Principal's Post

Welcome back to Term 4! Hard to believe we are entering into the final weeks of the school year. Time just seems to pass more quickly each year, each month. Enjoy settling back into the routines of life here at school. We need to be gentle on ourselves as we get back into the routines, as it does take the first week to settle. Just be good to self, and if things do not quite go to plan, know that is all okay. Important to remember our kids love their break, and while they love being back with us at school, they may find it a little hard getting organised in the morning to be ready for school. This is all part of the fun of life. Embrace it!

The best thing about a holiday break is that we get to stop for a short time and reflect. It has allowed me to reset and refocus on our purpose, my purpose, for being here at St Columba’s School. Getting back to ‘ikigai’ has been the key. You will remember it is all about knowing the grass is greener on my side of the fence. Allows us to be true and present with those we are with, but also with where we are at in life, whether it is going sweetly or a little turbulent, either way, the grass is greener right where we are. When we get this thinking happening, we get out of bed in the morning ready to be our best self. I love this stuff as it is all about finding our purpose.

Funny how we all end up in conversations on stuff and it becomes so relatable to what you are thinking at the time. I have had so much of this ‘the grass is greener on my side of the fence’ even though it has not been spoken about directly. On Saturday night, I ended up in the most chilled out conversation about how if we stop thinking about ourselves and think about others and connecting with their story, how enriched we become. I know, seriously chilled out conversation that left me feeling like there is a world of quality people that I am yet to encounter. This was the first time I had met this bloke. The best part, I mentioned the ‘ikigai’ and he had the book. He knew the cover with the coy fish on it, but had not read it. He was going to find it and have a read. Ridiculous! This is how the universe works. We just need to allow it to happen.

This leads me to my focus for the next few weeks, and probably for life really, is the concept of ‘pay it forward’. A mate of mine put me onto this way of being, a way of finding a purpose. It is something worth looking into if you are keen. Pay it forward works like this:

1. See a need and do something about it.
2. You do not want anything in return, you do not expect any pay back for your kindness. You do not want any recognition and acknowledgement. You just do it to make a difference to someone else’s life.
3. The deal is that this person has a responsibility to find three acts of service to others.
4. The three people they impact on, then have this responsibility to not pay it back, but pay it forward in kindness to others.

And this is how the movement starts. We start with those closest to us or we can start with a total stranger. I do not know much, but what I do know is that when we have this awareness, it is amazing how many acts like this take place right in front of us. An example was when I was at the local shops and a person in front of me pulled out his credit card and paid for an elderly lady’s bread and milk. The lady was grabbing coins out of her purse and did not quite have the cash, so he said politely that he would like to pay for it. This is GOLD. He was not being the hero, just doing a good deed. I am sure the elderly lady was paying that forward with kindness to the next person she encountered. Imagine the impact.

Just think about when you have helped someone out. It could be as simple as picking up someone else’s kids from school, because they are stuck at work, or you make a meal for a family you know who may have some challenges going on in life at the moment. You do not do it for recognition, you do it because you are a good person. The knock on effect is that you know when that family gets through the tough times, they will pay it forward to someone else. It is in the simplest of actions. We need look no further than to those closest to us. Just look at our Pastoral Care group, our P&F, our School Board, those who volunteer at Busy Bees, in our classrooms. There is an abundance of paying it forward.

I was listening to another story on the weekend, where friends of ours were saying how they had been to Fremantle and had watched from the café hundreds of people walking past a lady who was selling the ‘Big Issue’ newspaper. When they had finished brekky, they went across and stopped and chatted with the lady. This is the type of act we talk about. The simple stuff we do that makes a difference to someone else. This does take courage to stop. I love this stuff. How about we all focus on the ‘pay it forward concept this week’, but maybe every week and see what the impact is. I do not know why, but it just seems to be what we all need sometimes.

This illustration is fabulous. I think I might catch up with our Year 6 kids about this way of thinking as we prepare to go to camp in a few weeks. I reckon kids do this stuff so well if we model it for them. They are always watching our interactions and how we connect with others, how we treat each other and those around us. Anyhow, I did have a great break. Probably doing too much thinking, hence my ramblings.

