Term 1 Week 5 - Thursday 24th February 2022
News from the Assistant Principal
On Friday 11th February, Year 8 students travelled to Manly Beach for the Surf Awareness Program. On their return to school wet and tired, many students spoke of their excitement to go to the beach yet their fear of swimming in the surf and surfing on a board.
These conversations reminded me of an approach students can use to ‘Cope with Difficult Situations’. As individuals we learn that feelings such as stress and anxiety come and go like the waves, and that when the waves feel like they are crashing over us, you can use a BOARD to help balance on the waves and ‘surf your way through’.
It is important for us to understand that difficult emotions and feelings are normal, and that sometimes they need to sit through or ‘surf through’ this distress in order to develop resilience and coping.
The diagram outlines the BOARD approach to follow to assist us ‘Cope with Difficult Situations’. Parents are encouraged to discuss these strategies with their daughter and to also encourage use of these strategies at home.
Year 9 and 11 Study Skills Seminar
This week Dr Prue Salter from Enhanced Learning Educational Services (www.enhanced-learning.net) led a study skills session with Year 9 and 11 students. The sessions focused on helping students identify changes and improvements they could make to their approach to their studies in order to maximise their results while minimizing stress. The main areas covered were working effectively in the evenings and dealing with distractions, managing time efficiently, planning for assessments, making brain-friendly study notes on a regular basis and using a wide variety of active study techniques to suit individual learning preferences.
Parents are encouraged to review the handout from the session with students and discuss the main areas identified where changes need to be made. Parents can also find extra study skills tips on the following website: http://studyskillstoptipsparents.com/. All secondary students and parents at our school also have access to a great study skills website to help students develop their skills. Go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au and enter the username: mcauley and the password: 189results. There are lots of useful handouts on the Things to Print page on this site and students can work through the units where they need additional help. You can also access the Study Samurai Library video lessons through this link.
Public Transport
Many of our school buses are at capacity. If another bus is to be placed on the school route, students must have an activated Opal card and use the card when boarding and alighting the bus / train. Please ensure your daughter’s Opal Card is activated. Opal data gathered by tapping on and off is used to determine demand for bus services. If students don’t tap on and tap off, services may be cancelled due the lack of recorded patronage. With this in mind, we ask for your assistance in reminding your daughters that tapping on and off at the beginning and end of each trip is one of the conditions of using a School Opal card. Your assistance helps us ensure students are provided the appropriate level of service to and from school.
Debbie Grigson
Assistant Principal
News Articles
This Week on Social Media
Follow Catherine McAuley Westmead on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for regular updates. One of the posts from this week is shown below:
Congratulations to former teacher Ms Beverly Smith (who retired at the end of 2020) who has just been announced as a recipient of a NSWCCC Life Membership Award. Life Membership is awarded to those that have left a mark on Catholic Schools NSW Sport through their dedication and commitment to supporting and developing sports pathways and mentorships programmes for students across all sports codes.
Ms Smith has been awarded for her long contribution to NSWCCC Water Polo and Hockey, and for her mentorship of many staff and students over the years.
Congratulations Ms Smith!
Need To Know
Upcoming Fortnight
Week 6
- School Swimming Carnival
- Ash Wednesday
Week 7
- Catholic Schools Week
- Year 12 Geography Camp
- Year 8 Japanese Drumming Workshop