Service

An Augustinian community has as its fundamental principal the notion of service. St Augustine says – ‘may I always place myself at the service of others’. I was delighted to receive the following email from Kirsty Warren, coordinator of the Kids Giving Back organisation which does a tremendous job serving the local community in many charity-based programs.

Our theme word for this term is ‘Humility’ and in Luke Murray (6A) we have a young man who generously and selflessly donates his time to serving and helping those less fortunate. Luke would be embarrassed by this recognition as he really is a humble person, however his actions certainly deserve promoting and supporting. Well done Luke.

I am writing to let you know you that Luke Murray is a credit to your School. Luke was part of a team of 55 Kids Giving Back volunteers who cooked, packaged and delivered nearly 500 warm, nutritious meals to local shelters and individuals in need on Friday.

Luke took part in our Community Cook4Good Program with his family and should be commended for giving up time during their School Holidays to help others. The photos of the day are on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/KidsG...

This group took our total volunteering hours these holidays to 530.5 hours, an incredible effort!

If you would like to learn more about our programs, please visit our website: www.kidsgivingback.org We have Cook4Good programs scheduled throughout the year for which families may register.  You can also read about our school Service Learning programs, including our new Primary School programs here: http://kidsgivingback.org/serv...

Yours Sincerely, Kirsty Warren

Science Week

During Week 4, the Primary School will celebrate Science Week by completing several exciting activities. John O’Brien, Assistant Head of Primary, has arranged for the Year 6 classes to complete an experiment to illustrate ‘changes in state’ while the Year 5 classes will begin designing and constructing their ‘solar heaters’ and ‘space rockets’ as well as conduct experiments on refraction and reflection of light.

Invitation to Parents

I would like to invite all Primary parents to observe Science in action at St Augustine’s. If you are free on Tuesday 14 August in Period 1 (9:00am), please assemble in the communal space outside the Year 5 classrooms. Entry into the College is via the Gulliver Street Primary School door, which we will leave open for your arrival. Make your way up the stairs to Megan Cashman in the Primary Office. We hope that you can make it to watch the Science activities on show. The activities should conclude by 9.30am. If you can make it, please email Megan Cashman: mcashman@saintaug.nsw.edu.au as we will finish with a ‘cuppa’ and a chat.

Professional Development

As part of Science Week, all the Primary Staff will be involved in a day to further strengthen their pedagogy around the teaching of Science. I believe we have a Science Program at St Augustine’s which would be the envy of most schools on the Northern Beaches. Not only do we have fortnightly lessons in the Science laboratories, we also have skilled teachers, confident and capable of delivering high interest, engaging learning opportunities.

AIS (Association of Independent Schools) consultant Phillipa Miller, will lead staff in a day of becoming more familiar with the new Science syllabus, particularly the new Digital Technologies and Design and Production strands. Recent media around the importance of STEM and teachers who can deliver in this area has been our focus for the past two years and is the reason we have the entire Primary Staff capable of teaching STEM.

Primary Academic Awards Assembly

On Tuesday 31 July, John Laforest (Deputy Principal – Academic) presented a number of boys with Academic Awards recognising outstanding achievement and effort in their studies for the first Semester. Congratulations to all award winners for their dedication, persistence and effort.

It is also important to recognise five boys in Year 6 who have achieved an effort rating of ‘outstanding’ for three consecutive semesters, commencing in Year 5, 2017. Well done to Oliver Castellan, Cooper Devoy, Jamie Gennusa, Dante Parisi and Ethan Zadel.

For the boys who did not receive an award ‘this time’, please remember to set goals, learn from previous mistakes, ask questions, seek advice, enter class discussions, put you hand up, come to school organised for the day ahead and fill your heads with ‘positive self-talk’.

Good luck for the semester ahead.

Being Kind Online

At our Monday morning assembly, we watched a wonderful Ted Talks clip on ‘cyber bullying’. The damage that can be done by posting hurtful comments is the constant message boys should hear. I stressed to the boys the damage online bullying can have on their reputation and in fact, future career opportunities. Anyone posting offensive messages needs to remember the impact it may have on the victim, but also on their reputation and career aspirations as future employers will most certainly check their online presence, courtesy of ‘google’.

The two questions that we should all ask ourselves when posting a message online are –

• Is it true?
  

If it’s not true, don’t post it. If it is true, then ask the next question –

• Is it kind?

If it’s not kind, then don’t post it.

Primary Student Leaders

I am immensely proud of our Primary Student Leaders who continue to provide servant leadership in so many ways. Last Wednesday the boys greeted a group of new parents to the College and on Friday they once again welcomed Learning Support teachers from across Sydney. Their positive attitudes, brilliant manners and pride in the College was obvious and the feedback from both sets of visitors was overwhelming.

Thank you, Jake, Oscar, Ethan, Michael, Nathan and Beau, for fulfilling your responsibilities as Student Leaders so capably and confidently.

Quote for the Week . . .

‘Knowing is not enough, we must apply’

‘Willing is not enough, we must do’ (Johan Wolfgang von Goethe)

Terry Walsh
Head of Primary School