P&F Colour Run Friday 25 October:

The Colour Run is fast approaching. Please see details for the event in the P&F section of this Donegal. It will be an exciting day for the kids. We are looking forward to seeing what funds are raised to put towards resources for our teaching and learning programs in literacy and numeracy. Thank you to everyone for your support and to those on the P&F that have been involved in coordinating the day.

The funds raised by the P&F have allowed for $10 000 worth of Mathematics and Reading resources to be purchased in the last two months. This will have an immediate impact with math resources for teaching and learning throughout the school. Part of the $10 000 has gone into the purchase of both class and home readers in Pre-Primary and Year 1. The money that is raised as part of the Colour Run will directly impact on more Reading resources for our Year 1 to Year 6 classrooms.

Lost Property and Second-hand Uniforms:

The lost property is now situated in tubs near the library stairwell leading to the oval. This will allow for easy access by the students to check for their lost items. The second-hand uniform items can still be found in the breezeway between the canteen and OSHC. Please check all uniform items have your child’s name on them.

Greenbatch Recycling Program for Schools:

Greenbatch Foundation partners with schools allowing students to collect their old PET plastic bottles through recycling and re-purposing it into 3D printer filament. By recycling through Greenbatch we can save plastic from entering landfills, oceans and waste incinerators. Greenbatch will be visiting us next Monday to launch the program with our students.

Greenbatch Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation working in the environmental, sustainability and education space with a specific focus on plastic pollution and plastic recycling. Greenbatch was founded by Darren Lomman, after hearing in a television commercial that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Darren was shocked to discover that Western Australia does not have a waste plastic reprocessing plant, meaning not a single bit of plastic put in a WA recycling bin has ever been recycled in WA. Shocked by the plastic pollution legacy being left behind for our future generations, Darren committed himself to addressing this problem on behalf of WA. The Greenbatch Foundation operates as a community educator, targeting plastic pollution awareness and recycling behaviours.  We aim to change community attitudes regarding plastic to view it as a valuable resource rather than as waste to be disposed of.  Greenbatch is now operating in 81 schools across WA and we hope to reach 130 by the end of 2019. 

SCHOOL FEES – REMINDER STATEMENTS

ATTN Parents and Caregivers

Reminder statements have been sent home today.

If no direct debit is set up on your account or you have alternative arrangements in place, full payment is required by the 30^th November.

Method of payment is either by cash, cheque, EFTPOS, BPay or Direct Debit.

Parents, with our new audit procedures the school is required to account for outstanding school fees at the end of each year.

If you are unable to pay the account in full and have no alternative arrangements in place, please contact Peta Santella on 9208 2705 or email peta.santella@cewa.edu.au to make a repayment plan.

Please remember we are here to support families experiencing financial hardship and we are happy to meet with you to discuss this or any other matter.

Your attention and co-operation to this matter is appreciated.

Parent Survey-Getting a sense of where and who we are as a school:

Thank you to the many parents who contributed to the survey. We will be looking through the data and identifying key threads that will lead to celebrating many wonderful things about our school and community, but also areas which we can continue to develop. It is wonderful to see the interest from our parents in completing the survey. These results will form part of our strategic planning over the next six months.

I wish you a wonderful start to the term and that you will find moments in your day to see the joy, even when there are really tough days. My hope is that on the tough days there is someone who sees this and is there to support you. It only ever takes a kind word or a gentle touch to let someone know you know. I do love this quote below. One of my favourites. Enjoy!

Gentleness is the key.

Art

School Counsellor News

How to Talk to Children and Teens About Eco-Anxiety. The words that will turn anxiety into hope, courage, and direction.

