Compass No. 564 March 2020

Are you a de-escalator? You know, the type of person who tries to go down an escalator in a shopping centre when the escalator is actually moving upwards? It is easy to be confused by escalators in a shopping centre with multiple levels and it’s easy to be confused in a tense relationship where people are escalating their behaviour with one another.

In these situations, Jesus shows us a different way to react. A way of de-escalation, a way of being a de-escalator.  When a heightened level of tenseness occurs in a relationship, the natural reaction is to give the person more than what they gave you. In that moment of escalation, it is very easy to get caught up in the cycle of striking back and giving as good as you get. 

However, Jesus says to love, do good, bless and pray for those who hate, hurt and curse you. Following are tips for de-escalation. 

• Loving your enemies. To be able to love those who hurt you, forgiveness needs to be found. Hanging onto the hurt continues the escalation. Forgiveness frees and de-escalates it.
• Doing good. To be able to do good to those who hurt you is a tricky one. Everyone needs to be able to feel safe in their interactions with others but if someone hurts us, returning the hurt back to them continues the escalation. A demonstrable act of kindness usually takes some of the heat away in relationships. 
• Blessing. Blessing those who are our enemies can lead to seeing them with compassion and empathy as people not monsters. 
• Praying. Praying for others is always a way God uses to get us out of our self to focus on the needs of others and ultimately to change our hearts and transform us. 

Are you a de-escalator? Try this wisdom from God; love your enemies, do good to them, bless them and pray for them.

Pastor Tim Jarick, College Pastor

Several weeks ago, I included a link to the Federal Government’s eSafety website that provides resources to support Safer Internet Day 2020. Staying safe online requires continual engagement and discussion with our young people. The eSafety Commissioner has resources for parents at Parent Advice. Unpacking one aspect of this advice relates to online activity. Signs that your child’s online activity may be having a negative impact on them or on your family include:

• less interest in social activities like meeting friends or playing sport;
• not doing so well at school;
• tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain;
• changes in eating patterns;
• reduced personal hygiene;
• obsession with particular websites or games;
• extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity;
• appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer; and/or
• becoming withdrawn from friends and family.

Education is key and at Pacific we are engaging students in a range of topics associated with being a responsible digital citizen. This term in Personal Development, we are guiding Year 6 and 7 students through the eight modules prepared by eSmart supported by the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Junior College students are also continuing with this program. We thank Mr Damian Davis (Head of Staff and Students P-5) for his leadership in establishing this program for Middle College. Successful completion of the modules will provide students with their digital licence. More importantly it will provide them with a greater understanding of how to remain safe online and capacity to support others. Further information can be found at Digital Licence. We also encourage parents and carers to browse the various SchoolTV editions that relate to cybersafety.

Next Friday is Pacific as a Peace Place day, which coincides with the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. Pacific continues to work with all students to ensure a safe community and we should be proud of the work we do collectively in making the College a place of peace. During their Personal Development lessons, Middle and Senior College students will complete an anonymous survey covering a range of topics that will inform how we continue to support our young people.

A polite reminder that all car parks on the College campus require vehicles to travel at no more than 10km/h. For the safety of students, staff and visitors, it is important that the speed limit is adhered to. We thank you for your ongoing support on this matter.

Finally, there is a lot of lost property in the Wellbeing Centre including reading glasses, jewellery, wireless earphones as well as sports shoes and clothing. These items have been in lost property for several weeks. If parents or students are missing any of these items, please visit Ms Angela Hill in the Wellbeing Centre.

Mr Ben Ryan, Director of Students

To develop a basic understanding of maths, children need to learn how to solve even the most difficult maths problems. These difficult maths problems are typically word problems. Teaching children how to solve word problems in maths is critical if they are to develop a complete understanding of maths.

Children can typically solve a maths problem presented in numbers and equations. However, when the same maths problem is written in a paragraph or sentence format, many children have difficulty sorting the important information from the distracting information.

Strategies for Math Problem Solving

The key to solving maths word problems is to have a plan or strategy, which works in any maths word problem solving situation. The following 12 tips will help children to become good problem solvers.

