From the Preschool & Elementary School Principal

 

*This week's images are taken from the Grade 4 Science Stay-and-Share, a Preschool investigation into vinegar's effect on a conker's shell, the Soundplay Installation visit, the Veg Growers' Harvest Sale and the Lunchtime Concert performances.

Resilience

A key component of the learning process is resilience, which can be defined as the ability to deal with, or bounce back from, adversity. In the classroom, being resilient will help children grapple with concepts and skills that are initially confusing or complicated. We can see this in settings and contexts across the grade levels. For example, just this week, a student in PE who couldn’t balance on a surfboard in the pool finally managed to haul himself up and stand for a few seconds, before plunging back into the water. This child finally accomplished this feat because he recovered from the frustration he felt at the start of the lesson and kept at it, wobble and splash after wobble and splash. Earlier today, the Grade 4 children showed off their inventions, sharing with family members and fellow students the stops and starts, dead ends and breakthroughs that went into their creations. If they didn't show resilience over the course of devising and testing and scrapping multiple prototypes, they would never have arrived at their final products! The sense of pride in themselves, because they hadn't given up when they faced adversity, was clear to see on every child's face and clear to hear in every child's voice. 

What is equally valuable, though, is the ways in which resilience can help children outside of the classroom - and especially when dealing with the adversity that arises from tricky or unpleasant social interactions. Just this week, we also saw children perform pieces of music during the Lunchtime Concert - pieces that they’ve worked hard to master (and, in some cases, to memorise), demonstrating resilience over the course of their lessons and practice sessions. [Who can say, but perhaps some of their parents and families also demonstrated their own forms of resilience as their children practised their pieces of music at home!] We also saw the members of the Veg Growing Club proudly put their produce on sale, even though the summer weather had made their previous potato harvest more challenging; they didn’t give up and they didn’t ruminate over how the world had been “unfair” to them. Instead, they picked themselves (and each other) up and continued to give their best effort. Over the course of the year, and in many different ways, our teachers will be working with children to develop resilience - in the classrooms and outside, in the context of academics and in social situations.

Global Citizenship Week - “Feel Good. Do Good”

As mentioned last week, Global Citizenship Week kicks off on Monday, 30 September. Each morning before the school days officially begin, the children will take part in activities led by a variety of teachers; the activities are designed to energise and focus the children and will take place in the cafeteria area where they usually gather each morning. The "Active Families: Feel Good, Do Good” event will take place on Wednesday afternoon (2 October), starting at 1:20pm in the large gym hall. This event is for the Kindergarten to Grade 5 students and any family members that can join in. There will also be a large number of other activities, lessons and challenges over the course of the week - including the ISA Cook Off, Kindness Lunches, cross-grade level recesses and much more. All parents and family members are welcome to join our end-of-week assembly on Friday, 4 October. This assembly will also be led by students and will help us to end our week on a reflective AND celebratory note. The most important thing, though, is that we all finish the week with a greater understanding of what it means to be a Global Citizen - and how our choices and actions can help to make our communities better places to thrive and grow. 

Autumn is here

Although we might not like to admit it, summer is well and truly (and scientifically) over. Autumn is here and that means extremely changeable weather. We would like your help in making sure that the children dress warmly and are prepared for rain each and every day. We need all the children to have coats that will protect them from cold winds and wet weather. Something to also think about is your child’s visibility as the light fades. Wearing all black with a black backpack, for example, will make your child very difficult to see. Please consider adding reflective elements to your child’s clothing and bags. 

Now that autumn has officially begun, the number of daylight hours will steadily decrease, meaning that it will get darker in the mornings and afternoons - just when our children are making their way to and from school. This is an ideal time, then, to remind everyone about road safety. This includes safety precautions that students can take while on campus. In class and during assemblies, we will remind the children about taking care near the drive and the parking areas, making sure to only use the marked crosswalks and to also stop, look and listen before crossing. It is especially important for children to be mindful of the coming and going of the buses at the start and end of the school day. We would appreciate it if you could reinforce these safety messages at home. We would also appreciate extra care when driving onto and away from campus.