The planet is hurting and our children are feeling it. For too many of our children and teens, the environmental crisis is feeling bigger than humanity’s capacity to turn it around.When this happens, eco-anxiety – anxiety about the environmental crisis – drives hopelessness, helplessness and despair, stealing their sense of safety and security in the world. As part of a humanity that is facing a global environmental crisis, we have some important work to do. We have to heal and protect our planet, and just as urgently, we need to give hope back to our children. We need to ease their anxiety, and help them discover their own power to make a difference.

There are two important reasons for this. The first is because our children deserve so much more than to be growing up feeling hopeless, helpless and frightened. The second is because we can’t solve the environmental crisis without them. They are powerful and important, and everything they do matters. When anxiety gets too big though, it will steal their capacity to realise this – but as the important adults in their lives, we can change that.

We can help them realise that eco-anxiety is not a prediction of doom, but a call to action – a call to that important, powerful, brave part of them that can make a difference. We can help them realise that their anxiety does not speak of the hopelessness of it all, but of something meaningful that needs their attention. Even more importantly, it speaks to their power to respond to this meaningful, important thing in a way that can make a profound difference.

Shifting the mindset. ‘That feeling you’re feeling – it’s anxiety, and it’s there to give you what you need to do powerful, important things.’

Our children can be change-makers, and everything they do will matter in the fight to save our planet. First though, we must offer them an antidote to fear and helplessness. This comes by giving them hope and direction. Hope to build their sense of safety in the world, and direction so their anxiety can do its job and mobilise them towards meaningful action.

We need to help them see this crisis is not an ending, but an opportunity for humanity to lead a more balanced, more compassionate, more respectful way of existing. But first, let’s bring eco-anxiety back to small enough, so they can feel brave enough and powerful enough to discover the difference they can make.

Eco-anxiety fuels three options – fight, flight or freeze.

Anxiety is a call to action. It’s energy. It is the brain mobilising the body for fight or flight – either away from danger or towards something meaningful. We want to soften their feelings of being in danger, and breathe life into their power to do something meaningful.

As with any anxiety, the energy fuelled by eco-anxiety will drive three potential responses – fight, flight or freeze. The most intrusive way anxiety shows itself is through freeze. This happens when the brain considers that neither fight nor flight is possible. We don’t want this for our children.

To be ‘frozen’ with fear is to feel helpless and hopeless. This is when anxiety comes with teeth. Any anxiety that drives despair is painful and crippling. ‘What’s the point of doing anything if it’s too late?’

We can steer them away from this by putting anything fearful they’ve heard into context.This might sound something like, ‘For some people, this is how they feel as though they can make a difference. It is not too late to take care of our environment. I promise.’

As much as you can, limit their exposure to any hysteria or hopeless pessimism around climate change. People are entitled to their opinion, but it is too easy for children to ingest the opinions of others whole, without chewing them up and coming to their own conclusions in a way that feels safe. As children get older they will increasingly be able to add their own wisdom, learning, and experience to the opinions of others, hopefully ending somewhere informed and balanced, but while children are young, there is absolutely no good to come from them being exposed to dire warnings or predictions about our planet. It is less likely to mobilise them to action and more likely to cripple them – freeze them – with fear.

But flight is not an option.

Flight is also not an option. We can’t deny the problem and we can’t run away from it. We don’t want to gloss over the fact that our environment is in distress and needs our help.This will not ease eco-anxiety. Our children are aware and they and they care. They know the unsettling truth of it all is that the planet is hurting. We can’t run from that truth, and we don’t want our children to freeze in the face of it. What we can do is give our children what they need to fight for the environment, for the planet, and for the lives that can’t fight for themselves.

So that leaves one option – fight. Let them know that their fight for the planet will make a difference.

The fight for our planet is going to be a big one. We – humanity – have what it takes to fight for the environment, and our children and teens are a vital part of this. Hope and empowerment are the greatest antidotes to helplessness and fear. When we give our children these, we shift the focus away from an overwhelming sense of danger, and towards their capacity for meaningful action. Anxiety gives them the energy, we give them the hope and direction, and they start to realise that they are an important, powerful part of the solution.