1. Read the problem carefully, looking for clues and important information. Write down the clues, underline, or highlight the clues.
2. If necessary, rewrite the problem to help find these clues.
3. Look for clues to determine which maths operation is needed to solve the problem, for example addition or subtraction. Look for key words like sum, difference, product, perimeter or area. They lead to the operation needed to solve the problem.
4. Look for what is needed to solve the problem, for example: how many are left, the total will be, everyone gets red, everyone gets one of each.
5. Use variable symbols, such as “ ” for missing information.
6. Eliminate all non-essential information by drawing a line through the distracting information.
7. Draw sketches, drawings and models to visualise the problem.
8. Is the word problem similar to previous work, if so how was it solved?
9. Develop a plan based on the information determined to be important for solving the problem.
10. Carry out the plan using the math operations which were determined would find the answer.
11. Does the answer seem reasonable, if it does then it is probably ok – if not then check the work.
12. Work the problem in reverse or backwards, starting with the answer to see if you wind up with your original problem.

Problem-Solving in Math is Personal

The ability to solve problems is the foundation of maths. For a student in any year level, the road to understanding maths is through the problem-solving gateway.

To develop the ability to solve problems, children need to make a personal connection as they visualise, touch and see the problem.

All parents can do problem-solving at home to help children build their skills. For example:

• How many songs can be downloaded from iTunes with $7.75?
• How many cars do I need to wash to buy a new game, when charging $5.00 each car wash?
• How many marbles will fit inside a jar? They determine the volume in the jar. Next determine a reasonable estimate of the number of marbles by using similar materials.
• Cooking – using fractions for baking.

Geometry Math Problems

How about seeing what geometric shapes are in your home or outside the home. Geometry is everywhere in homes and nature, examples include:

• Traffic signs – octagon, square, round.
• Bicycles – using “Pi x d” to find the circumference or “Pi x r2” for area of their bike’s wheels.
• Window shapes – square, circle, rectangle.
• Walls, floors, ceilings – rectangle, right angles, perpendicular, parallel.
• Trees and bushes – oval, 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, round, cone.
• Swing sets and other playground equipment – triangle, square, rectangle.
• Pythagorean’s Theorem – how to determine a right angle of anything being constructed to ensure the corner is exactly 90 degrees.

There are so many more possibilities, just get your children to look at what they see.

Mrs Sue Zweck, Head of Learning K-5

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected people from many countries around the world. There are lots of people talking about it and it can be difficult to understand all the information you are hearing and seeing. It is most important to be aware and informed, but not alarmed.

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness which affects your nose, throat and lungs. If you are sick with coronavirus your symptoms may include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath

The virus spreads between people when someone with the virus coughs or sneezes. You may also catch the virus from contaminated surfaces via droplets on your hands and then transferring them to your mouth, nose or eyes when you touch your face or eat.

Advice provided to Education Queensland schools is as follows:

If your child develops flu-like symptoms, please:

• keep your child at home;
• avoid close contact with others such as touching, kissing or hugging, or any mass gatherings, especially those involving other children;
• see a doctor or contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) immediately;
• seek medical advice if your child has other underlying medical conditions; and
• call ahead to the medical centre or doctor’s surgery, advising of your child’s symptoms.

At Pacific, we are continuing to reinforce to students the importance of observing high standards of hygiene. It is important for you to continue to encourage your children to:

• Wash their hands regularly with soap and water, particularly before and after eating and after going to the toilet. Washing hands often and properly means that you can protect yourself and prevent contamination.
• Use alcohol-based hand sanitiser if soap is unavailable.
• Be mindful of cough etiquette. Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue (which should be disposed of immediately) or the inside of their elbow. Try to stay at least 1.5 metres away from people who are coughing or sneezing.

Thank you for your support of community wellbeing and student awareness of the additional need for strong health and hygiene practices during this time.

Mrs Maree Hooper and Mrs Sharon Middleton, College Nurses

Coronavirus is an evolving international health concern. Around the world, people are being affected in many ways. Although children are considered at lower risk of infection, they are not immune to the multitude of news reports regularly seen or heard in the media.

This epidemic is of concern to parents, but it is also may be worrying to young people. Parents may be wondering how best to discuss this epidemic in a way that will be reassuring to children without making them worried. While most children will have already heard about the coronavirus, it is important for parents to take this opportunity to convey the facts and set the emotional tone. This may help children to feel more informed and reassured.

