Emma Clemens – Deputy Head of Primary

Spotlight Art Exhibition

We are very excited about our upcoming art exhibition, Spotlight. The exhibition will showcase a selection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, prints and fibre artworks created in Visual Arts classes this year. Accompanying the exhibition will be video footage of our young artists discussing their artmaking processes and an online exhibition of artworks completed by all children in Years 1-6. We are honoured to have Rach Kirsten, Lecturer, School of Education from the University of New South Wales as our special guest. The exhibition opens on Sunday 27 November at 2:30 pm until 3:15 pm, prior to the Primary School Concert which commences at 4.00pm. Spotlight will be held in the Angles Leadership and Learning Centre.

Seussical

We are really looking forward to our three Seussial performances on Sunday 27 November at 4:00 pm and then on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November at 6:00 pm. Next week students are involved in a number of rehearsals, including a dress rehearsal on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 November. Please join us for Seussical by booking your tickets through the following link: tinyurl.com/ESSeussical. It is sure to be a fantastic performance.

We have also arranged for the Concert to be filmed. You can pre-purchase the DVD for only $20 at http://tinyurl.com/SeussicalDVD16/SeussicalDVD16

‘Oh, the thinks you can think

Think and wonder and dream

Far and wide as you dare

When your thinks have run dry

In the blink of an eye

There’s another world there’

Oh, The Thinks You Can Think – Seussical

Innovation Showcase

On Thursday 8 December we will be hosting our inaugural Innovation Showcase. Students involved in ICT extracurricular activities will have an opportunity to share and display their work  in a gallery-style demonstration. Following this some current and past students will present about their passion for innovation using technology. The showcase will also be open for the Primary School students at lunch time.

• When: Thursday 8 December 8:15-9:20 am Parent showcase
• When: Thursday 8 December 1:10-2:00 pm School student showcase
• Where: Angles Leadership and Learning Centre and Millie Phillips Theatre
• Who: Primary School ICT Clubs including Year 2 Coding Club, Years 3-6 ICT Club, Years 5-6 Coding Club, Years 3-6 Lego Robotics and Young Engineers Coding Club.

Brayden Bloch’s MS Cycle

Over the last few months Brayden Bloch has been training very hard in order to participate in the Sydney to Wollongong cycle ride that took place on Sunday 6 November. He completed the 100 kilometre cycle with a smile on his face, enjoying the challenge to complete such a long race. What is even more impressive is that Brayden participated in this event in order to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis Sydney as part of the Gong Bike Ride. Brayden raised $330 which has gone towards providing a range of essential services and support for people living with multiple sclerosis.

 Education – Healthy Harold

This week Healthy Harold visited Years K-3 students. Healthy Harold is run by Life Education and seeks to empower children to make safer and healthy choices through education. Life Education has been working in schools for over 35 years and delivers relevant, engaging and inspiring programs that are highly relevant to Australian students. They are the largest non-government provider of drug and health education across Australia. Below is a summary of the programs delivered to Years K-3 and some comments from our students.

“We learnt the important things that our body needs to survive such as water, oxygen and nutritious food. We also learnt about the waste products that our body gets such such as food waste, water and carbon dioxide.” Kira Levin-Kahn, Year 2

“We learnt about white and red blood cells. They have different jobs in our body. The white blood cells stop and fight infections and red blood cells carry oxygen around the body.” Declan Christie, Year 2

“We learnt that there are lots of different types of nutrients including protein, calcium and vitamins. These have different roles in keeping us healthy.” Sophia, Year 2

Year K: My Body Matters

• Importance of personal hygiene
• Choosing healthy foods for a balanced diet
• Benefits of physical activity and sleep
• How to keep safe at home and at school

Year 1: Ready Steady Go

• Benefits of physical activity
• Safety strategies in different environments
• How our body reacts to new situations
• What our body needs to be healthy including nutritious diet, water and sleep

Year 2: All Systems Go

• Factors that influence the body systems such as exercise
• Exploring ways to manage peer pressure
• The function of vital organs (heart, lungs, brain and kidneys)
• Healthy food choices

Year 3: Mind Your Medicine

• Factors that influence someone’s sense of self-worth
• Techniques for effective communication
• Different factors on health and wellbeing
• Strategies for managing stress
• Medicine as drugs and the consequences of their misuse