Hope and direction turn eco-anxiety into empowerment. So let’s give them plenty of both.

Before we do anything brave or meaningful, there will always be anxiety. It’s just how it is.Throughout history, the biggest changes our world has fought for have had anxiety as the catalyst. The fight for peace, civil rights, equal rights for women, the end of Apartheid, gun control, gay marriage – they have all started with anxiety about what might happen if things were to stay the same.

The more intolerable the ‘same’ was, the bigger the anxiety, and the bigger the energy and the drive to fight for change.

When our children speak to us about their anxiety about climate change, they are giving us something important. They are giving us their messy, confusing, overwhelming feelings so we can help them bear the load. But we can give them something even better. We can hand those feelings back to them in a way that makes sense and gives them hope and direction.

Our children are powerful and they have a huge capacity to make a difference. One of our very important roles is to help them realise this and gently guide them towards how. What they need is for us to align ourselves with that part of them that wants to make a difference and that part of them that holds hope. Those parts of them will be there. If eco-anxiety is big, they might not know how they can make a difference or whether it will be worth it.Their hope might feel a little battered and their direction might feel a little foggy, but the great potential for both will be there.

When we give them hope and direction, we turn anxiety from something that feels overwhelming to something that has a job to do. We shift the focus from something scary (the end of the planet) to something meaningful (their power to heal the planet). Here are some words that might help.

First, acknowledge the feeling:

Validation lets their anxious amygdala (the ‘anxiety’ part of the brain) know that there is somebody who understands things as they do. For a moment, we need to feel what they feel and see what they see, and we need to do this in a way that feels real and reaches them. But this has to happen from a position of strength – ‘I see you, I feel you, and I’ve got you.’ Validation soothes the nervous system by registering in the brain that support is here.

‘I can hear how worried you are about our planet and the environment. Everything you are saying makes so much sense. That feeling you have is called anxiety. I can hear how helpless and frightened it’s making you feel, and I want you to know that we are safe. The planet needs our attention, but it is not too late. I promise you. There is so much we can do, and there are so many people working to put things right again.We’re going to be okay. There is something really amazing about that anxiety you’re feeling – it’s giving you what you need to be able to make a difference too.’

Then, let them know they aren’t alone:

‘It’s easy to think that one person won’t make a difference, but if you hear nothing else, hear this, my love, – there are so many people who feel exactly the way you do, and who are moving to heal the planet. You aren’t alone – I promise. I feel anxious about what’s happening too, and so do so many other people. This is a great thing because it means there are so many people who are doing things to put this right.

Your anxiety can make you feel scared and helpless, but it’s there to give you the energy and the passion to care enough to make a difference – and I know you can make a difference. You are important and powerful, and this anxiety you’re feeling – it’s like that planet is saying to you, ‘Hey, there’s a problem here and I really need your help. I know you can make a difference.’ You are so strong and so powerful, and we can fix this before it turns into something unfixable – I know we can do that.’

Make sense of their eco-anxiety:

When feelings make sense, they are less unpredictable, less intrusive, and less overpowering. Eco-anxiety might still be there, but in a way that is less frightening and less crippling.

‘Anxiety can make you feel helpless and scared, but it’s actually showing up to give you what you need to do something important and powerful – to help heal the planet, and to make it safer and more liveable for us and for the other lives we share it with. Anxiety is energy – it might feel like worrying thoughts or worrying feelings, but it’s energy. If you stop and notice, you’ll be able to feel this energy inside you. It might feel like a racy heart, butterflies in your tummy, wobbly arms or legs, or your mind getting busy thinking about all the bad things that could happen.

This can feel scary, but it’s actually a really amazing thing your body does when it has something important it might need to do. It’s called fight or flight, and anxiety is your brain getting your body ready to run away or fight. Sometimes running away from trouble will be exactly the right thing to do, and sometimes it will more important to fight for what you want. With climate change, we need to fight for our planet – and we can do that. The things you do will make a difference.’

