This year the Junior School have begun using The Resilience Project to further develop our Character Education program. The Resilience Project is a company based out of Melbourne which aims to teach positive mental health strategies and build our capacity to deal with adversity.

The Resilience Project was developed by a man named Hugh Van Cuylenburg for two main reasons;

- His sister suffered from a mental illness.
- He visited India and met a boy call Stanzin.

Whilst he was in India, he learnt that Stanzin was one of the happiest people he had ever met. Because of this, Hugh has based his program on three key principles which are designed to build resilience and make us happy.

Gratitude – Paying attention to what we have and not what we don’t have.
One activity we did was the ‘DIS’ challenge. Whenever we were doing something we loved like playing sport or an instrument or having dinner with our family, we would stop and say DIS. The idea is that we are saying "how good is this” and being grateful for what we have in our lives.

Empathy – Understand how others feel.
During our focus on Empathy were asked to perform random acts of kindness around the school and in our home. We learnt that we felt happier when we were able to help others.

Mindfulness – Being calm and present in any given moment.
An activity we did, which was challenging, was sitting still for 2 minutes, and focusing on what we could hear. By doing this it made us be present and calm as we are trying hard to not think of anything else.

We like the program because it has allowed us to be more grateful for what we have. We also like the lessons because it is a chance to relax during the school day and not feel overwhelmed with our school work or lives.

Lincoln and Max
Junior School Students

Working on mindfulness gives us opportunities to develop our ability to pay attention to the present moment and our thoughts. Practising mindfulness daily can help us stay focused on set tasks and reduce stress and anxiety.

Boys in Pre Primary – Year 3 learnt about breathing techniques with Mrs. Monzu. They also completed some mindfulness colouring activities. Mrs. Monzu read the book “My Strong Mind” which focuses on techniques to develop their own strong mind. In Years 4-6, the boys listened to the book “Be Your Own Man” which introduces the concept of self-care. We shared why we believe self-care is important and the relationship between self-care and mindfulness.

Fun Fact…. We spend 49% of our waking hours thinking about something other than what we’re doing!

Regular mindfulness practice can improve our:

• Immune system.
• Energy levels.
• Sleep quality.
• Awareness.
• Memory.
• Productivity.

Why don’t you give it a go? Find a mindfulness activity that suits you and that you enjoy, everyone is different. Some suggestions are; listening to music, exercise, colouring, puzzles, meditation and yoga.

James McPherson
Assistant Principal 4-6

Education Perfect Languages – Global Championships

Last week, Aquinas College participated in the Education Perfect Languages’ Global Championships.

Students had a week to obtain as many points for correct answers (for the school and individuals) as possible. There were 2,532 schools competing globally in this competition.

Our superb effort saw us achieve:

• Second place overall for Italian – an amazing achievement;
• First for Italian in Australian for schools with 501-1000 students category;
• Sixth overall in Western Australia;
• 31^st overall in Australia; and
• 46^th overall globally.

Congratulations to Kale Thong (Year 7) who received an Emerald Certificate for reaching the highest level with over 5,000 points. Congratulations also to the following boys who received Gold Certificates: Brando Lomma (Year 7), Christian Perkis (Year 8), Roman Mondello (Year 6) and Thomas Van Dyk (Year 6)

We also had many boys receive Silver and Bronze certificates. Bravissimi ragazzi!

Ms Nicole Aquilia
Coordinator of Languages

The 2023 Junior School House Swimming Carnival was held on Thursday 16^th February at the Aquinas College Pool. All boys from Years 3-6 participated in individual events and team games. It was fantastic to see the boys displaying a high level of sportsmanship, respect, and teamwork all day. Redmond House won the carnival and claimed the Prendiville Trophy for the fourth year in a row.

Final House Points:
REDMOND – 806
EGAN – 768
QUINLAN – 668
CLUNE – 660

Congratulations to our champion and runner-up boys below:
Year 3

Champion: Lucah Rolfe (Clune)
Runner-up: Kobe Gonsalves (Quinlan)

Year 4

Champion: Louis Pillay (Quinlan)
Runner-up: Nicholas Chan (Redmond)

Year 5

Champion: Cael Veverka (Clune)
Runner-up: Jordan Trueman (Redmond)

Year 6

Champion: Spencer Whitfield (Quinlan)
Runner-up: Alexander Chan (Redmond)

Special mentions to our record breakers below:

Lucah Rolfe from Clune house who broke the Year 3 25m freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly records with times of 18.26s, 25.63s, and 21.83s respectively.

Cael Veverka from Clune house who broke the Year 5 50m freestyle record with a time of 33.96 seconds.

Jordan Trueman from Redmond house who broke the Year 5 butterfly record with a time of 41.52 seconds.

Congratulations on your outstanding achievements.

Congratulations and well done to all boys who represented their house and gave it their all on the day. The boys selected in the JPSSA Interschool Swimming team will be competing at HBF Stadium on Thursday, 9^th March, and we wish those boys the best of luck.

Lastly, thank you to all staff members, ground staff, ICT staff and sports coaches for all your help and support on the day.

