Dear Parents/Carers

It was great to welcome the students back last week for the final Term of their academic year. Hopefully, they will hear words of encouragement from their families and staff for them to finish the year off well by giving their best in all they do this Term. 

I would like to share with you a particular concern I have regarding the use of social media by students. Your daughter may have mentioned to you that I spoke to them about this issue last week in the College Assembly and that, at one stage, I got quite emotional when I spoke to them about the hurt that groups of students can foist onto others through careless and mean comments online. I think what was spoken about to the students is important and I would like to share with you the gist of the issues raised at the Assembly because I think it is important that the College and parents are giving similar messages and taking a common approach in helping the students use social media responsibly.

It is important to recognise that today’s social media platforms are like no other avenues of social interaction humans have ever experienced in the past. In the real world, social interaction is very much governed by so-called social mores- or unspoken rules about how one should behave and what is acceptable to say and how one should say something to someone they may have issues with. Sure, there are still issues of offense and hurt between people but it is often confined and controlled to a large extent. The control of what can be said and how it is said is often moderated when interactions are face-to-face because people are affected by body signals others give them. Extra constraint for how someone can say something about another is also provided by the fact that there are clear legal ramifications for overstepping the mark on casting aspersions on someone’s character. 

In the online world, much of what normally constrains us in our interactions with others are absent. Our primal mental tendencies that helped us way back in our evolution as we became social beings seem to be sparked back into action once more in this new online social world and our brains become reactionary to things that people text. It seems that our attention is most easily captured by negative and fearful thoughts. Such thoughts get our attention very quickly and stick in our brain like a tennis ball does to a Velcro pad. Whereas, positive, joyful, and grateful thoughts tend to stick less to the brain – a bit like an egg on a Teflon surface. Positive stimuli apparently are very hard to hold onto. Evidence points to the fact that the mind has to consciously dwell on a positive grateful thought for a minimum of 15 seconds or it will not imprint on the brain. 

In this world where it is so easy to ‘post’, and there is instant access to posts, it is so easy to zero in on negative opinions. And when someone posts a negative opinion of a person or their actions, that sticks to the mind of others who read it. It can then become a blossoming sentiment about that person from others and, before you know it, others join in and create an ‘online reality’ about the person. Being aware of how online communication can distort reality so easily is a must for all of us to realise. It is the smart and thinking person who is aware that having your attention stuck on the perceived negatives of a person is the instinctive primitive way the brain operates. We need to step beyond this initial primal reaction and consider other people’s real-life feelings. We know that the brain has a much harder job getting its attention centred on the positives but we owe it to others to allow the brain to dwell longer on the positives that each one of us has in our lives. We need to consider the person or situation we may be commenting on and put ourselves in their shoes.  It is almost impossible to take back something negative you might post online because you let your first instinct take control. 

I reminded the students that our theme for this year, ‘Begin with the Heart’ is not meant to be just a good sounding slogan we talk about – it needs to be a description of how we behave at all times. They, therefore, have a challenge of acting online with compassion. A compassionate person understands the struggles of another person and wants to help. Exercising compassion is a choice - a hard choice sometimes because we find it much easier to either stand by the sidelines and look on when we see others hurting, or, unfortunately, join in on adding to the hurt of others. So, parents and guardians, as primary educators of your child, I’m hoping you will join us in continuing to challenge and help our students navigate their online world so that their interaction with their peers and others is a more wholesome experience. We need to educate our young people and ourselves to stop and think before we post. I hope your daughter took some time to discuss some of the ideas that were raised at Assembly.  If not, you may be able to start a conversation with them about some of the issues you believe are important regarding the responsible use of social media.

I did end my address to the students with the following quote:

“In a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind"

God bless

Mrs Dale Morrow

Celebration of Learning

St Rita’s College Primary Years looks forward to welcoming parents/carers to the Celebration of Learning event on Monday 14 November from 2:00pm-3:00pm.  During this celebration, students will discuss a learner quality they have been developing.  Our learner qualities are researcher, organiser, reflector, applier and achiever. 

Australian Mathematics Competition

Last Term a number of Year 5 students participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition.  These students took up the challenge to extend and apply their knowledge and skills in Mathematics to solve complex mathematical problems. They all rose to the challenge and reported that although the competition was tough they enjoyed the opportunity to participate. Congratulations to the following students for their engagement in the Australian Mathematics Competition: Ruby Zamora, Willa Koch, Eva O’Keefe, Bella Freeman, Grace Browne, Isabelle Charlesworth, Olivia Byrne, Ciara Donovan, Kayla Subritzky, Marguerite Haines, Niamh Kissane, Gabrielle Lee, Kristina Bowater, Francesca Cunningham, Ava McMillan

Credit: Imogen Martins-Edridge, Caitlin Niere, Elizabeth Barr, Charlotte Patterson, Millicent Hambrecht, Gianna Cassar

