Good boy’ Charlie on the job

GOOD BOY ON THE JOB

Unconditional love, devotion and compassion.

These are all traits exemplified by the All Saints community, but arguably no one upholds them better than the school’s newest furry addition, Charlie. Charlie is a nine-month-old Lhasa Apso / Toy Poodle cross and alongside his owner and trainer, School Counsellor, Kylie Donnolley, his job is to bring happiness and joy to All Saints while learning to be a certified therapy dog. So far, he is doing that job extremely well. “Charlie is really helping with that sense of belonging and connection with kids, and certainly also helping quite a few with emotion regulation,” says Mrs Donnolley. “When kids are feeling quite heightened in terms of anxiety, when they are upset or feeling overwhelmed, it’s incredible to see how quickly they calm down when they start petting Charlie,” says Mrs Donnolley. While he is still in his learning phase, Mrs Donnolley says Charlie is settling into the school environment and mastering his training very well. In a few months Mrs Donnolley will be taking Charlie to Brisbane where the pair will undertake a clinical course to become a certified Animal-Assisted Therapy team. “It’s a learning experience for both of us, but the goal is that he will assist in therapy which means when kids come to us, we can use him to reach our therapeutic goals in different ways,” says Mrs Donnolley. “Animals can provide a sense of calm, comfort, or safety while shifting their attention away from stressful situations and toward experiences that provide more positive feelings. “Developing a bond with an animal such as Charlie can help kids to develop a better sense of their own worth and trust, stabilise their emotions, and improve communication and socialisation skills. “We want Charlie to simply spread joy and happiness throughout the school, and we also want to use him to enhance the school’s Wellbeing Curriculum.” The first official classroom Charlie will visit for the purpose of a Wellbeing lesson is 2L. Mrs Donnolley plans to talk about how Charlie makes friends and how he can show that he is a kind friend to others.

Then she will encourage the kids to apply those same principles to their own friendships with humans. Mrs Donnolley also uses Charlie to highlight that making mistakes is a part of learning. Charlie often makes mistakes and that is OK because he learns from those mistakes. In this way Charlie helps to reinforce growth mindset principles in a very relatable way for kids. “After we do that lesson, the kids will go and write a letter to Charlie where they will give examples of how they have been a good friend to someone or how someone has been a good friend to them. They can talk about difficulties and ask for help or advice as well. They are also invited to share their feelings,” she says. “I have also organised a group of Year 12 students to help Charlie to respond to these letters through the mentoring program. The older students are very excited to help to support the younger students in our community.” Unsurprisingly, Charlie is already a rock star on campus. “Everybody says hello to him in the morning, everybody knows his name,” says Mrs Donnolley. “The kids come up and pat him in the mornings which is so nice because you can just see people sparking up and having that sense of happiness right before they head off to class. It’s a brilliant way for them to start the day.” The school’s resident ‘good boy’ may have his work cut out for him, bringing joy to so many students, but he is certainly rising to that challenge.

“Developing a bond with an animal such as Charlie can help kids to develop a better sense of their own worth and trust...

- Kylie Donnolley

Keeping it

In anticipation of opening night the directors of Strictly Ballroom, Chantelle Flint and Chris Cherry, promised All Saints would see a musical like “nothing they’d ever seen before”.

On that score, the team overachieved. Strictly Ballroom was a singing and dancing extravaganza that brought a brilliant Baz Luhrmann tribute to the Nairn Theatre’s main stage. The cast performed seven sold-out shows and the directing duo are proud of how the iconic growth story of a maverick Aussie ballroom dancer and his amateur partner was brought to life. “That was where we started the planning, by asking the question ‘how do we make Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann-esque.’ We needed to make it pop and find those non-realistic conventions,” said Mr Cherry. “With shows we’ve done in the past like Oliver, Singing in the Rain or Grease, there is so much out there to borrow from, to have a look at and become inspired by. For Strictly Ballroom, the only point of reference is the film.”

The lack of precedent became a blessing for the show’s creative team who had free rein to create a zany, interesting and undeniably Australian set. Jatz, Milo, Weetbix and Fosters iconography peppered the highly stylised set comprised of moving stage pieces and a ‘rooftop’ rise where the orchestra played. “A real highlight of this show was the set which was made by Matt Dean and co-designed by Chris Cherry. It became its own dancing feature of the show,” said Mrs Flint. had never tried before. It added a whole new dynamic element to the show.”

Thomas McCluskey and Briana Dorrough delivered stellar performances as show leads Scott Hastings and Fran, supported by a talented cast including Leah Humbert as Shirley Hastings and Rishi Bliss as Doug. Guitarist Ben Thomas rose to the spotlight with a stunning flamenco solo as the rest of the cast performed the unforgettable ‘Paso Doble’ scene. Mr Cherry and Mrs Flint commended the entire cast on delivering such a demanding musical with precision. “The biggest highlight from the show was the talent we had, everybody who sung was a high-calibre performer,” said Mr Cherry. “The band also did a brilliant job. They handled the difficult and professional score masterfully.” Mrs Flint added that the depth of talent was astounding, and she was especially proud to see the young men of All Saints rising to the occasion. “This was the show where we have had the most boys ever participate. Seeing those boys up there creates a legacy of encouragement within the community,” she said. “Younger boys will look up to those performers and be inspired to take part in the future. Over time, that culture has definitely developed at All Saints.” The show was choreographed by Michelle HopperDoyle and Elaina Mullins was the stage manager to a gifted crew of student theatre technicians. Planning has already started for the next musical which will take place in 2021. Mr Cherry and Mrs Flint look forward to All Saints once again raising the bar on performing arts.

Leah Humbert and Rishi Bliss Ben Thomas

Thomas McCluskey and Briana Dorrough

The Semester 1, 2019SAINTS StrictlyBallroom

2019

THIS SEMESTER IN THE ARTS

By Scott Mason, Director of Performing Arts Senior School TheatreFest

Presenting a memorised speech for eight minutes is difficult for anyone, let alone including drama, poetry, dance, mime and song as part of a themed presentation. There were 17 Senior School students who participated in this years’ event. The talent of the students left us all in awe. The placings were: • 1st – Leah Humbert (Year 11) • 2nd – Elodie Westhoff (Year 10) • 3rd – Daniel Hutton (Year 12)

Walking the Talk

As I often say to prospective parents on school tours, we are very fortunate to have Performing Arts teachers who perform professionally as well as being passionate and inspiring teachers. One opportunity for parents and students to hear this is at the annual Performing Arts Staff Concert which is held in Term 1 each year.

Twilight Concerts

The school bands, string orchestras and choral groups performed at the Twilight Concerts which were held in Term 1 and 2. Rehearsals are important, but students really develop their skills by performing in public.

Leah Humbert wins Theatrefest

Nigel Bardsley and Gaynor Morgan at the Performing Arts Staff Concert