From the Deputy Principal

Embrace the Challenge

Over the last few weeks teachers and staff have engaged in their own learning. In many cases this has also involved setting goals. This is a great way of focusing on what really matters in terms of our time and effort, particularly if the goals are challenging and require a great deal of effort to achieve.

When was the last time you overcame a challenge that you doubted that you could? The power of overcoming challenges is enormous and it has profound impact on wellbeing and attitudes towards learning. Have you ever set out to achieve a goal and come up short? When this occurs adults are often able to take positives from their efforts and learn from their mistakes. We better understand the link between challenge and wellbeing than children, but this is an area that we know they are capable of understanding too if given the opportunity. Learning and wellbeing are inextricably linked and this is another reason why we cannot separate the ‘student’ from the ‘child’.

Today the opportunities to discuss resilience, persistence, positivity, optimism, accomplishment, relationships and emotions come up so frequently in the classroom in the academic setting. Within the school setting relationships are formed and community is developed giving children a greater sense of connectedness. A sense of belonging to the school environment is a clear factor in children’s health, education, and social wellbeing so schools appreciate the interdependent relationship between learning and wellbeing now more than ever. 

Already this year children at St Paul have faced so many challenges and in some cases may be disappointed with how successful they were. But what did they learn and how did they ‘grow’ as a result? These are great conversations to have when the time is right both at home and at school.

Harmony Day

On Friday March 18 we will celebrate Harmony Day. This is a celebration of all of the cultures in our school, from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world.

Harmony Day allows us to share our individual stories, whilst promoting inclusion and fighting back against racism in all of its forms. 

To celebrate Harmony Day, we invite students on March 18th to wear an outfit that represents their cultural background, or orange, the official colour of Harmony Day. More information will be shared via SeeSaw and Inspire in the coming weeks.   

SRC 

Please note that the installation for the 2022 Classroom Leaders will be held on Wednesday 16  February at 9:00am. This does not involve our Senior Leaders who have already been installed. 

Parents of these children are welcome to join us in the Narthex. A Trybooking link will be sent to relevant families. All other families  are welcome to join us for this special service on our Facebook Live Group.

Reception Welcome Evening

Next Wednesday 16th March, Reception families are invited to stay after school 3:15pm - 5:00pm to meet and greet their child's teacher and other Reception families. Miss Gracey and Mr Sheedy will be available outside of their classrooms. Masks are mandatory for all adults on site. Cold water and fruit boxes will be available. Your child/ren are able to take you for a tour of their classroom if you choose to do so.

Jason Fay | Deputy Principal