FROM THE PRINCIPAL
A Message from the Principal
School Council Nominations
Many thanks to those parents who have generously accepted nominations to School Council:
Karina Stocker, Ceridwen Owen, Lainie Berka, Natalie Bradley and Michele Whitby who has re-nominated for a second term.
Visit from MP Dustin Halse
We are excited today to host our new state representative to parliament, MP Dustin Halse. MP Halse kindly agreed to help present our student leaders with their badges and joined me for a tour of the school where we looked at both the wonderful aspects of our school, as well as some of the areas that could do with a little more love.
It is always a privilege to have representatives visit our school and learn more about the needs not just of our school, but of the community in general. It is also an excellent opportunity for our student leaders to interact with significant leaders in our community and consider what it might mean to aspire to a role of service to the community.
Student Leaders
Congratulations to our elected student leaders. It is quite an achievement for students to make themselves vulnerable in nominating for these roles and something they can be rightly proud of.
School Captains
Tegan Rule and Lauchlan Gorman
House Captains
Yarra: Nick Hernyak & Annabelle Brady
Vice-captains: Hamish Bentley & Abbey Dixon
Campaspe: Brooklyn Bastide & Jordan Armstrong
Vice-captains: Matthew Antonopoulos & Lauren Newnham
Avoca: Alex Constable & Olivia Bortis
Vice-captains: Riley Hunt & Bethany McGrotty
Wimmera: Mitchell Nathan & Lana Van Straalen
Vice-captains: Harvey Johnston & Teahna North
Junior School Council Representatives
Asher Berka, Cameron Newnham, April Newland, Lenny Clarke, Remy Bexley, Levi Ohi, Georgia John, Molly McDonald, Eamon Ferguson, Jaspar Cossey, Holly McGill, Will Ladd
Fundraising and facilities
We have had some excellent sessions with each year level assessing what students would love to see and use in the school grounds. We have learnt a lot as they have taken us on tours of the grounds and pointed out the best and the worst from a student's perspective of what is around the school.
We have a number of key areas already to work on and some great ideas to try and incorporate into the grounds.
As we iron out specifically what these new elements will or won't look like, the next thing for us to consider is cost.
I am pleased to say that all profits from our current Run4Fun Colour Explosion will go towards making the student's ideas and priorities into a reality. Students in the school have already raised enough funds for School Council to contribute more than $3000 to these projects but; if students haven't had a chance yet to speak to family members about sponsoring them for the run, encourage them to do so soon. Fundraising closes on March 13. All students will have brought home an A5-sized booklet with instructions for how to contribute sponsorship money.
Immediate priority areas based on student recommendations will be: the gravel area in front of Year 3 classrooms; more 'ground games' to play, especially under the large shade sail; and some further entertainment for junior students near the sandpit. To make some real progress on these areas, let's target as a community $10,000.
Parenting Ideas Articles
At this time of year, students can often experience disappointment at school. Whether they have missed out on a captain's role or JSC spot, perhaps not had a call back to auditions for production, or missed out on their favourite sport for interschool competitions - when there are limited places for anything, people are bound to miss out.
There are two schools of thought for confronting this reality: either we change all systems and remove any opportunity that has limited places (for instance, not having student leader roles or creating a leadership role for every student in the cohort; not keeping scores in games or only performing whole class pieces), or accept that these experiences are part of life and work with students to help prepare them to cope with the many disappointments as well as successes they may experience over time.
At RNPS we do provide a large number of opportunities for students and are always seeking to add even more and in greater variety. But students will experience disappointment at times. They will miss out and feel hard done by. They will be confused about why they weren't selected and may make conclusions that lead to further sadness. Of course, we never want a student to miss out or be upset, but the nature of selection means that it will happen. As educators, we will ask students to focus on the successes and benefits they have enjoyed; to use setbacks as opportunities to try and improve or grow; and to recognise that while they may be upset, that when viewed with some perspective, the disappointment will be shortlived, temporary and relatively painless.
But how can parents respond? Some may choose to try and champion their child's position, or clear the path for them of any disappointment (sometimes referred to as snowplough parenting); the dilemma over when and how much to intervene as a parent can be challenging. In the event that the disappointment is temporary and shortlived, we recommend parents focus on the child's internal dialogue first. Below are a few links to resources that explore elements of building coping skills in children.
Unearthing Kids' Strengths -http://bit.ly/2NHynKN
Overcoming Perfectionism
Skills that contribute to success
Remember, there are a number of articles available for parents to read in Compass under 'School Resources - Parenting Ideas'.