From the Acting Head of Junior School

Welcome to Term 2! We hope everyone has had a relaxing break and come back refreshed for Term 2. We are thrilled to embark on an exciting term ahead, filled with various activities and opportunities for growth. 

This term, we have planned several sensational excursions across Pre-Kinder to Year 6. Excursions and incursions offer invaluable opportunities for learning, fostering cultural appreciation, environmental awareness, and personal growth beyond the confines of the classroom setting. Check the 'Around the Junior School' section to learn more about these wonderful opportunities. 

URSTRONG

Relationships are the heart of everything we do in the Junior School. We value the importance of positive relationships with all members of our community.  In the tradition of the Uniting Church, we aspire to develop our values of courage, respect, inclusiveness, resilience, and commitment through the lens of our wellbeing program. We know student wellbeing is enhanced through a connected, supportive environment which manifests in an individual’s ability to fulfil their personal goals and contribute meaningfully to society.

A key element of our wellbeing program is URSTRONG and on Thursday 2 May 2024 Kinross Wolaroi Junior School hosted two student workshops and an evening parent and child workshop with Mr Tyson Greenwood, Director of URSTRONG. 

The first workshop, ‘Fuzzies and Friends’ was attended by Year 1 and Year 2 students and teachers. In this workshop, students (alongside their favourite “fuzzy friend” from home) learnt how to use The Friend-o-Meter to keep their friendships in the Green-Zone. They learnt that Friendship Ninjas say & do things to put out their Friendship Fires®.

The second workshop, ‘The Heart of Friendship’ was attended by Year 3 and Year 4 students and teachers. Through fun role-play with their favourite soft toy, students explored the 4 Friendship Facts & learnt the WWW strategy to get strategic in their friendships. Using the Friend-o-Meter, they reflected on healthy (Green-Zone) and unhealthy (Red-Zone) friendships. Learning the difference between Friendship Fires & Mean-on-Purpose moments, students practise putting out Friendship Fires® by working their way around the Friend-o-Cycle, along with when & how to use a Quick Comeback.

In the evening, we had over 120 parents and children from across Pre-Kinder to Year 6 join Tyson for an engaging and interactive workshop called, ‘The Language of Friendship’.  This workshop gave parents and students a common language for talking about friendships and a turn to learn about the importance of the URSTRONG program. 

URSTRONG’s whole-school friendship strategy has improved the social climate in schools around the world, connecting over a million kids, parents, and teachers with a common language of friendship. We are proud to be a URSTRONG School and are committed to empowering your children with friendship skills.

Parents are invited to join the URSTRONG parent community via the parent membership section on the URSTRONG website which is part of our school subscription. Through the parent portal you will have access to hundreds of resources – including an eight session video series. This will allow you to learn the same language & strategies being taught in the classroom through the Friendology 101 curriculum. We hope that, as a URSTRONG family, you will reinforce the important messages of empowerment, self-compassion a kindness at home.

We believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a culture of kindness at our school and we hope that, together, we can support your child to have healthy and respectful friendships.