All Saints Grammar would like to thank our parents for their ongoing support and interaction across our social media.

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1 November 2018 NOVEMBER Week 6B Mon 19 PK 2019 Orientation Day 1 Year 6 Excursion to Canberra Life Education Program (to Fri 23 Nov) Tue 20 Year 6 Excursion to Canberra Wed 21 Year 1 Excursion to Centennial Park Greek Schools Cup, Lidcombe Oval Fri 23 PK 2019 Orientation Day 2 Year 8 Science Excursion Year 11 Ancient History Excursion Week 7A Mon 26 Year 11 English Excursion Tue 27 PK 2 Day Christmas Concert, 9:30am 10:30am, Church Hall Thur 29 Year 6 & Year 9 Excursion to Holy Monastery of the Holy Cross, Mangrove Mountain Fri 30 Year 9 & Year 11 Geography excursion PK 3 Day Christmas Concert, 9:30am 10:30am, Church Hall DECEMBER Week 8B Mon 3 Year 9 Peer Support Australia Training Incursion Christmas Carols, 6:30pm, School Gymnasium Tue 4 Year 9 Peer Support Australia Training Incursion SWISSA Softball and Cricket Wed 5 K-6 Picnic Day, Robson Park Thur 6 Year 3-11 Annual Speech Day, 9am-11am, School Gymnasium Fri 7 Term 4 concludes with Thanksgiving Liturgy, 8:30am NB: Please check dates regularly as changes may be necessary Christmas Carols evening Our community s annual celebration of the birth of Christ will once again be in the form of Christmas Carols evening. We will come together on Monday 3 of December in our School Gymnasium, starting at 6.30pm. This is a very important school event. As an Orthodox community we pride ourselves on the values of our Christian faith. Students and teachers are working hard to prepare traditional and contemporary items of Christmas joy. On this evening we will come together, parents and students, to sing in celebration. Annual Speech Day On Thursday 6 of December we will acknowledge our students achievements in our Annual Speech Day for Year 3 to Year 11. Academic Achievement, Commendable Effort, Excellence in Sports and more, will be acknowledged on the day to celebrate another year of school work. All students are expected to attend in full school uniform. Parents are encourage to attend the event to celebrate with us the results of another year of hard work. The event will start at 9.00am in our School Gymnasium, and should conclude by 11.00am. Thanks Giving Liturgy On Friday 7 of December we will come together for our final Liturgy for the year as a school community. All students are expected to attend in full school uniform. This Liturgy is an opportunity to give thanks for the learning experiences and opportunities we have been given throughout The Liturgy will start at 8.30 am at our All Saints Church. We are almost at the end of another year; these events are an opportunity to come together and be part of a manifestation of our values, the pillars of our school community, namely, Faith, Excellence, Respect. We All Saints Grammar would like to thank our parents for their ongoing support and interaction across our social media. We have received invite great interest you to from join our us parents in these about very sharing special some of celebrations. their images and been so overwhelmed with the volume that we have not been able to share every snapshot. Please note that although we cannot post everything, if you wish to share some images with our community about school life, we would greatly appreciate your contribution. continued over page To share your images we kindly request that you send them along with a short blurb to marketing@allsaints.nsw.edu.au 1 P a g e

2 Technology Creative and Performing Arts Exhibition The event show-cased the wonderful array of talent our students possess in the Visual Arts, Music, Dance, and Design and Technology. The exhibition presented such a variety of items from all year groups, leading to the magnificent HSC Major Works of our Year 12 students and is clear evidence of the quality of the teaching that takes place in our classrooms. The event was a celebration of the creative energy that permeates the opportunities our students are offered at our school. We thank the many parents who joined us on the day for this exhibition. Mrs E. Lillis 2 P a g e

3 ACER Scholarship Examination Each year the School participates in the ACER Cooperative Scholarship Testing Program. Students in Year 5 and Year can register to sit the annual examination in 2019 to apply for a scholarship commencing in Year 7 and Year 11 in The examination will be held on Saturday, 23 February 2019 at the Secondary Campus. In addition to the ACER CSTP Examination, please note that scholarships will be offered to existing students as outlined in our Scholarship Policy. This policy outlines the various forms students may achieve a scholarship. The policy is available on our website at: If you feel your child will benefit from sitting for the ACER CSTP, you are invited to register for that examination by completing the online registration form. To access the form, follow the Scholarship link under the Enrolment page on the school s website at Online registrations will close at midnight on Monday 4 February The Registration Fee is $ and payment by credit card is required. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact the Director of Enrolments on Greek Language School We would like to bring to your attention that the All Saints Parish is running an afternoon Greek Language School in This community service will be offered to All Saints Grammar students at no cost. The days have not yet been decided. To express your interest either Father Apostolos at fatherapostolos@allsaints.nsw.edu.au or leave your details at All Saints Church phone number From the School Chaplain Very Reverend Father Apostolos Trifyllis Christmas is once again at hand. We are about to remember that the Son of God became a human being as helpless a baby as was ever born with a manger for His crib. We are about to follow the steps of Virgin Mary, who became a mother, not simply of a son, but of the Son of God. We are about to listen to Angels singing in His honour. We are about to see the shepherds and the wise men worshipping Him. These shepherds and wise men show us how to respond to the good news that God has become a human being: they worshipped Him. Should we follow their example? Yes, because Christ is going to be born again, and the peace and joy of God s kingdom are ours even as we live and breathe in the world, as we know it. Yes, because Christ is going to be born again, and we can encounter Him in every human being, especially the poor, needy, and outcast. The only limits on the blessing of Christmas are those that we place on ourselves. Thus let us all try to be like Virgin Mary, who received Christ with joy. Let us all try to be like the elder Joseph, Christ s steadfast protector. Let us all try to be like that strange combination of lowly shepherds and noble wise men that first worshipped Him. Let us all welcome Christ into our life and live accordingly, for, now nothing, but our own refusal can separate us from His love. Let us prepare ourselves for His coming, through prayer, fasting, and, of course, almsgiving. Let us not fool ourselves that we can find Him through participating in anticipatory Christmas parties or through spending what s left of our yearly budget on decorations and gifts. Let us find Him in our fellow people, who need our love! 3 P a g e

