Assistant Head of Primary

Pastoral Update

As the middle of the school year draws near, students settle further into the regular routines and natural rhythms of the term; patterns become more deeply ingrained into the everyday. We use this time in the pastoral setting, to strengthen student understanding of behavioural expectations and deepen their connections with each other, by revisiting with fresh eyes, concepts introduced earlier in the year. By now, all students are well versed in the five essential skills for school and beyond; the five Rs that build capability and confidence: resilience, self-regulation, resourcefulness, respect, and responsibility. They are now ready to put these skills into practice to connect with those around them (Making Friends), look after themselves so that they can be a good friend (Flourishing) and recognise that failing to keep their own emotions in check can have a significant impact on others (Self-Regulation).

Parents play an important role in supporting and reinforcing these concepts with their children. The Friendology program suggests parents should think of this role as a ‘Friendship Coach’ to reassure their children, give them advice, be a good role model and express confidence in their child’s ability to build and maintain healthy friendships.

Making Friends

Research indicates that we are living in a time of Friendship Recession; a time when people report having fewer friends and an increasing number of people are experiencing loneliness. Building social connection, therefore, becomes a significant priority for ourselves and for our children.

In Week 4 this term, students explored the theme of ‘Making Friends’. They learnt that making new friends is not easy and can often feel quite awkward, but there are steps that they can take to form friendships built on trust and respect. These include being an inviter (not waiting for an invitation) and spending quality time with people is important when it comes to building connections. They also learnt that when it comes to friendships, quality is far more important than quantity and that healthy connections are essential to our health and wellbeing.

More information about making connections can be found in this Headspace publication.

Flourishing

In Week 5, students revisited the theme of Flourishing: Doing Good and Feeling Good, with a particular focus on the ‘Feeling Good’ component. At the heart of this theme is the understanding that in order to be a good friend to others, a good learner in the classroom, or a good sister or brother to their siblings, children need to look after themselves. Moreover, students learnt about the importance of self-care to be a good friend.

To explore this theme, students created a list of device-free activities that make them feel good. Their list needed to include at least one activity from each of the following categories: sports (e.g. playing soccer), music (e.g. playing piano), nature (e.g. going for a walk) and interpersonal (e.g. helping mum and dad by stacking the dishes, making their bed or playing a board game with brothers or sisters).

Self-Regulation

Emotional regulation is the ability to experience big emotions, allow them to sit with you and take steps to defuse them. In his book Permission to Feel Dr Marc Brackett explains that ‘The goal [of self-regulation] isn’t to get rid of emotions. It’s to embrace and experience them as they are and learn strategies for how to manage them, so they don’t have power over you.’ Students first learn to recognise signs they are feeling angry, upset or disappointed or any other big emotion outside of the green Zone of Regulation. Once they can recognise when they are feeling these big emotions, children are ready to understand that if they don’t take action to regulate themselves when they feel this way, that there can be implications on those around them.

Healthy Harold

With only weeks to go until the Healthy Harold van pays a visit to all primary classes, students have been preparing for the imminent arrival of guest of honour, Harold, and his supporting crew. This lovable giraffe with his unique spots, reminds us of the uniqueness and diversity of each child.

Each class will participate in a program specifically aligned with their Term 2 PDHPE units of work, in the Healthy Harold van that will be parked onsite at the Del Monte campus from 17 – 26 June. Programs are designed ‘to empower our children to make safer and healthier choices’ and equip them with fundamental skills, information and strategies to thrive.

Healthy Harold has been visiting schools for over 40 years … watch this space for further updates, reviews and photos of his visit to Santa this term.

Paddle Pop Sticks

This term, a school wide reward system was reintroduced at Del Monte to recognise and appraise occasions where students display positive behaviours in the classroom and on the playground, by giving them a paddle pop stick the same colour as their House Colour. Students place these paddle pop sticks in the boxes in the Warami play area for the Year 4 leaders to collect and count at the end of each week. The House Colour with the greatest number of paddle pop sticks will receive a group reward which will be announced at Assembly at the end of the term.

Lauren Petroni
Assistant Head of Primary P-4 and Acting Curriculum Leader P-4