St. Patrick's Mentone - Newsletter

Deputy Principal's Report

Dear Families,

 

 

I hope you've had a great week. It's always lovely to see you every morning or afternoon at the gate. Thank you for stopping by to say hello. This week has been another busy one at St. Patrick's, but it's wonderful to see so many smiling faces as the students play in the yard each day.

Random Acts of Kindness

 

I would like to extend heartfelt congratulations to the following students for their exemplary display of kindness towards others. It's truly inspiring to witness students across different year levels supporting one another and making an effort to spread kindness. Your actions make our school community a better place for everyone.

Week 4

 

Harvey P. (PET) Harvey looked after a friend on prep 101 days! 

Myla W. (3FH) For assisting a friend every day down the lift who can’t use the stairs 

Antoina P. (4IS), Emma E. (4IS), Nancy W. (4MS), Indi T. (4MS), Chloe C. (4IS), Ruby S. (4IS), Sebastian H. (5ID) and Ben W. (5SB) For helping Mrs Diakrousis with preparations for the Bounceback! group. 

Illness

I'd like to emphasise the importance of keeping our school community safe and healthy. With the ongoing challenges posed by various illnesses, it's crucial that we all do our part to protect one another.

One of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of illness within our school is by ensuring that children who are unwell stay home until they are fully recovered. If your child is unwell, please keep them home. In the event of an absence, please notify the school office. 

Seasons for Growth 

​Seasons for Growth is designed for children who have experienced significant change, loss and grief in relation to family breakdown, separation, dislocation, divorce or death of a significant other. The Seasons for Growth Program consists of 8 sessions, 1 celebration session and follow up.

 

The sessions follow the cycle of the four seasons:

Autumn - Session 1 and 2 aim to support participants to come to terms with the reality of the loss. This season is identified by the colours orange and yellow indicating change.

Winter - Session 3 and 4 give participants the opportunity to learn about the emotions that accompany grief and how each has experienced these in their own loss. This season is identified by the colours blue and purple indicating cold and sad.

Spring - Session 5 and 6 aim to provide participants with the skills that will assist them to process their own grief. This season is identified by the colour green indicating new life.​Summer - Session 7 and 8 encourage participants to explore the ways of letting go and moving on. This season is identified by the colour red indicating flowers and good experiences.

 

Students who are part of the Seasons group have entered the 'Winter' segment of our program.

Bounceback! Resilience Program

Our Bounceback! sessions encompass a range of calming and resilience stratgeies. Our sessions always begin with students identifying with Zone (Zones of Regulation) they are in at that point of the day. We follow this with a Yarning Circle driven by a question that that days' session is based on the question i.e. 'Do we ever feel like it's very hard to calm down when we are upset?' (Year 5 &6).

The session then goes into calming techniques before we commence our session. The students have been lucky to create their Mindfulness Jars this week.

Thank you to all familie who were kind eneough to donate jars to the school. We really appreciate your support.

As we have a surplus of jars, we will not need anymore for the time being. 

 

How to Make a Mindfulness Glitter Jar and when to use it 

 

 

What you will need  

A jar or small container with a lid

Glitter

Glitter glue

Warm water

Sparkles, gems or sequins

 

Directions 

(quantities may differ depending on the size of the jar/container)

  1. Remove the lid from your jar
  2. Add your sparkles
  3. Pour in some glitter
  4. Pour in your glitter glue
  5. Add your water (3/4 of the jar full)
  6. Squeeze in your dishwashing detergent
  7. Replace the lid (ask an adult to check if it is on securely)

Shake your jar for 15 seconds 

 

When to use it 

 

Your mind might feel swirly and mixed up when you're mad, angry, confused, sad, or experiencing other strong emotions. Just like those big feelings, shake up a glitter jar and watch it swirl around. Then, set the jar down, watch the glitter swirl, and take deep breaths. As you breathe and stay still, the glitter will slowly settle and become calmer. Keep watching until you can see through the jar again. We don't want our feelings to disappear, but we don't want them to block our view of what is really going on.

 

Best wishes to you and your families and wishing you all a wonderful weekend ahead!

 

Joelle Diakrousis

Deputy Principal

Learning Diversity Leader