Newsletter Term 4, Week 6 11 Nov 2021

In the year following the Armistice of 1918, we find this account in the Manchester Guardian describing the first time the silence was observed and it reads:

The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect.

The tram cars glided into stillness, motors ceased to cough and fume and stopped dead, and the mighty-limbed horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition.

Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of ‘attention’. An elderly woman, not far away, wiped her eyes, and the man beside her looked white and stern. Everyone stood very still … The hush deepened. It had spread all over the city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain … And the spirit of memory brooded over it.

We as a School community will soon stop in silent reflection, just as we have for many decades, just as so many around the world will. The silence we offer echoes that which fell over the battlefield at 11.00am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 when the Armistice was signed to end World War One.  Rather than celebrating the end of war, thoughts turned to the colossal cost, the profound horror of what had occurred. The world had been torn to pieces and people were left clutching for a new vocabulary of remembrance. It was found that silence was more powerful than words. The moment of silence filled a deep need in people to make sense of what had just happened to them.

Since the outbreak of World War 1, over 10,000 Australian Defence Force Servicemen and Servicewomen have given their lives in service. Many of those people remain where they fell on foreign shores – never to return to their homeland. Never to return to their families.
Our family is blessed that my husband, who served in Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and the Solomon Islands, did return home. I remember some moments when I thought he would not. I was walking into my School, having dropped the children off when I saw some army personnel in reception. I thought, this is how they would tell me; they would come to my workplace with a Chaplain, they would sit me down in a private room and they would tell me. I walked through reception preparing myself, looking straight ahead. But it was not that. They were there for a careers presentation. But that memory, those moments remain vivid – just as the memories of all those who served – remain with them.

Marise McConaghy, Principal

Remembrance Day commemorates 11 November 1918, at 11.00am when the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war.

Today we remember those who died in past conflicts and think of our Defense Force members presently serving on active operations in various parts of the world.

We commemorated Remembrance Day at Strathcona with a ceremony in the Senior School and Junior School, where all members of our school community observed the one minute of silence together, along with the recitation of the Ode and the sound of the Last Post as we remembered those who have fallen before us.

Today was also a time to give thanks to all of our front-line workers who have shown courage and unwavering effort to contain this pandemic and to all of our teachers and staff at Strathcona who have willingly taken on each and every day with bravery, hope and optimism. A special thought was also shared for our Principal, Mrs Marise McConaghy who has continuously led our community with kindness, compassion and courage.

Lest we Forget

Lisa Miller, Head of Junior School

It is difficult to begin to imagine the relief of that historic hour. The horrors of the war had destroyed millions of lives on all sides. Every life that was lost was precious in the eyes of God. In the face of great suffering in our world, the profound Christian truth is that God not only understands but sees our pain and trauma and in Jesus we see a God who died and suffered for us and like us in his life.  

In Jeremiah 29:11 in the bible we read “I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to give you a future and a hope. Living through this pandemic and reflecting on the cost of war, I find myself going back to these words. Even in tough times we remember to focus on this declaration that we all have a hopeful future!  

At Strathy we stopped at 11am to remember those who lost their lives during the First World and any war situation. To pray for those who are currently living through conflict and to pray for peace in the world, our country and our own lives.   

Rev Janet Costello, Senior School Chaplain 

At the beginning of this year, Strathcona held a Well4Twelve Day, to encourage Year 12 students to maintain a healthy balance and to enhance their awareness of effective coping strategies so that they could manage their studies and wellbeing optimally this year.  It was anticipated that there would likely be challenges during the year, but students were encouraged to be aware that many factors are under their control. Making the most of the opportunities they have, to enhance how well they cope and reduce the impact of stress, was the main aim of this day.  Parents are also able to assist their daughters to keep a balanced approach to study.

