Principal's Message

Mandarin Day Thanks

On Friday, we celebrated our wonderful Mandarin program via our first ever Mandarin Day. Students and staff dressed up in red and joined in activities celebrating our language program. In the afternoon, we held an assembly where students sung, danced and generally celebrated together as a community. There were special visits by a panda and a spectacular dragon which excited the enthusiastic crowd. A big 'thank you' to all families for supporting their children in dressing them in red. Another big 'thank you' to our fantastic Mandarin teacher Miss Lucy who worked tirelessly to make the event successful.

Uniform Standards - Get Behind Us

Over the next few weeks, we are checking on uniform standards. We will be reminding all students that our uniform is important to show unity and connection to our wonderful school. Our uniform is the best in any government school that I've ever been in. It relies on all parents dressing their children appropriately every day. We have a range of winter garments to keep the children warm, including a beautiful looking beanie. At the gate in the morning, I do notice some colourful clothing items not connected to a uniform. I understand our desire to keep our children warm. There are many uniform items to help achieve this.

We will be checking uniform standards and making contact with parents via email should children be consistently out of uniform. We respectfully ask all parents to do the best they can every day to ensure the uniform standard remains high. One child out of uniform makes the whole group look quite different and not appear part of the SMPS team. Uniform is an equity issue because if one child decides to flaunt the rules it is unfair on the others. Should any parents have any financial reason that makes it difficult to supply school uniform, we are here to help so please contact the office. There should be no excuse for not wearing correct school uniform. Please name every element of your child's uniform such as jumpers, jackets and beanies. It makes it easy to find if lost.

Beautiful Diversity

Our school is a wonderful advertisement for multiculturalism. Many families celebrated 

Eid this week and I was struck by a small story related to me by teacher. Whilst I am not able to comment or show bias towards any particular belief or religion, I celebrate our differences and embrace them for the beauty they represent.

A young girl who I know to believe in the virtues of Hinduism, was sitting next to a friend of hers whose religion was Islam. She commented how interesting and sometimes challenging it must be for the Muslim girl to fast during Ramadan when everybody else was eating around her. So very kindly, she asked others to understand and empathise how tricky it is to not eat when others are.

In my experience, differences are challenging for adults but not so much for children. Children remain curious around our differences but do not apply the same sense of judgement that adults seem to form inside their brains. In many ways, this is why working with children is so liberating and free.

I want to recognise all of our families and children's beliefs, religions, cultures and orientations and ask for your continued kindness in embracing the differences as points of beauty. As adults, we need to be the change we want to see in the world so our children benefit from our collective wisdom.

Weapon or Useful Tool? WhatsApp for Families

On Friday evening, I had dinner with a friend who has a two and a half year old daughter. He sat next to her and gently taught her how to use a knife and fork safely and correctly. It was a picture of love and beauty as this young father showed his very young daughter the basics of safe dining etiquette. Was the knife and fork a weapon or a useful tool? The answer is clear, right?

Think of a car, a bike, a baseball bat or any other thing that could be useful or dangerous and the answer is the same. We don't take knives and forks away from children because they could be dangerous; we teach them how to use them properly.

Are apps like WhatsApp and Facebook and Instagram dangerous? The answer really should be turned around into another question. Is the person using the tool dangerous?

Below you will find details of what I believe to be a wonderful and healthy opportunity to become involved in a supportive social community. It is an independent "SMPS Friends" WhatsApp group. It has been running for a while and has over 190 participants. Its operation is not directly attached to the school and we do not directly endorse it. However, given my understanding of how constructive the participants have been, I sit comfortably with its operation as a healthy and independent community tool.

The WhatsApp group is administered by Doug, one of our incredibly helpful Families and Friends group members. So far, there are informal chat groups for Grades 1, 2, 3/4, and 5/6 families. If I had a wish list, it would be for all parents to join so everyone is as informed as each other. 

As always, if you have any queries directly related to your child's care and education your best communications link is directly with your classroom teacher via email. The WhatsApp group is a community building tool where you might seek clarification and general support for school operations in a healthy and constructive atmosphere. It is not a space to ferment anger, dispute or to go on a recruiting drive fueled by negativity.

Doug and the WhatsApp users have been magnificent in making this group a useful tool and not a weapon. I encourage all families to participate. The school does not monitor discussions or have any direct connections; but is happy that such a constructive group operates as a community arm, independent of our school. 

If you would like to join any of the informal chat groups, contact Doug via SMS or WhatsApp on 0437-351-194. The school thanks Doug for his time in organising and moderating this wonderful initiative. 

Ramadan and Eid

As mentioned on Compass, a number of our wonderful families observe Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr is a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan. This significant event occurred on Thursday and wraps up today. We have interviewed a few students about their experiences of Ramadan and Eid. 

Eyad (Grade 1)

I like Eid. You spell it: e-i-d. For Eid, my mum gets me candies. I go to someone’s house for the day. 

Amal (Grade 1)

During Ramadan, my brother and sister fast. I only fast on the holidays, not on school days. It can be hard to fast. Sometimes I don’t think about fasting so I don’t get too hungry!

Reefand (Grade 5)

During Ramadan, my family wake up at 4am to pray. We then go back to sleep and wake up at our normal time. After that, we fast until 5 or 6pm. During Eid, we celebrate that Ramadan is finished. We sit together, pray and eat! It was quite hard to fast at school because I saw other people eating and it made me hungry. To help, I started thinking about other things - anything other than food!