Junior School News

From the Acting Head of Junior School

Harmony Week

Last week, Pittwater House Junior School celebrated Harmony Week, an important acknowledgement of Australia's cultural diversity. During class and at Friday's assembly, we spoke to the students about inclusiveness, respect and the importance of creating a sense of belonging for everyone. Students also reflected on their own heritage and cultural background through various activities.  

On Friday 21 March all students were invited to wear a ‘Touch of Orange’ as part of our celebration and in typical Junior School style, a ‘Touch of Orange’ was a ‘lot of orange’, and it was nothing short of fabulous.  

Thank you to Ms Ciara Loughland and J5 for putting together the amazing Harmony Day Tree in the Junior School foyer.  Please feel free to drop in at any time to have a look.  

Easter Hat Parade

Last Friday, our P-2 parents, students and staff were all treated to the most wonderful and colourful Easter Hat parade.  We were so proud of our youngest students, brave enough to not only walk onto the stage but to entertain us with their spectacular dance moves.  We thank all the parents for their efforts.  The hats were quite something.  

Year 6 Leader Excursion

Our Year 6 leaders attended the GRIP Student Leadership Conference in Chatswood. The program concentrates specifically on training student leaders for their role as School Leaders. The style, topics, and content of this conference all focus on what the students can do right now.  Our student leaders found the opportunity thoroughly enjoyable and beneficial.  Thank you to Mr Marcial Nunura for attending. 

Empathy

This month, the Junior School is focussing on empathy in Friendology. In doing so, it’s important to consider the developmental stages of those growing brains in our schools.

By the age three or four, children begin to develop cognitive empathy – an ability to see and understand things from another’s perspective. This is sometimes called “Theory of Mind” (ToM), which is the ability to explain, predict, and interpret behaviour. 

Empathy strengthens and fine-tunes as a child grows and matures cognitively and socially. While preschoolers can share, cooperate and give hugs when they see someone is sad, it is not until the age of seven or eight that they can really consider who is to blame for the Friendship Fire®.  This level of empathy and ToM is necessary for a child to differentiate between a Friendship Fire and Mean-on-Purpose, as this requires the capacity to consider and attribute intent in conflict. It requires a child to predict how their friend was feeling. 

Was their friend joking or being sarcastic? Was their friend possibly feeling jealous and left-out, which is why they said the things they did? Was the Friendship Fire an unresolved issue from before? Was it a total misunderstanding? These complex considerations in understanding others takes time to develop. 

The good news is, that empathy can be taught and it can be developed.  Our Friendology programs are designed to developmentally and progressively build on the skills of empathy.  Through explicit instruction and discussion, students get better at predicting and understanding how their friends feel. Perspective-taking starts to become a default setting, as they learn to put themselves in their friend’s shoes.  

Lost Property

We have a significant amount of unclaimed lost property at the Junior School that is not labelled with names. Please remind your children to come and collect anything that may belong to them. The lost property tub is located at the top of the stairs of the Discovery Hub entrance. Any uniform items that are not claimed by the end of term will be donated to the Second-hand Uniform Shop and all other items will be thrown out. 

Junior School Performing Arts Evening - Costume Notification

Our Junior Performing Arts Evening is scheduled for Tuesday 24 June 2025. Doors open at 5.30pm, show commences 6.00pm. 

Please see information posted in Co-curricular Music, Dance and Drama page of this edition of HouseNews. Please click here