Centre from 8.30am to 9.45am. Friends of EAC will be hosting and there will be some scrumptious cakes and a cuppa, as well as some entertaining performances by various students groups. If you have 10 minutes to drop in and have chat, if would be great for you to join us.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
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Off the Deputy's Desk
“Old men can make war, but it is children who will make history.”
Ray Merritt, author
Walking around the College on a sunny Wednesday morning it is heartening to hear the buzz of students' voices coming from all directions. Classrooms are again full of excited teaching and learning opportunities, and conversations are about what lies ahead in the term. This is in pleasant contrast to previously reflecting on the challenges of the previous weeks and months.
Camps and excursions are being organised now that Covid restrictions are lifting and the physical world our students are now able to engage with is expanding. Mr Walsh organised a wonderful Leadership Workshop for the Year 6 Peer Support students, engaging them with an array of College Leaders who shared their journey and vision of leadership. It was terrific to hear the references to servant leadership and transitional leadership constantly being discussed, showing the mature engagement with the issues leaders face.
In this period of educational, environmental, social and geopolitical change it is important that we educate our students to be leaders who are able to harness a vision for the future and to support and nurture those alongside them to achieve it.
Excitement is also building in the Primary School with the upcoming Colour Run promising to be a memorable event and a visual celebration of the great fundraising that was done by the Primary students. They raised a total of $40,000 for EAC families affected by the recent flooding events.
Year 7 Immunisation
The Year 7 HPV Immunisation will occur at the College on Monday 9 May. All Year 7 parents are asked to return their consent form to the front office prior to the date.
School Photographs
The school photographer will be at the College on Monday 9 May for any catch-up photographs. Sibling photographs will be taken at 9am and are to be arranged by the family. All photographs will be taken in The Lindsay Walker Centre.
Dia dhaoibh
Mr Francis McGuigan
Deputy Principal
TERM 2 WEEK 3A
Monday 9 May
- School Photo Catchup Day
- Year 7 Immunisation
Tuesday 10 May
- Year 9 HSIE Excursion
- CIS U16 Girls Hockey - Sydney
- NAPLAN Test
Wednesday 11 May
- Year 11 Ext English Task 1
- NAPLAN Test
Thursday 12 May
- Year 11 Modern History Task 1
- Year 11 ITM Task 1
- Year 11 ITT Task 1
- NAPLAN Test
Friday 13 May
- Year 12 Ext 1 Maths Task 2
- NCIS Surfing Sawtell
- K-6 Peer Support
- NAPLAN Test
TERM 2 WEEK 4B
Monday 16 May
- Year 11 Chemistry Task 1
- Scholastic Book Fair
- NAPLAN Test
Tuesday 17 May
- Scholastic Book Fair JOJ
- NAPLAN Test
Wednesday 18 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- CIS 16&U and Open Boys Hockey
- NAPLAN Test
Thursday 19 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- CIS Secondary Boys Hockey
- Year 11 Music Task 1
- Year 12 Ext 1 English Task 2
- Futsal Program Years 3-6
- NAPLAN Test
- Shakespeare Carnival NEGS, Armidale
Friday 20 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- Shakespeare Carnival NEGS, Armidale
- NAPLAN Test
- NCIS Cross Country
Secondary News
Online Safety
We all want out children to be safe online but sometimes we find it difficult to navigate information and to determine what is appropriate. As students move through adolescence you will find more and more connections with their friends online. Just because your child might appear to be tech-savvy it does not mean that there is no risk to their online connections.
It is important to use the 4 C’s as a way to go through the risks of online behaviour. The 4C’s help families consider the technology in the home and put in place safeguards. This might mean that there are device restrictions, devices are housed in certain areas or that certain apps or games are not allowed by your family,
The 4C’s consider:
Content: Is your child allowed to play this game or download this app. Are there filters or age restrictions?
Contact: If they are using the technology, who are they talking to? Are you happy with this? Can you block or report on the app?
Conduct: How will your child behave using the app or game?
Commercialism: All the apps, games and services on the internet are driven by commercialism. Advertisements are used as a way to make money and are targeted to different people. How will your child deal with these?
Over the next few newsletters, I will be going through some common advice provided by the Office of E-safety linked to a number of common questions that parents have.
Question: How can I set up the new devices I have bought my child so that they are safer?
