Principal's Report
Gratitiude
As part of our focus on positive psychology and the work around character strengths we have looked at gratitude as a way to support students and staff. You may remember our gratitude trees and boards across the school in the past. At this time I believe taking some time to search out things you are grateful for can be a comforting and rewarding exercise.
Gratitude is something we can overlook and yet it offers such powerful benefits to our mental health. There are many benefits of expressing gratitude ranging from better physical health to improved mental alertness.
Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what a person receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, we are able to acknowledge the goodness in our lives and experience contentment.
Positive psychologists have found many physical, and psychological benefits to practising gratitude and the best thing about cultivating a gratitude practice is that is free and the benefits are wide ranging.
I have entered some comments from our Parent Reps on the P&F page as they develop ways of connecting with families and I am grateful for their support.
For me, if I was to take time to think of three things I am grateful for today, it would be -
1. I'm grateful for the amazing staff that are preparing and delivering inspiring online learning for their students. Not once did they say why, they just got on with it. I love that about the staff at MPRPS.
2. I am grateful for how positive our families and students are. There are challenges, but the way everyone has adapted and supported each other is amazing.
3. I'm grateful for the treats that families drop off at school even if their children are not learning on site.
That's my three for today, what might your three be?
Week 4
This week sees us introduce more of the feedback gained from parents and carers about how remote learning is going.
From this week specialist classes, will go to a single day.
5/6 - Monday
3/4 - Tuesday
1/2 - Wednesday
Foundation - Thursday
There will be no specialist classes on a Friday.
Again I would stress that students may not get through all of their classes and may need to do them on a different day as they manage their own timetable. Also many of our Specilists teachers work part time and so their feedback and commenting will be done on the days they would normally work in the school. I thank you for your patience as we adapt and respond to try and make the experience for our students and families as valuable as possible.
All classes will still do their class check in each day, even if it is a specialist day but then class teachers would assess, plan and prepare for the following week. They would not be commenting or giving feedback on the specialist day.
Share a Working from Home Photo
Thank you for all the photos that show what working at home looks like for your children. I have permission to share a couple here - thank you to those families. They are just delightful. With this being such a unique time I thought it would be great way to document how resilient everyone is being. These photos will be put into a slideshow for the foyer TV. Keep them coming please.
Assembly No 2 Week 3
This is a link to Assembly Number 2 online. https://vimeo.com/413022978
I had a lot of help from our amazing School Captains Ollie and Anais and our SRC Presidents Jia-Xuan and Sophie.
Family Phone Calls
Thank you for all your positive and constructive feedback to your children's teachers, as we make contact with all of our families. The phone calls are an important part of us all staying connected and hearing about how remote learnign is going for you family.
Application for Year 7 Placement 2021
Just a reminder to Year 6 parents that Applications for Year 7 Placement 2021 forms need to be returned by Friday 15th May. Forms can be returned to the school office or emailed to the school. If you have a confirmed placement at a non-government secondary school you are still required to fill in the application form excluding section 4 (if your placement is not confirmed we recommend filling in your preference for a government secondary school). If you have any questions please contact the school.
Student Support Group Meetings
For all funded students these meetings will go ahead through a video conference and teachers will be in contact with families to make meeting times for Wednesday 13th or Thursday 14th in Week 5. For all students with Individual Education Plans (IEP's) but who are not funded, class teachers will be in contact with families (and may have already done this) to discuss student progress and any new goals that may be appropriate for online learning. If you have any questions around your child's IEP please make contact with the class teacher or Amanda and I.