Balance the basics

Sleep, nutrition, exercise, relaxation, self-care such as taking care of posture and body while studying, managing stress and making time for fun, contribute to enjoying school, studies and setting up positive practices for the future.  These activities often are pushed aside by young people when the stress of an assessment is pending.  Stealing sleep time to enable that bit of extra study, or not prioritising exercise so that more time is spent studying, are not necessarily effective strategies.  Parents can model and encourage the importance of balancing the basics.

Balance time

Along with a study routine, scheduling priorities within-subjects for study sessions, setting study session goals and planning to include basic self-care needs is important. Planned, regular breaks that are active can assist students to move their bodies, go outside and refresh their focus and concentration. Sitting in the same spot studying and then taking a pause to flick through social media is generally not the best break.  Similarly, fuelling themselves with caffeine or sugar is a short-lived strategy and does not support the long game of studying for success. Students need to feed their brains so it can perform at its peak and move their bodies.

Balance stress

Some stress is motivating and currently, after months of online learning, motivation may be waning.  However, too much stress can be debilitating.  When you can see the stress is building, recognise this and assist your daughter to take a ‘guilt-free’ break.  Breaks work best when they enable some distraction, relaxation and movement.  Assist in creating a workable study space, separate to where students sleep, to allow differentiation between spaces for focus and those that enable downtime. 

Balance expectations

Students can have extremely high expectations, can fear failure and then become overwhelmed with the enormity of the task ahead. If you notice your daughter is feeling overwhelmed, assist them to break down tasks into smaller more manageable chunks, set achievable goals with reasonable timelines and remind them of what they have already achieved.

Focusing on effort and encouraging your daughter to do her best, avoiding comparing with other students or focusing simply on grades, may help to reduce stress regarding assessments. Assist young people to keep the assessment period in perspective by recognising that the results are only part of the learning journey and there are many options and pathways, regardless of exam outcomes.  Students will be very aware of their parents’ expectations, even when they are not overtly stated, so managing our own expectations is also important (nobody likes to disappoint Mum and Dad, or waste expensive school fees!).

Balance behaviour prior to assessments

Depending on your daughter’s age, providing prompts about when socialising or part-time work is occurring a little too often can be tricky, especially as we empathise with how much young people have missed out on over the past months.  Again, prioritising and planning so that a balance is maintained in their study schedule can be important. Balancing family commitments and tasks may also be required depending on your daughter’s study load.  Maintaining some family involvement and responsibility can be reasonable but also flexibility may be required as the intensity of the assessment period approaches.

The night before an assessment is a time to prepare what they will need to take to school, time to go over any summaries or key points and to get a good night’s sleep.  Staying up late cramming is less likely to be helpful. On the morning of an assessment, getting up in plenty of time to eat a nutritious breakfast and travel to school without stress about being late is key.  Finding a quiet spot, away from pre-test angst and taking time to breathe will help many students to approach assessments with a calm mind.

SchoolTV features an article on exam jitters: https://senior-strathcona.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/exam-jitters

Mrs Kerri Rhodes, Senior School Psychologist

Items in the Career News include -

• Final Reminder: VTAC 2022 Upcoming Key Dates

• Accessing VCE Results

• La Trobe University Campus Tours

• Monash University Campus Tours are Back!

• 2022 VCE Summer School Programs

• My Science 3-Day Program at Monash University

• RMIT Maths Bridging Programme

• Swinburne’s Maths Bridging Program Mathslink

• Useful Tips for Successful Interviews

Please click here for this week's Career News. To visit the Careers page or view previous versions of Careers News click here.

Event info:

Date: 11.00 am to 3.00 pm (AEDT) 19 January 2022 
Format: Virtual holiday program
Individual registration: $45 (non-member $155)
Group registration: $90 for groups of 3 students
Alliance discount: Use the code FLOURISH22 when booking individual registrations
Bookings: https://www.agsa.org.au/event/flourish2022/

Places are limited for this bespoke virtual program, bookings are welcome from schools and/or families, and a flyer is attached to share with your school community. If you have any questions please contact us at (e) agsa@agsa.org.au

As we conclude our study of World War 1 we discuss the varying interpretations of the war, focusing on the Home Front and women's role in this turbulent time in our History. Today, one of our Envision activities involved each student making felt poppies for a remembrance display. We had a lot of fun being creative, with the music playing in the Hall, but underlying this is a deeper understanding of the sacrifice made by people during the early 1900s. Our ANZAC Pine still stands in the TC gardens as a daily reminder.

