The St Peters You've Got Talent (SPYGT) 2026 Grand Finale is coming, and this year's theme is Pitch Perfect! Our grand finalists have performed to a sold-out audience in recent years, so don't leave it too late to get your tickets...
When: Friday 14 August from 6:30pm
Where: Dron Auditorium, PAC
Tickets: $7.00 (all proceeds go to the Finale Winner's charity of choice)
CLICK HERE to book your SPYGT Grand Finale tickets.
It's that time of year again. Come and join us for an exciting and fun-filled tennis event! Whether you are an experienced player or a beginner, this is an opportunity to showcase your skills and enjoy a fantastic day of friendly competition.
Date: Sunday 16 August 2026, from 2:00pm onwards
Where: Lohe St Tennis Courts
Doubles: $40.00 per couple | Singles: $20.00 per person
For our students who wish to participate, simply sign up, and we will match you with an Old Scholar, coach or senior student as a partner. Throughout the event, we have raffles and exciting prizes on offer. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase.
Near the end of the day, we will fire up the grill for a delicious BBQ dinner. It's the perfect chance to refuel and relax with friends.
CLICK HERE to book your tickets.
Please forward this to anyone else you think would like to join. We look forward to seeing you there.
St Peters Old Scholars Association
Parents are warmly invited to join us for St Peters Symposium 2 in 2026, featuring the return of renowned clinical psychologist and parenting expert Dr Judith Locke.
A registered clinical psychologist, former teacher and school counsellor, Dr Locke is widely respected for her practical and research-based advice on modern parenting, family wellbeing and academic success. Drawing on her extensive clinical experience, she will share positive and effective strategies to help children and teenagers build confidence, resilience and independence throughout their school years and beyond.
During this session, parents will gain valuable strategies to help their children navigate schoolwork, exams, friendships and challenging life events, while also fostering the skills needed for future success at university and in the workplace.
Dr Locke is the bestselling author of The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student, and co-author of Raising Anxiety. A frequent media commentator and Fellow of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists, she brings a wealth of expertise and practical guidance for families.
We look forward to welcoming Dr Locke back to St Peters for what promises to be an engaging and informative evening.
Event details
Date: Thursday 27 August
Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: Dron Auditorium, Performing Arts Centre
Cost: Free (registration required)
Note: Please note that this presentation is intended for adults only; children and students are not permitted.
CLICK HERE to register.
On behalf of your P&F Committee, we’re excited to introduce a brand new event, created in response to your feedback. Introducing Campus Camp Out!
Get ready to enjoy a magical evening under the stars, right here on school grounds. Bring your family, your tent and your sense of adventure as we transform Stolz Oval into a fun-filled camping experience for the St Peters community.
What’s in store?
Whether you're a seasoned camper or just keen for a unique family night out, this is the perfect chance to connect, relax and create lasting memories.
Event details
When: 5:00pm Saturday 12 September – 7:00am Sunday 13 September
Where: Stolz Oval, St Peters Indooroopilly
What to bring: Your tent, bedding and camping essentials
Tickets: $40.00 per person
CLICK HERE to book your tickets.
We can’t wait to see our school grounds come alive in a whole new way.
Kind regards
Your P&F Committee
“I knew I was giving my child bad advice, but I didn’t know what else to say.”
This is one of the most common things that parents have said to us over the years when it comes to friendship issues. And we’ve heard from numerous children and educators who have shared some of the unhelpful or inappropriate advice well-meaning parents have given children.
When parents are activated by their child’s friendship issues (especially if someone has been cruel or malicious — what we call in our Friendology curriculum, Mean-on-Purpose), it is common for a parent’s protective instinct to kick in. This can trigger their fight/flight/freeze/fawn response, thanks to the autonomic nervous system. These default settings might sound like:
As we aim to support our children in fostering healthy relationships throughout their lives, it’s critical that parents understand how unhelpful and, in some cases, dangerous these stress responses can be for children.
