St Monica's Primary School Newsletter

Student

Wellbeing

Be Safe - Be Friendly - Be a Learner 

Across the school we continue our journey with The Resilience Project. Recently, we have been exploring gratitude, which has taken us on gratitude walks, treasure hunts and has seen gratitude gardens springing up in our classrooms! We are now investigating empathy. Here's a few ideas for you and your family at home.

EmpathyWorking on empathy helps us to identify, understand and feel what another person is feeling. When we show empathy or we do something kind for someone else our brain releases oxytocin. This leads to increasing our self-esteem/confidence, energy levels, positivity and overall happiness.

Whole Family Activity:

Neighbourhood Kindness Challenge

As a family, choose an act of kindness from the list below that you would like to do for a neighbour or family friend. Each family member can select one to commit to, or you can choose to do one together.

  • Cook them something delicious like a cake, hot bread, or cookies.
  • Write a note to put in their letterbox thanking them for being a great neighbour or friend.
  • Design them a Thank You card.
  • Pick or buy some flowers to deliver to them.
  • Choose a little plant from your garden to give them.
  • Make them a gift from things around your house.
  • Offer to do a job for them, like wash their car or water their garden.
  • Offer to take their pets for a walk.
  • Invite them over for afternoon tea.
  • Invite them on a walk.
  • Recommend one of your favourite books to borrow and read.
  • Ask them if they need anything from the shops next time you buy groceries.
  • Say hello next time you see them, and ask them how their day is going.

Feel free to do more than one and spread the kindness even further!

Report back to each other in one week and share how your acts of kindness were received, and how doing them made you feel.

Family Habit Builder:

Every night at dinner, have each person thank another family member for something they’ve done or said today, or give another family member a compliment.

 

 

Season’s for Growth

 A grief and loss program

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At St Monica’s we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or related circumstances, children and young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore offering a very successful education program called Seasons for Growth. This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research that highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks. Seasons for Growth runs for eight weeks and each weekly session is 40-50 minutes during school hours. The program concludes with a 'Celebration' session. Later in the year each group will have the opportunity to meet for a re-connector session to build on their earlier learning and to follow up how each child is going. 

 

Seasons for Growth will commence in term 2 and will be facilitated by Carina Johns(5/6 Teacher) and Bronwyn Fieldew ( Family Liaison Officer) who has received special training in the use of this program. 

For more information please contact Bronwyn at the school and/or express your interest in this program by filling out the email form below  which will be sent to Bronwyn Fieldew. St Monica’s is pleased to be able to offer this important program and we are confident that it will be a valuable learning experience for those who request to be involved.

 

Please send an email below letting us know if your child would like your child/children to participate in this program. Please include the following information: 

Student name, class and whether they have experienced separation or loss. 

2023_Seasons for Growth CCYP Factsheet_SCREEN.pdf

Helpful Parent resources:

 

Fresh Fruit Friday 

Thanks to The Mckern Foundation for donating fresh fruit to our school weekly.

This is a great initiative but please make sure children are still bringing a piece of fruit in their lunchbox for fruit break as fruit is not available all week.