Dear Parents & Caregivers,
Welcome to Term 3, and what a way to start a term! This week we have come together as a community to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A massive thank you to Raelene and Lucas Kickett, and Ross Storey. Their guidance helped us to put together a collection of activities designed to help our students develop and deepen their understanding of the Noongar language, history and culture. Please see the School News section of the newsletter for more information and to view photos of this wonderful week.
We also took the opportunity to reflect on the stories of all of our families by inviting them to contribute to the “Our Story” whole school art piece. It was fantastic to see how many mums, dads, grandparents, cousins and siblings came to work shoulder-to-shoulder to create their family’s picket. At St Matthew’s we truly aspire to make our school a welcoming place for all of our families, and to have this many people commit to a school project is a testament to the strength of our community. A huge thank you to everyone involved.
Ngalla Maya Moorditj Koort
Our Place, Solid Heart
Thank you to all of the families who suggested names for our new nature playground and garden. I would like to congratulate the George and Turton families for their contributions. After careful consideration, and a chat with members of the Noongar Community, we were proud to announce the new name at Friday’s assembly.
P&F Quiz Night
The St Matthew’s School P&F Quiz Night is this Friday, July 30th, in the Senior Citizens’ Centre at 6pm. This is our school’s biggest fundraiser event and we are looking forward to a wonderful evening. The P&F will be donating the money raised to the school for the purchasing of new Junior Primary Literacy resources. With a prize for the best dressed, I challenge everyone to don their stripey elf tights or Santa hat and join in the fun.
The Bishops’ Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA)
At the request of the Western Australian Bishops, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 9 students in Catholic schools across Western Australia will take part in The Bishops’ Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA) from the week commencing 26 July. It is a large-scale, standardised assessment that consists of a series of Religious Education (RE) tests developed and marked by the Office of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA). The purpose of the BRLA is to measure student learning of the content in the RE curriculum. Formal school and student reports are produced by the Office and will become available to schools in Term Four.
The BRLA provides a ‘point in time’ snapshot of student performance in RE. Students’ knowledge and understanding of the content of the RE curriculum is assessed using a combination of multiple choice, short and extended response items. Students’ faith is not assessed. The use of the BRLA complements the school-based assessment programs in RE.
Principal Focus – Growing in Kindness
When conducting interviews with new families, I always ask “Why St Matthew’s?” I am proud to say that one of the most common answers is a recognition of our staff’s dedication to providing opportunities for children to witness, and in turn develop genuine values of kindness and respect. This is embedded in the very essence of our philosophy:
Through Catholic schools, we seek to foster a Christian mentality in our society, and to encourage young people to contribute more broadly to the development of the kind of world envisaged by Christ. One of the key tasks of the Catholic school is to form Christian men and women committed to the love, compassion and justice of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Catholic schools need to promote justice, particularly to those who are culturally, physically, intellectually, financially or spiritually disadvantaged. (Mandate of the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia)
In Maggie Dent’s article, The world needs more kindness warriors, she explains:
When we are treated with kindness, it allows our nervous system to relax and the pleasant sensations from endorphins, often serotonin and sometimes oxytocin, to flood our body. It makes us feel safe, valued and connected. When we are kind, we don’t take advantage of our power, or of other people’s vulnerabilities. Instead, we seek to comfort, encourage and strengthen those around us.
The strong sense of belonging that comes with being treated with kindness is tangible and powerful. It removes the distance between individuals from ‘them’ or ‘us’ to ‘we’.
With this being true, we are always on the outlook for more ways to celebrate these important acts of kindness. At each assembly, our Year 6 students recognise students who display acts of kindness and/or respect. The child is rewarded with a certificate and is allowed to keep our “Matthew Bear” for the week. We will now also add their photo to a “Growing in Kindness” display in our Undercover Area. We want our kids to know how much we value their efforts and, in doing so, help them to value this in themselves and others.
I would like to finish with some ideas from Maggie Dent on how we as a community can continue to raise caring, kind kids:
# Model unconditional loving care and kindness.
# Prioritise sharing true stories of kindness.
# Be truthful and honest as often as possible.
# Ensure your children play frequently and often with other children.
# Volunteer locally in your community.
# Create a safe place for your kids and teens to share all their emotions.
# Be a positive dreamer of hope about making the world a better place.
# Hold doors open, give up your seat and offer to help others in supermarkets.
# Be joyful and laugh often.
# Model personal health and wellbeing.
# Be connected to and nurture your own spirit.
# Have relationships that you value and nurture.
# Express gratitude openly to your kids and others.
# Have inspirational posters and images around the house especially the toilet.
# Practise calmness as it helps us find deeper meaning about ourselves and life.
# Choose to do some random acts of kindness.
Kind regards,
Mrs Susan Milton
Principal
