From Bronze to Bravery: An Olympian’s Visit and Tackling Anxiety
A visit from a Bronze Medalist – Los Angeles Olympics 1984
Local legend Patricia (Pattie) Dench shared her Olympic story with Senior School last week on assembly. Pattie is the great grandmother to OPAC students Dolcie (Year 3) and Estelle (Year 1). Pattie decided to become a pistol shooter at age 40 and through talent and practice, became such a sharp-shooter that she earned the classification of grand master and competed all around the world. As a sprightly 90 year old, Pattie shared her Olympic experience and passed the medals around for students to hold. As a good sport, Pattie then competed against four students, each representing Liddell, Wilberforce, Lewis and Carmichael in a nerf shootout. We are grateful for Pattie’s time and the way she modelled the OPAC values of courage and craftsmanship through her pistol shooting career.
The Anxiety Cycle
7% of young people, aged 12-17, suffer from an anxiety disorder. At OPAC, this would equate to around 35 students – and they are just the ones who would be diagnosed. Teenagers today deal with a lot of anxiety, whether it’s from school, social pressures, or just trying to keep up with everything going on in their lives. It can often be intertwined with depression. Interestingly, the feelings of anxiety and excitement are actually very similar—they both can make your heart race or your palms sweat. The difference is the thoughts that accompany those feelings – anxiety usually comes with a sense of fear or worry, while excitement is more about looking forward to something good.
To help manage anxiety, it’s important for teens to have some go-to strategies. Things like practicing mindfulness, doing deep breathing exercises, staying active, eating well, and talking to someone they trust can make a big difference. And sometimes, just shifting the way they think about those nervous feelings—seeing them as excitement instead of fear—can really help turn anxiety around.
The linked 6-minute video by the AISNSW on anxiety and breaking the anxiety cycle is well worth viewing, particularly if you know or suspect that someone in your family may be struggling in this way. If appropriate, perhaps find the space to watch it with your child to kickstart a discussion about anxiety and how to better manage anxious situations.
Honesty System
Honesty is vitally important in shaping our students into good citizens, and it’s something we should all look out for and encourage. Take, for instance, when a student accidentally breaks College equipment—owning up to it rather than hiding the mistake is a big deal. It’s not just about admitting to an error; it’s about learning to take responsibility, which is a key part of growing up. I am alluding to a recent transgression, where a student made such an error in judgement. It was pleasing that they owned up without any attempt to avoid responsibility and were committed to making amends, spending a number of hours on clean up and garden maintenance at the College.
Our restorative framework supports such a response by helping students understand the impact of their actions and guiding them to make things right. When we recognise and celebrate honesty, we’re helping our students develop the kind of character that will serve them well throughout their lives.
God bless,
Mr Steve Owen
Deputy Principal – Head of Senior School
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
Sport
It has been a busy term so far with a lot of events happening and MISA sport is now heading to the finals.
Our Week 5 & 6 fixtures are as follows:
Year 7-9 | Girls Soccer | Doohan Reserve | BAC | Round 6 |
Year 7-8 | Girls Netball | Narellan Sports Hub | GRG (Ct 15) | 3rd East v 4th West SEMI FINAL |
Year 9-10 | Girls Netball | Narellan Sports Hub | GRG (Ct 3) | 3rd East v 4th West SEMI FINAL |
Year 10-12 | Boys AFL | Greenway Park | THAC | Round 6 |
Year 10-12 | Girls AFL | Greenway Park | BAC | Round 6 |
Year 10-12 | Boys Indoor Cricket | Allsports Indoor Smeaton Grange | WAC | Round 6 |
Year 10-12 | Girls Softball | Cowpasture Reserve | BAC (Field 1) | Round 6 |
Year 9-10 | Boys Soccer | Doohan Reserve | MAS | 1st v 2nd Zone SEMI FINAL |
Year 9-10 | Boys Soccer | Doohan Reserve | MAS | Round 6 |
Celebrating our Athletics Team
Back in Week 1 of this term we held the OPAC Athletics Carnival. This day was a beautiful day with a record number of students participating and qualifying for the next level. These qualifiers competed in the CSSA South Met Zone Carnival in Week 5. As a team OPAC performed extremely well, finishing 4th in the school competition out of 16 schools. We had some outstanding individual performances too with number of Zone records broken and a couple of Zone Age champions.
The State athletics carnival was this week and our students competed against students from other Christian Schools from all over NSW. It was a highly competitive and quality event and our students competed with great spirit. Well done to those students who have qualified for the CIS event that will happen in Week 10.
Stay Updated with Sporting Opportunities
To ensure students don’t miss any future sporting opportunities, it is vital for them to regularly check their emails and utilise “Clipboard”. All upcoming events and trials will be communicated through email.
Students will also have the opportunity to express their interest in being selected for the Term 4 MISA teams by Week 8.
God Bless,
Mr Christopher Cranston
Head of PDHPE and Sport
