Newsletter 105 - August 17th 2023

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. 

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

 Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

On Tuesday the 15th August, the Catholic church celebrated the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is when at the end of Mary’s earthly life, she was assumed (taken up) to heaven body and soul.  Mary is a very important and special woman in our Catholic tradition.

Connecting with your school age children

By: raisingchildren.net.au

Family relationships are still the biggest influence on your school- age child’s development. Fitting in with friends and finding role models are also important, and you can help your child with these parts of her social and emotional development.

Understanding school-age children: the basics

At school, your child is busy learning and making friends. This includes trying to understand the rules of life, learning about manners, values and what’s right and wrong, and finding role models like teachers and other trusted grown-ups.

At the same time, your child’s brain is developing rapidly, bringing increased emotional maturity, social skills and thinking abilities.

Even with all these new influences, your home life and family relationships are still the biggest influence on your child’s development. Your relationship might change a little bit because you’re spending less time together – your child might even prefer a wave to a public kiss goodbye – but your job as a parent is just as important as ever.

Developing your child’s social skills

When children start school, they’re entering the wider social world. Your child will be thinking about finding her own place, fitting in with friends and feeling part of a larger social group.

Although you’re not there when your child is at school, there’s still a lot you can do to help him develop his social skills:

• Help your child make friends by encouraging her to play with other children outside school hours, have sleepovers, and join clubs and groups.

• Help your child develop conversation skills like asking questions and listening to other children. You can be a role model for these skills in conversations with your child.
• Help your child understand the kinds of comments that might upset others, lead to teasing. and get in the way of making friends – for example, ‘Your hair is always messy’.
• Help your child develop empathy and understand different points of view by getting him to describe his own feelings and by talking about other people’s feelings.
• Suggest how your child could handle different situations at school and with friends – for example, ‘Maybe if you shared your new toy it might help’, or ‘Smiling makes people feel happier. It helps if you smile when you first meet people’.
  
  

Finding role models

At 5-8 years, school-age children gain a sense of self by finding people they want to be like – or role models. Children look to older relatives, family friends, teachers and peers – usually of the same gender – to see what it’s like to be a man or a woman in society. These role models can help children work out what sort of people they want to be.
Your child’s teacher At school, the most important role model in your child’s life is her teacher. When you consider that your child learns from watching, listening and interacting with others, you can see why teachers have a huge influence on your child’s thinking, attitudes, behaviour and views about school.

Understanding rules

During the first few years of primary school, children can get quite preoccupied with learning rules.

Games and sports with rules become important. Through them, children learn that rules apply differently in different situations. They also start understanding what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. For example, some rules or behaviour that are all right at home might not be OK when visiting friends.

At this age, children come to understand and accept that there are rules in the family and in society. They might feel guilty when they do the wrong thing.

Helping your school-age child understand rules and values

• Explain why things are considered right and wrong, and why some behaviour isn’t tolerated at all in society – for example, teasing and stealing.
• Encourage a sense of compassion and empathy by saying things like ‘Imagine if you were that person right now’.
• Play games with rules that include elements of both chance and skill. Let your child win some of the time, but remember that losing is also important. It helps your child learn to deal with disappointment.
• Discuss the idea of values with your child. Share your own personal and family values with him. You can also talk about broader community and Australian values.

Children and fair play

Playing fair is about learning the rules of the game and putting them into practice – whether they’re special family rules for card or board games, or the rules at Saturday football. This way, everyone gets to enjoy the experience.

In some games, you can make up new rules. This can be a great way for children to learn about solving problems together and being flexible.

Fair play is also about learning social rules, like taking turns and being polite. For children, it might mean helping out another child who’s having trouble with the game, or giving others a fair go at winning.

Helping your child with fair play: tips

You can use the following tips to help children of any age learn about fair play and enjoying the game.

Consider the age of your child: children can learn about fair play more easily when the game is suitable for their age. For example, children younger than 6-7 years find it hard to understand formal rules. Simple games that give each child a turn can work well for younger children – for example, Snakes and ladders. Short waiting times can help too.

Give your child the chance to play lots of different games: the more experience and practise the better. Try board and ball games, competitive games of skill like chess, competitive games of chance, and cooperative games like charades. Even make- believe games can help children practise taking turns.

