The Principal's Report
Starting Secondary School
Our Year 6 students either have their offers for Year 7 from State Secondary Colleges or have a confirmed place in an independent school by now. Moving from Primary School to Secondary School is a huge step for the whole family.
Secondary schools each have different transition programs, for State schools this is the Orientation Day in December. There are many ways you can support your child as they start this new phase in their education.
The Department website provides resources and tips for supporting your child as they move into the world of secondary school. It provides information around what is different, making the move and tips to prepare during the school holidays. We hope that the link to the website and the attachments are of assistance to your family.
Tips for stating school website link
Canteen update
Our Canteen committee are reviewing the Expression of Interests for Canteen Services at our school. Once reviewed there will be a discussion at School Council and we will move to the next part of selection. We will keep you informed as this progresses towards the reopening of the school Canteen.
Congratulations Girls Vocal Group
The Girls Vocal Group headed out last week to the Waverley Eisteddfod, we are proud to share that they placed second. What a great effort! Well done to all of the members of the GVG and to Aleksis Payne for her work in preparing them throughout the year.
Our GVG are in hot demand at the moment and have been invited to attend another event with older members of our community.
Congratulations Daniel!
I was so proud to have Daniel from Year 5 visit me after attending the Chambers of the Melbourne Town Hall for the Junior Lord Mayor competition.
He was filled with smiles about the experience and the opportunity to be involved. Whilst he did not become the Junior Lord Mayor he will receive invitations over the next 12 months to participate in a number of activities. This week his class has attended the Flag raising ceremony in Melbourne and he has also been invited to be on the Moomba Monarch float in the Moomba Parade next year.
Book Fair
What an exciting thing it was to see so many members of the community lined up buying books at the Book Fair last week. As a child I was never without a book in my hand and even today given any opportunity I will read a picture book to a group of students.
A special thanks to May our Library Tech who researched, organised and ran our Scholastics Book Fair. I know May would like to thank the Library Captains and all of those parents who volunteered when the Book Fair was open. She could not have handled such a huge volume of customers without your support.
Thank you to everyone who made a purchase, we hope you all enjoy reading your new books.
The Children's Book Council of Australia awards have been released and they are always a great list of possible birthday presents. Cicada by Shaun Tan won Picture Book of the Year, always lovely to see one of your favourite authors being recognised.
Father's Day Stall
Thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers who organised and ran our Father's day stall today. We appreciate the work of Pia and Nancy in particular, who have lead the organisation and enabled our students to buy something for their Dad.
To those in our community who are Fathers or have Fathers to spoil, enjoy Sunday!
Year 4 Camp
Our Year 4 students, teachers and parent volunteers have had a great time at camp. I hope that families have enjoyed receiving photos and information each day. Once packed up at camp today they are heading to Puffing Billy. They will then head back to school and are expected to return at 2.15pm.
Thank you to the staff and parents who have made this an exciting adventure for our students.
Resilience
When we talk about resilience, we’re talking about a child’s ability to cope with ups and downs, and bounce back from the challenges they experience during childhood – for example moving home, changing schools, studying for an exam or dealing with the death of a loved one. Building resilience helps children not only to deal with current difficulties that are a part of everyday life, but also to develop the basic skills and habits that will help them deal with challenges later in life, during adolescence and adulthood.
Resilience is important for children’s mental health. Children with greater resilience are better able to manage stress, which is a common response to difficult events. Stress is a risk factor for mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, if the level of stress is severe or ongoing. (source Beyond Blue)
Resilience is shaped by our own characteristics and the environment we grow up in. This link will take you to the Beyond Blue website with a section on How can I build resilience in my child?
It includes information on :
- building good relationships with others
- building independence
- learning to identify, express and manage their emotions
- building confidence by taking on personal challenges.
I have also included this article from Michael Grose titled Daily Lessons in Resilience, which explores how reactions of the adults in a child's life can support them to build their resilience.
Online apps
In the continuing series of information about digital and social media this week we are sharing information about Fortnite. We hope that it is of use to you when monitoring your child's online time.
2020 Planning
Thank you to the parents who have informed us that their child will not be returning to Boroondara Park PS in 2020. Please take a minute to fill in the Google Form via this link, we will then contact you and arrange details. All students have a Victorian Student Number - the VSN is taken from school to school, if your child is moving to another State school then we will provide details to the new school.