Principal News

For the remaining weeks of Term 3, I strongly urge all of us to embrace this mantra.  

2020 is undoubtedly a different year but it is NOT a wasted year.  All students have the opportunity to excel and accelerate.  All students have the possibility of growth and advancement.  We need more help from home to reinvigorate and inspire children's thinking, imagination and purpose.  

We are all working hard to ensure our students are motivated to learn but we need more.  More attention to attendance.  More quality work. More determination to do better.  

Be inspired not fearful.  We often underestimate what our children are capable of.  Surprise us.

Monique Corcoran

PRINCIPAL

Year 6 Graduation will go ahead

During this time of uncertainty, I wanted to ensure Year 6 students and families, that Year 6 Graduation will go ahead.  What this may look like is continually discussed 'behind the scene', at school and with Network Principals, with post COVID possibilities/restrictions in mind.  It is important that Year 6 students know that although a turbulent year, a Class of 2020 celebration will occur in some manner.

Emotional Literacy

Emotional Literacy is our ability to label our emotions as we experience them. Labelling our emotions helps us to manage our emotions (soften negative emotions and find positive emotions). We practice this by labelling our emotions as we experience different parts of our day.  Ways we can develop our emotional literacy during Stage 4 restrictions could include: 

• Remember a time when you felt really happy. What made you feel this way?
• Remember a time when you felt really sad. What made you feel this way? How did you turn your mood around?
• Remember a time when you felt really excited. How did this make your body feel? For example, alert, energetic, trouble sleeping
• Remember a time when you felt really anxious. How did this make your body feel? For example, increased heart rate, sweating, trouble sleeping, butterflies. What did you do to cope with feeling this way?

Child Safe

Safeguarding Children during COVID-19 

Standard 7: Strategies to promote child participation and empowerment

The ACU Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a great website with resources to help keep children safe during these challenging times.  In their website, they highlight 6 principles.  

Principle 4: Make it Fun during COVID- 19 

Environments for children and young people should be friendly with opportunities to develop and grow. Children and young people tell us that the most important place in their life is their home. That’s where they feel most safe, where they can play and learn how to deal with the world around them. But home life has changed dramatically in many homes as a result of the pandemic - loss of job, loss of home, ‘home schooling’, transitioning back to school, increased online time, caring for family and friends who are elderly, sick or isolated. Everyone in the family is affected by these changes. 

Play is the work of childhood. Play is a vital part of a child’s experience.  Play and creativity are great ways to support and comfort children during this time. 

Benefits of play include 

• giving children a sense of power and control
• enhancing imagination allowing for investigation and repetition
• promoting longer attention span fostering deeper interests
• decreasing stress
• building social and turn-taking skills allowing children to practise different roles
• encouraging language development
• having fun!   

For more information relating to safeguarding children please refer to the