A parent whose default setting is to fight teaches their child to respond to conflict with aggression and violence. Encouraging a child to get physical as a defence mechanism immediately escalates the situation, activating anxiety in the child. Most children are not naturally aggressive, and they know punching/pushing/pinching is wrong and will get them in trouble. When a parent tells a child to do something that is socially unacceptable, it feels deeply confusing for them. Children are less likely to seek help from parents who promote fighting, often withholding information to avoid triggering anger in them. This is scary for children.
A parent whose default setting is flight teaches their child to avoid conflict. This inevitably results in unhealthy friendships (and relationships) that lack trust and respect. When conflicts and frustrations are ignored, resentment builds, and connections are fractured. A conflict-avoidant mindset prevents authenticity, transparency, and honesty in relationships. It limits the depth of a friendship and, for children, the friendship feels persistently in the Red Zone on The Friend-o-Meter.
A parent whose default setting is to freeze teaches their child to bottle their emotions. While 'fight' is exploding, 'freeze' is imploding. This approach teaches children to shut down, preventing them from processing their feelings. Research shows that repressing emotions amplifies them and can lead to feelings of anxiety. Children who keep their big feelings in often experience physical symptoms like stomach aches and trouble sleeping. Similar to avoiding conflict, healthy relationships are impossible when one person is unresponsive — relationships are a two-way street.
A parent whose default setting is to fawn teaches their child to be a people-pleaser. Fawning is when a child absorbs all the blame, overlooking their own feelings and doing whatever it takes to make the other person happy. According to Dr Rebecca Ray, “Fawning behaviours are common for people who experience significant levels of anxiety, and who identify as highly sensitive". Children who fawn feel disempowered and often end up as the 'doormat' in their friendships.
So, what can parents do instead to have a more helpful, socially acceptable response?
Check In with Yourself
First, notice how you feel when your child shares their pain with you. Do you feel yourself reacting? Are you getting angry? Is it triggering something inside of you? Which of the four F’s can you feel yourself wanting to default to? The key is to remain calm and objective.
In the field of Positive Psychology, we love the famous Viktor Frankl quote: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom". This space that Dr Frankl describes is where empathy, compassion and understanding can keep relationships in the Green Zone on the Friend-o-Meter!
Just being aware of how you’re feeling will allow you to be more mindful in how you respond to your child’s friendship issue.
Focus on Your Own Child
Second, focus on how YOUR child is feeling. Too often, parents will focus on the other child ("I can’t believe they did that to you! What’s their problem? Why would they be like that?"), instead of their own.
Help your child name their emotions. Dr Dan Siegel coined the term “name it to tame it” — a very simple and effective technique that helps reduce the intensity of big feelings by labelling them.
Ask them, “How did that make you feel?” Give your child time and space to get their feelings out. Let them cry or be angry and JUST LISTEN. Offer a hug, go for a walk, play catch… Allow them a chance to get it out.
Be a Friendship Coach
When you’re both in a calm state, it’s time to be a Friendship Coach and empower your child with evidence-based strategies.
If it was a Friendship Fire, encourage them to find a good time to talk to their friend. If it was Mean-on-Purpose, ask them: “Did you say your Quick Comeback?”
Check out this interactive tool (be sure to activate your FREE parent membership first!) where you can see the questions our URSTRONG Schools ask children when they experience conflict in friendship to coach them along.
Here are a few more resources that might help:
Friendship skills are relationship skills! Teaching your child to manage conflict in a healthy way will help ensure they have positive relationships throughout their lives.
Written by: Dana Kerford
To access a wide range of resources and videos, parents are also encouraged to explore the UR Strong Friendology Parent Portal, where you can sign up for a free Parent Membership.
Together, by empowering our students with these lifelong skills, we can continue building a culture of kindness in the Primary Years—and help every child experience the joy of healthy, feel-good friendships.
Please join me for our Parent Volunteer Induction on Tuesday 18 August, commencing at 8:15am in the Prep Centre.The induction will be a short and focused session, so I ask that you please arrive a few minutes early so we can begin promptly.Thank you for volunteering your time to support our Primary Years students and community. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
Lisa Challenor
Head of Primary Years
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