From the Principal
Andrew Watt – Principal
Is your child a perfectionist?
Many young people struggle with anxiety, related to perfectionism. Common behaviours underlying perfectionism include:
- Refusing to try anything new or unfamiliar, due to fear of making a mistake;
- Slow completion of work due to constant checking to ensure no mistakes;
- Procrastinating, as it is easier not to start than face the possibility of failure;
- More likely ask for help rather than try it themselves first;
- Giving up and becoming stressed and angry if they make a mistake;
- Tendency to think in all or nothing terms – if it isn’t perfect, it is bad or wrong;
- Tendency to be self-critical.
The news is not all bad! A recent article, posted by Karen Young, states that “Perfectionism can hold children back, but beneath perfectionistic tendencies will be the makings of great grit, determination and a fearless chase for the things we feel important. The key is to nurture these traits while at the same time turning down the behaviours that stifle them. That’s where parents come in.” The link below provides 10 practical strategies to help young people manage perfectionism:
www.heysigmund.com/anxiety-in-children-10-practical-strategies-to-help-kids-manage-perfectionism/
Dangerous Ideas?
Without wanting to give too much away, I had the pleasure of attending the Northside’s JCA 2018 Annual Fundraising event on Thursday, facilitated by Phil Nosworthy, world renowned futurist and social impact strategist. I would encourage you to attend this interactive and thought-provoking evening, with its focus on how we create community and meaning in our fast-changing world. An impressive list of speakers seek to stir us in our thinking and challenge us to be co-creators of our future. Enjoy!
Success at NSW da Vinci Decathlon
A large number of the brightest girls and boys from Years 5 to 11 across the State participated in the NSW da Vinci Decathlon this week. The Decathlon celebrates the academic gifts of young people by providing a stimulating and challenging competition run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon. The day is divided into 3 sessions and within each session there were a number of tasks running concurrently. Students competed in teams of 8 across 10 disciplines: Engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, english, ideation, creative producers, cartography and general knowledge.The competition was conducted over the last 3 days:
- 22 May: Years 7 and 8 (16 students)
- 23 May: Years 9-11 (24 students)
- 24 May: Years 5 and 6 (16 students)
The da Vinci Decathlon highlights the value of collaboration and a group approach to problem solving, thus those teams with strong interpersonal skills, in addition to strong intellect, tend to be the most successful.
Mazal tov to all our teams, who performed well and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Special mention to our Year 8 team, who finished 3rd in the Ideation section and 2nd overall, out of 70 teams – a wonderful performance. Our Year 9 team finished 2nd in the Creative Producers section. Year 6 placed 3rd in Engineering and Year 5 placed 3rd in General Knowledge.
Year 8 Jesse Herdan, Anna Davis, Joshua Moses, Eden Glass, Mirabelle Mirvis, Matthew Lowy and Lily Berger.
Little Sisters of the Poor – on site parking
I received a letter from CEO of Little Sister of the Poor noting that a number of parents and students are ignoring the No Parking, Private Property sign on their main gates and are using their on site parking.
Please respect our neighbours and do not use the Little Sisters of the Poor parking as it is reserved for their residents, family members, visitors and staff only.
Quote of the week
“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. if you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”
Nora Roberts