2021 Term 1, Week 7

I first introduced the new members of our community to Realms of Thinking, a way to teaching and learning that helps young people master the basics while nurturing their creativity. Realms of Thinking is what makes St Paul’s unique: supporting your children in developing the dispositions and skills to be employable in the new economy; that is, to become innovative thinkers.

Last newsletter I spoke about our great community and how COVID was a wonderful reminder of the important things in life.

Today I want to talk briefly about the third value: Faith.

St Paul’s is an Anglican school. We are unashamedly sharing the Christian faith in a manner that demonstrates the heart of the Gospel of Jesus. Christians are people who have responded to the Good News brought by Jesus Christ, believing that in Jesus, God has come among us, sharing our joy and pain, and bringing the offer of new life and wholeness to us and our world.

One of the wonderful things about the St Paul’s community is its diversity. We are a multicultural community and, with that, have representation of all faiths: Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, Baptist, Seik, Anglican and Atheist. Our diversity is broad, and we as a community are richer for it.

Faith can be taken to mean, “complete trust or confidence in something or someone.” The word faith can be applied to all religions. Even atheists demonstrate faith of a kind. Not believing in a god or something beyond the tangible is a form of faith.

The richness of faiths in our community helps teach our students about tolerance, respect, and acceptance. I am constantly impressed with the students’ willingness to listen to their peers when they are courageous enough to share their beliefs and/or thinking. We can learn much from each other and our experiences of the world.

You may not accept the view, but in offering a holistic education at St Paul’s School, we believe that all people have a spiritual side to their humanity, along with an academic, physical, emotional, and social nature. Our view is that to be fully human, to truly flourish as a person, we should not just acknowledge and attend to our physicality, or intellect, but also to our spiritual nature.

Ways of Being is the flipside to Realms of Thinking. Ways of Being is our framework of pastoral care; programs that are focused on the development of a person’s character.

Through various programs including Chapel, Religion and Values Education lessons (RaVE), community service, Flex, the RITE journey, and our camping program, we encourage young people to reflect on who they are, the type of character they would like to be known for, and the mystery of who God is. What do they believe and why?

My hope is that at the end of their education at St Paul’s School, the mystery of God is still alive in the minds of graduates, that they are still questioning who they are and what their faith will be built upon.

My ultimate hope is that people will have met the person of Jesus in the example of staff, their peers and all those who have accepted the Good News – that they have placed their faith in someone, rather than something.

Dr Paul Browning

Headmaster

In all seriousness, though, loneliness is no joke. It was already a problem – especially in western societies – and COVID-19 lockdowns have only exacerbated things.

In the United Kingdom in 2017 (pre-COVID), a report found that 9 million of the country’s 67 million people felt lonely some or all the time, leading to the appointment by the government of a Minister of Loneliness, and the creation of a social media campaign – #LetsTalkLoneliness. In 2021, Japan followed the UK lead, appointing their own cabinet ‘Minister of Loneliness’.

Just last weekend, in a feature article in the Courier-Mail, loneliness was described as the “saddest epidemic”. The same article reported that an Australian Psychological Society study in 2018 found that 1 in 4 Australians feel lonely on 3 or more days every week.

New York Times columnist David Brooks, in ‘The Second Mountain’ (2019) blames this loneliness crisis on “rampant individualism”. Brooks writes – “The emphasis on self – individual success, self-fulfilment, individual freedom, self-actualisation – is a catastrophe”, and he goes on to share a range of alarming statistics in support of his claim –

• Only 8 percent of Americans report having important conversations with their neighbours in a given year;
• 30 percent of households are single-person households;
• The fastest-growing political group are the ‘undecideds’ and the fastest-growing religious group are the ‘nones’ (and he offers these as ‘symptoms of a general detatchment’);
• Since 1999, the US suicide rate has risen by 30 percent (between 2006 and 2016, the suicide rate in 10 -to-17-year-olds rose by 70 percent). Brooks suggests that ‘suicide is largely a proxy for loneliness’.

In a context like this, how might schools respond? I suggest that we can begin by acknowledging that the problem is real: our students, their parents and our staff members are not immune from this epidemic even though, outwardly, they might look busy and socially well-connected.

You have often heard us say that St Paul’s is committed to offering an holistic education, in which we attend to our students’ social-emotional, physical and spiritual development as well as their intellectual development. However, I would go further and suggest that we have a role to play – perhaps filling a void that was filled by churches in previous generations – in becoming intentional about building community for all our constituents; not only students, but also parents, grandparents and staff.