Clay Murray
Junior Sports Coordinator

Over the holidays, the ground staff worked hard to install a new water feature and playground into the Junior School. This playground is designed to help the boys build their strength, work as a team and use their creativity.

A huge thank you to the P&F! None of this would've been possible without you.

We enjoyed some ogre-sized fun in the JS last week with the production of Shrek the Musical. What an amazing show it was! While some of the actors were a bit green (😜) the Junior School cast shone in the McAppion Theatre to a full house across three nights. Well done to all the staff and students involved in what was a spectacular show.

The Kindergarten boys enjoyed an excursion to Fremantle in Week 1 of Term 4. The boys had an opportunity to view and hold various sea creatures including rock lobsters, star fish and sea apples. They then joined the Aqua Guides in a Nature Discovery Beach Combing exercise along Bathers Beach. The boys located and identified debris washed ashore finding sponges, seaweeds, sea urchins, shells, corals and sea grasses.

Finally, the boys had a delicious lunch at Cicerellos and enjoyed spotting the trucks on our bus ride back to Aquinas.

The Western Australian Primary Interschool Triathlon was held on the Friday 4^th of November at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre. The event included a 200m swim, 6km cycle and 2km run in which Aquinas College entered two Year Six and one Year Five team into ‘B’ Division, as well as one Year Five and one Year Four team into ‘C’ Division.

Results:

B Division

9^th Place – Alexander Chan, Kirby Mincham and Luca Rechichi

10^th Place – Thomas Swingler, Benjamin Hartnett and Will O’Hehir

11^th Place – Nicko Kurmann, Brendon Karczub and Jack Delic

C Division

3^rd Place – Spencer Whitfield, Lincoln Mathanda and Duke Danby

22^nd Place – Jordan Trueman, Maxime Blackadder and Grayson Ahrens

A special mentioned to Kirby Mincham who competed in the individual Aquathlon, finishing in 20^th place after he had competed in the team event for Aquinas.

Thank you to all parents for the support and efforts on the day in getting your son to and from the venue. Thanks also to Mrs Madeline Silvester for her work and assistance in getting the boys ready for their race on the day.

Nathan Eaton
Junior School Sport Coordinator

On 17th October, the Junior School hosted the House Triathlon Carnival. We were lucky enough to have outstanding weather on the day, blue skies and sunshine. Competing in ideal conditions, all boys from Year Three to Six were involved in either an individual or team event. The carnival allowed the boys to display resilience, perseverance, determination and teamwork. It’s no easy feat competing in such a tiring event!

The boys competed with great spirit, enthusiasm and sportsmanship. Points wise, it was close all day with Redmond House winning ahead of Quinlan House.

Redmond House made Junior School history, becoming the first House to win all four major Sporting carnivals in the calendar year.

Congratulations to the following boys and teams who were named Champions and Runners-up for their year level.

Year 3 - Individual
Champion: Ashton Smales (Egan)

Runner-up: Jeshua Landrigan (Redmond)

Year 3 - Team
Champion: Leo Stanbrook, Hugo Moore, Ezekiel Lowe, Louis Kurniawan (Redmond, Clune & Quinlan)

Runner-up: Timothy Middlemas, Stefan Lazarus, Jaiden Manning (Quinlan & Clune)

Year 4 - Individual
Champion: Jordan Trueman (Redmond)

Runner-up: Grayson Ahrens (Redmond)

Year 4 - Team
Champion: Lennox Marston, Bellin Lin, Fionn Sao (Quinlan, Redmond & Clune)

Runner-up: Ian Thomson, Levi Monzu, Daniel Mitton (Egan & Clune)

Year 5 - Individual 
Champion: Duke Danby (Egan) & Kirby Mincham (Egan)

Runner-up: Spencer Whitfield (Quinlan)

Year 5 - Team
Champion: Marc Sutisna, James Hawke & Patrick Kim (Quinlan)

Runner-up: Marc Sutisna, Harry Crommelin & Patrick Kim (Quinlan)

Year 6 - Individual
Champion: Will O’Hehir (Clune)

Runner-up: Brendon Karczub (Quinlan)

Year 6 - Team
Champion: Lachlan Hooper, Christopher Gasmier, Nathan Huynh (Quinlan & Redmond)

Runner-up: Lachlan Hooper, Rylan Prindiville, William Zhu (Quinlan & Redmond)

Congratulations to Ashton Smales who broke the Individual Year 3 record with a time of 13 minutes 35 seconds. Jordan Trueman also broke the Year 4 Individual record with a time of 15 minutes and 12 seconds – breaking the 2020 record set by his brother Matthew.

Final Points

1. Redmond - 155

1. Quinlan - 160

1. Egan - 179

1. Clune - 187

Thank you to all staff members, ground staff, ICT staff and the Middle School volunteers for all of your help and support on the day. This event would not have been possible without the support of this amazing team. Thank you to all of the parents of our competitors; the boys were prepared, organised and enthusiastic! This doesn’t happen without the behind-the-scenes work from our Aquinas College families.

Nathan Eaton
Junior School Sport Coordinator