From the Director of Primary

“Believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic.” 

Brene Brown 

The idea of having strong confidence in one's self is that you trust your skills and abilities and you are fully aware of your strengths and limitations.  Setting goals is a priority and reaching these goals is seen as a non negotiable.  

Nonetheless, confidence is a funny thing.  There are times when you feel that your worth and opinion of yourself is at an all time high, and then all it takes is a comment or a sideways glance and it can plummet and the ripple effect can be massive.  It isn’t limited to your abilities but rather the perception you have.  

Self confidence or a lack of it is not just reserved for adults.  A feeling of self doubt and lacking confidence can occur at any age and it is important to provide everyone with the tools to assist.  These can be in the form of recognising strengths in others and celebrating them.  Treating yourself and others with kindness and compassion, recognise the importance of slowing down and being logical when approaching challenging tasks.  Tap into the joy in your life and lean into it with a sense of happiness.    

Over the past few weeks the growth in confidence and a recognition of abilities has been at the forefront of many in the Primary.  We have seen students who would ordinarily be shy, reserved and lacking in confidence be part of a Tournament of Minds team and shine.  Students who don’t particularly like dressing up, seen grinning from ear to ear as they paraded their costume around the grounds during Book Week. Students participating in high numbers in such competitions as ICAS and AMC despite a sense of not being great at testing. Whilst others who struggle to speak in front of a group; putting themselves forward to present work in front of their peers.  

The above are just some examples of the growth we see day to day in our students.  With this growth comes increased confidence and a recognition of inner strength and an ability to shine.

Book Week Parade 

You could have been mistaken for thinking that we had transformed into a magical wonderland of characters, big and small last Thursday. Confusion reigned was it a Year 3 coming down the path or Queen Elizabeth.  And was that a witch on a broomstick or a Year 6 student heading towards Providence House?  

The week was a huge celebration of everything related to books and reading.  From our visiting author Sally Odgers who spent Monday with our Kinder - Year 6 students, to classroom doors celebrating the theme “Dreaming with Eyes Open" and work in class unpacking illustrators and themes linked to all sorts of books.  The week culminated in our Book Week parade on Thursday and a huge thank you to the parents/carers  who supported this joyous occasion.  

Tournament of Minds

On Saturday seven teams from Years 4 – 10 will head to Hobart City High School to compete in the State Finals of Tournament of Minds.

Tournament of Minds is a problem solving competition that is open to schools in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, China, South Africa and many more.  Teams are given a problem in one of 4 disciplines; Language and Literature, The Arts, STEM or Social Sciences and they have to work as a team to solve one of the problems in that category, as well as a spontaneous one that they are given on the day.  One of the main focuses is how the group solves the problem, from working through all the different rules, to writing a script and making props to rehearsing their dramatic performance, all whilst showing how they can work as a team. 

This year in the Primary we have the teams competing in Language and Literature and STEM disciplines. These girls have been working exceptionally hard throughout the last six weeks with before and after school rehearsals, as well as weekends and lunchtimes preparing themselves for the day and I know you will join us in wishing them all the best when they compete on Saturday 3 September.

Arts Festival 

On Friday 9 September the whole College Community will come together to celebrate The Arts. This evening is just not a showcase of the skills and talents on display but an opportunity for our community to come together.  

Your son or daughter’s classroom teacher will be in contact with you (or they may have already) if anything special is required around costuming etc.  Otherwise all other information about the evening has already been sent via EdSmart.

Primary Food and Clothing Drive

Thank you to all members of our College community who have generously given pre-loved clothing and food items for the St Vincent de Paul Clothing Drive.   This initiative comes to a conclusion at the end of next week so we ask if there are any more contributions, could they be brought in by Thursday next week please.

Primary Staff Meeting 

Throughout the year we have given you a little insight into what happens once the students have left the playground, and the hallways are relatively quiet. As mentioned in previous articles in The View our strength at the College is always looking at ways to improve our teachings and this is often imparted through staff meetings. 

"One of the most powerful research-based strategies for linking assessment to improved instructional practice is teacher moderation. This process involves educators in a collaborative discussion of student work based on predetermined assessment criteria.”

  -Ontario Ministry of Education 2007. 

During a recent staff meeting, and with one to come, we explored moderation, with a particular focus on Mathematics.  This gave us as a Primary staff an opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves with the WHAT as well as the HOW to allow us to improve our pedagogy and to implement best practice in our unpacking of work.  

Father’s Day 

On Sunday we celebrate all those fathers, dads, carers, step-dads, uncles etc in our lives who bring so much love and joy.  

Please click on the above link for the poem ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling read by Sir Michael Caine.  “English Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling wrote these final stanzas of his poem "If—" in 1895. It's written as a letter to a son and gives advice on how to manage life. The stanza "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same" are written on the wall of the players' entrance to Centre Court at Wimbledon”.