From the Head of Junior School

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed profiling our Learner Attributes this Term. They haven’t just ‘lived’ in these Anchor articles though. We have discussed and role played them at assemblies each week, linked them to our learning each day and recognised students demonstrating these attributes in their lessons.

Why such value on our Learner Attributes? They enhance our learning – When we live-out our learner attributes each day we develop as learners across all areas.

This week we focus on Respect; being respectful. Respect and being respectful is such a valuable aspect of our society. Respect is referenced in many different contexts, and in our very own Great Southern Grammar school values, alongside Integrity, Commitment and Compassion.

I won’t pretend to be able to adequately capture all the elements that ‘respect and being respectful’ involves, as this is an enormous topic and contextually significant for different cultures. I will offer three different aspects of being respectful that I see evident in our school setting each day.

Being respectful towards others
Being respectful to our environment, place and belongings
Being respectful in what we are doing and ourselves

From the earliest age, we are learning the value of being respectful towards others through our social development skills. Respecting others' opinions, skills, talents, feelings and contributions enhances our experience in all settings and communicates to others that we value them for who they are. Respecting others helps us all feel safe, valued and that we belong.

Respecting our environment, place and belongings is a form of respect, I feel, that grows in complexity as you mature. Initially, we learn to look after things that belong to us like toys and books and then, quite beautifully, we begin to see more around us that deserves our respect like places of special significance, moments of occasion or features of our environment. This is a particular aspect of school that I enjoy. As young people grow and move through the year levels, we experience a connection in their development; in part because we are getting to know them better; but I think it's also because we can sense their development of respect, in appreciation for their environment, place and belongings; how they are connecting with the broader world we all share.

The final aspect of respect, for some, can be the most challenging and takes time to develop. Respect for what we are doing and ourselves requires focus, self-awareness and, at times – courage. Being mindful about the moment we are in, the task we are working on, the opportunity in front of us, takes self-awareness and focus to honour with respect. It really is hard sometimes! Every lesson at school offers this opportunity; being respectful for what we are doing enhances this opportunity. Respecting ourselves can be under-valued at times I feel. We tend to understand the importance of respecting ourselves physically and socially, but respecting ourselves in our learning too is also valuable. We are capable, and can achieve when we give ourselves the opportunity and time. I really enjoy speaking with students about this element of respecting ourselves enough to use kind self-talk comments when we don’t understand something, and encouraging self-talk comments when we need confidence to perseverance through something that is difficult. Learning these skills is empowering.

Whilst being respectful is a very familiar concept with all of us, it can still be complex to explain all the different aspects this involves. Our Junior School students will share how they understand and demonstrate being respectful each day.

From Year Five

“You can demonstrate being respectful by using manners, looking people in the eye and being polite”

“If you’ve made a mistake, being respectful to someone is being able to say sorry”

“If someone is being unkind to you, tell them you don’t like it or let someone else know that it’s not ok, that’s being respectful to yourself”

From Year Four

“Trying my very best is being respectful to me and my teachers”

“Putting things away properly, and looking after our equipment is being respectful”

From Year Two

“Letting other people join in your game is being respectful”

“Being kind to others is respectful”

From Year One

“When someone has an idea say ‘wow, that’s a good idea we might try that’.”

“Being a good friend and helping them if they need it”

With warmest regards, and deepest respect to you all,

Mr Ken Raven | Head of Junior School

You Can Do It!

For the past week everyone in Junior School has been practising acts of kindness. The philosophy behind this is the kindness cycle. By performing an act of kindness, you in turn feel happy, this makes the recipient happy and as a result they feel encouraged to do an act of service and thus the cycle continues. We have had some wonderful, kind members of our Junior School who were rewarded for this quality at our morning briefings this week. Each week our You Can Do It! Heroes receive a certificate, earn a point for their House and go into the draw to win a weekly prize.

Our kindness heroes are:

Sophie Sounness, Oliver Schaefer, Menari Deegan, Hamish Field, Amity Wegner, Jackson Kirkpatrick, Juliet Jacobs, Rose Bane, Marnie McCormack-Mason, Sophie Raven, Macy Emberson and Eddy Coniglio.

Our ECC Stars of the Week Are:

Pippa Hancock, Jackson Kirkpatrick and Boyce Sprigg.

This week we are learning to show gratitude. I strongly encourage you to put these social emotional practices in place at home too. Regularly ask your child what they are grateful for; practising gratitude before bed is recommended by many child health specialists and is a great time to do this.

Mrs Leah Field | Assistant Head of Junior School

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