One of the benefits of covid is that we can now virtually attend school assemblies, and we joined the Remembrance Day Service and stood for the minute's silence at 11am. 

As well as making the poppies, students also glazed their clay "My City" tiles which we will have fired and returned prior to the end of the year. 

Our two Ethics Olympiad teams acquitted brilliantly in their recent competition with ‘Strathcona Yellow’ team (Stephanie Tang, Rachel Zhou, Cynthia Shi, Izzy King, and Frances Chan) finishing in fifth place and ‘Strathcona Purple’ team (Alec Marsland, Heidi Tully, Ella Holzer, Arya Gupta and Emily Fukumura) being awarded the gold medal and invited to compete in the International Ethics Olympiad in February 2022.

Year 9 families should also receive an Edsmart invitation shortly to our 'Farewell' Coffee morning on the final morning of school, Tuesday 7 December. We hope that you can organise to join us, you may even enjoy a tour of the buildings!

Exam, end of year program and other details pertinent to the end of the year will be released shortly. Please check for Edsmart permissions. 

Best wishes,

Karyn Murray, Head of Tay Creggan

We warmly invite you to the 2021 Virtual Senior Art and Design Show titled Metamorphosis. The theme of this year’s Senior Art and Design Show ‘Metamorphosis’ represents the newly imagined future and symbolizes renewal and change. The art and design pieces showcase the talented work of Strathcona's Year 7 to Year 12 students. I hope you enjoy the show and are inspired by all of the dedication and aptitude of work produced by the Strathcona students, some at school and some in lockdown.

This event will be held virtually on Monday 22 November 2021, at 6.00pm.

Wednesday 1 December 6.00pm.

Please join us for this virtual event to celebrate the girls and boys from ELC-Year 6 and their creative endeavours at the Annual Art Exhibition. Both collaborative and individual pieces on display exploring both two and three-dimensional forms and a wide variety of mediums for your viewing.

Monday 6 December 2021, from 6.00pm

Strathcona Families are warmly invited to join us for 2021's Presentation Night on Monday 6 December. The formal part of the evening will commence at 6.30pm however we encourage you to attend from 6.00pm to enjoy performances, music and art.  

Once again Presentation Night will be online in 2021. Organisation for the event commenced well before restrictions eased and we are mindful of the health and safety of our community. The night will have elements from our Presentation Night including awards for Years 5 to 11 students and will be live-streamed for you and your daughter/s to reflect on the year 2021 and celebrate achievements.

We look forward to you joining us for this exciting event!

Sunday 5 December 2021 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM
The Year 6 Graduation Committee is excited to invite you to the Year 6 graduation dinner to be held on Sunday 5 December 2021 from 5.30pm to 9.30pm. 

The evening will be held at Nini's Restaurant in Hawthorn. We look forward to celebrating with you and your daughter!

We warmly invite you to the 2021 Valedictory Dinner on Wednesday 8 December 2021 at the RACV City Club (501 Bourke Street, Melbourne) at 7pm to 11pm.

The cost is $145.00 (over 18) and $135.00 (under 18) (plus booking fee) per person which includes a 3-course dinner with alcoholic beverages (beer, sparkling, red and white wine and soft drinks) for guests over 18 a 3-course dinner with non-alcoholic beverages for guests under 18.

When booking, parents please purchase a ticket for your daughter. Please note there is a maximum of 3 tickets per family. Please indicate the name of two other families you would like to sit with as there will be tables of 9.

Please RSVP by Monday 29 November 2021.

We look forward to you joining us for what is sure to be a great evening!