PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers,

This will be the last newsletter of the term and it has a primary focus on social interactions and common expected behaviours. Before we get into that though, I would like to thank our community for an outstanding start to the 2023 school year. Our Preps have settled into school life like they’ve always been here and our Year Six students have assumed the leadership roles in the school like they’ve always been leading. It’s been a longer than normal Term One and the children are starting to show signs of tiredness.

We’re at the business end of our renovation and I am very grateful to our parent community for your understanding through this and also to our staff for their flexibility. We will be moving our student tables into the new classrooms before we break for the Easter School Holidays because they will be having the table tops replaced during the holiday period. We are expecting to be in our new classrooms from Day One of Term Two, which is incredibly exciting for all involved. There will continue to be some works in the school, mainly the Administration building and Art room, as we look to complete some additional scope to finish the project off properly and tie it all together. Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th of April will be days where we start to pack up our temporary learning spaces, so things might look a little different for a while as we shuffle some furniture around. Again, I thank you in advance for your understanding. One the first day of Term Two, we need all students to be in their Sports Uniform, as we have a special surprise on this day!

Finally, we wish Anthea Georgiou and her husband Nick well as they look forward to the birth of their first child in May. It is a very exciting time for them. Anthea will be on parental leave from the start of Term Two and will return early 2024. We are currently finalising an appointment for our Year 3 classroom on Friday’s and will communicate this once it has been locked in.

End of Term Activties - Thursday 6th April

Term One concludes on Thursday 6th April at 1.30pm and the children can wear casual clothes. We start with the famous Easter Bonnet Parade at 9am, followed by the draw of the Easter Raffle. After this, we will move to the Church for the Easter Liturgy at approximately 9.30am. As part of the Easter Liturgy, all students will be part of a dramatisation of the events of Holy Week. Parents are of course welcome to stay for both the Easter Bonnet Parade and Easter Liturgy. After our Easter Liturgy, the children will move into the Friendship Day activities. Each class has organised activities for other students to participate in and the focus of the day is on friendship and connection, while also raising money for Project Compassion. There will be a coin line competition using all of the coins collected in the class Project Compassion Boxes.

Term Two Commencement - Monday 24th April

Term Two starts on Monday 24th April at 8.50am and is quickly followed by the Anzac Day Public Holiday. The school will be closed on Anzac Day and reopen on Wednesday 26th April. We will mark Anzac Day at Assembly on the Wednesday.

Social Interactions and Common Expected Behaviours

Parenting is one of the trickiest vocations in life and I don’t claim to be an expert, but one thing I do know is that nothing stays the same in parenting for very long. Things are always changing, as our children grow, learn and most importantly, make mistakes.

At the beginning of each year at St Agnes’, Georgina Manning from Wellbeing for Kids gives a talk to our Prep parents about the Five Secrets to Boost Resilience in children (hint for Prep families - it’s happening on Monday 8th May in 2023). One of the five keys to success that Georgie references often is ‘Problem-Solving Skills’. In life, we know that our children will go through lots of ups and downs as they experience success and failure. The temptation for us as parents is to prevent or protect our children from adversity or failure. Often in schools, we will see parents quickly intervene and solve a problem for a child when something adverse has happened, such as forgetting a Homework book, diary or hat. If we quickly bring their belongings to back school for them, they won’t have to experience any consequences for the error, but they won’t learn anything from it either. It is our role as parents to make ourselves redundant and enable our children to be self-sufficient, confident and resilient young people, who are able to cope with life's challenges. But, we know that it is hard for children to develop problem-solving skills and resilience, if as parents we intervene and prevent them from experiencing failure, mistakes and challenges.

