Year 6

Assistant Principal's Report

Senior School News

This fortnight our Year 6 students have again been working hard on building the skills and knowledge they will need to be a successful learner next year in Secondary School. 

Resilience has been a huge focus for the whole Pakenham Springs community this year - the inclusion of 'Resilience' as one of our School Values caused great discussion between staff and parents when we were going through the process to select our Values.  What does Resilience mean in children?  Why is it such an important personal skill to possess?  How will our children cope in the 'real world' without having built up a resilient character?  How do we instill a resilient character trait in all of our students at PSPS?  

A resilient child has social and emotional competencies for their age that help them to name their feelings, manage their emotions, be aware of other people, solve problems, and make good decisions (www.kidsmatter.edu.au).  At Pakenham Springs, we understand that our Year 6 students, in particular, are about to experience a huge change in their lives - not only are they physically growing up and developing, they are also about to trade in the comfort and predictability of primary school for the unknown demands of secondary school.  It's a scary time!

We are working closely with our local secondary schools to provide a smooth and supportive transition for all students. This includes passing on information regarding academic progress and areas for improvement, as well as social and emotional factors which may indicate that a student needs some extra support when entering secondary school.  Please come and have a chat with your classroom teacher, or myself, if there is anything more that we can do to make this transition smoother and easier for your child and family.

Developing resilience is also being addressed in our Year 6 classrooms - not only through our weekly values lessons but also by the guest speakers and presentations we organise for our senior students.  This week, S38 and S40 participated in the RAW program (Resilience Awareness Workshops) run by the  Youth Services Officers from Cardinia Shire Council (S37 and S39 will have their session in week 9).  This session focused on building self-esteem and self-worth, resilience and peer pressure, developing coping strategies and problem-solving and also raised an awareness of services available for young people. The program aims to build resilience, increase self-esteem and improve young peoples’ ability to develop strategies to cope and problem solve.  Some of the feedback from our students in S38 & S40 included:

• I really liked how Dan and Natalia communicated with us.  One of the activities we participated in made us think about our strengths and how to acknowledge our strengths (Blake).
• I learnt that I always need to be strong and use my 5 senses in different ways.  I also learnt that you don’t always have to have one person to talk to.  There are many people that we can talk to when we are feeling down (Tegan).
• Today's RAW session reassured me about how I can be a resilient person.  It’s about getting back up and trying harder to achieve your goal (Josh).
• I learnt that there are a lot more places you can go and people you can talk to when you are having a bad day.  We learnt that we need to accept people's compliments (Olivia).
• I enjoyed the tunnel game and I learnt that if you aren’t feeling great you have a place to go to talk to people and chill out (Noah).
• In RAW, I learnt that you don’t always have to talk to parents about things. I enjoyed that everything was hands-on and we did fun activities (Jye).
• I enjoyed the compliment ribbons.  I learnt who I can talk to and that is also something I can take away from this session (Melisa).
• I learned what my strengths are.  I enjoyed the compliment ribbons and I now know who I can talk to when I’m upset or having a bad day (Bronwyn).

Top tips for parents to help build resilience in children:

1.  Avoid solving all their problems. Engage children as active participants in family/group problem-solving, let them contribute meaningfully to discussions and any solutions.

2. Model a positive 'can do' attitude. Encourage children to take decisive action rather than detaching from problems, and wishing they would just go away.  Help them to see every experience as an opportunity.

3. Build positive relationships. Encourage children to develop relationships with positive people who offer mutual support and who are not 'dream stealers' or 'energy zappers'.

4. Embrace change. Flexibility is an essential part of resilience so teach children how to be more adaptable and to accept that change is a part of living and can bring new opportunities.

5. Encourage goal setting. From an early age, encourage children into the habit of developing realistic goals and making small yet regular progress towards accomplishing them, or adapting them as things change. 

6. Be optimistic. Encourage children to visualise what they want from themselves, rather than worrying about what they fear.

7. Be responsible for personal wellbeing. Teach kids to listen to their own mind and body, to know when they need to engage in some relaxation, to eat nutritious food and exercise regularly. Feeling energetic and healthy will keep them primed to deal with tough situations (essentialkids.com.au).

There are some other fabulous resources for parents and children around building resilience on the Kids Matter, Beyond Blue, Kidspot and the Victorian Department of Education websites.

Have a great week!

Renee Cotterell

Assistant Principal