Dear Parents and Carers,

This week is Sabbath Week at STM. Sabbath Week is a week of “no homework” (except, of course, reading). It’s also a time where we encourage families to participate in a family activity after school that our busy lives don’t always allow.

Although there has been opportunity to re-connect with your children during the pandemic, it’s another reminder that as restrictions start to ease in the territory, to fully appreciate the time you have with your children at this age. The months in a school year fly by and as we approach the latter part of Term 2, I am again reminded of the need to take stock of what’s around us – the interactions with our students and the health and wellbeing of all our community members.

Children’s Emotional Development

Having a solid foundation of social-emotional development is crucial for a child’s success in school and in life. Relationships are the core of social-emotional development. A child’s ability to establish and keep relationships is a very important aspect of their development. This is primarily seen in a child’s ability to make and keep friends. Friendships allow children to “broaden their horizons beyond the family unit, begin to experience the outside world, form a self-image, and develop a social support system.”

Below are some helpful ways of supporting children’s emotional development:

• Listen and validate the child’s emotional experience. You might say, “It sounds like you’re really angry. Let’s talk about it”.
• View emotions as an opportunity for connecting and teaching. You might say, “I can see you’re really frustrated about having to wait. Why don’t we read a story while we’re waiting?”
• Encourage problem solving to manage emotions. You might say, “What would help you feel brave?” Or “How else could you look at this?”
• Set limits in a supportive way. You might say, “I know you’re upset that your friend couldn’t make it over, but that does not make it okay to yell at me.”

Live Streamed Marriage Seminars - Sundays in June

The local Archdiocese has organised a series interactive live-streamed presentations for Marriage & Family Month immediately after the 11am Online Mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral for the next three Sundays (14^th, 21^st, 28^th June).

Listeners will be able to interact online and ask questions of our impressive line-up of international, interstate and local Catholic couples speaking at 11.45am each Sunday from mid-June. See full program at https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/marriage-family-month-june-2020/

Yours sincerely,