FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Newsletter Monday 17 October 2016 Volume 416

This week our Year 12 students finish their years at school – for some it is a time of sadness and for others a time of great anticipation. Twenty-two of our Year 12 students have been at Casey Grammar since they started in Prep, the largest number we have had spend their whole thirteen years here. All of the students talk about friendships made, sharing fun and learning experiences of many kinds, both in their classes and in extracurricular activities over the years. May I congratulate the parents who have supported their students over the years to bring them to this point – the young people of today are the future of our country. It has been a privilege to share in their successes over the years, to see the way they have supported each other, to hear about and witness their exemplary behaviour on trips and camps. I have every confidence that the young people who are leaving this school will be the kind of young people who will make a positive contribution to the lives of their families, their community and the wider world. May I also thank the student leaders who have lived and demonstrated the values that underpin our school and our school community; they have been a fine example for the student body. And finally may I wish the students the success for which they have worked over the past years and for their onward journey, and that they will have fond memories of their years at Casey Grammar and be able to use wisely what they have learnt. Margaret Buttigieg

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & VCD COLLABORATION - Steve Kearney

Students in Business Management created a design brief and invented a unique product. Students from VCD then using a design process and drawing methods, created the final presentation used digital media. Students had meetings with each other regularly to make sure the product fulfilled the needs and expectations of the design brief. All work was created by the students.

On completion of this unit of work, the student should be able to manipulate type and image to create visual communications suitable for print and screen-based presentations taking into account copyright.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Year 3-5 Swimming 17 Oct

Valedictory Assembly Valedictory Dinner

18 Oct

Y5 & 6 Life Ed Van 18 Oct

Year 3 Celebration Incursion

21 Oct

Y7 Swimming program

21 Oct

Year 3 Swimming 24 Oct

OED U2 Rock Climbing

25 Oct

Prep 2017 Transition Day

25 Oct

Primary Twilight Sports

26 Oct

Year 8 Swimmnig 28 Oct

SCHOOL FEES

Term 4 fees now overdue

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

FROM THE OFFICE 2

AROUND THE SCHOOL 3

COMBATTING STRESS PFC NEWS

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FROM THE OFFICE

PAGE 2

Uniform Shop hours are: Mondays 3.00 pm to 5.30pm Thursdays 8.30 am to 10.30am

Amy Z, 8R is the runner-up of the 7/8 category of the HTAV Historical Fiction Competition. We congratulate her on her fantastic entry ‘Our Beloved Adelgeise Verschwiden’. Amy wrote her story as part of her English work on The Boy in Striped Pyjamas and The Holocaust. Amy‟s certificate will be awarded at a ceremony as part of the HTAV Middle Years Conference which her family will attend. Congratulations Amy! Here are some excerpts from Amy‟s story: She tried to enjoy the last few moments. Come the next morning, the atmosphere would have inevitably disappeared. Frau Verschwiden sat there, trying to soak up every drop of laughter from her students. Every smile. Every shred of innocence. Soon, a majority of her students would disappear. Soon, the bright paintings in the classroom would be replaced by pictures of the Fuhrer and his Nazis. Soon, lessons would be replaced with propaganda to fill innocent brains with. Soon, it will all be gone.

* * * * Her thin body shook, and she held herself. She felt tears starting to surge up, but did whatever she could to not let them escape. These were pictures that the children wouldn’t even be able to understand or recognise—really, the only purpose there was to normalise such things. Get the children used to it all—see them as something that was considered ‘natural’. Nothing about committing mass genocide on completely innocent people was natural. The kids were going to be taught otherwise. All because of her. She wasn’t going to be able to look at herself in the mirror after this.

SMR ATHLETICS CARNIVAL The Secondary SMR Athletics Carnival was held on 6 October at Casey Fields where a number of Casey Grammar students competed in a range of events, both track and field. Overall Casey Grammar managed to finish 13th out of 60 schools - a fantastic effort all round by the students representing our school. A huge congratulations goes to Aiden S for qualifying for the State Finals in the 100m Hurdles, also making a new region record for the event.

4 x 100m Relay - Anastasia W- 3rd Girls 14

Paige B- 3rd Girls 14 Chloe G- 3rd Girls 14 Nikita R - 3rd Girls 14

100m Hurdles - Aiden S - 1st Boys 15

Emily P - 2nd Girls 18-20

100m Sprint - Aiden S - 3rd Boys 15

Anastasia W- 3rd Girls 14

200m Sprint - Anastasia W - 2nd Girls 14

High Jump - Madeline H - 2nd Girls 18-20

Discus - Johan C - 3rd Boys 13

Javelin - Olivia A - 2nd Girls 15

Fatma A - 3rd Girls 13 HOOPTIME

On 6 October, two of our Primary Hooptime teams competed in the next stage of the basketball competition. The students from Years 3 and 4 fought hard all day improving their skills with the help of their Year 6 coaches. It was a great experience for all involved as the students are already practising for next year‟s competition.