Now, give them hope:

‘I know with everything in me that we can fix this. We have the solutions and we’re putting them in place – renewable energy (such as solar), reducing carbon pollution, replanting and rehabilitating forests – there is so much happening in the world to heal our planet.

Now that you’re aware of what’s happening with climate change, the next step is to decide where to put your energy. Anxiety about climate change has brought people from all over the world together. You are one of those people, and you are so incredibly powerful. It’s true, we’ve made some mistakes, but we’re learning from those mistakes and we’re putting things right. It is not too late. I promise you. The things that are happening on our planet now have made us realise that we have to be kinder to our planet and to the lives that we share it with. People from all over the world are coming together to put things right, and you are an important part of that.’

And give them direction:

Now, we help them take those feelings and that energy and direct it into something actionable.

By helping them mobilise towards action, we’re helping them use their eco-anxiety as it was intended – to give our bodies the energy and means to mobilise for action and fight for what’s important.

‘Everything you do matters so much. Don’t ever think that because you’re ‘just one person’, you won’t make a difference. All big change happens with one person, then another, then another. It doesn’t happen any other way. Let’s talk about some ways that you can make a difference. Here are some ideas:

• reducing single-use plastics (straws, cups, plastic water bottles, plastic shopping bags, cling wrap, take-away food containers);
• recycling whenever we can;
• reducing waste by using our own bags and containers;
• reducing our carbon footprint (by turning off lights or power points you aren’t using them, unplugging devices when you’re done; hanging up your towel so you can re-use it to save water and energy, recycling and re-using bags and containers);
• walk or ride your bike when you can instead of taking the car;
• planting a tree;
• planting our own fruit and veges, then using scraps to make compost and a happy, healthy home for soil creatures;
• saving water when you can;
• be open to trying food that is locally grown and in season – it saves on storage and transport and it’s delicious.’

There are lots of ideas on the internet. Would you like me to help you come up with a plan? Our whole family can get involved. You’re a change-maker. You really are.’

And finally …

More than ever, our children need us to lead the way with hope for our planet and for their future. It’s the only way to counter increasingly crippling levels of eco-anxiety that are undermining their will or their capacity to make a difference. By ‘hope’, I mean real hope.Hope with substance and direction and the kind that believes in itself. Not something that delivered as hope but which can feel like an overdressed dismissal – ‘Don’t worry – we’ll be fine.’ Our children won’t buy that. What they need is for us to make sense of what’s happening around them, and to steer anxiety to do its job – to help them to realise their power to do important, meaningful things that will make a difference.

Our children and teens have incredible empathy and compassion for the planet and the lives we share it with. They are starkly aware of their vulnerability in the face of our hurting planet, but they are ready for the fight. They are brave and they are powerful.

When they speak to us about their eco-anxiety, they are asking, ‘What can I do to put this right?’ As the adults in our lives, it is for us to align ourselves with their courage, and their will to fight for our planet and the lives we share it with. We can help them by nurturing the mindset that their anxiety is an ally, not something to be frightened of. It is not there to scare them about climate change, but to mobilise them to take the very meaningful, sometimes small steps towards living a more respectful, compassionate, sustainable life so that they may help our planet.

Jennifer Maughan
Social Worker
Tuesday & Wednesday
9208 2703
jenny.maughan@cewa.edu.au

P & F News

COLOUR RUN

We are so excited about the up- coming colour run on Friday the 25^th of October. This will be held on the school oval. By now you should have received your fundraising booklet with all the details, including the option to register online for more prize winning opportunities and to help get your fundraising message out to your family and friends.

Colour Powder

The colour powder used in our event has been sourced direct from India, the home of Holi Powder. It is made of high quality corn starch and permitted food colours. It is non-toxic, biodegradable, skin safe and environmentally friendly. Toxicological Risk Assessment and ingredient listings can be obtained from the School Office upon request. Students with asthma are advised to be careful in their decision to participate.

How Does My Child Fundraise?

Students have now received a Sponsorship Form with instructions on how to raise money and order prizes. Students obtain donations in cash using the Sponsorship Form together with online fundraising.

