KIDS OF SPIRIT: Students rise to challenges of nation

News from Clarence Valley Schools up to week ending July 3.

Congratulations to our South Grafton Public School Stage 2 Spelling Bee winners: 1st - Isabella and Runner-up - Violet.

KIDS OF SPIRIT is published in The Daily Examiner every Tuesday, highlighting the news from schools across the Clarence Valley. To include the latest happenings from your school please email [e-mail]

South Grafton Public School

CONGRATULATIONS on a fantastic term where South Grafton Public School and our community has shone during these very challenging times for our nation. We would like to recognise the outstanding innovation and professionalism of our whole school staff throughout this period which truly has been exceptional. We would like to also thank our wonderful community for their support and congratulate our students on how they have managed these substantial changes in their schooling and lives in such a positive manner. We should all be very proud of our whole South Grafton Public School community.

Last Thursday we had NSW DEC Communication and Engagement team visit our school to take images (photos) of a range of initiatives and resources we have embedded in our school. Our school was nominated for this NSW DEC “Brand” shoot which will be used to unify a mass audience of 1.5 million parents, 800,000 students and teaching community around the best of Public Education in NSW. Well done SGPS on this fabulous nomination which is an excellent reflection of our high quality school.

Next term and the beginning of Term 4 we have organised in conjunction with Grafton PS and Westlawn PS a number of PSSA competition format games for our students to participate in and represent our school. Students who are chosen for these teams will be notified early next term when their games will take place. A reminder the PSSA Knockout competition has been cancelled so teams cannot progress any further.

Congratulations to all our students who achieved their End of Term Reward last week and our students also received their AAA certificate. Students who achieved their AAA have displayed excellence in Attitude, Attendance and always tried their very best throughout this term.

At this stage we have not been given approval for parents to attend in large gatherings within our school setting.

So with this in mind we will have to delay the start date of our fabulous Preschool Playgroup Plus (PPP) program.

We will endeavour to start this program immediately once we receive confirmation that these activities are allowed within the NSW DEC guidelines and hope to start by mid Term 3. We may then extend PPP later into term 4.

We will notify our families via email, post it on our Facebook page and in our newsletter immediately once we have confirmation of the guidelines for next term and a starting date for this program.

Student banking will resume on Tuesday July 21.

South Grafton Public School Stage 2 were focusing on the importance of being kind last week. We can all be the i in kind!

Canteen for Week 1 Term 3 starting Tuesday July 21.

PRIMARY

Tuesday Bronwen Brown, HELP NEEDED

Wednesday Suellen Davies, HELP NEEDED

Thursday Belinda Wormald, HELP NEEDED

Friday Norma Purnell, Suellen Davies

INFANTS

Tuesday Jasmin Wyse, HELP NEEDED

Wednesday Jodie Carter, Rebecca Milligan

Thursday Rebecca Milligan, Phoebe Campbell

Friday Jody Tapp, Rebecca Milligan

South Grafton High School

Academic Reports

The preparation and production of academic reports is a huge undertaking at the best of times, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank the teaching and non-teaching staff at SGHS for the many hours they have spent working on reports. This has enabled us to maintain our usual schedule and hand out Semester 1 Academic Reports to students on Thursday 2 July. If your child was absent from school, they can collect their report from their Year Adviser when they return to school.

Awards Assembly

Each year SGHS celebrates the Semester 1 success of our students at an awards assembly early in Term 3. Students who have achieved excellent results in at least half of the courses they have studied receive an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award and students who have achieved excellent results in at least one of the courses they have studied receive an Academic Achievement Award. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 restrictions still in place at this time, we cannot invite families to join us in celebrating the success of these students. However, we will be recording the assembly and posting it on our YouTube channel. The link will appear on our Facebook page. If the restrictions change prior to the assembly date, Thursday July 30, we will notify parents.

Growth Mindset

Over 30 years ago, Carol Dweck and her colleagues became interested in students’ attitudes about failure. They noticed that some students rebounded while other students seemed devastated by even the smallest setbacks. After studying the behaviour of thousands of children, Dr. Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence. When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore, they put in extra time and effort and that leads to higher achievement.

Recent advances in neuroscience have shown us that the brain is far more powerful than we ever knew. Research on brain placidity has shown how connectivity between neurons can change with experience. With practice, neural networks grow new connections, strengthen existing ones, and build insulation that speeds transmission of impulses. These neuroscientific discoveries have shown us that we can increase our neural growth, that is we can learn more if we ask questions, practise solving problems, read more and follow good nutrition and sleep habits.

At the same time that these neuroscientific discoveries were gaining traction, researchers began to understand the link between mindsets (attitudes to learning) and achievement. In the studies they conducted, researchers found that once students realised that their brain could grow smarter and that people were not born with a fixed amount of intelligence, they embraced the challenges of learning.

As you return to school next semester, my challenge to all students is to develop a growth mindset. Your potential is only limited by your imagination. Think big and aim high.

Originally published as