This has been our attitude for many years at St Paul’s. I think especially of the relationships I observe in the context of the parent Supporter Groups, where solid friendships are established in the context of a shared interest in children’s sport or music. In recent times, though, we have intentionally created several more opportunities to build community, as follows –

• Parent Connections Supporter Group, which has a particular focus on helping parents to support other parents;
• St Paul’s Community Garden, for students, parents, staff and local residents – designed to address a number of needs, including the provision of opportunities for fellowship;
• Wayfarers @ St Paul’s is a fellowship group for members of the wider St Paul’s community, with a focus on exploring and celebrating the spiritual dimension of our humanity.

I’d really hate to think that any member of the St Paul’s Community could be experiencing loneliness. Please let me know if you are interested in finding out more about ways in which you might make connections. You can contact me at [email protected].

Mr Nigel Grant

Executive Director of Faith & Community

The petition calls for sex education, in particular consent, to be taught at a younger age in schools. The observation being that consent is being taught too late, with many young people not understanding the boundaries of consent resulting in sexual assault or rape. This call for change has made many schools reassess their curriculum around sex and life education to help protect young people across the nation.

Parents also need to start having conversations around consent sooner rather than later, as some teens experience their first sexual encounter well before the subject matter is delivered. It is not enough for parents or carers to assume that your teenager knows or understands what consent means and the implications surrounding it. It is important for them to learn about boundaries to enable them to respect themselves and their partners.

This Special Report offers parents guidance around normalising the topic of consent to ensure your teenager experiences healthy and respectful relationships. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report https://stpauls.qld.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-conversation-consent

This year the students were divided into seven groups and they worked through a physically robust program featuring mountain biking, canoeing, forest regeneration, some low ropes activities, problem solving, hiking and camping out. Each group competed against the other six teams across a variety of challenges. Groups had to learn to juggle, solve critical thinking puzzles and construct and perform a team war cry.

All groups engaged with the challenges with enthusiasm and a willingness to work together to achieve positive outcomes. Individuals were supported by their teammates in areas where they had less confidence, with all our students rising to meet the challenges they were presented with. The final day of camp saw our competent jugglers show their talents and each group perform a hearty rendition of their war cry. This year Dr Browning made a surprise visit to the Year 7s on the final morning, and he was able to witness the teams battle it out in their final group challenges.

The purpose of the Year 7 camp is to provide our students in this year level with the chance to establish and build relationships with their peers. It places students in sometimes uncomfortable positions; however, they invariably learn a great deal about themselves and how groups of people work successfully together to achieve good things.

As with all St Paul’s camps, the school’s character framework underpins discussions and reflections that take place after each activity. Students are helped to identify the various character virtues that are required to complete activities effectively. In this way the camp becomes an authentic learning environment.

As well as all this complexity and challenge there is the wonderful simplicity of school camps; that being the shared experiences and ensuing memories the students create that will stay with them throughout their time at St Paul’s and on into their lives beyond their school days.

Our International students celebrated International Women’s Day this week with messages supporting gender equality. The messages being held up in the photos (We will challenge gender stereotypes, We will maintain a gender equal mindset, We will forge positive visibility of women) are very pertinent to our Year 11 EALD students this term, as they are currently learning about gender roles and stereotypes in society and have been investigating these representations in advertising. For their current assessment task, the students have been asked to consider the role the media plays in creating, reinforcing or challenging gender stereotypes through advertising.

Last Wednesday, our six onshore HSP students visited the Mt Coot-Tha Botanic Gardens and Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. The students enjoyed a lesson in the gardens about Aboriginal Use of Rainforest Plants and then enjoyed a show in the Cosmic Skydome.

We were so pleased to receive a plate of carrot and pineapple muffins this week, from our HSP students Austin and Louis. The students made these delicious treats during their Food Technology class with Mrs Svehla and they were absolutely delicious!

Ella (Year 11) and Tae (Year 10) have recently unveiled their wonderful new project – an “International Highlights” noticeboard, being displayed in the International School building. The girls will be updating the information each fortnight to keep us up to date on important and special activities happening around the world. Congratulations Ella and Tae on this great initiative. We look forward to the updates! Please feel free to drop by and have a look in the Sutton Building (lower level).

This year the Senior team’s problem is that targeted information about youth employment for 13–23-year-olds isn’t easily accessible for youth and small business owners.

We would love your feedback and input into defining the challenge and your opinions to ensure we create an exceptional app solution.

Please complete the survey applicable below, which should only take a few minutes.

FOR Employers anyone who recruits or hires for their business (regardless of whether you currently employ youth): Complete Survey

FOR Youth/Employees: any youth between 13-23. Complete survey

Thank-you for your participation.

Senior Technovation Team

Friday was Clean Up St Paul’s Day and the Service Learning team had over 40 students out and about on campus throughout Friday lunchtime ensuring the School grounds were free of any litter. On Sunday, students from both the Junior School and Secondary schools, came together at Pine Rivers Park to form a team of over forty to get in and clean up this venue.

