St Matthew’s Primary School

Dear Parents and Carers

At St Matthew’s, teachers understand that good quality friendships and relationships are critical to child development. Healthy friendships help forge skills like negotiation, cooperation, and conflict resolution. They teach our children how to be supportive and show empathy. They also stimulate independent thinking and open children up to new ideas.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the way in which our children socialise and communicate with friends, peers, teachers and family on a daily basis. As a result, our students are sometimes struggling to use the skills they need to have healthy, feel-good friendships.

We are proud to announce that we have become a URSTRONG School and are committed to empowering your children with the skills, language and confidence to be better friends and develop healthier relationships. URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, teaching a common language of friendship and empowering students with skills to create a culture of kindness at our school.

You are invited to take advantage of a FREE Parent Membership that will allow you to learn the same language and strategies being taught in our classrooms through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG Family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion, & kindness at home.

Inquiry Exhibition 4 November
Where will you be at 2pm on Friday 4 November?

At St Matthew’s Primary School, we hope!

Finally, following two years of COVID-19 restrictions, we’re able to invite parents, carers and families to our Inquiry Exhibition. Our Exhibition is a celebration of our learning and teaching in Humanities and Social Sciences. Students will present their inquiry journey to our visitors and speak about their learning.

Classrooms will be open from 2.00pm to 2.45pm and entry is through the Front Office. You are encouraged to maintain social distance wherever possible, and to stay home if you’re not feeling well. Feel free to wear a mask. Parents are welcome to take their children home after their visit.

Day for Daniel 28 October
Day for Daniel is a National Day of Action hosted by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to raise awareness of child safety, protection and harm prevention. Held on the last Friday of October each year, it is about educating children and adults about keeping safe through child safety and protection initiatives. The key objective of the day is to educate children about their personal safety, and empower them to 'Recognise, React and Report' when they feel something is not right. Next Friday, we ask that students wear something red in recognition of the day. Parent helpers are being sought to bake cupcakes. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher if you can help.

Clothing Pool Coordinator
We have been blessed to have the assistance of Liz Susic as our Clothing Pool Coordinator for the last few years, as well as several wonderful parent helpers who opened up the Pool when COVID-19 restrictions allowed. The school is now seeking the assistance of a volunteer Clothing Pool Coordinator (or Co-ordinators - you could join with a friend!) for 2023. This would involve opening the Clothing Pool once-a-week, or once-a-fortnight, at a time that suits you, and helping other families find the perfect school uniform items. It’s a great opportunity to get to know other parents, make new friends, and be an essential part of our St Matthew’s community. If you think you can help, please contact Chris or Mariana in the Front Office (office.stmatts@cg.catholic.edu.au).

Staff Development Day 16 December
Following communication from Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education, a pupil-free, staff development day has been set for Friday 16 December. This day will allow our staff to be involved in professional learning and planning to improve our curriculum delivery and our implementation of the Catalyst teaching and learning approach that will benefit all the students at St Matthew's in 2023.

Afternoon Pick Up
Afternoon Pick Up is a time when great patience and courteous driving is crucial. Teachers are on duty at the drive through area from 3.00pm to 3.20pm. Consider arriving at 3.10pm, when traffic congestion has eased. We had a visit from a Detective Sergeant from ACT Road Policing earlier in the week, who spoke with parents who are parked illegally on Stutchbury Street in the afternoons. School bus drivers are having difficulty turning into the street and driving safely to the bus stop outside the school because cars are parked in a no parking zone. Please follow all road signs and expect a visit from the parking inspector in the coming days and weeks.

May God bless you and your families this week.

Petra Cole
Principal (Acting)

Dear Parents and Carers,

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the warm welcome I have received upon my return to St Matthew’s. While I have immensely enjoyed being at home with my children for the past year, it’s so lovely to be back at my second home in the St Matthew's community. I am looking forward to working with you all as we enter the final term of 2022.

As we head towards the end of the year, it’s common to feel stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted and worn out. Dr Siggie Cohen has some wonderful tips that I would like to share with you over the coming weeks about staying calm in challenging situations. Siggie Cohen is a psychologist specialising in child development. She has worked in the field of education and psychology for more than 35 years.

It’s hard to keep your composure all the time, you are not alone. Yes, staying calm, composed and in control of your emotions is the ultimate goal. HOWEVER, no one is able to stay calm 100% of the time. Of course not. After all, you are human, you have feelings, you have triggers, parenting is hard and this is real life. So, while yes, you should actively and continuously work towards the goal of remaining calm, confident and composed for your children, don't forget to be patient with yourself in the process. Because it is a process. Show yourself empathy and above all, don't give up.

Step 1: Understand your triggers…

The very first step to being able to stay calm is understanding your triggers. Not the surface triggers, but the deep, underlying triggers.

Think about what your triggers are. What is it that your child does that triggers you to feel upset, frustrated, embarrassed, angry? Surface triggers are real and valid. However, there is usually a deeper reason we lose our cool…

Surface trigger

Dig deeper - Underlying trigger

“I get angry when my child doesn’t listen to me.”

Because things are not going my way and I want to be in control.

Because I was raised to believe that not listening is disrespectful and I feel offended.

Because I’m not getting what I want and it doesn’t feel good.

“I feel anxious when my child acts out in public”

Because I’m concerned about what others are thinking of me and my child.

Because it’s important for me to be perceived as a good parent.

Because I’m worried something may be “wrong” with my child or with my parenting.