At the Parent Information Night earlier in the year, our teachers all presented what we see as common, expected behaviours at various age groups and stages of primary school. I would like to preface this by stating that these behaviours below are in some instances gender-stereotypical and gender is not always a defining factor with these behaviours. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the cohorts of children and young people, as much of what we do at school are social and emotional endeavours. Primary school (and secondary school) aged children had their social interactions, and therefore social development, heavily interrupted by lengthy lockdowns and restrictions. It now seems like a distant memory, but the impact is present in schools across Melbourne right now. Much of what we see in schools is normal and expected at a particular age, as students learn about themselves and also how to form, navigate and strengthen relationships with peers. Below are some of the age expected behaviours by age group:

Expected behaviours - Prep and Year 1 - “It’s all about me”

Friends are partners in their interactions, where they play alongside each other
Friendships are easily formed and dissolved
Learn about fairness through play
Social world is reinforced through adult responses
Can come home and say they didn’t get a turn, kick etc because they didn’t get the ball when they wanted it
See more of boys involved in playing games e.g. football, cricket, soccer but this brings about its own set of problems as they are not mature enough to take turns and understand how others are feeling
No-one is in control of the game and not all participants understand rules
Girls use of their body language can start to become upsetting to others
Get tired easily – more emotional. Especially towards the end of term

Expected Behaviours - Year 2 - 4 - “Let’s be friends”

Friendships based on mutually shared interests
Trust and responsiveness to others needs
Kindness important component of friendship
Reciprocal relationship with some idea of other person’s needs
Learns to appreciate another person’s point of view
Plays fair – follows the rules
Forming groups with similar interests
Aware of social expectations
Girls look for a ‘best friend’ and can ‘drop’ a friend easily
Boys – can be very physical time in their games outside – It can be a stormy time on the playground but things will start to get better as they move towards end of Year 4
No umpires in games can cause conflict and misunderstanding, as the playground ‘pecking order’ hasn’t been quite worked out
Teams are often ‘picked’ by each other and some kids are left out or left to last
Year 4 girls – It is common for girls to talk behind other girls backs
Start to get involved online with their socialisation
Cliquey groups in girls

Expected Behaviours - Year 5 – 6 - “You are my friend”

Friends begin to trust and respect each other
Shares secrets and hopes
Solid friendships beginning to form
Can form exclusive friendship groups
Boys games – know who is the “boss” and accept their position in their peer group and rarely have conflict on the playground despite rough games at times
Girls can be quite cruel to each other – can be very subtle, especially through body language
Girls and boys mix together by Year 6 and start to notice each other more.
Social skills more developed and more articulate
Social media - used regularly and can cause exclusion
Not every child will have access to social media or have a phone

These behaviours are what we traditionally see across the school and are generalisations, however it is important for parents to be aware what the ‘normal’ and expected behaviours are at a particular point in the journey. As parents, it is critical that we carefully manage and consider our own responses to as challenges arise for our children. One way to do this is through reflective listening. Reflective listening is where the parents listens to what the child is saying and focusing on how they feel. When a parent reflects back a summary of what a child says, without questions, judgement or opinion, this will help the children to move into problem solving mode where a parent can guide the child to think of creative ways to solve the problem. Questions like the below can help:

“What could you do?”

“What would happen if you did this?...”

“What do you think could fix this?”

We know that issues will arise throughout a child’s education and that is where the relationship between school and home becomes so important.

2024 Fete Committee

Thank you to the parents who made it along to the first 2024 Fete Committee meeting last night. It was a strong turn out and we have filled a number of the required roles on the committee, but are looking for some further assistance with two specific roles - Treasurer and Food Coordinator. Both are critical to the success of the event. If you or your partner would like to get involved in the Fete, these two roles provide that opportunity. Please get in touch with our Co-Chairs of the event Amy Anderson (pennyfarthingevents@gmail.com) and Shannon Shine (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au)if you can help. Below is list of the roles and responsibilities for our committee. Again, thanks for those who have indicated they are keen to assist.