Find a range of playmates: it’s good for your child to play with children who are older or younger. For example, your child can learn to look out for younger children and maybe show them the rules. Older children can also be good role models for younger children.

Go over the rules of the game: before the game starts, make sure everyone knows the rules. The younger the child, the simpler the rules need to be.

Introduce some social rules: these could be rules about taking turns and congratulating other people when they win.

School Assemblies:  Our assemblies are led by a different class each week and will happen on Friday afternoons starting at 2:50pm in the school hall.  Students are dismissed from the hall at 3:15pm.  We invite all our community to come along.  

Week 6: Junior R

Week 7: Book Week

Week 8: Senior M

Week 9: Middle C

Week 10: Whole School Assembly 1:50pm

Professional Development:

At St Patrick’s Primary School we are committed to Professional Development of our team.  At various times staff members will be working off site which may result in classroom teachers being out of the classroom.

Week 7:

Tuesday 22nd August  - Ms Maryanne Comitti - Structured Literacy, Koroit 

Thursday 24th August - Ms Maryanne Comitti - Religious Education Leaders Conference 

Book week this year runs from August 19th 2023, to August 25th, 2023. During this time all classes spend time each day celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. The theme is read.grow, inspire.

The highlight of book week is next Friday 25th August where students are invited to dress as their favourite book character with a whole school parade at 9am where our community/grandparents day are able to attend and then come into the classrooms.

Great Book Swap - happening at St Patrick’s Primary School  21st & 22nd August, 2023. Literacy is a major issue facing remote Indigenous communities. 

This term Social Justice will begin working on The Great Book Swap in support for Indigenous Literacy. The idea is that our school would donate any quality unwanted children’s books, and Social justice will then conduct a Book swap where students are able to purchase any of these donated books for a gold coin donation.  All money raised will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.  *Please send any donated books (in great condition) into school, thanks to those who have already donated.

Annual Fathers day/special persons Celebrations:  Our annual Fathers day/special persons celebrations will take place on Friday 1st September, 2023. While Fathers Day is a celebration of fatherhood, it's a time for us to honour, celebrate and to be thankful for all of the men, father figures and male role models in our lives.  We recognise the very important role you have in the lives of children. 

*We will have an evening bbq and games where we invite all fathers and special male figures in our children's lives to come and celebrate as a community.   

Hariklia kloufetos - For the amazing resilience you’re displaying when coming to school in the morning! I love seeing you smiling!

Oliver Prockter  - For the collaboration you’ve been displaying within our classroom. Keep up the great work Ollie.

Hunter Weavell - For seeking clarification when you are unsure of what to do. What an excellent learning skill to have. I am so proud of you!

Georgia Campbell - For the effort and concentration you have been putting into our class item for the school concert.  You are a born entertainer!

Oscar Erwin - For always being such a collaborative learner and sharing your knowledge with the class. You should be very proud of yourself Oscar.

Mac Bibby - For the resilience you have been showing when learning tasks have been challenging. Keep up the super work Mac!

Vibeesh Ranjay - For your brilliant use of emotive words in your persuasive writing sentences.

Thomas Truong - For your enthusiastic participation in our text study and sentence lessons based on The Gentle Genius of Trees.

Jack Wadge - For the hard work and resilience you have been putting into your maths. Keep it up Jack!

Luke Fulton - For your hard work and enthusiastic participation during your maths lessons. Awesome work Luke you're on fire!

Kobe Power - For the great presence you have in our classroom. Your positivity, leadership and great sense of humour is such an asset to our classroom!

Molly Ratcliffe - For producing outstanding complex sentences, displaying a deep understanding of dependent and independent clauses. Well done Molly!

Greta Thomas - For demonstrating your strong understanding of Maths concepts to other students when they need support.

Ethan Jones - For always striving to be your absolute best across all subject areas. Keep it up Ethan!

Tonight Funky Friday event on the 18^th of August from 4-7pm for ages 12-18yrs.

There will be snacks available.

Any questions I am contactable on 0491 173 938 Monday – Thursday.

Kindest regards  Amy Sinclair.