Healing Anxiety Through Feelings

Belinda Gold

From Belinda Gold Primary School Counsellor

Experiencing anxiety by an imagined or real threat is not unusual in children. Watching your child in an emotionally agitated and anxious state is extremely confronting. The most helpful way to navigate through this is to remain calm and in control (even if you have to fake it!) as your child will be looking to you for their sense of feeling okay and safe, and will gain their regulation cues through close observation of your reaction. Often our instinct is to run from these difficult emotions but if you can learn to sit with these uncomfortable feelings, your child will eventually learn this too.

The following is an excerpt from Dr Deborah MacNamara. Click here to read the full article.

Anxiety is part of the human condition, we need not pathologise it. We need to teach our kids to listen to their internal emotional world by guiding them and having faith that balance and stability were never achieved by cutting out feelings but by letting them loose.

When we are confident that there is a way through, our children will follow us. Resilient kids are those who feel a lot, have names for their feelings and believe that facing what upsets them is the surest way through the storms in life.

The answer is not to tell a child to calm down, to tell them to make the worries go away, or to have them think positively. The goal is to invite the child to express what is stirring them up through words. It is the increased awareness of what stirs them up, along with being able to make sense of it, that helps bring emotions to rest.

Inviting Emotional Expression

If we want our children to have a relationship with their emotions and find names to attach to feelings, then we will need to start by inviting them to express themselves.

1. Invite expression by conveying warmth and a willingness to listen: If we want a child to communicate their internal world we need to listen with our own emotional system. We will need to convey a desire to hear what they have to say and listen with full attention.
2. Make room for expression: There needs to be enough time and space for a child to be able to consider their internal world.
3. Come alongside their feelings: When children are expressing feelings or thoughts the goal is to listen and come alongside them, which means letting them know we have heard them. We don’t discount, negate, judge, problem solve or try to teach them a lesson when they are sharing their experiences.
4. Hide your own emotional needs: If children see or believe that what they share will be too hard for a parent, they may suppress their feelings. Our job is to guide them through their feelings but to do this, parents need to hold on to how stirred up they may be in order to clear the way for the child’s emotional expression.
5. Help a child name their emotions with feeling words: our feelings are the names that we give emotional states, such as fear, upset, sadness, or frustration. Humans are unique in their capacity to be able to reflect and become aware of their instincts and emotions. This development takes time and needs support from adults who can guide kids to give names to their emotions. Start by noticing your own emotional literacy, do you use descriptive emotional words in your family home?

Upcoming Dates

• 22 November: Volunteers Assembly, 8:30-9:10 am MPH
• 24-25 November: Primary Musical dress rehearsals
• 25 November: No K-2 Assembly due to Musical dress rehearsal
• 25 November: Parent Connect Club, 2:55-3:35 pm The Aron Kleinlehrer Performing Arts Centre (PAC)
• 27 November: Years 1-6 Art Exhibition, 2:30 pm-3:15 pm Angles Leadership and Learning Centre
• 27 November: Primary Musical, 4:00 pm MPH
• 28 November: Year 5 Madrichim 2017 speeches for Years 3-6
• 28 and 29 November: Primary Musical, 6:00 pm MPH
• 30 November: Optional late start for students Arrive by 11:10 am
• 30 November: Years 5 and 6 basketball game, Moriah College 8:30-11:00 am (selected students)
• 2 December: Orientation Day for new students commencing in 2017
• 6 December: Catch up photo day
• 7 December: Year 6 Fete, Years K-5 attending
• 8 December: Innovation Showcase, 8:15-9:30 am Angles Leadership and Learning Centre and the Millie Phillips Theatre
• 9 December: Year 6 Pathways, 12:30-4:00 pm Millie Phillips Theatre and MPH
• 9 December: Years K-2 Puppet Club assembly item
• 12 December: Year 6 Gratitude Day, Homebush Aquatic Centre
• 13 December: Years K-2 Presentation Day, 9:00-11:00 am MPH
• 13 December: Years 3-6 Presentation Evening, 6:00 pm MPH
• 14 December: Primary School Picnic Day at Centennial Park and Emanuel’s Got Talent Quest