Term Two Dates

Social Development and Resilience Building

The social development of students in primary school is as important as their academic learning.

The reality is, children are going to fight or argue sometimes, this is normal in any environment, you may notice it between siblings at home and it is certainly going to happen within a large group of students at any school. Learning how to resolve these issues is an important part of your child’s social development.  When we were Remote Learning I noticed that social development was an important element of education that your children were missing out on.

At St Mary’s, when we know about a social issue (or behaviour incident) we spend a lot of time helping the children resolve it and understanding how to avoid it from happening again. We talk about how they can try to make it better. We use a process called Restorative Justice and a large part of our time is dedicated to this.

"Restorative Justice is a restorative approach, the inherent worth of each individual is recognised, and we seek to strengthen the essential ties that bind us to one another – in the classroom, school and the community.

Restorative Justice is a framework that educators can use to create safe, supportive spaces in our schools. All members of the school learn to bravely engage in that community, and learn from honest – and sometimes difficult – conversations.

When relationships break down – as they will – it is about having fair responsive processes in place in which everyone can share their stories, hear the impact of their actions, repair the relational harm and figure out the best way forward, together.

It builds capacity – in students and in adults – to live in, understand and embrace the real world, with all its contradictions and complexities.

At the heart of restorative justice is the idea that everyone is inherently worthy and that our connection to one another is what matters most."

https://www.monash.edu/education/teachspace/articles/how-to-use-restorative-justice-in-your-classroom-and-school 

Unfortunately, we can’t promise you that your children won’t have some occasional social challenges and unhappy moments at school, but we can promise that if we are told about these issues, we will do everything we can to support you and help your child through to a resolution. If your child is having difficulty managing social issues please encourage them to talk to their teacher and/or the playground duty teacher, depending upon where this issue has arisen). We are here to help. 

It’s extremely important for children to learn how to pick themselves back up when they are unhappy or upset. This skill is essential as they move into their teenage years and adulthood, where problems become even bigger. Bouncing back develops your child’s resilience and sets them up for the challenges that lay ahead. 

In Personal Development and Health lessons, children in Years 1-6 participate in the ‘You Can Do It’ Program. This program addresses the aspects of the psychological functioning of young people that lead to poor learning, behaviour, social and emotional outcomes. Negative Attitudes and under-developed Character (values and strengths) help create five Social-Emotional Blockers. Additionally, the framework represents the Positive Attitudes and Character (values, strengths) that support five essential Social-Emotional Skills all contributing to positive outcomes.

https://www.youcandoiteducation.com.au/ 

If you think your child can use additional support with developing resilience our counsellor Madelyn Burns specialises in this area. Madelyn works one-on-one with students and parents and also can take small class groups, to support the Social and Emotional Learning curriculum.

Madelyn will run a parent session after school on Monday 20 June about developing and building resilience in our children. 

It’s hard, as a parent, to see your child upset about an issue that occurred at school, but remember, how you discuss this incident models important resolution behaviour, regulation and management skills. When talking to your child about an issue remember to stay calm and to ask lots of questions. What happened? What were you doing? What was the other person/s involved doing? What was happening before then? How were you feeling? How do you think the other person was feeling? How do you think it could have been avoided? What can you do to make it better? What do you think they can do to make it better? Have you told a teacher? Encouraging your child to speak up and talk about their troubles is important.

Please remember that there are always multiple perspectives to everything and that your child, of course, will generally only relay their perspective. 

Social development is an important aspect of your child’s education at St Mary’s that we need to work on as a united team. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns about your child’s social development and resilience. 

Industrial Action

The Independent Education Union Executive has endorsed a full-day stop work on Friday 27 May.

St Mary's will be operating as normal this Friday and will not be affected by the industrial action. Students are expected to be at school ready for their regular learning program.

The Peter Lucas Cup has been cancelled due to this action. Unfortunately, the only schools that had registered to participate were Catholic Schools. 

The School Explorers

On Friday 3 June our school readiness program, The School Explorers Program, commences with our 'Move It' session at 2pm. The attending children will explore movement with our Perceptual Motor Program. We ask families to sign their children in at the school library prior to us moving to the Multipurpose Hall to commence our activities. Parents and carers are welcome to sign their child in and return to collect them at 3pm or to stay for the session. 

All preschool students who are school-aged in 2023 are welcome to attend our school readiness sessions, regardless of school choice. Please spread the word.

Uniform Shop

A reminder that the uniform shop is open on Tuesday and Thursday 12pm-1pm only. Any orders made through Qkr will be available for collection during these times or will be sent home with your children.

A reminder items must be paid for before leaving the uniform shop.

Enrolling Now

Enrolments can now be placed online. Go to https://enrolments.stmarysc.nsw.edu.au/enrol/ to enrol now.

Enrolments packs are available from our School Office or can be downloaded from our website http://www.stmarysc.nsw.edu.au/enrolment.html

School Hours, Morning Club and Teacher Contact Out of Hours 

Students commence school at 9.00 am (first bell) and conclude at 3:10 pm. Morning playground supervision does not commence until 8:40am. Please ensure your children are not at school before 8.40am, unless registered to attend morning club. Afternoon supervision concludes at 3:30pm. 

Morning Club is on Monday to Thursday only from 8.00am to 8.40am. Children must be registered to attend. The children will be able to take part in quiet activities, such as reading and drawing.

In recognising work-life balance for our teachers, St Mary's staff may not respond to emails between 4:30pm and 8am during the week and not at all on weekends. We hope you can respect and support our endeavour to promote a healthy work-life balance for our staff.