Welcome

It has been a wonderful start to the term and we are now seeing really focused students and classes who are now back into good routines and paving the way for a successful and highly productive Term 3.

The next few weeks are some really exciting and important weeks in the school calendar. Take a look at what's happening and the information for these events below:

Science Week August 12-16 - Week 4

Activities include...

Week 4

Nuclear Popcorn! The upstairs kids are going to be exploding (well popping) corn to discover how to calculate nuclear decay.

Classes downstairs are continuing their exploration of the role of the sun using torches to create shadows.

Week 5

We are hoping to cook and sample mushroom pasta using the mushrooms being grown by Rooms 6 and 7.

Bullying No Way: National Week of Action August 12-16 - Week 4

This year we will engage in this initiative, with a focus on putting relationships at the forefront of what we do and supporting our students to feel connected to our community.

The theme this year is 'Everyone Belongs'.

Teachers have planned robust learning tasks for our students, embracing the theme and ensuring students have opportunities to participate in thought provoking, powerful and personally reflective conversations. Georgina will be joining classes throughout the week, working alongside teachers and students, highlighting the importance of Bullying No Way.

Room 1

In Room 1, the children will be exploring how words and actions can hurt and crumple our hearts. We will be scrunching up paper hearts and seeing if we can fix them by saying sorry. Each afternoon, we will also be learning and role-playing a different way to respond to conflict.

Rooms 3 and 4

In Rooms 3 and 4, students will engage in activities that aim at developing a sense of belonging and why it is so important to form a thriving community/learning environment.

They will be reading "Mud Dog" to start with and will discuss what belonging can look, feel and sound like collecting ideas in a Y-chart. After this, students will complete their own individual friendship flower and identify which of their friends show great traits (plays with others, speaks kindly, can be trusted, ...), ensuring they feel a sense of belonging.

Rooms 6 and 7

In Rooms 6 and 7, students will explore what makes a good friend and how to support others during challenging times. Using the book "Thank You for Being My Friend" as our guide, students will identify the qualities of an ideal friend. Together, we'll create a display showcasing what it means to be a good and inclusive friend. Additionally, we will complete a "Tree of Belonging" to illustrate ways we can include others.

Rooms 10 and 11

In Rooms 10 &11 we are focussing on our roles as leaders in our community. We are looking at what it means to be a bystander and how we can shift into being people who assist those in need. We will look at some non-confrontational solutions to problems.

We are also going to explore the concept of a self-audit so we can better notice if our behaviour is causing harm to others.

The weeks following our National Week of Action will see the SRC working with classes to develop a Marion Primary School - No Bullying Action plan. Student agency and voice will ensure students are well-connected to and feel empowered to uphold the agreed elements of the action plan, connecting us as a community and working together to prevent bullying.

Resources

We have included the link for the Bullying No Way website below if you wish to find out more information.

Book Week August 19-23 - Week 5

We've also included a special Book Week page with the flier that includes all of the information about the week, what we've got planned for this year and how families can get involved. This will be further publicised around the school for parents and families to see as well.

We look forward to the next few weeks celebrating these very important events, seeing families in attendance, and the great learning and conversations they will spark.

Regards,

The Leadership Team

Guy and Georgina

Principal and Deputy Principal

Book Week 2024 at Marion