Week 3 Update

Good afternoon parents,

What a fantastic weekend...it was warm and sunny and then the rains came to help fill up those rain tanks! I am currently curled up on the couch with a full belly after a delicious lunch out at Amelia Park Tavern...ready to watch the Dockers wave the WA flag! I won't lie...I am not sure who I will be cheering for?!

REMINDERS - WEEK 3 

Sprint Run Offs - This Wednesday 5th August we will be joining 4DAN in their sport time to help Mrs Sinclair put the students into the appropriate division for carnival day later in the term. Students will need to wear their sports uniform on Wednesday so they can run comfortably.

Uniforms - As a parent myself I fully appreciate the difficulties in keeping on top of uniform days and haircuts. Just a couple of points to note for the coming weeks:

Hair - for boys AND girls hair needs to be out of their face. It is fine to use bobby pins, gel etc. but please be aware that it needs to be able to stay that way for the day. Hair that falls below the collar must be tied up.

• All hair accessories must be in accordance with our current policy.

• Black Jackets - I appreciate that this one is tough to understand and I don't mean to be unpopular...but...these are NOT to be worn without the green jumper underneath. In cases of a medical issue with the jumper a note must be provided. Currently I am making the kids very grumpy with me but there are a number that are consistently not following this rule. Any concerns around this particular point of our uniform policy can be addressed directly to Mr Lee.

• Socks/shorts/tracksuit pants and jackets - please make sure that these are in accordance with our current policy.

School Photos - Your child should have brought home an order form last week. Please check in with Mrs Marrell if your child has not given it to you yet.

Maths - Time Assessment - This week we will be finishing up our unit on time. We will be having our assessment on Friday 7th August.

OUR LEARNING - WEEK 3 

On our first Friday back we were lucky enough to have Laura Macaulay come in and do some great activities with us. Laura works with Maisey on a regular basis and we were lucky to be included in a session that was all about teaching kids some different moves!

They are based around a program called Animal Movement that Laura uses...channeling our inner animals gave us all a great opportunity to focus on some core strength and flexibility activities. She also spoke with us about how these skills can be transferred to our winter sports and activities to help make us stronger.

I am looking to incorporate these movement breaks into our daily schedule as brain breaks and to help us with our focus and concentration.

This week in our MJR lesson we talked about the importance of saying sorry when we have made a mistake. The students were asked to think about times where they have needed to say sorry and perhaps didn't...lots of sibling conversation here! This prompted some really beautiful sharing around the importance of accepting that we can make mistakes but we need to be genuine in our apologies and then make sure that our actions are matching our words.

This led into our Friendology session in which we reviewed the Four Friendship Facts which are central to the Friendology Program. As we read through and discussed each one I was able to give real life examples that I have observed where these rules were working or not working.

We then moved on to thinking about and creating our own personal set of friendship rules based on what is important to us! We will finish these off next week and I will make copies for the students to take home and put somewhere visible...this is also a good check in if they are feeling that there may be a person that they are having trouble with to give them some language to perhaps talk with you or me about...looking forward to seeing these finished!

It might prove a great starting point for you to perhaps share what some of your rules for friendship might be. Often kids think that we have no idea of what they are going through because we are too old and out of touch to understand (at least in my house!) but it is really valuable for you to share your own experiences of positive and negative friendships, particularly how you might have handled them. 

Research tells us that it doesn't have to be an epic showdown (like in the movies) where you came out on top but kids love to hear what we did. Role play is also an excellent way to give kids the words and skills to handle difficult people in their life...have them direct the play and listen to the kinds of scenarios they like to act out, it might give you a clue as to what kinds of challenges they may be facing?

Something for our boys...please don't think it is just girls that have troubles. Games of footy and cricket at recess and lunch are just as loaded...particularly when it comes to picking teams for games or comments around performance and ability. We want our boys to be confident about their skills but not at the expense of someone else's confidence. Have a chat and see how your son might be finding things.

* Please note I am just sharing my observations as a mum...I am not looking to tell anyone how to suck eggs!

This all ties in really well with our RE unit which is looking at emotions and how we can develop our own awareness of how we are feeling and perhaps why and that we can use them to care for others. Listening to stories of how Jesus showed empathy and kindness links perfectly to our MJR and Friendology work!

If your child is having any problems in their friendships and you feel it would be helpful for me to know, please let me know! Sometimes knowing that adults know makes them feel like something is being done and that they can handle and learn through what is happening.

HOMEWORK - WEEK 3 

• Spelling - LCWC each night - please make sure that your child is MARKING their words each night.
• Tables practice
• Reading - out loud 10-15 minutes each night
• Choice tasks - students are to complete 4 different activities from the bottom section of their grid. If you have any suggestions or ideas on different areas you need help in, please let me know.

Have a fantastic week and stay warm!

Kind regards,

Mrs Delane