Leaving behind friends and a familiar environment to go to a new primary school can be a daunting prospect, and for students whose parents work for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) it is part of their reality.

For the families whose sometimes transient work lives with the ADF bring their children to St Christopher’s Catholic Primary School Holsworthy, there is a dedicated person to help smooth the transition.

Romana Jones became St Christopher’s new Defence School Mentor at the beginning of the year. Her role is to answer questions about the school and look out for each student’s wellbeing as they acclimatise to a new school and friendships, or changed routines when their parents are deployed.

Funded by the ADF, Romana spends about eight hours each week building rapport with students and helping them identify and connect with peers who also have parents in the armed forces through board games, origami and other activities.  She can also link families to support systems, including tutoring services when their children struggle with the differences in curriculum between states and countries.

It is a unique lifestyle and can come with a bit of anxiety for a lot of parents 

“By primary school age kids have got their friends and networks, so to leave that and move far away can be a tough transition,” Romana said. “My role is to be that person who is there so there is a friendly face to help them with their questions and social skills, anything to make that transition as smooth as possible.

“You need to know the lifestyle, because it is a unique lifestyle and can come with a bit of anxiety for a lot of parents. At the moment we’re lucky it’s downtime for …

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College Burraneer has found a perfect antidote to the self-focused influence of social media in a community service program that gives all its students the chance to step out of their comfort zone and become world changers.

In February, the college introduced Mercy Service, which asks students in Years 7 to 10 complete at least 10 hours of community service or social justice work each year.

The program complements the work of the College’s volunteer student-led Mercy Action Group (MAG). The group makes regular visits to Stella Maris Aged Care in Cronulla, supports community fundraisers and local and global outreach projects, including community dinners with physically disabled and socially isolated residents and knitting blanket squares for women at fistula hospitals in Ethiopia.

Girls get bombarded with negative expectations and images on social media and can become very narrow in their outlook 

Teacher and Mercy Action Leader Lisa Overton said the group, initiated by Sisters of Mercy who founded the school, was an ingrained part of school life. Students’ involvement was diverse and highlighted their passion for and commitment to helping others.

“We’re seeing more girls participating in the community – things like walking the dog for their neighbor because she’s had a hip replacement, or doing a few extra shifts at the surf club,” she said.

“These days, girls get bombarded with negative expectations and images on social media and can become very narrow in their outlook. Having a mercy outlook with a main aim of helping others is hugely beneficial for the community and for the students. While they’re out volunteering and interacting with others, they’re taking their minds off their own lives and any negative self-talk.”

Being part of MAG is really …

From Year 1 ‘Number Ninjas’ whose goal is to count forward on and off the decade, to Year 3 ‘Pokemon reading masters’ finding new meaning in books, students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School Mt Pritchard are reaping the benefits of visible learning goals.

The school trialled the system in Years 1 to 6 classrooms in Term 2, drawing on the research of education professor John Hattie and Lyn Sharrett. These processes encourage teachers to see learning through the eyes of their students and help them improve their learning on their own.

After learning from the research, the teachers decided on a set of goals based on curriculum outcomes for each grade with a specific focus on reading and counting skills, supported by the school’s reading Coach Vita Pittavino and mathematics Coach Virginia O’Connor.

Students choose their own goals to work on from the list, one at a time, after they talk with their teacher about their strengths and areas for improvement.

“There’s a difference in the classrooms because it’s about intrinsic motivation,” Virginia said. “It’s not always from the teacher. The students are eager to achieve their goals and are pushing themselves forward to the next goal.”

Goals are specific to encourage growth.

It’s amazing to see the engagement when the students know where they’re going in the end

“It’s about achieving their personal best,” Vita said. “The students all understand that they are at different levels, and they’re looking ahead to the next goal. There’s an excitement because they know they can move forward.”

Principal Warren Loy said the goals were a way to also extend gifted students whose learning growth may have stalled with a more traditional, catch-all …