In this Special SchoolTV Report, parents are provided with some guidelines on how best to approach this conversation whilst still ensuring the wellbeing of their child. View the report at: https://pacificlutheran.qld.schooltv.me/wellbeing

Mrs Annie Williams, College Counsellor

Shop Earn Grow

Help plant a greener future for our school! Simply shop at Currimundi Markets to vote for Pacific to WIN 1 of 2 Sustainable Garden Prize Packs! From 9^th March – 3^rd April 2020. Learn more at: www.currimundimarkets.com.au.

Look out for further information at Currimundi Marketplace.

Upcoming Events

• Mooloolaba Tri – this Sunday 15^th March
• College Dance – Friday 27^th March; and
• One World OCEANfest 2020 Planning Meeting – Date TBA.

If you would like to be involved in helping out at the College Dance and/or OCEANfest, please contact us via email: fop@pacluth.qld.edu.au.

Mooloolaba Tri

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help at the Mooloolaba Tri this Sunday 15^th March. We now have enough volunteers for the event! Pacific will receive a donation for every volunteer we provide on the day.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 17^th March in the College Library at 6.30pm. Please join us for wine, cheese and a chat.

Quote of the Week

"Here's to strong women may we know them. May we be them. May we raise them." – Anonymous

Click here to follow our Friends of Pacific Facebook page

Mrs Jenny Lee, FoP Chairperson

Griffith University will host the Griffith Aviation Flight Camp from 7^th-8^th April 2020 (during the first week of the upcoming school holidays). The Flight Camp is an exciting two-day non-residential camp that offers Year 11 and 12 students a unique opportunity to experience what an aviation career has to offer. The program includes a range of hands-on activities, including flight simulators, site visits and an opportunity to connect with student mentors and hear from a variety of industry speakers. 

For further information about the camp and details on how you can apply, visit: https://www.griffith.edu.au. Applications close on Friday 20^th March 2020.

The Sunshine Coast Health Institute will hold their annual High School Careers Day on Friday 21^st August 2020. This half-day event introduces students to the many and varied career opportunities available within the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service – not just doctors and nurses, but also allied health professionals and a range of other business and administrative roles in hospitals. Attendees will also have the opportunity to connect with education providers and explore health career pathways. If you are in Years 10-12 and are considering a career in the health industry, please email Mrs Wanda Hayes to express your interest in attending. Expressions of interest must be received by Thursday 26^th March.

Mrs Wanda Hayes, Head of Career Development

Over the past few weeks, a number of students have trialled and competed at both district and regional sport trials / carnivals. Congratulations to the following students who have gained selection into teams of various age divisions.

• Swimming: Evie Richters, Charlie Schefe, Thomas Wegener and Emily Lengenberg.
• AFL: Joseph Modlin, Jackson Wallis and Hamish Carroll.
• Netball: Kayla Sanderson, Evie Richters and Zoe Woods.
• Rugby League: Flynn Turnbull.

We wish these students well for the upcoming regional trials.

Congratulations to Thomas Wegener and Emily Lengenberg who have been selected to represent the Sunshine Coast at the Queensland State Swimming Championships in Brisbane later this month. Thomas qualified for the 50m backstroke, while Emily qualified for the 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke. We wish them the best of luck for the championships.

Mr Darren Hooper, Head of Junior Sport

Join the Lightning family and support our local team! The Sunshine Coast Lightning has a range of membership packages available in 2020. To learn more, visit: https://premier.sportsubs.com.au/nnl/lightning/.

Mr Brett Kersnovske, Head of Sport

The Uniform Shop is open from 8.00am to 9.30am every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Orders can be placed online via www.flexischools.com.au and will be delivered to your child the following day.

Mrs Peta King, Uniform Shop Convenor

Sunday Worship Times St Mark’s Church @ Pacific 9.30am Pacific Lutheran College (Entry via Red Cedar Drive, Meridan Plains) Google Maps St Mark's Lutheran @ Pacific   Are you looking for a friendly church where young people, old people, children, families and singles are appreciated, empowered and encouraged to grow as Christians? Everyone is welcome! Get in touch: Pastor Ray Morris 0429 856 532 ray.morris@lca.org.au www.stmarkslutherancaloundra.net

Pastor Ray, St Mark's Lutheran Church