Distinction: Anugi Ranasinghe, Namya Bishnoi, Thenuki Gardihewa

Pillar Awards

Congratulations to the following students for receiving Pillar awards this week:

5.1 Addison Corfe – Compassion, Eve Roberts – Hope, Heidi Joseph – Justice, Simone Simpson – Courage, Maggie Lynn - Hospitality   

5.2 - Rosemary McDonald – Hope, Gabrielle Lee – Hope, Kayla Subritzky – Courage, Mia McTighe – Hospitality, Grace O'Connor – Hospitality

5.3 - Harper Fogg – Hospitality, Sydney Josephson – Compassion, Caitlin Niere – Hope, Charlotte Oliver – Hospitality, Navita Shaiju - Compassion

The Australia-wide lifting of mandatory COVID isolation periods will come into effect from tomorrow, Friday 14 October (with some setting exceptions).

St Rita’s Zero Tolerance of illness or any flu like symptoms on campus remains in place. Staff and students who are unwell, are not to attend school. Parents and or Emergency Contacts of students who present at school unwell will be contacted and asked to collect their child.

St Rita’s will be offering a new initiative for the College’s Debating program – Debating Master Classes on Thursday afternoons commencing Thursday 20 October.

The 2023 competition will begin in February. As the last opportunity to debate finished at the end of Term 3 this year, students can disengage with the skills of debating and Round 1 the following year can be difficult.

The Debating Master Classes will be open to students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Students who intend to debate in 2023 and have never debated or have not debated for a while are strongly encouraged to join. The program will be held over four weeks focusing on a different debating skill each week: principle and practical argument; stakeholders; harms and benefits; and issue based rebuttal. Sessions will begin with a skill session using an article provided the prior week.

The Master Class teams will be formed through a mixture of Year levels and experience. Each week this mix will change to maximise skill opportunity development. Teams will be given 45 minutes to develop their argument incorporating the focus skill. This will be without access to research similar to short prep format. The debate will run for 30mins with members speaking for 3-4mins. The adjudication will not be for a winner but rather for another coaching session based on the presentations, advice on success and where to improve.

Our Senior debaters from Years 10 and 11 will be the adjudicators. While the teams are preparing their argument, these members will be coached on how to give feedback on the focus skill and topic. The Master Classes opportunity is being held on Thursday afternoons due to availability of staff coaches and has a capped membership of 24 students. This will not be a first in sign on but rather a random draw once sign on closes. The selection will be across the three Year levels, eg, eight students from Year 7, eight students from Year 8, eight students from Year 9 or relevantly adjusted as required to numbers. It will require a commitment to all four sessions from 3:15 to 5:00pm. Sign on will be through the notice on MySRC from 11 Oct and will close on Monday 17 October. Sessions will begin on Thursday 20 October. For further enquiries, please contact Mrs Lorraine Specogna, Debating Coordinator: spe@stritas.qld.edu.au

Some amazing work from the wonderful students of Visual Art! They have been studying 2D and 3D, landscapes, impressionism, fashion, and more.

After applying earlier in the year, eight of our students were successful in being accepted into the State Honours Ensemble Program held at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University. This program brings together advanced, like-minded students from across the State to participate in an intensive program of rehearsals culminating in a performance in the Conservatorium Theatre.

On the same weekend as SHEP in the September holidays, the Australian Honours Ensemble Program also took place at the Conservatorium. Acceptance into this program is highly contested and students are only offered a place after completing an audition. This year our Instrumental Music Captain, Emily Beutel was offered a position in the AHEP Wind Orchestra. Congratulations Emily as this is a wonderful achievement. The experience that these students would have enjoyed not only improves their individual skills but also allows them to return to our program and support the improvement of each College ensemble they are in. Congratulations to all our students who participated in these programs.

National State Championships

In the September holidays, many SRC girls represented their State at the National Championships held at the Gold Coast.

Congratulations to the following St Rita’s Water Polo players:

• QLD U15 Maroon – Emma Williams
• QLD U15 Gold – Amelia Calder, Isabelle Langestraat, Arabella Templeton
• QLD U17 Maroon – Tilly Hughes, Cate Klinge, Matilda Morrow, Horatia Schlect
• QLD U17 Gold – Jemima Irvine, Taya Kirk, Mia Hollyman

Special mention to the following girls that were selected in the National Age Group Australian Squads from their performance at the tournament:

• Cadet Women – Emma Williams
• Youth Women – Tilly Hughes and Horatia Schlect

Horatia was also awarded Most Valuable Goalie of the tournament. All are well deserved achievements.

2022/23 BWPI Competition

We have commenced our first week of grading for the Summer 2022/23 BWPI Competition. The players have been working hard at training, and we look forward to seeing them enjoy the games on Saturdays.

Ms Madison Wall - Head Coach Water Polo

The Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme provides financial assistance for families transporting students to non-state schools in Queensland. Applications opened on 1 October and will close on 31 October. To find out more about eligibility requirements, click here.