2023

This week, our 5/6s, led by our SRC team very proudly placed our Buddy Benches out in the yard.

The SRC did a spectacular job of explaining the buddy benches and showing how they can be used at our week 6 assembly but, 

in case you missed it,  you can find out about them below.  

Why have a buddy bench?

A while ago, our school leaders saw a need in the playground and decided to do something about it. What they identified was that there was nowhere to go and spend some quiet time if that’s what you felt like doing. They also saw that sometimes people don’t have anyone to play with but don’t quite know what to do about it.

The SRC discussed this and came up with a solution. How about a buddy bench….or better still …….how about 2 buddy benches. 

How do you use them? 

These buddy benches will provide you with a spot to sit and think if you just need a little time to yourself.

Or…….If you’re having a ‘lonely’ day and don’t have anyone to play with, by sitting on the buddy bench other children will see you and ask you to play with them.

Or…..the buddy bench can be a seat in the playground where a child can go when they want someone to talk to. Buddy benches teach us all that it’s OK to ask for help and to reach out when things get tough.

Friday the 18th of August, was the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. 

This day, which we participate in every year, is an opportunity for everyone in our community to create a shared understanding of what bullying is and what it isn't and to show support to students who may be experiencing bullying. The theme for 2023 is 'growing connections'. This theme supports research findings that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and help enable positive, help-seeking behaviours in students.

If you didn't get to see the wonderful understandings that the children shared at the assembly on afternoon, you can take a look below at some of the activities that took place in each classroom... 

The preps represented themselves as superheroes that stand up to bullies. Their superhero selves are nice to others, they share, they listen and they help when they can.  The superheroes help people who are hurt or sad and encourage them to talk to a teacher or trusted adult.  

William from Prep S says 'Bullying is doing mean things lots of days in a row'.

 Henry says that 'Bullying is really bad and if it happened to me I would go and get help'. 

Alanna from Prep B says 'We made superheroes to remind us to be kind and stand up to bullies!' 

We begin Term 3 with a new SEL skill of the month 

Positive Coping Skills help us tolerate and deal with stressful situations in life. 

Some coping skills you can try are deep breathing, going for a walk, self-talk or talking to a friend. 

The stars in the video talk about what a stressful situation is and give some examples of positive coping. 

Like Ayla says at the end, you have to do what works for you! 

We encourage you to share your own positive coping skills with the children - The more positive coping skills they have, the easier stressful situations will become!

Click below for Positive Coping starring Marissa, Andrei, Charlotte, Alby, Giselle, Grace, Akucjang, Sheneli, Romeo, Annabella, Jett, Noah and Ayla. 

Our first SEL skill of the month video is about 'Love of Learning'. 

Love of Learning is being enthusiastic about learning new skills and understanding new things. It is having a passion for learning, not to be tested or meet a standard, but just a desire to learn for learning's sake.

Click on the video for an introduction to the skill starring Marissa, Andrei, Claire, Talia, Kruna, Lucas, Zani, Harper, William, Macey, Olivia and Kyra. 

On Monday the 22nd of May, George, Jy, Olivia and Layla from the council came to conduct the Resilient Youth Survey. The survey is anonymous and completed each year by grade 5 and 6 students in many schools, with the aim of capturing the strengths and challenges that their age group faces today. Questions in the survey support the children to think about things including;

• friendships, 

• responsibilities, 

• dealing with conflict, 

• feelings of enjoyment and worry, 

• people they can rely on, 

• experiences of bullying at school and online, 

• the activities that they engage in within and outside of school, 

• feelings of safety, 

• how they deal with problems, 

• appetite and sleeping habits. 

Afterwards, the leaders rewarded the 5/6s for their fantastic efforts by running some activities outside, including the old school classics fruit salad and kickball. 

Once we get the data back from the surveys, we will conduct some focus group discussions with the aim of exploring the data more deeply. 

We will then use this information to guide the planning of our SEL lessons so that we can best meet the needs identified.

Why did we wear orange?

Orange has been chosen as the colour to represent harmony day because it symbolises communication, freedom and mutual respect. By wearing something orange on Tuesday, our school community will show support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia. 

Harmony Day and Child Safe Standards

Acknowledging Harmony Day is also a great opportunity to put some of the Child Safe Standards - which are designed to protect children and young people - into practice. 

Child safe standard 1 includes making sure that a child’s ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported. 

Child safe standard 3 promotes the importance of friendships and support from peers as a way to help children feel safe and less isolated. 

Child safe standard 5 asks that schools understand children’s diverse circumstances, and provide support to them and their families. 

In grade Prep, the children were excellent at describing their feelings of calm and worry. They said that feeling calm is peaceful and relaxed. Your body feels soft, warm and strong and your shoulders are floppy. When you breathe, it is slow and deep. They said that feeling worry is very different to that. You might be sad, scared, nervous or panicked. You might with you could hide or cry. You might bite your nails, make scared noises, or be short of breath. Your body could feel tight or tense and your face might go red. 

After exploring their feelings, we had a look at some different ways that we might calm ourselves down. The children chose one each to draw. The choices included 

• Doing something quiet and relaxing

• Spending time with a pet

• Painting or drawing

• Taking 3 deep breaths

• Hugging a friend

• Doing exercise

• Reading a book 

• Talking to someone about how you are feeling.

Scroll through the carousels below to take a look...

We've only just returned at it has already been so wonderful to see everyone settling back in so comfortably! There were many happy faces out in the yard for our first play of the year. The sandpit was a big hit and there were many old friendship catch ups and lots of new friends being made too! 

In the classrooms, Start Up Week got the term off to a strong start!

The 5/6s were all together and straight into the most important part of their year - being fabulous leaders and role models within our school. Here they are creating their senior pledge, which will guide them throughout the year and remind them of what they hope to inspire and achieve