Co-Chairs - Amy Anderson and Shannon Shine

Secretary - Georgia Sotiroski

Treasurer - Still required

Stall Coordinator - Jenny Cummings and Sarah Gardner-Bibby

Sponsorship and Donations - Bree Walsh, Alisha Boot and Amanda Schultz

Food Coordinator - Still required

Beverage Coordinator - Anna Wassell

The St Agnes’ Fete is a critical cultural piece at our school. It brings together our school community in a wonderful way for the benefit of all. The funds raised from the Fete over the past years are the reason much of our playground is in terrific condition. It has paid for the adventure playground near the sandpit, resurfacing of the tennis courts/central courtyard, seating area in the courtyard and most recently, furniture for our newly refurbished classrooms. We look forward to an awesome event on Satuday 16th March 2024.

Before School Care - 4 days a week

Together with Extend, we have made the decision to open Before School Care four days a week. We are hoping this will take effect early in Term Two and will be in place for the remainder of the year. Before School Care will be open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The school will notify families when bookings for these extra days are open. After School Care will continue to operate five days a week.

Mother’s Day Activities - Save the Date(s)

Each year in the first two weeks of May, we celebrate all Mother’s and special ladies in the lives of our students. This year sees the return of some old favourites in terms of events, but also a new addition:

Mother's and Special Friend's Day Breakfast & Liturgy - Thursday 11th May: Breakfast from 7.30-8.30am in the hall, followed by a whole school liturgy to celebrate our special ladies in the church from 8.50am-9.50am.
Mother’s Day Lunch - Friday 5th May - All St Agnes’ mothers and special ladies are invited to an offiste lunch on this day. Pencil in the afternoon off and organise dad or another family member to pick up the children from school! This day is a day just for mums to have fun with other mums! There will be more information and a booking link sent out soon!

St Agnes’ Dad’s Pot and Parma Night

There was an outstanding attendance at the inaugural Dads Welcome Night and I would like to thank everyone for attending, but especially Bart Carroll for assisting with the organisation. We look forward to another great dads event in Term Three!

Pre Prep Playgroup

In 2023, we have introduced a Pre-Prep Playgroup for four-year-old kinder children and their younger siblings. Give your child a flying start to their primary schooling!

The goals of our Pre-Prep playgroup include:

To give kinder aged children an insight into the workings of a primary classroom
To establish a connection between local families and children
To connect families and children to our school grounds, staff and community
To enhance the transition program for our new Prep students

All children and families are welcome and it is free of charge. The sessions run from 9am-10am on the dates listed below. Parents are asked to stay with their child(ren) for the duration of the playgroup. The first half-hour will be a structured activity for the children in the classroom or hall led by one of our staff, followed by time for play and engagement together in the playground or other school spaces. We will need some parent help with things like tea and coffee, so if you are a current family and happy to assist, please reach out.

The dates for Term Two are:

Monday 8th May, Wednesday 17th May, Monday 22nd May, Wednesday 31st May, Monday 5th June, Wednesday 14th June.

Please register using the button below and feel free to share this with other local families who are not connected to our school.

Cross Country Training

All students from Year 3 to Year 6 are invited to join in training sessions for the upcoming SSV Disctric Cross Country. There are three training sessions and to be included in our team, children are expected to attend two of the three sessions. The training sessions involve ‘jogging the block’ and commence at 8am on the following dates:

Tuesday 4th April
Tuesday 2nd May

The District Cross Country takes place on Friday 5th May at Bald Hill Park in Clarinda.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Today, we acknowledge our Year 3 students tonight who undertake the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time at 6.30pm in the Church. I would like to thank Nicci Murdoch, Anthea Georgiou and Aggie Gorski for their work in preparing the children.

Term 1 school fees

Term One school fees were due to be paid by Friday 24th February. Please contact Shannon in the office to set up a direct debit or to make payments.

Assembly

For the duration of the renovation project, Wednesday afternoon assemblies will be held in the Church from 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. We will continue to have class presentations, awards, birthdays and special announcements each week.

Wed 29th March - Year 1

Wed 5th April - Prep

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Kind regards,

Lachie.