Around The Primary

Dear Parents,

Happy House Day!

House Day in the Primary School was a great celebration of belonging, spirit and identity. We began the day with a lovely Mass, kindly prepared by Ms Allen. The students then spent time learning some facts about their House - Campion, Koolyangarra, Loreto, Loyola, St Louis and Ward. This was followed by a variety of age-appropriate incursions or sporting activities. It was terrific to see the students having lots of fun with friends and staff. 

We were able to celebrate in fine style today as the students demonstrated exceptional behaviour and wonderful character strengths A special mention to our Year 6 Leaders for being such positive role models for the younger students throughout the day and to the Sport Leaders for umpiring the various games. 

On behalf of the staff, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to parents for:

• making sure your children arrive at school on time
• sending your children to school in the correct uniform
• reading emails and newsletters
• providing positive feedback to staff
• encouraging your children to do some reading each night
• providing healthy food options each day
• keeping your children at home if they are sick

Enjoy the long weekend!

Kind regards,

Antoinette De Pinto

Head of Primary

Dates to Remember

Please check the College Website to note all the important Primary school events for your family calendar. http://www.johnxxiii.edu.au/view/for-parents/calendars

Chemical Creations

Our Year 5 students have enjoyed participating in a range of science experiments during the Chemical Science unit this term. They have learnt about the steps of scientific method while investigating the properties of solids, liquids and gases. Having the opportunity to visit the Secondary Science labs has been a particular highlight and has generated great enthusiasm for future Science studies.

Sports Update

What a week of sport!  We had 50+ happy runners at Cross Country training on both Tuesday and Thursday morning; Year 5 & 6 Interschool matches against Newman and Loreto and Year 4, 5 & 6 Interhouse Sports Games on Primary House Day!  

It is so good to see the dedication and effort shown by our athletes and see this transition through to Secondary with many of our primary students being part of the Secondary Cross -Country Team that won both the ACC and the School Sport WA competitions recently. Well done!

Swimming Lessons

As you are aware, the scheduled swimming Term 1 lessons for Years 4-6 were cancelled because of COVID 19 restrictions.  Due to the high demand of swimming instructors and a very busy term 4 calendar we are unable to reschedule the lessons this year.  The swimming program will continue with pool and beach lessons in term 1, 2022.  A refund will be provided on the School Fee Account.

Mr Steve Williams

Primary Sport Coordinator

Music

Primary Assembly Performances

Please save the date for the following Assembly performances:

• Week 9 - Friday, 18 June, Year 5 Assembly
• Week 10 Friday 25 June, Primary Choir Assembly (Wanju Voices and Primary Singers)

 Music Eisteddfod Entries

Thank you to everyone who submitted entries for the upcoming Music Eisteddfod. Students will be informed of their performance date and time once the timetable has been confirmed by the Music Department. Students who require an accompanist will be contacted regarding their rehearsal time next week. We look forward to hearing the beautiful music from our students at this special event.

Teddy Bear Music Helpers

Our Pre-Primary students were visited by special friends during Music classes this week. Teddy bear helpers worked with the students as they learned new songs and rhymes and practised discerning different pitches. The students enjoyed a warm hug with their teddy helpers before carefully placing them back in their home, preparing the students for handling instruments with care and respect. 

If you have any queries regarding Primary music, please contact me via email catherine.haydon@cewa.edu.au

Mrs Catherine Haydon

Primary Music Teacher

Counsellor's Corner

As discussed in the Newsletter last week, staff have been exploring how cultivating character strengths can help children flourish. Further information on the 24 Universal Character Strengths can be found at VIA Institute on Character

Source: VIA Institute on Character

Strength Based Parenting has also been proved by Lea Waters, a world-renowned Australia Psychologist, to build inner resilience in children by helping them to understand and use their own strengths to navigate life’s challenges. From her research, Lea Waters found that Strength Based Parenting is associated with;

• Higher levels of life satisfaction, self-efficacy, and positive emotions

• Lower levels of depression and anxiety

• Better ability to cope with friendship issues and homework challenges and better grades

This is an exert from her 3-part series on Strength Based Parenting. The full transcript can be found at   https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-ways-put-strength-based-discipline-practice-lea-waters-phd/ 

According to Lea Waters, the moments when our children make poor choices and get into trouble provide opportunities to talk to them about where they forgot to use their strengths or what strengths they need to call forward.

Whereas typical discipline techniques tell children what not to do, strength-based discipline goes a step further, letting our kids know what they can do—reminding them of strengths they possess to address the problem. 

We need to show them how to reach within to find the resources for change, rebound from setbacks, focus their attention on repairing the problem, and move in a more positive direction.

If this sounds like we’re helping kids become mindful of their actions and building their ability to activate their nervous system’s pause-and-plan mode that can stand between them and their impulsiveness or lapses in judgment the next time around, you’re absolutely right. That’s the kind of discipline our children really need.

Five Questions Help Pinpoint Why Your Child is Acting Out

Use these five questions to diagnose your child’s strength breakdown:

1. Is it strength overuse?
2. Is it strength underuse?
3. Is it the flip side of a strength?
4. Could it be a blocked strength?
5. Could it be forced overuse of a weakness or of a learned behaviour?”

Source: Lea Waters  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/strength-based-discipline-5-questions-help-pinpoint-why-waters-phd/

Please feel free to contact me via email anne.murphy@cewa.edu.au or phone 9383 0469 to discuss further.

Mrs Anne Murphy

Primary Counsellor 

Inspire - Cyber Safety Education Session for Parents

Protecting children in their digital worlds is an ever-evolving task for Australian families. Now more than ever parents are looking for guidance in how to manage screen time and navigate the world of games and social media.

The Parents’ Association is pleased to help our parent community by offering a crucial and engaging education session with ySafe, Australia’s leading provider of cyber safety education. This practical, strategy-rich session will cover the most important points that all families need to know about online safety, covering key information about social media and gaming, screen time recommendations and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a cyber safe home for kids of all ages.

If you’ve ever struggled with getting your children off their games and into bed, worried about the content of the games that they are playing or felt concerned that your child was spending too much time in the digital world, this workshop is for you! The session covers information for parents with students in Kindergarten to Year 12.

The session will take place on Tuesday 8 June at 7:00pm in the Gonzaga Barry Lecture Theatre.

Please register for this event here https://www.trybooking.com/763942 

Jodi Mills

Inspire Parent Education Coordinator