Playground supervision is provided from 8.35 am to 3.25 pm. There is no supervision after this time. Students should not be playing on the playground equipment and should have been collected by their parents by this time.

Parents are reminded that a term‟s notice in writing is required if a student is to leave the school. Failure to supply this notice will mean payment of a term‟s school fees.

UNIFORM SHOP HOURS

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

PLAYGROUND SUPERVISION

TERM‟S NOTICE

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AROUND THE SCHOOL

Mark Wilson a noted author and illustrator visited our school on Wednesday 12 October. He worked with all the students in the Primary School and shared some great ideas on how to make drawing fun and easy. He told us that by using a few shapes like triangles, circles, shapes of fruits like bananas and watermelon and organising them you can make some great drawings. Then he demonstrated whilst the students followed his lead and drew dolphins, whales, turtles, dragon flies and more. Mark also told us that many of his story ideas were about things that had happened to his family or from his experiences as well as his love of nature. He kept scrap books and family photo albums and drew inspiration from these together with research and imagination to create his books. The students were very engaged and gained valuable insights into the writing and illustrating. Mal Dunkley Primary Library Teacher

The car park is looking fantastic with all the seating and plantings completed. Most schools are not so lucky to have a large, off-street parking area to offer parents.

Pick up and drop off times are obviously the busiest times when everyone is using the space. Please be patient and mindful of other people when entering and exiting and park in designated parking bays only. Courtesy towards others is always appreciated.

On Thursday 13 October the VCE Solo Performance evening was held. This involved the presentation of sixteen 7 minute solo performances from the VCE Drama students. For the Year 11s, the performance was an Outcome which they will be assessed on, however, for the Year 12s this is their final performance examination which they will present and be externally assessed on next Tuesday by VCAA. It was a wonderful, varied night of entertainment and the students should all be very proud of their individual efforts. Natalie Burns

AUTHOR VISIT

CAR PARK

SOLO PERFORMANCE EVENING

3 New Holland Drive Cranbourne East Vic 3977

PO Box 302 Cranbourne Vic 3977

Telephone (03) 5991 0800 Facsimile (03) 5995 2888

Email info@caseygrammar.vic.edu.au

www.caseygrammar.vic.edu.au

Stress in teenagers is pretty common, so recognising stress and learning how to reduce stress are important life skills for teenagers. At this time of the year stress often comes from end-of-year exams and assignments. Parents can help by guiding her/him towards helpful ways of thinking and healthy lifestyle choices. Stress in teenagers – and anyone – isn‟t necessarily a bad thing. Stress is the way the body responds to challenges and gets you ready to face them with attention, energy and strength. Stress gets you ready for action. When you feel you can cope with these challenges, stress gives you the motivation to get things done. But there can be problems when your stress is greater than your ability to cope. Some of the things that cause stress in teenagers include study worries, looking after other family members, friendships, family conflict, body image, work, bullying, discrimination, alcohol and other drug use, tension between cultural worlds, high personal expectations or high expectations from parents, teachers and friends.

Signs of stress in teenagers can show up in their behaviour, emotions, body and thinking. Changes in a child‟s behaviour might include anger, over or under-sleeping, deterioration in grooming, appetite changes, falling out with friends and withdrawing from family and other activities. Emotional changes include mood swings, feeling/looking sad, feeling „lost‟ and disheartened. You might also see stress in your teenager with frequent headaches, stomach upsets, loss or gain in weight, eating „comfort‟ foods, and binging or starving.

It is important to help your teenager change her unhelpful thinking. This requires healthy communication with them.

1. With your child, work out what‟s causing the stress – for example, your child says there‟s not enough time to study.

2. Encourage your child to express the thoughts connected to this situation or event. Often their thinking is catastrophising, exaggerated, pessimistic, constantly negative and hyper self-critical.

3. Help your child decide if the thoughts are helpful – for example, how does your child know her friend doesn‟t like her? Is it possible the friend couldn‟t have told her sooner? Are there other good things your child could do with the day?

4. Encourage your child to suggest some other thoughts – for example, “While this is challenging I‟ve been successful in past years so I will this year” or “I‟ve been through this before and got over it so I will this time”.

Alan Clarke

School Psychologist

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The PFC will be running a sausage sizzle on 26 October 2016. Information about this will be sent out shortly. We hope that parents will be able to support the sale of the Primary Storybooks by purchasing them towards the end of term. The books are a great memento of your child's time in Primary school and they can last for years. We have had a good year with the PAC Kiosk, Mothers‟ Day and Fathers‟ Day stalls and previous sausage sizzles and hope the school community will continue to support these activities. Pam Foley

COMBATTING STRESS IN ADOLESCENTS

PFC NEWS - Pam Foley