Notice how many of the surface triggers put blame on your child, while the underlying triggers are more focused on you and understanding your reaction. It’s the true, underlying triggers you want to work to identify. And only when you can really understand your underlying triggers, can you then work to manage them. Continue to ask yourself these types of questions to better understand your triggers:

Why am I feeling angry (overwhelmed, frustrated etc) right now? But really... why?
The last time I got very upset with my child, what was going on with me?
What was I feeling?
Why did I react that way?
Where/how did I learn to react that way? What was getting triggered in me?
How would I prefer to respond when this happens again? (when, not if)
Is this how I always react, or was there something else going on?
Are my needs being met?
Am I looking for others to help me manage my emotions?
Is this actually about my child, or is this really about me?

Rachel Powell
Assistant Principal (Acting)
rachel.powell@cg.catholic.edu.au

Sundays Gospel Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells the parable of the proud Pharisee who prayed from his self-importance and the tax collector who prayed humbly.

Background on the Gospel Reading

The second parable that Jesus tells in Luke 18 addresses attitude in prayer. In contrasting the prayer of the Pharisee with the prayer of the tax collector, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in humility before God. Jesus again surprises his listeners by showing the tax collector as the example of faith, rather than the Pharisee. Remember that Pharisees were members of a sect of Judaism active in Jesus' time. If anyone would be a model for prayer, a Pharisee was a likely candidate. In contrast, Jesus offers the tax collector as a model for prayer. Tax collectors were collaborators with the Roman authorities in a system that allowed the tax collectors to line their own pockets by charging in excess of the defined taxes. Yet, in this parable, Jesus offers the humility of the tax collector as a model for the prayer of a disciple. The parable reminds us that when we pray, we must remember our need for God in our lives. If we are too full of ourselves, there is too little room for God's grace to work in us.

Family Connection

In the family, one sometimes observes a level of competition between children for parent attention, for acknowledgement of their abilities. Somehow, children seem to internalize that the attention given to one member of the family diminishes the attention given to another. In this way, children can often sound like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable. Parents who provide continual reminders to their children that they are loved for who they are, not for what they do, help children develop a healthy spirituality.As a family, talk about what it means to compare oneself to another. Discuss whether it is helpful to compare oneself to another. In what ways might this be positive? (when it motivates one to use one's talents) In what circumstances might this be unhelpful? (when it proves discouraging, when it prevents one from valuing the abilities of another)As a family, read today's Gospel, Luke 18:9-14. Discuss: What was wrong about the prayer of the Pharisee? How can we emulate the prayer of the tax collector?Pray together as a family in thanksgiving for the blessing that is each member of your family. Pray in thanksgiving that God's love for us is unconditional.

This October, we are celebrating World Mission Month, a month dedicated to the life-giving work of missionaries around the world.

This year, we walk hand-in-hand with the Church of Ethiopia and the local communities towards providing life-changing opportunities to those most in need.

The money we raise through Crazy Hair Day will go towards supporting a range of mission development programs in Ethiopia addressing malnutrition, the lack of access to education for young children, and the vulnerable position of women in society.

Students are invited to come to school with wild, creative, and cool hairstyles and bring in a gold coin donation for our fundraiser.

What: Crazy Hair Day

When: Friday 21 October, Week 2

Why: To raise money for Catholic Mission Australia

Bring: A gold coin donation

November ~ Remembrance Month For the month of November, during whole school morning prayer, we would like to acknowledge and pray for all those loved ones who have gone before us. If you would like us to pray for someone in your family, please fill out their first and last name in the document linked here.

God Bless

Lousia Vance

Religious Education Co-Ordinator

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Congratulations to Summer Willson for making the 2022 Oztag Australian Championships in Coffs Harbour. The competition took place on the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th of October. Summer played for the ACT Cougars Under 9 Girls team which won 1, drew 1 and lost 4. It was a great experience for Summer, and her family, and friends, and the whole St Matthew’s community are very proud of her.

SCHOOL FEES
Term Four School Fees were distributed via email on Monday 17^th October. Fees are due by Week 5 (November 11) unless payment is being made by instalments. The Student Resource Levy within the Term Four School Fees will be reduced to reflect the costs normally incurred by the cancelled swimming program.

Please note: If paying by instalments you may need to amend your payment schedule.

Please contact the front office If you haven’t received your fees or you have any questions.

All families have received their log in details via email for our new Compass Parent Portal. The Compass Parent Portal is an online portal that allows you to interact with the school and access up-to-date information. Once you have your log-in credentials and download the app, you’ll be able to:

Enter absence notes for your child
Give consent for excursions
View school reports
Communicate with your child’s teacher
Book parent-teacher interviews
Receive communication from staff

If you didn’t receive log in details, please contact our Front Office (office.stmatts@cg.catholic.edu.au) or check your “junk” mailbox.

Click here to install Compass on Apple devices

Click here to install Compass on Android devices

When prompted: Search “St Matthew’s P” and then you’ll see “St Matthew’s Primary School – Page” as a drop down.

welcome_to_compass_parent_portal_visual_guide_230221.pdf

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Happy birthday wishes to Alexnder A, Kora B, Maya D, Madeline R, Lachlan C, Lucy M, Felicity B, Luke G, Leia T, Austin P, Harriet P, Hana G, Archer P, Austin Z, Alice C, Samuel B who celebrated birthdays in the holidays and to Elijah O, William L, Maddison M, Jacob W, Jarrahna N, Jasneha K, Edwin G, Marcus H, Neve M, Olesia V and Banjo N, who recently celebrated birthdays.