Assistant Principal's report

Welcome to school!

I hope that you and your family had a restful and rewarding break, even if we didn't quite have the Summer weather we were waiting for! For our family, the January break always means lots of beach and water sports but plenty of reading and board games as well. Our current favourite games are 'Rummy-O', 'Pass the Pigs' or a bit of MarioKart thrown in! Especially now that our children are past toddler age, playing games that interest everyone in the family provides a great chance for problem-solving and humour in a low-risk situation but also a great opportunity to have casual conversations. This can be a great way to connect with kids 'side by side', especially tweens and teens. Do you play board or card games with your kids? What is your favourite game? I'm always looking for new ideas so let me know! 

Student health - personal agency

It seems to always warm up when school returns these days so it is a great time to remind your child about the importance of wearing a broad-brimmed hat, applying sunscreen and drinking plenty of water.  These are also great opportunities for your child to feel a sense of responsibility and control so keep up the reminders! 

Roxie the Wonderdog

For those of you new to the school, I'd like to introduce Roxie to you. Roxie comes to school with me every day as our School Dog and considers herself to be a wellbeing and welfare expert. She loves to walk with students at recess or lunchtime, is an excellent listener, an even better snuggler, loves hearing great reading and writing, and prioritises tummy scratches over everything else in life. She is also a handy vacuum-dog who loves to search for food scraps (but we are working on that not being her main motivation!)

Roxie is always on a lead, and always accompanied by an adult - giving students the option of coming to ask for a pat or just waving from a distance. Every so often, Roxie is joined in her duties by Melon (Mr McClare's dog) however Roxie considers herself to be well and truly the Boss Dog!

What happened at school today?

Me: How was your day?

Him/her: Good

Me: What did you do? 

Him/her: ...

Me: ...?

Him/her: ...Nothing

Me: ....!

Does this conversation sound familiar? It is extremely common when students have had a busy day that they either don't want to talk too much about it straight away - or legitimately can't think of what to say! It also places accidental pressure on some children as they worry about saying the right thing or something that you want to hear. As a parent, the school day can feel like a long time between updates so it is really tempting to start asking lots of questions the second we see our child in the afternoon. 

You might find it much more successful to wait a little while to ask anything more than 'how are you?' If your child struggles a little bit with separating in the morning, the end of the day can even be a good time to say 'I had a great day, I was looking forward to seeing you though!' Rather than 'I missed you so much'. 

Some other more useful questions than 'What did you do?' you could try later in the afternoon or evening might be:

• What was the best part of your day today?
• Can you remember something that made you laugh/think/disappointed today? What happened next?
• What is something you learned today?
• What is a problem you solved or tried to solve today? What happened next?
• Tell me one thing you remember about today....and how did that make you feel?

Try modelling by asking other older members of the family as well, so that your child does not feel like it is an interrogation or that they are expected to answer in a certain way. You can even prime a partner or older family member to ask you those questions too - and challenge yourself to answer them in front of the family! If your family is keen, you might go around the dinner table with 'one thing that made you happy today', or 'one thing that made you wonder today'.

Every child, family and circumstance is different - let me know how you go!

Take care Kalinda, you matter to me. 

Lauren Hopkins

We are kind. We are resilient. We are respectful.