4 Wellbeing for Learning Mr T. Psomas Student Wellbeing The date decreed for World Kindness Day is 13th November. The purpose of World Kindness Day is to look beyond ourselves, beyond the boundaries of our country, beyond our culture, our race, our religion; and realise we are citizens of the world. When we find common causes to support we begin to experience empathy, and in such a state we can fully relate to people and their needs. Our commitment to kindness should go beyond the one day it is set in the calendar. We should focus on the good things about our life, and be thankful for what we have. We should look at how we can serve our communities so that others may benefit from our kindness. We can have a positive effect and create positive change when we work together as a group. To achieve something, all that is usually required is the application of a little persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Using World Kindness Day as a springboard, and with Christmas fast approaching, All Saints Grammar School students are invited to show their kindness, to demonstrate their compassion, to reflect on their ability to help and service others by taking action. They are asked to participate in the Parish s Toy Drive Appeal and donate presents which will go a long way to helping other children who are less fortunate. These donations can be dropped off at the Front Office of both the Primary and Secondary campuses. From the School Counsellor Ms G. Stafford The importance of instilling gratitude Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault As the year starts to draw to a close its important to take a moment to think about all that we are grateful for. Teaching children an attitude of gratitude requires helping them to look at their situations from a point of appreciation rather than from a deficit. Sure, it s nice to have grateful and thankful children but there is much more to it than that. By learning gratitude, they become sensitive to the feelings of others, developing empathy and other life skills along the way, says Barbara Lewis, author of What Do You Stand For? For Kids (Free Spirit Publishing, 2005). Grateful kids look outside their one-person universe and understand that their parents and other people do things for them. On the flip side, kids who aren't taught to be grateful end up feeling perpetually disappointed. What are the benefits of practising gratitude? Enhanced well-being and satisfaction with life Higher quality relationships with loved ones Better physical health Children model their parents in every way. Here are some suggestions to enhance an attitude of gratitude; 1. Say "Thank you." When "thank you" is instilled in our vocabulary at home, a lifelong practice begins, even if it doesn't stick at first. You can gently restate a sentence with polite language inserted, or suggest saying "Thank you" together. 4 P a g e

5 2. Live it. Set an example and show appreciation by conveying you paid attention to real effort: "Your room looks so nice with the toys in their bins. I'm so happy that you remembered to put them away!" 3. Teach through role play. If your child is too shy to say "thank you" in a social setting, they can pretend to teach their stuffed animals or dolls to do so, while you play along. 4. Create daily or weekly routines. A regular question, "What are you most thankful for today?" can serve as a comforting routine at bedtime or a highlight of a weekly dinner ritual. 5. Give concrete examples. At dinner, ask your child what was challenging today and what were they thankful for. Books like The Giving Tree, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? 6. Set expectations when shopping. Have a look day when you go to the shops and don t buy anything. Just like going to the museum, we enjoy the beautiful things, but we aren't planning to buy anything. 7. Make giving and active habit. Set aside toys and clothing in good condition. Deliver the items to a deserving cause together. Talk about the process and why you care. 8. Be patient you can t expect gratitude to develop overnight. It takes a lot of reinforcement. 9. Create gratitude gift lists. Alongside a holiday or birthday gift wish list, for every item, family members can list something they are grateful for. These are the "priceless" gifts. By generating the list in a beautiful way, you demonstrate how valuable the alternate list is; it can be a keepsake for years to come. 10. Gratitude doesn t have to be saved for the big things in life. The habit of being grateful recognizing there is nothing to small you can be grateful for. 11. With Christmas just around the corner talk about the real meaning of Christmas and what it means to you Resources scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude Clubs and Programs Dance Cocurricular NOW AVAILABLE AT THE SECONDARY CAMPUS! Every Monday Lunch in D1. Students are welcome to bring their sports uniform to change. Please see Mr Lombardo for more details. Secondary Campus Instrument and Vocal Tuition Enrolments Now Open for 2019! Please contact Mr Lombardo for any questions you may have: lombardo@allsaints.nsw.edu.au 5 P a g e

6 Yeronga School Uniforms Roselands Store WILL BE CLOSED FOR STOCKTAKE 6 th December, 7 th December & 8 th December 2018 Thank You for Supporting A Local Business 6 P a g e