Students who raise as little as $10 or more will receive an incentive prize for their efforts. But why not aim higher? You have the option to choose up to five (5) prizes and this will set your fundraising goal. Family and friends are your greatest supporters, so ask them first for their support. You will reach your fundraising goal in no time.

Student Profile Page

Create a Student Profile Page at www.myprofilepage.com.au which is unique to you. There are also some great features like recording your sponsorships and selecting your prize goal.

You can also register for online fundraising. It’s the easiest way to help your child raise money and to reach your fundraising goal sooner.

WIN A SHARE OF $200,000 WORTH OF FREE SPONSORSHIP DONATIONS. Create a Student Profile Page at www.myprofilepage.com.au and enter your unique code found on page five (5) of your Sponsorship Form to see if you’re an instant winner. Give your fundraising goal a kick start!

How to Order Prizes?

To reward your child for their efforts, they will receive incentive prizes based on the total amount of sponsorship dollars raised in cash, online, and if applicable, any FREE SPONSORSHIP DONATIONS won using the unique code on page five (5) of the Sponsorship Form. You have two options to place your prize order:

1. Login or create a Student Profile Page at www.myprofilepage.com.au. Once the fundraiser has finished, click the ‘ORDER MY PRIZE’ button and then confirm your total amount raised and order your prize/s, OR
2. Complete the back page of the Sponsorship Form and return to the school.

Please note, all donations need to be finalised on or before 6th November. Student prizes will be delivered shortly after.

Thank you in advance for your participation, and get ready for a BLAST OF COLOUR! Happy fundraising!

Please note that children can come to school in free dress, preferably a white t-shirt, and please dress them in something that you do not mind getting dirty. Please also pack a change of clothes for your child to change into after the event. School/Sport uniform is not required.

Children will receive a free sausage sizzle for lunch (please inform your teacher if your child does not want one, otherwise we will assume that they do).

Each child will also receive a Berri icy pole once they have completed the event.

Please see below the time table- this is a guide and may vary slightly on the day. All parents are encouraged to come along and cheer on the kids.

8.45-9.25 year 4 – 40, mins

9.35-10.25 year 3 – 40 mins

10.30- 11.00 recess

11.10-11.40 year 2 – 40 mins

11.50-12.30 year 1/year 6 – 40 mins

12.35-1.15 lunch

1.20-2.00 pre-primary/year 5 – 40 mins

2.10-2.30-2.35 kindy/pre-k – 20-25mins

We look forward to a fun and exciting day.

Rachel Lange

P&F President

rachel@galleriapodiatry.com.au

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777 Pharmacy 

Don’t forget to mention that you are a St Columba’s family if you are shopping at the Maylands or Bayswater 777 Pharmacy. 10% of all retail sales goes towards the P&F.

Rachel Lange
P&F President
rachel@galleriapodiatry.com.au

Library News

Pastoral Care

Community Notices

Redhage Basketball school program is back in Term 4.  Please refer to the flyer attached to this newsletter.

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Chisholm Swim Academy

Lots of opportunities for local students to be involved in the Chisholm Swim Academy leading into Summer:

Learn to Swim & Junior Swim Squads

The Chisholm Swim Academy will again continue in term 4 with learn to swim, private lessons as well at junior swim squads. All sessions will run out of the Chisholm College Indoor heated pool.

Contact Jasmine Webber for more information – Phone: 9471 2100. Email: jasmine.webber@pc.wa.edu.au

Future Chisholm Students in 2020 (Current year 6’s)

Any future year 7’s in 2020 are invited to come along to a Tuesday morning swim session from 7am – 8am in the Chisholm College Pool. Sessions will commence on Tuesday October 15^th running for 8 weeks (last session on Tuesday December 3^rd)

Note, these are not learn to swim sessions, swimmers are expected to have a reasonable swimming ability. Contact Alicia Anderson for more information – Phone: 92082673. Email: a.anderson@chisholmcc.wa.edu.au

Classifieds