Dear Parents and Caregivers
For the next six months of Ordinary Time within the church, we will be reading from the Gospel of Mark. Surprisingly in the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus says something amazing. As he sits teaching, surrounded by a large group of people all from different places, families and backgrounds, all eager to hear what he is teaching them about God, he tells them that he counts each one of them as a member of his family – God’s family! And that makes all of us in the Church part of the same family. Our distinguishing family likeness is how well we obey God by living the Jesus way. This Sunday a reading from Genesis is chosen to balance the reading from Mark. It reminds us that God is always acting like a loving parent who cares about us, wanting to know where we are, what we are doing, and helping us to learn from the mistakes that we have made or trying to protect us from the dangerous things that may threaten our lives. The terrible thing about sin is the way it causes separation between God and his people. So much self-deceit, thoughtless choices or destructive life patterns are really to do with hiding ourselves from God. It is not difficult to see a similar sort of pattern in the lives of our children as they set out to explore their world – how easy it is for them to get into trouble or danger or unhealthy habits while we as adults try to teach them or protect them from danger. The hardest thing of all is to realise that in spite of all our care, we could not make the difference we wanted to “save” our child. It is interesting to read the Genesis story from this perspective as it sheds new light on the story.
Sometimes there are times when we are quick to judge. As a Catholic School leader, I often reflect on the question; are all members of our school welcomed equally, or are some excluded, because they don’t fit the mould of what someone perceives a member of a Catholic school to be? This causes us to reflect on ways that we can make our school a more hospitable place and extend the love and forgiveness to those around us.
NCCD Data Collection
Last term we provided all families with information about the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability. This term our school is collecting information and evidence about students for whom adjustments are being made. The DDA and Standards use a very broad and inclusive definition of what constitutes a disability, it does not require a medical or professional diagnosis. This can include students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, auditory processing disorder and health conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes and asthma. The decision as to whether a particular child falls within this definition for this data collection relies on the professional judgement of school staff about each child’s additional educational needs. A decision as to whether a child should be included in the data collection will occur in consultation with you, as a parent or carer, if you do not wish your child to be included please contact Toni Benci or Grace Vassallo-Wakefield. The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data is an Australian Government initiative and separate from the current process through which some students receive support through the Catholic Education SA Special Education Program and are also recognised as students with a disability
Semester One Reports
Our Semester One reports are an important part of our reporting to families. The reports provide a comprehensive overview of how your child is progressing half way through the year. Reports will be sent home on Friday 29th June, Week 9. These reports are part of a year-long/ 4 phased reporting process to parents. We have already had our Learning Conversations in Term 1 and of course case by case individual meetings. In Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 3 there will be Parent / Teacher Learning Conversations, information regarding how to book online has been sent home and is also available in this newsletter.
What am I talking about?
Have you noticed how talkative we all are nowadays? You haven’t! Probably like me you are too busy talking. Apparently, never before have we talked so much nor had the opportunities to do so: mobile phones, social media, radio and its talkback, television and its reality shows, home audio and recording. All these means have increased our opportunities for speaking to one another, not only when we are together, but across great distances.
Much of our everyday communication is idle chatter about nothing; its real purpose is not to relay information but to develop and maintain relationships. Generally, idle chatter and other light conversation can be value neutral and mostly conducive to feeling at ease with yourself and others and in a workplace can be beneficial to productivity: “It might look like idle chatter but when employees find friends at work, they feel connected to their jobs.” (Time Magazine) Likewise, when our children are engaged in light conversation, it enables them to bond more strongly with friends and other family members and adds to their sense of belonging.
So, how does idle chatter differ from gossip? Well, gossip is mostly negative and embarrassing to the person being spoken about, it can rejoice in misfortune of others, it can perpetuate conflict or negative images and it can be hurtful and damaging. Gossip can break down the trust level within a group or even a community, because individuals start to second-guess each other and a once cohesive group or community can be fragmented and lose some of its effectiveness.
Young people and not so young people today have the extra dimension of social media to contend with. Through the click of a mouse; a nasty, unkind comment made about another person is suddenly ‘liked’ by many other people. Like gossiping it gathers momentum and can become very destructive.
Schools are places of employment for teachers and other staff; schools are communities where staff, parents and students come together for the common good, which encompasses the welfare of all and the educational progress of each individual student. For our community to offer an environment of harmony, goodwill, opportunity for individual development and the exercise of Christian virtues, we all need to think before we speak or post that comment or even click that mouse. We need to think about what we are saying and how we go about saying it. Sometimes we need to ‘walk in the shoes of others’ to 'Treat others the way we would like to be treated'.
God Bless
Brady Stallard