There are so many devices, each with individual settings it can be really hard for parents, but setting up devices before they are given to children is a really important step. Parent Controls and Privacy Settings are useful tools to help minimise the risks your children may face online but are not 100% effective. It is still important to have regular conversations with children so that they know what to do if they encounter risk.
Question: My son/daughter is spending too much time online. How can I get them to spend less time on their devices?
Whilst time is important, what they are doing is more important. Spending 5 hours watching cat videos isn’t the same as spending 5 hours learning something new and socialising with their friends. There are many tips that can be implemented to manage time. It is important to talk to students about how to manage their screen time and work out a balance managing time online. Internetmatters.org provide a range of guides and recommendations for screen time which is age appropriate.
The important thing to remember is that technology is just a tool, not a solution to protect children.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
PRIMARY NEWS
What a great day we had at Cross Country last Friday. The weather was kind to us, and even though we had some misty rain by the 8/9 age group race, all runners were appreciative of the light spray they received. I was really proud of the way the students displayed grit and resilience by completing the race. As a lap marker, I saw the disappointed faces as they realised there was “one more lap to go” but also got to witness the joy and pride as they came up the final straight to complete the race.
On Tuesday, our Year 6 students attended a Leadership Summit here at EAC. Organised by Mr Walsh, our Year 6 students were treated to a day of insights and experiences centered around leadership. A selection of Secondary Leaders spoke to the Year 6 students about their leadership journey and reflected on the highs and lows during their time in leadership positions at the College. The students completed a survey which helped them recognise their leadership strengths and then put these strengths into action during a session of group challenges. The afternoon session was spent planning the upcoming Peer Support sessions where our Year 6 students lead a group of K-5 participants each week. Please read the Peer Support session notes below for more information about next week’s initial session.
Peer Support
Session 1 (Friday 13 May)
We are commencing our Peer Support lessons next week. The whole school participates in Peer Support for 30 minutes each week. Two Peer Leaders facilitate a small group of 8-10 younger students, who work together through a number of structured activities. Each teacher will supervise 2-3 groups in their classroom. This year, we are working on a module called Living Positively helping us explore the concept of optimism. The module runs for 8 sessions. Our first session enables the children to get to know everyone in the group, agreeing on how they will work well together and interact cooperatively with others. They will also begin to think about what it means to be optimistic. We encourage you to talk to your children about Peer Support every week, as it will help to reinforce the concepts learned in each session.
I wrote to you earlier this week about the Colour Run on Friday 6 May. We would love some parents to help us out. If you are able to assist, please make yourself known to Mr Pearson or myself on Friday from 1pm. The Colour Run will get underway at 1:30pm and will wrap up just in time for the bell. Please refer to my communication emailed home on Tuesday for more information. We will try desperately to make the event happen and have a plan to use the Secondary Outdoor Basketball Courts if the Oval is too wet and boggy.
Our Year 5 and 6 Debating team, lead by Mr Walsh, are looking forward to the second round of HICES Debating this Friday 6 May at Bishop Druitt College in Coffs Harbour. We wish the team the very best as they come up against Bishop Druitt College in Round Two.
Finally, can I wish all of our Mums a very happy Mother’s Day on Sunday. Whether you’re a sleep in followed by breakfast in bed, or a jump up early and run the lighthouse type of Mum, may your day be full of joy.
Mr Wayne Cross
Director of Primary
Online Canteen Ordering
We are excited to be able to offer online Canteen ordering via the 'School Stream' app.
Once the app is installed you will be able to view and select from the canteen menu by clicking on Canteen. This will bring up the canteen order form where you will be able to enter the child's details and select desired items from the dropdown lists under the relevant headings and pay. You will be prompted to tick which break you require your selection for.
All online orders must be completed and submitted prior to 8.45am on the day they are required, to enable Canteen staff enough time to prepare and distribute orders.
Manual Canteen Ordering
If you are unable to use the 'School Stream' App please place the money in a paper bag of sufficient size to fit all of the items. If you are ordering a drink with your child’s lunch, please provide two (2) bags. Please write the information on the LOWER half of the bag. If money is short we will substitute items to the value received.
REMEMBER, if ordering at both breaks, you must have a separate bag for each break.
Any change required will be placed in the bag for return with the child’s order.
All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.15am.
Christine Hall - Canteen Supervisor
contact: chall@eac.nsw.edu.au
Community News
