VERITAS 

Principal's Report

Welcome Back

Dear Parents,

 

Welcome back to the start of another school term. I hope all the students had a wonderful break, and if parents were fortunate enough to have holidays that they too enjoyed their time off.  It is hard to believe that there is a little over 10 weeks until Christmas!! Term Four is always hectic in schools.  Teachers, staff and students no sooner ‘gear up’ for the term before having to ‘gear down’.  Teaching programs, reports, end of year celebrations, graduation and Christmas all have to be crammed into the next 8 1/2 weeks.  I therefore encourage all students to continue to apply themselves and work hard with their studies this term as it is critical to their transition to the next year level.

 

As parents, we have seen a significant amount of growth over the past three terms in our children. How quickly they seem to be developing and maturing. As the year marches towards the final stages, something all children require is persistence to experience success.

 

Parenting consultant, Michael Grose, describes persistence as the ability to persist when work gets hard or life gets tough. It is having the ‘stick-ability’ to work through difficulties and hang in there when things don’t go their way. Some children are more naturally predisposed to persist than others. They have a determined, even competitive streak in their temperament that doesn’t allow them to give in. These children and young people can drive themselves very hard to succeed and drive their parents and teachers nuts in the process.

 

As with every habit or personal quality there is an environmental and parental influence. In other words, we can make life easy for children so that they are not expected to persist or hang in there when things are tough. There are so many options available for children these days that they can afford to sit back and pick and choose the easy options.

 

Parents who allow children to stop work when it gets too hard, give up on a sport because they are not succeeding straight away or have a coach or teacher they don’t like are not developing persistence or ‘stick-ability’ in children.

 

Children show positive persistence when they continue to try hard at school even when they feel like giving up; they refuse to be distracted by their peers and complete lengthy assignments on time. They show positive persistence when they continue playing a sport until the end of the season even though they may not get sufficient game time to their liking. They show positive persistence when they work toward a set of goals or awards over a number of years. Parents can promote persistence by encouraging their children to keep going and not giving in at the slightest hurdle or difficulty.

 

Parents need to show confidence in their child’s ability to cope and get through  difficulties. “You can do it” is far more powerful in terms of promoting an attitude of persistence than “If it is a little too hard then try something else.” Let children know that there is a correlation between effort and success. In fact, they need to learn that by GIVING EFFORT they will experience more success. Talk about WORKING TOUGH with children. When children understand that to be successful they need to do things that are NOT always fun or easy. While it would be good if all work and learning was fun, in reality, this not the case. Parents can help children remember times when they, themselves, experienced success by HANGING IN when they were younger. The ability to persist in the face of difficulties maybe an old-fashioned quality but it is one of best success attributes that your children will ever develop.

 

 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY

On Monday all the staff at Infant Jesus came together for the following:

  • A workshop with staff in area of Whole School Improvement. The day consisted of examining school data to determine future priorities and areas of direction.

There was particular focus on using this information to reflect on how we have been tracking and also to challenge us as to how we can continue to improve in the future.

  • A session was also held on current Digital Technologies information including screen time and enhancing the way in which devices are used in the classroom.

 

SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY

The beginning of the school term is an opportune time to remind parents and students of our Uniform Policy.  At Infant Jesus School, we wear a school uniform to promote equality and provide a sense of belonging and pride in our school. A copy of the Uniform Policy is included in the Parent Handbook and is on the school website at www.infantjesus.wa.edu.au

 

To assist parents in upholding the Uniform Policy please ensure

  • Children are wearing their sport uniform on the correct days
  • School socks are being worn (plain white socks are NOT a part of the uniform)
  • Uniforms are not mixed (eg. sports jumper worn with school uniform)
  • Sports shoes need to be predominately white.

Teachers have been asked to check uniforms every morning and Incorrect Uniform notices will be given to children who do not have a note from parents. If the matter is not rectified promptly, parents will be asked to meet with the teachers to discuss the matter.  

  

Thank you to the many parents who ensure our students wear their uniform with pride. 

 

 

SCHOOL TIMES

It is very important that parents see that their children arrive at school no later than 8.20am so that they can unpack and get organized in order to start school promptly at 8.30am.

 

Morning supervision is from 8.00am and children are not encouraged to arrive at school before this time. Class teachers (except Kindergarten) will have their classes open for the children from 8.20am.

  • Recess Time is from  10.30am–10.50 am
  • Lunch Time is from 12.30 pm–1.05 pm
  • End of the School Day is 3.00pm

In the afternoon, teachers will supervise the departure of students at the school carparks until 3.20pm. Any child remaining at school after this time will be required to report to the school office and stay there until they are collected. Please note that the office closes at 4.00pm. Thank you for co-operation in this matter.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

 

Our Year Three students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this term. The students will receive the Sacrament on either Monday 6 November or Thursday 9 November at a special ceremony organised for these students. The Commitment Masses take place this weekend.

 

COMMITMENT MASSES

  • Saturday 14 October at 6.30pm OR
  • Sunday 15 October at 9.30am OR
  • Sunday 15 October at 6.00pm

 

 

YEAR 3 PARENT BYOD INFORMATION NIGHT

In 2013, Infant Jesus School established a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) 1-1 iPad Program with the Year 3-6 classes.  The outcomes have been extremely successful and the iPad has become an educational tool in the child’s toolkit to help meet curriculum requirements alongside (rather than instead of) more traditional tools like text books, pencils and paper.

 

iPads, as a tool, are fast and automated, interactive and multimodal and they support the rapid communication and representation of knowledge to many audiences and adapt to different contexts. They afford children the opportunity to transform the ways that they think and learn and give them greater control over how, where and when they learn.

 

All Year Three students at Infant Jesus School require an iPad.  To assist parents with this transition and to provide some further information and detail we will be holding a Parent Infor

Did You Know...?

  • Kangaroos cannot walk backwards!
  • Hands and feet have more than half the bones in the human body
  • The potato is the staple food in many countries and is the most cultivated vegetable across the globe

Thought for the Week

When it rains look for rainbows,

when it is dark look for stars.

Unknown

 

 

God Bless,

 

Paul Hille

Principal

#ExpectGreatThings