Both days were highly successful community projects and over 15 bags of rubbish were collected across the two events. Encouragingly, the clean-up at Pine Rivers Park collected the least amount of litter that we have gathered in the four years this event has been operating. The recycling of bottles and cans seems to have had a marked impact, lowering the numbers of these types of rubbish items that are now discarded in our parks and waterways. There were still plenty of other items of litter to collect and our students and a number of parents got stuck in, leaving the park in wonderful shape for local families to enjoy.

All contributors are to be congratulated on giving up their Sunday morning sleep in to contribute to such a worthwhile program.

This special 2-part webinar will help parents (and those working with teens) understand the flow of adolescence. It will be loaded with practical solutions to help you bring out the best in you, and your teenager.

This is how this 2-part webinar is going to work…..

PART 1. What Teens Need
Upon purchase you will instantly receive a link to a pre-recorded 50-minute webinar. This is yours to watch in your own time, and in preparation for our live Q & A webinar.

This presentation will dive into….
* The developmental stage we call adolescence.
* The critical three-year period we often term the ‘tricky teen years’.
* What teens need from their parents during these years.
* The importance of refining our expectations.
* Why boundaries still matter but have their limitations.
* Tips for communicating with emotionally intense teens.
* Ways to honour this season, nurture resilience and activate potential.

PART 2. What Teens Need Q and A Webinar
You will also receive a link to my live Q and A webinar, Thursday 25th March 7.00 – 8.00pm AEST.
This webinar aims to answer your more specific questions and dive deeper into content. You will be given the opportunity to submit questions upon registration to this webinar, and in the weeks leading up to the event. And if you can’t join us live, not to worry – you will receive a tone of value by watching the replay, anytime.

Cost: $25.00 inc gst

Please click here for more information and to register and pay.

by Maggie Dent

The first year of secondary school is a time of massive change and boys can struggle more than girls.  Even though some of our boys are physically mature and look big and grown-up, this time can be challenging, unpredictable and full of big emotions.

Buried under some early adolescent angst are tendencies for forgetfulness and poor organisation due to brain pruning, which is a ‘trimming down’ process in the teenage brain where irrelevant/unused mental connections from childhood are lost.

The larger environment of secondary school with its many different classes, and different teachers who have varied expectations can be particularly confusing for boys. Anxiety is often surging through their hormonally charged bodies and parents need to be mindful to recognise that for many pubescent boys, every day at school feels like going into a war zone because it is so unpredictable.

Have realistic expectations
In this transitional year parents need to be creating as calm and predictable an environment as possible at home given the everyday stress at school. Parents can do this by avoiding too many questions and too much pressure especially around homework. Especially avoid criticism, nagging and lecturing — they won’t improve anything.

Keep things light
Boys appreciate lightness and humour, especially when they may be struggling with anxiety or worry. Maybe you could find some funny, goofy cat or dog videos to show them or share some funny experiences that might trigger the beautiful happy neurochemicals in their brain. Be a bit ridiculous – intentionally.

Share developmental changes
Have brief conversations with your son about brain changes, especially pruning, so that he can understand why he may be struggling with organisation and be forgetting things that he used to remember. Once he knows there is a reason, he’ll tend to manage it better — indeed many boys are relieved! Help your son to work out ways to remember important stuff.

Stoke his spark
If your son has a passion whether that be surfing, music, soccer or gaming help him keep it alive and burning throughout high school. Disengagement is very common among boys in the middle school years and those who have an interest they love and are capable at, tend to struggle less. Obviously if it is gaming there needs to be healthy boundaries around prioritising schoolwork … and a firm bedtime.

Watch for red flags
While it is normal to experience anxiety at the beginning of the school year, some anxiety can be ongoing and difficult for parents to identify. Some boys display anxiety through silliness, inappropriate behaviour, an increase in aggression often toward siblings, disrespectful language towards parents, changes in eating patterns and struggles with sleep. If you have ongoing concerns check in with your son’s year coordinator and seek help.

Practise kindness
Even though this sounds counterintuitive if you are experiencing some hot moments with your early secondary school son, kindness especially in small unexpected ways has enormous power. Our boys struggle with low self-worth and when they muck up they struggle even more with feeling acceptable and loved.

Above all, reassure your son often that you love him fiercely and unconditionally, no matter what

https://www.parentingideas.com.au/schools/insight/supporting-boys-in-early-secondary-school/

HELPFUL CONTACTS

• Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
• Lifeline 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
• Youth Beyond Blue http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/

The Parent Connections Supporters Group AGM is to be held on Monday March 15 6:30 in the Library. Remote attendance via a webex room is available. Please contact [email protected] for the details.
All St Paul’s parents and caregivers are warmly invited to attend.