Dear Parents and Carers and Families,

This past week has been a busy week in very cold, wet and wintery conditions. The children are to be congratulated on the way they have dealt with this year’s exceptionally wet conditions.

This morning at assembly I mentioned a survey that I had recently read, conducted by Resilient Youth Australia, involving more than 91,369 students across 600 communities. According to the survey, Thursday 20th August will see a perfect storm of cold, grumpy and unmotivated students and workers. In schools, Week 6 in Term 3 sees the biggest drop in energy and motivation than any other time of the year.

The organisation’s director, Andrew Fuller, who works with hundreds of schools around Australia, said, “Teachers will often roll their eyes when I ask how they find Week 6, Term 3. They are often tired, time poor, sleep disturbed and worn out. Students are starting to get a bit ragged, they are tired, cranky, it’s cold, and they spend less time outside. There’s more behavioural issues. It’s a trend I’ve noticed through the years.”

The purpose of discussing this was to highlight for everyone that it is the middle of the year and the middle of winter, how will we let it affect us? Can we continue to try to do our best to overcome the “middle of the year blues”?

'Bullying – No Way!'

Across St. Peter’s this week, we are currently focusing on the 'Bullying – No Way!' initiative. Through classroom discussions and learning activities, students are exploring how their words and actions can either build others up or bring them down. They are learning that healthy relationships are founded on kindness, respect and trust, and that these qualities are the foundation of strong friendships that can last a lifetime.

I encourage you to ask your children what 'Bullying – No Way!' means to them. Their answers may provide a wonderful opportunity for conversation at home about kindness, empathy and the importance of including others. Together, by working in partnership, we can continue to create the welcoming, respectful and joyful community that makes St. Peter’s such a special place to learn and grow.

Book Week 2026: 22nd – 28th August 2026

Each year across Australia, the CBCA brings children and books together celebrating CBCA Book Week. During this time schools, libraries, booksellers, authors, illustrators and children celebrate Australian children's literature. This year the Book Week theme is ‘Symphony of Stories.”

Why Rules Matter

At St Peter’s, we want every child to feel safe, respected and ready to learn. One of the most important ways we achieve this is by having clear, consistent expectations for everyone.

Over the coming weeks, we will be explicitly teaching and reinforcing our four School Rules:

1. We follow adult instructions immediately

2. We don't call out

3. We keep hands, feet and objects to ourselves

4. We don't swear, tease or call people names

These rules support the positive culture we are building across the school through our Classroom Mastery work. They align closely with our school values and provide clarity and consistency for students and staff alike. They also build on our long-standing expectations of "no swearing" and "no hands on".

This week's Big Question is: Why are rules important?

Without rules, things can become confusing, unsafe and unfair. Rules help us care for ourselves, care for others and care for our learning. They make expectations clear, help create calm learning environments and ensure everyone is treated fairly. Most importantly, they allow every student to learn, play and participate safely.

Research consistently shows that interruptions to learning have a significant impact over time. Something as simple as students calling out or disrupting lessons can cost between three and seven minutes of learning every hour. Across a full school year, that can add up to many days, and even weeks, of lost learning.

Rules are not about being restrictive. They are about creating the conditions where every child can succeed. They teach responsibility, self-control and good decision-making, while helping students develop the habits, they will need throughout their lives.

When everyone follows the rules, our school becomes a safer, calmer and more productive place for all. We look forward to working in partnership with families as we continue to strengthen these expectations and support every child to thrive at St Peter's.

Sports Equipment at School

To help ensure our playground remains a positive, inclusive and enjoyable place for all students, we ask that sporting equipment is not brought from home. This includes items such as footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, cricket bats, tennis racquets, football cards and similar items.

While students are often keen to share their belongings with friends, experience shows that personal sporting equipment can lead to disagreements about rules, ownership and who is included in games. We also want to avoid situations where items are lost, damaged or become the subject of disputes between students.

The school provides a wide range of sporting equipment for students to use during break times. This helps create a fair and consistent environment where all children can participate and enjoy play with their peers.

Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us maintain a safe, inclusive and positive playground for all students.

Parenting ideas with Michael Grose

Here is another ‘Resiliency Robber’ as advocated by Michael Grose, who is one of Australia’s leading parent educators. Michael has a wonderful website for both parents and teachers providing valuable insights into raising resilient children. https://www.parentingideas.com.au

RESILIENCE ROBBER 5 - Parents let kids give in too easily.

Parents can sometimes let children give up a learning or leisure activity too easily. Research shows that resilient learners link success with effort so allowing kids to give up too easily is poor parenting practice. Resilient learners don’t give up because they don’t like a teacher or when they are confronted with multi-step or more complex activities. Similarly, they don’t bail out of a sporting team halfway through the session because the team is not winning or they are not enjoying it.

I hope you have a great week!

Kind regards,

Paul Bissinella 

Acting Principal 

Awards

Principal's Award

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Duan

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