Assistant Principal's Page 

Respectful Relationships

This term students in years 1-6 will be learning about positive coping in Respectful Relationships.  Just like we need to help children to learn to identify and express their feelings, we need to teach them how to manage and cope with them.  Coping skills are strategies we use to manage feelings and handle stress.  It is important that as parents and teachers we support students to develop their inner strength, positive self-talk strategies and resilience that allow them to put one foot in front of the other when they feel like giving up. 

Different coping strategies work differently for different people.  It is important to expose students to a range of different coping strategies to ensure they find a good fit for them. Some coping strategies we love include: 

• Breathing exercises - taking slow breaths is one way for your body to communicate to your brain that you are safe and it is okay to calm down. 
• Mindfulness - mindfulness strategies are all about being ‘present’ and connecting with one or more of your 5 senses. This helps your mind to be present in the moment and overcome stresses and worries we might have. 
• Get creative - Our brains love being creative.  Putting focus and energy into creative things like writing, dancing, music and art can help alter your brainwaves and create different mental and emotional states. 
• Talk to someone you trust - sometimes talking things through with a trusted adult can help to look at situations from different perspectives, provide children with a safe space and new strategies they can use. 
• Active strategies - moving your body is great way for kids to get out their excess energy when they’re nervous and to boost their mood when they are feeling down. 

Students in Prep will be focusing on Personal Strengths.  This ties in with the Character Strengths work we do in Positive Education. Students will be identifying strengths needed to work in a team, strengths shown by characters, what bravery looks like and the strengths they can find within themselves and their peers. 

Parent Information Nights

We are very excited to announce we will be running two Respectful Relationships Parent information sessions. These sessions will outline what the program is, the topics we look at and give parents the opportunity to participate in some of the activities. These will be held on: 

• Year 3-6 parents- Wednesday 12 May at 7pm
• Year P-2 parents- Wednesday 2 June at 7pm

Childminding will be available on both nights. 

Carol Wyatt  -  Assistant Principal